In-Class Essay #3

I have chosen to write my paper about a proposal that would help domestically abused women. Right now, when a woman is abused finding help can be very difficult. A lot of the times police to not respond in a way they should, doctors in hospitals ignore the signs, and there are not very many shelters for abused women to seek refuge in.
This topic is a good fit for me because once I graduate I want to go out into the community and help people who are struggling either physically or mentally and this topic will help explore on aspect of my future career. Also I chose to write my paper on this topic because I feel that it is very important to society to be aware of these issues. I feel that I can bring a different look upon these issues because I am younger than most of the people who have previously researched and written about them.
I have never experienced or known anyone personally who has experienced domestic abuse but I feel that I have seen and heard enough from various news reports and personal testimony from a few women to understand how awful the protection system for these women is. I want to make sure that anyone who reads my paper can see how awful it is and realize that something serious needs to be done to help these women. They do not deserve this kind of treatment and if they are receiving it, society should do everything they can to protect them from it.

Did You Know?

So you think you know the world and it's future. Guess Again!! Watch this video, it will astonish you!!

Analysis of "Common Sense"

I have always heard about the common sense pamphlets that were circulating during the revolution, in history classes throughout the years but I have never been interested in reading them. Now that I had to read them I am glad I did. The words that Thomas Paine had to say were very motivating and interesting. While reading them I wanted to get up and do something to help shape the government into a better one for today’s world. I didn’t understand all of it because it was written in old English but I understood enough of it because he wrote it in a way that the common person of that day would be able to understand. He brings up some very good points about how absurd it is to think the king to be wiser then all other people, how there were no kings according to the early scripture, and how God disproves of having kings and calls having kings a sin of the Jews.

It is very absurd to think that a man, as equal as everyone else, could be any wiser then a man who owns a farm or works in a carpentry shop. God made all man equal according to the scriptures and man himself has no right to declare him more powerful then all other men. The king is shut off from the world and has no idea how things are so he/she has no knowledge of what should be done which is what complicates the whole thing. Although this is one fact against kingdoms, absurdity is not the only valid one.

According to early scriptures there were no kings around. In fact there were no kings for 3000 years, until the Jews requested one, and everything ran smoothly. Having no kings meant no wars; according to Thomas Paine “it is the pride of the king that throws mankind into confusion”, causing wars. In fact Holland had no king around this time era and they had enjoyed more peace than any other monarchial government in Europe in that past century, according to Thomas Paine.

Not only does it not mention having kings in the early scriptures but it is mentioned that having kings is a sin of the Jews and that God highly disproves of the matter. Scripture says that “government which is so impiously prerogative of Heaven”. Thomas Paine mentions that kings were first introduced to the world by Heathens. “It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. They started out paying great respect to their dead kings and it evolved from there into worshiping the living kings.

Thomas Paine uses all of these facts to attack his enemies. He put down their way of government in every way he knew how and in turn he got a lot of support from the colonists. The things he mentions in his pamphlets are not only riveting to the colonists but they are true which is what hurt the British government’s chances the most.

Common Sense Website

Friday Tech Assignment

-Allysa's Blog

-College Humor- Pictures, Videos, Etc.

-Already have a You Tube video on my blog.

-Already have images on my blog.

-Audio File

Spring Break 2008

For spring break all I did was go home. Fort Wayne, Indiana is were I call home. While I was there I worked at KFC to make a few extra bucks, hung out with my boyfriend, hung out with my brother, hung out with my friend Lauren who got her wisdom teeth taken out at the beginning of break, and had the flu one of the days of break. My break was not all that exciting but there were a few days that were pretty fun. One day during break my boyfriend and I went to the inside go-cart place in Fort Wayne and raced each other. We were the only two there because it was the middle of the day on a school day so it was more fun then usual. After that we went to a movie and then went to the mall. On Friday my parents, my boyfriend, and I went to Coney Island, a very old and famous coney dog restaurant in Fort Wayne. They serve Coke in glass bottles which is pretty neat to be able to find some place that still does that. The rest of the days I worked and just hung out and did whatever seemed entertaining at the moment.

Anti-Flag an Antiestablishment Band?

Ever since the war in Iraq started in 2001 there have been many singer/songwriters and bands that have performed songs defy the war efforts such as Billy Bragg, Merle Haggard, Nellie McKay, and the band Anti-Flag (Pareles 1). Anti-Flag as caught the most scrutiny about it, being called an antiestablishment band in an article in The New York Times published on November 26, 2001. Anti-Flag is not an antiestablishment band because according to the dictionary antiestablishment is “opposed to or working against the existing power structure or mores, as of society or government” (dictionary.com). The lyrics of Anti-Flag’s songs are not to be mistaken as going against the government; they are simply talking about bringing peace to the world.
In a live performance Anti-Flag took a short break from their songs after “Bring Out Your Dead” to talk about this article in which they were said to be an antiestablishment band. Justin Sane the lead singer of the band had a few thoughts about the article. “One of the things that I think to myself, what’s so wrong and what’s so antiestablishment with the idea of wanting peace, why is that anti-establishment? Why is wanting to be told the truth antiestablishment? These aren’t antiestablishment ideas; these are pro-fucking-peace ideas!”(Justin Sane) The ideas of Anti-Flag are not to get people to go against the government or start an upheaval but they are trying to get people to think about bringing more peace to this nation instead of, in the words of one of their songs “A New Kind of Army”, killing mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, common human beings, not savages but people, like you, like me!
In the article in which Anti-Flag is said to be an antiestablishment band a man is interviewed by the name of Mr. Carpe. He says that he used to worship antiestablishment punk-rock groups like Anti-Flag and he states, “It’s cool what they’re saying, but this is not Vietnam at all. This is terrorism” (Chen 1). No matter what the war is over, innocent people are being killed so peace ideas like those of Anti-Flag should not be seen as antiestablishment ideas. Now that the war has gone on for so long the original heroic feelings people were having, have died off and now they just want the war to end. They are scared of going to war and dying as soon as they set foot in the country. “Before I was thinking that it would be good for my resume, because anywhere you go, you say, ‘I was in the Army,’ they give you a job easily,” said Mr. Polanco who was interviewed in the article, “But now it’s scary. Everyone I see, they are scared. They don’t want to go. My family doesn’t want me to go” (Chen 2).
This current war has taken the lives of many soldiers and innocent civilians. To date according to globalsercurity.org and antiwar.com the number of American casualties is totaled to be 28,773 (Pike) and the total Iraqi civilian deaths is 1,173,743 (Casualties). These numbers may be overwhelming but they are not the only numbers to be considered in this war. According to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) Operation Iraqi Freedom has cost $93.7 billion. If there was no war that money could have gone towards something more useful such as getting the government out of debt or helping those less fortunate. The government acts like the innocent lives being lost and the tremendous amounts of money being spent mean nothing. There is a line in an Anti-Flag song entitled “One Trillion Dollars” that satirizes this situation. It goes, “one trillion dollars what a bullshit useless thing”. They are trying to say with this war the government is showing plain old greed when they could take the “peace” route and things could be much better.
Anti-Flag should not be considered an antiestablishment band because all they are doing is trying to convey peace ideas to the nation. This world could be a more enjoyable place all around if we as a whole society would try to go towards the pro-peace ideas. In the words of an Anti-Flag song, A New Kind of Army, “We’re looking to start a new army, (that’s) too smart to fight, too smart to die. We’re looking to start a new army, (that’s) too smart to fight, too smart to kill”(A New Kind of Army). Anyone interested in the position?