You have to do 10 pages of journals - these are the 4 mandatory topics. The rest of the acceptable topics and rules are online.

The topics are here, but you can do others that are listed on Angel.

If you deviate from the rules, I will not accept the journal.

Be sure to read the rules.

JOURNAL 1: This is a journal that everyone must do. I want to know what your greatest positive accomplishments in life are and how these will help you to be the person who completes the college goals that you have outlined for yourself. I also want to know how this created / embodies the person that you are. I DO NOT WANT SORDID LIFE TALES IN THIS – EVEN IF YOU OVERCAME THEM. I AM A TEACHER, NOT A THERAPIST. IF YOU CAN’T THINK OF SOMETHING POSITIVE, YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN TO COMPLETE THIS JOURNAL. NO EXCEPTIONS. Besides, everyone has positive things that they do, think, or have come to value in life. You just need to think harder, and I’m sure you can find some. Really.

JOURNAL 2: This is a journal that everyone must do. If you want, you can read my philosophy of teaching and tell me how you are going to succeed at college by writing to me what your learning philosophy is. Be sure to include positive educational role models and their achievements in education and life learning. Be sure as well to tell me what you want to do with your life!

JOURNAL 3: You must do this journal, also. What have you learned about your ability to write well? What can you do to become a better writer? This journal should be done last since that’s when you’ve truly learned all you can from this class.

JOURNAL 4: This is a journal that everyone must do. Comment on what you must do in order to live up to Steven Covey’s words that are listed on the journal sheet online.

It's here... It's here!!!

Final Exam for COM121
1. (for all but the students that passed the midterm) Read the David Sedaris article. Write a 5 paragraph essay about why he could never be a good teacher OR how he has to change to be a good teacher.
2. (for all students that didn't A OUT of class) Choose one of the following topics to write a 7-paragraph persuasive essay on.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/12/major-nidal-hassan-fort-hood-muslim-opinions-columnists-melik-kaylan.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903618.html?hpid=topnews
1. Should Nidal Hassan get the death penalty or life in prison for his murder spree at Fort Hood?
2. Should Nidal Hassan be charged with crimes of terrorism or extreme pre-meditated murder?
3. Should Nidal Hassan have had 13 or 14 charges of murder placed against him?
4. Should American intelligence agencies continue to follow Bush-era intelligence gathering procedures AND / OR profile against potential violent Islamic jihadists in an effort to keep terrorism from happening?
5. Support or attack the right to freedom of speech when it comes to stopping people from promoting dangerous / terroristic ideas.
6. One of the biggest issues concerning Hassan was his fear that Muslims would see the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq as a war on Muslims. Support or defend the idea that Americans (especially Americans in the military) should place the needs of their nation (in our case, America – despite wherever they may have been originally from) above those of anything else that they are or do.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579705,00.html?test=latestnews
7. Is H1N1 a serious pandemic or an overhyped media creation?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579747,00.html?test=latestnews
8. 4 Washington police officers were murdered in cold blood by a lifetime felon who had been on parole (Mike Huckabee made this happen) after multiple felonies (due to the felon’s youthful nature during his offenses). In light of this, should America toughen criminal laws against violent youth offenders who all too often go on to become career criminals?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8402138.stm
9. What should the U.S. do regarding the war situation in Afghanistan?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2454034/tiger_woods_scandal_grabs_more_attention.html
10. Is the situation involving Climate-gate a sign that the media and political minded scientists are willing to do anything to suppress the falseness of global warming, OR is it conservatives and businesses looking to do whatever they can to keep from getting blamed for the seriousness of global warming?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/tiger_barrack_and_the_law_of_t.html
11. Regarding Tiger Woods’ wife Elin, attack or defend the idea that she should stand by her man (for love and / or for money)?
12. Regarding Tiger Woods himself, he was a sports star that transcended athletics, humanity, and race. In the end, he keeps getting charged with more and more women who he slept with and paid off to keep quiet while all the while being marketed as a wholesome hero for all time. Persuade America on how they should see their entertainers. You can also do this with Michael Jackson or any other entertainer.
13. Regarding the above, persuade Tiger to be a better MAN than he is.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259010974910&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull
14. Many people have accused Obama of doing nothing since he has been in office. Persuade these people that he has succeeded in doing many things for America or that this opinion is partisan politics or agree with it.
http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianactivism/p/BarackObama.htm
15. Many people have accused Obama of being wishy washy regarding his beliefs on things (in this case, gay marriage). Persuade these people that he is consistent on these things or that this opinion is partisan politics or agree with it.
http://www.thebailoutgame.us/
16. Persuade the government not to give more bailouts, to redistribute the money that they do have better, or to give another bailout of any sector of the United States based on how well or poorly you can assume that they have already done.
http://www.darfurisdying.com/
17. Persuade the government to get involved in helping to end the genocide in Darfur.
http://newsone.com/nation/reid-compares-opposing-health-care-reform-to-opposing-emancipation-civil-rights/
18. Attack or defend Harry Reid for equating those who aren’t fighting for GOVERNMENT LED health care reform as being the equals of those who didn’t fight to end slavery fast enough.
19. Persuade the American public to accept GOVERNMENT LED health care reform or for the government to keep their hands off of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcE2ufqtzyk
20. Based on the Tom Friedman video we watched in class, persuade your fellow college students that by not taking their education seriously, they are condemning America to be a nation of mediocrity that will quickly be replaced by people from other countries who will do their jobs cheaper and better. This is the only way you may argue this position.

