Just Because Poem

The Hungry in Ethiopia

Just because I’m on the other side of the world

Doesn’t mean I don’t exist

It doesn’t mean I am not important.

Just because we have no money for technology to tell the world about our country

Doesn’t mean our problems aren’t real.

Just because we are hardly ever heard

Doesn’t mean we aren’t hungry as hell.

Just because some organizations come and help

Doesn’t mean we are being taken care of,

It doesn’t mean we can be forgotten.

Just because we have barely any chance of surviving,

It doesn’t mean we are hopeless.

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Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in the middle of a vast green field lay a castle. The castle was surrounded by a small lake, this made it necessary to have a moat. The castle was built out of black stones and had five or six towers with colored jewels to decorate them. In this castle lived the lovely queen Lilo. She was all-powerful in Lila land. She had not inherited her throne but had come to the throne the hard way, by fighting military battles to get there. With a rapidly rampant battle, she had rid the Lilas of lovely Queen Rose who had been loved by the Lilas. Queen Lilo was respected and supported by a huge army but was not loved by a single one of her subjects.

            Little Lilo loved war. Although little Lilo was very tiny, she was very powerful. Fearfully full of herself, Lilo was the most egocentric person in the kingdom. Boldly believing that everything was about her, she ignored her subject’s needs.

            One day the chief of the dragon police accompanied by a large force of dragon officers approached her to speak on the people’s behalf. They said that she had to change her tyrannical ways or the Lilas would take her crown away. Little luxurious Lilo lying on her bed said she feared nothing, not even the dragon police. Fearlessly fighting back she said her army would defend her crown with their lives. Rage rapidly rose and she threw the dragon police out.

            The next morning an officer of the dragon police caught Lilo torturing a little helpless Lila. The little Lila lay on the ground after tripping on a root of one of the queen’s favorite trees. The officer rapidly reminded her of the visit from the day before and told her it was the last warning. Lilo laughed like a parrot and walked away.

            Lilo was not stupid and went back to the castle and ordered a huge catapult be created in case the dragon police should come after her. She called her generals and told them to prepare for battle, she knew fiery dragons would soon come. Just as she finished speaking, justice had come for her crown. The dragons with fire in their mouths had come for her crown. Powerfully she protested and plead for her crown. What had happened to her last chance?? The dragons had seen that she was using a poor Lila as a foot rest while the meeting took place, so her chance was up. No more chances for Lilo.

            Frightened she fled but the dragon captured her crown. Right then and there Rose was brought back and the crown was placed on her head. Rose ruled with kindness so she stayed on the throne forever.
  




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The Strange Traveller

The light in the garden was out again, I had meant to fix it after my wife had reminded me three hundred times but I still forgot.  Luckily tonight there was a full moon and I could even see the crickets. I was falling asleep when I heard a strange noise coming from the porch. I was going to ignore it but my wife who had been in town listening to rumors of released convicts and who was always scared of everything made me go downstairs and check it out.

            I suddenly saw a shadow in the corner of the garden. I couldn’t exactly tell what it was because it was under the tree and the light from the moon did not shine beneath the tree. It was large but I couldn’t make out if it was an animal, the garbage pail or an actual person. It never crossed my mind that it was a person. Suddenly it moved, so I realized it was not the garbage pail. It moved slowly, it was crawling. Suddenly it stepped out into the light and I saw that it was a man. It really was hard to tell that it was a man.

            My first reaction was fear. At this hour and in my garden it could only be a thief. I though of my wife and kids all sleeping upstairs. I was unarmed and this scared me even more. I needed protection. I ran into the kitchen and found my wife’s butcher knife. It was all I had close by. The rifle was upstairs in the closet but I did not dare to run all the way up there and let this man out of my sight.

            I did not want to wake the children so I slowly opened the back door. When I was closer I was surprised at what I saw. This creature could hardly be called a man. He was so large in size it was amazing. One of his legs had been badly damaged and he seemed to pull it behind him but this did not make him less dangerous, it only made him scarier looking. It was obvious he had not showered in ages, his clothes were ripped and dirty everywhere. His hair if it could be called hair, was a complete mess. It was long, very long and seemed to be everywhere. Some parts covered his face, you could not tell if it was a beard or if it was hair from his head. It was all dirty and messy. His smell was horrendous, he was all the way on the other side of the garden and it reached my nose like he was right underneath me.

