To The Future

To whomever this may concern,

I can only imagine how the world you live in must be. The decisions my generation made would take miracles to recover from. The thought of how miserable this country must be is almost unbelievable. Your future is not all that it could have been, because of the mistakes that my generation has let happen. Illegal immigration has locked your generation in a struggle for happiness and success.

Illegal immigration may be one of my generation’s biggest problems. Millions of illegal immigrants for countries all over the world come into this country and take jobs from American citizens. These jobs that Americans need to support their families are stolen away from them by people who have never given anything to this country. The year now is 2008. There is over 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. There have been nearly 10 million jobs taken by illegal immigrants from the United States citizens. The cost of illegal immigrant children to the country in grades K-12 is over 12 billion dollars since 2001(Immigration Counters). These numbers do not lie. This country is suffering from the mass number of illegal immigrants entering it. There have been 1,869,630 children born on this countries soil by illegal immigrants. This means that 1,869,630 new citizens to the United States must be taken care of legally. In this country at this time, people feel that illegal immigration is a good thing. These people feel that illegal immigrants take all the jobs that United States citizens do not want. The United States unemployment rate is 5.1 percent according to the United States bureau of labor statistics. The jobs this country has to fill are not being filled by the people of this country. The jobs that could help to lower our unemployment rate and raise our countries HDI (Human Development Index) are being given to people who snuck themselves into this country to avoid living by this country rules. These illegal immigrants enter this country, take its money, and break its laws only to be deported back to the country in which they came from. Since 2003, there have been over 7,500 arrests of alien child sex offenders (Immigration Counters). This Issue is tearing this country apart and it makes me wonder how it has developed in your day.

After the election of McCain, I feel that the only way this country can go is down. The idea to pardon all illegal immigration is one of the worst ideas of any leader of this country. The majority of this country in 50 years will be illegal immigrants if McCain held up to his platform to America. This number is outrageous. The things that illegal immigrants can do to hurt this country have been shown in great detail in my time. A day you now most likely have off from school as a memorial, September 11, 2001, is a day I unfortunately was alive for. A massive attack on the United States was conducted and took hundreds of Americans lives. What most people do not know is that 3 out of the 4 terrorists on that plane were in this country illegally. In a 2006 Homeland Security report some startling news was revealed to the American public. "The report reveals that 45,008 aliens from countries on the U.S. list of state-sponsors of terror or from countries that protected terrorist organizations and their members were released into the general public between 2001 and 2005, even though immigration officers couldn't confirm their identity" (USillegalimmigrants.com).

The country is going downhill fast it and the way it’s looking your generation will be at rock bottom. There are a few options out there now that you can try to fix this situation that we so recklessly placed you in. One option is attrition through enforcement. There are three very important things this country could do to make this mass number of illegals lower vastly. The first thing is to step up the border control. That is if this country even has borders anymore due to the presidents in the last 50 years. If you can cut the head off the snake, then you can eliminate the problem. By this I mean if you can stop the illegal immigrants from entering the country, then you will not have to worry about getting them out of the country. The second option is deportation of any illegal alien who commits egregious crimes. If we can get rid of the dangerous illegal immigrants it will save this country money and stop major drug trafficking. The last thing you can do is ask the illegal’s to leave back to their own countries. When they refuse, and they will, cut off all benefits offered to illegals. These include denying those jobs, health services, and government programs that refuse to leave. These are all main ideas stated by Federation for American Immigration Reform. Other more radical groups feel that illegal immigrants should be hunted down and deported back to the country in which they came from.

The future could be a very dangerous place to live in because of the mistakes my generation has made. The illegal immigrant problem may have already consumed the country. In all actuality I may be speaking to an illegal immigrant right now. There is a good chance that by now the illegal aliens have taken over the government and the true natives of this country are now the immigrants. Looking back on history, the Native Americans accepted the British from another country. Then the British killed off or shipped out all those who were reckless enough to let them into their country. I hope for your sake that you look back on history and learn, or else history is doomed to repeat itself upon you.

