Opinions Matter

People today seem to have an idea that a select few shall be able to make decisions for large masses concerning the issue with capital punishment in our justice system.
      Across the nation statistics are showing that people are waving their support for captial punishment insisting that life in prison ins't necessary anymore. These are also the same people who want to eliminate from our justice system completely, but there is a fundamental flaw in this assertion. Simply because the majority of a state doesn't want the death penalty doesn't mean another state that supports shouldn't be able to maintain this type of punishment. It is our rights as states and individuals to decide about whether or not this punishment is supported, and as long as the majority of people in one state does I believe that the death penalty shall exist protected through our rights that our forefathers and the constitution gave to us and our states. For those who argue that criminal punishment costs more than the death penalty consider that, "Using the 8 year average, the DP equivalent LWOP cases are still $1 million more expensive than their DP counterparts"(deathpenalty.org). Note that the costs of the death penalty are commonly less than life in prison over a longer span of time. So what does this mean for us? It means that it is time for Americans to stand up for what we believe in, even if that be capital punishment. It also means that we shall show the world that as long as the majority of the people in one great state support capital punishment we will not back down in our beliefs and will press on until silenced. No one shall represent us besides the people themselves. As such, the death penalty shall never die seeing how states such as Texas have such heavy support for it. The death penalty shall forever reserve a space in the United States justice system as long as it reserves space in the hearts of American citizens.

Funamental Issues with Homeschooling

        Homeschooling is becoming an increasing and popular method of educating children in the United States. It saw a near 30,000 increase in just two years at the turn of the millenium and people are still straining to join the phenomenom. Yet, there remain some fundamental issues with homeschooling that must be adressed and tackled before the method can become a legitimate and praised method. Firstly, homeshooled students have less benchmarks and comparisons for colleges to determine the aptitude for a student. Consider that a child in public school takes classes with 20-30 other kids at any given time. Any given child in that classroom can easily be compared to the others, and then that school as a whole can easily be compared to another school. It is hard for an admissions team to normally sense how fit and ready a child is for college, even with this startling amount of comparisons ready for them. Imagine trying to determine how apt a student is that has been homeschooled, no one can imagine how hard it is for a college team to try and learn about this student. Especially a school that doesn't require a kid to submit a SAT/ACT score. They have almost nothing to judge these students off of, and it becomes a very important issue. Out of twelve college admissioners asked, only 60% admitted they had procedures in place to deal with college applicants who were homeshooled,(Journal of College Amission).
               Another issue with homeschooling is the customiation and freedom to which the parents have control of their children. In some cases, this can be a great thing to have. Especially for someone who has the greatest and most noble values. They will hopefully be passed onto a child, ans then that child will continue these values without interference that someone mind find in a public school environment. Yet, this creates issues from students and parents. Escpecially when people forget the hidden purposes and subtle meaning of education. For example, education has helped to "cultivate democratic citizenship,"(Rob Reich). This purpose of education may be lost in the process of home education and that undermines the success it may have. Consider also that people have spen centuries thinking and pondering of the best of the best curriculum for our students and parents have the control to throw all of that away. For instnce, physical education at home may be completely ignored. There could be no mandate for it and children may lose the experience of physical activity that so many other children are awarded. Not only does this exclude the child from society, but the parents are often forced to make extreme sacifices to their daily lives in order to keep their children on par with other ones.
             Finally, consider the nature of the world we live in today. It is not an easy one to live in, with a population of over six billion people. Competition is unavoidable in today's world, whether it be for a job or sports team. With that many people, chances are that sometime in life you will have to face someone to gain something. Here many children raised in public and private schools might thrive. They are trained to embrace and battle competition, which eventually makes the children tougher. They are prepared and mentally strong to face challenges that other students may not be able to who were homeshooled. Parents who homeschool their children often say a reason is to shelter them from the brutality of public schools, but they do not realize that children eventually have to face the real world and the faster they do the better. Not only does this force the child to face what may seem to be a huge problem at a critical time, but it also forces parents to bread competition in a household if they want their child to be capable. It may create a stressed relationship between a parent and child, whereas a public school would create one between a teacher and student. Consider, "It is true that homeschooling has many benefits, however, one must realize that school teaches children skills to face and survive, the trials and tribulations of life"( <a href=http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-why-homeschooling-is-bad.html>Deepa Kartha</a> ). This is the main concern with homemade education, the real world does not occurr in your home. People need to experience the peple and places they will have to live with at a young age and they should not be deprived of that.
              Although parents hope to shelter and protect their children it is perhaps best to realize children can not be completely protected and it is approrpiate for people to realize how the world works and adapt to that as early as possible.
             

