Welcome back to the final edition for Quills and Answers of 2019-20. Who would’ve though with me typing this up in my bedroom wearing the same clothes for two weeks, and drained from College Board’s attempt at an exam? What a world we live in. Anyway through all of the chaos, one thing that has managed to continue is Quills and Answers, as we are not stopped by global pandemics. Thank you for the ongoing support despite this crisis and also thank you to the men and women serving on the frontlines for their service to stopping the coronavirus.

Q: Who are your top 3 and bottom 3 presidents

A:       Top 3 Presidents:

George Washington – Greatest because he gave up power after 2 terms to set a positive precedent for the democracy to come. This is a very hard thing to do as he was pressured by pretty much everyone he knew to keep running as president for many more terms. This is also the major roadblock that keeps fledgling democracies from thriving and usually causes them to become autocratic regimes.

Abraham Lincoln – Brilliant wartime leader whose speaking ability is world-renowned. Life was cut short too soon. 

FDR – Actually put effort into saving the Great Depression (although he did go too far at times). However, I rate him more for his foresight into a potential world war while battling the isolationist feelings at home. Yes he violated the two term precedent, but that shouldn’t detract from the good decisions he made.

Missed the cut: Eisenhower (underrated military general who actually turned out to be a good president), Jefferson ( wrote Declaration of Independence and set the standards for which the country would run on the principles of democracy. Oh well except for equal rights.) , Reagan (free-market advocate; although he did mess up some things, he created a good stable economy for the US. Yes he did some things that people really don’t like but the country still loved him at the end of his term right?)

          Bottom 3 Presidents:

Just missed the drop zone: Richard Nixon (Watergate), Gerald Ford (Didn’t last an entire term and claimed that the eastern bloc countries weren’t under influence from the Soviet Union. However, he will be remembered for pardoning Nixon), William Henry Harrison (He didn’t do too much wrong but he died 31 days into office), James Buchanan (You know I’m going to let sectional rife continue and when asked to do something I’ll just say none of my business).

Herbert Hoover – Free-market president who claimed that the Great Depression would “fix itself” and did absolutely nothing. Out of touch and pretty helpless. It’s not good when the poor people are naming your shantytowns after you.

Donald Drumpf – I know his presidency isn’t over yet, but i just can’t hold this in. He’s had questionable race opinions, flip-flopping viewpoints on lots of topics, and a White House staff that is a complete shambles (really Michael Flynn? YOUR OWN STAFF TOLD YOU NOT TO HIRE HIM). But even if we ignore everything that has happened over the last three years, you can’t ignore the fact that he’s still being partisan during a global pandemic. He hasn’t locked down the country, and he’s got a bunch of cronies running his coronavirus task force instead of actual doctors. He’s also breeding doubt into these health officials which is going to mean more and more people will do dumb stuff. I get why people want him to stay elected, but when does it eventually become a morality issue?

Warren G Harding – Somehow this guy is still worse. Another free-market dude who did nothing to regulate which was a big mistake. But that’s not the worst part. He was a person with very questionable morals. There’s the Teapot Dome scandal (just look it up) that crippled his administration, He also held extravagant parties, gambled away a lot of the White House’s artifacts, and cheated on his wife in a White House closet. 

Q: How do I not die?

A:

1. Don’t go outside for superfluous reasons.
2. Be extra vigilant in staying germ free.
3. In the event you need to go outside, wear a mask and maintain social distancing.
4. Amazon packages can have corona so be vigilant. (Sanitize your employees, BEZOS)
5. Don’t inject Lysol into your veins.
6. Be Patient. Does this suck? Yes? Do you feel like you have no motivation? Likewise. Do you feel dejected that your summer is ruined? Me, too. Point being life really sucks right now, but we have to persevere through this crisis so that as few people as possible get infected and possibly die. 

Q. You are overrated at basketball

A: ok 

Q. If someone were to avoid their punishment deemed appropriate in a court case, what do you think would be a just punishment for said person?

A. Depends on the case. I have no context for the infraction here. If someone forgot to pay a parking fee, I wouldn’t throw them in jail. If someone leaves their house when they’re under house arrest then they’re going to prison.

Q. Is this China’s fault? Is this Drumpf’s fault?
A. Is it China’s fault? I think we should assume no because we have no conclusive evidence that China had anything to do with spreading the virus. They do have suspicious history of viruses and flus starting within the region but we can not say with any confidence level that it’s their fault.

Is this Drumpf’s fault? He’s more to blame for allowing the spread of it relative to other countries than as the root cause for the inception of the virus. In the end, both sides of the aisle are going to blame each other for this whole issue and we’re never actually going to know. Personally, I think there are a lot of people at fault and it would be safe to assume anyone who holds a significant seat in state and federal politics is to blame.

