Before I disappear for 2 months, I want to make this thread. All of us have written essays before. I want you guys to post your essays here. You can just Copy-Paste it. I want to read them all! I'll post a couple of mine when I get back, if I get any from you guys.

This kind of worries me :T Dunno if there's anyway that the sites teachers use can search here, but I still don't approve of putting essays online. If your teacher does find it, they may think that you plaigarized or had someone write it for you online. I'm probably just paranoid, buuuuuut I'm just sayin'.

>>2 pliagarized*

Subsidies and Regulations: Why the Government Should Play a Role
Madeline Koller

Recently, there has been controversy over whether or not government interference in a market economy is necessary, or if it should happen at all. Even taking into account the contrast between pro-regulating liberals and deregulating conservatives, there remains difficulty determining what the consensus among the people is, specifically in the United States. Government subsidization and market regulation can be either opposed or praised by either party, depending on the situation. But with tensions over the federal government's mismanagement of money in the past decade, the public is becoming skeptical. The time has come to set the record straight and show that subsidization and market regulation are not to be feared.

There is significant evidence to support government influence. For example, in March 2012, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) contracted out to videogame developer BioWare, to make use of their Unreal Games platform. The $10 million "Unreal Government Network" will create a new generation of smart simulation training "designed to help intelligence analysts tackle instinctual biases that might [alter their understanding of the training results]" ("Unreal games engine," 2012). These applications are important because they will allow officials in law enforcement, military, and medical fields to receive more advanced training, which will improve productivity in those fields. Software designers also benefit from the improvements in Artificial Intelligence research brought on by this government program.

Governments abroad have demonstrated usefulness in their ability to influence what is bought and sold through international and domestic markets. The European Union's phase-out of incandescent lighting, which requires lighting companies to sell more energy efficient options, is a modern example. Plans to replace the lighting system of major landmarks, such as the Louvre Museum or the Tower Bridge in London, will make effective use of this new requirement (Rubens, 2012). The manufacturers may have lost some control over their industry, but the benefits outweighed the losses. Energy saving estimates for the Louvre alone are about seventy-three percent (Rubens, 2012). The Louvre has thousands of bulbs and it costs thousands more to light the building on a regular basis. Therefore, reducing the energy usage by nearly three-quarters should translate into potentially thousands of dollars a year in savings, and that's nothing to sneeze at. So why the reluctance among members of the public?

The main argument against government interference appears to be its cost. The long term expenses for projects such as the aforementioned are incredible. Take the Unreal Games contract for example; it's ten million dollars for the life of one instance of the contract. It can be speculated that renewing the contract will require a continuous multi-million dollar investment. Additionally, the cost per LED bulb is still painful when multiplied by the thousands.

The structure of a market economy and its abilities to work with or without a government varies, fueling opposition. Professor Carden of Rhodes College gave a webinar on this subject in which he openly stated, "Without the prices, profits and losses that markets generate, governments don't have the knowledge necessary for wise choices" (Carden, 2012). The webinar also contains visuals documenting companies the United States government has wrongfully invested in. Before going bankrupt, Evergreen Solar was given $5.3 million in government subsidy, SpectraWatt received $500,000, and Solyndra had $535 million invested (Carden, 2012). These companies were intended to provide alternative energy solutions, and their inability to survive economically is cause for alarm.

Still, subsidization and market regulation have worked immensely well across the globe. According to a report by the Renewable Energy Association, alternative energy programs in the UK add close to twelve and a half billion pounds sterling to the economy, and by 2020, could produce five million new jobs (Black, 2012). It is for that reason that an astonishing forty-three percent of British citizens back subsidies for these programs, with a mere eighteen percent opposed (Black, 2012).

Even more shocking is the case of Signapore, a modern day dictatorship that runs very efficiently. Before Lee Kuan Yew attained power in 1965, the nation was underdeveloped and poverty-stricken; now, the percentage of people in poverty is 0.3% (Meadows). By placing strict laws and heavy controls over the market and its people, Lee Kuan Yew has managed to create a variety of financial securities, welfare programs and contented citizens. There are very few objections to how the government acts; nobody feels that they are being constrained by this way of life. It is truly a bizarre case of government control working beautifully.

So as you can see, an economy of subsidies and market controls can be as effective as an economy that is deregulated, or possibly more so. It may be risky to invest tax dollars into new technologies, but that is true of free market enterprises as well. Both cases are fundamentally the same; why shouldn't both be used? In the end, there needs to be more education on potentially sound subsidies and regulations, so that the government can work to create a better future for the global market and for its citizens.
 
References
Black, R. (2012, April 23). Public back wind farm subsidies, survey suggests. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17783604
Black, R. (2012, April 23). Renewables 'help jobs and growth'. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17812299
Carden, A. (Videographer) (2012). The story of broke response [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_FncAQsAJg
Meadows, D. (n.d.). Singapore leads the good life under a benevolent dictator. Retrieved from http://www.sustainabilityinstitute.org/dhm_archive/index.php?display_article=vn210singaporeed
Rubens, P. (2012, March 14). Led bulbs: The end of the lightbulb as we know it?. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120314-the-end-of-the-lightbulb
Unreal games engine licensed to fbi and other us agencies. (2012, March 28). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17535906

>>2 You are correct; it's not searchable. However, there are countless other ways to plagiarize. I'd say this is no big deal in the scheme of things.

SUBURBIA

In your typical American city, one can find freeways over one hundred feet wide and miles long, connecting vast neighborhoods of suburban townhomes to shopping malls and factories on the other side of the metropolis. Your typical American will drive close to fifty miles daily just in commute distance. We’ve lived in this manner for decades.

The question is, did we at all think about the long term consequences when we developed this suburban layout? How has this lateral suburban design impacted us on a social, political and economic scale? Can we continue to live this way and sustain ourselves? Or does the paradigm need to change?

If you want my two cents, I would wager that overdependence on the automobile is what led us to this mess of concrete jungle we call the modern-day suburb. When we have to have eight-lane, ten-lane, even twenty-lane freeways, something clearly has gone wrong. When there is literally nothing within walking distance and we have to drive just to get some damned food, something clearly has gone wrong. And when the increase in fuel costs cripples a significant majority of the American population, well then…maybe it’s time we try re-evaluating things. Urban sprawl happened because of the automobile; by changing how we use the automobile, we can experience a positive shift in our urban setting.

But before we can address the problems of the present, we need to enter the Wayback Machine and look into how this all started, with Levittown shortly after World War Two. Levittown really “turned a cottage industry into a major manufacturing process” by creating cookie-cutter houses from the same materials, in the same style, across the landscape (Jackson). Soon you had these giant jigsaw puzzles of single family homes that extended for miles in every direction. Progressive rock band Rush calls it “geometric order; an insulated border” set apart as its own “mass production zone” (Lee, Lifeson & Peart, 1982). Odds are you’ve seen it yourself if you’ve traveled by air, or if you’ve looked at satellite photos in Google Maps.

At the time of formation, it seemed like a good idea, because it was assumed that “residents would have their own automobiles” (Jackson). For many, this was no problem, as cars were cheap, fuel was cheap, and the upkeep was relatively cheap. But for others who didn’t have as ready of an access to the auto world, this presented some rather large problems. From the get go, the automobile suburb “disables children under the legal driving age, some elderly people, and those who cannot afford the several thousand dollars a year that it costs to keep a car” (Kunstler, 1994). This was especially prevalent as juvenile crime rates shot up. Youngsters in these vast, cookie-cutter neighborhoods found themselves “trapped in a cage,” and in many cases cabin fever caused them to lash out at the system, causing general mayhem and civil disobedience (Oldenburg, 1999). After all, as Rush put it, “the suburbs have no charms to sooth the restless dreams of youth” (Lee, Lifeson & Peart, 1982).

Of course, residential zoning is only part of the problem. In conjunction with building these isolated housing zones was the “trend to separate commerce from places of zoning” (Kunstler, 1994). And with that we saw the rise of the strip mall and megamall. Individual zones with miles of shops complemented the individual zones with miles of cookie cutter houses in a despicable way. Now, the traveler could be met with dozens of restaurants, clothing outlets and electronics stores, but they’d still have to drive twenty miles to get to them. It was far from efficient, but nobody cared. It was what it was, and people accepted it as they made their hour long trips across town in their gas guzzling sport utility vehicles and then came home to these dreary suburban shacks they called home.

So where are we now? Well, as Catherine Johnson put it, “under current zoning, all activities are separated from one another in single-use pods, isolated on cul-de-sac streets, accessible only by car” (Kunstler, 1996). It “fragmented the individual’s world”; forcing a man to go to work on one side of town, go shop on another, and then double back to get home, day in and day out (Oldenburg, 1999). Consolidating commercial zones created a perfect environment for chain stores that “destroyed local businesses outside the mall, and in doing so they destroyed local economies” (Kunstler, 1994). Traffic congestion during peak commutes costs cities like Los Angeles billions annually (Sorensen, 2010). Not to mention the increase of gas prices creative a massive black hole in the American pocketbook. Imagine paying seven hundred dollars in one month, just on gasoline. When fuel costs hit five dollars per gallon this nightmare became a sad truth for many. It’s been chaos and despair all around! It needs to end!

…So what can we do? One can argue public transport and walking distances all they want, but that’s not going to change that the automobile is here to stay. While usage dropped two percent in 2010, and could drop another ten percent by 2020, there will still be 225 million cars on the American Highway System (Brown, 2010). How do we compensate for them? We have twelve lane freeways here in the States and it’s still a massive clusterfuck ninety-nine percent of the time. If widening the roads isn’t the answer, then what is?

Surprisingly, the most populated city in the world doesn’t have the problems our American cities have. Many of Tokyo’s expressways in the city center are two and three lane monodirectional (four to six lane bidirectional) expressways above the main roadway network, winding through skyscrapers and apartments ("Tokyo's Shuto Expressways," 2006). The fact that the Japanese can do this, and not experience three hour delays like we have here on our ten and twelve lane ones, is simply mind boggling. What could they possibly be doing that we Americans are not?

For starters, the Japanese love knowing traffic conditions in real time. You’ll find area network delay maps at Japanese rest areas, as well as interactive LED traffic density maps on the expressways themselves (“Tokyo’s Shuto Expressways,” 2006). Since the Japanese know which routes to avoid, they tend to find better alternates, unlike us Americans who will more than likely flock to the freeways even in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Another neat thing about Tokyo is that they toll their freeways. All of their freeways. Not only does this create a steady stream of income to pay for their National Highway System (which explains why their system is so much better than ours); it makes it so that people tend to avoid the tolls by not flocking to the freeways in the first place. Therefore, only 10% of the Japanese population (or 4.1 million people) use them for commuting purposes (Smith, 2009). Everyone else would rather walk, ride their bikes, or take the subways. And because people are smart enough to prefer walking to taking the freeways everywhere, the entire city is this radial design that allows for short walking distances to anything you’d want to go to. Seriously, look at a map of Tokyo on Google Maps and you’ll notice that the freeways have this radial design to them, arcing around the city instead of haphazardly making lines through it like one would see in Los Angeles.

[Continued in Next Post]

Taking all of that into account it becomes painfully obvious that we need to adopt such systems here in the United States if we want to avoid the disasters urban sprawl is creating. Ideally, we want an environment that is “as much the domain of the pedestrian as of the motorist” (Oldenburg, 1999). By creating this system that minimizes the need for commuting, we open our transportation network to allow for much more effective movement through the city without the need to create these monstrous highways that are about as wide as football fields are long. To start, we should think of restructuring the network of streets and avenues “to create the greatest number of alternative routes from one part of the neighborhood to another,” as this would have the “beneficial effect of relieving vehicular congestion” (Kunstler, 1996). So instead of having these subdivisions with one entry and one exit point, we would have multiple points of entry and exit integrated in a fluid transportation grid.

