Persuasive Essay Assignment
Copy your essay here as a comment and please finish before class begins next Wednesday. Remember this is a first draft; however, I expect a full, 750 word draft. Be sure to design your essay based on the two examples given to you in class: "You win some; you lose some" and "Addicted to Oil?"
19 comments:
hello, brad... this is my first draft of "persuasive essay," i hope u like it...^^*
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Lately I’ve been thinking, “Should I buy the CDs like the norms do, or should I ‘steal’ music from the Internet?” ‘Stealing’, of course, is bad habit to get into, but once you hooked onto it, it’s so sweet like a candy and it can’t be stopped. Downloading music illegally is one of them and of course, many of them are doing it and probably doing it right this minute as well.
So, my question is this: is it legal to download? The answer is simply NO! Then why are we doing it? Is it because of the peer pressure, or is it fun of not getting it caught? Of course, even though the answer is easiness to download and don’t have to buzz around the music store, pick it, and don’t have to wait, the consequences are a great deal because according to the tempa tribune on Feb.24, 2008, online newspaper claims that about a third of children between ages nine and fourteen may use illegal music downloading continuously, and it means that about twenty six per cent are tweens, and that could create a serious problems.
“What’s the big deal? I mean, nobody got hurt and everyone is doing it. What’s the big problem, right?” Probably what young people are thinking and that’s why they keep doing it as long as they don’t get caught. But they’re wrong, because it’s morally wrong and they could be fined, and the fines are costly. According to the Daily Vidette online students’ newspaper at Illinois State University on Oct. 4, 2007 says that one girl was sued for downloading music illegally and her family paid between $3000 and $150,000 per song.
So, why are they keep doing it and is it safe? The answer is yes, and no because if young people in the US are downloading it from the apple company, or from other authorized companies, it’s legal in the US, but it’s different in Canada because as long as tweens are downloading a copyright music from friend to friends networks, it’s legal because they already paid the fees, but downloading is not, according to the article called “When is downloading music on the internet illegal?” So, the question comes down to this, why are they kept doing it? Is it fun, or what? According to the Tempa Tribune online newspaper on Feb. 24, 2007 says that the young people are keep doing it because they simply don’t have supervising or no parental supervising because they’re either doing it in their rooms, or at school.
Ok, let’s think about the record company for a change. Do they earn money or lose it? Of course, the answer is simple: No, because “the industry body says CD sales are falling eleven per cent between 2005 and 2006, and is going to keep falling more in later 2007,” according to the age.com online newspaper on Jan. 25, 2008, in which means they have been losing money and continue to lose it a great deal. Also, it’s going to have a bad effect on the record company and retail stores as well because the article on ars techinca online newspaper on Feb. 12, 2007, find out that “803 million CD sold, which was a decrease of about 80 per cent, and the impact from sharing file could not have been 6 million, leaving the 74 million unsold CDs…” which means retail stores don’t have choice, but to close.
So, what are companies going to do about it, are they going to prevent it, or sue the students? The answer is yes, because in the US, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is watching the students and charging them, the students at the Winthrop in the US charged and appeared on Johnsonian online students’ newspaper on Apr. 11, 2oo5 says “two students charged and could expel from the university in an extreme case,” in which means it’s a extremely bad thing next to plagiary. But what about internationally, are they going to fly over and capture the students? Then, the answer is, yes because in the UK, the parents are, for example, going to get the warning letter if their children are downloading music illegally, according to the mail online newspaper on Jul.24, 2008.
My final question is what are we, the human beings, going to do about it? Are we going to keep doing it, or what? The simple answer would be yes because the RIAA says the downloading the music illegally is like shoplift in a store, according to the Johnsonian online students’ newspaper on Apr.14, 2008.
Words: 766.
hi esther, don't you think that you need a title.
thanks for the comment, beatrice...^^*
why isn't anyone posting?? i wanna read other peoples'~~ :(
We love beauties.
By Khalil
When we hear about cosmetic plastic surgery, beauty comes up in our image with a smile, usually. This is true, but is it the only result? Studying articles, reports, and seeing some people indicate this surgery returns beauties, physical normality, and makes people happiness and relax.
What is cosmetic plastic surgery? Dr. Achilleas. Thoma as President of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons writes, “Plastikos is a Greek term, which means to create, to form, or to reconstruct.” And beauty would create, form, or reconstruct by cosmetic plastic surgery. Do you disagree with good looking? If you do, look at the mirror, see your harmonic cloths, your face and hair decoration. Now, you change your opinion. I am sure.
I had a classmate in my childhood and elementary school. He had a big mother’s mark purple stigma that had covered half her right cheek, and we humiliate him sometimes. After a while, I saw him without the stain, and he said, “You guys did kidding, but you didn’t know how much you depressed me. And when I requested to marriage, she asked me to operate my face first, so I did, and I do better feel, now.”
You may say this kind of cosmetic surgery is ok, but I project with to make beautiful a natural nose, or to take face wrinkles out only for beauty. All right, I saw a girl nose’s photos in the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons which it was safe but very unusual, pity! I couldn’t paste her photos in the Blog. If you see it, I’m sure you wouldn’t like to have it. So, she didn’t too. Therefore, the surgeons had used their knives, and made it normal.
If you are going to marriage or to have a partnership, do you choose, at least, a spouse or a partner who is irregular in face and body built? So, cosmetic surgery gives a chance to some people to have a normal life.
