Nicks Eng 2

Research for Essay #4

2005-11-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.uga.edu/islam/iraq.html
This is a website that I found after using one of the websites from Brenda S. blog. It provides distinctive characteristics of all the different religious and political groups in Iraq.

Research

2005-11-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.islam101.com/selections/index.html
This website helped me to gain some background on the religion of Islam. It gave me basic principles and outlooks on certain situations from the Islamic perspective.

Faranheit 9/11

2005-11-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

Faranheit 9/11 was an interesting movie that was filled to the rim with propaganda. Every aspect of Bush's history was combed through, edited and distributed to the masses. It is not to say that the information presented did not effect me. It greatly peaked my interest when it came to who my President was and what his agenda was, especially since my brother is stationed in Iraq at this time and has been for about a year and a half now; moreover, during the presidential election, I was not overly concerned with politics and the President's shortcomings. This film was extremely important to politics in that it reached out to the younger generations and was a tool that got them involved in politics. Before Faranheit 9/11, no other movies blatantly pointed out political details and facts to the younger voters of America.

Gun Laws

2005-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

After reading two articles on gun control, one pro and one con, the ideas expressed seem to have an emotional edge to them. The article "for" gun control leaves me with a threatened feeling, as if the speaker is scared. The same goes for the article against gun control. These feelings of fear are legitimate. We do live in a world that has become extremely violent and corrupt, and we need to be able to protect ourselves; at the same time, our first instinct should not be to put a gun in our home along with our families. Weapons of any kind should be handled with respect and not handed out to every other person on the street. I absolutely agree with the idea of having certain gun controls for the population at large. People should have to wait a certain amount of time before buying a gun. If we did not have that law two neighbors could get in a fight over too much noise, buy a gun five minutes later and end up shooting each other. The background checks are also a good idea when it comes to gun control. Before handing a gun to someone, the seller should know who they are selling to and whether that person has a history of using a gun. I also think that gun users should have to take some kind of class to learn respect and to learn how to handle a gun in order to keep accidents from happening. Guns are a dangerous force in our society today and should not be taken lightly. If we knew for a fact that the government could rid the streets of guns, I would make owning a gun illegal, but they can't.

Free Needles

2005-11-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

If we were to endorse passing out needles to drug users, we would find ourselves in a very difficult situation. We might be preventing the spread of the HIV virus, but we would be promoting the use of illegal drugs. It is the decision of choosing between two evils. The greater evil, however, is the spread of the HIV virus. It is an evil that uses stealth to survive. Some people don't even know they have the virus until the symptoms start showing up; moreover, there is more hope in helping an addict get off drugs than there is for finding a cure to the HIV and Aids virus.

Sexuality in Kansas

2005-09-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

The more I hear about same sex marriages, the more I disagree with the government outlawing it. I can understand how people might want to restrict the rights that homosexuals might qualify for, but to restrict the marriage of two life partners seems wrong to me. If two people are in love, no matter what their sexual preferance, they should have the rights and privelages as everyone else that is in love. Marriage is not just the binding of two bank accounts, stocks and bonds, but two lives and hearts. Who are we to stand in the way of love?

Knocking on Hell's Door

2005-09-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Whether in Ohio or the North Pole, no one likes to be disturbed in the privacy of their own homes, whether by burglars or Jehova's Witnesses. The ordinance in Ohio however, does allow people to obtain a permit. The ordinance does not restrict anyone from going door to door. I do not think that the ordinance violated anyone's rights and that it was a good way of protecting its citizens by finding out who was going door to door and why. It is also a more constructive way of controlling the situation rather than hiring more policemen or putting more policemen on overtime having to patrol neighborhoods night and day.

Flag Desecration

2005-09-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a strong opinion about the desecration of the American flag. I do see it as a travesty that an "American" would burn the flag because they are living in America, reaping the benefits of American life and government; however, I don't see it as a punishable offense. It is hard for me to see it as a severe issue when I can't afford a house because of housing costs and my family can't find the money to educate me. There are also murders, bombings, death threats and the fear of anthrax. If an angry citizen wants to burn a flag, I'd rather they do that than burn down the capital or the White House. There are worse ways of showing disgust for our country. For instance, 9/11.

Death Penalty

2005-08-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

A death, whether a punishment, accident or self defense, is a loss and a tragedy; moreover, I do not fully support the death penalty because it is final. If the criminal is found innocent 5 years later with more advanced technology, it doesn't matter because they have already lost their life. Unfortuneately, the death penalty is used in the world today. The issue at hand, in which a man was sentenced to be executed and them became insane while imrisoned, raises some questions. If a man changes while imprisoned. If he truly repents and attempts to become a better person, what do we do then? It was easy for us to execute him when we thought of him as a cold blooded killer, but when that image changes to a repentent sinner or a wreckless psychotic, unable to control himself, how do we react? The criminal may have become insane while imprisoned, but that does not change the fact that he is guilty; in addition, he did not become insane until after the trial and after the murder was committed, so the fact that he is insane has no bearings on his trial for murder. In fact, some people might consider it unfortunate that he won't be of sound mind when they execute him.

Question About Sex

2005-08-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

It is extremely difficult to believe that thousands of people around the world are forcing themselves to be attracted to partners that are the same sex; moreover, I don't think that homosexuality is a fad or lifestyle that people choose to participate. It is not about how we are raised or what our political standings are. We choose our life partners, spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends based on who we are, who we want to be and what looks good. For instance, I am married to an African American man and I am a Japanese and Caucasian woman. Many people ask us why we chose someone of a different skin color. Realistically, we didn't. We didn't fall in love with the other person's skin color or lifestyle. We were attracted to each other physically, emotionally and mentally. Everyone is looking for their soul mate and life partner, so why rule out every second person you meet, just because they are a different race or sex?