Q. Any conspiracy theories?

-5G towers spread the virus. (No, they don’t.)

-Lysol will cure the virus. (As aforementioned, no it doesn’t.)

-Sunlight will stop the virus. (No, it doesn’t. Why do we still have it during the summer then?)

-Hydroxychloroquine will stop the virus. (Why would a malaria drug stop the coronavirus? This is now an issue for people who struggle with malaria because now there is a drug shortage.)

-We should start hoarding toilet paper. (Not a conspiracy, just an incident of people following the lemmings. Way to start problems that never even existed.)

-Coronavirus is a bioweapon made by the Chinese. (Probably not true, and there is no evidence proving that it is true.)

-Coronavirus is a bioweapon made by the US and brought to Wuhan by US military. (Same sentiment as expressed in the above claim but switch the parties involved.)

-Army reservist started the coronavirus. (Why are you picking on a random woman like that? That’s just mean and also untrue.)

-Bill Gates started it. (It’s ironic that we’re abusing the man who predicted that we would get caught off guard by an infectious strain such as COVID-19.)

-All people of [Insert Asian ethnicity here] descent have the virus. (No, I don’t have the corona, thanks for asking.)

Q. Should social distancing restrictions be relaxed to preserve the economy?

A. Unless you want millions of people dead, no. I kind of understand the argument, but the economy will rebuild itself once people start going out more and buying stuff freely after the virus has passed.

Q. Who’s the best Minecraft player in the school?

A. Me, obviously. (it’s Reese Nelson)

Q. What’s your favorite bedtime story?

A. “Goodnight Moon” (illustrated by my great-uncle by the way. Not to flex.)

Q. How tall?

A. 9.87 * 10^-4 nautical miles. 

Q. If someone were to fall off a bridge because of its construction, do you blame the constructor of the bridge, particularly if the bridge requires payment to use?

A. In a rightful world, yes. 

Q. Who would win in a game of ping pong, Dwayne Johnson or Andrew Yang?

A. Andrew Yang

Q. How do you stay busy when not doing school work at home?

A. I’m learning programming and taking composition so those keep me busy when I’m not spending my time gaming with other people. I would get Netflix, but then I would be paying out of my own pocket and I don’t have the money for that. I wouldn’t say I’m not busy but sometimes it feels like I’m bored because of psychology or something like that.

Q. Is Reese good at Minecraft?

A. I wouldn’t say he is good. He just spends all of his free time on it. 

Q. What are your favorite zoom backgrounds?

A. 

1. Mr. Hoppe’s staff photo
2. Daniel Ricciardo
3. My dad

Q. Do you have any shows or movie suggestions for quarantine?

A.

1. Planet Earth (watching animals fight each other is incredible)
2. The Last Dance (Documentary about Michael Jordan on ESPN)
3. Tiger King (For the memes)
4. All of the Monty Python Movies

Q. My friend is charging 1 diamond for a stack of leaves. Do you think this is a fair price?

A. Considering in Minecraft that getting a stack of leaves is really easy to get and a diamond is really hard to get then I’d say no. Just get the leaves yourself with shears (made of objects that are also readily available.)

Q. How many squirrels have you counted in your yard?

A. Like 1? Maybe 2. 

Q. What’s the best video game?

A. FIFA 20 (This answer was brought to you by EA Sports)

Q. How are you spending quarantine with Emi?

A. I’m spending it in eternal sadness. 

Q. Is this the end of the world? If not when is the world going to end?

A. I don’t want to predict the end of the world. The coronavirus will not end the world because we will have a vaccine before everyone dies out. Something else will probably die.

Q. How are you dealing with the voices in your head?

A. I don’t have schizophrenia.

Q. What’s your guilty pleasure?

A. Chocolate sauce.

Q. Favorite olive oil?

A. Extra-virgin Olive Oil.

Q. How can the governments of the world solve the COVID-19 Pandemic?

If your citizens refuse to listen to medical advice you might as well just give up.

Q. Sephora or Ulta Beauty?

A. Sephora.

Q. Are masks effective?

A. Yes.

 Q. How effective are they? 

A. Depends on type, but the majority of them are. 

Q. Should masks only be used in hospitals?

A. They should be used everywhere except at home. 

Q. Will we be back in the fall? 

A. It all depends on how many people are fraternizing with each other and when the vaccine comes out. Once the vaccine comes out, I think things will finally return to normal. 

Q. Can we all go back if everybody has been quarantined?

A. Yes actually, because the virus would die out as it couldn’t spread to a new host. That’s why some people wish they could wave magic wands and have all of the people in the world stay 6 feet apart from each other for 2 weeks. 

Q. What if families refuse to go to school because they have old people living with them?

A. If it’s still bad enough for this to be an issue, then we probably wouldn’t be going to school anyway.