LITTLE BIG WAR assignment

COM121 - we will read the following article for homework for Wednesday the 22nd.
Little Big War.

You can take 1 note card worth of notes.

Concentrate on the 4 sides of the argument (the Tokala, the Badlands National Park Superintendant, the other Native Americans, and the scientists that study the Badlands).

This is a true story. Currently, since whatever happened (I have no idea - can't get a response from the Badlands for info), this is the new management plan discussions for the park. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THIS - ONLY LITTLE BIG WAR.

This is another 40 point assignment that you will need to do.

You need to have this assignment with to get credit.
It can not be handed in late.

What a difference 14 years makes.

On November 17, 1995 (at 1040am), I was getting out of the Air Force. What were you doing with your life?

The point is not to say that the Air Force was or is the answer (or isn't for that matter), but it's just interesting to think that the lives we are living become so rapidly different so quickly and all the things that we think are so important one day change.

For that matter, the things we work to become continue to define us in the now and one day we wake up and we're completely different people.

I'm just saying.

GRIZZLY BEAR assignment

For Monday the 20th, COM121 students will debate whether the grizzly bear should or should not be taken off of the endangered species list. While this is an older assignment than the decision, there are reasons that this should or should not have been done AND that the decision could be reversed.

Bring your knowledge of wildlife to the class along with a notecard full of knowledge on the topic. We'll be doing a 40-point assignment in class!

You need to have this assignment with to get credit.
It can not be handed in late.

SAMPLE PERSUASIVE ESSAY for content as it does not include citations!!

THIS IS NOT ONLY A SAMPLE APA PERSUASIVE ESSAY, BUT YOU MAY ALSO USE IT FOR THE FINAL IF YOU CHOOSE TO ARGUE MY POINTS ON WHY SLASHER MOVIES SERVE NO PURPOSE AND SHOULD NOT BE MADE.

