What should we do when we run out of fossil fuels?

GUEST WRITER!!!! A.J.S.

What happens when we use the fossil fuels (one of which is gasoline) that are on earth? Many people believe that factories burning coal and gas-powered cars will cause dramatic climate changes like global warming. There may be high floods, warmer summers, and severe droughts in areas that are usually wet. But we need to think about the issue less dramatically and from a Christian perspective. Some people say we shouldn’t pollute at all, chop down any trees, or destroy any animal homes. God tells us to use elements of nature and take what we need to survive, but to do so wisely. So chopping down trees, building with metal mined from the earth, using gas and coal for what we need is okay, as long as we use an acceptable portion. On the other hand, don’t run outside and hack down huge numbers of trees, destroy animal homes, and purposefully overpollute.

After thinking about this balance, the issue of sustainability and resourcefulness still may be confusing. For example, a few popular car companies like Ford, Dodge Ram, Ferrari easily come to mind as attractive choices of sports cars or stylish road cars. These cars were created in the 1960s-1980s and use fossil fuels. Where will we get the energy to continue using these cars? Fossil fuels take numerous years to be processed from dead plants and animsl to gas, and we can’t produce it faster. So, how can we power cars?

Here are some ideas for powering cars; there are pros and cons to each. Electricity is a less-polluting source of energy that people have used for decades, but a lot of electricity is made by factories powered by fossil fuels. Some electricity is made by solar energy, wind farms, or water turbines, but these sources take up a lot of space and cost a lot of money. Furthermore, cars powered by electricity do not go as many miles as cars powered by gasoline do. Hudrogen is another option that is better for the environment, because when hydrogen is burned, all that the car emits is steam. However, hydrogen has to be used in cells to prevent explosions and these cells are made of an expensive metal. Additionally, the risk of the cells exploding still exists, especially when a crash happens.

So, what is the solution? Scientists have found a powder on the moon that can be used for rockets and maybe, in the future, for cars. Moon dust can be brought back from the moon and until now, has been used in watches. Maybe in the future, it could be used for powering transportation. However, it takes energy to get to the moon to collect the dust, and it is expensive. As with all forms of energy, using moon dust also has pros and cons.

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The History of Piñatas

Smash it. Break it. Reveal your strength. All to reach the hidden prizes inside. Oh, sure, they aren’t visible while you’re swinging at it, but have you ever broken open a piñata and not found anything inside it? But believe it or not, there hasn’t always been candy inside.

Where Piñatas Originated

The main theory is that piñatas originated in China. Piñatas marked the growing season, not a person’s birthday or graduation. Piñatas were filled with seeds and bashed. Then, the remains of the piñata were burned and its ashes were kept for good luck.

Piñatas in Europe

Marco Polo, an Italian trader who traveled between China and Europe, is said to be responsible for bringing the idea of piñatas back to Europe in the thirteenth century. It was there that what we now know as a piñata got the name “pignatta,” which is Italian for “clay pot.” When the concept passed over into Spain, the word became “piñata.”

Piñatas in the New World

The Aztecs and Mayans had a piñata-like tradition to worship their gods. They hit a decorated clay pot till it broke, and what came out was an offering to their gods. When the Spanish conquered America they used the native piñata-like tradition to spread Christianity (This method seems a lot gentler than how they treated non-Christians living in Spain. For more on that, check out https://mvs11.edublogs.org/2023/04/12/i-fight-in-the-name-of-christ-church-disputes-and-divisions-in-the-middle-ages/.) The Spanish developed the seven-coned piñata, which represented seven deadly sins. Traditionally, the piñata was hit by a blindfolded person; the blindfold represented how faith is believing without seeing. Breaking the piñata symbolized victory over sin. The piñata became a popular Christmas tradition.

