Category: xx Archive FA16

casual argument-wvuhockey

A major cause of concussions is because players are not using safe protective equipment. In this day and age the technology in sports equipment is state of the art. The problem with it is that it is bulky and ugly. Players don’t want to wear big bulky helmets due to the fact that they are not the best looking . Players like to use their older style helmets that they think have good style and that they are used to. This old technology in helmets is outdated and plays a huge role in concussion numbers. Another similar example of this is shoulder pads. Athletes like the smaller lighter style pads so they are more agile. The downfall of this is when they do make contact with a 200 pound opponent it causes serious shoulder trauma. The number two most common injury in contact sports are acromioclavicular (AC) joint separations. This could easily be prevented with the proper use of protective equipment. Athletes are just too stubborn to adapt to the new style. An AC joint separation or AC joint sprain is an injury to the ligament that holds the acromioclavicular joint together at the top of the shoulder. It is usually caused by fall onto an outstretched arm. The Sports Injury Clinic explains to us that AC joint sprains range from very mild to a severe injury. Early treatment and support through taping is important to avoid long term problems or shoulder deformity. Symptoms of this type of injury include pain right at the end of the collar bone on the top of the shoulder. The pain my be widespread throughout the shoulder initially but later on more localized to a bony point on the top of the shoulder. Pain will be worse when trying to move the arm overhead and there is often swelling and depending on the extent of the injury a deformity may be seen in the form of an obvious lump on top of the shoulder joint. Acromioclavicular joint separations are graded one to six with grade one being mild with only minor ligament damage and no separation of the bones while grade 6 is a severe injury with complete ruptures of the ligaments and visible deformity. In most cases this is treated solely by resting the shoulder for six to eight weeks. The problem is that players would rather fight through the pain of the injury and continue to play. This causes big problems later down the road. There should be more strict regulations on the return time of known injured players. It should be left to a higher authority to clear them, allowing the Injured player to return playing full contact. If the injury does not heal correctly, a serious surgery is required to fix the damaged ligaments. Similar to the ACL tear, there is an extreme physical therapy treatment required to rehabilitate the shoulder.

Along with the concussion issue, I can also relate to the AC joint separation dilemma. In my years of ice hockey, I have suffered from two AC joint separations in both of my shoulders. This constant beating on my abused shoulders is what ultimately ended my hockey career. All of my coaches and scouts had big plans for me after collegiate hockey but unfortunately due to the neglect to my injured body parts, my career came to an abrupt ending. All of my dreams went down the tubes. I cannot stress enough how important it is to take care of your injuries in the proper manner and not rush right back into the game. Doctors get paid a high salary to figure out what the necessary precautions are for your injury, you should listen to them before you lose your chance at the game you love.

works cited

Shoulder, 1_Sudden Onset2_Sprains2_Top of. “AC Joint Separation | AC Joint Sprain – Symptoms, Treatment and Rehabilitation.” AC Joint Sprain – Symptoms, Treatment and Rehabilitation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

A12 Casual Rewrite – aaspiringwriter

India: The Next Superpower?

India is the biggest successful democracy in the world and has a strong political system. It has made tremendous growth in the sectors such as: Information Technology, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Education, healthcare etc. However, if India wants to be a Superpower it will have to eliminate the problems such as corruption, Inflation, population explosion, illiteracy etc and start contributing more towards science, research and innovation, encouraging small business and keeping peace with its neighboring nations.

Corruption in India is severe. As per the World Corruption Audit conducted in 2015, India ranked 65th out of the 150 democratic nations. Almost every person in India has been asked to pay the bribe at-least once in their lifetime. According to the Indian Corruption Study 2005, “Common citizens of the country pay a bribe of Rs. 21,068 crores while availing one or more of the eleven public services in a year.” Lack of transparency in the public sector, poor tax regulation and licensing policies can be considered the root causes of corruption in India. Bribing a public servant to get the work done quickly has been a common ritual there and Indians have somewhat gotten used to it. However, an Anti-corruption campaign led by Anna Hazare in 2011 has been an eyeopener for both the government and the citizens. Ten’s of thousands of citizens joined the movement forcing the government to pass a new Anti-Corruption bill (Lokpal Bill) in the Parliament. In 2015, to fight against corruption; The Prime Minister of India took a drastic step and announced the demonetization of the rupee to control tax invasion and eradicate black money from the country. Such movements is a proof that if the people and the government of the nation unite and work together, they can eradicate the problems. Some effort made in the present can help India to be the superpower in the future.