Visual entertainment has become the medium that it is today by its ability to express various ideas and images for the masses. However, in recent times, movies have pushed this art form in certain directions that have left behind the entertainment value while instead opting for shock value. Nowhere is this truer than in the genre of “slasher movies,” which have been pushed into a direction that serves to only foster an addiction to gore and an amoral expression of love for villains. Thus, it is clear that if the movie industry cannot police itself, then people need to stand up and give it a reason to stop making these unscrupulous movies.
A perfect example to explain the negativity of this phenomenon is Natural Born Killers, the Quentin Tarantino written film that he later disowned after Oliver Stone’s unauthorized changes. In this movie, a television crew follows Mickey and Mallory, a pair of serial killers, through their killings and into the world of just how much America loves the ultra-violent killers that fill its tabloids. Throughout the film, carnage ensues through the destruction of all that should be good and people even beg to be killed by their idol killers while the audience is inundated with a message of depravity packaged in a rock and roll soundtrack. At the end, the killers are still on the loose, justice hasn’t been served, and bodies are piled up with more deaths sure to follow since the “heroes” have escaped. Though this is not true slasher horror, it still allows the observer to look at the industry by using a film that offers offers a clear insight into how modern culture could embrace this love of violence in the way that it does.
While Natural Born Killers was finally released in 1994 after much negative press and discussion of whether it should be released at all, it acts as the end transition of 15 years of celluloid films that begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. If the progression of 15 years takes popular culture there, then it is easy to extrapolate where the 15 year anniversary of that movie will take pop culture. However, while there is an ultra and excessive violence in them, the problem with these movies and those that follow them as a whole lie not in the violence, but rather in the walk-away message. To understand this, it needs to be said that violence is not something to be hidden, but it is a part of society that most rational people would seek to avoid. At the most extreme moments, a sane and well-adjusted person will grasp that violence is necessary. The extremely pious St. Augustine even wrote of a theory for just wars. However, in these times, people are not always so religious, but our culture can still be moral. For example, if a country has to go to war against an enemy that it can side against, then violence seems necessary. Thus, in the national psyche, it’s easier to go to war against a Hitler or a Bin Laden than a Saddam Hussein, which in and of itself leads to questions of the moral nature of war and violence. In addition and in clear showing of the gray areas of violence, how much force should be used against criminals by their potential victims is debated in the right to carry and utilize concealed weapons. Even after society catches and convicts felons, in some circles, it still debates the death penalty against them as some savage use of an “eye for an eye” as hypocrisy in that it’s legalizing a government killing someone as punishment for killing or excessively hurting someone else. All the while, this society takes the moral high ground in these issues while it revels like a pig in the celluloid murk as it delights in the brutality of Saw, Scream, and Hostel.
In this necessity for violence, society does need to evaluate and leave itself to think about what violence means. As previously stated, the actual image of violence itself is not the issue. The questions that movies such as A History of Violence presents do seek to express things with a deeper sociological purpose. Without the expressions of violence within, A History of Violence’s expression of violence as a human genetic trait is pointless. The same can be said for the deeper historical significance of Saving Private Ryan. If the reader isn’t emotionally crushed in the barrage of gunfire that bookends the movie in a blanket of grainy and drab colors that are viciously coated in smatterings of red, it is not the movie that it was set to be. The artistic image could not be complete as if done in the trademark way that cartoons such as GI Joe use to make sure that no missile, bullet, or bomb actually takes a human life. It would also not be the same if it followed the style that was used in the TV shows of the 50’s when fake gunfire went off and people fell or clutched themselves to show that they were injured. It is needed to express the grim finality of war’s actual nature. For this, there needs to be a showing that there are no magic words spoken before death. All that exists is the cold finality of the moment and the loss of a human life. There is no other way to show that war is hell. However, a viewer delighting in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, be it the original or the remake, gets no heroism, no characterization, and just an excessive dose of entrails and blood.
While literature has used the antihero in artistic and humorous ways to focus on people with traits that would be without heroism, movies have transformed the genre in a completely different way by giving the viewer the chance to root for the villain. There is no other purpose for watching Michael Meyers, Freddie Krueger, or Jason than to see them kill helpless teenagers and adults in more and more grotesque ways. As a result, a true bloodlust is created and the viewer is desensitized to this shock and awe. Constant studies into violence prove this. Thus, it is necessary to make sure that while a person knows that violence is real and has many facets, society needs to ensure that people see violence in the right capacities.
One way that society does this is labeling movies as art. A perfect example of this is the Oscar winning film Silence of the Lambs. There is a true mystery here, but somehow, it gets lost from its original intent when it presents evil in a way that romanticizes the villain. Following this, Thomas Harris, the author, wrote his next book Hannibal and got diverted completely into shock value, obviously intrigued by the book’s sale potential, by leaving Hannibal Lecter, his maniacally evil doctor gone to the darkside, to be joined romantically by the former stabilization force that was detective Clarice Starling. This repulsed Jodie Foster, the star of the original movie, so much that she balked on returning for the follow-up role. All the same, the movie commenced without her, and viewers were still allowed their chance to see a character that was once considered art to be twisted into a further metamorphosis of un-necessary gruesome scenes. Clearly, one person’s protest wasn’t enough since society still has a thirst for gore.
In that, society has become so enthralled by this quest for the next great butchering that stars such as Paris Hilton will sign up to be killed in House of Wax. When the filming is done, they even market the film with the tagline that the viewer can “see Paris die.” As more and more movies and movie spoofs come out, the genre is a great way for former child actresses such as Michelle Trachtenberg and Beverly Mitchell to completely reinvent themselves in “unwholesome” ways with such blood-drenched fare as Black Christmas and Saw 2. In this, a new trend of society seems to take place when viewers are further allowed to fulfill some twisted nature where they can see the stars of their childhood terrorized by products of the world’s nightmares.
For this, the concept of fear and a feeling of terror are also not what offend the thinking movie viewer. For this, Aristotle made provisions with his rules for tragedy when he stated, “'Those who employ spectacular means to create a sense not of the terrible, but only of the monstrous, are strangers to the purpose of Tragedy.” Directors who follow these words from Poetics can still envision scenes of shock and terror and do so without the excessive gore that characterizes these other objectionable movies. Nowhere is this done better than in The Sixth Sense when the young boy, Cole, is trapped in a closet with the ghosts that are coming to him in an effort to be relieved of the burdens of their death. Of course, the reader doesn’t know this at the time. Instead, he is fixated on the plight of Cole. While the viewer helplessly watches on as hammering sounds pulsate from beyond the walls. Cole’s mother eventually gets to the protagonist, but not quickly enough to save him from his fright, and for this, the viewer is equally shaken up. In this sense, M. Night Shyamalan perfects the art of what Aristotle and a true artistic director, as opposed to a shock and gore director, would want from his movies.
Nevertheless, the quest for the next big opening weekend money movie goes on and on, but one can’t help but wonder if it should. When the genre lampoons itself with Scream or the lyrics of Camper Van Beethoven’s “Axe Murderer Song” say it all with the lines “Why do axe murderers only attack when you're partially nude or you're taking a bath,” there is nothing left that needs to be said by a new movie with new younger stars to rush to the limelight.
In the face of a culture that is gasping its own last breath of originality, it would seem that there is no corner that hasn’t been covered. Even on some questionably artistic level, the concept of the indestructibility of evil has been done with No Country for Old Men. There is simply no stone left unturned other than to keep promoting shock value and the evisceration of naked co-eds to tantalize its depraved viewers.
As a result, there is no need for another senseless celluloid serial killer to come into existence. If modern society is surely as advanced and civilized as it claims to be with its campaigns for human rights for suspected terrorists, then it can honor itself by just saying no to these films. If this truly is a society that values life, then it will refuse to reward meaningless death with its cash.
Who knows; if society refuses this carnage at one level, then maybe it can just say no to additional senseless violence that is promoted by “gangsta” culture and video games like Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Maybe by just making this one change in popular culture, it will force people to focus on the being happy and attaining the good things in life instead of glorifying the ultimate villains that plague our world with their deviance and criminal nature.