According to “The History of Cosmetic Surgery”, “Today, cosmetic surgery is performed on a wide variety of patients from varying social classes. In 2007 alone, there were more than 11.5 million cosmetic surgery procedures performed, an increase of 50% from 2000.” Why is it increasing? Because of Media add, internet, stylish, or obligatory needs? All of them, and it shows how people need to have a normal shape. As a parent if one of your children, has an irregularity in the body, wouldn’t you add him/here to this statics?
Remind you this statics is about people who were able to pay the expensive cost of this surgery and back to or safe their normal life consisting of social positions, but millions of people couldn’t do this because the most of people are poor in the world. You caught me! We could pay our extra money to rescue poor people from starving. Of course, you are right, and I hope so, but, please, don’t back to look at your home decorations, your stylish wearing, and your body decoration materials and tools.
Pay attention please, cosmetic plastic surgery developed after the world war one, but the oldness of cosmetic products is as early as human life. The perfection is quality rely on the times. It never is separated from the human life, and cosmetic products are made and used for this quality, widely. If 11.5 million people performed cosmetic surgery in one year, about 6 billion people use cosmetic products, at least, one time per day. The amount of money that we pay for cosmetic products, everyday, is incredible.
Although good appearance is one of the special human characters and makes us pleasure, it is important for business some of people: T.V speakers, fashioners, movie stars, bank and company tellers, and so on should be, at least, regular in face and body built. Therefore, some of people use cosmetic plastic surgery in different parts of the body: Face, breasts, shoulders, back, and belly; it depends what is important in their jobs, and taking wrinkles is one of the common cosmetic surgeries. Perhaps, you and I were one of them, we did it, eagerly.
Actually, cosmetic plastic surgery is advance form of using cosmetic product, and reasons to use them are the same. Yesterday, people covered their abnormalities with cosmetic products, today by the products plus the surgery, and tomorrow replacing irregular organs with cosmetic organs which are grown up in the libraries because beauty is our inclination and cheers us, good luck.
Hi Brad, I'm sorry because I forgot write the words number. they are 752 words. Thanks
Global warming, a sensational statement?
I heard the news said the scientists predict Richmond will be inundated 150 years from now. I don’t believe “predictions”. I have experienced few of them, like on August 1998 there would be a war in Taiwan, like in 2000 the Earth would have widespread disasters, but none of them did really come true. So, inundating Richmond, I don’t take it into account. Saying so, I still worry about that a little bit, that is also one of the reasons I didn’t settle in Richmond. Human minds like mine are really strange, saying I don’t believe it, but truly a little wonder and worry.
Global warming was the same story to me. I have been hearing it for many years. But did it affect my life? Furthermore, the climate on Earth has been changing all the time since it was born. How did the scientists talk it so terrified? Will I die of global warming tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow? Even though the global warming has been causing something happened, it hasn’t affected my life. Why did I worry about that? It was a kind of business belonging to the scientists.
The above was what I thought about the global warming before. Now I would say “what a shallow and selfish thought!” to myself.
Thanks to the scientists. Thanks to those people who devote to the research of the climate change. They have been giving people the evidence, the data, and the statistics what they have discovered continuously and let us know what is happening on the Earth. Those changes they have improved may go out of human’s control and bring a big disorder to our earth.
We all live on the same planet, no matter where you live. When I look up at the global map in front my desk, I see the ocean. It is only “one” ocean there. These different names: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, only exist in the map not within the real ocean. Using the imagination, thinking you are in the outer space looking down the Earth, it is easier to understand that the human are all live on the surface of a ball which is surrounded by atmospheric gases. Since anything wrong happens within the atmospheric layer, everything will be affected. That is also the base of the butterfly effect theory works. The question is what point of view you take to look at the Earth. What’s your attitude toward the place we live in?
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon and too much gases trap too much heat and make the planet get a fever. Rising temperatures melt polar ice and permafrost. Melting ice raises sea levels inundating low coastal areas. Less ice means more heat which means less ice. (Missy Adams, 2006) Those intra-affected phenomena have been revealed. As well as more and more data shows the global warming is not a slow-motion problem any more.
In 2005, glaciologist Eric Rignot and Pannir Kanagaratnam analyzed data from Canadian and European satellites and found that Greenland ice was not just melting but doing as more than twice as fast. (Jeffery Kluger, 2006)
Climatologist Philip Mote of the University of Washington has compared decades of snowpack levels in Washington, Oregon and California and found that they are a fraction of what they were in the 1940s, and some snowpacks have vanished entirely. (Jeffery Kluger, 2006)
More recent reports indicate “Our voracious appetite for energy is potentially putting the planet on the path for a 6°C rise in temperatures - which is far more than what climate specialists say the environment can cope with.” ” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its forecasts of how rises between 1°C and 5°C would change the environment. A rise of 6°C was off the charts.”(Catherine Brahic, 2008)
If we keep destroying the environment, it is possible that one day the Earth becomes an inconvenient place to let human live, then where are we going to live? Will we be like the dinosaurs extinct from the Earth? It could happen. Maybe not our generation, not our children generation, not our grandchildren generation, but who knows when it will arrive.
Living on the earth, we are all the passengers. Come and gone. Like a flash. The earth is such a perfect, dedicated-designed, and well- balanced place. We should do our best to protect it, to leave the earth as beautiful as it original was. Don’t let this generation’s benefit becomes the debt of our decedent.
-757 words-
Why is selling alcohol at sporting events legal? It contributes a good source of income for games, so teams’ owners can able to pay expensive players, and the other costs, and it attracts more fans to games. However, I see selling alcohol at sporting events brings conflicts and tragic to fans during and after games.
