Writing Home From World War One

Dear Mom and Dad,
Every day I am reminded of how fragile life is and I swear to God that if I make it through this war, I’ll never take another day for granted. Just last week I lost my close friend Jason. He was just a freshman in college and he didn’t want to be here anymore than I did. He would always try to lighten the mood with his bad singing and hilarious jokes and I’m proud to say that I got to know him very well, as he was a noble soldier. However, when we found out that he had caught ‘the rat disease’, things began to change. He grew weaker and was not able to look out for me anymore, which cost me a shot to the arm. Although I was more worried about his health than the infections I might get from my open wound, I could do absolutely nothing to help his illness. One night Jason’s symptoms got really bad and he didn’t have the strength to eat or stand up. He went three days on one piece of bread and two cups of water. He was tough though, and fought it for as long as he could. We never got to see if he would recover because we got ambushed in the middle of the night and he was the first one shot. The shot punctured his lung and his death was slow and painful. He kept begging me to make the pain stop, but I just couldn’t bring myself to shoot someone who had saved my life so many times before. On his death bed he told me he had a daughter on the way, and he made me promise to go and meet her after I was done serving. I agreed and he died that night in my arms. I buried him in the trench in the same place that he used to sleep.
It’s one thing living in fear of your own life, but I’ve never been as scared for someone more than I was for Jason. Seeing him like that and not being able to help him tore me apart. Some of the soldiers cannot handle the fear and the fact that they have to kill or be killed, which drives them insane. A couple of soldiers have gotten carried away and have become recklessly inhumane. They kill just to kill and are insensitive to the hostages, treating them like they’re the rodents that crawl over their legs at night. It makes me sick to see how these men have changed, and I can only hope that it doesn’t happen to me. I’m happy to report that it has been relatively quiet since Jason’s death and I have hope in escaping this trench sometime soon. I have one more year to serve before I get to return home as you know, and I’m counting the days to see you again and return to my normal life at the factory.
Your Son,
John

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Resolving Trust Issues

1) One of the issues that everyday teenagers across the globe are struggling with is gaining their parent’s trust. An example would be going out on the weekends with friends and having your parents trust you not to drink or do drugs when not under the supervision of a responsible adult.
2) One solution to this problem is to compromise, or to spend a good amount of time talking about the issue and educating teenagers of the drastic consequences of doing drugs. Educating your teenager about the harmful effects of drug abuse can help ease some of the tension if you have faith that your child will heed your warnings. Talking about these issues consistently will help strengthen the trust between the parent and the teenager because at least the adolescent will have been warned and now has the decision to listen or not.
3) This solution will be effective because the parent will feel satisfied in being a responsible adult in educating his/her teenager and the adolescent will feel satisfied in have gained the trust necessary in a healthy relationship.
4) If this solution is not as effective as hoped, then the teenager will over time gain the trust of his/her parent by making good decisions based on the principals discussed earlier.

Picture Citation:

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Progressive Thinker’s Stance to Global Warming

Global Warming has been an increasing epic issue around the world due to excess of green house gasses which consist of: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These green house gasses are becoming a problem because they are so powerful that they are thinning the ozone layer which is what protects us from the harmful Ultraviolet Sun Rays. With a weakening ozone layer, more of the destructive UV rays are entering the earth’s atmosphere which is increasing temperatures.
The effects of global warming are and have the potential to be drastic because sea levels have risen and will continue to rise due to the increasing temperature which will be the result of melting glaciers in the poles (north and south). In the long run this will eventually cause cities on the coastlines to flood and it has already affected the animal population in the poles. The polar bears are having to swim longer distances to find food which is causing them to drown from exhaustion. Lakes and rivers could dry up and there could be more droughts making it harder to grow crops. Also, less water would be available for drinking, showers and swimming pools. Some plants and animals might become extinct because of the heat and unusual temperatures which they have not adapted to which might cause them to become extinct. Hurricanes, tornadoes and other storms which are caused by changes in heat and water evaporation may get more common. Unusual natural disasters will also be occurring more often, for example the recent increase in earthquakes like Haiti.

