“Cannabis, what is that?” some people ask. Okay, how about Marijuana? Are the first things that come to your mind images of hippies and giggling potheads? If it is, then you need to turn your view around. The Marijuana Cannabis Hemp plant may just be the miracle that this world needs.
Cigarettes
are a suicidal tool, nothing different then a razor against your skin. Yet,
currently in the United States there are 3.4 million high school students
smoking their lives away. Cigarette smoking and
exposure to secondhand smoke result in approximately 443,000 premature deaths
per year. This is
something that is killing millions of people and yet it is legal? Why? Because
the amount of taxes that the country gets off of tobacco is overwhelming. The
state with the highest tax on cigarettes is New York. As of 2009 it was 4.35
dollars. Mix that with all the smokers and you have an immense amount of money.
The total annual public and private health care expenditures caused by smoking
is 96 billion dollars. That is insane. Cigarettes are a hole in wallets and
lungs. Yet prostitution that doesn’t cause any harm is illegal.
Alcohol
is another razor to the skin. It is an infestation of the liver and has caused
a ton of deaths over the years. On October 5th 2010 the state
representative, Brad Bennet, from Delaware was charged for a DUI. This means
that he was driving while drunk. A state representative drinking you might ask?
Yes, it has not been the first incident like this. People of the law drink, and
they drink because it is something they want to do. Brad went on to say, “ The
past few months have been very trying for both me and my family dealing with
personal issues.” I guess because he is having some
problems with his family that everything is just okay. However in a case where
Gordon Hintz, a Democrat, paid a $2,032.50 fine because he went to a massage
parlor offering prostitution. He wasn’t even accused of using the service yet
he got the fine.
Gay marriages have been a huge
controversy for years. It is against religions and there for religion is
running the government. The government is not allowing to have gays to marry
because of “God’s rules.” People that are gay do not cause any harm to people.
They do not cause problems and being in a marriage with someone of the same sex
does not cause any disturbances. I was once told that a marriage should be
between two people that love each other and that will do anything for each
other. People who find love in the same sex are not wrong. They have just found
something that has made them complete. Something that is hard to come by and
taking that away from them because of a religion is absurd. Prostitution is
also against religions for having sex before marriage would make you a whore.
Prostitution is illegal because; you can’t tax it, want triumphs over need, there for the people running the government don’t want it, and finally religious aspects. These things run the government and make something that causes no harm to be illegal.
"Raise
Officer Patrick McDonald, Badge #2831 as 39-Pat-8, please. Radio, 39-Pat-8…
Radio, 39-Pat-8… Radio, 39-Pat-8. Radio 39-Eddie there is no response from
39-Pat-8. 39-Eddie, can I get a time check please? WPRW578, the time is 1:00
p.m. and the date is September 23,2008. 39-Eddie, from his Police family, our
thanks for a job well done. Radio; take 39-Pat-8 off the board for the last
time. Received, thank you. *EMERGENCY TONE* All cars standby unless you have an
emergency. Attention all Police, all units be advised at 1:25 p.m. this date,
the 22nd District has retired the call sign 39-P (Pat)-8 for the final time.
That’s repeating, at 1:25 p.m. this date, the 22nd District has retired the
call sign 39-P (Pat)-8 for the final time. WPRW578, the correct time is 1:39
p.m."
What
just ran through your head? I’m guessing a lot. When an officer is killed in
their line of duty their call sign or car number is retired permanently. That’s
what was going on above. Its a tribute because Sgt. Patrick McDonald was killed
doing something he loved helping the ones who needed him the most.
Sgt.
McDonald was an Officer I knew. He lived in my neighborhood. Every time I would
walk by him or see him up Liberty Bell Field he would hold a conversation with
me. “Hello, How are you?” or even just a simple, “hello!” He was there for
everyone family, friends, or even complete strangers. He died at age 25 being
so young, but dying doing something he loved.
Not only has this officer or sergeant put his life on the line but
many other have done so as well. The only thing is most people do not
appreciate what one individual Police officer does for his or her district. The
rates of an officer getting shot are rising about 0.02% a year. Yes that might
not seem like a lot but its said that officers should always go in knowing you
will or might have a gun pointed to you and shot.
