Category: Portfolio FA17

Rebuttal- Killroy513

The American Prohibition was enacted in the year 1920 and would last until 1933. The eighteenth amendment was enacted to enforce the restriction of alcoholic beverages. This included liquor and beer products. At the time these products were in high demand, since it is a major part of society, its iconic and everyone for the most part enjoys them. This being said, the market would go from legal to illegal very quickly. The black market would supply these products to people who were willing to pay. In the big cities, the alcohol trafficking was done mostly by gangsters. These gangsters would form organizations and create bars and clubs. Being a very lucrative business and highly illegal, the police would step in and shut them done. Eventually the businesses went “underground”. Alcohol trafficking was a great way to make money doing this time, assuming the person would not get caught. Cars were in demand being the new thing. The transportation of goods went from horse and wagon to the automobile. During this time many alcohol products would be brought in by cars or trucks and sold to the public “under the table”. Eventually this would be found out by the police and the transportation of goods this way had to be more crafty. This would lead to the  modification of these automobiles. Having a car or truck that could evade the police for the most part fixed this issue. This, some may say, laid the foundation for the beginning of NASCAR, and modification of cars.

Many aspects contributed to the boost in illegal activity during the Prohibition. At the time people realized that large amounts of profit could be made at the time. Alcohol was in demand, and people did almost everything to get it. The black market at this time was highly lucrative, being that large amounts of money could be made extremely fast. In essence the black market would jump start the illegal activity of many during this era.

The transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century was widely apparent. Cities grow to record sizes and the people changed for the good and bad. During the roaring twenties, some people acted on this black market, either adding to it or trying to “bust” it. The people who wanted to control this surge of money were primarily the big time gangsters in these huge cities. Cities like Chicago, New York City, Boston, ect. Gangsters back then are nothing like the ones of today. They had class, but also thought on their feet. One of the most famous ones from this time period was Al Capone, working in the mid west. Since the distribution of any alcoholic product was outlawed aside from medical use, it would be harder and harder to sell it. The gangsters of this time thought of extremely clever ways to make money and ensure their customers had what they wanted. The creation of “underground” bars and clubs would begin. Theses types of clubs and bars would be known as speak easy. These clubs would be hidden and passwords would be used for access. People had fun, and the gangsters made money. It was a win win.

With the high demand for the illegal drinks, transportation of the alcohol for sale would evolve from simple transportation to the use of the newly adapted automobile. Cars were a new thing at this time. They were beginning to be widely used and it transformed the transportation system. The American Prohibition helped create NASCAR because the cars used were modified. The cars were made to be faster then the police and made to handle better as well. Eventually the people who illegally transported the alcohol would begin to race the cars they modified. This would lay the foundation for NASCAR, since it is a sport based on racing high performance cars. The engines were modified along with taking out unnecessary weight.

The foundation of NASCAR and other sports like it would be laid during this era. People began modify cars not only to evade the police but to race. This would give birth to a whole new sport that many enjoy. The story goes, that the moonshiners down in the southern states would get together and race their moded cars. After the Prohibition, the races would continue and eventually be recognized as a sport.

Essentially, the prohibition boosted illegal activity within the United States and with that created one of America’s greatest sports.

The American Prohibition helped create NASCAR because the cars used were modified. The cars were made to be faster then the police and made to handle better as well. Eventually the people who illegally transported the alcohol would begin to race the cars they modified. This would lay the foundation for NASCAR, since it is a sport based on racing high performance cars. The engines were modified along with taking out unnecessary weight.

Racing in America went from Horses at the local derby to cars on the race track. After the discovery of car racing, the sport took over the track. Racing started off as Rally Cross, off road racing. This form of racing is widely popular and carried onto Europe where most of the races are held. After Rally Cross, the cars and the sport evolved to road racing, very similar to the Grand Prix. Here the races would only be held on roads that were paved making the races more fast paced. Finally, NASCAR would come into play. The races are held on an oval track. Hard to believe that this iconic American sport evolved from the prohibition. At the time no one really knew that having fun racing cars would evolve to such a big thing. People simply had fun.

BUT, many can argue that the art of racing was around way before the American Prohibition. At the time, especially in Europe, racing cars would be the newest craze. The races would be called the Grand Prix. This originated in France and involved into its own “sport.” Eventually the Grand Prix would become Formula One racing. The roots would begin in the 1920’s but would not be recognized until 1950. For the most part these European races involved gambling on who would win and watching the races unfold. During this time cars in America were used for a completely different purpose. Making money. Eventually, racing would become popular.

NASCAR as a whole is a sport based on the actions of everyday people in the 1920’s. Throughout time, many things were created on accident or because of the effects of an event. At the time, people thought nothing of the racing, but eventually the races would turn into a sport loved by many. The argument stands however that the sport may have been around before the Prohibition.