            I stood in the dark with the knife in my hand and waited to see if he would go away. Instead he came closer. The fear inside of me began to rise as he came closer and closer. I really wanted to grab my wife and children and put them somewhere they would be safe from this monster; but running was not an option. I held my knife firmly and asked him what he wanted. His voice could hardly be heard which made it even scarier. I asked again with a firmer tone what he wanted. All I could understand was “water”. I felt pity for this poor creature but could not endanger my family. Giving him water could lead to something else. It could be a trap. It must have taken all the strength he had but he managed to say that he had been walking all day and had not had anything to eat. I was about to reconsider, my heart really wanted to help this man but I suddenly remembered my wife’s story about a convict. This must be that convict. I could not take a chance.

            I threatened the man with my knife. I said I would not think twice about using it if he did not leave my garden at once. The man just looked down and crawled back out, pulling his leg like he had been doing before. My heart and my conscience hurt like hell but one never knows what these people are capable of.

http://web.comhem.se/underneaththeopera/jean%20valjean.jpg

http://aceshowbiz.com/images/news/w0006547.jpg

Abigail Adams to John Adams-Classical Parallels- August 19 1774

Abigail Adams anxiously worries over her husband's well being and the future of their country. She realizes that the battle for liberty will not be a pleasant one and will involve bloodshed. The idea of the bloodshed scares her but she realizes that liberty does have its price and that in order for them to truly obtain it they must pay the price. They must follow the correct order no matter how hard it is, to establish the kind of country that they dream of.

“Did ever any Kingdom or State regain their Liberty, when it was invaded without Blood shed?” (A. Adams 676)

This is a rhetorical question, one that Abigail does not expect an answer for. She clearly knows that the battle for liberty will involve bloodshed but urges her husband to fight for the country they dream of. She uses history to set an example of others who have fought for liberty before them and who have also paid the price with their blood. In this letter Abigail gives John her support and says that they cannot stand on the side and ignore what needs to be done.

“The great anxiety, I feel for my Country, for you and for our family renders the day tedious, and the night unpleasant. “(A. Adams 676)

Abigail appeals to emotion in this quote. It expresses her feelings of anxiety at the mere thought of war. The use of these words show that although she understands war is inevitable, they let John know of her feelings for him and for her country.  The choice of words show her passion and her fear.

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Refuting Patrick Henry

Gentlemen, allow me to address this convention today and to humbly reply to Mr. Henry’s arguments. Mr. Henry, you are right, different men see things in different light. I both agree and disagree with you. I strongly disagree that this not a time for ceremony and strongly agree of the importance of our battle for freedom. No one here will argue against you that we all deserve freedom. This is the reason why many of us came to this place. However, there are ways to obtain it. I firmly believe that there is always a time for ceremony, always space for negotiation and for peaceful talks. As you said, there is a time for peace and I believe that the time for peace never truly passes. War is never inevitable and never necessary. As leaders of this nation we have the responsibility to fight for what is best for it and to protect it as well. I cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain the peace among our people. Lately we have lost that peace and have given the British an opportunity to take advantage of this. We need to be smart and use our heads not our arms to get what we want. There is still no reason whatsoever to have bloodshed upon our men. The British have acted incorrectly in the past and after heavy negotiation they have retracted in several occasions. Laws that had been enacted have been retracted to keep the peace. We must follow in their example. We must negotiate. Today they have sent troops because they feel threatened. If we correspond we would be falling into a trap. Up to now we have not been attacked by these troops, why provoke them? Why not sit down at a table and peacefully finish a conversation.

Why appeal to arms? Should we so quickly and freely want to spill the blood of our fellow men? We must recognize that we do not have the strength to fight against such an army as the British army. Moving in that direction would endanger the lives of way too many people. We would be making an insane sacrifice of too many lives of young men. As I have remarked earlier we have neither the strength nor the power to defeat the British. We are not only weak right now, we do not have the ammunition, the forces or the experience. We might be able to solve or win one battle, but in the long run there is no way we can defeat the British at war.

We must use great diplomacy to be able to gain our freedom. We must slowly fight for independence but not on a battlefield. We must protect the lives of our brothers, sons, nephews, fathers and all our loved ones. Who will be left to enjoy freedom if they are all killed in battle? We must grant them freedom but not thru war. We must not give up on diplomatic measures so quickly. Mr. Henry, I urge you not to say “Give me liberty or give me death” the price seems too huge to pay.

Saving our planet ! Blog Homework 3

        Before we solve the problems of the world we need to save our planet first. This should interest every single person living on this planet. It not only affects those of us living here today but also our children and their children who will be living here tomorrow. Why should we protect the environment? We need it for shelter, food, livelihood, recreation, air and water. The destruction of the environment is not a local problem, it is an international problem, it has no frontiers or boundaries. The whole world is one single ecosystem connected in many ways. Its destruction affects us all, this is our home.