Stuff to turn in with your essay on Monday

which is due when we get INTO class.

If your essay won't print, send it as a .doc or .docx.

No excuses. No other formats.

What you know.
What you want to know.
Notes. (a sufficient amount BY MY STANDARDS)
PRINTED OUT URLS.
A rough draft that is typed and similar (though different) to the real essay.
The real essay.
An outline that works.

If you're missing stuff, you're giving up points.

Don't give up points.

Do what you have to do in order to pass this class.

You're brilliant (if you want to be).

I know you can be successful. Do you?

Under 75% gets a redo for 75% max.

Late gets no redo.

A B is a good grade on this paper.

Do what you have to do in order to kick butt.

Statistics Remedial Assignment

Students MUST get the concept of incorporating statistics and quotes.
You need to see the Angel Online PowerPoints entitled Making Statistics Say Something and Making Statistics Say Something More Exciting. These will help you incorporate, express meaning, and avoid the tendency to give factual information of WHAT (instead of what you can infer from the statistics as a larger meaning of WHY). If you want to do well on this research paper, you WILL DO THIS ASSIGNMENT AND TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.

Really.

As a result, you will go here for 2 statistics (each 1 incorporated into ITS OWN paragraph that is typed). You will also take a quote and incorporate it into its own typed paragraph.

These can only be turned in during class on Monday morning.

21 things that I can infer from the statistics we took in class
in⋅fer
1. to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence: They inferred his displeasure from his cool tone of voice.
2. (of facts, circumstances, statements, etc.) to indicate or involve as a conclusion; lead to.
3. to guess; speculate; surmise.
4. to hint; imply; suggest.

de⋅duce

1. to derive as a conclusion from something known or assumed; infer: From the evidence the detective deduced that the gardener had done it.

