This essay could very well be called the importance of love, because what loves people more than their pets.  They love unconditionally.  They do not acknowledge peoples faults or talk back.  They may not listen all of the time, but they can feel.  If you have ever had a pet that was not a fish than I am sure that you understand the impact a pet makes on ones life.  A pet is always there for you, unless the particular pet likes to escape out the front door.   However, this thirst for freedom only outweighs the choice of being with you for mere seconds.  In the end pets love us and trust us to not only feed them, but love them as well.

I myself was born into a dog loving home.  When I arrived at my home in my first moments I received a wet welcome from the tongue of my first dog/brother.  His name was Norton.  I spent countless hours lying on the poor Labrador-Golden Retriever mix.  After that, my human brother came a long to pull on Norton’s tail, but he never seemed to mind. When I was only four years old, Norton, my first brother, died. I missed him a lot.  At age five I begged and pleaded for a dog, but the loss of Norton was too much for my mother to bear.   All I wanted was a dog, and all she said was maybe next year.

Pets are more than pets, they are family members who take care of you.  Some days they lean on you and on occasion you lean on them.  You can tell them your secrets, though I do not particularly advise this.  They can understand you just as well silently than when you verbalize in confession.  They can identify pain and are empathetic. They may not understand emotional pain, yet they still know and care.  They will wait up all night just to see your car pull into the driveway.  They give you warm frantic welcomes, just to ignore you later.  Your relationship is not simple, you own them, but sometimes they own you.

Love and pets is not easy to explain, but if you have a general love for animals than we have something in common.  I knew I wanted a dog, and my father knew that I wanted a pet so he devised a plan.  My dad decided that he would get me a hamster for my sixth birthday.  My mom agreed, though she thought I would become bored with the hamster and only love it for a few days.  I was excited, but when we arrived at PETCO it seemed that the employee did not advise a hamster for a young child.  She explained that hamsters had become over bread and had a tendency to bite.  She suggested rats, and my father agreed.  I put my hand to the glass. That is when I saw her, Rosie.

A pet will do everything that they can to make you happy, yet their existence alone is enough to put a smile on your face.  They love their owners so dearly that the sparkle in their eye says, “I love you” just as much as “Feed me.”  Perhaps this strong bond generates from food, but I do not think so.  Animals seem just as happy when they get a sense of adventure in life. When They get to go to a new place they explore a new world with you.

When Rosie crept over to the glass, stood up straight, and placed her paw on my finger I knew she was the one.  I was not supposed to pick out the rat without my mother, but I already had.  She was the one and I wanted no other rat.  She was perfect.  My parents knew nothing about rats, though they had researched them online.  We were all new to this experience.  My mom and dad waited for me to get bored.  I took her everywhere in the house, which was easier sense she potty trained herself.  My parents waited a week, then a month, 3 months, a year, my emotion for Rosie had not changed.  I did not out grow her, and she never out grew me.

Pets are incredible.  They are an experience like no other for an animal lover.  Not every person can receive the pure happiness that an animal gives me. Then again, the idea of a “bookworm” is so deeply repulsive to me that I can understand the differences between people.  Differences make people unique just as much as they make animals unique.  Some animals love with a passion so great that their whining annoys the neighbors.  Some animals love so fiercely that they become a danger to posing potential threats.  Pets are unique and in life to have something unique is special and important.  There is nothing like a first pet, and the experiences one shares with that special animal.  The adventures are much better at a younger age if a person can see the adventures and take advantage of them.  One cannot always be with a pet, there are too many other things to do in life, but you must always remember to treat your pets with love and respect.

Sources:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ettc.lrhsd.org/archives/Pictures/pets.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ettc.lrhsd.org/archives/pets.htm

http://www.elderoptionsoftexas.com/article_importance_of_pets.htm?CFID=1829179&CFTOKEN=31564854

As I gazed at this adorable picture, I felt peaceful and joyful.  Nature makes beautiful creatures.  Upon first glance I immediately identified each animal on instinct.  I knew that they were all different, yet they fit like pieces of the same puzzle.  They create a certain bond and blend into one another.  The bond is formed by their close proximity and their color.  They are all mostly white with the same hint of gray. In life there is so much diversity, and this caused me to wonder what life would be like to live without diversity.

