Maybe I am being cruel, but I can't stand elderly drivers. Whenever I am driving and someone in front of me is holding up traffic, nine times out of ten it is an elderly person. Along with clogging the roads with their snail like driving, elderly drivers somehow manage to park their cars in places no one would have thought possible. See for yourself-- http://wbztv.com/local/wal.mart.danvers.2.1027911.html . I couldn't do that if i tried. A lot of the time the driver does not even realize what they have just done. You might call that shock, I call it being old.
Would you want your grandparents driving you somewhere? My Nana is 80 years old and i am more than happy to give her a ride or pick up anything she needs and would rather it be that way than have her be driving. I'll pick up everything she needs in one trip with no complaints to keep her and other drivers safe. In a sense, elderly drivers are controlling a speeding metal object that can drive through buildings. Now I'm not saying that just because your old means you shouldn't drive, but there should be some sort of test at say, 70 years old to renew your license. If you pass the driving test once and gain a lifetimes experience of driving you can pass it again, right? You don't see grandpa trying to join in on some back yard football games because he can't. Playing football and driving are clearly not the same but they both involve reflexes and at least some kind of movement. When your that old your body just isn't the same. I know from watching my grandmother struggle and then ask me to open a liter of soda. If you cant twist a cap then how can someone grip a steering wheel?
Another driving test when your older isn't one to keep you from driving, it is one to prove that you can. Unless someone fears they wont pass the test, there should be no objection to taking another driving test. Next time you sympathize with elderly drivers, think if it was your younger sibling who was in a crosswalk.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Gun Control by Conor Foley
Who decided that EVERYONE in our nation needs guns? I want to know exactly what the idea behind the making of this amendment. Ever since our founding fathers made it legal in the 2nd Amendment for citizens to "bear arms," it has made our country a much more dangerous place to live in.
What good comes from guns? The answer is absolutely nothing. Some critics may say it is for "protection" from burglars, muggers, etc. But if guns weren't sold to citizens in the first place, we wouldn't need to defend ourselves with them. Mase or a baseball bat work perfectly fine as a defense against an attacker. I personally will never buy a gun.
With guns, crimes such as robberies and rapes increase drastically. You are completely helpless if someone points a gun in your face. A gun symbolizes fear, aggression, and death. Why would we want that in our nation? Why would we want that around our familes? There is nothing scarier than the thought of death. Death can come very fast and very abrubtly just from one pull of the trigger. It can ruin lives physically and emotionally.
Anyone can get a hold of a gun in America. What happens if someone with an anger management problem gets their hands on a gun? Would you want that person around you carrying a gun, knowing that they could overreact and snap if even the slightest thing upsets them?
The United Kingdom has absolutely no firearms. Not even their law enforcement carries a gun. As a result, their crime rate is dramatically lower than ours. If it's working for them, why not us? Why don't we eliminate guns completely?
The very existance of guns makes each and every person more cautious. People make sure they lock their doors to their houses and cars. Barely anyone walks around at night in fear of an attacker. We can stop living in fear with the elimination of guns.
What good comes from guns? The answer is absolutely nothing. Some critics may say it is for "protection" from burglars, muggers, etc. But if guns weren't sold to citizens in the first place, we wouldn't need to defend ourselves with them. Mase or a baseball bat work perfectly fine as a defense against an attacker. I personally will never buy a gun.
With guns, crimes such as robberies and rapes increase drastically. You are completely helpless if someone points a gun in your face. A gun symbolizes fear, aggression, and death. Why would we want that in our nation? Why would we want that around our familes? There is nothing scarier than the thought of death. Death can come very fast and very abrubtly just from one pull of the trigger. It can ruin lives physically and emotionally.
Anyone can get a hold of a gun in America. What happens if someone with an anger management problem gets their hands on a gun? Would you want that person around you carrying a gun, knowing that they could overreact and snap if even the slightest thing upsets them?
The United Kingdom has absolutely no firearms. Not even their law enforcement carries a gun. As a result, their crime rate is dramatically lower than ours. If it's working for them, why not us? Why don't we eliminate guns completely?
The very existance of guns makes each and every person more cautious. People make sure they lock their doors to their houses and cars. Barely anyone walks around at night in fear of an attacker. We can stop living in fear with the elimination of guns.