I myself have been trying to come up with a layout that would serve this purpose. And this is what I came up with as a sample complex:

Aerial Simulation of a Single Block

In this design, you have two main roads that would connect in the center, and expand outward in all four cardinal directions. This creates four entrances and four exits. Within the complex would be a loop road that is one way. You would enter on the right and take it around the inside of the complex until you reached your destination. You could then exit on the right, eliminating left-turn congestion. There are multi-family, low-rise apartment buildings forming the outermost ring of the complex. In the center are four commercial/industrial buildings for people to work in. Connecting them is an elevated walkway, eliminating ground level pedestrian traffic, another congestion factor. A network of these complexes would look a lot like this:

Aerial Simulation of a Network

In this scenario, there are connecting roads inside the complexes as well as between them. The main highways between complexes connect to freeway interchanges throughout the network in what one could consider a three tier transportation layout. Creating a system like this, which is largely radial, could solve many problems that the lateral urban sprawl has created.

In closing, it’s apparent that our automobile suburb is out of date. While the automobile will never disappear, its use is changing in our world, and it’s time for our cities to reflect those changes. Because the automobile has to be made smarter, our cities need to be made smarter in tandem. While we have to compensate for the need to travel by car, we can and must take general commuting from place to place out of the equation to create a more solid, stable core. We must integrate our zones, and interconnect them, to create the most fluid and flexible urban body. Lastly, we must make our freeway and expressway system more technologically savvy, to eliminate the need for these twelve-lane abominations. Because if we fail to act, our suburban addiction will eventually swallow us whole, and the concrete jungle will saturate itself into oblivion.


WORKS CITED
Jackson, K. T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States.
Kunstler, J. H. (1994). The Evil Empire. In The Geography of Nowhere
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The Problem of Place in America. In The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You through the Day
Kunstler, J. H. (1996). Creating Someplace. In Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century
Lee, G. (Writer), Lifeson, A. (Writer), & Peart, N. (Writer) (1982).Subdivisions [Audio].
Brown, L. R. (2010, January 10).Car Usage in the United States Falls for the First Time in Decades. Retrieved from http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Transportation/Car-Usage-United-States.aspx
Sorensen, P. (2010, January 08).Reducing Traffic Congestion and Improving Travel Options in Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.newgeography.com/content/001318-reducing-traffic-congestion-and-improving-travel-options-los-angeles
Smith, A. (2009, April 07). Japan's Highways. Retrieved from http://seattletransitblog.com/2009/04/17/japans-highways/
Tokyo's Shuto Expressways. (2006, October 11). Retrieved from http://www.aaroads.com/blog/2006/10/11/tokyos-shuto-expressways-japan-post-2-of-6/

‘Free’ Press

A true democracy cannot exist without an informed public to govern it. Information, however, has many sources of origin. In today’s society, those origins could be television, the internet, radio or even newsprint. But while the medium is different for each, the primary issue is the same for all: how credible is the content? Can one call the media reliable if it’s plagued by sensationalism and political spin? I think not.

To that end, we must ask, as citizens of society, whether or not our “free” press is doing an adequate job of informing us. We must ask if our reporters and journalists are giving us just the facts, or if they are being swayed by the corporations and agencies that pay for them. Furthermore, we may have to put on the table the idea that we don’t need a ‘free’ press at all; that a government-run system would be more objective than our current system. All of these questions are of high importance, and careful consideration must be taken to every side if we wish to maintain our democracy in what can be considered an uncertain future.

In the United States, the general consensus is that the government stays as far from the media as possible, to remain constitutional. As George Krimsky[1] puts it, “The only government-owned or –controlled media in the United States are those that broadcast overseas, such as the Voice of America. By law, this service is not allowed to broadcast within the country. There is partial government subsidy to public television and radio in the United States, but safeguards prevent it against political interference.” To put it simply, the only kind of government interference you will find in this country are investigations into direct breaches of legality, as well as partial payments to organizations to keep them alive. And for the longest time, this has appeared to work.

However, there have been major criticisms that this predominately privatized media is open to exploitation and corruption. Noam Chomsky[2] defines it with the five filters: Money, advertising, reliance on the ‘experts,’ flak, and the almighty anti-communist/anti-radical bandwagon. While all of these are important filters to examine, advertising may be the most at-fault. Consider Gloria Steinem’s[3] arguments in Sex, Lies and Advertising: “Even newsmagazines use ‘soft’ cover stories to sell ads, confuse readers with “advertorials, and occasionally self-censor on subjects known to be a problem with big advertisers.” Advertising controls which media corporations can survive and which shall not. Steinem points out that in a contractual debate between Ms. magazine and the company Phillip Morris, by refusing to give into the demands of the company, the magazine itself lost millions in ad revenue and nearly went under. Simply put, the creators of the magazine had an ultimatum: they could either do what the advertisers wanted, or cease to exist altogether.

It is in this way that the filter of advertising goes hand in hand with the filter of money: advertisers control the ownership of the media by determining which corporations have enough money to own the media. Therefore, it is not the factuality of stories that matters, but having content that will pull readers in. Erica Cantin[4] published an article on sensationalism during the Spanish-American War, where this was abundant between media moguls Pulitzer and Hearst. She writes, “When a Journal news photographer attempted to leave Cuba, reporting to Hearst that the situation wasn’t as bad as Hearst had reported, Hearst sent a cable boasting, ‘Please remain. You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.’ Then the USS Maine, an American warship, blew the fuck up under questionable circumstances. Post-explosion, President McKinley demanded an immediate investigation, but Hearst and Pulitzer demanded even more immediate ‘THE SPANISH DID IT’ headlines.” To these heads of the newspapers at the time, what mattered most was getting people to read their papers so they could make as much money as humanly possible. It didn’t matter to them how much sensationalism and political spin would be necessary. The kicker is that examples such as this are still abundant in today’s society; therefore, it’s hard to say whether or not this free press model is really what our society needs.

Across the Atlantic is the United Kingdom, where the primary news reporting service has been, for nearly a century, the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC. According to the BBC’s Press Office[5], the government requires that residents pay a licensing fee that grants access to eight television networks and five radio stations, as well as regional and national events programming, mobile access and webstreaming of news media. In all, that is over fifteen forms of news media across four mediums, all owned by a single corporation that is government-regulated. Such a thing would be unheard of in the United States.

But to many, the government-funded BBC is quite advantageous. The financial model alone means that advertising does not come into play, period, which results in much more objective news programming. In addition, Media Newsline[6] reports that the BBC is heralded as the world’s largest broadcaster, broadcasting in multiple countries and languages. It has also been shown to be self-correcting on the whole; in 2004 a report came out that brought the corporation’s credibility to attention. In response, several of the senior members of the corporation resigned and mass restructuring occurred to correct the problem. It is for reasons such as this that the BBC is viewed by, quite possibly, a third of the world population, as it has proven time and time again to be a reputable, unbiased news corporation.

Of course, the model itself is not without criticisms of its own. Ann Widdecombe[7] released some rather biting statements toward the BBC in a 2007 column in regards to the license fee collection system. In her words, the system has grown to be “a bigger administrative mess than the Child Support Agency,” full of “ineptitude and laziness,” best characterized as a “gang of pensioner-stalking muggers” for the confusions and mismanagement cases they have caused. This was in response to the collection system migrating from the post office to the internet. At the time, there were many issues to work out. But in the end, it resulted in many people getting notices that they violated national law when they simply didn’t. Needless to say, heads rolled and people started to lose faith in what they saw as ‘yet another overregulated system.’ Did this mean, however, that the content was no longer worth the hassle?

Absolutely not. A 2009 report by Hugh Muir[8] echoed the words of broadcasting veteran Joan Bakewell, who stated:
“Public service broadcasting is a lynchpin of our democracy. At a time when so many other institutions – financial, parliamentary – are deeply flawed, the battered and tattered ideals of public broadcasting survive. If a societal consciousness is creeping back into public affairs, then now is the time to celebrate public service broadcasting and see it flourish again.”

If what Bakewell believes holds water, then there may yet be cause for United States citizens to adopt the Britain way. Personally, I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment; however, it will take a mass consensus to provoke any lasting transition.

To conclude, it has been wholly demonstrated that the American system of ‘Free Press’ has many issues of its own to improve upon. Or, we could choose to improve on the public system that works so well in the UK. But even if we choose not to adopt a more centralized form of media, there simply must be some sort of reform in the current media structure to avoid distortion of the facts. If we sit idly and let the status quo continue, then we can no longer call ourselves a true democracy.
 
[References in next post.]

References
1. Krimsky, George A. (n.d.). The role of media in a democracy. Retrieved from http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/media/freepr/essay3.htm
2. (n.d.). Noam chomsky and the media.
3. Steinem, Gloria. (1990, August). Sex, lies and advertising. Ms. magazine.
4. Cantin, Erica. (2009, August 27). The 5 ballsiest lies ever passed off as journalism. Retrieved from http://www.cracked.com/article/100_the-5-ballsiest-lies-ever-passed-off-as-journalism/
5. Tv license fee: facts and figures. (2010, April). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/licencefee.shtml
6. Bbc: world's largest broadcaster & most trusted media brand. (2009, August 13). Retrieved from http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html
7. Widdecombe, Ann. (2007, November 07). Bbc bullies' shame in licence fee chaos. Retrieved from http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/24455/BBC-bullies-shame-in-licence-fee-chaos
8. Muir, Hugh. (2009, October 08). Public service broadcasting is 'lynchpin' of british culture, says joan bakewell. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/08/joan-bakewell-psb-james-cameron-lecture

>>2 I assumed these were already turned in if they are for school.

>>11 Doesn't matter if your teacher finds it later. If you're in college, they find it online, and you have no proof to show it's yours, you can still get kicked out :T It's still a threat of pliagarizing if they find it after they graded it.

Since this site is pass protected and you can't search things from normal search engines on it, though, it doesn't really matter if it's posted here.

Principles of Macroeconomics - Article Analysis and Response
The Article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/trucks-run-on-natural-gas-in-pickens-clean-energy-drive.html

The Response:
Natural Gas has been a very important topic in the economic sector as of late, as petroleum prices continue to skyrocket toward $4 per gallon. So when I heard that a movement toward natural-gas freight trucks was underway, I wanted to learn more. Bloomberg News recently published an article on the latest market changes.

The federal government's fiscal policy can be identified in their "NAT GAS Act," which will provide a tax credit covering 80% of the cost for a natural gas vehicle, and 50% for the cost of a natural gas fill station. Corporations are jumping on these deals quickly, which means the demand for auto parts is going to rise significantly in the coming months. Consequently, the job market will require more machinists to put these vehicles together. More natural gas will be demanded, which runs the risk of demand-pull inflation. The federal government will then have to intervene by allowing for more drilling to keep prices stable. This means more laborers needed to work the refineries.

Natural gas is nearly $1.50 less per diesel gallon equivalent than petroleum diesel. The savings in transportation costs will be reinvested in the industries that choose to use this technology. They will be able to produce more, shifting their supply curves rightward. There is also the potential to hire more workers, or for the savings to be passed onto the consumer in goods being sold more cheaply.

However, the consumer really doesn't benefit much from increased use of natural gas, and this is the problem I have with it garnering so much praise. Natural gas vehicles are expensive; the article cites an estimation that a natural gas freight truck will cost $150,000 compared to $110,000 for a diesel equivalent. That's an increase of nearly 35%, and one can find proportional price differences in the consumer automotive market. In our current recession, the typical household cannot go out and buy a new natural gas vehicle; it's just not feasible.

Additionally, there are less than one hundred fuel stations selling or planning to sell natural gas at this moment in time. This would mean that the household using a natural gas vehicle would either need a device to fill up at home (which further increases the overall cost) or would need to live in an area containing at least one compatible station. So for right now, Americans will barely notice the benefits of natural gas on an economic level.