Growing population has been the biggest hindrance in country’s growth and India is the second most populous country in the world after china. To be a superpower, the nation should be able to manage its man power and resources and distribute them evenly. But, because of the enormous population, it has been tough for India to maintain the balance. However, due to various population control campaigns and increase in the number of educated people, a slight decline in the growth rate  has been observed. Rema Nagrajan in her article, “The Myth of India’s population explosion,” stated “India’s total fertility rate — a measure of the number of children born to a woman during her lifetime — was down from 5.9 in 1951 to 2.3 in 2011.” If India successes in stabilizing its population then it has good chances of being the superpower.

To sum up, Corruption and Population explosion can be a big problem for any country. But despite of that if a country is able to make constant progress and at such a fast pace then it really has immense potential to be the Superpower.

Works Cited

2012. N.p.: Authorhouse, 2012. 11-12. Web.

“Home Countries India: World Democracy Profile.” India: World Audit Democracy Profile. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

“India – Corruption.” Foreign Law Guide (n.d.): 1. Web.

“The Myth of India’s Population Explosion.” Times Of India Blogs. N.p., 22 June 2016. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

Casual Rewrite- Beyonce1234

Professional Baseball Batters Vs. Professional Softball Pitcher

Should a professional painter be expected to complete a grand sculpture perfectly with out any mistakes? This painter only has painted  portraits, landscapes, and morals all their life. Doing something new for the first time is difficult in general. Just because this painter is an artist, people usually believe that artists are good at all kinds of art, but that is not always the case. Does this mean that completing art sculptures are harder to do than being a professional painter? Because a professional athlete is not good at another sport, does it make that sport a harder sport to play?

In the game of baseball and softball, pitchers dominate. The game is won on the act of who can make the other team’s hitters, hit less. Professional softball pitcher, Jennie Finch, is one who dominates every time she steps in the pitching circle. By nature, people love a good challenge, so professional baseball hitters like to face the all powerful and mighty, Ms. Finch. Professional hitter, Albert Pujols, accepted the challenge and stepped up to the plate. Due to Pujols not ever seeing a ball rise before, he couldn’t touch it. This got people thinking; if college players hit Finch before, then why can’t professional ball players touch her?

This doesn’t mean that the pros aren’t has good as they think they are because they truly are very good, but this just means they don’t practice hitting softball pitching as much as baseball pitching. This also could mean softball batters are pretty good in the fact that they can even touch this pitching. The movement of a softball pitch is completely different than a baseball pitch. The professional baseball hitters are not used to the angle. If they were, they would then be able to touch the ball more accurately. Due to the fact that it was Pujols first time ever to see this pitching, it was difficult for him. With more and more practice, there is a chance that he could perform better.

However, Finch is the best of the best, there is most likely a softball pitcher that Pujols can touch that is not Jennie. Another scenario was when Finch participated in the Pepsi All-Star Game in 2004; Finch faced more MLB hitters. “No sooner did Finch arrive at the mound then the defensive players behind her sat down.” Though their assumption is humorous, this states that Finch would go to strike out each MLB batter of the inning.

The batters reaction time to the ball has not been worked on to face a softball pitcher. Practicing this will allow better timing to the ball. When athletes practice timing, they are making sure they can execute skills “without thinking.” By practice how to come in contact with a rise ball, batters then will expect it at bat. Now that this a practiced, maybe even mastered, batters can then focus on if the ball will be inside or outside.

This can prove that MLB hitters can be expected to not hit Finch on a first try, but being the professional athlete they are, they can practice and hit her the second time. Most hitters don’t see a second at-bat with Finch because they never want to go through that humiliation ever again. Therefore, trying to prove that hitting a softball is harder to hit than a baseball is not reasonable. Studies can not be accurate because the only way to prove this to be so is if there were an athlete who practiced hitting both for an equal amount of time.

Works Citied

A Women’s Softball Pitcher vs. the Top Baseball Hitters…Who Wins? (n.d.). Retrieved November 06, 2016.

