Gun Control and Connecticut #2

The events that occurred last Friday, in the town of Newtown Connecticut rocked our country to its core. Twenty little girls and boys and six educators were shot. Twenty girls and boys with parents and brothers and sisters. Twenty children who may not have cured cancer or solved world hunger but were never even given the chance to live normal lives. Six educators that had families who loved and cared for them. Needless to say, there is a change that needs to take place so that tragedies like this don't happen as often. As a person who has not lived in America her whole life, I don't understand the obsession that Americans have with these weapons of destruction. And now the NRA, who are proponents for guns,  has released a statement saying that to prevent more shootings like this we need armed guards at every school. The solution is not to fight fire with fire. That just results in more death and the last thing we need is more families being broken during the holidays.

Works Cited:

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167739918/connecticut-residents-reevaluate-gun-control-after-newtown-shootings

http://blog.pe.com/crime-blotter/2012/12/21/gun-control-nra-breaks-silence-on-connecticut-shooting/

http://news.yahoo.com/gun-lobbyists-plan-media-push-newtown-massacre-004918145--finance.html

Expensive Vintage: Worth it? #1

As a high school student, I get to see the many waves of fashion trends that take over the general population from time to time, and recently I have noticed a new one, or rather, an old one taking hold. Vintage clothing, is clothing that was previously outdated that has returned to the forefront of fashion. The concept itself isn't new, but swerves in and out of fashion like a crazed car, shifting from "cool" to "uncool" and back again faster than you can visit a thrift shop. But recently, more than just thrift stores have taken to selling this outdated  clothing for example, Urban Outfitters. Some have looked into where exactly Urban Outfitters gets its clothing and have discovered that they usually come from yard sales and are marked up 50% or more on some occasions just because it now contains the Urban Outfitters brand name. I find it ridiculous that the name of a brand printed on a tag can cause it to become so expensive.
Of course, the employees of Urban Outfitters have worked hard to scout out particular clothing from yard sales that are still wearable now, but their work does not make a 5 dollar yard sale t-shirt into a 50 dollar shirt. To be fair, the clothing items that Urban Outfitters sells under the vintage tag are also usually former brand name items, but still, a 20 year old shirt with a Lacoste logo on it and a 20 year old shirt without a logo should be worth the same price. To avoid wasting money on a brand name, its probably better to just go to a thrift shop yourself. Of course, there will be some musty smells and some questionable stains, but isn't it better to find a good deal than pay double the price purely because someone else found it first?

Works Cited:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/lisa-frank-urban-outfitters-photos_n_1968412.html
http://sourcefednews.com/urban-outfitters-sells-vintage-clothes-not/
http://www.businessinsider.com/urban-outfitters-buys-yard-sale-clothes-2012-12