In the end, a lot of good and bad things came out of the prohibition, the most obvious good thing was the removal of the actual amendment. Getting rid of alcohol made people more creative, and people had fun. An American sport was born, and with that came one of the most expensive hobbies, modifying cars.

Work Cited

“Prohibition in Canada.” Smuggling, Bootlegging and Speakeasies, prohibitionincanada.blogspot.com/p/smuggling-bootegging-and-something.html.

Sandbrook, Dominic. “How Prohibition backfired and gave America an era of gangsters and speakeasies.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2012, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies.

McElroy, Ryan. “The story of how moonshiners created the performance car.” Car Keys, Car Keys, 31 Oct. 2017, http://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/the-story-of-how-moonshiners-created-the-performance-car.

“History of the Roaring Twenties.” Prohibition and the Speakeasies, theroaringtwentieshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/prohibition-and-speakeasies.html.

Gambino, Megan. “During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 7 Oct. 2013, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-prohibition-your-doctor-could-write-you-prescription-booze-180947940/.

“Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.

Untitled Document, http://www.laits.utexas.edu/jaime/cwp4/esg/smugglehistory.html.

“Black market.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market.

Thompson, Neal. Driving with the devil: southern moonshine, Detroit wheels, and the birth of Nascar. Three Rivers Press, 2007.

Okrent, Daniel. Last call: the rise and fall of Prohibition. Scribner, 2011.

Rebuttal- phillygirl

Does foster care decrease the risk of physical harm for children?

The foster care system is a system in which a child (under the age of 18) whose biological parents have abandoned them, or they simply cannot take care of them due to reasons like a financial burden. The child is then placed into private homes, wards, or group homes and when placed in homes with a family who are their “foster parents” that family then sometimes adopts them. Adoption is a complex process and so much goes into trying to get guardianship of a child. While in foster homes, their safety is supposed to be number one, and they’re always in the safest positions. Some children sadly get abused by their foster parents, which then makes these homes unsafe.

In my essay I have come across articles that try to rebut my opinion on the harm of children in foster homes, saying that foster care decreases the risk of physical harm. In an article written by Richard Wexler, on chronicles of change.org, he talks about a story where 2 children were starved by their foster parents and once they notified their caseworkers, it was overlooked even though they physically showed what was happening. Case workers have a huge load of work; therefore, they aren’t able to take on every case which then makes these homes unsafe since nothing is ever done. In terms of the foster care system, it was put in place to ensure the safety of children and to keep them comfortable, but in simpler terms to ensure the wellbeing of children.

In my opinion I think that the case worker is the first part of ensuring safety for a child in foster care. According to the Huffington Post, there is little you can do about a bad social worker. If you come across a social worker who you feel isn’t looking out for the best interest of the child, there isn’t really anything you can do to change that no matter the situation, which truly fails to ensure the wellbeing of the child since they are the ones mostly affected. In that same article, a foster parent spoke about a caseworker getting so angry at a child that they demanded the foster parents to remove the doors from the girl’s bedroom and bathroom. This doesn’t seem like a way to keep a child happy, or comfortable. In fact, this is the total opposite. The Caseworker also told the family that she would not leave the house until her request was put into action, which is another example of how the foster care system doesn’t hold up to the definition of the word well-being. I feel as though that this a huge problem within the system because the Caseworker who is an adult portraying this act of spitefulness towards a child whose life is already unstable isn’t fair at all and it goes to show how much the children of the state are cared for. Which there is none.

I think that abuse in foster homes can be physical, mental, or emotional. Anything someone does affects a child and their well-being. There is no way that anyone could possible say that foster homes decrease the risk of physical harm because we have seen it from time to time with so many cases across America. To fix this problem, we need to one: hire many more case workers so that one case worker doesn’t have an entire caseload of children to look after, and two: begin to believe these children when they say that something has happened to them, they’ve been through enough.

Works Cited:

Teo, Dawn. “The 10 Most Surprising Things About Foster Care.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.Works Cited

“Abuse in Foster Care: The Denial Runs Deep.” The Chronicle of Social Change, 5 Nov. 2017, chronicleofsocialchange.org/blogger-co-op/abuse-foster-care-denial-runs-deep.

Rebuttal Argument – PlethoraGaming

When we think of esports we think ‘oh its video games,’ and not an actual sport. So is esports actually a sport? The common counterpoint is that esports needs to involve physical work in order for it to be sport. One of the arguments is

Anyone can also be a professional gamer. A good internet connection and decent specs on your computer can make you the next big name in gaming, if there has ever been one. These pro gamers spend nearly 12 hours a day training for the next competition.

But can’t that be said about athletes as well. Anyone can also be a professional athelete, they just need some training and learn some techniques. A person who likes football can pick up a football and start throwing and practicing. To be a pro gamer it is much harder, for example in MOBA games there are constant changes to the game where players have to learn the new meta and strategies of the game.