Tinley, S. (2014, July 24). Why MLB hitters can’t hit Jennie Finch and science behind reaction time. Retrieved November 06, 2016.

Causal Rewrite-31Savage

The Birth of Street Crime

The legacy of slavery lives in our streets. African-Americans, descended from slaves, living in poverty, commit street crimes because of their poverty and their heritage.

In 1619, the first slave ships landed in the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Slaves, brought from Africa to work for their slave owners, were tortures, forced to live in impoverished communities, forced to work for free, and deprived of the basic freedom to learn. Slave owners had complete control over the slaves, and they made it nearly impossible to survive.

Now, four hundred years later, conditions for the descendants of slaves still create criminality. Uneducated and impoverished, living in desperate communities, African-Americans in today’s inner cities are destined to commit street crimes.

When comparing 1619 and present day, they are fraternal twins to each other. Both times involved, slaving, or imprisoning an extreme number of African-Americans, illiteracy in the African-American communities and severe poverty. Viewing the horrific timeline from 1619 to present day, there is a chain reaction of slavery, illiteracy, Jim Crow laws, and impoverished generations that produced street crime.

Starting with slavery, it thrived for an excruciating 245 years. In 1776, the Founding Fathers of America created the Declaration of Independence, which would later free slaves. Slavery would then be a problem for African-Americans for the next 89 years. Slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment that was created in 1865.

After slavery, African-Americans worked for very little pay. African-Americans could not make sufficient money ironically, because the only way to make sufficient money was to own farms. They could not own land, so they found themselves working in the same farms where they were once enslaved. Farmers were the driving force of America’s economy. Africans couldn’t own land because they were not considered citizens of the US. This is like problems we have today with wages and living conditions. According to the “United Sates Census Bureau,” in a chart of the “median household income”, the “average African Americans household makes only $33,321.” This is a little more than half of White household’s income. African Americans will get paid less than Whites who are doing the same job. There is a similarity with the pay because in the past African Americans always made less than Whites. Black ex-cons and White excons are receiving different pay aswell. Bruce Western, in the table three chart in his essay, “The Impact of Incarceration on Wage Mobility and Inequality,” claims that the average wages of African-American ex-cons are documented at $5.33, which is less than white ex-cons at $5.77. Trying to survive in society with these wages for both Whites and Black is nearly impossible. Most ex-cons end up living in the same environment that lead to their arrest. Even though both ex-cons and ex-slavers are free, theirs living situations seems all too familiar.

African-Americans have always been deprived of access to proper education. During slavery, it was illegal for slaves to learn so up until the end of slavery African-Americas didn’t learn. If you have generations of illiterate ancestors, this will negatively affect the learning ability for future generations. After slavery, Blacks were not allowed to go to the same schools as Whites because of Jim Crow laws. The schools that were available to Blacks were barely functional. If people are placed in an environment filled with poverty and illiteracy, street crime will be the result.

During segregation, African-Americans were not allowed to integrate into White communities therefore, Africans lived in impoverished communities. These communities were designed to be placed away from white communities. This is like the way communities are structured in present day. The structure of today’s communities started when America shifted from an agricultural economy to a factory driven economy in the 19th century. As the industrial age grew, and the agricultural age declined, people began to leave the farming life behind and move to cities and towns with factory jobs. The nation’s wage earnings began to come from people who were formerly self-employed but now employed by major corporations. Blacks and Whites where living in segregated communities, but they were more often working in the same factories in their cities and towns. This increase in the industrial age also came to a decline at the fault of the great depression. In 1929-39, America along with many other countries suffered from the largest economic fall in history. This economic fall forced many companies to lay off workers, causing vast unemployment and hardships. After 1939, the economy recovered after the New Deal and World War II’s contribution to the industrial industry.

