FlamesFinalProject
I have decided that my project will be a website. I do not have everything uploaded yet, but here is what the URL of the website my project will be on: http://web.mac.com/flames755/iWeb/9EEE7E85-EBDD-4FAC-8789-4ADB5BFE3EC8/English%20Project.html
(Note: The links at the top of the pages have nothing to do with my project.)
USA TODAY: \"Mexicans see immigration to U.S. as part of life\". This is rather outrageous. It is hard for me to believe would see any attempts to control illegal flow of people across national borders as doing the United States's "dirty work". The Mexican goverment must have some serious issues with their lacking in want to even attempt any sort of emigrant worker control.
USA TODAY: \"Swedish authorities puzzled by man found floating on raft at sea\". While not likely the most relevant story that any national media source is covering, the article was quite unique. Why someone would really want or feel the need to be so unnecessarilly mysterious about their personal information is beyond what I can fathom.
USA TODAY: \"Feds pledge to get tough on companies employing illegal immigrants\". I think this is an important issue and I am glad that the government is taking steps to deal with illegal immigrant workers. Not only does it violate state and federal law to allow the illegal immigrants to work in the United States, but the the immigrants themselves are being mistreated by having a lower wage and mediocre or worse living conditions.
USA TODAY: \"Spy chief discloses U.S. intelligence personnel total\". The sheer amount of people that must be involved with United States intelligence is quite staggering. I agree that is it necessary that the government should disclose as much information as possible without compromising anything important.
USA TODAY: \"Census: Americans leave big cities\". I found this article to be fairly interesting as well as informative. I was unaware of the recent trends of urban migration. It makes sense that more and more people would leave the large cities if the price of housing keeps increasing. I wonder if this trend of leaving large cities will keep increasing and increasing the way it has or if it will level off at a point.
The New York Times: "Irish Revive Rites for Easter Revolt, and Debate Its Merits". I found this article fairly interesting, since I am unaware of the historic events that occured in Ireland for its independence from England. To celebrate this event, the Irish army paraded through the streets of Dublin. Some in Ireland are afraid that using a display of military might to celebrate the occasion will cause the belief that violence to cause political change is acceptable here and now in Ireland.
The New York Times: "For a Price, Final Resting Places That Tut Would Find Pleasant". This is an article about the growing number of the wealthy elite that are purchasing mausoleums for themselves for when they die. The lots for these mausoleums have a retail cost of $400,000. I think that this is totally absurd. It appears to me that these people either have too much money on their hands or that they really feel that they are more important than their fellow man. One quote I found of particular interest was: "The mausoleum says, 'I'm really significant in this world, I think I'm really significant to my family,' and this is one way to communicate that to the community..." Instead of erecting a giantic stone mausoleum to communicate your worth to the community, you could like have a greater impact by, for example, donating that $400,000 of wasted money to a local charity or community event.
The New York Times: "New Worry Rises on Iranian Claim of Nuclear Steps". The topic of Iran's nuclear capability, as well other countries, is becoming a heated issue. This much stress over this topic seems to be well founded, due to the fact that nuclear weapons are so dangerous. What strikes me is why these countries would have such a strong desire to acquire such destructive weaponry. It seems likely that they just want these weapons in order to assert themselves as a global military power, because actually firing a nuclear weapon now would be utterly catastrophic--it could start a nuclear war if another country retaliates with nuclear weapons. We should be very careful about any country looking to acquire nuclear capabilities. The last thing we need is more nuclear weapons in the world.
The New York Times: "In Private Candor From China, New Efforts to Promote a Thaw". This article consists of the relations between the United States and China. China is growing to become a more significant player in the global economy, among other things. From this article I have concluded that some in the U.S. are threatened by China's growing economic and military power. The U.S. and China having talks will be good to reduce the tension between our two nations. Although, talks may only be able to help so far, since the communist government of China and the democracy of the U.S. have such different polices. It may be hard for these two countries to get along on a national level. Hopefully our relations with China will improve.
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"A Modest Proposal" (1729). This proposal is very interesting, however not very modest. It is not at all being serious with its numerous references to the comsumption of infants. Of course, readers back in the 1700s might not have understood the message of this proposal if they took this too seriously as to actually believe that Swift's solution was to really eat the infants. That being said, this "mock" proposal can certainly be considered a good example of effective rhetoric.
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"The Communist Manifesto" (1848). I just looked over this, since I had to read it for my german history course last semester. The Communist Manifesto had some good ideas, some of which actually have been already implimented by our own United States goverment, such as a graduated income tax. Due to the views of communism in its real world practice, many people have a very hostile reaction to when communism is brought up; this is likely due to the Cold War tensions between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
USA TODAY: \"Survey: 30% of companies to hire more\". This is certainly good news. Assuming this information is indeed correct, then America's economy is improving. More hirings mean that there are more jobs out there and therefore the unemployment rate will decrease. The economy is looking up for the furture.