Piñatas Today

Today, piñatas are more associated Mexico then China. Also, today, piñatas have no religious meaning. They are most commonly found at birthday parties, where kids line up and take turns hitting the piñata with a big stick until it breaks and the candy spills on the ground. Then, the kids scramble to pick up as much candy as they can. Piñatas come in many shapes and sizes; often they reflect the preference of the birthday child, or, for fun, adults may have parties with even piñatas shaped like famous people such as Donald Trump. Seldom, if ever, would someone today find a piñata with the traditional seven cones.

Do you have any interesting ideas for piñata designs? You can see what I’ve come up with that will move you beyond the traditional birthday piñata and inspire you to make your next gathering centered around a piñata! I will be selling piñatas of all kinds at the Takoma Park Children’s Business Fair. Not only can you buy the piñata, but my brother has made fillers for the piñatas—you may never have thought of these types of fillers before! https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/takomapark .

I Fight in The Name of Christ : Church Disputes and Divisions in the Middle Ages

Today, in the United States, the church and the state are separate. However, when the church and the government are one and the same, as in Medieval Europe, life is a lot different. For example:

  • You must adhere to the Church’s beliefs even if they are not your beliefs.
  • The Church has total and complete power to punish you if you pose any threat to their power.
  • The Church often becomes preoccupied with politics and forgets to be a Biblical church.

Here are some instances in the Middle Ages when the Church forgot to be a Biblical church and just started killing people.

The Crusades, 1096-1272

“Those earn-your-way-to-heaven Muslims! They’re stealing our territory! I need to take up my cross and fight against them!”

This statement is an exaggeration, but it describes the series of nine wars called Crusades. “Crusades” is derived from the Old French word croisade, which literally means “to mark with a cross.” And boy, was every piece of Christian armor marked with a cross! The crusades were partially a fight for the Holy Land, which had originally belonged to the Israelites. Jerusalem is an especially important place. To Christians, it is the place where many Biblical events happened. It is important to Muslims in part because they believe Muhammad ascended to heaven there. In the nine crusades, two sides, defined by their religion, fought and killed each other for control over territory.

The Spanish Inquisition, 1478-1834

In 1478, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella wanted to purify the Catholic Church and targeted, in particular, the Jews and Muslims living in Spain. They desired to strengthen the Catholic Church by identifying these people of other religions as heretics and eliminating them. These people had the chance to leave or convert, but if they didn’t, the Church did everything it could to get them to confess, including tying them by their hands and hanging them from the ceiling. If a suspect admitted his or her heresy, he or she got killed in a slightly nicer way then if he or she didn’t. Other similar inquisitions followed in other countries.

In the past, the Church itself had been the one to prosecute heretics. In this case, the king and queen, as state powers, punished civilians for what they perceived as religious infractions. Their motivation was to keep the Church as its strong ally. The Church gave support, including finances, to their government.

Martin Luther Tried for Heresy, 1520s

When Martin Luther nailed (the nailing part is up for debate) his ninety-five theses opposing the Catholic Church to the door of the Castle Cathedral, he was brought before court and tried for heresy. Luther admitted to writing the ninety-five theses, and when asked to recant, he responded, “Unless I can be convinced by Scripture and plain reason and not by popes and councils that have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. God help me.” The Church did not listen to any of Luther’s arguments, and he had already been excommunicated. After he testified, Luther, who had been promised a safe return home, had to go into hiding from the Roman Catholic Church, who had decided he was a demon.

Martin Luther is an example of a man whose life is in danger for his religious beliefs, and who cannot receive state protection because the religious people prosecuting him hold all the power.

The Affair of the Placards, 1534-1535

In France, on a night in October, Protestants hung up placards (posters) against the Catholic Church. The placards accused priests of idolatry and criticized the Church’s rituals and beliefs. This act made the Catholic Church mad enough to burn every Protestant, and they had the backing of King Frances I, who vowed to do a better job of eliminating Protestants from France. The Church held a public execution of any of the people they caught hanging placards. They even devised a new killing method for these people that is too gross and cruel to describe here.