There is one more aspect, which isn't addressed in the article but I want to bring it up. Financial analyst Jim Cramer of CNBC has been saying for months how natural gas is perfect as an exportable product. Across the developed world, natural gas is a preferred fuel for home heating. However, in countries such as the UK and Japan, natural gas is somewhat expensive due to rarity in those regions. The United States has a comparative advantage, and by marketing in these nations, we could see massive improvements to our trade deficit, and a boost in GDP.

So to summarize, natural gas has serious pros and cons. It will serve many corporations well and lead to increases in the job market. But for the consumer, the widespread use is just not there yet, and we cannot delude ourselves into thinking so.

>>12 Usually datestamps are proof enough. It's like how AP essays are released to the public after two years.

PART ONE. OF 17876546765656789009877654


Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Topic I: Women

A. Define two problems related to the treatment of women in the world involving one of the following cultural institutions: economics, government, religion, or family.

1. Although the majority of people, in the majority of the world, consider women to be equal to men, they suffer economically. However, despite the fact that half the world’s population is made up of women, the majority of them are impoverished. They are more likely than men to be poor and at a risk of hunger—they represent 70% of the world’s poor—and have a lack of access to and control of economic resources. In addition to living in penury, many women that are not impoverished suffer from making less money than men do. Both of these issues are greatly exacerbated by the global financial crisis occurring in the world right now (UN Women 2012).
Women are being hit the worst by the current global financial crisis. This is mostly true in developing countries, but is also a worldwide concern. The effects of this financial crisis could, according to New World Bank, “reverse progress in gender equality and women’s empowerment, increase current poverty, and imperil future development” if the crisis is left unchecked. This is because parents are having more children to cope with reduced survival, effecting higher pregnancy risks; girls are being pulled out of school more because of financial concerns; and as a result of losses of employment in service industries, women’s income is lower. This all applies to women in second and third world countries (UN Women 2012) (Ehrenpreis and Viveros 2009).
However, there is also an issue in first world countries, with women that are not impoverished. They are being paid far less than men are, typically earning 83 cents on the average man’s dollar worldwide. In addition to being paid far less than men are, women are often not offered the same opportunities. They are constantly discriminated against in the workplace, and many are in insecure and unsafe work with low pay (UN Women 2012).

2. Despite the fact that most countries explicitly state that women are equal to men, and may take part in any governing body that men do, they are still not really equivalent in most nations’ governments. If women are severely underrepresented in a nation’s governing bodies, it is fundamentally impossible for that country to achieve gender equality and even genuine democracy. Although women are better represented than they used to be—18.4% of parliamentarians are women, rather than 1%—they are still outnumbered over four to one by their male counterparts, and only 17 out of over 200 heads of state in the world are women (UN Women 2012).
Many states are attempting to rectify this problem, but with difficulty. They have increased the percentage of women in power positions with quotas and reserved seats, as well as other special measures. According to an estimate by the UN, these special measures are the only way to reach parity in this century. However, they will only reach 40% (the lower margin of the “parity zone,” which extends to 60%) in 2026 at the earliest. This is because there are still many other difficulties that stand in the way of equality in government. For one thing, political parties are slow to respond to women’s interests, and don’t invest enough in women’s campaigns. Another factor, though, is the continuing societal role and responsibility of women in domestic pursuits and family; this and cultural barriers make it more difficult for women to be a part of their governments (UN Women 2012).

B. What does the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights say about the rights of women in the world?

According to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration for Human Rights, women are completely equal to men, referring to “the equal rights of men and women,” and stating explicitly in the second article that “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as…sex…” The document makes it very clear that men and women are in all things equal, at least when it comes to human rights (United Nations General Assembly 1948).
Other than that, women are mentioned only once (in a statement including “men and women”), as all the rights enumerated—liberty, protection under law, freedom of movement within and among countries, marriage and family, thought, assembly, association, and others—definitely apply to both men and women. This explicitly stated equality likely has to do with the fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the nine drafters of the Declaration (United Nations General Assembly 1948).

>>12 They will look after they've graded it? Seriously? I understand if they just happened upon it (which would be rare), but other than that. I don't think they'd seriously look for it after they've graded it.

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C. Provide a current example of how women are mistreated, vulnerable, or unequal in your nation.

In Russia, domestic violence is a huge problem. According to one UN report, about 14,000 Russian women die each year from marital violence—nearly one for every hour of the day. In addition, surveys suggest that approximately thirty percent of women in Russia report being regularly subjected to physical violence, victims of systematic abuse.
Another survey, conducted by the Council for Women of Moscow State University, found that almost 75% of women had been subjects of domestic violence at some point during their marriages. This violence was physical, physiological, and/or sexual. Over 60% of the women who reported abuse also experienced trauma; 5% of those required medical treatment (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1999).

Sexual violence is another large aspect of the domestic abuse that occurs in Russian homes all over the nation. One-fourth of women report being victims of sexual violence by their husbands, including rape. The sexual abuse and violence, while widespread, is generally kept quiet and is unknown to many (Litvin 2008)
In addition, this domestic violence is highly widespread throughout the country, as the abuse occurs in all regions of the country, as well as in families of all societal status and socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. Unlike in many other countries, the problem of abuse is not just in highly impoverished regions or in ethnic minorities, but is widespread in many different demographics across the country (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1999).
However, as horrible as this appears, it is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to domestic violence in Russian households. Experts consider most statistics, especially official ones, regarding domestic violence in Russia to be gross underestimates of the true numbers. That is because of many reasons, all of which contribute to the horrific abuse in the country, as well as the under-reporting of the issue (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1999).
One of the reasons for the domestic violence in Russia is alcoholism. Alcoholism is an extremely dangerous problem in Russia. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that the average Russian person consumes 18 liters of alcohol per year—and their estimate for the consumption level at which a nation is likely to die out is eight. In fact, in men, that number is much higher, as men drink far more than women do in Russia. Between 70% and 80% of men drink regularly, while 50–60% of women do the same (World Health Organization 2004).
Efforts to curb this rampant alcoholism have failed due to the fact that much of the alcohol that Russians consume is homemade or non-beverage. Abuse of other drugs also contributes greatly to the widespread domestic violence, though alcohol is the main culprit for the violence toward women in Russia (World Health Organization 2004).
The worst part of this domestic violence, though, is how much it’s simply kept quiet, under the radar. Women don’t report it, and even when they do, nothing happens; others shush it up. This happens for many reasons, but it greatly affects international perspective on the abuse. The issue is very under-reported, and statistics are gross underestimates, so the international community does little about the problem, because it seems far less dire and rampant or widespread than it really is. It’s caused by a number of problems, which all contribute to the lack of knowledge of the violence (Litvin 2008).
One large contributing factor to this is the cultural attitude toward women. They are seen as inferior, because traditional patriarchal values permeate all aspects of the Russian culture. Over three-fourths of Russians believe that a woman’s place is in the home, rather than being equal to men out in the world, or that domestic abuse is a private matter that should be kept between the husband and wife. In fact, many women themselves feel that domestic violence is acceptable under many circumstances, as an act of passion and/or punishment (Leidl 2007).
The biggest problem, though, is the unwillingness of the goveernment to do anything about it. Even the few women that speak up to get some sort of legal help for the abuse don’t get anything for it. For one thing, even if they do escape, they’ve got nowhere to go. There are fewer than 20 shelters for women that are victims of abuse in the country, total only allowing for the care of 180 women at most. Because of this, women can’t leave their abusive partners (Leidl 2007).
In addition, women suffering from domestic violence don’t know where to turn to. There aren’t really any organizations they can go to for help, governmental or otherwise. Many times, these victims aren’t sure where to go with their complaints, so they simply don’t do anything about it (Litvin 2008).
They certainly can’t go to the police, that’s for sure. For one thing, Russian law doesn’t classify domestic abuse as a crime that’s separate from normal violence (Litvin 2008). In fact, it’s not considered a crime at all under Russian law (Litvin 2008). Very few official authorities will even consent to pursue a case of domestic violence because they can’t legally intervene until the injuries are so bad that they incapacitate the victim for at least two weeks (Litvin 2008). In addition, it’s not considered as an ongoing crime, so women who are victims have to file charges for every single incident (Leidl 2007).
Even for the few women who manage to get the police to listen to their complaints, they often don’t get a trial or legal compensation. The justice system in Russia also contains many legal hurdles that make it all but impossible for abused women to bring a trial to court. There’s lots of red tape—the structural barriers stop over 80% of cases from making it to court—and because of the legal system, victims get almost no help from the government in prosecution. They have to find all their own witnesses and evidence, as well as make their own cases (Leidl 2007).

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D. Provide three examples of what the United Nations does to promote and protect the rights of women.

1. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women has multiple programs to further women’s rights. One of these, which aims to curb violence against women, is called the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. It supports initiatives that seek to “address, reduce, and eliminate” the issue of violence against women. The fund works with governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as country teams, to:
Prevent violence against women and girls by empowering groups especially at risk of violence, including adolescent girls and indigenous or ethnic minority women, and engaging strategic groups such as youth, men and boys, and traditional and faith-based leaders in prevention efforts;
Expand the access of women and girl survivors of violence to services including legal assistance, psychosocial counseling, health care, and building the capacity of service providers to respond effectively to the needs of women and girls affected by violence;
Strengthen the implementation of laws, policies and action plans on violence against women and girls through data collection and analysis, building capacities of service providers and strengthening institutions to become more effective, transparent, and accountable in addressing violence against women.
These efforts lower violence against women in nations across the globe, as well as strengthen and encourage legal policies supporting equality for women (UN Women 2011).

2. The UN also promotes and protects the rights of women from a political standpoint, with its UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF), which promotes women’s democratic political participation. It aims to amplify women’s limited political voice and increase their full participation to facilitate opportunity for human rights and development (Horekens 2011).
UNDEF promotes political participation in woman by distributing grants to women’s organizations in countries all over the world. It helps promote general projects that aspire to gender equality, but specifically emphasizes and endorses projects that try to ensure that women have an equal voice in government and public decision-making. When successful, many of the fund’s projects give rise to improvements in laws, institutions, and public perceptions and knowledge (Horekens 2011).
There are many issues that the UNDEF specifically addresses with its grants to organizations for women’s rights in politics. One of those is assisting women in asserting their leadership in elections; currently, many women are all but overlooked, or at least seen as very minor candidates. UNDEF also tries to minimize corruption, as many elections are rigged, robbing women of their fair chance to a seat in government. Lastly, the fund seeks to broaden peace talks and insert gender perspectives into media. These are just a few of the many causes that UNDEF supports (Horekens 2011).
To accomplish its goals, UNDEF uses a variety of strategies. Its main strategy is to give organizations money and endorsing their goals. However, within that, it also uses different ways to promote women’s political participation. These strategies include “developing the capacities of women to compete in politics and bringing gender into public policy-making; supporting building women’s networks to forge vital links for achieving common goals; and using communication and advocacy to raise awareness of women’s importance in governance, and press to remove visible and invisible barriers that hinder women's political participation” (Horekens 2011).

3. UN Women, an organization in the United Nations that promotes equality for women, also works to advance the state of women economically and financially in nations across the globe. It does this in a variety of ways, in a variety of settings and countries on different continents. UN Women (formerly UNIFEM) has done this work since its inception in 1976, and continues to do so today.
UN Women enhances economic security for women in many different ways. For one thing, it works in countries to make sure that women have the civil rights to own land and property. The organization also supports initiatives to improve working conditions for female migrant workers. Finally, it works with state governments to “incorporate gender perspectives into planning and budgeting frameworks” (UN Women 2012).
The organization works in many different ways in different countries; rather than making blanket policies, it works with individual governments and organizations to improve conditions for women in those countries. For example, in Côte d’Ivoire, UN Women supported the integration of a gender dimension into the National Survey on the Living Conditions of Households, which in turn allowed the government there to see quantitative data regarding the issues facing women. In Kyrgyzstan, UN Women provided training for local courts, enhancing the judges’ understanding of women’s rights and effecting an amendment of the law to include provisions on women’s rights to land (UN Women 2012).