Watching games at home is safer and clearer, and to see scenes of players’ faces and actions clearly. People don’t like, and think it is boring. Why do people like watching live games? They feel more cheerful and energetic feelings from millions of empathy strangers who sit elbow to elbow. People drink and enjoy crowed, and hear direct comments from each other.
Funs attempt drunker to drink more and more, and alcohol can change sympathy strangers into rivals. Alcohol makes people become more harassed and rowdy around other innocent fans. They yell and mutter if there are conflict between players, and unfair referees. It doesn’t stop from here.
A good game is grabbing fans attention of cheering and supporting. Nevertheless, it is too much for intoxicated fans when they come to the exciting or anxious moments of games, they cause problems for others. At football and hockey events, people sit shoulder to shoulder, and sometimes I witnessed a couple incidents happened surround my area at the same game. I saw that the drunken fans had beer in the hands, consciously jumping up to cheer the game, and spilled alcohol on other peoples’ heads and clothes, and splashed to the others. Ignoring the game, the rest of the eyes crept over watching which made the victims felt embarrassed, and there were series of quarrels.
Intoxicated people aren’t fans sometimes, but they are fools. I saw at the football games especially, inebriated fans jumped off the benches ran naked across the field, and behind, the police, chasing. For sure, you are not going to this fool on the TV. Are there polices and securities? Yes, but there is a number of drunker, polices and securities can’t watch out who is and who isn’t a fool, and what he or she is going to do.
“Alcohol Industry” said Jeff Black sued the Colorado Rockies game and a beer vendor at Coors Field for unsafe serving alcohol and security practices that leaded to drunken fans attacked his eight-year-old son during the game.
How is about after games? It is exciting to see fans cheers for home team’s victory. We can hear whistles, drums, yelling, and shrieks from fans. Or it is disappointing to see home team loses. Losing or winning doesn’t matter sometimes, and fans are victims because of alcohol. According to “Alcohol Industry” said a twenty one-year-old college student was killed by a pepper-spray in the eye last year in Boston during the “celebration” of the Red Sox’s World Series’ victory.
Further tragic is drunken and driving fans end in crash or accidents because of limited visions, and losing control easily, and acting violent after leaving sporting events. According to James Mosher, senor policy advisor at the CDM Group in Felton, California cited, “A recent horrific drunk driving crash in New Jersey caused by an intoxicated fan who left a New York Giants football after being served while obviously intoxicated.”
Absolutely, selling alcohol at sporting events brings high profit and more audience to games. Drunken and driving fans don’t just kill or don’t injure themselves, beside that they pull more and more innocent victims into collision with them. What is going to happen to sports stadiums’ hosts when they have no luck? Victims might sue them to pay more prices than they collect. “Alcohol Industry” said Aramrk lost a 110 million dollars judgment for serving drunken New York Giants football fan who then collided his car into a family, paralyzing a young girl.
I see that vendors might serve alcohol to drunker more than they are allowed. If a person drinks one or two cups of beer, he or she doesn’t feel conscious enough to run into others’ cars because one bottle of beer probably contains 3.5% to 5% alcohol. Drunker are attempted by crowd and cheers tend to drink more and more as long as being served. Teams’ owners should be alert to the law.
They want to gain income or to lose income, and to gain audience or to lose audience. Selling alcohol at sporting events seems to scare innocent people or fans who are afraid to think of they might be victims one day. “I am a life-long baseball fan who simply stopped going to games because of the fans’ drunkenness”, said Jenna Rosen of Montclair, New Jersey.
(772 words)
Risk for Beauty
I think that most people have had a wish at least once, to change their appearance in different ways. For me, I wish my nose was a little bit taller, and my eyes were bigger than I have now. Many people are dissatisfied with their body parts, and care about how they look constantly. Cosmetic plastic surgery solves the problems, and turns their life a hundred eighty degrees around.
“I think I look better than I have ever looked. I want everybody to know how happy I am” A beautiful lady said after her “extreme makeover”. Her eyes vividly brightened and showed her confidence. Her dress fitted on her perfectly, and she definitely looked ten years younger than her age.
I felt that it was a good solution for her. She hated wrinkles on her face, and her voice was low toned with low self –confidence. After the surgery, her appearance was totally changed, of course, but I noticed that her character has changed. She had vitality with her talk and laugh, and looked the happiest person in the world. So, is cosmetic plastic surgery a perfect solution for people who want to change their appearance?
Unfortunately, cosmetic plastic surgery is not perfect. Injecting Botox into the skin makes wrinkles disappeared amazingly, but that works for a short time. Moreover, side affects such as pain, tenderness, or bruising, could occur temporary if you are lucky. If you are not lucky, the side affects could stay permanently. According to Therapeutic Botox led to four deaths, says lawsuit by Colin Stewart, “obscures that Botox is a highly lethal toxin with serious and life-threatening side effects” the suit says. This column is about suing the drug maker by fifteen Botox users and their relatives. After I read this column, I don’t know why, but I was not satisfied about the suing. I am sure that plastic surgeons have counseling with the patients about details of the surgeries, including risks, side affects and failures. So, the point is when you consider to get cosmetic plastic surgery, you need to remind that you are in risk of the side affects or death. Even though it is a small possibility, you could die from Botox or other treatments. And, if you decide to get the treatment, it is your responsibility of your choice, to get better look.