In this instance, the King and the Church together perceived the Protestants’ inflammatory actions as a threat and responded by penalizing them with death.

The Execution of Michael Servetus, 1553

Beyond Catholics killing Protestants, Protestants fighting against Catholics, and a war between Christians and Muslims, there was also violence against outliers, as was the case in the execution of the unorthodox Michael Servetus. Servetus did not believe in one of the things the Bible teaches, the Holy Trinity. Servetus believed that Jesus Christ was God’s creation, not equal to God, yet still divine. After publishing a book that contradicted what the Church accepted, he went into hiding in Catholic Vienna. After being discovered, he escaped the Catholic Church only to be discovered in Protestant Geneva. Protestants like John Calvin and his friends showed Servetus no mercy and recommended his execution. Servetus was burned at the stake by authorities in Geneva for a crime of religious belief.

As one of Calvin’s critics said, “When the Genevans killed Servetus, they did not defend a doctrine, they killed a man. . . when Servetus fought with reasons and writing, he should have been repulsed by reasons and writing.” Indeed, a political punishment for a religious belief unfortunately reflected what was common at the time.

The English Reformation, King Henry VIII’s Reign

The English Reformation was England’s break from the Catholic Church, and it started for the wrong reasons. Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, but the Roman Catholic Church didn’t let him, so he decided to break England off from the Roman Catholic Church. In so doing, he was able to divorce his wife and manipulated many wives after, including having his second wife Anne B. beheaded, with a religious excuse and divorcing his fourth wife Anne C. for reasons of religion.

King Henry VIII represents a political figure who evokes religion as motivation for cruel use of power.

The Sale of Indulgences

Corruption was evident in the Church even when it wasn’t posing as the government itself. Sometimes, it acted destructively toward the common people without any political figure intervening to protect the people. One example of this act is the selling of indulgences, a practice that was prevalent in the 1500s and which is described in this verse, which rhymes in German and English:

So wei das Geld im Kasten klingt/die Seele aus dem Fegefeuer springt. As soon as the coin in the coffer rings/The soul from purgatory springs.

An indulgence was a piece of paper verifying that a certain person was free from purgatory. The Roman Catholic Church sold these indulgences to people who wanted to know that their loved ones were safe in heaven. Later, Martin Luther mocked indulgences, saying, “For a silver florin, I freed my grandfather from purgatory. For twice that, I could have sprung my grandmother and uncle mothers too, but I didn’t have the funds, so they had to stay in the hot place. As for me, the priests assured me that by gazing at sacred relics, I could cut down on my time in purgatory. Luckily for me, Rome has enough nails from the holy cross to shoe every horse in Saxony.” The result of the sale of indulgences was that people who barely had money to survive found themselves even more destitute because they had spent money on indulgences.

So, even in the case that political leaders are not actively involved in prosecution, they are not acting to curb the Church’s destructive behavior.

A Biblical Church

Thankfully, today, our government protects us from any person or institution that would act in ways that harm citizens. Furthermore, the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. A church today is not able to sentence people to any sort of punishment. This allows a Biblical church to be more focused on preaching Scripture, encouraging sinners to repent, and helping those who need it.  

Spring Flowers under the Microscope

Spring has arrived! That means baseball is back (Hurray!), there are hundreds of tourists to see the cherry blossoms in DC (kind of weird when you can just go to your front yard), and you’re seeing a lot of new flowers pop up. When first see a crocus, you get really excited. But by the time April comes around, they’re getting boring. You want to see the flowers you planted come up, not the ones you that have been popping up since that warm front in February. It’s always a little sad, though, to see one go.

I live in 6a acording to this map. Our daffodils and crocuses usually come up in mid-February, die, then come back in early March. Then, in late April to early May, they die and our roses usually start to bloom. It is a tribute to the early spring flowers that they stand through the cold and wind. They give us information about spring that is way more accurate than what groundhogs give.

This is a daffodil petal, viewed with a microscope. Now take a look at a daffodil viewed with the naked eye.