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Topic II: Human and Drug Trafficking

A. Define two problems caused by human or drug trafficking in the world that affects one of the following cultural institutions: economics, government, religion, or family.

1. The world declared a war on drugs forty years ago, but the drug market is a huge threat to government all across the world. Unfortunately, the illicit drug trade has become one of the largest global businesses, and it has become a major detriment to the global economy because of the billions of dollars of money going into this drug trafficking market. It also undermines the power of nations’ governments because it works under their “radar,” so to speak (Shah 2008).
Drug trafficking, or the trade of illegal drugs, is a “global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws.” It has been, and continues to be, a significant problem that organizations all over the world work hard to pursue and fight (UNODC 2012).
One reason that it is difficult to fight the war on drugs is the highly widespread drug usage all over the world. People use drugs in all countries, and there is a fairly high prevalence. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that up to 6.1% of the world’s population has used illicit substances, and that’s only in the past year. In addition, approximately half of those people are estimated to be regular users of these illegal drugs, and about 15% are classified as “problem users,” or people who are addicted to or dependent on illicit drugs (Chawla, et al. 2011).

This graph, from the UNODC’s World Drug Report for 2011, shows the prevalence of drug usage worldwide:

There are many different kinds of drugs involved in the drug trade. One of these is cannabis, which is the most widely used illegal drug in the world—nearly 75% of the world’s drug users are marijuana users. The second (though a far second) most used drug in the world isn’t just one drug or substance. It’s a family of drugs called ATS, or amphetamine-type stimulants, which includes methamphetamine, amphetamine, and ecstasy. Next is opioids, which is a group including opium and heroin. After that is cocaine, followed by a small but rising usage of prescription and synthetic drugs (Chawla, et al. 2011).


2. Human trafficking is one of the most dangerous, deadly, and heinous crimes and issues plaguing the world today. Truly a euphemism for “enslavement,” human trafficking is defined as “an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion, or other means for the purpose of exploiting them.” An issue that affects countries across the world, human trafficking affects families by tearing them apart (UNODC 2012).
As defined by the United Nations, human trafficking is composed of three elements: the act, the means, and the purpose—or what, how, and why the act is done. If one of the elements is missing, the act doesn’t constitute criminal trafficking of persons (UNODC 2012).

Within these elements or categories, there are specific parameters to determine what constitutes illegal trafficking of persons:





















In international law, human trafficking is a crime against humanity. As defined by the International Criminal Court, crimes against humanity are:
…Particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Murder; extermination; torture; rape; political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of falling into the category of crimes under discussion.
In short, crimes against humanity are heinous crimes that degrade people, and are done systematically, particularly in association with the government. (Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998).

B. What does the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights say about human trafficking/bondage/slavery?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has two articles, or sections, relating to the trafficking of persons, Articles 4, and 5. Article 4 states that “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” This explicitly prohibits slavery or trafficking in every way, and gives everyone the right to the security to not be enslaved. It mostly deals with the “act” element of human trafficking, though also implies prohibition of the “purpose” aspect (United Nations General Assembly 1948).
The UDHR also makes the statement in Article 5 that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This statement applies to multiple settings, but when applied to the illicit trafficking of persons, it disallows torture and cruel treatment. This addresses the “purpose” and particularly the “means” elements of the United Nations’ definition of human trafficking (United Nations General Assembly 1948).

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C. Explain how drug or human trafficking currently is a problem in your nation or in a nation in your region.

Neither drug nor human trafficking is a bad problem in the Russian Federation; however, although drug trafficking is no more than a minor issue there, it is a huge problem in many of the surrounding countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as other areas in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).
The biggest drug-related issue in Russia’s region is injected drugs. There are more injecting drug users in Russia than there are anywhere else except China and the United States. This is a problem for Russia because injecting drug users are the people who are most at risk. Injecting drug use has “serious health implications and costs for the individual and the community,” and “risky injecting and sexual behavior among drug users becomes a major health concern for the transmission of blood-borne infections such as HIV, Hepatitis C and B, especially among the marginalized and most at risk populations.” There is an extremely high rate of drug-related deaths in Russia and Ukraine, which is connected to the high prevalence of dangerous injecting drug use (Chawla, et al. 2011).
The drug trade in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has actually caused many political problems, especially in Russia, because of the conflict of the drug market and the government’s failure to quash the trafficking. Russia’s government has tried to convince other countries to help attack countries like Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, which are major suppliers of drugs like heroin, but it has been entirely unsuccessful with these pleas (Chawla, et al. 2011).
One major issue in Russia and its surrounding countries is heroin. There are many users of heroin in CIS, Eastern European, and Central Asian countries, particularly Russia and Ukraine. There is quite a high rate of seizures of heroin in Russia when compared to other countries, and Russia is a key heroin consumer in Europe (Chawla, et al. 2011).
Most of Russia’s heroin comes from Afghanistan, although some also comes from Kazakhstan, and a bit from other surrounding countries in Central Europe, like Azerbaijan. However, Russia’s main provider of heroin is most definitely Afghanistan, with 70 mt of Afghan heroin trafficked into Russia in 2009 (of 80 mt total trafficked into the country). And it’s not just that much of Russia’s heroin comes from Afghanistan—much of Afghan heroin also goes to Russia; Russians are major consumers of heroin. In 2009, 70 of the 90 mt of heroin trafficked into Eastern Europe and Central Asia went to Russia (Chawla, et al. 2011).
After heroin gets into Russia, it is not all consumed. Russia makes a huge profit selling heroin to other countries across the world—in 2010, Russian drug traffickers made an estimated $18 billion USD in selling heroin to other countries. It provides heroin to other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia for the most part (Chawla, et al. 2011).
Opium, another opiate, is also a significant, though lesser, problem in Russia and its surrounding region. In Russia and Ukraine, along with other countries in Eastern Europe, there is a high level of the domestic production of opium, and there are laboratories in Russia and Ukraine that produce opiates. In fact, Russia, along with other Central Asian countries, contributes to nearly half of the global opiate market. It makes quite a bit of money yearly off of this market (Chawla, et al. 2011).
However, there are very few seizures of opium by the Russian government. There is also very little data about drug use in Russia, particularly regarding heroin, opium, morphine, and other drugs that are problems there. This indicates that Russia’s government is very secretive about its drug problem, and wants to keep the problem relatively quiet (Chawla, et al. 2011).

D. Describe at least one way in which the United Nations is trying to prevent drug trafficking and one way in which it is trying to prevent human trafficking.

1. Countries and their governments across the globe have declared a war on drugs and the illicit trafficking of drugs. So have many international organizations, including the United Nations. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is combating the drug trade in multiple ways, because it sees the importance of preventing illegal drug trafficking (UNODC 2012).
It does this by forming treaties, which its member nations then enforce. There are three major international treaties relating to drug trafficking, all of which play significant, but different, parts in fighting the drug trade. In addition, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the International Narcotics Control Board perform functions attributed to them by the treaties. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime assists these bodies, as well as member states, in performing these functions (UNODC 2012).
The Single Convention of Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 both aim “to codify internationally applicable control measures in order to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes, and to prevent their diversion into illicit channels.” They also have more general provisions that relate to drug abuse and trafficking (UNODC 2012).
Another treaty, the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, focuses more on establishing measures to fight the illegal drug trade and increasing international cooperation in upholding all three treaties. This includes encouraging countries to extradite criminals and assist each other legally (UNODC 2012).
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs is one of the two bodies that perform these functions. It consists of 53 member states, and is the central policy-making body for drug-related matters. It monitors global trends of drug trafficking and abuse. The other body is the International Narcotics Control Boards. It consists of 13 member states, and is instrumental in the implementation of these treaties. Like the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, it also collects and monitors statistics relating to drug usage and trade (UNODC 2012).

2. Human trafficking is a problem in countries all across the world, so it is natural that the United Nations, the only truly universal global organization, works in many different ways to prevent human trafficking. It prevents trafficking as much as possible, protects victims of trafficking, and prosecutes human trafficking offenders. To do this, it helps draft laws and creates strategies, and then follows up by assisting with resources for implementation (UNODC 2012).
The United Nations does the best it can to prevent human trafficking incidents before they occur. For one thing, it increases awareness by making public service announcements on television and radio, running campaigns with NGOs, and contacting victims—actual and potential—of trafficking. It also supports counseling for potential victims, and distributes information. Mostly, UNODC prevents trafficking through awareness (UNODC 2012).
However, despite UNODC’s efforts to increase awareness and prevent trafficking before it happens, it can’t always stop incidents from occurring. Because of this, the organization also protects victims of human trafficking. To do this, UNODC trains police, prosecutors, and judges to know about human trafficking so that they don’t harm, prosecute, or deport victims. Police officers receive checklists to help them identify victims, and all rescuers learn what do do in the event of discovering a victim (UNODC 2012).
Lastly, in addition to prevention and protection, UNODC makes sure to prosecute human trafficking offenders. Many times, traffickers get away with their crimes, but the UN hopes to change that. It seeks higher numbers of arrests for trafficking each year. To do this, the organization helps countries to develop legislation, and helps to train police, border guards, prosecuters, judges, and NGO staff (UNODC 2012).

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Topic III: Children

A. Define two problems related to the treatment of children in the world involving one of the following cultural institutions (economics, government, religion, family).

1. Marriage: the formal union of a man and a woman, typically recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife; a similar long-term relationship between partners of the same sex. That’s the definition of marriage according to the New Oxford American Dictionary. In countries across the world, though, marriage doesn’t work in the same way. Parents force their children to get married before they turn eighteen in a travesty of the concept of family.
Though it is traditional in many cultures, particularly in poor and/or developing countries, child marriage is a gross human rights violation. It’s widespread in rural or poor areas. Worldwide, one third of women 20–24 were child brides. In some countries, it’s closer to half, and for women 45–49 years old, the average is half. This is a widespread issue in part because it is a cultural norm in some places. Since it’s part of the culture there, the issue doesn’t get much attention from the governments (UNICEF 2006).
Indubitably, child marriage is a human rights violation, but that’s only the beginning of why it’s so horrible. Although both girls and boys can be wed as children, the problem is far more prevalent with girls—they are married to much older men. This propagates and allows for sexual abuse and exploitation of girls. Child brides are also commonly subjected to things like bonded labor, enslavement, and violence. They are often exposed to STDs like HIV/AIDS, and can become pregnant when they are far too young. This is in part because they are too young to formally consent to anything (UNICEF 2006).
Things like pregnancy only make the long-term negative effects of child marriage even worse. Young girls that become pregnant face high risks of death during pregnancy and delivery. However, these horrible problems start long before impregnation; they begin as soon as the child is wed. Child marriage removes a girl’s opportunity for and right to education. Because of this and the health risks, child marriage keeps girls mired in poverty, unable to escape the clutches of the unending cycle of penury (CARE n.d.).
Many families that sell their daughters and/or sons into child marriage know about these risks. However, they do it, whether they are aware of the risks or not, for a couple of different reasons. One of these is, as previously stated, culture or religion. One Hindu Dharma states that, “We saw that it would be best to perform a boy's upanayana when he is seven years old. A girl must be married about the same age so that she too will develop the attitude of surrender” (Peetham 2012).
Families and parents may also marry off their daughters and/or sons at a young age in what they believe to be a way of securing their child’s financial future. They believe that if they marry their daughters to older men who already have jobs, the girls will do better in life in general. However, they don’t realize that the other consequences far outweigh that one possible reassurance (UNICEF 2006).