What would life be like without diversity? Life would be far different.  For one thing, the subject of race would not be discussed, for in each area only one type of creature would live.   What a boring and horrifying image. The thoughts continued like an endless nightmare, until I realized this would never happen.  This could not be real. There would always be a variety of people within every area.  I will always have my friends and though it is obvious at a glance that we are different, but we don’t care.  We look at the picture and we see a family with variety.

My troubles were not over for I recalled something I found treacherous brewing in the midst. Many public schools in LAUSD are going charter.  Some find this incredible, but I find this disastrous.  When a public school goes charter this means that there is no longer a public school for that specific area code.  Charter schools are not supposed to ask you for money, but there are some that ask for mandatory donations.  Charter schools are privately run, and once something is privatized then rules start to change, and tables begin to turn.

The United States is supposed to be like a giant company working for the people.  What American citizens are really doing when they vote is appointing a manager.  This manager must collect the funds supplied to our state or county then disperse the money accordingly.  If our manager is selling land that is supposed to help the people by educating them than they are essentially saying, “We can’t handle this, you can make your own schools and we will just spend education money on something else.”

Charter schools will reestablish behavior that will inevitably lead to segregation.  Not mandated segregation or required segregation, but an established segregation nonetheless.  The rich have already pulled away to high status private schools, the religious to schools of their own religion.  Charter schools are separate, but they are not equal.  The schools located in poorer areas will be under funded.  The schools in areas with a more of a middle class will be much better off.  The people should learn from history and the past.  Plessy v. Ferguson ruled “separate but equal”, but this was overturned by Brown v. Board of Ed, stating that separate but equal does not exist.  Children learn history so that they do not make the mistakes of the past, but the past is repeating itself.

Schools will not be equal.  How can they be when neighborhoods themselves are not equal?  It is no secret that having your house located next to a bunch of apartment buildings is viewed in a darker light than being surrounded by other houses.  What public options will the people have if the schools that were once public become privatized.  How can a private party come in and by up public property?  This property is managed under the government, but it belongs to the people.  Civilians pay taxes to government every year for children to go to school and have schools near home.  People should not be able to privatize what was once public, especially not schools that benefit and teach the young generation how to socially get along in society.

I would not have a problem if more Charter schools just popped up, rising from the ground.  However, this is not the case.  Charter schools are not popping up.  They are replacing schools that are public.  Once the public school goes Charter there is no longer a public school in the area.  Private parties do not need more control.

I want to keep diversity and my family of friends who look nothing like me. All that matters is that being together feels right.  It would not be right that someone with less money would not have a right to the same facilities as people who have more money.  We can all see a difference in appearance, but we need to overlook that difference and see the family that diversity has created.

To think all that came from four little cute animals sitting besides one another for a photo session.

Source:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/cute%20baby%20animals/Kitsukitty/Real%20Nature%20Ref/cute1.jpg

Too many people get away while the rest of the world acts blind in the United States.  The world is a crazy place filled with all different kinds of people.  Some of these people believe in democratic socialist ideas where as others are pure capitalists.  What is a democratic socialist and what is a capitalist?  Democratic socialists ideals are that the people must be taken care of and recognized in society.  Democratic socialists are not all interested in a workers rebellion, instead they wish to reform democracy.  These measures of reform will help the hard workers of society. Capitalists believe in a world where people can evolve and move up. They believe in free enterprise and entrepreneurs.  Capitalists are in favor of laissez-faire and want less government interference in business, along with business incentives and tax breaks.  But capitalist’s have become more than this, they have turned into a get rich scheme in which “screwing the little guy” is acceptable.

Our society would have gone in a completely different direction if the beloved President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not die on April 12, 1945.  In fact on January 11, 1944, President Roosevelt gave a speech, the Fireside Chat.  In this speech he disclosed a new Bill of Rights.

An excerpt from President Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat:

“We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.”

-Roosevelt

This second Bill of Rights would give the people more rights than ever before.  United States Citizens would have more than the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.  United States Citizens would have the right to a job; the right the earn enough money for food, clothing, and children; the right to be fairly and justly paid; the right of a businessman to have freedom from unfair competition and monopolies; the right for every family to have a decent home; the right to universal healthcare; the right to a good education.