Oil? What's that?

Oil? What’s that?

To The Generations I’ve Helped Ruin:

The name is Shane McCartney. The year is 2008. I’m 19, and I go to Westfield State College in Westfield, Massachusetts. Just curious, but what’s it like? The future that is; are there flying cars? Are there robots running around? Do people teleport for means of transportation? If not, I’m not surprised. That’s what the people of the 1960’s dreamed of happening by the time the 2000’s showed up. None of it has happened; and I really don’t see it happening any time soon. Even though technology is getting better and better everyday, there’s no way all of it can happen. One main reason why I don’t see these happening is the fact that even as I write this, there is less and less oil available to supply to the world.
Oh, don’t worry, oil won’t just “run out”, that’s because “all oil production follows a bell curve. Oil is increasing plentiful on the up slope of the curve, and increasingly scarce and expensive on the down slope. The peak of the curve coincides with the point at which the endowment of oil has been 50% depleted. Once the peak is passed, oil production begins to go down while cost begins to go up.” (LATOC) The “peak” that was mentioned, scientists believe, very possibly occurred in the year 2005. So this means “the worldwide oil production in the year 2030 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world’s population in 2030 will be both much larger and much more oil dependent than it was in 1980.” (LATCO) So basically, the worldwide demand for oil will outpace the worldwide production of oil by a significant margin. And as a result, the price of oil will skyrocket, oil dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode.
So, is there even any oil left for you and your generation? If there is, I wonder how much is left. If not, I for one am terribly sorry that my generation, the generations before me, and the generations following after mine have used all of it all up on you, and basically sending you into an “economic stone age”. The thing is that we, as a population just don’t care. We only think about ourselves, and how we are to live our own lives. Another thins was that we really didn’t realize how much oil was being used up each and everyday. Oil is the basic building block to civilization. Yes, it is mainly used as a source of heating homes, and used for transportation, but what most people don’t realize, is that oil is also in so many of everyday objects; for example, toothpaste.
Again, I truly am sorry that I helped ruin your lives, but at the same time, I’m also guilty of just not caring. You see, even though I know that oil will become scare, there’s nothing that I can do about, so I am just going to go with the flow, and live my life.

Yours Truly,

Shane McCartney

intro to last essay!!

Everyone knows as time goes on generations attitudes change toward everything. My generation was not the most productive, most mature, or even the smartest. Statistics show we have experimented with drugs and alcohol at a very early age and very consistently. We were the first generation introduces to the extreme advancements in technology as well. The generation that started the 21st century was a very lazy, stupid, useless group of kids.

im looking for a better hook if anyone wants to help out.

Unfair United States Military Pay

What is the price of a life? Are there factors that determine this price? If the person has a family, if they are old or young, male or female could all be factors. These factors do not matter in the United States military. Whether a person is white or black, male of female, single or married they all receive the same pay. A wage that is hardly enough to support themselves, and almost never enough to support a family. The United States Military is greatly underpaid for the duties that they are required to perform. The risks that every soldier takes to serve their country deserve more money than what they are given. U.S. soldiers wake up every day knowing that it could be their last. U.S. soldiers are away from their families for months and even years at a time, missing some of the most important things in their loved ones lives. This can make military relationships almost impossible to maintain. The chance of having to take another person’s life can cause a mental and emotional trauma that is hard for a person to ever come back from. All of these risks come about 20,000 less than the average pay of a full time mailman according to the 2008 fiscal enlisted military pay and allowances.

