Put It On the Banned List

What’s so special about smoking cigarettes?  The United States have made it illegal for possession of Marijuana, Heroin. Cocaine, Ecstasy, etc.  All these drugs  give the same effect for an individual.  It gives them a sense of relaxation, the ability to feel alive, and to let loose of everything.  However, most people know about the harmful things that can be done to their body.  Nonetheless, they still decide to get involved with it.  Cigarettes are dangerous to our environment and but the government fails to see that cigarettes are unnecessary to the economy.  They kill people slowly and some people don’t even realize it.  However, the government has done nothing but raise the prices of cigarettes.  It didn’t even stop people from buying them.  In fact, it makes people that are buying the cigarettes, lose more of their income. 

Why won’t the government completely ban these cancer sticks?  It does no good for the economy, other than killing our people.  What will it take?  The government won’t operate right if we lose most of our population.  There are always ads, informers, and educators that go around about the negative side of cigarettes.  We encourage kids and adults to not smoke but yet everywhere we go, there will always be at least one individual lighting up a cigarette.  How contradictory is that?  We should put a strong ban against cigarettes.  We should stop the productivity of cigarettes before everyone starts getting sick.  Some people will never realize how harmful these things can do to their body.  It is only best to get rid of it completely because before we know it, we will lose our people one by one.   

Re: Immigration

After reading your blog, James, I am with you on this one. America is a developed country and we offer a variety of so many different things. In my personal opinion, illegal immigrants should be welcomed here. We have so many Americans here that frequently blame the illegal immigrants for taking away their jobs. However, we have to understand that the society and the economy is changing drastically.  It's not that they're stealing their jobs... They're just willing to work as long as they get their share of money.  Even as low as minimum wage, the illegal immigrants will give their all. They're not only doing it just for themselves but for their loved ones.  

Besides, it's a long and hard process to become "legal". They would have to apply in their home country and wait for approval. That could take up to years!  Think of how much money that would be compared to no money at all. I'm pretty sure they're not looking to get rich as their top priority but to make enough money to support their families.  Every human being encounters choices surrounded by risks. It's definitely hard being in their shoes. We Americans will never understand unless we took a day off from our lives and step into theirs.  Would you live in an under-developed country making less than one dollar a day for ten years or make $7.25 an hour while being under the label of illegal? It really is a tough choice but when you're under harsh circumstances, there are some risks you have to take. 


http://jamestran141.blogspot.com/2011/10/immigration.html

Welcome Home

It’s been long overdue and our American troops deserve to step foot back onto the U.S. soil.  It has finally been decided by the president of the United States, Barrack Obama.  The war in Iraq is over.  Our troops fought long and hard.  While some lived and some died with altruism, families and friends can finally have a true reunion with their loved ones.  

                However, the situation in Iraq will not be easy once our soldiers leave.  We will be leaving the people of Iraq to find their own path of life.  It’s easy to predict that hostility and violence will occur because the U.S. isn’t there anymore.  Though the war is over, there are still many horrible things that will eventually happen.  We, the United States, have to under that we can’t stay in Iraq forever.  We’ve been involved for over eight years.  We need to understand that every country will have its troubles.   It is about time we have our troops home.  If the country falls apart, maybe we should just let it be?  We’ve done so much already and we’ve got so far.  No one wants to start at square one again.  Besides, the Iraqi officials refused to give U.S. personnel immunity against any prosecution by the Iraqi people if any of our men or women got themselves into any kind of trouble.  We’re protecting a country that won’t even give us a little bit of mutualism. 

                We can keep them over our radar as time progress but our time is up.  It’s time to welcome our heroes home.

Cheap Robots vs. Cheap Labor

This happened back in the day when farmer's had the grasp of agriculture.  Until people started inventing new gadgets and machines that makes farming a lot more easier and faster than human hands.  In this article, the author explains the crisis in the work industry for factory workers in China.  We all know that we send our valuable inventions for China to assemble together for cheap labor rather than having American hands do so. Now, instead of having other countries do our work for us- we think that we're better off having robots do our job because it's "cheap".  The author of this editorial, hints us about the way the world will dig itself in a deeper hole than it already is.

"In the meantime, as robots take over more work, the millions trapped in the countryside will have even fewer opportunities".  I agree with this statement.  Where will all the ex-employees go when their expertise was the job that was taken from them?  All of their jobs are taken over by so-called robots.  We already pay low prices to the foreign countries, how cheaper can we get?  In order for our world to process correctly, there must be benefits and processes that help each other.

The author claims that once their jobs are taken away from them.  It is nearly impossible for them to relocate and find a new job.  That is because the Chinese government doesn't make it easy for them.  We already have our country in a recession.  Is it necessary to drag other countries down with us as well?  Even though the Chinese make under $2 an hour, it is still a reasonable amount of money for them.  That's what keeps them moving.  It's just not right doing so.

So now the topic should be: what keeps us moving?

Where's the Middle Class?

Ever heard of the catch phrase, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer"? That is exactly what's going on right now according this editoral piece, Bad News: Our Middle Class is Shrinking.


I absolutely agree with the author. Over the past few years, I've seen family members, friends, and strangers stumbling upon unemployment. It's a staggering thing to watch, when all we want is to have income to support ourselves and our families. Unemployment plays a big role in the United States. Just like the article states, "There's no magic involved in reversing these trends. An improving economy that brings jobs to the tens of millions unemployed will certainly help". There is not enough space for the middle class anymore. The rich keeps doing what they're doing while earning a great amount of money to live on whilst the poor...get poorer. Where does the middle class stand these days? What the author of this piece is trying to show the audience is, there's soon only to be the rich class and the poor class. The middle class is shrinking because the unemployment that captures people's abiliy to find work. It is either they can't find work or they've given up already due to their marriage, level of education, or they've troubled themselves by with illegal substances. The U.S. government needs to take action immediately or we'll end up unrecognizable like the article piece said.

"Without a robust middle class, America risks becoming, well, unrecognizable".

We need to find a way to stabilize our national government in hopes that we will have the three working classes again. "An improving economy that brings jobs to the tens of millions unemployed will certainly help". That is exactly what the United States need, an improving economy.

No Guarantee of a Job After Graduating?!

   Through the Austin American Statesman website, I ran into an article, "Graduating to the ranks of the unemployed?".  It's quite interesting and worth to read.  I believe it all relates to a lot of Americans and especially to us students. There's so many career choices to choose from but how do we know which one is most beneficial?  In my case, I've always heard people tell me to find a passion and make it into a job.  However, in the back of my head, I always tend to ask myself- what if that doesn't pay enough?  Students strive to be the best through many competitions with each other.  When we actually succeed, standing on stage with a diploma in hand-  there's no promise that we'll get the job that we truly desire.
   In the article, it states that many business students are looking for a job after graduation.  There's only two reasons why I think people would go into business: 1) Money making and 2) Passion.  However, we're never guaranteed a job.  Even some of the students at the University of Austin are delaying their graduation in hopes of seeing the economy recover.  Hopefully, our nation will recover and unemployment rates will decrease...Then people who actually earned the job, will get one.  Only the fear of being unable to land a job of your degree stands in the way...especially when you've worked hard for it.