2. In recent months, there was an uproar in social media and other parts of the internet regarding Joseph Kony’s army of children in his Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army. While the recent Invisible Children campaign and video prompted much slacktivism from millions of internet users worldwide, most of them were unaware of the widespread problem with child soldiers that goes on in the world, an issue that disrupts families everywhere.
Children in no way deserve to be harmed by the war that adults and governments wage, and yet they are one of the main targets. Sometimes, they are even the instruments. In a horrible human rights violation, children are recruited into military violence all over the world. They are coerced, forced, and/or enticed into joining armed groups, and are then used to wage war (Children and Armed Conflict 2012).
The atrocious act of using child soldiers has multiple facets and effects, all of which are horrendous. Child soldiers are frequently subjected to harsh treatment and punishment, such as beatings. In extreme, though not uncommon, cases, these beatings result in death. Other humiliating treatment also occurs. They are punished severely for small things, though the worst is things like trying to desert. Girls in particular face a high risk of being raped, sexually harrassed, or otherwise abused (CSI 2007).
In addition, child soldiers face far greater risks when they fight than normal adults do. They are frequently killed or injured during battle, sometimes when they’re not even fighting themselves, but rather doing tasks. Children are often required to lay mines and explosives. Other times, they use actual weapons and participate in battle (CSI 2007).
In addition to the risks and suffering associated with battle, child soldiers face other hardships all the time. They get very little food, kept on the edge of starvation (CSI 2007). Children also have very little to no access to healthcare or a doctor at any time (CSI 2007). In addition, they are deprived of education; war becomes their focus (Children and Armed Conflict 2012). Worst of all, these children live with trauma because of their abductions and the sight of gruesome war that they have to fight in (Children and Armed Conflict 2012).
It seems like any reasonable person would refuse to become a soldier at such a young age. It’s dangerous and there’s really nothing positive about it. However, the process of this doesn’t work like it normally does in signing up for the military or something. Children are innocent and impressionable, and thus are easily enticed to join armed groups because they don’t understand how bad it is. Often, they are forced, abducted from their homes and families to fight for a cause they neither know nor understand (Children and Armed Conflict 2012).

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B. What is the UN Declaration of the Rights of a Child? When was it created, and what were the events that led to its creation?

The United Nations’ Declaration of the Rights of the Child enumerates all the rights that children enjoy, particularly those that are not part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are listed in a simplified form, as such:
1. All children have the right to what follows, no matter what their race, colour sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to.
2. You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.
3. You have a right to a name and to be a member of a country.
4. You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services.
5. You have the right to special care if handicapped in any way.
6. You have the right to love and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but from the government where these cannot help.
7. You have the right to go to school for free, to play, and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful.
Your parents have special responsibilities for your education and guidance.
8. You have the right always to be among the first to get help.
9. You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e.g. you shall not be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally.
You should not work before a minimum age and never when that would hinder your health, and your moral and physical development.
10. You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people.
(United Nations General Assembly 1959)

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child was first adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1959. However, the precursor of the United Nations, the League of Nations, first adopted the Geneva Declaration, which was the predecessor of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1924. 35 years later though, by the time of the United Nations, there had been significant advancements in human rights, so the Geneva Declaration needed updating. After the necessary changes were made, the General Assembly adopted the newly named Declaration of the Rights of the Child (Children's Rights Portal 2010).

C. Describe a specific problem related to the treatment of children in your nation or in a nation in your region.

Russia has a lot of human rights infringement issues, and children’s rights are no exception. In the country, there are problems with education, discrimination, child labor, exploitation of children, child trafficking, and juvenile justice, among other things. However, the worst of these isssues today is currently health and social welfare among children (The Law Library of Congress 2011).
The right to health care is one of the most important social rights, but children in Russia don’t get sufficient access to health care. In addition, other factors effect the high rates of disease and sickness in the country. Radiation, drugs, HIV/AIDS, STIs, and other diseases are all issues in Russia (The Law Library of Congress 2011).
One problem in the country is HIV/AIDS. While it doesn’t seem to be very prevalent, HIV is a quickly-growing epidemic in Russia. Because of the poor health care system, adults don’t know if they are HIV positive, so they are completely unaware when their children are born with the virus. As a result, there is a high rate of mortality as adolescents from the disease. In addition, many parents who find out their children are HIV positive abandon them, so these children with AIDS can’t get the care that they would otherwise have access to (UNICEF 2010).
The prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is also on the rise in Russia, with health care doing very little to quash the problem. There is a severe lack of sex education in the country, so adolescents don’t know about the risks and dangers. This leads to a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and other STDs (UNICEF 2010).
In addition, radioactive pollution contributes greatly to disease among children. Since the Chernobyl accident, many more people, especially children, have been affected by radiation poisoning. It’s a widespread issue, because people are being poisoned by this radiation, and the healthcare system is so ineffective that children are suffering from it. In fact, since 2001, the sickness rate of children increased 30% each year from radiation alone (The Law Library of Congress 2011).
Drugs are another big problem in Russia, especially with adolescents. Like reckless sex (which causes sexually transmitted illnesses), drugs are a reckless and dangerous behavior that many teenagers engage in, and like reckless sex, drug abuse in teenagers is a problem that mainly stems from a lack of a awareness regarding risks, which in turn comes from the poor health care and health education in the country (UNICEF 2010).

This graph from the World Health Organization depicts what percent of people in different countries smoke cigarettes.





















This shows that Russia has a higher percentage of smokers than anyone but China. In addition, many of those smokers are underage.

The problems in the health of Russians mostly stems from its government. The nation’s health care system is greatly lacking; it doesn’t help with many issues at all, especially in the area of pediatric health. There is a huge lack of funding for children’s health care, so there is a general lack of awareness regarding disease among children, and also a lack of care for children who are unhealthy or doing drugs (The Law Library of Congress 2011).

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D. Provide two examples of what the United Nations is doing to promote and protect the rights of children.

1. UNICEF, the United Nations’ organization that promotes the rights of children, seeks to protect children in many ways. One area of issue is children in armed conflict. Children around the world are recruited into armed forces by governments and NGOs alike for various nefarious purposes, and UNICEF works to stop this (UNICEF 2012).
To fight the problem of children in armed forces, UNICEF works to liberate and emancipate children who are being forced to fight or otherwise take part in war or battle. It releases them from these groups and helps them to return to their homes and families as soon as possible. Since 1998, UNICEF has helped over 100,000 children escape armed forces and then reintegrate into their home communities. Over 11,400 of these were in the year 2010 alone (UNICEF 2012).
UNICEF doesn’t stop at simply rescuing these children though. Children who have been subjected to witnessing and even taking part or contributing to war are quite negatively affected by it. They experience detriments to their mental and physical health. UNICEF helps rehabilitate the children before sending them home to their families. It also provides for them to ensure a brighter future by giving them an education and teaching them vocational skills and livelihood training (UNICEF 2012).

2. Another issue that UNICEF works to help to fix and resolve is the child justice system. It’s inevetable that children will have to testify as witnesses in court, but it’s a violation of human rights for them to be victimized and cruelly detained for little or no reason. Children are detained for mundane reasons ranging from begging to seeking asylum. UNICEF supports NGOs that help children who are imprisoned, and advocates the idea that children should only ever be imprisoned as a last resort, if at all (UNICEF 2011).
To reduce the injustice of child justice, UNICEF employs a variety of methods. For one thing, it promotes alternatives for imprisonment and detention. This way, children can do other things and be punished in more appropriate ways than imprisonment. Alternatives include diversion and restorative justice (a method that seeks to repair the harm caused by criminal behavior). This allows children who have been convicted to rectify their errors rather than be imprisoned (UNICEF 2011).
Another way that UNICEF reduces the issues with the child justice system is by strengthening the child protection system. It supports the training of judiciary and police officials, such as prosecuters, judges, lawyers, police, social services, and health professionals. The organization educates these officials so that they better understand how to deal with children in court and thus won’t victimize them unintentionally (UNICEF 2011).
Lastly, UNICEF works to improve the overall justice system of a country whose system causes victimization of children. It works with the country’s government to improve the situation of the juvenile justice system, helping to make sure that the system is fair to children. It encourages the establishment of child-sensitive courts and makes sure that they comply with the rules established at the Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNICEF 2011).

3/5 of the way...


Topic IV: Civil Liberties

A. What are civil liberties? Provide examples of civil liberties and explain why they are important in free societies.

Civil liberties are defined as, “fundamental individual right[s] protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference” (WordNet 2012). They are the rights that every individual enjoys, and generally restrict what the government can do to their citizens. Everyone in the world has these rights, though not all governments actually respect these civil liberties that their citizens have.
Acting as a foundation for governmental conduct, civil liberties are perhaps the most important and fundamental aspects of civilization. They limit the government’s power and what it can do to to its citizens, and protect people’s freedom. They include many different rights and liberties. The generally accepted fundamental liberties include the freedoms of religion and speech, security of person, and a right to property, due process of law, and to a trial (Wikipedia 2012).
The freedom of religion has one major side to it when it comes to civil liberties, and that is the idea that all people have the right to freely practice whatever religion they wish to, without having to worry about discrimination based on the law. However, there’s also another aspect to the freedom of religion, in which the government can’t make laws favoring one religion, just as it can’t discriminate against a religion (Madison 1791).
The freedom of speech is the most often cited one, especially in the United States. It is the idea that people have the freedom to say what they wish without fear of persecution. This also applies to things like the press and other media. The freedom of speech means that the government can’t censor or prosecute speech simply because it doesn’t agree with the content or message of the speech or expression (Madison 1791).
When it comes to criminal cases, the government of a nation has many responsibilities with regard to civil liberties. For one thing, it must allow for a person’s right to security of person, and may not conduct unwarranted searches and/or seizures, or ones without probable cause. In addition, all persons accused of a crime have the right to a trial and due process of law within the trial process. For example, the defendant can’t be detained for a long time, and he/she must have a chance to respond to whatever charges are being brought against him/her (Madison 1791).
Without civil liberties like the ones listed above, a society cannot function. Any nation that is not horribly corrupt must respect civil liberties in one form or another. If civil liberties are not upheld, the government can oppress its citizens to no end. In addition, to deny a person’s civil liberties is to take away his dignity as a human being and citizen of a nation.

B. What does the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights say about civil liberties?

The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights basically exists to list all the civil liberties and other rights it considers to be fundamental to society all over the world. All citizens of member states of the United Nations (most people in the world) are, in theory, guaranteed these rights. The Declaration contains many different rights.
The first right listed is that civil liberties apply to everyone. They don’t discriminate based on anything—not “race, color, sex, lanuage, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.” In addition, everyone is born with these rights, no matter what conditions of life they are born into or where they are in the world (United Nations General Assembly 1948).
Many of the rights listed pertain to simple freedom of person. These include the right to “life, liberty, and security of person;” prohibition of slavery; recognition before and protection under the law in all parts of the world; the right to seek asylum; the right to an honor and reputation; the right to a nationality; the right to a family and a willing marriage; the freedom of thought, speech, belief, conscience, opinion, and expression; the right to peacefully assemble; the right to work; the right to a standard of living; the right to a free education; and others.
Some of the liberties listed in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights pertain specifically to criminal cases and infringement of the law:

“Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.”
This means that people have the right to file a complaint if they are wronged by the government.
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”
This means that the police in a country have to have reason to arrest or detain someone.
“Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”
This means that all persons accused of a crime deserve to have a fair trial, and to be able to advocate for themselves.
“Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.”
This means that defendants have to have a defense, and they will be assumed to be innocent until they are proven beyond reasonable doubt to be guilty.
“No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.”
This means that governments cannot prosecute crimes that occurred before they were considered illegal or criminal actions. In addition, they cannot make punishments worse and worse.
(United Nations General Assembly 1948)

These rights apply specifically in judicial proceedings, and are very important to civil liberties.

Getting there...