Do you see any resemblance between this and what it looks like under the microscope? The daffodil petals are pretty, and the image of under the microscope is interesting, but the real work is happening here:

This is what the leaf looks like, with a microscope.

Can you see tiny spots? Those are stomata. That’s how the leaf breathes. The stomata is like a mouth that opens and closes to eat air. Then it uses the air to make food for the plant. Without the stomata, in other words, without the leaf of the plant, the plant would not be able to live. So, the leaf is the most important part of the plant. The stomata are microscopic, so you can’t see them with the naked eye.

You can’t see the resemblance between the two pictures, but now you know that the leaf is more than just a green shoot.

Appreciate those flowers growing in your yard!

Did Trump Concede? A Comparison of the Trump and Stevenson Concession Speeches

Donald Trump
Adlai Stevenson

I recently read Adlai Stevenson’s concession speech to Dwight Eisenhower. Adlai Stevenson was the Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and he had just lost the election, winning only nine states and 44.3% of the popular vote. I was struck by how different Stevenson’s speech was from modern-day concession speeches, particularly in the Trump versus Biden race, in which Trump, the losing candidate, won 25 states and 46.8% of the popular vote.


In his speech, Stevenson shows willingness to accept Eisenhower’s leadership. He said, “My fellow citizens have made their choice and have selected General Eisenhower and the Republican party . . . and I gladly accept it.” Trump never mentioned Biden by name in his speech. The closest reference Trump makes to the incoming president is to say, “A new administration will be inaugurated on January twentieth. . .” Furthermore, Trump hints that he and his supporters will continue strong political involvement, saying, ” . . . our incredible journey is only just beginning. ” In other words, Trump didn’t let on that Biden won and never fully relinquished control.


Stevenson’s speech also shows humility. Stevenson conceded the day after the election, and he made his speech after he sent a telegram to General Eisenhower. In the telegram, he said, “The people have made their choice and I congratulate you. That you may be the servant and guardian of peace and make the vale of trouble a door of hope is my earnest prayer. Best wishes. Adlai E. Stevenson.” Stevenson’s response shows forethought; he may have had some sort of outline or idea of what to say if he had lost. In contrast, Trump conceded two months later following violent protests, and did not congratulate Biden. It doesn’t seem like the possibility of losing ever occurred to Trump, despite the fact that he had two months to think about it.


In keeping with the idea of gracious losing, take a look at the quotes above in red. They both occurred near the ends of the speeches. What that tells me about the tone of the speech is that Trump wants to conclude with something about himself. His big moment has past but it will come again. He doesn’t mention that this is Biden’s big moment. When you ask a five-year-old what he or she wants to be when he or she grows up, the answer will most likely be a) Mommy/Daddy, b) a doctor, or c) president. How many of those five-year-olds that answered “president” actually become president? Not many. But if you did, would you realize “I got to be president and all those other five-year-olds on the playground didn’t!”? I think that’s a pretty exciting thought. Trump didn’t think that Biden could have been of those kids, at least it didn’t seem so from his speech.


My conclusion is that Trump never conceded. When one team wins a sport, can the losing team still win that same game? No. They can know in their heads that the referee is wrong, but they can’t still play that game. The closest thing they can do is refuse to acknowledge that they lost. With the clock ticking on Trump, he couldn’t change the final vote. So, I think he decided to do the next best thing in his mind: not give in. And in so doing, he made history as the only president who never conceded.

What Restaurant Has the Healthiest Quarter Pound Cheeseburger?

Maybe we shouldn’t eat fast food every day, but when you have a craving for a cheeseburger where should you go? In commercials, fast food restaurants advertise the juiciness of the burger, the all-around tastiness of their sandwich, and its price (Of course, they also throw in how the hours that they serve breakfast!). Very few fast food resturants actually try to market themselves as healthy establishments. While resturants do provide nutritional information about their products, do you actually know what the Burger King down the street is serving? Here is a little comparison between McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and homemade quarter-pound cheeseburgers.