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Rwanda: How the genocide happened and Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict. I am surprised to hear this information about certain regions of Africa and the intense amount of violence that they are experiencing there.
Andrew Sullivan's "My America". This passage took me a little by surprise at first. It is interesting to see an opinion about America from someone who can both feel like an insider as well as an outsider. Sullivan's remarks about our country remind me of a lot of the unique qualities of what makes America a great nation. Of course, many of these qualities are the same which we quickly and easily take for granted, being born into these set of common values that make up Sullivan's America.
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The Declaration of Independence. This is by far one of the most important documents in the history of political America. The Declaration of Independence clearly lists many reasons for wishing to break of ties with the British Crown. The Declaration gives strong implications that the American colonists have tried hard to amend the problems that have arised and that declaring independence has become a necessary last resort. The reasons given in this document are quite convincing, especially when they are in such a large amount. These reasons include multiple forms of political injustice as well as tyranny on the part of King George III. There are three main claims at the beginning: "...certain unalienable right...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These are supported by the large list that follows. The warrant in this argument would be that it is not an acceptable situation to not have those three rights.
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I am surprised to discover a comment here on my proposal that cannot be attributed to anyone.
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I commented on HereGoesNothing's proposal.
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USA TODAY: \"Iran ends voluntary cooperation with IAEA\". This is very unsettling. If Iran is not trying to build atomic weapons, what reason would they have for refusing to work with the UN? These actions by Iran are very suspicious and I, for one, am very skeptical of their intentions. The last statement may be perhaps the most disturbing: "IAEA resolution...expresses 'serious concern' that inspectors found documents in Iran showing how to turn uranium into metal hemispheres good only to make bombs." The US and the world will really have to watch Iran closely from now on.
USA TODAY: \"Bush budget favors defense and homeland security\". Bush's 2007 budget has some good goals for the future, namely keeping the tax cuts and the reduction of the nation's deficit. Trying to fix Medicare by "trimming" it may be a step in the right direction, but I think there needs to be a more concrete plan to deal with that issue. I think part of the issue is some people's views on that type of benefit in general. Those types of programs should be to support people that are trying but are in a bad situation. It should not be just entitlement for anyone who does not what to produce anything in society.
USA TODAY: \"Mastermind behind USS Cole bombing escapes\". This is utterly ridiculous, how did the people in charge of that prison in Yemen allow such dangerous men to escape? One would think that it would be a simple matter to detect and prevent prisoners from digging tunnels and escaping prisons. It is good that the Yemen and other governments are working towards recapturing the former terrorists. It seems to me that the government of Yemen is either not cooperating as much as they should or that they are just not competent enough with dealing with their prisons and the tribal regions.
USA TODAY: \"Israel to transfer $54M to Palestinians\". This situation in the middle east these today is quite the unfortunate one. I have to agree with the U.S., Israeli, and Europen Union's decision to stop giving money to the new Hamas-lead Palestinian government. Not only would it seem hypocritical, but it could also be considered dangerous to fund a known terrorist organization. It is very surprising that any of the Palestinians would willing support a new terrorist regime. The amount of corruption must have been very widespread for Hamas to use it as a main point in their campaign to achieve political power. Unfortuantly, the fact that Hamas may not get backing from certain group may not be enough to pressure them to take a different stance than one of terrorism since they apparently have found sources of funding from some unknown Arab and Muslim countries. Foreign governments that reject Hamas as a legitimate governments might have no way to influence them in any way.
The \"Definition of Terrorism\" seems to be for many people and groups, a difficult thing to define. While all the definitions I read on the wikipedia site had common themes and similiar circumstances, no two were exactly alike. I think the most people can put terrorism into a few categories quite easily. These seemingly small differences in those definitions would like be not very meaningful in the daily lives of a large percentage of the population. I am fairly certain that these descrepancies are much more significant in a legal situation. For legal purposes a definition of terrorism would likely prove to be helpful, but for a large amount of terrorist acts it would be an obvious illegal act, therefore making an exact definition not as critical. One definition that I read that stuck out to me was the United Nations short legal definition that was proposed by A.P. Schmid: "an act of terrorism is the 'peacetime equivalent of a war crime.' " When I think of terriorism I would never think to associate it with that of a war crime. Wikipedia defines war crime as "a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian." After seeing an official definition of a war crime, I see just how useful the UN short legal definition could be. Although some may consider this definition too vague to be very useful in some mediums.
- I just discovered how easy Wiki Style is. It is really good for organization.