The death toll since the war in Iraq started in April 2003 has broken 4,000 deaths in this last year. There have been over 16,000 troops who have been wounded in action and returned, and another 13,000 who have been too bad to return to service (United States Department of Defense). The number of deaths within the military has caused a great concern for many people within this country. The number of recruits to all branches of the military has dropped drastically in the last 4 years. Many feel this is due to the belief that there is not enough money offered for the chance of losing their life. Another opinion of why many people stopped enlisting in the service is that there is more money offered in civilian jobs with much less danger involved. Last year it was shown that military pay was up to 14% less than civilian jobs with the same education level in the private sector (Rand.org). The growth in the pay rate for civilians has grown more steadily and at a higher level than the pay of the military. This fact raises questions to potential soldiers, such as is it worth it to put my life on the line for less pay than I can make anywhere else. It also raises the question concerning leaving family behind while they leave to serve their country and what would their family do if they were to become injured or even die.

One of the hardest things for any person to do is to leave behind everything they love. The United States military can at many times require a person to do exactly that. The time spent away from loved ones can never be replaced. Many will argue that no amount of money could ever compensate for the missed moments in their loved ones life. The time away is not the only problem with the military lifestyle. According to “The Nation” research has shown that a military family on average moves every 3 years. This moving all the time mixed in with deployments and training can make families almost impossible to maintain within the military. The divorce rate in the military is around 3.5% according to the Department of Defense. It is much higher with women in the military, around 8%. The main reason for divorces within the military is PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress disorder. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened (National Institute of Mental Health). This can occur from witnessing harm to others or doing the harm to others yourself.

According to MSNBC 1 in every 8 soldiers who have seen combat suffer from PTSD. The chance of having to take another life can cause serious mental and emotional problems for any person. Recovery from this kind of ordeal can take years, sometimes it never goes away. The medical help which soldiers may need to help with this disorder is paid for out of their own pocket. The money they make is not sufficient to pay this type of bill. It leaves many in debt and with a disabling mental problem for the rest of their life.

The majority of this countries workers do not get up in the morning wondering if they will live to see the night. These workers do not sit at work for months at a time wondering how their family is doing. These workers do not have to face down the fear of taking another person’s life. The United States military is greatly underpaid for the duties that they perform. It is time to stand up and give these soldiers what they deserve. It is time to give them the money they earn so they can live a better life than the one they are living to protect you.

Honor, duty, and freedom are all things us as Americans desire in our lives. The truth of it is that without the armed forces of this country freedom wouldn’t exist. With the freedom we receive comes great responsibility. A responsibility to act when things are not the way they should be. A responsibility to stand up and do what is right. We as a country should stand up and demand better pay for our protectors, our safe keepers. Now is the time, the chance for us to gain honor, something the U.S. military knows all about.

big research paper!!

i never got professor meek's comments on my paper on legalizing medicinal marijuana. i need his comments in order to make my paper a lot better because now it sucks. i not too worried about it because i know im going to pass this class. i would like a little better grade to help my GPA though!! hope this is enough to cover for me for this week even though i completely disagree with this once a week blogging bs

Outline

Shane McCartney
Kevin Meek
English 101+
April 12, 2009

Outline

I. Introduction:

Are you thinking about college? Then good for you! College is very important and it is something everyone should consider. It readies you for the real world with the hopes of that perfect job of yours waiting for you at the end of your journey. But, what would you say if I told you that you don’t have to spend the extra four years and the thousands of dollars? Sounds ludicrous don’t it? But in reality, you can actually go far in life with only a high school diploma.
Many people in the world have not gone to college, or even dropped out of college and have been extremely successful in life. Most of my family in fact has not gone to college, and yet they all live very fulfilling lives. In fact, it actually really is not rare for someone who does have a college degree not to get a job in there field of training, or even at all.

II. Point One:

It’s true, many people have either not gone to college, or have dropped out and have lived fulfilling lives, wealthy lives, or both. For example, one major name of someone that does not have a college degree would be the second richest man in the world, and many who call one of the smartest men in the world, a little some one called Bill Gates. Yes, that’s right; Bill Gates does not have a college degree. He indeed went to college, but had dropped out.