A sad news in November 2007, for a famous Hip-Hop singer, Kanye West. His mother Donda, died from “complications of surgery” after a tummy tuck and breast reduction. She just wanted a nice look, and lost her life instead. One of the reasons that caused the incident, She was supposed to have a medical clearance from the internist, but she did not. Over the age of forty, because of the risk of heart attack, patients have to have a medical clearance. I feel sorry about her death, at the same time I think that Donda’s neglect of rules and her surgeon’s irresponsibility made her death. Who imagines that your mom or wife dies from plastic surgery? The operation is not like removing a tumor or cancer, it is for removing fat; it is just cosmetic plastic surgery.
Even if your surgery was successful, that is not the end yet. For example, breast implants will stay long in your body if you maintain very well, but it is not a life time expectancy.
In addition, your skin and your body will get old and not to stay same as when you had breast implants or other surgeries. Therefore, some people get the surgeries again and again to maintain, just like Michael Jackson.
I noticed that in North America, people care about teeth more than Asian countries. I heard that before, sometime companies and societies judge by teeth, if you are educated or not. Having beautiful teeth is necessary to be successful, and if you don’t have, what can you do? This culture must influence to people directly, to think about their appearance. 1,192,470 of males and 8,018,157 of females had cosmetic plastic surgery in the United States in 2004. These numbers tell that having cosmetic plastic surgery is not unusual thing to do.
As a person, I disagree with cosmetic plastic surgery. The risk of failures, side affects and death are not worth for anyone, and even though your surgery turned well, the appearance will not be eternal. We eventually get old, can’t stay young or beautifully. Our life should not be controlled by maintaining, the best solution is we should accept what we have now.
756 words
I apologize from all readers; it is laboratories in the end last paragraph of my writing,not libraries
Surely Not
Three years ago, it was a very common scenario in my office: I was talking on the phone with my suppliers, holding it with my left hand; my right hand was busy with the mouse, the messenger jumped out again and again on screen for my buyers enquiring about the prices on line，but my main concentration was the on line game which I was addicted to almost three years.
In 2006, when every young people in China was excited by the only Football World Cup holding in Asia, I couldn’t manage to go to the pub with my friends to watch the matches, since I have a important gang-fighting on line with other gangs in the game. My gang in the game was the best one in that server: I’ve contributed to each fighting as a weekend routine.
Leon was my university classmate. He and Lily were university sweethearts. Leon looked after Lily ever since they graduated, including taking care of her younger bother and her eighty-year-old grandfather. “I did almost all housework in her family and sacrificed all my spare time,” Leon said. However, Lily fell in love with a guy she met in a chatting room on line. She flu to Shang Dong and married that guy and dumped Leon and her family. Leon was heart-broken and went to Australia. He couldn’t understand how their three years relationship and his hard effort couldn’t compare with a stranger on line.
For many people, it might be a mystery why internet is so attractive. Especially for someone like me who had a crazy, busy job and perfect social life. The answer is obvious--it can provide many great feelings that you can not obtain from real life. I was the deputy head of a strongest gang; my on-line-friends are available twenty-four hours; I had wonderful Kong Fu which was almost unbeatable in the game; my admirers could show me the most amazing and romantic fireworks; the gifts they sent me was the awesome weapon decorated with diamonds on it; the most important thing was that I was always pretty and never bothered about my weight. For anybody who is addicted to internet, they all have same feeling like me.
So my crazy on line life lasted for three years, and I even arranged my assistant to do my upgrade missions when I was in business trip. During a long time, it was more critical to protect my gang member who was being baited by other gang member than chasing for my pending payments from my foreign buyers.
My compulsive life was finished until this game started providing marriage system—two players can get married when they spend certain time together and they can have babies. If I really built a family on line, I could never be able to come back to my real life.
However, not every body can leave it easily when you find you can access to anybody or anywhere in the world by clicking your mouse. There are more people get addicted to internet, especially teenagers. “Many teens are turning to websites such as MySpace.com and others to make friends, mingle and more. An unfortunate reality is potential predators can also sign up and chats with your kids.” [From www://http.helpyourteen.com] “China could become the first country to classify Internet addiction as a clinical disorder amid growing concern over compulsive Web use by millions of Chinese, state media said yesterday,”—from the breaking news of The Straits Times. This decision may reflect how seriously the internet addiction affects people’s life in China and worldwide.
People who addicted to internet are usually confused about real life and the cyberspace. They thought the super ability they own in the cyberspace are real, so once when they have to face the real word and find that truth that they are just normal people, they are unable to accept it. They prefer to live in their illusions。
When I played my on line game, the head of our gang was idolized by many girl players, Hong was one of them. She loved him and believed that in real life, this boy would be a fantastic person too. I told the boy who lived in Switzerland about this. Then this super hero just came back to Beijing and met this girl and few months later, they married each other. I have received the invitation for their wedding. However, I didn’t have enough courage to attend it. For some reasons, I didn’t feel it was so realistic and I wonder about their future. During the day of their wedding, everybody in our gang lived in Beijing attended their wedding except me, the matchmaker.
So I returned to my heroless, real time. If anyone asks to play that game again, shall I still play it? Surly not.
795 words
Taking the risk to pursue perfection
Will you take the risk? Are you willing to suffer the excruciating pain that you are going under? Are you aware of possible risk of complications like infections, or sometimes even death? Will it change the appearance the way you wanted? Is any kind of surgery worth it in pursuing perfection?
Lot of people now a day will do anything; everything rather, just to be physically attractive or to possess some sort of emotional or physical faultlessness. That is the reason why some clinics and hospitals seem non stop in offering new cosmetic treatments or plastic surgeries, which is happen to be more in demand than ever before.