Whites began to leave the cities and move to suburban areas where blacks weren’t allowed. Public Housing policies were still preventing Blacks from taking most opportunities that were available to Whites. In a broadcast on “Fresh Air,” Richard Rothstein said that “the second policy, which was probably even more effective in segregating metropolitan areas, was the Federal Housing Administration, which financed mass production builders of subdivisions starting in the 30’s and then going on to the 40’s and 50’s in which those mass production builders, places like Levittown for example, and Nassau County in New York and in every metropolitan area in the country, the Federal Housing Administration gave builders like Levitt concessionary loans through banks because they guaranteed loans to lower interest rates for banks that the developers could use to build these subdivisions on the condition that no homes in those subdivisions be sold to African-Americans.” In this same broadcast, he also said that “This was to ensure that public housing would only be used to house people of the same race in which it was located.” This pushed Whites out of the public housing communities and trapped Blacks in. The overpopulation and low-income of communities made poverty spread like a disease.

As poverty started to grow problems started to rise and street crime was born. Drugs began to find their way to these impoverished communities. After WWII, war veterans returned home to these overpopulated and impoverished communities with bigger problems than the war to deal with. One of these problems was drug addiction. Drugs such as morphine and heroin was used on a regular basis in wars as pain killers. According to an article on “narconon.org,” “morphine was the only thing that made the gunshot, amputation and recovery tolerable.” Many soldiers became addicted to the drug and even after the war ended, they couldn’t shake the addiction. Heroin started getting made in the 19th century by boiling morphine. According to the same article, “in 1898, the Bayer pharmaceutical company began an aggressive marketing campaign to sell its commercial preparation of heroin. Heroin was heavenly promoted as being non-addicting, and therefore an excellent treatment for morphine addiction. In 1906, the American Medical Association approved Heroin for general use and recommended that is be used in place of morphine.” Heroin flooded the bodies of the solders and they had to feed their addiction. Returning home unemployed and living in poverty prevented them from buying the drugs they needed. If someone needs money, but they are unemployed they will do anything to obtain the money. Street crime is the easiest way to make money for people living in impoverished communities. Get a gun on the street and robbing someone is easier than getting a job.

Because of racism, African-Americans have been getting slaughtered since the beginning of slavery. During the time of slavery, Blacks were beaten, hung from trees, and abused, even by police. Blacks have always had trouble with police brutality and even in present day this hasn’t changed. Police officers get away with murdering people because their badges protect them. At the end of the day, it’s our word against theirs.  America has always stereotyped Blacks as criminals, so if there is no one around to witness the murders they get away with them. There have been frequent videos of police wrongfully killing unarmed Black people and they still seem to get away with it. There have been a gruesome number of police killings of unarmed Black people in the past decades. According to the article, “Mapping Police Violence” on “Mapping Poliece Violenc.com” in 2015 alone, there was over 100 murders of unarmed Black people. This is unacceptable and it needs to change. We as Americans must figure out a way to undo all the wrongs done to African-Americans in the past and present. It is easy for America to blame African Americans for what we go through in America, but it’s not our fault its America’s fault. Tracing street crime back to slavery is a long process but when you connect the dots they add up. After looking at the evidence, slavery is the only clear explanation for street crime.

Works Cited

“Heroin History 1900s.” Narconon International. Narconon, Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

NPR. “Historian Says Don’t ‘Sanitize’ How Our Government Created Ghettos” NPR.org. Fresh air. 14 May, 2015. Web.6 Nov.

Western, Bruce. The Impact of Incarceration on Wage Mobility and Inequality (n.d.): n. pag. Scholar.Harverd.edu. Harvard University, 1 Aug. 2002. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

“Police Killed More than 100 Unarmed Black People in 2015.” Mapping Police Violence. Mapping Police Violence, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

History.com Staff. “Slavery in America.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2016

Harden, Seth. “Welfare Statistics and Demographics.” Statistic Brain. Statisticbrain, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.

Rebuttal Rewrite-Juniorgirlblog

Thesis:Based on current research, these acts of violence involve citizens who are also African American. In this paper, I will discuss how African American males are historically targets of these senseless acts.

So while people are scared for their lives and trying to figure out while they are not being protected by the people that took a oath to protect all citizens are now doing the opposite.  People are afraid of there lives , even when a officer pull them over for a example they will each out both hands up in the air and say don’t shoot. The reason for this because they are scared of their lives since their have been too many police shootings in the past.

Many citizens  such as African Americans believe that the past history of what their ancestors went through is reoccurring , instead of improving it self.  In certain cases they  law enforcement officer who have proof against time knowing he did it , tends to get all the charges to drop and is set free. This make everyone things that African Americans don’t have a spot in this world after 100 of years of slavery.