1. The fact that 49% of people use Myspace compared to Facebook’s 70% shows that this is a dominant social networking site for people aged 18-24 because of its less childish appearance.
2. Despite its trendy status in many advertising markets, only a small percentage of college students (16%) seem interested in adding a new social networking site to their web-based activities.
3. The small percentage of students that venture into alternative social networking sites implies that very few (16%) students seem interested in finding friends online who share their specific interests (instead they prefer generalized and superficial communication on the mega social networks).
4. The web is truly a handy tool for a large percentage of people (62%) to find long lost friends, but more investigation is needed to find out if people keep these friends after finding them.
5. By a 9 to 1 measure, students tend to watch more videos on www.youtube.com than anywhere else, and even then, very few students watch other sites as a “protest” against you tube. This might come from the fact that few students could name another video site.
6. The most popular activities on the web are getting directions (76%), listening to the radio (73%), watching you tube (70%), and banking (67%). It might be determined that the reason that more people don’t bank online is because they don’t have bank accounts.
7. Since only 22% of the students that were surveyed watch Hulu, this suggests that watching television on a small screen is just not something that students have the interest in or the time to do.
8. One can also add to this the 41% of students that get their Internet fix on their cell phones where this option of watching television is not available.
9. An alarming number of students (22%) know someone who has been harassed online. Perhaps, this comes from the anonymous nature of the medium to allow thug-like behavior to occur "without" fear of repercussion.
10. The fact that www.yahoo.com is the primary e-mail of 13 students suggests that people’s use of service providers is fleeting and changes very often. Thus, people want to stick with a permanent address.
11. Of those students addressed, over ¾ (78%) of them wanted to see if they could find themselves online. However, we can't tell if they are looking to see if they were done wrong or to see if someone remembers them in a positive way.
12. In an era of having a social networking site to place all one’s pictures, only 25% of respondents wanted to use a professional print service to place their pictures for others to see and buy. This suggests that if people want pictures, it’s not as a piece of paper, but rather as a digital artifact.
13. Nearly 7/10 people (68%) have taken at least 1 other class online. This states that teachers are embracing the digital world to share assignments and communication with students; thus, students are forced to keep up or fail classes.
14. As time goes by, more and more people (22%) know someone who was busted for downloading online. Nevertheless, this deters very few people from downloading illegally.
15. On Limewire alone, 41% of students have used this site. Of the other sites, of which there were 10, 32% of students download with these sites. In comparison, only 19% of students use pay sites. All the same, some students pay to download for some things and download illegally for others. This suggests that some bands are determined to be more worthy of one’s hard earned cash than other bands.
16. The fact that so few students play fantasy sports (under 15%) suggests a lack of time commitment to something that lasts so long. However, of those that do play, most play multiple sports.
17. As more people go online to get their movies through Blockbuster and Netflix (27%), this suggests that people want a greater selection of videos than the store offers and are willing to wait for DVDs if it means not having to worry about driving to get them.
18. That over half of the students (57%) go to Ebay suggests that stores aren’t the only places that hold bargains and most people would prefer to at least take the opportunity to find things cheaper. However, with only 27% of students being a Paypal member, this suggests that while some people are looking to be in business with their own merchandise, it’s not an overwhelming desire for students to have this option to sell back text books or other unwanted merchandise. Other students may just be windowshoppers on these sites.
19. A solid majority of 54% of students have relied on reviews when buying a product or service. In addition, 27% of students have written their own reviews of products for others to see. This shows that people have an opinion that they feel matters when it comes to product use.
20. That so many students are active in the Internet suggests that businesses need to look into making themselves more online than they already are.
21. That so many statistics on the questionnaires were left blank in spots suggests that many students weren’t willing to take this survey seriously and that they are more active than this survey suggests.

BONUS

Which famous religious scholar determined through his reading of the Bible that the world was created on October 23rd, 4004BC, which just so happened to be a Sunday?

The exact time that the world was created according to him was 9am.

If you want the points, I need a name and a URL (That isn't wikipedia).

++++++

Ghost Adventurers are at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum on October 30th. If you're into paranormal stuff, you should check them out. Sure, they're probably the lamest of the TV ghost shows, but I was there, and the place is not only interesting for its "paranormal" history, but also for its psychological history. Back in the day, there were a lot of things that could land a person in an institution that just wouldn't happen today.

The World is Flat TAKE HOME Assignment and Global Warming Assignment (Liberal and Conservative Bias in the Media)

List 20 websites you go on. List the URL and what is there. You need both to get the points (all or nothing).