 

Training in eSports is rather detrimental to your health. Aches and pains in your hands from tapping away at your keyboard could have prolonged effects on your health, and looking at a bright screen for too long can hurt your eyes. Yes, if you were practicing with a teammate for football and get hit in the head too hard you can get a concussion, and that too could have long term effects on your health. But new protective gear could one day erase these injuries. For eSports, however, glasses and gloves would only dull the pain for so long.

Like Gabianelli anyone can get hurt. He makes a remark about how new protective gear help avoid this, but that is also true for video games. We have features with monitors where the lightning is adjusted so it doesnt strain your eye. And with new keyboards with wrist support and other neat features these problems are resolved, you just need the proper equipment for esports; similar in the way you need proper equipment in sports.

 

In a similar way, while eSports has “sports” in the name, it is the furthest thing from any sport we watch or play today.

Hocket is not like foot; but we consider both of them sports, just because we changed how we watch and play, does not mean its not sports. There are several traditional sports like hockey, football, soccer etc… And there are several esport games like League of Legends, Smite, Overwatch. I’m sure we all watch sports and esports the same way, there are bars now that show esports instead of sports, just like a typical bar. People gather around to watch sports; eating food and getting really excited. We do this in esports too, we gather with our friends and watch esports and whenever something cool happens we get really excited. We may not be playing it exactly the same but we are watching it the same for sure.

Works Cited

Formoso, Anthony Gabianelli & Thomas, and The Montclarion. “Point/Counterpoint: Are ESports ‘Real’ Sports?” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 16 Apr. 2017, college.usatoday.com/2017/04/16/pointcounterpoint-are-esports-real-sports/.

 

 

Rebuttal—pdqlover

“Who Owes Who, Child or Adult”

My research is about family responsibilities when the family has a disabled child. To be clear it is not easy, having to care for the disabled child 24/7 these responsibilities may fall on any family member such as mother, father, sibling or grandparents. Being in that situation can cause stress and tension in the family. Family member may sometimes think it is not fair and the disabled child may have the same thought but coming from different point of views.

In a “normal” family when the parents get of age and need help caring for themselves the children step in and provide care for them or they choose other options if necessary in most situations.When a mother a father have a disabled child, and that child is the only child they have, what happens when they get old and need to be cared for? What happens to the disabled child who needs to be cared for? Yes, there are plenty of other options that can be put into place but what if that is not the families wishes. The responsibilities extend to other family members such as aunt’s, uncles and cousins.

My point is a child who is able or disabled has to obligation to “return the favor” to their parents unless negotiated between the child and patent. But Im rebutting that it is not fair for a disabled child to “return the favor.” It may or may not be the child or parents fault the child is disabled but it is something the family has to live with. Why should a disabled child have to “return the favor” when they wish to not be disabled and think it is unfair.

Works Cited

https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/8869

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2004.00464.x/full

Rebuttal–todayistheday

We are told, at a young age, to never talk with our mouths full. Jim McBain and Brad Andrews ignore that pleasantry and common formality; their mouths overflow with well-constructed lies. Jim McBain, director of veterinary medicine at SeaWorld and Brad Andrews, vice president of zoological operations at SeaWorld, released a detailed pro-captivity statement during the time Keiko, the star of Free Willy, was in the public’s attention.

The 1993 Warner Bros film, Free Willy, sparked a national outrage over the injustice of keeping orcas captive. The family friendly film highlighted the special bond between a teenage boy, Jesse, and a young majestic orca named Willy. Audience’s hearts warmed and they rooted for a happy ending for both Jesse and Willy. The movie ends in bitter happiness, Jesse succeeds in freeing Willy to reunite with his family. As much as Jesse loved Willy it was only right for Willy to return home.

When released the film inspired thousands of people to strike against marine parks that keep orcas captive. The viewers were determined in freeing Keiko, the figurehead of captive imprisonment, and that frustrated marine parks such as SeaWorld.

Viewers wanted Keiko to have the same happy ending Willy did, they wanted Keiko to be free. McBain and Andrew want imprisonment.

McBain and Andrews are well-educated and successful individuals who make a hefty salary each year at SeaWorld.  Their experience and knowledge of SeaWorld would be invaluable if it wasn’t flooded with lies and half-truths.

In their PBS announcement, McBain and Andrews defend SeaWorld and its commitment to love and care for their orcas. It is obvious they care, but they care for the money orcas rake in rather than the orcas themselves.  If you took the profit away, SeaWorld would be quick to sell their orcas.  Money over matter.

McBain and Andrews start their defense by justifying captivity for the sake of education.  As we grow and urbanize we should find ways to stay in touch with nature.  They claim it is irrational for every person to experience nature by going out into the wild.  They claim it is more beneficial to drag animals to us rather than go to them.