Cosmetic Surgery is performed to correct impairments caused by traumatic injuries from fatal accidents, burns and usually inborn abnormalities. It is very popular, especially in the United States and its market soars high because of its persuasive advertisement that satisfies one own's interest or curiosity. Some of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures in the U.S are Rhinoplasty, Breast Augmentation and Liposuction.
Based on a research, Rhinoplasty, also known as nose job, is very popular "as there were nearly 285,000 performed in 2007 " and its cost is "around $6,000, but could run as high as $12,000 in places with higher demand". Breast Augmentation is one of the fastest growing of all cosmetic surgeries. "There were 212,000 breast augmentation performed in 2000. Seven years later, in 2007, there were more than 347,000 of these surgeries performed". The cost ranges from $4,000 to $10,000. Liposuction is the removal of unwanted fat on different parts the body and can range from $4,000 upward to $8,000.
Do you have any wrinkles and wants to get rid of it? Surgery wire is the answer. It is a long and soft wire that is use as needle. Surgeon digs small holes to where the wire will be inserted. After that, they will gradually pull it out to cut off the attachment of the depression under the skin tissues. They will execute it several times to stretch and tighten the skin to remove the folds. It takes two hours but it is a change for a life time.
Too many Acne or pimples and want it to be removed? Consider the use of your own blood. The process is called Vampire. Like what people believe about real vampires is that, they all look young and have smooth faces because they suck blood. Thus, Surgeons take blood from their patients, and then place it on a machine to separate the plasma and inject it to their patients thousand times because blood contains growth factors that can make you look young and make the skin plain and smooth.
Have you heard of Derma rollers? It is a tool that also uses for cosmetic surgery and it contains 200 needles and rolls it to patient’s face twenty to thirty thousand times. This will cause your face to bleed but collagen will start to work again. This will open your pores to remove dead cells.
In some countries, particularly in the Philippines, surgeons perform different kinds of cosmetic surgery and “needle” is the most common device that they use. People will tolerate any kinds of pain and bear any kind of soreness just to achieve their desire looks. They are willing to compensate the amount just to fulfill their satisfactions. Some people are just one sided. They don’t think of any risk as long as they believe that these changes will make them feel better and improve their self esteem.
There are things that need to be considered before undergoing cosmetic surgery. Are you really ready for this? Your expectations; you have to be ready of what possibly the result is. The psychological effect and how these changes will affect the aspect of you personal life. Nothing is easy on earth, if you want something; you have to work hard for it. Sometimes you are compelled to take the risk but you have to be aware of what the outcome will be. Some people determined to transform something on them physically to gain confidence despite of possible risks and complications. People can develop complications such as stroke, heart attack, pneumonia, blood cloths, ski breakdown, bleeding, infections and even death. One of the best-selling author Olivia Goldsmith, who underwent cosmetic surgery- a chin-tuck, and the mother and manager of rapper Kanye West, Donda West, are some of people who died after undergoing plastic surgeries.
Good news is not always the result, dissatisfaction and worst result remains a possibility. So, will you still take the risk?
Word: 768
Knowing the Truth about Global Warming
March 2004, the month in which my dream of arriving to Canada was fulfilled, was also the month when I first heard about global warming. Being stuck in my auntie’s house for two weeks, CNN news primarily became my getaway out of boredom. One day, I encountered one part of their show showing Al-Gore demonstrating the future effect of global warming on lowland areas. I was deeply shocked upon seeing my home country, the Philippines, and even New York City being eaten slowly by the water upon the rise of sea level.
However, for some reason, Al-Gore’s message did not sink in my mind right away. I even questioned him and ignorantly said to myself, “How is global warming possible when it’s cold up here?” It is indeed a laughable and stupid question—a question which only shows my lack of knowledge and self-awareness on what really is happening in this world.
Global warming has been one of the hottest issues today. Scientists, environmentalists and corporations have been debating for decades upon the truth behind this so-called “climate change”. Majority of the scientists and environmentalists agree that the world is in peril and needs quick solution to ensure that the next generation will have a habitable environment. However, some people, such as those who handle big corporation, refuse to believe and even oppose the threat of global warming. ExxonMobil, a multibillion oil and gas corporation, is one example who heavily opposed the scientific opinion that burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming. They even funded an organization criticizing and debunking the pure intent of Kyoto Protocol. It is very obvious that their interest is simply the welfare of their company which contributes too little in improving the environment. So who should we believe more? I believe the answer is very much in front of us.
The danger of climate change is very true and real. Many scientists have been greatly alarmed because of its many negative effects. One of this is the increase in global surface temperature which can range from 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius. Because of this, drought will be more widespread; which now is strongly felt in Africa, Australia and even in the regions where rainforests are abundant. Drought, or El Nino as they call it, means food shortage in African nation. Moreover, forest will also be in great danger. One good example of this is the scary scenario of British Columbia’s forest and animals becoming extinct because of the outbreak of mountain pine beetle. Because -30 degrees Celsius is becoming scarcer in the region, these beetles will remain alive and destroy the forest. If we do not act fast enough someday we may see our pristine forest and diverse animals erase in the face of the earth.
But, above the said results, who can argue that the scariest and most devastating effect to us is the impending rise of sea level. Scientists attested that for the past century, sea level has risen 1.8 millimeters per year. Moreover, they also predicted that by 2100, sea level will have risen 9 to 88 centimeters. This might be a small figure to others, but we should understand that for every increase of 20 centimeters in sea level, hundreds of thousands of people will become homeless. This still does not include its secondary effects which are the devastation of living in many lowland areas and island nations, rampant spread of diseases and hunger in many places.