 

 

Definition Rewrite-31Savage

Who’s Free in America?

In America, there is a vast amount of unjust laws specifically created to unjustly send people to jail. More specifically, the Three-Strike Law, War on Drugs Act and the Stop-and-Frisk law, were designed to send people to jail, mostly whom are people of color. America don’t see anything wrong with these laws because people of color has been stereotyped as criminals. If it was possible to brainwash most people to place a negative stereotype on the minority, mistreatment of the minority will be justified. This has given the government and law enforcement the green light to harass, imprison, and abuse people of color with little to no consequence.

There was a law passed in New York called Stop and Frisk that goes against our 4th Amendment right. Stop-and-frisk made it legal for police officers to stop, search, and question any individual they thought had drugs, weapons, or other illegal contraband on their person. It is nearly impossible to see anything someone has on their person if it’s hidden by their clothing. To conclude that someone is possessing something illegal just by looking at them is a form of stereotyping. This law is a legal way to racially profile an individual. It is not a coincidence that, African-American and Latino communities located where Stop-and-Frisk is active are overwhelmingly targeted. Someone can be walking home innocently, and be stopped by police just because the police officer felt like it or stereotyped them as being a criminal. In the article “Stop-and-Frisk Campaign” on the “nyclu.org” they stated that “innocent New Yorker’s have been subject to police stops and street interrogations more than 4 million times since 2002.” This is a big problem that needs to be solved. This is a clear violation of rights, but America has let this law be active. Most Americans are not affected by stop and frisk so it is regularly ignored. On the behalf of the people living in the inner city, we feel like our rights are violated and we are discriminated against because of Stop and Frisk. In the Constitution, the 4th Amendment states that, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warren’s shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath of affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Being a person of color isn’t illegal, nor is it probable cause for the police to stop and frisk someone.

Stop-and-Frisk was designed to arrest people, mostly whom are people of color, who were deemed suspicious of being involved in illegal activity. Because of negative stereotypes on people of color, these police officers have preconceived notions that people of color are criminals. Acting on suspicions with preconceived notions that people of color are criminals, will prevent law enforcement from doing their job correctly. Some people who are on the outside of the Black community will say the police are doing their job correctly but they aren’t. For example, when talking about Stop-and-Frisk Donald Trump said, in the “Presidential Debate,” that “it worked very well in New York, it brought the crime rate way down but you take the gun away from criminals that shouldn’t be having it.” Donald Trump has been known to openly stereotype people and this shows that people who stereotype, don’t see that it is unconstitutional. People like Donald Trump will never know what it’s like living in America and getting discriminated against just for being Black and simply walking down the street. To target a group of Americans, and strip them of any rights stated in the constitution is clearly unconstitutional. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure Americans that their constitutional rights are protected. To allow stop and frisk, the government is not upholding the constitution. Even if it worked as a deterrent, there is very little way to tell if someone is involved in illegal activity, when relying on suspicion. Suspicions are opinionated and is not something that should be a basis for a law. Laws affect our country in its entirety and they must be based upon facts not opinions.

Furthermore, laws before this were designed with prejudices and were deemed reasonable. The war on drugs act was created by President Richard Nixon in 1971. In the article “The United States War on Drugs” it’s written that “He proclaimed, America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse.” In all actuality, he knew he had two groups of people who could hurt his presidency. On one hand he wanted to get rid of the Hippies, who were against the war, and on the other hand he wanted to get rid of the Black Panthers, who were protecting the Black communities against discrimination and police brutality at all costs. To extinguish the two groups, Nixon associated the Hippies with marijuana and Black Panthers with heroin. This enabled law enforcement to eradicate both movements. As the age of the Hippies went away, so did the need to eradicate them. After the Hippies were extinguished, Latino’s took their place as the second target group. As for the Black Panthers, the Black communities never could recover from the connection with heroin. Even after the Black Panthers were eradicated, the Black communities were still subject to mass incarcerations due to drugs. They had no one to protect them against the very government that is supposed to protect them. This way of being tough on crime extended too many presidencies after Nixon.