Police
officers need the attitude of, “were going in alive, and coming out the same
way!” The 249 Police officers and Sergeants that were killed in Philly all had
that attitude, but lost their job because some loser decides to shoot them for
doing their job.
There are a
selective few of people in the city or state where a Police officer dies, which
do not care. Those select few of people are the type of people who trash talk
cops and call them all kind of names such as “pigs”.
What
bothers me the most is when I hear teenagers going f*** the Police. Funny thing
is that if they were in trouble I’m pretty sure the Police are the first people
they will call. The select few of people that do not care about Police are the
ones who are cold hearted enough to write on YouTube.com their honest truth on
how they don’t like cops. I was reading comments on a tribute to Sgt. McDonald,
and read the comment “I smell bacon, I smell pork, and run lil piggy I got a
fork!”
The
things said about our heroes are wrong. The shootings, killings, and injuries
need to be cut. People need to stop aiming weapons at police when they are
called on a job to help the city. Officers need to put their foot down and by
standers need to grow up. When you see an officer just bow your head in respect
and realize what they do for you and your peers. When you hear about a fallen
hero appreciate it. Just remember who was the savior for you at one point!
El Salvador, a country from my region
to-date, endures hurricanes and suffers from a number of human-induced
environmental issues such as: water-pollution and climate change. Indonesia, a
country from my previous region, experiences tsunamis (and the like) and deals
with water and air pollution. There are many issues within these countries in
addition to those that I mentioned. Deforestation is the main environmental
commonality between Indonesia and El Salvador. Climate change and environmental
damage afflict both countries significantly.
I
began this process by entering all of the guidelines for this project into a
word document. I applied the five-point framework to each of the countries and
researched information that corresponds to each. The document that I created
was consistently referred to throughout this process. Google was of great
assistance in acquiring websites that produce information that is essential to
understanding and determining the “collapse-ibility” of the countries. I
encountered websites like: U.S. Department of State and environmental
organizations. The most tedious task, other than using the five-point
framework, was settling on an appealing and informational layout. Other steps
were to organize, form my bibliography, and incorporate pictures.
The
five-point framework was all of straightforward, difficult and perplexing.
Categories (points) like: hostile neighbors and trade partners were open. I did
not enjoy wrapping my research around the point framework because some of the
information lacked. The process of indentifying recent, accurate sources was
frustrating.
Things
I'd Change...I would address the 5 points in further depth. I made some
connections to Collapse and mentioned
the issues that support each category, but the paragraphs could be longer and
more detailed. *The information was still adequate and well presented.
The
project was different, complex, and plenty other things. More time for
completion is necessary for this project.
Pow! Pow! Pow! Gun shoots rang in the East Wing of the school building. For the past 50 years, school shootings have happened all over the US. The first shooting was reported in 1966 at the University of Texas. By the end of the shooting, there were 16 victims. What inside gets people so angry that they want to shoot their peers? People are bullied almost every second of the day, but to open fire on people at school is no excuse. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
In some cases, these shootings are accidents. People might carry the firearms for protection because they live in really horrible neighborhoods. When that happens some students carry the guns in the backpacks, resulting in the gun discharging when the student sits their bag down. If that happens clearly the student did not intend on anyone in school getting hurt. This happened at Gardena High School in Los Angeles, CA. This is the most recent school shooting in the US taking place on January 8, 2011. The firearm was in the 17-year-old childs book bag when it went off. This left 2 students wounded, and now the teen is being tried as an adult for assault with a deadly weapon. He has a history of being bullied so he carried the gun for that, but had no intentions on using it in school.
The city of Los Angeles as a large community can’t watch every student in each school. On the other hand they can get their school security system together. A school official said that over 3000 students attend Gardena High School. The security there uses a handheld metal detector on each student as they enter the school building, so it is very easy for a student to slip pass security with a weapon. Assuming this a pretty large building, there will be multiple entrances to the building. Therefore there should be security with handheld metal detectors on each entrance so it is much easier to catch a student with a weapon.