The World is Flat Assignment
1. List all 10 of the flatteners. They’re either in your notes or on the Angel site in my PowerPoint.
2. In a full 1.5 page journal (bare minimum), tell me WITH FACTS from class, the video, or the PowerPoint what the World is Flat means to you and why “you Americans are not ready” and what you must do to get ready for the flat world. Numbers 3+4 aren't a part of this section.
3. Incorporate 1 of your quotes into a cohesive paragraph that makes sense and answers the why of what your quotation means. Tell me the greater why.
4. Incorporate 2 of your stats / facts into cohesive paragraphs that make sense of what these statistics means. Tell me the greater why.
5. Use your amazing Internet powers to go on http://www.amazon.com/ and get the information for the World is Flat 3.0 by Thomas Friedman to create an MLA Works Cited Page citation for this book.
6. Go on http://www.youtube.com/ and get the MIT shareware for the World is Flat lecture that we read and create an MLA Works Cited Page citation for this website.
7. Find any technology / computer / business magazine (a real one not an electronic one) and get the information for an MLA Works Cited Page citation for this magazine. Either xerox the pages or bring the magazine on Monday
8. Using my statistics from the online survey we took in class (THESE WILL BE ON ANGEL ONLINE BY THIS AFTERNOON AT THE LATEST AND YOU WILL ALSO HAVE THE ORIGINAL SURVEY UPLOADED THAT YOU CAN REFERENCE), tell me what 8 of those numbers mean regarding the “flat world.” THESE DON'T HAVE TO BE FULL PARAGRAPHS - JUST EXPLAINED OUT. If 10 people use AOL e-mail, this means nothing in and of itself. Is this the most popular service? Is it the least popular service? Why do you think this is?

ALL OF YOUR NOTES MUST BE TURNED IN WITH THIS FOR FULL CREDIT.
REALLY.

Midterm Rules

Read chapters 5+6 from Where Men Win Glory. Your midterm focuses on the greater meaning of punishment contained within. You'll know what I'm talking about when you read it. You may want to check out the book as well. It's excellent and as good as anything Jon Krakauer has done previously (Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven).

There are 4 grades:
PASS (exceptional - no worries)
CLOSE to Pass (Pretty good as a whole - some things have to be worked out with your writing; it's good, but not good enough to get you out of part of the final).
CLOSE to Fail (In the words of the Germans, "nicht so gut." Quite simply, as the wind blows, you could pass or fail. I am very worried. Do what you have to do to get it together).
FAIL (Obvious - you have no reason to expect that you will pass this class. See me immediately).

If I don't say it in class enough, know that I am proud of you sticking it out when others take days off or don't do the work. Keep being great. Your enthusiasm makes me happy to teach you.

Really.

How to set up a final exam essay

“Simplify, simplify, simplify!” THOREAU
Pre-write
1. Clustering
2. Brainstorming
3. Freewriting
Outline – SET LIST!!
I, A, B, C, 1,2
Write

3-5 sentences.

For 5 years, America has been involved in a war that is unjust. As a result, over 4,000 Americans have been killed to support “Bush’s war against terror.” America needs to return home as soon as possible, which according to Obama’s estimates can be within 18 months while returning the rule of Iraq to Iraqis. This will not only end our occupation of this country, it will enable America to focus its tax dollars on domestic problems.

Whether it is just or unjust, America has become trapped in a situation in Iraq that forces this country to protect its domestic interests abroad. Thus, if we were to leave Iraq, we would be emboldening our enemy to hold out its attempts to destabilize this region until we leave. In addition, these terrorists would follow us home to kill us here. This culture of defeat would not only be problematic to our internal issues, but it would weaken our standing as the world’s leader in times of crisis.

John McCain and I agree on the issue of abortion since it is wrong to take a life. While I have issues with whether a woman who is raped or in danger of death should be forbidden to have an abortion, the idea of a throw away life society is morally repugnant to me. Thus, I agree with McCain and Palin when it comes to protecting the rights of the unborn.

Barack Obama recognizes the rights of the individual to be protected from a morally reckless government that would seek to prevent people from having an abortion based on someone else’s definition of what life is. Thus, it is very important to keep this personal and private medical decision out of legal chambers and within the private homes of those individuals who would be opting for this procedure. Thus, I agree with the fundamental right to privacy and personal choice that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party defend.

I am for Barack Obama’s stance on oil. This is because I do not feel that we should be getting cheap oil at the expense of our environment. As a result, I like where he stands, which is against drilling and nuclear power and standing for alternative energies such as wind power. If America looks to the future and gives tax credits to those programs that support a way out of Middle East oil dependency, we can also find ourselves creating new business and stimulating our economy.

I am in complete agreement with John McCain’s plan to drill for oil in the oceans off America. China is already doing this, and America is losing out on economical and job growth opportunities at the expense of what some people say is environmental damage. However, with the new clean methods of drilling, we could see ourselves move away from Middle East oil dependency while providing minimal harm to our natural resources.