The Slums :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being raised in the slums of New York City there were not many role models for me to take after. At seventeen years old, I dropped out of school to pursue my only chance of success; long distance running. My dream would be to win the marathon that will be held in Chicago next month. If I win this race, I will receive $50,000 and hopefully a contract with Nike. There is only one problem that I face; there are a few women that are faster than I am. I am in constant training, and I have placed amongst the top ten women in the Boston Marathon, but I have never won a major race. How am I going to win when there are other people that can out run me?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While I was talking to one of my friends, who happens to be an athletic trainer, I told her of my worries. She informed me that there is a new experimental drug that can help to improve my endurance by preventing the build up of lactic acid in my muscles, and she had access to these pills. The drug has not yet been tested on humans, yet when animals were given the drug they had no series side effects. My friend offered me a one months sampling of the drug in return for $5000 if I win the race and nothing if I loose. She swore to me that it is not on the list of drugs that are banned and it will not show up on a blood test. What should I do?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main issue that I ask myself is whether or not I should take the drugs. All of my life I have dreamed of being an Olympic runner and if I take these pills I may get my chance. These pills can help build up my muscles and endurance which will give me a better chance of taking home the gold. If these pills do work than I will be able to take the $50,000 I win and move myself out of this hole I am living in. If I am in a better environment, I may want to do something with myself; perhaps I could get my GED and take college courses. If I take these pills, I could possibly be the best runner there ever could be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the contrary, I have also come up with the down sides of taking these pills.

That Fateful Day

That Fateful Day I remember that day, long ago from my childhood. It was warm the night before, nearly 80 degrees, so I had left my window open. The morning winds where rushing through my school work on the desk. Black and white squiggles on seven pieces of paper, every one of them part of an accumulation of the last two weeks of homework. I needed them to get any kind of decent grade in my first weeks of the fourth grade. â€Å"It’s Tuesday today dad. † I said tentatively to my father. He just stood there in the living room, not really looking at the television. I know† he said in reply without any hesitation. â€Å"Aren’t you usually at work on Tuesdays? † For nearly a minute he just stood there, not saying a word. â€Å"Yes† he said, â€Å"I usually am at work on Tuesdays. But today is different. † Not knowing what he meant I said to him, â€Å"how? † I can’t remember much between that moment of me asking how, and him f inally stopping to try for an explanation. After what seemed an eternity, he finally un-muted the television. There in the center of the screen where two skyscrapers, one of them was burning and had smoke coming off of it.There was no one talking on the news, but they were replaying a clip of the tower before it was smoking. The exact moment when the plane hit the building, I knew what was happening. â€Å"Dad, do I still have to go to school today? † I asked in as solemnly as I could. â€Å"Yes, you still have to go to school. † The moment after my father said this the news woman began to talk again. On the screen there was an explosion of smoke and fire from the second building. I stopped hearing what the reporter said and just stared at the screen. I never thought that I would ever see anything like that in my life.This was the kind of stuff that happened in the movies, not in real life. â€Å"It’s 7:35† I remember someone saying, â€Å"the bus is lat e. † â€Å"No shit† my sister said. We were all waiting for the bus. My sister was in tenth grade, and she had a serious attitude. Normally she dressed in very tight, very revealing clothing. But not today. â€Å"I bet the bus never even comes† she said. One kid instantly said, â€Å"I hope so. † He didn’t know what happened, his family didn’t have cable. He thought everyone was being quite because we didn’t want to go to school just like him. If the bus doesn’t come by 7:45 I’m going home. † I remember all the other kids looking