Can't find any clothes made in the USA? Try American Apparel

This all started when one of my teachers told me that they do not purchase items made from foreign countries unless it was absolutely necessary. With this, my teacher had also taught me about outsourcing to overseas countries (such as China) and the good it does not do for our nation. Obviously, buying something made in the USA helps stimulate the economy but when you buy something made in the USA, you support working Americans and you help them keep their job. I then asked my teacher where you could possibly find clothes that are made in the USA (it was a dumb question, I know, but I was curious to see if he knew of any clothing manufacturers in the USA) and he replied saying "tailors", which is largely expensive for your entire wardrobe.

So after doing a little research, I came across a company known as American Apparel. American Apparel uses a technique called vertical integration
in the company's method of control. Upon even more investigation, I discovered that they use organic cotton in some of their products and the kicker: they make their clothing in the United States. Not only that, the company claims to be "sweatshop free" and treat their workers quite fairly. Upon reading this I figured I'd go to their nearest store and try them out.

As a high school student, the current clothing trends are king in the Hollister/Abercrombie department. As a high school student and a hopeful future politician, I am proud to say I own clothing from American Apparel, which sets away from the current trend, and my shirts were made in the USA.

This week I am on spring break and on Monday I took a trip up to the King of Prussia mall with my friend. I got to check out the American Apparel store and I found out a few things about their actual products.

• The majority of their products are usually one solid color, without any sort of design on them or any logos of that sort.
• Their products have a fair price. The shirts tend to $15 which I think is a fair price when you compare the prices to other popular clothing brands.
• The fits are pretty much true to the size and they tend to be more slimmer and a bit tighter.

After I finished shopping, I purchased a black zip up fleece, a red t-shirt, a blue t-shirt, and a black organic cotton t-shirt. The total came to be around $93 which is pretty high up there but the money, at least I hope, goes into good hands.

Overall, I was very satisfied. I recommend for you to give them a try and be sure to check out the American Apparel website and online store.

Are you a Nine Inch Nails fan?

Ever since Trent Reznor openly admitted he supports sharing music, I have been following his philosophy closer and closer. I know this is old, but I recently checked out the official NIN remix website. I think these remixes are pretty sweet and I might contribute to one some day with my friend. If you're a NIN fan, I recommend you check it out. Some of the stand out remixes are

• Right Where It Belongs V.3 (instrumental for trent)
• The Great Destroyer - modwheelmood

Should drugs be legalized?

I think that you might change your mind on things after reading this article.

No motivation to do your homework? Here's a solution that might work

I was recently talking to my friend Samer and he was telling me that he has quite a bit of homework but absolutely no will power to do any of it. I am afraid to say that I have the same problem, and I'm sure there are many other people out there like Samer and I that share this problem.

In fact, this is such a significant problem that Samer actually devised one way to break this habit and I his solution is one that really could work. Samer's plan to beat procrastinating homework is:

• After school is done for the day, go to a quiet place that is relaxing, such as Barnes and Noble or a local Library.
  
• Finish all or most of your homework at this location (some assignments require the internet, art supplies, etc)
• Go home and take a break, perhaps work out, read a little bit, play an hour of video games, whatever floats your boat.
• Finish the remainder of your homework (if any)
• Enjoy the rest of your evening.

When Samer described his plan to me, I thought it was well constructed for being made up on the spot. Going to a quiet relaxing place works due to the fact you disconnect yourself from distractions like TV, AIM, the internet, and annoying family members. Samer also suggested going with a friend having a sort of "study buddy" so you are not alone.

Next week, Samer and I plan to try this out. I will let you know what happens as a result.

Pownce

Today I discovered a social networking website called Pownce and I highly recommend that you try this website out. When I first visited the website I was drawn in. I created an account and decided to give it a try and so far so good I am really liking what Pownce offers and the incredible amount of Potential behind the website. Pownce features:

• Public and private messaging among your friends
  
• The ability to send links to your friends
  
• File transfers of up to 10 Mb
  
• An event calendar to let your friends know what is up
  
• A downloadable application to use Pownce on your desktop even when you are not on the website
  

I have tried out the downloadable application and I am very please with it. It’s well constructed and uses Adobe’s new Air platform. It’s a great addition to my second monitor on my dual monitor set up. All in all, I am pretty happy with Pownce. If you happen to try out Pownce, feel free to add me.