They calculated how many people visit SeaWorld yearly and crunched some numbers to see the consequences of those people visiting “Robson Bite” instead. There would be over 2,000 boat trips a day, which to McBain and Andrews would be “ludicrous”. What is truly ludicrous is that they couldn’t bother to spell the location, they’re referring to, correctly. Its correct spelling is Robson Bight which promotes experiencing the majesty of orcas in the wild.  They don’t use boats to observe orcas, they use kayaks to avoid endangering orcas with boats.  McBain and Andrews don’t provide numbers to refer to, to ensure their creditability.  It is highly unlikely all SeaWorld goers would flock to one orca sighting location while dozens exist.

McBain and Andrews claim in the PBS announcement, we’d “destroy what little habitat is left by trying to do that.” They seem to be repressing the fact that SeaWorld destroyed natural habitat to build their marine prison. They choose to crucify getting informed of animals naturally and praise artificially learning about animals.

McBain and Andrews believe people need to be educated and connected with animals. We all agree it is important to appreciate, understand and value the animals we share the planet with.  It is crucial to witness the strength, beauty, and intelligence animals in case, for us to understand our human lives are not the only ones that matter.  SeaWorld teaches the opposite lesson under the guise of education.  SeaWorld doesn’t teach truth.

SeaWorld also claims they appreciate the social and familial bonds orcas have with their family.  Yet, they built a company of the deed of ripping young orcas away from their families. They advertise they keep a mother and her baby together because in the wild an orca stays with her mother her whole life.  Behind closed doors, babies are ripped away from their mothers and moved to different parks to benefit breeding programs.  It’s an endless cycle of pain, but they don’t inform their guests of those facts.

SeaWorld’s website claims that their orcas live life spans equal to those in the wild. Wild orcas thrive in the open waters of the wild for an average of 60 years. Some, on record, prosper for over a 100 years. SeaWorld’s orcas perish at 13. The expiration date is cut down over 40 years. SeaWorld robs orcas of their lives.

McBain and Andrews seem to have good intentions when they strive to have education and connection to animals without destroying habitats. They should take off their rose-tinted glasses and see the damage SeaWorld inflicts. More than habitat is destroyed, lives are devastated.

McBain and Andrews claim that “over 90 percent of the American public feels that what zoos and aquariums are doing the right thing.” I searched to find validation for this statistic.  I found only one survey from Debate Organization, that showed only 41 percent of people believe zoos and aquariums are doing the right thing.

Majority of people see through SeaWorld’s façade and recognize it for the sham it is.  Now, it is time for SeaWorld to recognize their faults and take accountability for the damage they has done.

SeaWorld is not educational.  One cannot force feed lies and label them as education, its blasphemy. “If want a public that’s knowledgeable about wild animals and some sensitivity about them, if we want our children to have a chance to see many of these animals, it’s gonna have to be places like SeaWorld.” SeaWorld doesn’t provide the public with knowledge, they provide entertainment.  They also aren’t educating the public on “wild” animals, these orcas were stripped of being wild. Once they were dumped in those tanks they became captive orcas. There is a strong distinction between wild and captive, one is free and the other is a prisoner.

SeaWorld recognizes its company as a place where people can gain sensitivity towards animals.  Sensitivity is an ironic word for McBain and Andrews to choose.  SeaWorld is the opposite of sensitive, they ripped orcas from their families to make a profit.  They ignore the blood on their hands and shove the skeletons deeper into the closet.

Regardless of the corrupted truths SeaWorld chooses to ooze out from the closed doors, the message they convey is that we should be allowed to do what we want, if we make a profit. SeaWorld promotes inflicting pain to make a profit. Children should be taught to recognize and understand imprisoning an animal, depriving them of their natural habitat and sentencing them to a life inside a concrete pool, is wrong. We wouldn’t buy tickets to visit a cotton plantation, watching the slaves work to survive.  We should be horrified at the thought of endorsing such inhumane conditions.

 

 

Works Cited

“The Debate- Pro-Captivity.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service.

“Are Zoos Good (Yes) or Bad (No)?” Debate.org.

Rebuttal -NewEditionLover

“Do We Just Accept Gun Violence”

However guns are not just causing the tragic violence and horrible message that it simply portrays.Guns help by eliminating enemies in time of a real altercations like wars. Any attempt to limit gun ownership, let alone eliminate them, is met with vehement resistance. Guns create an order of protection as  they can be used as a means for a safe haven. The thought of me saying that guns are a good deed may have some cringing on their toes right now.Banning guns would certainly reduce injuries and gun deaths, and we are all in favor of that. An outright gun ban is unlikely, but we could greatly reduce the problem guns pose if we opposed them with one voice.Next to not injure people and not have this stigma on guns authorized users must exhibit to some type of mental illness testing to show that they are well and not sick in the head. According to an article “Mental Illness, Mass shootings, and the politics of firearms” stated that a number of states passed bills that required mental health professionals to report “dangerous patients” to local officials, who would then be authorized to confiscate any firearms that these persons might own. “People who have mental health issues should not have guns,” This quote emphasizes the importance of mental health test and the screening precautions they take to to prevent disasters.