USA TODAY: \"China bank in $3.8B deal with U.S. firms\". Though rather dry and giving a limited context for anyone not up to date on the latest economic issues in China, the topic in this article may prove in the future to be an important issue. Apparently motivated but bad loans as well as other problems the ICBC, one of China's major banks, decided to sell off part of the company to foreign countries to acquire more capital. This could stimulate China's economy to increase its growth, which would obviously be a good thing for China...but how does it affect America's economy?
President George W. Bush's Address to Congress (2001). This speech was very important because it clearly defines the President's stand on Terrorism and other critical isssues that greatly affect the United States of America. President Bush frequently employs argumentative appeals based on shared values and emotions. One interesting quote that I found in the speech was "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail." I think the reason that I chose this particular quote was that it embodies the resolve and driving forces behind the war on terrorism. It was very good, if not a necessary thing, for President Bush to deliver his address to the American people in this fashion. The speech was uplifting and uniting. It me feel better that President Bush won his first presidential election.
USA TODAY: \"States weigh immigration controls\". This is an article about how some U.S. states are deliberating on whether they should impose new policies towards illegal immigrants since many are unsatified with the strides taken by the federal government. Issues about illegal immigrants in the United States seem to be a more and more important topic lately in the news and government. I think the this is a good thing that some people are looking to address the issue. It is bad to have such a large number of illegal immigrants in the country since it undermines the American workforce and the economy. I have to agree with the people who say that the federal government should set up to the plate on this issue. This really is more the type of thing that the federal government should be handling. It is fine for individual states to make these sort of policies, but they should not have to.
The \"Universal Declaration of Human Rights\" (1948) was an interesting statement. It directly addresses many of the fundamental freedoms that are the basis of the United States of America. In the preamble FDR Four Freedoms are quickly covered. From an American perspective, most of theses Articles may not seem especially significant, since we enjoy many if not all of theses freedoms already. Now in 2006, some 58 years later, it does not seem the the Universal Declaration of Human Rights made a significant impact on quite a large number of nations in the world. While it can be disheartening to see such little progress, I do not think that America and its people will be stopped from continuing the President's Crusade to spread freedom and democracy around the world.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's \"The Four Freedoms\" speech was a very decisive and seemingly well thought argument. He establishes credibility with his audience by using the American shared values of the civil liberties we enjoy on a daily basis. FDR proposes action against the "aggessor nations", which he justifies by claiming that if the aggessor nations were to take over Europe and Asia, the United States would be in a very dangerous position. He is also mentions that that America will not be intimidated into not supporting her allies abroad, a promise which we all know was well kept. One quote I thought was particularly interesting was the next to last sentence in his speech which is "Our strength is our unity of purpose." With this statement, it appears the FDR is persuaisive by this implication of everyone having a common goal that they work together to accomplish.
USA TODAY Snapshot: "More than nine in 10 inverstors say they would choose a finacial services company with strong eithics; just 5% prefer higher returns."
Here are three potential claims based on this statement:
- Claim 1: Most investors perfer finacial services companies with strong ethics over those with higher returns.
- Claim 2: Few investors perfer higher returns over strong eithics when choosing a finacial services company.
- Claim 3: Almost as many investors are unsure of what they look for in a finacial services company as they are those would perfer higher returns.
This is my modified version the personal narrative from BenBlog. My wiki alias is Flames and I hail from Cary, North Carolina. It was a nice place to grow up and I went to a somewhat diverse and aging high school. I am a freshman here at Penn State and would like to enter the School of Music as a Music Composition Major. I am not that excited about this english class and I am not a big fan of reading pre-selected books. I also love to play guitar and listen to music.
Reading Martin Luther King Junior's \"Letter from Birmingham Jail\" was an interesing and somewhat enlightening exprience. I find myself having a new appreciation for King and the cause he tried to achieve those fourty-three years ago. From this letter, I get the sense that King was a man deeply devoted to his goal of ending racial injustice and was willing to do whatever it took to reach this goal, except through any violent means. While reading I really felt that while I could not directly relate to King's personal expriences with racial oppression, I could understand more about where he was coming from and how when negotiation fails, that non-violent action must actually be a necessary catalyst for social progress. King's passion and utter devotion to his cause makes me have a newfound respect for him and other people who were fighting injustice in the latter half of the twentieth century.
I was born in New York, but I have been living in Cary, North Carolina since third grade. I am a Music Composition major. I enjoy listening to music. The genres that I listen to the most are rock, grunge, and metal. A large percentage of the music I listen to was written in the nineteen-nineties. I can play the guitar. I have been playing electric guitar since I was in middle school, so about five or six years. I also like learning as much about German as I can. I may get a German minor here at Penn State.
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