Piracy
by David Chan
There are three traditional ways to watch a movie. You can go to see it in the theaters, and buy or rent it on dvd. However, with the advent of peer-to-peer file sharing, the internet literate population is finding an alternative way to view movies. Sharing of copyrighted movies is of course illegal, but the method by which the MPAA, Motion picture Association of America, is going about in dealing with the situation is deplorable and foolish. The MPAA has in the past sued individuals for sharing and downloading pirated movies especially those unsuspecting college students. Currently the MPAA has a deal with UMass where the internet usage of students is monitors so that any copyright infringement is reported to the MPAA. To combat cam recording in theaters, the MPAA introduced frisking and large fines. The MPAA has event begun to indoctrinate children to copyright laws and piracy by sponsoring lectures on the subject for the Boy Scouts.
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/11/04/how-the-mpaa/
Instead of threatening people by introducing ridiculous fines and having movie goer suffer the humiliations of frisks, maybe the MPAA should focus on offering a movie going experience that supersedes the convenience of copyright infringement. The methods the MPAA have been using are largely ineffective. They continue to draw more disapproval because they treat the movie watching masses as children that don't know any better than to steal. They set examples by slapping large fines on people and they attempt to deter us with threats. If anything, the actions of the MPAA have only encouraged more people to pirate and infringe. Most people would rather watch a movie they deem worthy at the theaters than on a 22" computer monitor. Until the MPAA have figured out what they're doing wrong, copyright infringement will continue to grow undeterred and the MPAA will continue to lose money.
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2005/03/mpaa_piracy.html
http://www.tuxick.net/pics/piracy2.jpg
There are three traditional ways to watch a movie. You can go to see it in the theaters, and buy or rent it on dvd. However, with the advent of peer-to-peer file sharing, the internet literate population is finding an alternative way to view movies. Sharing of copyrighted movies is of course illegal, but the method by which the MPAA, Motion picture Association of America, is going about in dealing with the situation is deplorable and foolish. The MPAA has in the past sued individuals for sharing and downloading pirated movies especially those unsuspecting college students. Currently the MPAA has a deal with UMass where the internet usage of students is monitors so that any copyright infringement is reported to the MPAA. To combat cam recording in theaters, the MPAA introduced frisking and large fines. The MPAA has event begun to indoctrinate children to copyright laws and piracy by sponsoring lectures on the subject for the Boy Scouts.
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/11/04/how-the-mpaa/
Instead of threatening people by introducing ridiculous fines and having movie goer suffer the humiliations of frisks, maybe the MPAA should focus on offering a movie going experience that supersedes the convenience of copyright infringement. The methods the MPAA have been using are largely ineffective. They continue to draw more disapproval because they treat the movie watching masses as children that don't know any better than to steal. They set examples by slapping large fines on people and they attempt to deter us with threats. If anything, the actions of the MPAA have only encouraged more people to pirate and infringe. Most people would rather watch a movie they deem worthy at the theaters than on a 22" computer monitor. Until the MPAA have figured out what they're doing wrong, copyright infringement will continue to grow undeterred and the MPAA will continue to lose money.
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2005/03/mpaa_piracy.html
http://www.tuxick.net/pics/piracy2.jpg
Madi Vivian- Gay Marraige
Today, it seems as though the topic of gay marriage is very talked about. Aside from being extremely popular—people also seem to still be arguing about it; therefore making it extremely controversial. I, personally, believe that if two people are in love or want to settle down with each other by “tying the knot”, then they should be granted that ability, no matter what their sex is.
Throughout history, things like abortion and women’s rights and, now, gay marriage, have been extremely controversial—but when considering, do the people who are against gay marriage have a real argument? The only argument that I usually hear from people against the gay community is that “it is just not right for the same sex to be together” or that “G-d meant for a male and female to be together—not both”. I laugh when I hear this.
Two of my best friends are gay. They are the nicest, funniest, and most down to earth people I know. But this isn’t because they are “gay”. It’s just because AS A PERSON, each individually are great. Growing up in a tight community—which doesn’t accept gays as easily—it was very hard for each of them to accept even themselves as what they are. I couldn’t fathom the fact that someone may argue against their happiness.