To make this world a safe place again we must not eliminate guns as a whole! To not injure anyone we must further conclude that guns can belong in homes,  can be carried by individual’s, and should  be in use of anyone with special authority. I feel as though we are in a great area of protection and for the most part if we are in direct need we have a lot of assistance to help us in need. Next one condition that can be made is by doing background checks on all participants that are trying to purchase guns.  Guns aren’t safe but if you get a background check this may ensure that you’re not crazy or trying to do something illegal. The article “Everything You Need To Know About Background Checks by Miles Kohrman and Jennifer Mascia states that The overwhelming majority of gun background checks take just minutes to clear the would-be buyer. Only 2 percent result in a rejection because of a disqualifying record in the shopper’s personal history. Although the background checks are concluded we still have some who still might finesse the system still being able to receive the gun.”And then there are the people who slip through the cracks and obtain guns they should have been barred from possessing — sometimes with deadly consequences.” The gunmen in the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting, Charleston, South Carolina, church massacre, and Virginia Tech rampage each had a history that banned them from owning firearms. Yet none were stopped, because of omissions and loopholes in the system.” I believe that with our countries history of gun violence its in the best interest that we put an immediate stop to anyone who seeks or previously seeked psychiatric or some sort trying to obtain any kind of firearm no matter what it is.

If we keep more guns away then there will be less deaths! Gun Violence in the United State’s is one of the most causing leads of death’s today. If guns were safer then more people would be getting injured or killed less. My father was killed July 1 ,2011 to gun violence. In addition the man who was accused of shooting and murdering my father was not authorized to be carrying a firearm and the gun was pronounced stolen. In this case of a stolen gun this man never had to go through the stages of getting a background check. Next this causes many of new theories in my head ,just like this man there are other people  who always find ways to get whatever they need in the moment. Since the man accused of the murder was one under the age to own a gun permit that should of raised a flag from whatever person that he purchased the gun from. Although Camden may be dangerous to some people it is a great home and can teach you a lot about this so called world we live in. It was about one am as my father drove the streets of Haddon Avenue in the Park side area as he was approached to a 20 year old man with a gun. My father defended himself to the best of his abilities as he fought to stay alive. In addition some may state it was a weird timing for your father to be out that late ,which it was and I will never know why he was out that late but he was. My father was reportedly shot 12 times and his death approached within a few hours later. Now I must say. how did at the time 20 year old Denzel Satterfield get a authorized weapon ? Things like this make me question the system of background check and other policies that we enforce so heavily in our state. In addition cops concluded that Denzel was not of the age requirements to have an authorized weapon or was never given a background check. Next this shows how many people who are criminals slip through the system everyday and do not need background checks to make them a gun holder.

Guns can be very safe if used correctly! Guns were typically used for military and war purposes to fight battles and other such things.”But the difference between guns here and guns elsewhere is that here in America, they are constitutionally protected. “The constitution declares that “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” In addition back in the day guns were needed and there was never really a policy or law on why people had guns. Next but now that the law of guns is more complex there is a problem. Later guns were used against our rivals and keeping our country safe as far into keeping and remaining a free country. Guns could be safe and a way to better justify it is if you want to use a gun then I further hence you to join the army or a place some other type of legal action that will continue fighting for the United States Of America. This wouldn’t be an discussion if people were fighting for us but instead they are fighting and killing each other. Now for instance if guns were used the correct way the world today would have less of a problem with guns because it would be seen as a positive reinforcement instead of a negative sight.

Guns have been around for decades and may have good and bad intentions but we have to protect the country in ways that people are know using them for ,but people shouldn’t be allowed to purchase guns in bulk. Bulk Gun Purchases article concludes that “Laws limiting the number of firearms a person can purchase within a certain time frame help reduce the number of guns that enter the secondary market—weapons that are more likely to wind up at the scene of a crime. Commonsense regulation of bulk gun purchases is an easy way to reduce gun trafficking and, in turn, gun violence.” In addition this  quote emphasizes what I’ve been stating throughout the entire paper , reducing the number of guns once is permitted to have makes a better environment so gun violence is prohibited or prevented in general. Next the limit of firearm are doomed to be lower and show that fewer guns are traced back to crimes. In comparison to the article by Giffords Law Center state that sixty six percent of guns were recovered in New Jersey New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts combined.