Welfare Patients Could Abuse Money

     In the midst of an economic crisis, perhaps there are scandals more troubling than the big bailouts and the huge unemployment rates. Perhaps the most troubling aspect is that people nationwide may be betraying our trust and driving our economy even further into the depths. Consider Welfare, and the nature of it. It A system that was designed out of good intention. The thought being to help those in need who can't raise enough cash to supply them with the necessities. Today, this system is being abused, but people are trying to take steps forward in protecting Welfare and protecting the citizens who pay for it. With drug testing , the people of the United States can rest assured their money is not going to support someone else's addiction.
        People should not and will not be forced to give money to someone who doesn't deserve it. Someone who lost their home due to being laid off, deserves support from us. That could be anyone, and we should all be willing to help a friend just anyone would want a friend to help them. Yet, a junkie who who abuses drugs receives just the same amount of funding from citizens and is far less deserving. People argue that people were forced into using drugs to cope with the tough times, but that isn't true. Everyone always has a choice over what they do, at no time in our existence are humans forcibly fed drugs. So for two different people who are faced with the same difficulties, the one who chooses to stay clean and free from drugs made the right choice even in the face of adversity. This is the person who is deserving of our love and help.There is one reason; this person will put our money to good use. Possibly food or shelter, but certainly not drugs. The solution is logical, drug testing is right. Some argues that it violates the right to unreasonable search and seizure, but nothing is unreasonable. To receive our money, do not take drugs. Seems reasonable and correct according to the law. Yet, since we live in a democratic nation, the only issue that matters is what the people feel is appropriate. According to the public agenda, a leading source on the public's opinion, 68% of people surveyed feel that drug testing for welfare patients is necessary. In the end it all comes down to personal responsibility, everyone has choices to make. It's important to realize that the choice to engage in illegal activity and be instrumental in the facilitation and distribution of narcotics is not supported by this country. As such, it is our right to know whether or not welfare money will be used to support this activity.

Sources:
http://www.publicagenda.org/charts/people-support-mandatory-drug-tests-welfare-recipients

Why is offshore drilling an issue?

      Most people in the world are somewhat familiar with the issue that humans face when it comes to our need for oil and gas. We need excessive amounts, the earth only has so much. A basic idea most people encapsulate, yet tje issue is so much more deep and complex. Yet, for a most part the we shall discuss three ways to determine the viability and usefulness of offshore drilling. When debating the topic, keep in mind the effect it will have on the environment, the effect it shall have on the economy, and finally the effect it will have on future generations. That might be somewhat confusing, but it's actually really simple.
    The people on Earth too commonly forget that this planet isn't all enduring, and that's definitely something to think about when drilling. Remember that even though this planet may seem so big, our very own race is capable of doing some real damage to it and possibly destroying and us and the planet one day. This should be the most important factor to weigh, seeing as when there is no Earth humans have no place to go.  Most people still freshly remember the BP oil spill from last year and how it hurt the economy so badly, and the potential for something like this to happen again is still there. Rachel Cernasky is a freelance journalist with her Master's degree in Communications and she currently writes for planetgreen.com, in her article on drilling she wrote, "Drilling projects will compromise the economic health of coastal communities, which rely on clean waters and intact ecosystems. Without proper understanding of how drilling will affect the ecosystem—or the ability to predict the future—these projects are also seen as risky and, for some of the leases in Alaskan waters, subject to challenge in the Court of Appeals because of a lack of sound science promising the environmental safety of drilling in these areas". Her concern for the environment is definitely valid, and should never be forgotten. This issue should be the forefront in in people's discussions on whether or not to pursue offshore drilling, but of course people must also never forget the need of it and the effect it will have on the economy.
      Think of the state of the nation right now, people are jobless. People are angry, and people need jobs. So maybe pursuing the offshore drilling will solve some of our issues it seems. It should create jobs, circulate money back into America, and supply us with more gasoline to lower the price of it. Yet, people need to really study and look into the need at a much deeper level. For example, according to Cernasky for nearly every 1 million dollars put into off shore drilling, creates more jobs than if 3 million dollars were put into clean energy technologies. So through these benefits and downfalls, it's important to never lose sight of a goal no mater what it shall be. For example, our goal is something along the lines of meeting the short term needs we have for oil and gas while maintaining economic stability and reserves for future generations. Yet, some people believe the most important factors have to deal with our foreign affairs and pursuit of oil in the Middle East, but they're missing the point. This isn't a very important factor to keep in mind because even though nations maybe mad if we take their oil, it's more important to make sure our planet is safe and the nation's economy will actually benefit from this oil. Overall, the subject and debate is very deep and complicated, but for future debates it's important to never lose sight on the environment, economic needs, and needs of future generations. For if we do lose sight on this, who knows where the world will be in even one hundred years.