A person’s sexuality is like a straight person having a certain “taste” in the opposite sex. You cannot change the fact that you may like another male or female. The people that are trying to take away/ are against gays having the ability to marry, to me, are evil. Getting married is a persons’ decision, and if two people want to spend the rest of their lives with eachother—then, no matter their gender—they should be granted that ability.
Throughout history, things like abortion and women’s rights and, now, gay marriage, have been extremely controversial—but when considering, do the people who are against gay marriage have a real argument? The only argument that I usually hear from people against the gay community is that “it is just not right for the same sex to be together” or that “G-d meant for a male and female to be together—not both”. I laugh when I hear this.
Two of my best friends are gay. They are the nicest, funniest, and most down to earth people I know. But this isn’t because they are “gay”. It’s just because AS A PERSON, each individually are great. Growing up in a tight community—which doesn’t accept gays as easily—it was very hard for each of them to accept even themselves as what they are. I couldn’t fathom the fact that someone may argue against their happiness.
A person’s sexuality is like a straight person having a certain “taste” in the opposite sex. You cannot change the fact that you may like another male or female. The people that are trying to take away/ are against gays having the ability to marry, to me, are evil. Getting married is a persons’ decision, and if two people want to spend the rest of their lives with eachother—then, no matter their gender—they should be granted that ability.
Stanley Tam
Every high school student, at some point, will tell their friends that they will never join a fraternity or a sorority. They think that these groups are full of “fake” friends and in order to obtain them, you have to pay a due. Simply said, it is like buying friends. Likely, you would hear them say “only losers with no friends join Greek life”. Stereotypes and controversial matters are always involved within these groups. Most people think that people who like to party and have fun will decide to become apart of it and those who are fuck up their academics because of the partying. I believe there are too many negative stereotypes involving Greek life.
Until you become familiar with one, you will then be able to acknowledge the family aspect of it.
In order to become a part of the family, you must complete a pledging process. It is true that the pledging process can be seen as harsh and can even consider as being hazing, but this is not necessarily true. Everything a respectable fraternity or sorority does has been experienced by a actives when they were pledges themselves. It is safe to know that you are not alone; you are not the only one experiencing this type of treatment. These types of events will most likely have a meaning behind it, and in order to become a part of the family, you must learn the lessons that are taught behind them, even if they might seem like hazing.
I have friends in a fraternity and they tell me stories about the brotherhood they share. He has brothers who treat him like he is blood. They care, respect, and love him. He tells me that it is not mainly about parties
Until you become familiar with one, you will then be able to acknowledge the family aspect of it.
In order to become a part of the family, you must complete a pledging process. It is true that the pledging process can be seen as harsh and can even consider as being hazing, but this is not necessarily true. Everything a respectable fraternity or sorority does has been experienced by a actives when they were pledges themselves. It is safe to know that you are not alone; you are not the only one experiencing this type of treatment. These types of events will most likely have a meaning behind it, and in order to become a part of the family, you must learn the lessons that are taught behind them, even if they might seem like hazing.
I have friends in a fraternity and they tell me stories about the brotherhood they share. He has brothers who treat him like he is blood. They care, respect, and love him. He tells me that it is not mainly about parties
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Emily Best- Fox News Isn't News
All you need to do is watch the Fox News channel to fully understand what I am about to talk about. If just watching Fox’s extremely biased anchors banter doesn't convince you that Fox News isn't actually news, then I’ll refer you to watching a documentary called "Outfoxed", which shows over an hour and a half of reasons why Fox News is basically just right wing propaganda and has absolutely no news value. Fox News Network is terrible... They claim to be "Fair and Balanced" but show an overwhelming bias towards the Republican party in political stories. Fox News even just LIES on its news network. It exaggerates claims, leaves information out, or just doesn't cover entire stories. Fox News solely focuses on the negative things that occur within the Democratic party in the United States.
It’s really sad that a news network would do something like this. If one news network can get away with blatantly lying to its viewers, who’s to say the other news networks aren’t lying as well? It just makes me feel like I can’t trust anything. Fox News should be ashamed.