Furthermore Federal law does not limit the number of guns a person may buy in any given time period. However, federal law does require federal firearm licensees (“FFLs”) to report multiple sales of handguns to ATF and other specified law enforcement agencies. This reporting requirement was created to enable law enforcement to “monitor and deter illegal interstate commerce in pistols and revolvers by unlicensed persons,” though there is no federal requirement that law enforcement actually investigate illegal trafficking.” which connects back into the theory that multiple purchases are not accepted as they may come off as a criminal act. In addition this reinforces the positive message that illegal actives will not be tolerated and this all together will prevent gun violence all over the country.

Works Cited –https://www.thetrace.org/2015/07/background-checks-nics-guns-dylann-roof-charleston-church-shooting/

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-significance-of-guns-in-United-States-culture

Rebuttal Argument-LifeisSublime

Our government doesn’t care to help the people it was built to serve.  Looking over the healthcare system in progress makes that statement more true because it become proves the point that everything the government sets out to do it for money. The other side of this argument would be that the government does help it’s people, and the healthcare system is there to help us; that side is wrongly mistaken on morals though if that’s the case.

The healthcare system currently being used by American’s all around the country is relatively new. It was put in place by Trump shortly after taking office; he changed the policies, prices, and name to what was initially ObamaCare. Newly name, TrumpCare doesn’t provide healthcare for all, but only for people who could afford it. Along with all the other bills people need to pay, healthcare insurance premiums have skyrocketed making it almost impossible for families to make enough to have it.  For people who then decide not get health insurance, maybe to cut out that monthly bill, and then happen to admitted into the hospital will have a surcharge of more than 30%. What the point is is that most of this is all for those dollar bills to multiply and grow, and at what expense? The expense of the people that the government has vowed to serve, their people getting sick and dying because they don’t make enough to live a stable life. Money over morals, and if you ask me that’s pretty messed me, because people should never be compared to money.

 

Work Cited

http://www.dailywire.com/news/14226/9-biggest-problems-trumpcare-aaron-bandler#

 

Rebuttal Argument

In more cases than not, taking a knee is a sign of great respect. This is not only seen in ancient societies, such as the knighting of an individual in England, but also seen closer to home, on the playing fields that Americans love so dearly. For example, when a player is injured on the field of play, many players from both sides will kneel out of respect, but never in sports do you see kneeling as a sign of disrespect. That is until during the playing of the National Anthem; Colin Kaepernick so boldly knelt for the playing of our National Anthem before the preseason game at Levi’s stadium in San Francisco, California.

There has been a lot of controversy over Kaepernick’s debacle, and rightfully so. It seems that the United States as a country has become divisive with a majority of white Americans and military supporting families protesting Kaepernick’s actions. In contrast, a majority of the black American population support his stance and the black lives matter movement backs Kaepernick one hundred percent. Realistically Kaepernick’s explanation of his actions was vague in the   post-game interview. Kaepernick alluded to his position; however, he never fully expressed in that interview that his protest sheds light on police brutality against black Americans. Kaepernick only stated that his people were oppressed, they are killed in the streets, and their killers are rewarded with paid leave for murder. One can conclude that he protests police brutality, but Kaepernick never completely explained his protest, in his much sought after interview.

Kaepernick’s protest poses absolutely no effect on law enforcement officers, who killed 223 black Americans in the year following Kaepernick’s protests according to data released in a Huffingtonpost article. The same article goes on to say that “It’s likely that more black people were killed by police during that period of time” [from the time of Kaepernick’s protest to the end of the year].   This can only conclude two things; blacks felt more empowered; therefore,  more willing to test police officers because of the protests and to be known as martyrs, or that police officers exerted more force to show that the protest will not affect them in any way.

The United States has a problem with police brutality considering incidences such as the Philando Castile murder, the shooting of Michael Brown that lead to the Ferguson riot, and Eric Garner, a man choked to death in the streets of New York City. These occurrences were all the work of our law enforcement officials. As much of a problem that police brutality poses, there has also been an extreme increase of black on black crimes since 2016, when the protest was started. An article by the New York Post released the FBI crime logs for the year of 2016, and stated that black on black crimes rose in number by nine hundred compared to 2015. Black Americans are simply ignoring the outrageous number of the murder of their own kind, by their own kind, and focusing on a very small percentage of killings between law enforcement officers and black Americans. Some black Americans will also ignore the fact that black males have made up forty- two percent of cop killers in the last ten years, as stated by New York Post. Police officers now fear for their lives because of the drastic increase of police murders at the hands of black men is significantly higher. A study from National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago concludes that “half of all Americans, regardless of race, say fear caused by the physical danger that police officers face is a major contributor to aggression against civilians.”While cops fear for their lives in the line of duty,  there is still no reason for the killing of innocent black Americans, like Philando Castile, or any Americans for that matter, by police officers.