In order to limit the contribution of these gasses professionals have suggested that individuals cut down on the certain activities that tend to emit the green house gasses. However this can only be effective with the cooperation of a gross amount of individuals and this is extremely unlikely as we have seen in the past years, but maybe there’s hope for the future. The world would have to be willing to unite to save our planet, but unfortunately global warming cannot be reversed. Scientists have come up with a solution to try and prevent the issue from getting worse which is to recycle as much as possible and reuse containers or anything that can be reused to cut down on the amount of demand for products. There are also suggestions to cut down on activities that emit green house gasses such as driving a car, using air conditioning etc.
Many progressive people have already contemplated the extremity of this issue and have come up with reasonable resolutions, however if another progressive person were to think of a way to resolve this issue they might think of a way to get the whole world to appeal to saving our planet. A progressive thinker could also think of entirely different approach to this situation and they might think of a revolutionary way to reverse global warming.
Overall, global warming is an epic issue and if it is not prevented from getting any worse, our future may be a very risky one filled with distress and frustration. So recycle and reuse before it’s too late. Help save our planet and start thinking progressively before we become an extinct.

Progressive Thinkers

A progressive thinker is someone who continues to think about something in a more critical way and is usually one step ahead of the rest of the majoriy. Currently in the United States, politicians are thinking progressively about the future of America's health care system. Mark Cuban is a progressive thinker too because as a successful business man he has to have a vision and he has to stay ahead of the competition. Steven Hawkins is a progressive thinker because as a scientist he works with theoretical physics which is when you build on others ideas to come up with something new.
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America’s Powerful Influences Abroad

In the latter 1800’s, U.S. citizens across the nation were overwhelmed with nationalism as they watched their country unite and strengthen under a successful political system. The belief of manifest destiny increased with the booming economy as citizens believed that God had given equipped them with what they needed to succeed, and it was now their duty to help other countries do the same.
At first the U.S. started expanding westward by annexing California and Texas. Then President McKinley annexed Hawaii in 1898 for their sugar and repair station, Pearl Harbor. With Pearl Harbor and after acquiring Pago Pago Harbor (1899) in Samoa, the U.S. was ready to begin trading with Asia. With the ‘Open Door Policy,’ the U.S. was guaranteed a share in China’s vast market.
Imperialism in the U.S. started when Cuba was having issues with Spain. In 1895 Cuba’s economy collapsed and the Cubans started rebelling more severely than before. General Weyler set up ‘reconstruction’ camps to try and end the rebelling but those camps ended up killing 200,000 Cubans because of poor living conditions and disease.
A journalist named Jose Marti strongly suggested that the U.S. intervene, but both President Cleveland and McKinley were refusing to spend the money or adopt the responsibility. Frustrated, Cubans started destroying America’s sugar plantations. Yellow Journalism and the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine were a few of the many events that led up to the Spanish-American war in 1898. The Americans won and in 1898 they signed the Treaty of Paris, making the Cuba an independent country. The U.S. also got the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam.
In the Philippines, the U.S. sought to ‘civilize and Christianize them.” (-President McKinley) However the Filipinos for their country’s independence by killing 4,000 Americans in a three year long war. In 1946, the Philippines were an independent country.
Unlike the Philippines, Puerto Rico became part of the U.S. after their infrastructure was stable with help from the U.S. navy, and in 1917 the Jones Act was passed where the Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship.
The Panama Canal was built with the intentions of creating a faster sipping rout by linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The Panama Canal would also allow the U.S. navy to travel faster in the time of war. In 1903 Panama agreed to the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty in which the Panamanians would receive $10 million for a 10-mile wide strip of land for the Canal. Construction began in 1904 and ended in 1914, six months early and $23 million under budget.
Many people were for imperialism for they strongly believed in manifest destiny and felt loyal to their beloved country. President Roosevelt’s ‘big stick’ theory and his actions while president revealed that he was for imperialism because he believed that when involved in foreign nations it’s best to have a strong military to strengthen America’s power. People for Imperialism saw expanding as a way to rekindle the pioneering that had seemed to hit a low point. Imperialism would also help the issue of over production and provide financial security while also give the U.S. a head in the competitive economy.
Anti-imperialists saw the expansionist’s behavior as unethical and thought of it as rejecting the nation’s foundation of ‘liberty for all.’ They also believed that the countries that were controlled by the U.S. should abide by the U.S. constitution as U.S. citizens. The expansionist’s argued that their so called unethical behavior was preparing their new county for liberty but the anti-imperialists didn’t believe that anyone should have to wait for liberty. The anti-imperialists also believed that the issues in the U.S. should be resolved before the U.S. thinks about bringing other countries into their mess.
Racists didn’t like sharing their country with other races. They also believed that the new immigrants would increase job competition because the immigrants would be willing to work for a lower wage which would also lower wages in general. Furthermore, the anti-imperialists thought that expansion would cost the U.S. a lot of extra money and military and the imported products would hurt America’s industries by increasing the competition with their low prices.
Overall the imperialist’s arguments were more convincing than those of the anti-imperialist because they manifested throughout the politics and future of the United States of America. However the views from abroad were undecided, for the Panamanians claimed to have suffered discrimination yet even those that were afraid of losing their independence started turning to the U.S. for help because America was becoming so powerful.