Bill Clinton signed a crime bill in 1994, which enacted the three-strike law. The three-strike law was implemented to ensure that repeat offenders are kept in prison to serve 25 years to life sentences after committing a third offence. This meant that fewer people were being released from prison in turn increasing the prison population. Clinton wanted to show he was tough on crime during his campaign so he acted. Clinton followed past presidents who wanted to show they were tough on crime so he passed laws which created a spike of mass incarceration. Coinciding with the war on drugs act, the three strikes law filled prisons with a population of majority Blacks and Hispanics. It can be said that Bill Clinton took a page from Nixon’s book when he signed the crime bill in 1994. In the leading state of California, the prison population reached unthinkable numbers following this bill. By 2011, the prison population rose to almost double the prisons’ designed capacity. This overpopulation is the primary cause for the unconstitutional conditions found existing in the California prisons because it goes against health and safety regulations. Matthew Cate said, on “CNN.com” that “the governor and I strongly disagree with this ruling.” In that same article in 2006, “CNN” stated that “implementing the court’s ruling would result in up to 58,000 prisoners being released.” These prisons are populated by mostly Black’s and it can be speculated that the reason this problem is being over looked is because the population is mostly Black.

America is supposed to be a free country, but these shocking truths are showing that freedom in America depends on politic views and ethnicity. It might be criticized as being un-American when Black’s and Latino’s say they don’t feel free but experiencing life from their perspective’s might show why they question freedom in America.

  Works Cited

New York Civil Liberties Union. http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices. NYCLU n.d. Web. Accessed 31, Oct, 2016.

CNN. “California May Have to Cut Prison Population by 40 Percent.” CNN. Cable News Network, 10 Feb. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

“The United States War on Drugs.” The United States War on Drugs. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
“Debate Reality Check: Does ‘stop and Frisk’ Stop Crime? – CNN Video.” CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

A11 Definition Rewrite – aaspiringwriter

Potential Superpowers

Superpower nation possesses the ability to influence worldwide events and project its power on a global scale. Ever since the disintegration of the soviet union, America has been the only superpower. America has been dominating through the combined-means of technological, cultural, military and economic strengths. However, with more and more countries contributing to the global economy and becoming stronger in all the other aspects, there have been rise in the speculations of the next Potential Superpower. Potential Superpower is a term used for the countries who can possibly achieve superpower status in the 21st century; due to their economic potential, large markets, growing military and influence in international affairs. China, The European Union, India and Russia are the most speculated contenders for supremacy, but because of the problems such as poverty, corruption, population explosion and pollution these countries might simply remain emerging powers, as opposed to potential superpowers.

The predictions of the potential superpower are never perfect and keeps on changing with the changing economy of the countries and the power they posses on a global domain. For example, in the 1980s, Japan due to its large GDP and high economic growth was anticipated to be the next superpower.  However, Japan’s economy crashed in 1991, creating a long period of economic slump in the country which is yet to be recovered. As per the world bank annual GDP growth statistics; In 1961 Japan was estimated to reach a GDP of 12.5 by 2015. However, it declined to 0.5 by the end of 2015. Gaining supremacy is a tough task. It’s about gaining stability and keeping it consistent on a global level. Any of the countries who wish to attain the superpower status have a tough road ahead. The government and the people will have to work together and stand out as a strong and a united nation.

Talking about China, In the past few decades China has been identified as the most prominent economic growth and military superpower. China’s rise is demonstrated by its terrific share of trade in its gross domestic product. It has already outpaced USA in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).  Prableen Bajpai, in her article, “The World’s Top 10 Economies,” states that “China is estimated to pull ahead of the U.S. steadily in the following years, taking over the lead position as the world’s largest economy; in fact, in its October 2012 World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that China’s gross domestic product (GDP) would outpace that of the U.S. as early as 2017.” According to which, china is predicted to outpace U.S. in terms of GDP and be the number one economic superpower in the world. It is only possible if china continues to grow its economy. However, Chinese economy has recently taken a decline,  which is a major concern. Along with the economy, it must also meet its internal and external challenges and make some fundamental political changes. It must deal with its aging population and gender imbalance produced by its one child policy.  Also deal with its water shortage problems, pollution problems and create more and more jobs to deal with the unemployment. It must also make contributions in the field of science, research and innovation and build a stronger military in-order to become the superpower.