When traveling most parts of the country, one observes cops patrolling towns daily and writing the occasional traffic violation. In other parts of the country, like the deep south, where oppression of black Americans still appears alive and well, one will see some, not all, cops using their power in a negative way. These cops are the ones that give all cops a bad name by trying  to instill fear into civilians and abusing the power that they were given to “protect and serve.” This display of police brutality demonstrates racial tensions in the southern states that remain in place in America fifty years after turmoil for equality ravaged the country. With roots from slavery in the deep south, the southern states tend to be more racially prejudice than other areas in the country, possibly due to the antiquated rationale that blacks are slaves and plantation workers, never died.

The 2016 presidential election map shows a majority of the republican voters in southern states (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Florida) who are predominantly white individuals. These white citizens of the deep south historically have roots to plantation owners, who owned land, which represented wealth and power. These white plantation owners needed slaves to work the fields and harvest crops such as cotton. Some slave owners passed down their land along with their opinions of black Americans on to future generations.  Even though slavery was abolished in 1865 with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, the racism and prejudices that remain at the center of Kaepernick’s debate.

The feud between black and white Americans may never die in the United States. Some radical whites hold on to the traditions of the old south, with the notion of blacks as chattel slaves. Some me blacks will never relinquish of the fact that their ancestors were brutally kidnapped from Africa and forced into American slavery. Either way, slavery is in the past and it is the duty of Americans to move past it through learning the facts and black history. But education itself cannot overcome the prejudices and ignorance to black Americans. Both black and white Americans must learn to cast aside their opinions and respect each other as humans to unite in one great nation.

Works Cited

Donald, Heather Mac. “All That Kneeling Ignores the Real Cause of Soaring Black Homicides.” New York Post, New York Post, 27 Sept. 2017, nypost.com/2017/09/26/all-that-kneeling-ignores-the-real-cause-of-soaring-black-homicides/.

University of Chicago, NORC. “Law Enforcement and Violence: The Divide between Black and White Americans.” Law Enforcement and Violence: The Divide between Black and White Americans Issue Brief | APNORC.org | APNORC.org, http://www.apnorc.org/projects/Pages/HTML%20Reports/law-enforcement-and-violence-the-divide-between-black-and-white-americans0803-9759.aspx.

Waldron, Travis. “Police Killed 223 Black Americans In Year After Colin Kaepernick’s First Protest.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Aug. 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/colin-kaepernick-police-killings-black-americans_us_599c4099e4b04c532f447939.

“2016 Presidential Election Actual Results.” 270toWin.Com, http://www.270towin.com/maps/2016-actual-electoral-map.

Causal Argument – PlethoraGaming

Collegiate Varsity Esport teams are not highly skilled

AVGL hosted a League of Legends tournament for the Fall 2017 semester. This tournament had over a hundred teams and from the results of the tournaments, I am able to state that varsity teams are not nearly high skilled as they should be. It is not that the varsity team is not equipped with proper equipment to play at the highest skillset, it is that coaches or the players are just not doing their roles correctly.

 

Coaches are an important aspect of sports and esports, they are the ones to help the player get better, however esports coaches have a lot of work to put into. This is because for esport titles or moba games, the meta changes. Meta is something we call as a ‘standard’ things to do this version of the game, so our coaches have to stay on top of it. Along with that, doing the math for building items in games and assessing player damage etc… is a very big aspect of these types of games. So that could very well be the problem for the teams, coaches not being able to coach properly just because it is very time consuming. They are students first, and athletes second.

Most varsity programs offer some type of scholarship so how does teams work for stuff like this. Most teams are compromised to fill the basic minimum slot, for example five main players and usually three subs. Eight player rosters, but in the gaming industry roster changes are very common. School and coaches should be willing to kick members from their teams if they are not performing well. This is a tough choice for gaming teams because we rely on team synergy, because this game requires heavy communication its hard to toss a player in and expect them to understand how each of their teammates play and communicate at their level. So team compositions are a huge factor for these varsity teams.  I think the best solution is to be very picky about their players, hold a much more difficult tryouts and create a higher incentive for students to enter the team.

Another cause for varsity teams not being as high skilled as they should be is they dont have enough practice. Teams practice several hours a day, but are they are not practicing at the right skill level. The problem is due to the lack of varsity teams in collegiate esports they don’t or can’t practice with other schools and if they do, they could always just be a bad team. So getting practice from playing ‘ranked’ games are not effective enough for the players, they need to practice against pro teams. And this is what pro teams do, they ‘scrim’ against other pro team, this creates an equal skill level. But as I keep iterating this over and over, the skill level for varsity teams are not high enough.  A possible solution this dilema is that they need to create multiple teams for a single school; essentially a Team A and Team B, this helps with constant practice at similar skill level, and the constant growth of several players to do player swaps if needed. Just like any other sports they need constant practice and the proper level

Focusing a bit more on team synergy, team communication is very important in esports; they need to be constantly talking and give good and relative information. With this information is up to the team captain to make calls on what to do in game. This is something that is very difficult to do, hesitating could be a serious problem. So who gets the team captain role? This is very difficult because as individual players they might be decent players but they need to be able to keep constant communication to make proper plays in game. This is different from sports because usually the calls for a play are before a game, but in esports its during it. A captain needs to be capable of making the right calls during the game, something a coach can not help with (Uuually not allowed in any competitive esports).