Citation for Image:
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The Sleek, Sophisticated Aluminum Pencil

Dear Mr. Buffet,
Our company is going to produce never before seen, sleek, sophisticated aluminum colored and lead pencils. These pencils will be environmentally friendly, for they are not contributing to deforestation, the lead is recycled and S.S.A.P. is going to donate 25% of our profit to charities and organizations that involve the homeless, illiterate and those that have just been through a natural disaster. S.S.A.P. believes in making a difference.
Franchises will be spread throughout France and China, and hopefully expand internationally as business progresses. At first, franchises will be installed in the main malls and popular areas in the region, and then we will begin to export to major appliance stores and colleges internationally.
In order to save the most amount of money possible, we will buy our aluminum from the United Company RUSAL, the largest aluminum producers in the world. This will allow us to save money from building a factory and rather spend it on our pigment factory,our shipping company, or our pencil factory.
As an environmentally conscious company we will choose to use recycled lead for our pencils. However, if we are unable to follow through with this plan, we can always buy our supply of lead from one of the many thriving lead companies in Australia. The rubber for the erasers will be imported from Thailand by our shipping company that consists of a boat, plane and motor vehicles. We will produce our own pigment from our pigment factory in Fes, which, like all of our facilities, is powered by solar energy. Once the aluminum pencils are produced, we will place taxes on them according to the area, and distribute them to our franchises.
Our employees’ salary will range according to their profession and qualification at about 200 to 300 Durhams a day. Their health care benefits will include full coverage, 6 months maternity leave, and two months paternity leave. All employees will be interviewed, and have an extensive background checks before they are hired. Our company will make sure that it abides by the statutes of that country, and we will apply for our license and registration name, workers compensation, unemployment compensation, and permission to do business in a form other than a sole proprietorship. Factories will be built in authorized zones, and during construction we will be conscious of fire exits, following all rules and regulations related of the building codes.
The company will file its SS-4 with the IRS to register the business, making sure its employees have an identification number. This will allow it to access the brokerage and bank accounts. It will also make it possible to efficiently converse with those who may report businesses actions to the government.
We will make our profits by advertising as much as possible in local magazines, newspapers and commercial television. The goal is to establish as many international franchises as we possibly can, and to donate 25% of the profits to the needy by providing education, and food donations. If possible, we would also like to construct several homeless shelters, and provide shelter and financial support to those who have been through recent natural disasters.

Now that our business is thriving, we will donate 25% of our profits to charities and organizations that need it the most. Our main focus will be helping the needy, and those who have been through any recent natural disasters by providing them with education, financial support, and food donations. We will also try to set up homeless shelters.

Citation: http://www.impactlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/starving_children.jpg

Reflections from the Seminar

One of the points that Salloui suggested really stood out to me. He said something along the lines of… if you want to resolve a problem, you shouldn’t wait until tomorrow or the next day, it should get done now. Then Mr. Carpenter clarified it and said that if you wait too long then the problem might never get done, or it may be forgotten about…you could lose your motivation. Chadine also came up with some interesting points that were creative and unique. Sarah and Yasmine A. also had some interesting input in multiple situations.
At one point, our discussion started to transform into a debate when we were deciding whether to fix a problem deliberately or quickly. The group effectively resolved that by stating their opinion and explaining it in farther detail so that the rest of the group could see where they got that idea from and explained their logic. A couple people did dominate the conversation, but Mr. Carpenter resolved this by giving other people a chance to voice their input. There was concrete evidence that people were engaged and building off of their classmates ideas because they were taking notes or giving them their undivided attention. They built off of their classmates ideas by becoming motivated and intrigued in the topic.
My ideas of the essential questions have changed somewhat because I have listened to other people’s ideas and noticed the logic behind it which has broadened my understanding and opinion in a more creative aspect. None of my ideas have necessarily changed, but they have been improved. The best part of the seminar was getting to hear other ideas that I hadn’t necessarily thought of in that creative sense.
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