We may already have the knowledge regarding climate change and its dangerous effect. However, we must choose the right thing that is to practice what we know and change ourselves from being apathetic to being sympathetic, especially to the next generation. Warning signs are very unequivocal and are obviously seen and felt by many of us. There is no doubt that global warming is true and real.
Surely, we do not want our generation to be recorded in history as being stubborn. Who would want that? Who would want to be branded as a complete fiasco for not taking a simple advice from the scientists? This is an urgent call; surely, we do not want the next generation to suffer and blame us from our misdeeds. –703 words
Resources:
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change#IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report:_Climate_Change_2007
*Democracy Now Report: ExxonMobil Spends Millions Funding Global Warming Skeptics
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise#Effects_of_snowline_and_permafrost
Nobody Wins Under the Threat of Nuclear War
There are 20 people died in a Russia’s nuclear submarine accident few days ago. One accident in the nuclear submarine could cost all life in the earth. “If you
are the commander of the nuclear submarine, will you fire torpedo to attack another nuclear submarine in the war?” I asked my friend. He answered “Yes, in war
we need to kill our enemy before we get killed”. I said “This is not a smart answer.” “You are going to kill yourself in the mean time.” This is so call nuclear
balance. In the balance, we survive from War World II ended 1945 until 2008 now. Unfortunately, the balance seems to be broken by so many countries are
joined the nuclear weapon party including USA, Russia, China, India, England, France, Pakistan, South Africa, Israel, North Korea, and Iran.
The most dangerous weapons are invented to destroy your enemy. We, all, will die with one press of the button. On September 11, 2001, I can not believe the
scene I saw from TV but it really happened in the real life. We are doomed. The war against the terrorist was started since that day. We have the war in
Afghanistan. We have the war in Iraq. We have the war in Georgia. We are trying our best to avoiding the war. It seems no use because we have fought the
Korean War, Vietnam War. The competition in the war makes us develop even stronger nuclear war head which thousand time of destruction power than the first
Atom bomb dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Are all the nuclear weapons like the gun need to be registered? If not, we might kill ourselves by an accident. There are many accidents occurred in the nuclear
power plant in England “Sellafield” and Russia “ Chernobyl” , “Three Mile Island, PA” in the united states which caused us many precious life and disasters to
our environments. How many nuclear submarines is service in Russian, China and United States? Are there safe? Are we live in the world without tomorrow and
future?
We have great scientist. We have super computers. We have great politician. We have so many great diplomats. We have great invention like phone, internet, fax
machine. Did they help to solve our chaos and the threat of nuclear crisis? No, not at all. We need great philosophers like Buddha, “give up your butcher’s knife,
you will be the Buddha now”, Confucious said “never do to others what you don’t want to do to yourself”. Jesus said “Forgive.”, “Love.” We must destroy all
the nuclear weapon and closed all nuclear power plants before it is too late.
Word counts 450
The Business Behind Women’s Beauty
As biologists have explained beauty have deep roots in the alive beings’ biologies. Being attractive is a guarantee of reproduction and in animals beauty is a translation of health and good genes to be transmitted to the next generation. However, for human beings beauty is beyond to health and can even go against it. In our modern society we have rationalized beauty as a factor of social acceptation and competitiveness mainly leading by economic influences.
Since the Medias have become very popular in our society, different kind of stereotypes has appeared in our lives without much awareness and beauty has been stereotyped as well. Beauty is a matter of appearance no matters how healthy you are. We can see that through those famous models and actresses who in spite of her extreme diets and risky surgeries are identified to what female beauty means. Every time in TV we see those stereotypes in advertisements, movies, TV programs, realities and “news”. Even toys as Barbie and Ken respond to this fact. Is that a real beauty? What’s beuty? We should ask ourselves.
the fact is that many women look at the mirror and see something different than the beauty stereotype and reflected that they are not beautiful; aren’t them beautiful just for being different?. They don’t like themselves and have lost self-esteem. They feel necessity of social acceptance. However, they have solution as TV programs as “Make Over” have shown: go to the surgeon and become a Pamela Anderson o whoever you want through abdominoplasty, breast augmentation (silicone gel implants), cheek implants and so on.
Besides, it’s not just a matter of plain beauty; being beautiful means being young too, so you have to keep your youth in order to keep your beauty. Otherwise, you’ll be an old ugly woman. As a result, many women practiced breast lift, blepharoplasty (cosmetic eyelid surgery), forehead lift and so on.
As a result, not just TV programs are making a lot of money, plastic surgeons are been very well paid from all those kinds of surgeries. Are those women really happy? Or are just making TV programs’ producers, cosmetic companies and surgeons richer?
The true is that surgeries are dangerous. They can become an obsession and people can harm themselves as Hang Mioku, a 48 year old woman, who after many interventions in her face got a disfigured face. Besides, some surgeries may lead complications as is explained CBC News : “procedures like liposuction, you may be at risk for severe skin infections, which could lead to significant scarring, punctures to internal organs or numbness. In rare cases, death is also a risk because of shifts in the body's fluid levels as fluids are being injected and sucked out. The fluid shifts can cause kidney and heart problems. Severe reaction to the anesthesia could also lead to death.”
This is a complex world full of diversity. Of course, most of the women won’t fit in the beauty stereotype. And that doesn’t mean that we are not beautiful. Women should care more about themselves; about their physical and emotional health. As nature teaches: beauty is an expression of health. So, instead of watching those TV programs and reading those magazines that make us feel insecure about ourselves, we should put more attention to our lifestyle: eat properly and practice more exercise.