Burger King is the restaurant leader in calories. It has 591.1, barely topping Wendy’s by one calorie. McDonald’s has the fewest, with only 520. Other facts stack up as follows:

We can conclude that McDonald’s has the healthiest burger of the restaurants being compared here. Now, I set out to make a healthier burger.

Compare my burger (top) with McDonald’s (bottom):

You might think mine doesn’t look as fresh and plump as McDonald’s. But it’s also not sporting the grill marks and juiciness that comes when fast food restaurants leave the burgers half-cooked for their flashy ads. Since I didn’t want my dad to get sick, I cooked my burger thoroughly. Also, since I didn’t want to waste food, I didn’t look for the perfect bun. I also squirted on ketchup and mustard, rather than painting it on, as a food photographer might do to his supemodel burger. I don’t know how to Photoshop, so this isn’t digitally altered in any way.

And now compare the nutritional value of the burger that I made with a burger that McDonald’s made.

Looking at calories, my burger has 101 less than McDonald’s, and I also beat McDonald’s on fat, though their burger offers more protein. As far as taste, you be the judge. I’m taking orders . . . but you’ll have to pay postage!

This can’t be happening at MacDonald hall! Movie vs. Book

A boarding school

This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! by Gordon Korman, was made into a movie. Both the movie and the book open with two boarding school roommates, Bruno and Boots, engaged in a prank against rival York Academy, in which they steal the team mascot. The chaos they cause prompts Headmaster Sturgeon to separate them and the plot of both the movie and the book centers around their attempts to get back together. Despite the fact that the movie and the book have similar openings and resolutions, there are significant differences in the course of the plot.

First, the details differ. There are little differences, such as the pet mascot that the boys steal being a pregnant cat in the book, but a cougar in the movie; or that York Academy and MacDonald Hall are playing hockey in the book, but lacrosse in the movie. In both the movie and the book, as part of their quest to get back together, Bruno and Boots launch Operation Doommates, in which they treat their new roommates horribly, hoping their new roommates will complain to the headmaster (nicknamed “The Fish”) and they will be reunited. In the book, this scheme doesn’t work at all; they are punished, but their poor roommates just have to put up with them. In the movie, the new roommates are spared, but rather than being reunited, they are paired with different new boys.

There is quite a list of differences of this type that could be mentioned. It is also important to notice the broader differences that exist because a movie is intended for young people to view. One issue is acceptability. In the book, Bruno and Boots organize a “panty raid” on the girls, but showing underwear is less suitable for television, so in the movie, the boys spill stinky test tube specimens in the girls’ school instead. Also, in the book, Bruno and Boots jump out of windows. Jumping out of windows could give viewers ideas that could hurt them, so in the movie, this sneaking out isn’t shown.

Another broad issue is modernization. The book was originally written in the 1970s, when Korman was in middle school. The movie came out in 2017. This time difference of approximately forty years means that the movie is more like modern-day than the books is. In the movie, there are cell phones, modern computers and vehicles, and even some remote business being conducted in a dorm room. In the book, all interaction is face-to-face. The book reflects slang and other expressions more common to the 1970s than today, for example: “Boy . . .” as an expression of surprise, or “Gee, that’s swell.” The characters in the movie do not express themselves this way.

One other major difference is related to how Bruno and Boots ultimately succeed in their mission to get back to being roommates. To discuss this difference in the plots of the movie and the book would be spoiling it for readers and viewers, but as a clue, read and watch with this question in mind: What is some guy who speaks Portuguese doing in my school?

The Ostrich and Other Lost Things: A book review

The Ostrich and Other Lost Things is a heartfelt novel by Beth Hautala, the author of Waiting for Unicorns.

This book is about a girl who is extremely good at finding things. However, there is one lost thing Olivia can’t seem to find – her brother Jacob’s toy ostrich.

