Free Rice

What is Free Rice?

Hello Reader! Let's start off with Free Rice's own answer to this question:

Screenshot from www.freerice.com/about

When it comes to the website "Free Rice" it's important to know just what it IS and what it IS NOT.

What it IS, is a website (www.freerice.com) run by the United Nations' World Food Programme that

Star Trek: The Powers that Be

This article is actually a forum post responding to an argument regarding the status of the Cardassian Union and how it compares, in terms of power, to other civilizations in the Star Trek universe. Since I went into so much detail, I figured I shouldn't waste the effort and decided to turn that forum post into a blog article. Enjoy. Please comment with any questions, and share this to your Trekkie or Trekker friends!

Since there is still confusion as to who qualifies as a Major Power in the Alpha Quadrant let's break it down a bit. There are several types of political/military powers and different types of influence are classified under different categories. Each category is rather broad and basic but also clarifies some distinction between power levels and power focuses. Power Level is about literally who is stronger, while Power Focus clarifies how a nation state might use their power if it is a defining attribute.

For example, in the real world we have Mega Power, Super Power, Major Power, Major Isolationist Power, Major Mercantile Power, and Minor Power (Isolationist and Mercantile Powers can have Minor Power versions as well). We can apply all of these to Star Trek. To be honest, no one really knows what to do with Raider States or Pirate based societies, so they tend

Right Even When Wrong

If you ever want to know what's like arguing with a Mormon, just read the following story:

"A friend's world history teacher told his class that Confucius once remarked "It is wasteful to try to kill a fly with a cannon or a bullet." Someone mentioned that Confucius lived thousands of years before gunpowder was invented, in response to which the teacher argued he was right for some time. The next day he told the class "Even though he wasn't right, they shouldn't have questioned him because he has authority and experience."

He is not teaching at our school next year."

Petition for Food Stamps, Low Income Families and College

Tonight I published a new petition to the Federal Government through Change.org. The title is "Allow Low Income College Students to receive Food Stamps" and is my own original petition.

I don't know how many of you might already know this but currently college students, even those from low income families with high financial need are denied food stamps if they are enrolled even part time in a college or university. Help me encourage progress in our United States and tell the government to help students not hurt them.

You can read the whole brief article as well as sign and share the petition by clicking HERE. This link takes you directly to the Change.org page hosting my petition. The more signatures the better and we might be one step closer to achieving equal opportunities in America regardless of a person's economic status!