Don’t make others rich while put your live at risk. Chose health and happiness.
Addicted to Beauty
Watching Korean television movies has become a fashion in Asian in recent years. To go with the current, I watched some famous episodes. The more I approach, the more familiar face features I encountered. I was so confused. Obviously they are not families, but have similar lips and chins. Surfing on the internet, I found answers – most Korean actress has done one or more plastic surgeries on their faces.
I was not only surprised by the total amount of Korean actresses who have had a face job, but also surprised by their honesty and confession for pursuing artificial beauty. Like Asian, North America has the same phenomenon. Lots of celebrities have breast implants, face lift, or rhinoplasty. Though some of them may deny the rumors about their boob jobs, the audience can easily tell their excitement at exposing their soccer-ball sized breast. No matter how abnormal the size she has, reporters’ flash light is her real concern. A message was delivered here: huge breast, bigger eyes, pointed chins and reshaped cheeks are the way to success.
This rule, beauty equals to success, works in entertainment industry, as long as superficial beauty is a part of the main values is this field. While people entertain themselves with the various stories of these celebrities, more or less, people buy their dreams and values at the same time. Thus more and more people go the surgeon’s clinic, ask for a change on their function-well face and body, and expect a dramatic change in their life. Statistic would confirm this movement. According to the annual reports issued by American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in February 2008, it says, since 1997, surgical procedures increased 142 percent, while nonsurgical procedures have increased 743 percent in United State. The growth is tremendous, and it marks an 11.7-million market.
What’s wrong with it? I am not worry about the phenomenon but the ideology behind the decision making by cosmetic surgery recipients and potential recipients. Our society no longer tolerates the diversity in body features. The more examples of cosmetic surgery appear in public, the more the cases about body-image dissatisfaction are arisen. Cosmetic surgery does not only affect the people who take it but also have an influence on those around recipients. Dr. Susan Thorpe’s lecture which is quoted by Melissa Dittmann in “Plastic surgery: Beauty or beast?” attracts my eyes: “They want to look normal—that is, they don’t want to stand out in an obvious way or to have features which cause comment or make them feel self-conscious”. The problem is that we want to be normal, but we have lost the real standard due to too many fakes around us.
Obviously, more and more people believe that cosmetic surgery is a promise to beauty forever. If we only put our eyes on those young celebrities, such as Angelina Jolie, Ashlee Simpson, we may keep our faith on it. Why don’t we transfer our focus on Mickey Rourke, and Melanie Griffith? Age shows its power. Surgeons may fix an imperfect feature one time, but they would never prevent the cells damage from aging for a long time. Some others expect surgery would be a rescue from their personal problems. Michael Jackson and Jocelyn Wildenstein are real examples. They did face job again and again. Do they solve their difficulties? I doubt. Do they destroy their faces? Absolutely!
Some people may argue that cosmetic surgery would rebuild self-esteem. Those “pioneers” are best disproof to against the myth that body-image improvement can solve our own problem. In a period of time, Michael Jackson looked really god, but he never satisfied with one surgery result. He was addicted to the “improvement”. One surgery after another, he doesn’t earn respect, on the contrary, he was forced to retreat from his entertainment business. It is not only a tragedy to him, but also a big loss his fan.
Beauty is human nature, so it is real hard to say “No” to artificial beauty. I hope that a fake would never be a treasure. When we take superficial beauty for granted, we mix up our values, disobey nature rules and simplify our solutions to our life. As a result, we would live in an illusive world — cosmetic surgery blurs our recognition to true and false.
By Phoebe (712 words)
Cut Back The Time You Spend On The Internet
There is a world-infinity, virtual, full of information, games and things we didn’t imagine before. This world that known to people around 1980’s, not long, but already took a great part of people’s life. It is internet, invisible but it is everywhere, anytime in our life. Some say that we have to connect to the internet, we can’t live without it, or we are heading back to the beginning of human. Life is much easier if we can access to the internet, I agree. But problems come with this convenience. Internet sits in people’s life everyday, every moment. Then some people turn into internet addiction.
There is at least one computer in the households, some have more than one, or either have one for each in the family. Everyone needs to link to the internet, to check e- mails, look up something, or someone is dinging you on the MSN. No one dares to spare his internet moments for anything else. Then family times rarely existed.
"One more minute, then I am done." This is the typical answer that we often get, when we talk to the ones who are using the internet, especially after a long on-line session. And that one minute seemed to drift out of their mind right after they shut their mouth and lasted one or more hours.
“My son sits in front of the computer, right after he puts down his bag after school.”
“My daughter taps the key board on the MSN late at night after the others were already in bed.”
“My husband surfs the internet right after dinner saying he is doing his reaches.”
These are happening more and more in the conversations, whenever I get together with my girl friends. In 2005, Media Awareness Network surveyed students in Grades 4 to 11 reported There are 95 per cent more kids who have had online activities, online games, there even conversations to the strangers, it also shows that they stick longer hours on the internet. And this is not just what only our kids are doing. It is quite common in the society, teenagers and adults are doing so too. And the numbers are adding, according to this survey.
When I typed in “internet addiction”, in Google News, the top one newest article is that Chinese doctors have announced the first diagnosis of internet addiction on Nov 11, 2008. The most symptoms that these doctors described are:” craving to go online, mental or physical pain caused, when going online is not an option.”This study was conducted on over 1,300 “troubled” internet users, who spend over 6 hours online every day. And this is only a tip of the iceberg.
