Im so sorry ahaha i hate myself

                         Sam stephens

     Mental health is very important, talk about it!

     Important things to talk about

   There is a serious stigma  concerning mental health and neurodivergent people, and no one seems to  realize it. Yes, we have mental health week and it is great. It allows for discussion and conversation, not to mention the feeling of acceptance you can get from such a great week. But aside from that a lot of neurodivergent people get almost no recognition at all. You can't participate in this really great thing, and after it, just go back to not caring. That's not cool and you aren't doing anyone any favors.

    In school, if you don't have a "serious" enough condition or problem you often times don't get the help that you need. The issues we face are seen as excuses and we should just try harder. That is not how this works. You do not get to judge how hard I am trying by your standards. It's sometimes hard enough to get up in the morning and deal with the interaction that I don't have the energy for. Trying harder takes a lot of effort and you can't excpect change to happen out of the blue one day. You can't really expect that out of anyone.  It's completely irrational.

    Sometimes it's even worse at home. Parents refuse to take their children to therapy or the doctor or whatever it is that they need, and usually this is because parents think that they know better than their children the things they are going through. Despite the fact that they never dealt with this specific problem before. Neurotypical people tend to downgrade divergent people, thinking that they're judt being dramatic or over reacting. Ignorance is a major issue and kids often times don't even feel comfortable talking to their parents because they know that they won't understand of take the time to just listen to them.

   Be nice to us. Don't treat us like a totally different species because we're a little different from you. I am not other, i am a human being and I deserve the respect given to neurotypical people. There is no reason to be afraid of us or be weirded out. Get over yourself.

im sorry mr winter

You're my wonderwaalllll

      see top of page a6 for artice

1. senator Ted Cruz has decided that he's gonna be friends with Donald Trump. What a loser. Donald proposed a truly terrible plan for fixing the country and Cruz is being strangely fine with it. This happened sometime around monday or tuesday, it doesn't give an exact date. It also doesn't tell you where. which i guess is unfortunate? Ted is only being friends with Trump for business reasons, because trump most definitely will not win (thank god) so he thinks that Trumps supporters will eventually come over to his side. The reporter probably went to the debate and heard about it first hand. 

2. the story is significant because it lets us know what's happening in out politics if we didn't or can't see the news that day. And we need to know what's happening in our county and who exactly our leaders are going to be. 

3. The article doesn't really tell you the sources used, but i'm guessing that the author was there to witness the events that occurred. It seems pretty balanced to me. 

4. I guess i want to know if Cruz is eventually going to just not deal with Trump anymore?

5. it was an okay article. It had a nice ending and had a bit of an opinion in it but yeah it's good i guess. 

see top of a18 for article

1. American teens suck at exercising and need to start doing more of it or they will all die of 50 diseases all at the same time. These studies have been done over long periods of time and don't exactly have a set date. Most students get the majority of their exercise at school, and less everywhere else. The author probably talked to the people who did the studies about it to get the information. 

2. it's important because we need to exercise more.

3. the sources come from the people who did the study. they are credible because they did the thing

4. I have no unanswered questions

5. it was fine. not the best but it's okay. 

see bottom of b2 for article

1. The Bastrop Adoption Center is being overcrowded yet again, and might have to start euthanizing some of the animals to make room. The Austin Humane Society has taken in a few of the animals, but can't really take anymore in so Bastrop is kind of stuck. 

2, Story is significant because animals deserve love and homes and to not be killed for no reason. 

3. The author interviewed Erica Thompson who is the county director of animal services. It's credible be cause she is involved with the goings on of the shelter. Story seems pretty balanced.

4. I have no unanswered questions.

5.  I liked it because it's about animals and animals are always a good time. Someone should start a snake adoption center to be honest.

see bottom right of b6 for article

1. Austin pastor Henry Lee was arrested on monday for continuous sexual harassment of a 14 year old girl. He was the pastor at First Baptist church. 

2. this is kind of close to my neighborhood as I live on the east side of Austin. It's really nerve wracking to know that this happened so close to me.

3. The author looked through an arrest affidavit and that seems pretty credible because it's an affidavit. It's balanced.

4. no unanswered questions

5. I think it was a very important article, and definitely should have been written .

see the right side of  a3 for article

1. a police video of  white police officers tasering a 38 year old black man was leaked. The mayor is super angry about it and has demanded change. 

2. significant because racism sucks and no one seems to really take it very seriously. 

3. doesn't tell you the sources of information, aside from the mayor.

4.  racists are stupid, why do they continue to breed?

5. it was good. I feel like the more we talk about this kind of thing, the less of  a taboo topic it becomes.

 

current events thingggg

Lets get controversial 

     

      1. All Syrian refugees must now go through new screening procedures if they are looking for resettlement. This measure from the Paris attacks and the fear that it could happen in the U.S. at any time. The Senate doesn't exactly know what's happening with it after thanksgiving, but something is definitely going to happen. Barack was very upset at this bill thing, and said that it was religiously discriminatory, and that it was wrong for only the Christians in, and not the Muslims. There are tons and tons of tourists coming into America every day, and none of them get extensive background checks and two-year waiting periods to get in. America was founded on immigration and to keep these people out is going against history and what we stand for. It's a double standard. 

2. The Austin City Council has eased up on regulations for building garage apartments. The two main benefits of relaxing these regulations would lead to less expensive housing, and as a way to provide supplemental income. Kathie Tovo argues that allowing garage apartments could override some neighborhood plans that had decided against them. Tommy Ates and Sabino Renteria said that the only way they could live in a garage apartment, was if they lived in that neighborhood. I don't really have an opinion, because I don't really care??? idk

3. My council member person is Ora Houston. 

4.  Federal regulators approved a genetically engineered salmon for eating, so now you can eat salmon without thinking that you're going to die. Yay. The opposition has argued that the safety studies were inadequate and that if you were to accidentally release the wild salmon, it would mess with the environment that the normal fish live in. People filed a lawsuit over this thing, so i mean the decision took a while, plus it's the 1st approval of its kind ever. The chief executive of AquaBounty is pretty delighted and surprised about the decision.

5. Don Zimmerman proposed a resolution that would block Austin's Government from spending money to help the Syrian refugees settle inside the city. Council member Greg Casar and Mayor Steve Abbot both agree that it is a very xenophobic and gross resolution. 1,225 refugees arrived in Austin in 2013. Sid Millers facebook post has a picture of a bunch of rattlesnakes and under it was a picture of a bunch of refugees arriving in Austin. It's gross and I dont like it at all. The democrats said that the post fanned the flames of fear and xenophobia.

6. Raphael Holiday killed his 18-month-old daughter and her two young half sisters in a fire. He is the 13th person to get killed this year by the death penalty. That is half of all the executions this year. Gretchen Sween says that Holidays court-appointed attorneys abandoned him after the justices in june refused to review his case. Holidays trial attorney filed an appeal saying that the conviction and some trial testimony were improper. The attorney general's office appealed the execution warrant.