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Kamala Harris

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 The news has arrived. Joe Biden, The Democratic presidential nominee, has picked his running mate for the United States 2020 election. A vocal Trump-hater, Kamala Harris was chosen as the best woman for the job. Much unlike Joe Biden, many are confused as to who exactly she is.   Ms. Harris is a Californian attorney, and the first woman of color to appear on a presidential ticket. She has a long history of supporting “Law and Order” politics, having a significant role to play in the infamous War on Drugs. She has also made some controversial rulings involving Black people. Considering the current negative sentiment towards police (much of it for a good reason), many are upset with this decision. I, personally, see the Biden campaign’s choice as nothing more than an attempt to cleanse their reputation. Californians and women are already some of the strongest Democratic bases. One large voting bloc that isn’t necessarily friendly with the Democrats is the police. Republicans have painte
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Intra-animal interaction

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The stories of Walt Disney have always implied that the creatures of this world are intrinsically compassionate towards each other. In a more modern incarnation, people share viral videos of their animals snuggling together in joy. This, sadly, is not the case. As I have learned in the past few days, interactions with animals must be a carefully supervised and heavily inadvisable prospect. Despite outward projections of friendliness, the majority of Earth’s fauna is hardwired to be frightened or aggressive. This isn’t something that humans notice. We are much too large for many animals to consider attacking us; even if they do, the damage would be minimal. With most other animals, this is far from the case. Creatures will bite, scratch, or even devour anything that is equal to or less than its size.  To any pet-owners out there, your best bet is to keep your furry friend away from any other animal—for their safety and for yours. 
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Transporting Pets

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I am both an obsessive pet owner and an avid traveler. While these two hobbies may seem entirely unrelated, they are often in direct conflict with one another. It is almost impossible to bring an animal from one place to the next, especially when that animal is a 100+ pound African sulcata tortoise. As animals are increasingly forced out of their native habitats and into our homes, it is time that we allow for them to be transported successfully.  Studies show that the average person has less friends than they did 20 years ago. Often, this role of companionship is filled with a pet. It is only understandable that someone would wish to bring their companion with them on their voyages. For the sake of public mental health, pets are a necessity. The ability to take an animal with you on a trip also has some economic rationale. Millions of people who previously did not want to leave their pets behind would now be flooding the travel industry with money.  In sense of both the population and
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Online Gaming

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People are resistant to change. Despite being the most advanced and intelligent creatures on our planet, many of us are quite comfortable living life as we perceive it has "always been." This tendency is no more evident than in society's general criticism of online gaming. Many individuals portray "gamers" as social invalids with no intelligence whatsoever. This distaste of video games is so pernicious that almost every mass shooting is accompanied by hypotheses on how it was somehow related to console and controller. However, the prevalence of these claims must mean they have some credibility right? Actually, the societal distaste for video games is almost entirely unfounded and ignores many of the benefits that online communities can provide.  Many critics of gamers often watch multiple hours of television a day. While this may seem unrelated, TV is arguably much more harmful than video games. Playing a video game and watching a TV show are almost one and the
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The Pond

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I spend about 3 months in the year in the north of England. The long American summers allow for a massive, uninterrupted period of travel from June to August. My experience between the two countries has given me much appreciation for the world at large, and much dissatisfaction with the two nations I call home. There exists a common trend of realization of a sub-par social structure in the United Kingdom and subsequent shock in realizing the problem exists in an exaggerated variant in the United States.  English public transport is criticized around Europe for its high-prices and poor service; however, British mass transit is heavenly when compared to that of America. Ever since the John Major administration, railway and bus have been privatized, continuing the trend of privatization set by Margaret Thatcher. While the decision was intended to create a consumer-centered service through the laws of the free market, that was certainly not the case. Companies were essentially given local
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Continental breakfast

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Any hotel-goer will be familiar with a certain pastry-centric morning tradition: the continental breakfast. Usually included in the regular room fare, the meal consists of bread-products and sometimes eggs. How did this ubiquitous part of the hotel experience become so widespread? As always, the answer is Britain. The “continent” in continental breakfast refers to mainland Europe. The meal was intended to be an incarnation of the typical fare of France and the Mediterranean. Hotels began to adopt the food as a more refined alternative to the extremely hearty English breakfast. The lighter pastries and juices offered a refreshing contrast to the meat and beans of the norm.  This tradition traveled across the pond as the American middle class grew and tourism from Europe rose. Anyone who hadn't thought of the English breakfast as greasy and unhealthy certainly did so of the American breakfast. This European aversion to grease and fat wormed its way into the culture of the elite, maki
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Animal Crossing: Amateur Reviews

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Animal Crossing, the quarantine savior of people everywhere has infested every corner of the internet. All this hype leaves many people confused. How could a game about completing menial chores like picking weeds and planting flowers be so enjoyable? I myself did not know the answer to this question for quite a while. Upon the game's release, my friends would lobby me recommendations to join in on the fun. I refused. Animal Crossing was simply too different from the first-person-shooters and platformers that I was used to. I was frightened of its newness.  Still ignorant of the craze, I discovered that my sister had purchased the game in April. With all the hype and talk surrounding the game, I was enticed to try it. I was able to extract some joy out of the game, but I was doubtful that it would be able to satisfy my $1 spent to 1 hour of playtime gained ratio. I believed that it was outright impossible that I would be able to catch fish and pick weeds for 60 hours of my life. I c
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