at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world. Some of them even had blank expressions on their face like they couldn’t understand what he was saying. Then it hit me, I remembered he didn’t get to watch the news in the morning. It took me 5 minutes before I started to talk. My throat was sore and felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. I didn’t know what to say, I ne ver did in the first place. I was only nine years old, and felt like I had lived far beyond my own self. I didn’t think the same as I use to.I didn’t want to play any games with the other kids while we waited for the bus. All I wanted was to sit and think. I wanted to think about all those people who were never going to be able to play their Nintendo’s again. About all of the people who would be crying because they lost their son, or their dad. It took all of 30 seconds to tell him what happened. The entire time everyone was looking at me wondering how I was able to talk about it at all especially the older kids. I was dreading the day already. I didn’t want to do any schoolwork while I knew that there were people dying somewhere far away.I didn’t want to go to recess like I usually do and slide down the big kid slide. I wanted to spend the day staring at the television screen just like my mom and dad were going to. I remember when the sun finally came up over the hill. The light was just right that morning. It was spilling through the oak trees onto the road, showing the hundreds of pin drops that were light on the black ground. The trees where flowing back and forth just right, making the sound that I loved so much the swish swish of leaves brushing against each other. If it were any other day I might have skipped school just to sit and read under the trees.But it wasn’t, so I didn’t. I got on the bus when it finally came just like I always should have on these nice days. We were finally at school. The teacher, not knowing what to do, turned on the television to the news. It was the same couple of minutes from the morning playing over and over. The towers had already fallen at this point, so there really wasn’t anything new to show. There was a staff meeting about an hour after school started. All of the students were sent out for recess. I was among the only students who didn’t go and play.I wal ked out of the school onto the playing field and just stood there staring at the grain elevator in the distance. From the perspective of the school the grain elevator looked almost exactly like one of the towers in the news. It was big and new, having been finished only 2 months before. It was tall and silvery, with little lines running up and down the entirety of the building. There were no windows all the way up until you got to the very top. There on top, was a huge window. It seemed to be bigger than my house way up there, but in reality it was only the size of a car, albeit a rather large car.Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Recess was over. It was time to go in. All of the teachers were standing at attention near their perspective lines, waiting for something to happen. The students where chattering away like usual, waiting for the line to start moving. The principal was also outside, which was really weird. He never left his office. Mostly because he was busy, but also because he was some what afraid of talking to people. â€Å"Today, something terrible happened† the principal started. â€Å"Today, we witnessed something that none of us will ever forget. I stared straight into his eyes. They were dark brown, much like a rich wet soil after it rained. His eyes were watering, and had red lines throughout them. â€Å"I am sorry to inform you all that school today will be cut short. You will all be going home in 20 minutes. Those of you who are not able to go home will stay here at the school until the time that school regularly lets out. † The principal began to softly weep. â€Å"I, among others, will be here at the school until the regular hour of the schools letting out. If any of you wish to stay, then you are welcome to stay.But it is not required, and there will be no school lessons today. † The rest of the day seemed to go by slower and slower. I was never going to be able to know why the things that happened did happen. But I will know that I changed that day. For a long time after that I didn’t do anything for fun. I sat around a lot reading books I didn’t want to read. Eating food that I didn’t want to eat. I will never forget that day, because that day changed my life forever. After that day I was never able to look at the world again, and I was never able to think the same way. I remember 9/11.