One new business is growing in Asia. It is internet cafés, which open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As long as you pay the hourly charge, there is unlimited using of computers, and every one there in the cafés are hooking up the internet without second thought. And there were tragedies happened there, people died inside the internet cafés, mostly because they spent the long hours straight sat in the couch, stared at the monitor, using the internet. They were exhausted to death. These were the one victim of this in Taiwan, one in Korea, and another two in Japan, just in past few months.
Surprised, right? A new reason found to cause people’s death, added a new page to the history.
People would fight for the rights to use internet. Yes, life is much better to have the internet, and it is so handy. But it should be under our control. The tool is not the bad thing. What is bad is how it was used. We are already invaded by the internet. Yes, this is so true, and we can’t deny it. We are people who have the controlling power, we can’t just let this sits in our life.
This is a situation that we can no longer ignore, the actions must be taken. Simply like cutting back the time we spend on the internet, this is the first thing that we can do easily. Life will be much more different as we take our move. Our eyes are freed, no need to fix on the screens continuously till they are dry and itchy. Turn off the computers to take a walk, to chat with the real person that you can face to, and you will much more appreciated by the ones who really love you. Try to outline the time management techniques that will help us or our love ones. Cut back the time we spend on the internet to gain our lives back. Bravo!
Word Count: 787
25799 Ken Ju 2nd draft
Must Disarm and Destroy All Nuke
There are 20 peoples died in a Russia’s nuclear submarine accident few days ago. One accident in the nuclear submarine could cost all life in the earth. “If you are the commander of the nuclear submarine, will you fire torpedo to attack another nuclear submarine in the war?” I asked my friend. He answered “Yes, in war we need to kill our enemy before we get killed”. I said “This is not a smart answer.” “You are going to kill yourself in the mean time.” This is so call nuclear balance. In the balance, we survive from War World II ended 1945 until 2008 now. Unfortunately, the balance seems to be broken by so many countries are joined the nuclear weapon party including USA, Russia, China, India, England, France, Pakistan, South Africa, Israel, North Korean. On 21 August, 2006, The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports that more than 100 incidents of illegally transported nuclear or radioactive materials occurred in the past year. Civilian could also own nuclear weapon too, including the terrorist.
The most dangerous weapons are invented to destroy your enemy. We, all, will die with one press of the button. On September 11, 2001, I can not believe the scene I saw from TV but it really happened in the real life. We are doomed. The war against the terrorist was started since that day. We have the war in Afghanistan. We have the war in Iraq. We have the war in Georgia. We are trying our best to avoiding the war. It seems no use because we have fought the Korean War, Vietnam War. The competition in the war makes us develop nuclear war head which thousand time of destruction power than the first Atom bomb dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No one can assure this won’t happen again for another nuclear bomb drop in the planet of earth, There are evidences from above that we lost our mind when we are in crisis or in war and the tragedy always happen. “If no lives survive, there will be nothing called “tragedy” or “comedy.”
During a speech at nuclear submarine base in northwestern France, President Chirac states, "The leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who would consider using, in one way or another, weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and adapted response on our part. This response could be a conventional one. It could also be of a different kind.” President Chirac also states, "Against a regional power, our choice would not be between inaction or annihilation. The flexibility and reactivity of our strategic forces would enable us to exercise our response directly against its centers of power and its capacity to act." These statements revealed that they can not afford any attack to their nuclear facilities. One nuclear bomb will blow up whole France. The whole European will have chain reaction and all the peoples will be killed too. It’s total annihilation of human being.
Are all the nuclear weapons like the gun need to be registered? Of course not, it’s the top secret of nation’s security. We might kill ourselves by an accident because it is not under control at all. There are many accidents occurred in the nuclear power plant in England “Sellafield” and Russia “ Chernobyl” , “Three Mile Island, PA” in the United States which caused us many precious life and disasters to our environments. How many nuclear submarines is service in Russian, China, British, French and United States? Are they safe? How many intercontinental missiles are deployed in the world? How many nuclear wastes are stored underground? Are they really safe? Are we live in the world without tomorrow and future?
Hans Blix of WMDC (Weapon of Mast Destruction Commission) Chairman said “Bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty into force would significantly impede the development of new nuclear weapons. The weapons that exist today are bad enough. Negotiating a global treaty to stop the production of fissile material for weapons would close the tap for new such material and help hinder possible arms races – notably in Asia.” “In both these areas the US has the decisive leverage. If it takes the lead the world is likely to follow. If it does not take the lead, there could be more nuclear tests and new nuclear arms races.” Regretfully, US congress agreed to export more Nuclear Technology and fuel to India in Nov. 2006 and China help Pakistan to build nuclear power plant 8 days later.
Fact is on 23 August, 2006, Israel purchases two submarines from Germany which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. It is thought that this announcement is in response to threats of ballistic missile attacks from Iranian clerics.
We have great scientists. We have super computers. We have great politicians. We have so many great diplomatists. We have great inventions. Did they help us to solve our chaos and the threat of nuclear crisis? “No, they didn’t.” We need great philosophers like Buddha, “Give up your butcher’s knife, you will be the Buddha now”, Confucious said “Never do to others what you don’t want to do to yourself”. Jesus said “Forgive.”, “Love.” We must disarm and destroy all the nuclear weapons before it’s too late.
880 words
Reference: http://www.wmdcommission.org/files/Weapons_of_Terror.pdf
http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/timeline/2000/2006.htm
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