 

Work Cited

“Best of Mic Check – Funny & Insane Moments | League of Legends.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVoQg81JMIQ.

Causal Argument-Jonhjelly

 

As the years go on Humanity has been taking shortcut after short cut and we’ve just became extremely lazy. Before smartphones and the internet people had to go out to the library to research. Before planes , trains, and cars people use to rid horse to way they needed to go. Over the centuries it has become clear that human are lazy and that we require inventions to make our lives easier. We need to take shortcuts, instead of working harder we work smarter. We find ways to do things that take a shorter amount of time instead of just doing what needs to be done the old fashion way.

Because humans are so lazy and we need a shortcut for almost everything in ours lives we have developed different inventions to help us with that, among them is the microchip. The microchip will change our work life and make it the perfect work environment. It can create the perfect work environment because of the constant tracking it will produce. This can include attendance, monitoring there movements in restricted areas. According to the Saumya Sharma this device could be beneficial to keep certain workers from getting access to certain areas of the office that are off limits. Sharma said “The system enable the organization to track and monitor selected individual to access locations, permit movement, record the important data and also enable the viewing of record via internet.”(Sharma 2). Also the device can limited what there workers are view on the internet. Another important aspect of the microchip and how it can create the perfect work environment is for the handicapped workers. Based on the article written by Sharma the RFID microchip reader can read up to 5 meter this will eliminate  the need to walk very close to the scanner will walking into work, making the life of a handicap person much easier.   Something that was very hard to control in the first place will be eliminated with this new technology. This new device can be the new innovation said the CEO of the company that provides this device to its workers. Toddy Westby stated “We think it’s the right thing to do for advancing innovation just like the driverless car basically did in recent months,”(Fox 3). Basically he is stating that this well be the new iPhone that everyone will need to have. Although the microchip main purpose in the work place is to monitor the employees it can also give the workers some advantages. One of the perks to having a microchip embedded in our skins is that we will never have to remember our passwords again to anything. With a swipe of a hand in seconds whatever we seek we will gain access to whatever we want. No more looking for your misplaced keys because with this new invention you will be able to  unlock and start your car in a matter of seconds. Also looking for your id for work, with this invention you can check in to your work place and you will be able to gain access to your office again with only a wave of your hand. A company has been offering this technology to their employees, Three Square Market has been giving out this to there employees and everyone who has received it has no complaints. ” “I don’t want to carry a wallet with me anymore. Actually, I forgot my wallet today. I didn’t even bring it to work. It’d be nice to be able to get some lunch. But you got your wallet, you got your key, your company badge. Now forget about all of that. That’s all in that implant in your hand,” Danna said.”(Merrill 4). This employee seemed to enjoy this invention because of its convince. It allows her to leave her wallet at home because the chip is linked to her bank account so there is no need to car it with her if she is only going to work.  Another business that has been implanting this device into their customers is the Baja Beach Club. This club is in Barcelona and has been offering this chip so that their clubber can be more safe when coming out to the club. This way they do not have to carry their id or money with them when they feel the need to come out. The club owner was thinking, this is a safer way to have people come out and enjoy the night without getting robbed or anything in the matter. He wants people to be safe when they leave his place of business.

Another way this device can increase productivity is using the system that the chip is programmed with. According to the article titles “Methods, systems, and media to improve employee productivity using radio frequency identification” This microchip device can increase productivity because of its programming “using the information transmitted from the RFID tags as well as other factors, such as employee location, employee skills, and expected processing or handling time for the goods.”. This is stating the microchip can calculate the employees skills and determining there skills from there they can tell whether or not that if less people is required to complete the task. Depending if another area is in need of help the system in the microchip can help tell if help is actually needed and who will be the best person to complete the task. This is just yet another reason why the microchip can create a perfect work environment.

Inventions has been making humanity life easier since the first invention was made. It is the reason we find a shortcut to almost everything we do, It is the reason why we are at the top of the food chain and the smartest animals.  Invention are why human thrive, it why some of us have billions of dollars, Technology gives us power over other and give us a new way of living. The microchip nothing different, it brings us convinces, safety and comfort.

Work cited

Johnson, Ben. “Would You Let Your Boss Microchip You?” Marketplace, Marketplace, http://www.marketplace.org/2017/07/26/tech/sitting-down-three-square-market-microchips-its-employees.

“Clubbers choose chip implants to jump queues.” New Scientist, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn5022-clubbers-choose-chip-implants-to-jump-queues/.

Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: .https://www.google.com/patents/US8639543 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].