What Does It Mean to Be Partisan

What Does It Mean to Be Partisan If youre a  partisan, it means you  adhere firmly to a political party, faction, idea or cause. You  likely live in a bright red or dark blue district or state. You  exhibit blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance and never speak ill of another member of your tribe, according to the standard Merriam-Webster definition. Being a partisan is  the opposite of being a swing voter or independent in politics. To put it bluntly, being a partisan isnt a good thing. So. How can you tell if youre a partisan? Here are five traits. 1. You Cant Talk Politics Without Getting Angry If you cant talk politics with people and still stay friends, youre a partisan. There are no two ways about it. If you cant talk politics without the conversation ending in bruised egos and hurt feelings, youre a partisan. If you cant see the other side of an issue and storm off abruptly from the dinner table, youre a partisan. Seek your inner peace. And understand this: Youre not right about everything. No one is. A synonym of partisan is ideologue. If youre an ideologue, it means youre an adherent to a rigid ideology. You dont like compromise.  And youre probably difficult to talk to.   2. You Vote the Straight Party Line If you show up to the voting booth without doing your homework and pull the lever for the straight-party ticket every time, youre a partisan. In fact, you match the definition of a partisan to the T: someone who exhibits blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance to a political party. If you dont want to be a partisan, heres a handy guide to everything you need to know to prepare for Election Day. Hint: Vote for the best candidate, not the party. 3. You Watch MSNBC or FOX News Theres nothing wrong with watching MSNBC or FOX News. But lets call it what it is: Youre choosing a source of news and information that supports your world view. If you lean lift, youre probably watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. And only MSNBC. If you tilt to the right, youre tuning in to Sean Hannity and FOX, and tuned out the rest. And, yes, if you do this youre a partisan. 4. You Chair a Political Party OK. To be fair, it is some peoples job to be partisan. And those people happen to be working in the political arena. That is, the parties themselves. If youre the chairman of the Republican National Committee or the GOP organization in your hometown, it is function to be a partisan. Thats why you have the job: to support your partys candidates and get them elected. Stated President Harry Truman: There was never a non-partisan in politics. A man cannot be a non-partisan and be effective in a political party. When hes in any party hes partisan. Hes got to be.   5. You Violate the Hatch Act Lets hope things dont get this bad. But if youre a government employee and youre found to have violated the federal Hatch Act, youre behaving as a partisan would behave. The Hatch Act of 1939  placed limits on the political activity of executive branch employees of the federal government, District of Columbia government, and some state and local employees who work in connection with federally funded programs. The law is intended to prohibit taxpayer-supported resources from being used in partisan campaigns; it is also intended to protect civil service employees from partisan pressures from political appointee managers. What does that mean? Well, lets say you work for an agency that is funding at least in part by the federal government. Under the Hatch Act you cant campaign for office or engage in any similar political behavior. Youve got to quit your job first. The federal government doesnt like allocating taxpayer money to agencies whose workers are behaving as partisans. In Defense of Parties and Partisanship Partisanship is the fundamental behavior that allows the two-party system to remain in place in the U.S. And the existence of parties, according to some astute political philosophers, are vital.   The philosopher and political economic John Stuart Mill, writing in On Liberty,  defended partisanship: A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life.† The economist Graham Wallas also described parties favorably. Something is required simpler and more permanent, something which can be loved and trusted, and which can be recognized at successive elections as being the same thing that was loved and trusted before; and a party is such a thing. And  Moisà ©s Naà ­m, a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has written about the need for permanent organizations that earn political power and govern, that are forced to articulate disparate interests and viewpoints, that can recruit and develop future government leaders and that monitor those already in power. Nonpartisan, Bi-Partisan and Post-Partisan Definitions There are a couple of antonyms to the word partisan, and a relatively new term - post-partisan. What do they all mean? Nonpartisan: This  term describes the behavior of political figures who may belong to disparate factions and parties when they work together on nonpolitical issues, such as raising money for charity or helping with some civic issue in their home state. Bipartisan: This term describes the behavior of elected officials or citizens who otherwise disagree on policy issues and belong to disparate factions or parties when they work together toward a common political goal. Bipartisanship is rare on major issues in modern American politics.  Ã‚   Postpartisan: This term, which has come into wide use since President Barack Obamas election in 2008, describes the work of Republicans and Democrats to reach compromise on policy issue without abandoning ties to party or principals. Post-partisanship has its roots in President Thomas Jeffersons inaugural speech: Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists, he said. Obama, a Democrat running for president in 2008, promised to deliver such a postpartisan presidency by embracing Republicans and independents. His remarks resonated among the electorate. I think that there are a whole host of Republicans, and certainly independents, who have lost trust in their government, who dont believe anybody is listening to them, who are staggering under rising costs of health care, college education, dont believe what politicians say. And we can draw those independents and some Republicans into a working coalition, a working majority for change, Obama said. [Edited by Tom Murse]

Socrates Vs Gilgamesh essays

Socrates Vs Gilgamesh essays Socrates view of death in the Phaedo, Crito, and Apology is complex. His argument tries to prove that philosophers, of all people, are in the best state to die or will be in the best state after life because of the life they lead. Socrates views are sharply contrasted in The Epic of Gilgamesh. In fact, he would probably say that Gilgamesh had not lived the proper kind of life and his views of life, and death would lead to an unsettled existence in the afterlife. Socrates view of death, from his opinions on the act of dying, the state of the soul after death, and the fear of death, differs from that of The Epic of Gilgamesh to the extent that Socrates would refute every belief about death presented in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Socrates believes the act of dying to be a separation of the soul from the body. The soul is that which attains knowledge, and the body is that which experiences senses and emotions. In Gilgamesh there is no distinction between the body and soul. In the Phaedo, before Socrates drinks the poison Crito questions him as to how he would like to be buried to which Socrates replies, I do not convince Crito that I am this Socrates talking to you here and ordering all I say, but he thinks that I am the thing which he will soon be looking at as a corpse (Plato 153). By this Socrates means that after death what is left is merely the body and that the self is in the soul, which is no longer part of the body. Gilgamesh does not see things this way. After the death of Enkidu he tells the Man-Scorpion, I have wept for him day and night, I would not give up his body for burial, I thought my friend would come back because of my weeping (Gilgamesh 98). Gilgamesh has the view that the body st ill encompasses what is the self. Socrates would obviously say that it is nonsense to cling to the body of the dead as if it were the person because the soul has already depar ...