Is Philly next? With all the shootings we have outside of school for fights that happen in school, you never know. One day someone is going to walk into a Philadelphia high school and open fire. So far there has been 4 school shootings in the state of Pennsylvania. There’s only a matter of time before the fifth one happens, and no one knows where in Pennsylvania it will be.
Some TV shows base episodes on school violence, and some movies are based on school violence. They want to express the fact that you shouldn’t bully people, shoot up your school, and commit random acts of violence in school. They want to keep things like that out of the school community. Now that doesn’t mean it’s ok to go outside and do the same thing. It’s not ok, and it can lead you down the wrong road in life.
The US is supposed to be the land of the free. It can be that when you have people shooting each other in school, or bullying one another, or even cursing each other out. Not everyone is going to get along, but when you meet someone new, get to know him or her first because they might being going through the same things as you. If you don’t take the initiative to do that, it shows how much of a coward you are. You’re not fooling anyone but yourself.
School shootings are 100% preventable because the person getting ready to blast the school can make the decision to stop and walk away. It’s just a matter of if that person cares enough to. If you are a victim or suspect of school violence then you need to talk to someone and get immediate counseling. No one ever wants to be the one getting picked on, but it happens and life goes on. It takes one person to be that change, so why not be them?
You ever about if there will be a third world war? Well, maybe it’s in motion. There’s a little place in North African, called Tunisia. A little vendor burned himself alive, and put in motion what could be the third world war. After the revolution in Tunisia happened, there was one in Egypt that was monumental, another uprising in Syria, and an uprising in Libya. In Libya fighting has broken out and the US has intervened, we can expect them to intervene in the Syrian situation as well. This could bring another war into affect, because of the positioning and the importance of Syria if The United States tries to intervene Iran, will step in, then causing another world war. To say that this isn’t bad for the United States, because war produces money, like in factories and produces jobs.
Tunisia is where this all started, a street vendor. He went to college in Tunisia, but with Tunisia’s horrible economy he didn’t find a good enough job, so he had to sell fruit. “There were too many smart young people and too little jobs in Tunisia” Says Kim Marzouk. Who lived in Tunisia for the first 25 years of his life before coming to America.
In Egypt, the situation has calmed down to where they’re rebuilding their government. There military is in powerful, but a slip, and we could see something like what happened in Haiti?
There has been tension between the United States and the Middle East for years, and this is just something to maximize that violence.
This is what America need. In the 1950’s America was facing hard times, they entered World War 2, which brought money to the United States. Money comes in from factories that make weapons of war like tanks, guns, warplanes and ammunition.
If you think about what’s really good for our country this would be it But, it could also good for our enemy countries. Iran’s nuclear presence worries the United States, and an engage of the United States into Syria could prompt Iran into declaring war which will prompt all of The United States alleys to invade, like Poland, Qatar, Norway, Spain, and many more.
All and all. This might be a long shot, because the United States could be fearful to tamper with Syria because of the Situation it has with other Middle Eastern countries could prompt a nuclear war. My Parents have inside knowledge about the situation, and they agree. “If American touches Syria, then Iran will declare war, we will see action from Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and his group, which will prompt other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, like Al-qudia.
All in all, this might be the worst thing that could come from all of this, war, death and destruction. But, in the long run, it might be helpful for the United States.
I compared New Zealand and Ireland, two separate and well-to-do nations. They are both islands, and have english speaking residents, which gives them some similarities even though they are far apart.
I focused mostly in the research aspect, which brought me to tough place at the end. I decided to create a google doc to record all the useful information I found, divided by country and "point." By the time I had enough information, the project was due and I was left with just a google doc and not a website as planned. Retrospectively, I should have gone straight to the website after each section. If I could change it, I would definitely fix the entire product. I'm displeased with the result, and wish I had chosen a different process to get there.
The five point framework in itself was not too complex. However it was harder to find good information that was more in depth that a general overview of each nation. One of my difficulties was separating some of the information. While researching, I found certain pieces that I thought could be part of more than one point in the framework. Distinguishing them was sometimes tricky, especially with environmental damage and climate change. Over all, it was not my best benchmark to say the least, but I still learned a lot about Ireland and New Zealand.