            Every day we harm our planet in many different ways, every action that we take against this environment has a strong consequence in the future. If we continue to kill all the plants and the animals we are eventually killing ourselves. Every action that humans take against the environment transforms the entire biosphere, it causes either global warming or the reduction of bio diversity. We must be conscious that the Earth's resources are limited, what we exploit today for gain is irreplaceable in the future and lost forever.

            When we pollute the air we produce acid rain that harms plants, crops, animals and humans. We produce the greenhouse effect that causes global warming when we destroy the ozone layer. We increase the amount of respiratory diseases. When we pollute the water in our rivers or oceans we are killing millions of animal life and simultaneously ruining the water that we use. When we destroy our forests we destroy the home of animals and plants that we also use for food or even medicine. The forests also produce clean oxygen for us and their roots prevent erosion

            If we take care of the environment we are taking care of ourselves. If we destroy it then we are also destroying ourselves. This is where we live, this environment gives us everything we have and need. We cannot afford to destroy it.

            We must make a universal effort to take care of our planet. Every one of us along with scientists, businesses, governments must contribute. Governments need to tax pollution and encourage clean energy. Businesses should control how they pollute and change to greener practices. We should encourage the use of biodiesels instead of petroleum, changing food into energy. Every home should save energy and water by consuming less. From little efforts like using a clothes line instead of a dryer to paying your bills online and reducing the amount of paper that is used. We should teach every person since they a re a child to reduce and recycle. We all need to take care of the environment before it is too late.

“Consume Less, Share More, Live Simply”

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc-rees180107.htm
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/
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Blog 2-Captivity Narrative

 Louis Timberlife, a young boy being held captive.

 Group of guerrillas holding main character captive.

It was a dangerous day in Colombia, it was Election Day. In Colombia, the days surrounding elections are always dangerous because of a revolutionary guerilla group called FARC. Kidnappings or attempts at kidnapping always increased during the election period.

            It was a normal day for Louis Timberlife, a ten year old American boy who had lived in Colombia for the last three years. Louis fit the rich gringo profile perfectly. He was very white and had blonde hair. He came from a very wealthy family and was extremely spoiled, he had everything he wanted and still wanted more. He never paid any attention to his family and believed he didn’t need any of them now that he was older.

            He left for school just like he did every day, always accompanied by his bodyguards. The bodyguards were mandatory due to his father’s political position. His father was the American ambassador in Colombia and he wanted the government to make reforms that would get rid of the guerillas.

            Louis was coming out of class when a friend invited him to come to his house afterschool. He said “Great, I’ll just have to wait for my car to come and I’ll meet you at your house”. Louis’s friend told him to forget about his car and the bodyguards and to just be cool and come with him in his own non armored car. Louis thought of it for a second, he was just a young boy so he did not understand how dangerous what he was doing was. He just accepted. As they were approaching his friend’s house, a gray van intersected them.  Out of it jumped about ten armed men screaming “Todos afuera! Todos afuera!”, they all went out and the armed men took Louis into the van and sped of with him inside their trunk.

            After several hours of driving, the van finally stopped. The guerrillas pulled Louis out of the car and threw him into a cold puddle of water and mud. They then threw him into a cave with a blindfold so that he couldn’t see who pushed him in, or where he was being held. He remained underground for 2 weeks without ever seeing any sunlight. All he had was a little hole on top of the cage through which he could listen to everything the men who had captured him said. He was fed only once a day. He wanted to clean himself desperately. He missed everything about his home, even the basics that he had taken for granted. He missed his bed, his pillow, the light in his room. Most of all he missed his family. He had never been so alone in his life. One day he finally heard his name mentioned through the hole in his cage. His father had delivered the money and he would be returned home next week.

            A week later he was pulled out from his underground cage. After two weeks of living in the dark, he finally saw sunlight. He was put into a helicopter and flown into the city. He landed on the roof of the tallest building in all of Bogota. It was the embassy of the United States of America. Louis was left there and saw the helicopter fly away. When the helicopter had taken off, a lot of agents started to run towards him to make sure he was ok. Behind them came his father whom he hugged like never before. He told his dad about his horrible experience, he told him he realized how blessed he was to have all that he did in his home. From that day on Louis learned to appreciate all that he had, there was nothing left of a spoiled young man that he used to be.

Pictures from:
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Blog 1 assignment

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/world/asia/24pstan.html?_r=1&ref=world

1-The article deals with the ongoing floods in Pakistan.
2-Those involved include 5 million Pakistani residents and country officials such as President Asif Ali Zardari.
3-The article does not offer an opinion from the writer. It summarizes events that have occurred. It also quotes some victims who have been interviewed. It does lack the opinion or interview of some government officials.
4-I sympathize with the people who have been affected. They are poor people and are waiting for government to respond. After so much time they feel they have been abandoned by their government.