The Effectiveness of Government Subsidies for Goods Essay

The Effectiveness of Government Subsidies for Goods - Essay Example Subsidies involve payment of a certain portion of the cost of production to the firm with an objective of lowering the price of the good and thereby encouraging more consumption of the same (Lines, 2005). Subsidizing farm produce has the effect of ensuring there is enough food stuff and agriculture related products in the economy. However, critics of this economic policy argue that it breeds inefficiency and misallocation of scarce resources. Objective This research will be guided by the following objective: To establish the effectiveness of government subsidies on commodities in the product market. Literature Review Conradie (2009) notes that the poor condition of most of the marine capture fisheries in the world has raised increasing public concern of late. There is an imminent economic impact of diminished resources of fish on the regions’ economies in both developed and developing world economies, as well as near commercial extinction of stocks of fish that have placed gre at impact on ecosystems. The declaration which emanated in the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting that was held in Doha emphasized on fisheries as a sector which needs maximum considerations in the next meeting of international negotiations on world trade. While there is a concern on overfishing, the main operational concern remains the role played by subsidies in stimulation of overfishing. If it comes out that the existence of subsidies stimulate overfishing, and then there is need to come up with a control mechanism or completely eliminate the policy. Subsidies often play two key extra roles; they do stimulate fishing and may possibly raise the national income of the country (Grosh, 2008). If the fishing level is below that level that can be safely sustained in the economy, then subsidies that enhance fishing could be useful. Lines (2005) cite that subsidies could interfere with the World Trade Organization control regulations if they lie within the realms of the Internationa l Agreements on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures by the WTO. The concept of subsidies is delicate in the sense that the government introduces them for valid purposes, like economic development strategies. However, with the passage of time, subsidies that were intended for useful purposes may become entrenched and start serving primarily the desires of industry participants who receive the subsidies. Elimination of these subsidies therefore becomes a political thing in the locality, with external implications. Haddad and Shepherd (2011) argue that the policy of subsidies is a complex one due to the fact that there exist no agreement as to what a subsidy actually is. There also exists no scientific way of measuring a subsidy and evaluating its impact to the intended economic sector. At the policy level, we do not have an agreement on when subsidies can be considered harmful or useful. Part of the reason behind the existence of an agreement is the fact that it is complicated to ev aluate the impacts of subsidies in the environment, economy, internal and international trade. Part of the reason for non- agreement on what the definition of a subsidy entails is because subsidies are nowadays being eliminated by governments, it could not be politically wise for a country admitting that a policy actually implies a subsidy. Clements (1998) explains a situation where South African government, through the Department of Agriculture,

The Effects of Psychoactive Substance Abuse on Young People Essay

The Effects of Psychoactive Substance Abuse on Young People - Essay Example Drug and alcohol abuse have adverse effects on the mental health of young people, impacting on their ability to learn and to progress normally in the education system. Cannabis, for example, impairs cognitive development, in particular associative processes and recall, and affects the intoxicated student's ability to concentrate (WHO 2006), while cocaine consumption results in a range of cerebral complications, ranging from hallucination to paranoia (Wikipedia 2006). Many studies reveal a correlation between drug/alcohol abuse and poor grades, as well as with other behavior that inhibit learning, making substance abuse one of the top problems in youth education today. Psychoactive substance abuse also has a negative impact on the body. Both cannabis and alcohol impair psychomotor performance and visual perception, resulting in many fatal motor vehicle accidents, as well as complications such as seizures, and lung, kidney and brain damage (WHO 2006).

Addiction Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Addiction - Term Paper Example They had higher forms of engagement behaviorally as well, when they were more involved. Generally, when one is talking about addiction it refers to a limited set of specifics that define the addiction, but the idea of the addictive personality is to see who may be predisposed to be addicted to various activities. Katz points out how addiction is also increasingly accepted and tolerated in society so that many activities and things which may have not been considered addictive in the past, such as food, exercise, work, and relationships, are now also accepted increasingly as valid addictions. Many experts according to Katz try to narrow down the definition of an addictive personality, therefore, by dividing addictive behavior into five conceptual categories: patterns, habits, compulsions, impulse control disorders, and physical addictions (the person cannot live without it) (2005). Katz’s article provides a general look at addiction, without going too much into specifics. Benshoff’s article deals less generally with the topic of addiction than Katz, and focuses on the population of elderly addicts. The elderly form social bonds that are based on their attachment to society from a psychological perspective as well as a perspective of natural social processes in which becoming alienated from other people and human society is seen to encourage self defeating behavior such as substance abuse. Benshoff shows how these social bonds are formed early in individuals and can be applied to lifespan processes including the elderly who are involved in bonds with society that require various levels, or respective lacks of, attachment to, commitment to, involvement in, and belief in societal codes or normative influences. As the author points out, in the case of the elderly, this direction mainly operates in terms of the present’s balance with the future: deviant behavior such as drug abuse violates the