C. Provide a description of one nation in our MUN simulation that promotes civil liberties and a description of another nation in our MUN simulation that limits civil liberties. Describe how and why those countries limit or promote civil liberties.

1. The United States of America promotes civil liberties, and has fairly good civil liberties inside the country as well. It received a 1 on the World Democracy Audit’s evaluation of civil liberties, indicating that it allows for great freedom with civil liberties. In addition, it promotes civil liberties across the globe and in international relations and organizations (Lindley 2012).
There is a multitude of ways in which the United States promotes civil liberties. It seeks to:
• Hold governments accountable to their obligations under universal human rights norms and international human rights instruments;
• Promote greater respect for human rights, including freedom from torture, freedom of expression, press freedom, women's rights, children's rights, and the protection of minorities;
• Promote the rule of law, seek accountability, and change cultures of impunity;
• Assist efforts to reform and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Commission on Human Rights; and
• Coordinate human rights activities with important allies, including the EU, and regional organizations.
(Otero 2011)

There is one main reason why the United States cares so much about upholding civil liberties—it claims to be a country founded on such principles as freedom and equality, as well as other human rights and civil liberties. By protecting and promoting human rights, the United States expects to “secure the peace, deter aggression, promote the rule of law, combat crime and corruption, strengthen democracies, and prevent humanitarian crises” (Otero 2011).

2. Another huge world power, China, lies on the opposite side of the scale from the United States. It has many violations of civil liberties and human rights. The World Democracy Audit gave it a 6 out of 7 on civil liberties, where a higher score means more oppression. It is very oppressive to its citizens, hardly granting them any civil liberties at all (Lindley 2012).
There are many ways in which China oppresses its citizens and restricts their freedom. The Communist government restricts many personal freedoms that are considered rights almost everywhere else in the world. One example of this is the law that decrees that Chinese families can only have one child. For a second child, parents must pay high fees and taxes; for each subsequent child born, the fees get steeper and steeper (Head 2012).
Another way that China restricts freedoms is through discrimination. It discriminates against its own citizens because of things like race, birth place, and religion (Feuerberg 2008). The government does this despite the fact that it is a clear and direct, blatant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and even China’s own constitution (Head 2012).
China’s Communist government is founded on very different ideals than that of the United States. Communism doesn’t promote freedom and individuality; rather, it promotes concepts “for the greater good.” This oppresses people, however, and it takes away their rights, which is bad (Head 2012).


D. What is the human rights record of your nation when it comes to civil liberties?

Russia doesn’t keep its citizens free very well. It’s oppressive like China is and doesn’t respect human rights. It censors media extensively, and is otherwise bad. The World Democracy Audit gives it a score of 5, which indicates that it is nearly as oppressive and restrictive as China is (Lindley 2012).
At present, the Russian Federation seems to have a democracy, but it has become corrupt and is now under more of the authoritatian rule of President and former Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Under his rule and Mendvedev’s, there have been bad human rights violations going on for years. They include torture, killings of civilians, cruel treatment of prisoners, racial violence, and domestic violence (Amnesty International 2012).
During Mendvedev’s 4-year rule as president, civilians kept disappearing in Russia, particularly human rights activists. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is responsible for these murders, but it has been strongly suggested that the government was related to the issues. In addition, there have been incidences of torture as well related to those incidents (Amnesty International 2012).

Last post before Works Cited!!!! :DDDDDD LOL this one is stupid, just copy/paste from earlier in the essay

E. Provide two examples of what the UN currently does to promote civil liberties in the world.

1. A violation of the civil liberty and human right of security of person, human trafficking is a problem in countries all across the world, so it is natural that the United Nations, the only truly universal global organization, works in many different ways to prevent human trafficking. It prevents trafficking as much as possible, protects victims of trafficking, and prosecutes human trafficking offenders. To do this, it helps draft laws and creates strategies, and then follows up by assisting with resources for implementation (UNODC 2012).
The United Nations does the best it can to prevent human trafficking incidents before they occur. For one thing, it increases awareness by making public service announcements on television and radio, running campaigns with NGOs, and contacting victims—actual and potential—of trafficking. It also supports counseling for potential victims, and distributes information. Mostly, UNODC prevents trafficking through awareness (UNODC 2012).
However, despite UNODC’s efforts to increase awareness and prevent trafficking before it happens, it can’t always stop incidents from occurring. Because of this, the organization also protects victims of human trafficking. To do this, UNODC trains police, prosecutors, and judges to know about human trafficking so that they don’t harm, prosecute, or deport victims. Police officers receive checklists to help them identify victims, and all rescuers learn what do do in the event of discovering a victim (UNODC 2012).
Lastly, in addition to prevention and protection, UNODC makes sure to prosecute human trafficking offenders. Many times, traffickers get away with their crimes, but the UN hopes to change that. It seeks higher numbers of arrests for trafficking each year. To do this, the organization helps countries to develop legislation, and helps to train police, border guards, prosecuters, judges, and NGO staff (UNODC 2012).

2. Domestic violence is a worldwide civil rights issue. This one, however, pertains specifically to Russia too. The UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women supports initiatives that seek to “address, reduce, and eliminate” the issue of violence against women. The fund works with governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as country teams, to:
Prevent violence against women and girls by empowering groups especially at risk of violence, including adolescent girls and indigenous or ethnic minority women, and engaging strategic groups such as youth, men and boys, and traditional and faith-based leaders in prevention efforts;
Expand the access of women and girl survivors of violence to services including legal assistance, psychosocial counseling, health care, and building the capacity of service providers to respond effectively to the needs of women and girls affected by violence;
Strengthen the implementation of laws, policies and action plans on violence against women and girls through data collection and analysis, building capacities of service providers and strengthening institutions to become more effective, transparent, and accountable in addressing violence against women.
These efforts lower violence against women in nations across the globe, as well as strengthen and encourage legal policies supporting equality for women (UN Women 2011).

WORKS CITED part 1


Works Cited
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CARE. "Child Marriage." Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere. http://www.care.org/campaigns/childmarriage/index.asp (accessed May 26, 2012).
Chawla, Sandeep, et al. "World Drug Report 2011." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. United Nations. 2011. http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/World_Drug_Report_2011_ebook.pdf (accessed May 25, 2012).
Children and Armed Conflict. Child Soldiers. 2012. http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/childsoldiers.html (accessed May 26, 2012).
Issues. 2012. http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/issues.html (accessed May 26, 2012).
Children's Rights Portal. Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959. 2010. http://childrensrightsportal.org/childrens-rights-history/references-on-child-rights/declaration-rights-child/ (accessed May 26, 2012).
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Fifth Periodic Report of the Russian Federation. United Nations. March 3, 1999. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw26/usr5.pdf (accessed May 21, 2012).
CSI. Child Soldiers. 2007. http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/child-soldiers (accessed May 26, 2012).
Ehrenpreis, Malcolm, and Alejandra Viveros. Women In 33 Countries Highly Vulnerable To Financial Crisis Effects. The World Bank Group. March 6, 2009. http://go.worldbank.org/A0YZCFVQA0 (accessed May 20, 2012).
Feuerberg, Gary. Conditions Worsen for Civil Liberties in China Says Commission Report. December 25, 2008. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/opinion/cecc-falun-gong-tibetans-uyghur-olympics-8502.html (accessed May 28, 2012).
Head, Tom. Human Rights in the People's Republic of China. 2012. http://civilliberty.about.com/od/internationalhumanrights/tp/China-Human-Rights-History.htm (accessed May 28, 2012).
Horekens, Caroline. UN Democracy Fund Woman Grants. United Nations. 2011. http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/democratic_governance/undef_unifem_grants.php (accessed May 22, 2012).
Leidl, Patricia. A House Divided: Domestic Violence in the Russian Federation. November 28, 2007. http://www.unfpa.org/public/home/news/pid/207 (accessed May 21, 2012).
Lindley, Clive. Civil Liberties. January 2012. http://www.worldaudit.org/civillibs.htm (accessed May 28, 2012).
Litvin, Ilyana, interview by Gregory Feifer. Domestic Violence: A Silent Crisis in Russia National Public Radio. July 17, 2008.
Madison, James. "The United States Bill of Rights." The Constitution of the United States. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Constitutional Convention, December 15, 1791.
Otero, Maria. Human Rights. 2011. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/hr/ (accessed May 28, 2012).
Peetham, Shri Kanchi Kamakoti. The Age of Marriage and the Law. 2012. http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part18/chap3.htm (accessed May 26, 2012).
Shah, Anup. Illicit Drugs. March 30, 2008. http://www.globalissues.org/article/755/illicit-drugs (accessed May 25, 2012).
The Law Library of Congress. Children's Rights: Russian Federation. April 4, 2011. http://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/russia.php (accessed May 26, 2012).
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Justice for children. 2011. http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_57999.html (accessed May 27, 2012).
"UNICEF Annual Report for Russian Federation." United Nations Children's Fund. 2010. http://www.unicef.org/about/annualreport/files/Russian_Federation_COAR_2010.pdf (accessed May 27, 2012).
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UNODC. Drug Trafficking. United Nations. 2012. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/index.html (accessed May 25, 2012).
"Legal Framework for Drug Trafficking ." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2012. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/legal-framework.html (accessed May 25, 2012).
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"What is Human Trafficking?" United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2012. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html (accessed May 25, 2012).
Wikipedia. Civil Liberties. May 27, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_liberties (accessed May 27, 2012).
WordNet. Civil liberty definition. Princeton University. 2012. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?c=0&sub=Change&o2=&o0=1&o8=1&o1=1&o7=&o5=&o9=&o6=&o3=&o4=&i=-1&h=00&s=civil+liberty (accessed May 27, 2012).
World Health Organization. The Russian Federation. 2004. http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/ (accessed May 20, 2012)

JK that was the whole thing.
I'M DONE

Holy hell, Tsubaki...How many pages was that?

I think Barabi should post one since she bothered to comment. I plan on reading all of these.

>>29 24 single spaced. The Works Cited was 4 more, but it was double spaced. My teacher gave us a week and a half to do it, and then didn't even read it. D:

>>30 I actually have a couple to post. They're not at the level of the ones other people have posted, though lol

This is the poetry explication I did which Yata wanted me to post.

-

Music has always been a huge part of society. Recently, however, musical artists have truly been in the spotlight for their works, having some of the highest salaries in the world. In the meantime, reading and writing for pleasure has been declining. You rarely see a child reading poetry, if ever. But music? Music is something that children, adolescents, and adults listen to constantly. When you're driving in the car, the radio is playing over all the conversations you're having as if the music is more important. When you're on the computer or doing homework, music is blasting; it makes you feel comfortable and confident, but why? That is because music with lyrics is poetry, and even the most simple song has some kind of poetic language in it. You still slowly grasp the meaning even if you're not listening for the lyrics, and that provides an emotional response of one form or another. Modern music is the poetry of the past, and a rather decent song to prove it would be "Holiday" by Green Day.

Green Day is a music artist which was particularly popular during the late 80’s to the mid 00’s. The majority of their songs have a political over/undertone and a decently solid rhyme scheme. Holiday was a part of their 2003 album American Idiot, which was one of their bestselling albums. It is popularly believed that the song relates to the American-Iraques warring, as do many of the other songs on the album. It is actually a narrative album in that each song relates to the other. Though the band claims the song is not "Anti-American," it certainly seems to be, and many of those who have dissected the song have come to the conclusion that the band was only covering themselves with that particular statement to avoid negative press coverage.

"Holiday" is fairly short for a modern song with limited instrumental breaks. The basic rhyme scheme is AAAA/BBC/DDC/EEF/GGH/DDC/J/JHKHLM/DDDD/C. The first stanza reads as follows: "Hear the sound of the falling rain / Comin' down like an Armageddon flame / The shame / The ones who died without a name." The falling rain would normally be straight-forward, but once it was called an Armageddon flame, it made it seem like shrapnel and debris from bombs pouring down on the soldiers. The rain can also be figurative for everything falling (going bad) at once. The last two lines of the stanza are very clear. They refer to those who went into the military wanting to do something, to become something, to help their country, only to die before they made even a slight impact on the world.