Now let me say this, there is nothing wrong with biased news shows. I love The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, which are both left wing biased. However, those shows tell people they are biased. They don’t claim to be giving people “Fair and Balanced” news, and they aren’t an entire network. If Fox News wants to be a right winged propaganda network, that’s fine. They just should let people know that the way they cover stories have a right wing view to them, and that some of their facts may be a little exaggerated. It really pains me to know that there are people in this nation that wake up every morning, watch Fox News, and believe everything that Fox News says. And because of that, they have little support for our president because of the exaggerated claims that Fox News has made, and they have little support for Obama’s new policies.
It’s really sad that a news network would do something like this. If one news network can get away with blatantly lying to its viewers, who’s to say the other news networks aren’t lying as well? It just makes me feel like I can’t trust anything. Fox News should be ashamed.
Now let me say this, there is nothing wrong with biased news shows. I love The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, which are both left wing biased. However, those shows tell people they are biased. They don’t claim to be giving people “Fair and Balanced” news, and they aren’t an entire network. If Fox News wants to be a right winged propaganda network, that’s fine. They just should let people know that the way they cover stories have a right wing view to them, and that some of their facts may be a little exaggerated. It really pains me to know that there are people in this nation that wake up every morning, watch Fox News, and believe everything that Fox News says. And because of that, they have little support for our president because of the exaggerated claims that Fox News has made, and they have little support for Obama’s new policies.
Hai Dinh - Homelessness
When I was younger, I used to live in Dorchester. If you ever go south towards Boston and take exit 15 to Columbia Road, there is this popular intersection with at least one or two homeless people standing with a Dunkin’ Donuts cup in there hand, walking up and down the street, begging for money when the lights are red. The homeless man or woman usually passes by the cars that are turning left because there is a small sidewalk that they are able stand on. I noticed that whenever my father was driving, he never gave them a penny but whenever my mother drove, she always gave them some change. Recently, I was driving and sitting in the passenger seat was my father. When I pulled up to a homeless person, I began to reach for some change and roll down the windows but my father raised his voice and said, “Hai, what are you doing? Don’t give him any money because he won’t use it for what you think he will use it for.” I ended up not giving the homeless man change because of what my father told me.
Before this incident involving my father, I used to commute by subway frequently and there would always be homeless beggars sitting on the benches, shaking their cups with that sincere look in there face that made you feel so bad for them, you had to give them some change. I always spared some change for any homeless person I came across. One time, I even put a $5 bill in a man’s cup and the look he gave me, made me feel great inside. It made my day whenever I gave a homeless person some change. But recently, I was hanging out with some friends and they advised me not to give them any money because all the money will go to liquor and drugs, not food.
How does my father and friends know for a fact that all the money they collect go to drugs and alcohol? What if a person lost their home or job and were forced to live on the streets? I believe that everyone needs help one way or another. The world would be a better place if people could help lend a hand to people in need. It doesn’t have to involve money. People could give homeless people food or a beverage if they think that the money will go to alcohol and drugs. Even if a homeless person used the money to purchase alcohol and drugs, we need to acknowledge that they need help. For instance, we often spend money on items we don’t necessarily need so why can’t we put the money to good use and spare some change to a person in need?
Before this incident involving my father, I used to commute by subway frequently and there would always be homeless beggars sitting on the benches, shaking their cups with that sincere look in there face that made you feel so bad for them, you had to give them some change. I always spared some change for any homeless person I came across. One time, I even put a $5 bill in a man’s cup and the look he gave me, made me feel great inside. It made my day whenever I gave a homeless person some change. But recently, I was hanging out with some friends and they advised me not to give them any money because all the money will go to liquor and drugs, not food.
How does my father and friends know for a fact that all the money they collect go to drugs and alcohol? What if a person lost their home or job and were forced to live on the streets? I believe that everyone needs help one way or another. The world would be a better place if people could help lend a hand to people in need. It doesn’t have to involve money. People could give homeless people food or a beverage if they think that the money will go to alcohol and drugs. Even if a homeless person used the money to purchase alcohol and drugs, we need to acknowledge that they need help. For instance, we often spend money on items we don’t necessarily need so why can’t we put the money to good use and spare some change to a person in need?
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