Advertising has an influence on everyone in one way or another, but it especially has an influence on the consumers in the United States and people who don’t realize the significance behind it. Catchy jingles, funny slogans, and cartoon characters are all key factors that have persuaded consumers on certain products. Advertising influences the toys children buy, the clothes they wear, and the food they eat. But the worst part is they’re unaware of the true meaning behind it all.
Advertising influences children’s choice of toys for example. When a commercial shows children laughing and playing, children assume it must be a fun toy, regardless of what it really is. For example, my four-year-old nephew begs his mother for a pogo-stick all the time, even though he’s never used one before. Every time he sees a pogo-stick commercial, he’ll get excited and start screaming. The advertisements have made him believe that if he had a pogo-stick, he would instantly have the same fun and skill as the boys and girls using the pogo-sticks on TV. He also wants a fingernail kit like the one my sister has. He doesn’t really know what a fingernail kit is, but he knows from the commercials he sees that it has glitter and stickers, which are both very appealing. This is only one of the many ways advertisements can attract customers like parents into buying their products.
Another influence advertising has is with the clothes people want to wear. Clothes from K-Mart and Target are no longer good enough. Brand names such as Hollister, Aéropostale, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle are much more appealing to the people. My teenage sister is always looking through magazines examining each outfit with such little detail. She always wants to change her outfits to keep up with the latest fashion and most popular brand names without even properly knowing what she’s wearing. But of course, clothes worn by celebrities are always at the top of her shopping list. Little does she know of the huge impact she’s having in regards to buying those clothes. Sweatshops are a huge part of American society in such a very subtle way. Ignorance also plays a big part in advertising, not letting people know who actually makes their clothes. For example, workers in El Salvador's clothing factories make just about 72 cents an hour. In other factories, the workers only make 12 cents for every 20 dollar shirt that gets bought. As a US Consumer, we’re not aware of the huge problem we’re supporting. And it’s clothing brands like American Apparel who endorse their “No sweatshop made” policies that earn them the rightful publicity they deserve.
Lastly, advertising influences even the food we want to eat. Cartoon characters are placed on boxes of foods like fruit snacks and cereal to influence and persuade young children. For instance, my family and I were grocery shopping one day. And my cousin asked me if I would buy her some yogurt to have for breakfast. Without realizing, for the cheapest brand of yogurt on the shelf and was about to put it in the cart when she said, "I want the Power Rangers yogurt." I didn’t realize at first what she was talking about until she pointed to the shelf behind me. I noticed a container of yogurt with pictures of Power Rangers characters on the front. I tried to tell her that the yogurt I had picked up, which happened to be a dollar cheaper, would taste the same. After arguing back and forth, I finally submitted and purchased the more expensive Power Rangers yogurt. As we continued shopping, she also spotted Blues Clues applesauce, Hot Wheels fruit snacks, and Spongebob cheese-crackers on the shelves and wanted me to buy those as well. I found myself once again trying to explain to a four year old that all the items taste the same as the other, non-branded kinds. Which means as long as companies continue to target children with advertising jingles, slogans, and cartoon characters, children will continue to be influenced. And they will be ignorant to the fact they are being subliminally influenced without even realizing. And it all starts at the young age, with the toys they want, the clothes they wear, and the food they want to eat. And the product with the most advertising appeal will determine it.
Recently, debate over the proposed merger of two phone companies has been clogging the tubes of the tech world. Cellphone giant, AT&T, announced on March 20th that it has agreed to acquire T-Mobile USA for a whopping $39 billion dollars. To most, this would seem to be a considerably hefty price, but in reality, the acquisition’s benefits outweigh its disadvantages for AT&T. From this purchase, the company would gain substantial network space, which would assist it in relinquishing its dismal reputation as being “the network with the most dropped calls,” as well as aid in the development of its up and coming 4G network. Though that news alone is significant, it is not what has become the center of a considerably heated debate.