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Education does not equal jobs

America is currently in turmoil, and the economy has shown little signs of drastic improvement. Yet, as time wares on the key question America should face is how to help our the struggling middle class Americans. As of August 2011, 9.1% of Americans hobbled on without jobs(google public data), and this is easily the biggest plague and difficulty our nation faces in our present state. So, it seems as if the easiest goal for America to state is simply create more jobs. Simple goal, but our country is mistaken in their avenue of pursuit. Students are encouraged to go to college in society, get a degree, and get a job. Students are not encouraged to go out and forget college, and start a business. Quite possibly the one that might supply America with an insane amount of jobs. For example, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, all never got a college degree. Yet, they own some of the most successful businesses in the United States, and employ thousands of people together. This is for the simple reason that our education system stifles the traits needed to be a successful employer.
            A college degree simply is meant to be a symbol, such as any other degree or certification is. It should symbolize an in-depth knowledge of a certain subject and an ability to work hard. Yet, in colleges across the world the focus is definitely shifting less on working hard, to being intelligent. A stress has been put on intelligence and knowledge across the country, as more and more teachers are stressing the knowledge hoping that the good will and dedication follows soon afterwards. Teachers and universities instill some traits needed for entrepreneurs, but not what are arguably the most important ones. It is important to be intelligent, yet some of the most successful businessmen state that they reached success due to their failures and hard work. Not to forget, colleges almost lead people away from creating jobs and businesses. In college, students live in a structured environment and are taught to make safe choices. A teacher might tell a student that in computer engineering, the student could make $100,000 annually. This type of thinking stifles entrepreneurship, it's a one way train of thought. The student sees his goal as getting a job similar to this. Consider the following in great detail, "If there was a goal-setting course somewhere in my college education, I must have missed it!  Everything I’ve learned about goal setting, I have learned on my own, from experience, from coaches, or in seminars"(http://www.companyfounder.com/2011/10/an-entrepreneur-does-not-need-university-education/). This comes from Paul Morin in his discussion regarding the need of a college education, and clearly college destroys some traits needed to successfully be an entrepreneur. Now, some people will state that college is indeed necessary for any path. Everyone has heard the fact that students with college degrees make nearly two times as much as people without them, it has been recited everywhere. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, students with a master's degree make nearly three times as much as students without a high school degree. Therefore, these degrees procure the student's opportunities to earn more one would be lead to believe. When really, the dropouts didn't earn less because they were dropouts, but because they were not qualified for the work force. The students probably set lower goals for themselves and achieved less overall, while the students with the degrees were most likely more dedicated and excited about challenges they faced. So, a student who was dedicated and a hard worker, may have achieved more without a college degree, if he had taken that avenue. Yet, we will never know, but these stats are definitely the wrong way to be viewing the value of a degree.
           Again, the issue boils down to the need for jobs in the American economy and the relation of an education to that. Obviously, a post secondary education is needed for many jobs today, but not for the people creating those jobs. These rulers of tomorrow and heroes of today, need traits not taught in school. They need un-ending dedication, faith, and the ability to inspire others. They need the ability to sell a product, fail gracefully, and most importantly offer a unique and different service. Sadly, students are taught none of this! They are taught to simply be better than those before them, but that will not suffice anymore. If America is to succeed for tomorrow, college needs to change. It needs to teach our children more effectively, and give them something valuable. Something that signifies their place in society because right now all it signifies is their lack of creativity and innovation as well as their in-depth knowledge of some book that will be outdated in two years.

Green Sharpener's lost friend

Now even as the sharpener didn't feel or have emotions, sometimes the feelings don't matter in a story. Rather, the story itself is intriguing enough to be told without taking the reader on an emotional roller coaster. So, this would be the category of the sharpener's brother.Brother being used as a term because sharpener's don't roll off the assembly line in nice even pieces, rather they are conjoined by every two. So, were these two sharpeners. Except, they weren't separated by the conventional  blade that separated so many others. Instead, they were separated by an explosion, a robbery. Forever doomed to never find the other, the path these two were condemned to. The brother , the one that was lost, is still lost. One can only wonder if it will ever be found. Everything will eventually be found, right?

The History of A Pencil Sharpener

Every single item in the world, has a history. Whether it be an ancient artifact or a new piece of technology, if an object is created it has a history. So, did the little unique pencil sharpener that had stumbled into a school one day. It too, had a history. No matter how brief, or how insignificant. That object had one, not steamed with mystery or full of exciting events. Rather, a brief, bland one. Yet, it represented so much more than that. So much more that maybe it will never be understood, but I will do my best to relay its importance to you.