On My Mind

President Trump declares national emergency; NASA’s first all-women spacewalk; Kylie Jenner becomes youngest self-made billionaire; and Once anti-vaccine teen speaks out on the misinformation regarding vaccines

On My Mind

Gabby Gonzalez, News Editor

Trump’s national emergency declaration questionable

President Trump declared a national emergency earlier this year saying our country’s southern borders need to be secure. Now, the Senate must confirm there is a need to declare a national emergency. President Trump is using manipulation to secure money for the border between the U.S. and Mexico. While his chances of it happening seem small, if he manages to persuade enough Republican senators to vote in favor of it, we are doomed. The President is declaring a national emergency as a way to get what he wants, since he wasn’t able to get it by doing it the right way. Building a $5.7 billion wall, where there is already a fence, seems very unnecessary when there are cheaper ways to deal with this issue…like maybe fix the immigration law and making citizenship tests and background checks more efficient. It also seems very childish of him to use a national emergency for such an unnecessary thing considering that there are other life-threatening issues needed to be dealt with. President Trump’s failure to acknowledge the fact that Puerto Rico has still not regained full electric power and it’s been over 5 months since hurricane Maria hit deserves his immediate attention. Clearly, I am not the only one that finds his declaration of a national emergency unnecessary and an abuse of power, since 16 states, including California, New York, Hawaii, and Connecticut, have all filed a lawsuit against Trump’s administration, according to CNN. If President Trump is able to get away with this soon, he’ll think that he can just call a national emergency for anything he wants, and as Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said, “If (you) look at the history of not only our government, but other governments around the world, governments that begin to be run by emergencies, really bad things can happen.”

Teen speaks out on misinformation regarding vaccinations

Despite his parents being part of the anti-vaccine community, Ethan Lindenberger got his first ever vaccine earlier this year at age 18. He is now advocating for the fake news surrounding vaccines and the effect that misinformation has caused in America as a whole. It’s very mind-blowing to me that so many parents are okay with putting their kids in danger and choose to believe non-credible websites and the internet over than doctors and professionals. Vaccines don’t cause autism or cancer and there is no valid research to support the anti-vaccine community’s arguments. Lindenberger stepping out and speaking about all of the fake news and misinformation that is out there, feels like a step forward in humanity.

Kylie Jenner is now the world’s youngest billionaire

Social media star Kylie Jenner is officially the youngest self-made billionaire at just the age of 21. She managed to reach the ten figure fortune at the age of 21 beating Mark Zuckerberg who held the title at age 23. I think we can all agree that Kylie has worked hard to push her makeup company, Kylie Cosmetics, and it has paid off really well. Just by selling her products in the makeup store Ulta, Jenner has made $54.5 million in just the last six weeks, according to Forbes. We can’t argue that Jenner isn’t a billionaire, but we can argue that she isn’t exactly self-made. For all of her career and probably for the rest of her life, she’ll be known for being Kim Kardashian’s sister and Kris Jenner’s daughter. Her mom and basically all of her family are public figures meaning she’s had money to start with. It wouldn’t surprise me to know that she’s had a few help from them since the start.  Forbes defines self-made as “someone who built a company or established a fortune on their own, rather than inheriting some or all of it.” We really can’t turn the other way and act like we don’t know that Kylie Jenner didn’t inherit any of the money she has. Kylie might be a billionaire but she’s definitely not self-made. Saying Kylie Jenner is a self-made billionaire is like saying President Trump is self-made.

NASA launches first ever all-women spacewalk

March 6 NASA announced its first all-female spacewalk. The spacewalk will be conducted by two female NASA astronauts and a Canadian flight controller. This news is thoroughly exciting and inspiring. Not only are women taking a lead in Earth, but they now get to take it to space. Moments like these make it even more realistic for the little girls at home wanting to be astronauts; it inspire us to look beyond just the gender of someone. Thirty-five years ago history was made when Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to break the gender barriers and walk in space, according to USA Today. It’s so mind-blowing to think that 35 years later, we are now able to exceed that and have a whole all-female spacewalk.