The second stanza reads as follows: "Hear the dogs howling out of key / To a hymn called 'Faith and Misery' / And bleed, the company lost the war today." In order to understand this, you first have to take into consideration what a 'dog' is known to be. Dogs are the only animals who will love you unconditionally. They puppy around owners who beat them and will protect anyone who will feed them. This mentality relates directly to that of the American soldiers as well as the mentality of those who are heavily religious. Howling is basically calling out for attention, and by doing so out of key, it shows that their views aren’t as equal and honest as they pretend they are. They are using the same method of crying out, but their voices are too different for their calls to be pure. As for the second line, ‘hymn’ is a religious song/poem/poetic story, and by singing the hymn, “Faith and Misery,” it shows these people are willing to suffer in this life so long as they worship what they must and secure their place in the next world. The narrator of the song regards this as ridiculous, and shows that with the next line; it is implied that such worship will never change the deaths nor win the war. The soldiers will still bleed. Wars will still be lost. Prayer and hymnals do not change any of it.



The third, fifth, eighth, and ninth stanzas are the verse; it reads as follows: “I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies; / This is the dawning of the rest of our lives- / On Holiday!” This stanza is actually fairly straight forward. The narrator wants to “dream” and aim for a goal higher or different than what society prefers or expects. He wants to “differ” and be himself, walking against the crowd because it’s his right and his preference; he doesn’t want to become what he is told to be, because he knows they are just “hollow lies” being spoon-fed to himself and others. This all relates to the American government and its claims to freedom when, if you really think about it, there are plenty of other countries far more free than our own. As for the last line, there are several interpretations of, “Holiday.” A holiday is a time away from work, home, and responsibilities. It is a time to celebrate. I personally believe that this is a sarcastic and ironic remark made by the artists. Taking into consideration the album was released in 2003 and was in the works since shortly after 9/11, I believe Holiday does refer to 9/11. It refers to Holiday as an eye-opening event which showed a lot of that generation that there was an issue with America. They believe such an event would never have happened if America did not involve itself in the related middle eastern wars in the first place.

The fourth stanza reads: “Hear the drum pounding out of time! / Another protester has crossed the line / To find, the money’s on the other side.” Drums are the base percussion instruments which have dated back thousands of years in one way or another. For a long time—and in the right circumstances, now as well—there are drummers in the military. They are most well known for playing at funerals in the modern age, which the song most likely references. By saying they were out of time, it goes back to the second stanza in that they are doing what they are taught, but their heart is not there, and they are not as connected as they believe they are. The second line of this stanza is very blunt; a protestor joined the group and got to the point where he couldn’t back out of the protest. The third line shows that he had a revelation; with the way society is, it doesn’t matter how much they protest. The other side—the party the protestors are opposing as well as the upper class in general—has too much money and influence. The protestors are just playing the fool by believing what they are doing is going to have a permanent impact; the modern day isn’t like what it was back when MLK Junior was around. Realizing this, the protestor probably gave up after that day.

The fifth stanza is probably the most controversial. It reads: “Can I get another Amen? Amen! / There’s a flag wrapped around a score of men - / A gag, a plastic bag on a monument.” Amen is another religious term, and the narrator is belittling it to the same level as the hymnal, perhaps even worse as it’s directly related to a wasted prayer. The second and third lines are fairly harsh and are often misinterpreted. The score of men are soldiers who have passed, and the flag wrapped around them are the flags on their coffins as they are given the ornamental soldier’s funeral. By calling the flag a plastic bag, it’s being considered trash compared to the “monument.” This is where the misinterpretation starts. While the narrator is basically saying that a flag is just a piece of fabric tossed over a dead man’s body, what it is implying is that such a flag doesn’t make their deaths alright. Those men were brave. They were just sucked up into what society put out for them, and there’s nothing wrong with that; they were monuments none the less – respectful people who shouldn’t have had to die for what the narrator believes was a pointless war.

(2/2)


The seventh stanza is really just a line. “The representative of California has the floor,” is probably the most confusing line of the song. Some interpreters take it literally as a simple allusion to the government position of California (which comes with its own very long set of symbolism). Others interpret it as metonymy, being just one part symbolizing the entirety of the government. I personally agree with the latter interpretation.

The eighth stanza is the longest one and is the most difficult to describe, so the explanation will go line by line. “Sieg Heil to the President Gasman.” This is a blunt allusion; Sieg Heil is the German salute used to salute Hitler during the Holocaust. This sarcastic line suggests that the Sieg Heil isn’t that much different than the salute modern soldiers do and also shows skepticism regarding the honesty and morals of the president of America (who was George Bush at the time). “Bombs away is your punishment!” This line is related to the previous. It basically says that those soldiers who loved their country and president were only being sent out to war to be blown up afterwards. The narrator believes they were never truly appreciated despite their dedication.

“Pulverize the Eiffel towers, / Who criticize your government!” Again, I believe that Holiday relates to 9/11, and in this case, the “Eiffel towers” are the Twin Towers. There is only one true Eiffel tower either way; there is no other explanation for it to be plural. The latter line hints at a popular conspiracy theory that the government caused 9/11 directly to set an example warning the deterent society; in either case, it is safe to say the narrator believes there was more to it than was claimed. “Bang, bang, goes the broken glass, and,” can be obvious and stand-alone, assumed to be gunshots breaking glass. It can also, however, be taken as another allusion to 9/11 – two “bangs” for each plane, which shattered more than just the glass of the twin towers.

“Kill all the fags that don’t agree!” is another sarcastic line. The narrator does not believe in the persecution of gays or anything of that sort. He believes that is the mentality of the American government instead. “Fags” can be used a derrogatory word for anyone these days, but if it were to be taken literally in this song, it relates to the government’s inability to take those who are different seriously. It also repeats the belief that the government is very religion-oriented, as there are very few other reasons for them to be anti-homosexual. “Fag” is just another metonymy and relates to everyone who is socially persecuted due to religious beliefs wrapping themselves around society.

“Trials by fire, setting fires-“ is yet another allusion to the Salem witch trials; those who were disliked by the town or were assumed to be evil were burned at a stake by the religious community with the excuse that they must be witches. This is believed to still go on (in a way) in the modern day, which is explained by the last few lines related to the social persecution of homosexuals. The narrator is saying these fire trials are still happening – just in a seemingly innocent manner. “Is not a way that’s meant for me!” is the narrator saying they are different and can see through everything that is going on. He wants to have nothing to do with the world as it is and will not be held responsible for what goes on later. “Just ‘cause, just ‘cause, because we’re outlaws yeah!” is also moderately sarcastic. The narrator does believe his group is different, but not in an inappropriate way. He is only explaining their position as society sees them.

The ninth stanza repeats the first couplet of the verse twice. The tenth stanza is what really hits home and brings the song together. “This is our lives on Holiday.” This line says it all. No matter where you go, what happened on Holiday will always be a part of you. You can turn a blind eye to the supposed truth or pray that such things will never happen again, but you cannot change the past. Holiday has passed; when will the next one be, and how will we react? After 9/11, for about two months, everyone around here (the east coast of the US) was in a daze and were being surprisingly polite. People actually held doors for others. Customers raged at cashiers and bank tellers less. Please and thank you were spoken monotonously but earnestly. You never knew who lost who, and it was too soon to be insensitive. It was only a Holiday, though; once it left our minds and our responsibilities caught up, we lost that mentality. But it was our lives, and it will continue to be so. Holiday is a part of us, and it’s our job to accept the truth and keep it from happening again.
While I can’t agree with everything in this song, I can confidently say that a lot of heart and honest emotion was poured into it as it was being made as well as when it is being sung by its original band. There is also quite a bit of rhythm even when the song is just being read as a poem, and even if it lacked rhythm, I could confidently consider this a poem from the sheer amount of poetic devices in it. As the allusions and sarcastic lines were already pointed out, I will go into more detail regarding the devices. You can see from the rhyme scheme that there is quite a bit of rhyme, and the verse has two couplets. The first and second lines have imagery, a simile, and a hyperbole. The fifth and sixth lines have personification, as dogs don’t literally howl hymnals. It also has metonymy since the hymn ends up relating to religious habits in general. The eighth line has imagery. The fifteenth line is a metaphor; one flag isn’t literally wrapped around a score of men. The entire eight stanza has imagery and metaphors.

There is no doubt in my mind that Holiday is one of the many modern songs which helped start the next generation of poetry. Not only does it have a strong, positively opinionated meaning, but it also introduced youth to such poetic concepts. It was extremely popular in the early 00’s as a song; had it been released as a poem instead, it would be completely unknown. Poetry can no longer survive through mainstream society. Instead, it has found its niche complimenting musical pieces and is now a major part of daily life for those of all ages.

Reading over it, I realize that I overused the word "fairly."

Keep in mind that I wrote this over a forty five minute period of time the class period before it was due .__. due like, four weeks prior to that. But my teacher loves me and gave me an A anyway ;D

(1/3) This is my research paper for this past year. The inline citations aren't set up right according to my teacher, but they're easy to reference anyway.

The Most Dangerous Job in America

Two hundred and four out of every one hundred thousand prostitutes in America are killed on average each year, making the profession more dangerous than any other in the nation (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 1). Despite the number of male and female citizens of the United States who are being killed, beaten, and trafficked, contracting deadly diseases, getting addicted to dangerous drugs, abandoning countless children, and living on the streets, the government refuses to offer regulation and protection to simply due to the immoral implications of their sex industry. Instead, the government made the profession illegal and continues to arrest those participating. The blind eye being turned towards the situation is no different than the government’s reaction to slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; in order to avoid getting their feet wet, they waited until the situation was out of control to debate it despite many other countries having already outlawed the industry. Prostitution has already gotten out of hand; in this case, it is time for the United States to work towards legalizing and reforming it. It is completely legalized and regulated in twenty-two countries (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 3). There is no appropriate excuse for this nation to refuse to join them. There is no excuse for this nation to turn a blind eye to hundreds of citizens being murdered every year. “The government can claim to be engaged in a rescue mission, but it is sacrificing sex workers on the altar of public morality,” (Day 3). If the United States fully legalized and properly regulated the sex industry, both the workers and their innumerable clients would be safer. There would be less under-age trafficking, and the government would be given the chance to properly focus on cleaning up the darker sects of the industry which will not immediately conform to the intended regulations.

The sex industry is dangerous for everyone involved when there is no regulation. Statistics indicate that one of every five customers is robbed by prostitutes. However, it is more dangerous for the workers. Only 58% of American prostitutes reported violent assaults, but other studies suggest that approximately 80% of prostitutes are sexually assaulted at least once (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 1). Though sexually transmitted diseases do also kill many sex workers each year, not nearly as many diseases plague sex workers as the general populous prefers to believe. According to a study in Minneapolis, Minnesota, only 15% of the prostitutes tested who had worked for over six months had contracted a disease (“Prostitution Statistics” 3) This is an unfortunately high number compared to standards among those outside of the industry despite being unexpectedly low compared to the stereotypes. If the industry was legalized, however, the workers will be able to have their customers and themselves tested mandatorily to help lower this number. By keeping prostitution illegal, the workers and clients are being put in further danger. As Sophie Day stated in her 2009 editorial, “Will not the proposed measures, rather than resolving long-standing problems associated with a sexual contract and, in particular, the employment and mobility of women, instead drive sex work underground, with potentially much more serious consequences?” (2). She is speaking in regards to the UK, which had proposed stricter regulations on prostitution similar to those the US has now. Prostitution in the United States is already a known over-the-top, underground business and is the clear center of international trafficking routes. Its links to drug trafficking and child abuse are frequently spoken of.