III. Point Two:

It’s not only rich and famous people that succeed without going to college; those are just the one’s that are most commonly known. Many members of my own family have not gone to college. The truth is that I am the first ever on my mother’s side of the family to go to college, and only the 4th ever on my father’s side. The point here is that I am the cousin on both sides of the family that separates the older from the younger, and that I have over 40 cousins from 17 aunts and uncles. So it’s not like there haven’t been others before me that had the opportunity to go to college. In fact, most of them chose to stay out of college on purpose because they had well paying jobs coming out of high school already.





IV. Opposing View Point:

CollegeBoard.com states that, “The world is changing rapidly. More and more jobs require education beyond high school. College graduates have more jobs to choose from than those who don't pursue education beyond high school.”


V. Counterargument:
Yes, the world is indeed changing more and more each day, but with this statement from CollegeBoard.com, it doesn’t say what kind of jobs, how much the different jobs would pay, and it doesn’t say that even with a college degree there is certainly no guarantee that the college graduate will even get a job. A person with only a high school diploma can have the same opportunity to get the same job, if not an even better job than someone with a college degree.

VI. Opposing View Point:

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “A person who goes to college earns more than a person who doesn't. On average, someone with a bachelor's degree earns $50,900. That's 62 percent more than the $31,500 earned annually by someone with only a high school diploma.”

VII. Counterargument:

I’m not sure who exactly the U.S Census Bureau is averaging in there statistics, but they seem to leave out that there are great paying jobs out there for anyone. Even people without a high school diploma!
A list from FindingsDirect.com shows the top ten highest paying jobs where you don’t have to spend a fortune or going to college for. These jobs rank anywhere in the range from $60K to $100K. The top ten jobs are: “Business Applications Programming, Web Design, Web Programming, Database Development, Business Analysis, Software Project Management, Software Testing, Computer Networking, Game Programming, and Data Analysis & Data Mining. It seems that there are only high paying jobs in the technology field, but the truth is, that this field of work is only a small piece of the overall product. The juggernaut of the working force is in construction, and its underlings. The average salary for someone in construction work is anywhere from only ten dollars an hour up to fifty or sixty dollars an hour. What really determines a person’s salary in the construction field are two things: 1. How much business there is, and 2. What they do for a job.
VIII. Conclusion:
College helps you to expand your knowledge and skills, it expresses your thoughts clearly in speech and in writing, it helps you to grasp abstract concepts and theories, and it increases your understanding of the world and your community.

Work Better With Weed

Imagine living your life in gruesome pain that is unbearable to your body and mind. Now imagine a cure, but you can’t have it because you live in the wrong state. Medicinal marijuana has been a heated debate ever since Richard Nixon outlawed marijuana in 1969. Marijuana can cure many long and short-term illnesses such as arthritis, cachexia, cancer, glaucoma, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Medicinal marijuana is already legal on ten states including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Maryland. It doesn’t take a genius to know that our economy is very bad right now. America can not afford to have quality employees for any business unable to work due to an illness that can be cured. When properly prescribed by a doctor, medicinal marijuana will make sick people all around the country better so they can continue to work to their full potential.

Thousands of Americans around the country suffer everyday from illnesses like arthritis that prevents them from doing their job to the fullest extent. If medicinal marijuana was legal in all fifty states employees everywhere will be more productive. There are many facts physicians live by about medical marijuana such as, “marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day.” Joycelyn Elders, M.D. wrote in a March 26, 2004 editorial published in the Providence Journal in Rhode Island. Almost everyone in America trusts every word doctors say.

Some doctors believe the side effects of marijuana are not worth the cure after smoking, "Although I understand many believe marijuana is the most effective drug in combating their medical ailments, I would caution against this assumption due to the lack of consistent, repeatable scientific data available to prove marijuana's medical benefits.” U.S. Senator Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) wrote in an Oct. 20, 2003 letter to ProCon.org. When dealing with the more serious illnesses the reward is arguably worth the risk.

If medicinal marijuana did not help at all then it would not be legal in the ten states that it is. Those states have statistics that prove there employees that take medicinal marijuana are back to work faster and are more productive. Thus helping the states economy.