Jacob is autistic, and since he lost his ostrich his autism has been getting worse. Olivia once she finds it he’ll be closer to normalcy. Maybe they can go place without taking the back roads. Maybe they won’t have to worry about whether or not the place they’re going is to crowded. Maybe they can do more extracurriculars. But what does normal even mean? And is everybody meant to be normal?

There are other things to worry about, like the Peter Pan production Olivia is so excited to do but just knows Jacob will mess up. What about the real live ostrich that keeps showing up in her backyard? Or how she kind of got into trouble with the zoo and said something hurtful to her friend?

The theme of this book gives a picture of unconditional love that many books lack. It aces the description and character catagories, but is still easy to read.

This book is written for the age category of nine through thirteen and is especially good if you have a sibling diagnosed with autism.

I give this book four out of five stars.

When should your parents let you be more independent?

Parents and kids should be able to decide together what level of independence a kid should have. Picture this: You’re on the metrobus with your family when you spot a group of kids you recognize from school, staring at their phones. One of them waves to you before disappearing into the metro station. You’re upset. These kids are younger than you by at at least a year! How come they can ride the bus and metro alone, and you can’t? Come to think of it, why can’t you? Decisions about a child’s independence should be based on the child’s confidence to the handle the situation and his or her knowledge of what to do in emergencies.

With regard to independence, Child Protective Services (CPS) has proved itself overprotective. In Florida, an eleven-year-old boy got home to find his parents weren’t there. Since he had no key, he decided to play basketball in the yard for an hour and a half. A neighbor saw him and reported him to CPS, who took the boy and his brother out of their parents’ custody for a month.

Have you heard that super annoying song “Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy?” CPS obviously doesn’t agree with it. Was the boy acting irresponsibly? Doing anything dangerous? Scared to be on his own? Don’t get me wrong. CPS is necessary, because you need someone to call if a child is being abused. But it isn’t their business if you’re at home alone in a state that has no law restricting stay-at-home age. If the boy and his parents were happy with this plan, CPS should not have intervened.

Parents seem to differ a lot in how independent they let their children be. Some aren’t at all reluctant to let their eight-year-old take a walk alone. Others don’t let their kids bike around the neighborhood until they’re teenagers. Often, kids model their opinions about independence after what their parents think.

There is a Shoppers about three blocks from our house. If we need something instantly, Mom sometimes sends me there to buy it. Once, I was standing in line and I only had one thing. The lady in front of me let me go in front of her, because, “Your mom is waiting in the car.” The thing is, my mom wasn’t in the car. For all the lady knew, I was going to hitchhike to Florida. This lady didn’t even bother to ask. Why? Because I was confident in what I was doing.

Once, I was not so confident and the situation did not turn out well. When I was six, I went across the street to mail a letter. I had done this before, only my mom had been watching. This time, she wasn’t watching. I mailed the letter and then I noticed she wasn’t watching and freaked out, too scared to cross the street. That’s when a lady drove up, asked me how old I was and where my house was, then carried me across the street. Other than freaking me out, she didn’t do anything to me. But I was so scared.

In conclusion, it shouldn’t mattter how old you are but how confident you are about how to act in the situation you’re in, or, if an unexpected emergency happens, what to do, because if you’re the only person there, you have to be the responsible person.

You might argue, “But I’ve never done this before! I might mess up!” But do you want to be the kid who never tries something new? This will build necessary confidence later in life. And, sooner or later, your friends will be more independent too. If you’re nervous, you can always start gradually, such as asking a employee at the store to help you find something, or mapping the bus routes with your parents before going on your on, or going through checkout alone. You can also think through your fears. For example, the extreme fear of kidnapping is often unfounded. Ninety percent of kidnapping cases were by a parent. Only 1% were carried out by a stranger. Of these non-family cases, 57% of kids returned alive. Next time you have an opportunity to do something independently, think:

  • Do I know what to do in this situation?
  • Do I know what to do if there’s an emergency?
  • Does my parent agree that I can do this?

Then, get out there and have some independent fun!