The biggest competition of China in the race of being the Superpower is India. India is the biggest democracy in the world and with its 1.2 billion population, mostly consisted of young people, it possesses a great potential. India can benefit from china’s declining economy and can quickly attain the spot of the fastest emerging economies in the world. In an Economic Times Article, “India’s growth rate set to surpass china this year: World Bank,” Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, claims that “With an expected growth of 7.5 per cent this year, India is, for the first time, leading the World Bank’s growth chart of major economies,” which means India will surpass China whose growth rate is 7.1 per cent this year and be the major economy in the world. Along with the economy, the factors that plays in Indias favor are its magnificent resources, its foreign relations, role in international politics, science and technology, Indian Armed forces etc. On the other hand poverty, pollution, unemployment, illiteracy, communal violence, social divide, gender and caste inequality and disputes with its neighboring countries are the factors that don’t play in Indias favor and it will have to pass these hurdles to become the superpower.

The European Union(EU) is also a great contender for the superpower. With its large economy probably largest in the world, large population, high quality lifestyle and low inflation rates it certainly is in a very good position. Despite of that, it hasn’t been very successful in establishing a unified foreign policy and project strong military power, which are essential for a superpower nation. If we consider Russia it only has powerful armed forces at the moment and it hence may never become a superpower. Brazil is another emerging nation with great potential. It has managed to sought a serious global economic and political power, however presently it can only manage to be the emerging power rather than the potential superpowers, with a hope to shape the world in the future.

The World Wars and many other Cultural, Demographic and Geographic conditions have crumbled the superpower nations of the past and continues to crumble the current contenders. It’s difficult for countries to get back on their knees or fight against their problems. The  U.S. has never observed massive industrial destruction or civilian casualties unlike Europe or Asia. Post War it has been able to build up a strong industrial and technological infrastructure, advanced military strength which is the strongest in the world and has managed to retain it since. Other countries have a great potential in being the superpower but their problems are way more drastic and impossible to overcome, at least at the moment. They will have to be a lot more than just the biggest economy if they want to attain the title of the Superpower nation of the world.

Works Cited

(ICFAI), Prableen Bajpai CFA. “The World’s Top 10 Economies.” Investopedia. N.p., 14 Oct. 2016. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.

“World Economic Outlook Database October 2014.” World Economic Outlook Database October 2014. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.

Pti. “India’s Growth Rate Set to Surpass China This Year: World Bank.” The Economic Times. N.p., 11 June 2015. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.

“Superpower.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

“India as an Emerging Superpower.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

“European Union as an Emerging Superpower.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

Enough About You – JuniorGirlBlog

The rich gets things done in our society while the poor  are powerless. Money is valuable in different ways, even when we don’t see it physically. In today’s society we must have faith in the government and in the banking system that our money is being handled with in the proper manner, if not then you would have to hide all of your money under your mattress or around your house. We have no clue what happens in the banks, or how they take care of your money. We always thought money was simple; you either have some or you don’t—that’s it. However, being introduced to this assignment, the Yap Fei, US gold, French francs, Brazilian cruzeros, and debit accounts now seem similar. We actually sees their money being transferred. When we get paid, we aren’t handed cash,  we don’t receive a physical check, the money’s all directly transferred to our bank account, and we just have to trust that we got more money.

Definition Argument – smokesdabear

Competitive gaming or eSports without a doubt is emerging into the professional sports outlet. So much that it can easily compete with other big brand sports like Baseball and Football. Esports has been on the rise in North America for the past two years, with constant growing viewership counts and even now an entrance into some cable television networks, networks like ESPN and TBS. An on looker from the outside of this very large community may think this is a brand new trend. But when compared to the rest of the world such as Europe and Asia we see that this trend or as some may say, new found “sport”, has been around since the early 2000’s. Countries like South Korea have an outstanding communal following to the sport. They’ve had several broadcast stations dedicated to gaming tournaments and events.

At the same time the public population within these countries respect the image of the players behind the sport of competitive gaming. These foreign populations have such a different perspective on the matter. They respect these players and competitions to the same level of professional chess players.

You then turn your sights over to the Americas and there’s this sudden drop of respect. How is it that after almost 16 years of success in Europe and Asia competitive Gaming is finally scratching the surface of mainstream media in the states. Even with its growing popularity in NA it still seems difficult for the population to garner any respect for the game.