So long as it is not regulated, prostitution will never be a safe profession. There is one group in particular that is in increasing danger. The industry is one which sucks minors in. Over 60% of children who go run away later reported participating in prostitution for a period of time. It is no surprise that there is an elevated demand for child prostitutes, as well, for male customers in particular feel that the younger the prostitute whose services they buy, the less likely they are to contract AIDS (“Prostitution Statistics” 3). Whether or not their idea is a misconception or honestly true is unknown, for few trusted studies have been done on the subject. Child prostitution is not a new concept despite its popularity in the modern day. In the current generation of workers, over forty percent started their career as sex workers as children. Some were forced into it by their parents or pimps while others were runaways who started on their own accord (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 3). They thus have little knowledge in other subjects, which is another contributing factor as to why some have said they cannot leave the industry in addition to having limited to no health care, protection, housing, as well as having drug habits which cannot be supported by changing their profession (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 4).

The sex industry in America is directly linked to drug and human trafficking. “Roughly 26% of New York City prostitutes were homeless and addicted to illicit drugs. They had to resort to prostitution to serve their addiction to hard drugs like crack, cocaine, and heroin,” (“Prostitution Statistics” 3). This shows that drugs are becoming a large part of the industry. It is implied that pimps often get their sex workers addicted to drugs purposely so that it is more difficult for the prostitutes to leave the industry. However, there are no studies supporting the implication. As suggested previously, drugs are considered one of the major reasons that prostitutes who wish to leave the industry cannot, as well as why prospective prostitutes are often turned off by the work.


As it is, the industry is very costly for the country. Over eighty-thousand citizens—both clients and workers—are arrested every year in the US for sex solicitation. This has cost tax payers two-hundred-million USD through indirect costs regarding the related court and jailing fees. This number does not include the cost for the salaries of the law enforcement (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 5). Compared to the amount that prostitution brings in, however, that is a small amount. In the US, prostitution is considered a fifty-eight-billion dollar industry. The numbers have been steadily rising, and the industry is the most profitable criminal industry next to the distribution of cocaine, which is considered a seventy-billion dollar industry. In perspective, the illegal arms trade is the third most profitable in the country yet only makes ten-billion dollar trade (“The Stats Behind Prostitution” 6).

(2/3, works cited next)
Taking how profitable it is as well as the sheer demand for prostitutes into consideration, it has been shown that keeping it illegal has done nothing except drive the industry deeper underground, making it increasingly dangerous and profitable. There has been not a single change for the better despite the number of laws made against it. It is understood that legalizing it will not automatically stop the danger. There will still be street prostitutes who refuse to get tested. There will still be child prostitutes. There will still be abusive men and pimps. The women who do want to change and the men who do want safe sexual intercourse, however, will conform to the majority of the regulations and start to take care of themselves better. This will also open a path for law enforcement to find the heart of the less practical parts of the industry; also, once they feel save, many prostitutes will no doubt share what they know. There will of course be a great deal of petitioning against it, and the cost for the change will be great at first. Afterwards, though, taxes can be put in place, and once recognized as a legal profession, both sides may make money off of the industry. Something has to be done. The industry has gotten out of hand, and our current laws and bills attempting to abolish it have done nothing to lessen the danger for those involved. The only way to solve the problem with modern day prostitution in the United States of America is to turn the oldest profession into a legal one.

3/3
Works Cited

Day, Sophie. “Renewing The War On Prostitution: The Spectres of ‘Trafficking’ And ‘Slavery’.”
Anthropology Today 25.3 (2009): 1-3. History Reference Center. Web. 8 Feb. 2013.

"Prostitution Statistics." Sex Crime Laws. N.p., 2013. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.
.

"The Stats Behind Prostitution." OnlineSchools.com. Visual Academy, 2010. Web. 08 Feb. 2013.
.

Its just a high school research paper, so it's nothing compared to the earlier ones in the thread. It's short with limited sources, awkward citations, and half-casual writing; it was (also) handed in two months late without any points taken off :I

I hope I have this teacher next year lol

>>39 Man lucky you :/ i remember doing my research paper on something wicked this way comes. Had some spell errors, plus i cited one of my sources wrong, ended up barely scraping by with a 70 XD

My crappy presentation that got me an A or good b or some shit/

(based on "And then there were none")


Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury! You have been, hereby, called to listen to the case of Edward George Armstrong. My client has been charged with the murder of Louisa Mary Clees. I am here today to tell you how my client cannot be charged with this murder.

My client has been accused of performing a surgery on Missus Clees while under the influence of alcohol, however there is no proof of this. My client proceeded as normal and the outcome was not as expected. Mr.Armstrong has preformed many other operations before with successful outcomes. There is no evidence or physical proof that Mr. Armstrong was under the influence of alcohol. And if someone else; such as a nurse or family member had the knowledge and proof of this beforehand, shouldn’t they have come foreward with the information beforehand? And if they havent, shouldn’t they be just as guilty for the murder as being accounted for as a witness to the crime?

The death of Louisa Mary Clees can simply be attributed to her old age and fragile condition. Many elderly people in her weak state can easily suffer dangerous and fatal complications during surgery. Even getting to the surgery late at night when the doctor is fatiuged from a long day can be a factor in the outcome of the surgery.

Even if the Doctor was inder the influence during the operation,he would not be able to tell what he was doing was wrong. People who suffer from addiction believe that they can have the ability to preform complex tasks correctly when even the most tedious and mundane activities can be difficult and strenous.


In closing, there is no way to attribute the death of Mrs.Clees to Mr.Armstrong. He acted as he has done through many of successful procedures in the past. He is innocent.

My bad evaluation of a sonnet that got me an okay grade I think.


Shakespeare’s Sonnet 64


Shakespeare’s Sonnet 64 is about Time. The first quatrain is about how Time can age and deface even the greatest things. The second quatrain is about how Time can almost engulf those things which are most important, and how the breaking down of things is an endless cycle of “increasing store with loss,and loss with store”. The third quatrain is about how Time not also destroys things,but creates it as well. It says that the destruction can cause one to think about the way things work. The ending couplet is stating what we love to have the most, our dearest persons or possesions, is what we have the fear of losing the most.

This sonnet ties in because it is about the loss of love, or things loved. Shakespeare writes about how Time can destroy all things. He acknowledges that Time can even destroy and tear down even the most important things and those most important to our hearts. This ties in because Shakespeare often writes about the loss of love.

I think that the sonnet really shows that nothing can last forever,just as Shakespeare himself states in the sonnet. Most people keep the foolish sentiment that their Love,Family,Friends,Money, and possesions will last forever and that they themselves will always be around endlessly,that they will be immortal or “forever young”. But Dear Old Will acknowldges that even the great towers and monuments built to honor those who wont last forever, wont themselves in fact last forever.
The sonnet reminds me of Robert Frosts’ poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. It can be related in the way that Frost also talks about how everthing has to change. In his poem Frost talks about how things, over time, have to change. Both of the poems adress the fact that nothing can really stay the same,that nothing is constant.

Also related to shakspear in school. forgot to turn it in but she still liked it regardless when I remembered to.

I believe that my name fits me perfectly. Thought up quick and on the fly, its exactly like me. There’s no rhyme or reason behind my name really. Just the fact that I needed to leave the hospital as something else besides “Baby Girl *******” and they liked the name. my name can be spelled either as Ciara (a very Irish way of spelling it) or Siara, with variants like Sara/Sarah. My name comes from Spanish origins or the word mountain, meaning a rugged range of mountains, or roughly peaked mountains. I believe that my name is perfect for me. When I was younger, people nicknamed me “SieSie” (or CC). Although it wore off around 3rd or 4th, some close friends still adress me by it from time to time(some of which to my annoyance). I believe that a name or nickname can affect people. Even though its just a name, the way you are labeled permanently like that cann affect you. If people still called me SieSie, I do not believe that I nor would other people take me as seriously. CC sounds like a very young fun name and, although I am young and fun, Sierra can convey a sense of whimsy and wise. Which perfectly matches the traits of my name,such as being intellectual,appreciating art and music as well as nature and can be very trusting, but also independent,lonely, and seprative.

Yes, I agree with Juliets statement. I believe that a name has nothing to do with the person. Although a name or nickname can shape a person or personality, it is all about how they make it work. And if not, you can always change your name!





The name I researched further was Mercutio, friend of Romeo. Mercutios name can relate to Mars, the God of War, known for his expert skills. His name can also relate to another meaning of “mercurial” which can mean that a person is fast paced and unpredictable, but Mercurial can alo be associated with the Roman origins of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, who is netural to all gods and works for all, just as Mercutio is impartial to both the Montague and Capulet families.

Sherlock holmes. I got a good grade but she blamed me of plagurizing it. She blamed the whole class essentially. She thinks that we take everything offline because of common words and phrases.





Sierra Scanlan Honors english 2nd hour

The Hounds of the Baskerville

In this Hound-ridden world Sherolock Holmes has only one companion - Dr.Watson. During the hunt for the Hound, Sherlock Holmes needs Watson for many important things, from going for information to keeping a watchful eye on Sir Henry. Because of this, Sherlock Holmes needs Dr.Watson.

One way that Watson is helpful to Holmes is when Holmes is hiding on the Moor. While Holmes was hiding on the moor, Watson was living with Sir Henry and Watson relaying letters to Homes while he was “Attending to a blackmailing case”. Holmes needed to stay away and not know of Holmes’ whereabouts so that they would not have the same perspective on the case. If they had the same point of view, they would have the same evidence on the case. Holmes even goes so far as to tell Watson that “My dear fellow,you have been invaluable to me in this as many other cases,”(Doyle,179) showing that he needs Watson.

Another way that Watson is valuable to Holmes is when they are on the moor. When Holmes had to stay in hiding on the moor, Watson went to interview Mrs. Laura Lyons, (sans Sir Henry) he finds out crucial information. When Watson relays this information to Holmes, it helps him clear up his thoughts and ideas on the matters of Stapelton’s “sister” and Laura Lyons’ divorce, saying to Watson “It fills the gap which I


had been unable to bridge in this most complex affair”(Doyle,181) showing that watson is very well needed by Sherlock Holmes.

Many people may say that Watson is very uneeded by Holmes or that he is not very smart (at least, not as smart as Holmes!). Holmes often needs to explain his thoughts to Watson or dumb them down. While this is can be the case, Holmes points out in chapter one that “When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided toward the truth” (Doyle, 11). When Holmes says this he points out that although Watson can be wrong and make mistakes, the mistakes that he make can lead Holmes to the real answer. This shows that Sherlock Holmes does, in fact, need Dr. Watson.

Through the advice that Watson gave Holmes about the suspects or through his actions, Watson was essential. Without Watson, Holmes would lose the linchpin of his lifes work. Wether through the advice he gave or his actions, Holmes needed Watson. Holmes’ need of Watson was “elementry” my dear reader.

And just for shits and giggles here's my citation for my research paper that I cant find on my computor-

Evans-wentz, . "The cult of gods,spirits,fairies,and the dead." . N.p.. Web. 7 Feb 2013. .



NA, . "The Origins of Fairies." Historic UK. N.p.. Web. 7 Feb 2013. .


NA, . "Discovering Fairy Tales." . Scholastic. Web. 7 Feb 2013. http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff



NA, . "What is a Fairy?." Long Long time ago. N.p.. Web. 7 Feb 2013. .

Na, . "What is a Fairy." wisegeek.com. N.p.. Web. 7 Feb 2013. .


Vareny, . "The top three origins of fairies." Examiner. np. Web. 7 Feb 2013. .

Bump.

so many good threads buried deep down

yo heres my final english coursework essay for alevels. its about a clockwork orange and the windup girl through an anticapitalist lens

https://sway.office.com/26BysHpLood2T8En?ref=Link&loc=play

this'd be an interesting to bring back

>>49 dont have permission :<