AT&T and T-Mobile cellphones operate using a technology called Global System for Mobile Communications, which is more commonly known by its acronym, GSM. GSM is the international standard for cellphones, and is used by consumers across the globe. Why does it matter that AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM carriers? Well, they are the only GSM carriers in the United States, as other American cellphone giants, such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint NEXTEL, use a different cellphone technology, CDMA.
Considering that this merger would produce a monopoly of sorts on GSM technology in the United States, many prominent figures in the cellphone industry have risen in an uproar, opposing the union of the two companies. Cellphone manufacturers such as Motorola and HTC are among those who are against the merger, because If there is only one GSM carrier in the United States, that carrier can now dictate the prices of the mobile phones it buys from manufacturers, as they are their only GSM customers, ultimately controlling the amount of profit the manufacturers achieve.
Another company that has strongly voiced its opposition towards the merger, is Sprint NEXTEL. As of now, Sprint is number three on the list of largest cellphone carriers, above T-Mobile and behind AT&T. If T-Mobile is acquired by AT&T, AT&T will skyrocket to the top of the list, above Verizon Wireless, leaving Sprint still in third, but a considerably smaller company than either AT&T or Verizon, eliminating it from being any sort of competition to either network giant.
So, what does this mean for consumers across the nation? Well, if you belong to a CDMA service provider, and you never plan to leave the country, you are the least affected by this, and you probably have an indifferent standpoint on the whole debacle. If you are a GSM user currently on T-Mobile, or a future GSM user, you are most effected by the merger, and should view this dilemma as a cause to protest. For current T-Mobile customers, the future of your phone bill is unclear as of now, but expect to eventually have to pay AT&T’s exceptionally expensive rates. As for future GSM customers, you will only have one choice in carriers, and if you do not favor their price, tough luck.
Reviewing all of the facts, it is evident from this acquisition, AT&T is concerned only with their own personal growth, and the growth of their customer ecosystem. It is unfortunate that they are more concerned with the future of their company, and not with American consumers as a whole. Then again, in an industry as competitive as the cellphone industry, the favored saying must be, “to survive, you either have to eat, or be eaten.”
Just
as most children in the world a young 11 year old girl in Cleveland, Texas was
allegedly sexually assaulted and of course it was all lead to being her fault.
A small blog about this story stated, “Some who attended the meeting in
Cleveland blamed the girl for the way she dressed and claimed she lied about
her age.” Theoretically she wanted this act upon her. A small committee
gathered in her town to discuss what was going on and came to the conclusion
she was asking to be sexually abused. Seamus O Riley said on her blog “Kids are
groomed to think this is a good person who cares about them." She is right
when things like this happen kids think it is an act of affection and they
adapt to it.
Child
abuse is more or less just a “Hi” and “Bye” thing; because most people have
such a nonchalant attitude they just say it’s “bad” people abuse their child.
Whenever the top comes up people just think if everybody does it there is
nothing that can be done. So not much thought should be put into it.
Physical,
sexual, emotional and mental are all different things but it is still abuse to
a child. When a child is emotionally abused they have a lot of build up fear in
them and they’re not attached to their parent or guardian, as they should be.
They don’t feel genuine love.
Statistics
say “An average of nearly four children die every day as a result of child
abuse or neglect (1,760 in 2007).” Also “Girls are sexually abused three times
more often than boys. Boys are at a greater risk of serious injury and of
emotional neglect than are girls. The incidence of fatally injured girls
declined slightly, while the incidence of fatally injured boys rose. Found no
race differences in maltreatment incidence.”
The
most obvious is the physical abuse towards a child, causing unnecessary injury
to a child with hands or any object. Making bruises, welts and cuts, causing
them to flinch for no reason and having inappropriate clothing on, according to
what the weather is during that day.
People
have must really sit back and think about how they are the adults. Take a few
minutes and talk to a child before you decide to raise your hand and ask
yourself is this action you’re doing to a child helping them in any way or is
it hurting them. Realize child abuse is harming the new generation of the world
and if children are being affect now.
Who is to say in the future when youngsters become the next mayor and
president that the world won’t be at a grate disadvantage.
Adults
have to start going beyond what they think they know about raising or
disciplining a child. Embrace children of the world because some people need to feel physical
affection and ask them, do you feel loved?