This then brings me to the point of, what makes sports so valuable in the first place? What affects do sports have on our society? Well one can say that sports are here for exercise and to keep children healthy. But what really makes it valuable is its social aspect. Sporting events bring thousands of people of all cultures together all at once. There are stadiums dedicated to certain sports in major cities that get packed when they hold an event. thousands of families all around the world dedicate the time to sit down with their family and friends at home, to watch a major sporting event on T.V. Schools around the world have their own sports teams that students can go and join to meet other students or possibly find their calling. Sports creates communities. Communities of people that are passionate and engaged in their sport of choice.

With this point made we can now see how important it may be to accept the sport of competitive gaming. Because behind eSports is a community, a community that is passionate but feels rejected by the normal sports society. This community has grown exponentially and these people have found a place where they feel a sense of inclusion. What good comes from rejecting an up and coming sport that has millions of folowers all around the world?

Closing out I just wanted to show an example of how ignorant some demographics can be when learning about eSports. This evidence comes from the HBO documentary show, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. On this episode they reported on the growing spectacle of eSports and how these “gamers” are becoming millionaires off of playing video games. At the end of every episode they hold a short round table discussing the topic at hand. The reporter who lead the piece was at this round table as well as her other colleagues debating the fact of whether or not competitive gaming could be considered a sport or not. The lead reporter supported competitive gaming and truly believed it could be a sport, but then her colleague came with a rebuttal and said “My issue with this is, its still not a sport its a game it just cant be a sport”. This through me off a bit because what exactly are basketball players or baseball players playing? Is she saying that all sports are not games and are only recognized as sports? Its the misconception of competitive gaming that it gets from the public that enrages this community. And it shocks me how people have these prejudgments of something that they haven’t seen or tried.

The awareness of the public is whats holding back this sport and going into the future I see nothing but growth and its eventual transition into a professional sport that can consistently gather more viewership than Basketball, Football or Baseball.

Works Cited

HBOsports. “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: ESports Discussion (HBO Sports).” YouTube. YouTube, 13 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

“Turner and WME | IMG Announce SNICKERS® as ELEAGUE Official Marketing Partner.” Turner. N.p., 25 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

“Why ESPN Is So Serious About Covering Esports.” Time. Time, 1 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

 

White Paper – anonymous

Ignorance; Global Warming’s Ally

A Practice Opening:

The future is closer than we think, and our planet is in imminent danger of becoming an inhospitable place. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution we have been spiraling downwards into a society that uses its natural resources at an unsustainable rate. Research has shown the amount of green house gases that are being released into our atmosphere has been growing at an exponential rate. Humans have increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by 40% over the past 150 years, primarily through the combustion of fossil fuels. The developed “Western World” has made some very progressive break-throughs in  moving towards using cleaner energy more consistently. Methods of capturing “Renewable Energy” has become more realistic in recent years. Establishing sites where energy is derived solely from solar or wind is becoming more and more common. It’s efficiency is on the rise and is only getting better with four U.S. cities already running on 100% renewable energy.

Purposeful Summary: 

“MAULVIWALA, India — Desperate to reduce the pollution that has made New Delhi’s air quality among the worst in the world, the city has banned private cars for two-week periods and campaigned to reduce its ubiquitous fireworks during holiday celebrations.

But one thing India has not seriously tried could make the most difference: curtailing the fires set to rice fields by hundreds of thousands of farmers in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana, where much of the nation’s wheat and rice is grown.”

The burning of crops in countries like India has been a leading source of air pollution for decades, but only until now is it being recognized. Conditions for people living in New Delhi are among the worst in the world as far as air quality goes. The government has set regulations to try and bring emissions to a controllable rate. They include regulations on private car use, bringing large construction operations to the outskirts of the city, and mandating its fleet of taxis and buses use compressed natural gas. All across India’s northern plains affects of the crop burning are being felt, the damage is not caused by a few farms but by hundreds of thousands of farmers setting ablaze all within the same time period.

Working Hypothesis 1:

If we come together in a global effort to halt the progression of global warming it is possible to save what we have left of our earth. The only way this can be done is through cooperation, progressive advocates in the justice system, and ending the corruption that plagues government bodies every where.