“All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens. For unless there is security here at home, there cannot be lasting peace in the world.”

-Roosevelt

Unfortunately for this entire nation, President Roosevelt died before the end of the war and the idea of moving forward died as well.  Instead of moving forward and concentrating on the needs of the people Truman dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.  But that did not stop Japan from moving forward and adopting a version of Roosevelt’s Bill of Rights.  Japan and Germany both have Universal Healthcare.  Somehow the very nations that the United States triumphed in World War II have triumphed in time.  The people of the United States almost had it all, but instead Wall Street and large corporations took control.

These large corporations convinced the people that they wanted to be capitalists.  That capitalism can make a person rich.  It is true capitalism can make certain people rich, but generally the rich simply get richer.  Capitalism is a broken system, “screw the little guy is not acceptable.”  It is time that people wake up and realize that Wall Street doesn’t care about them.  Capitalist’s do not care about anyone, they are in the business for themselves to get rich and they are motivated by money.

The United States can not be completely changed by one man alone.  President Obama is fighting for the people of the United State’s rights, but he is fighting against years of abuse and corruption. The nation has taken a turn in the wrong direction and what it calls for is a complete change in public opinion about what is more important.  Is a get rich scheme more important than an individual’s life? Is that 0.1% chance that you will strike it rich worth your life?  If I did not have health insurance than it is very likely that I would have been dead 5 years ago.  Dead for a simple appendectomy.  Most Americans are not covered by health insurance, and this is the case for those people.  If they get sick then they fall into a pit of debt all because the citizens of the United States of America are holding on to a tiny percent chance of a possibility that they will get rich.  That America is not the way to live.  I am not in favor of socialism, socialism flat out does not work.  But this country desperately needs reform, and Roosevelt’s Bill of Rights is the way to go.  I agree with Michael Moore, “I refuse to live in a country like this, and I’m not leaving.”

Hear President Roosevelt\’s Speech

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism

http://www.capitalism.org/faq/capitalism.htm

http://realignmentproject.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/fdrs-second-bill-of-rights-and-the-progressive-mission/

http://www.mediaite.com/columnists/fdrs-second-bill-of-rights/

Michael Moore’s Capitalism A Love Story

Disruptive behavior, it is everywhere.  It is on the public sidewalks, in movie theaters, in restaurants, malls, zoos, and classrooms. The world is filled with arrogant people who think that they own the world.  Teenagers have a bad reputation for being extremely noisy and uncontrollable.  This problem does not come from me, yet it follows me around everywhere.  Annoying people that want to defy all the rules.  There is an abundance of rude children in society with even worse parents.  If a persons child is an annoying rude arrogant little brat than they failed as a parent. A parent is supposed to give their children the skills that they need in life.  A parent should teach their child to respect all members of society.

Disruptive behavior is worst in the movie theaters.  During the showing of Alice and Wonderland I was constantly being kicked from behind.  I turned around to tell the child to stop and he did for a while.  His kicks became more separated and only came when my eyes were glued to the screen.  I was not going to turn around and miss the movie.  Then there are the people who have to jump up and check their phone every five to ten minutes.  People who sit in the front of the theater texting the whole time so that one can see the light from their phone.  There a screamers and compulsive talkers.  Then there are the thousands of people who leave their trash as if it were someone else’s problem.  When did this behavior become acceptable in society?

The last generation would have been beaten for such rude behavior as this.  Now the world has lawyers to protect criminals and the rude people that would have suffered consequences of their actions.  The law works in a lot of opposite and backward ways.  The wealthy get out and the poor have to stay in jail.  Lawyers represent crooks for insane quantities of money.  They look for every possible way to expand their pocket books.

Now doctors have been tricked into believing that there is something wrong with these rude arrogant minors.  Many people have heard the term ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder.  Apparently it is really easy to be diagnosed with ADD because there is an abundant number of people who claim to have it.  Seriously, Attention Deficit Disorder, it is like doctors are creating excuses for their patients suggesting that have a right to be rude and disruptive.  They cannot help themselves.  Ya right!  You cannot merely suggest that one pays attention to what they like and have trouble paying attention to things that they are not good at or do not like.  Of course people have trouble paying attention to what they find completely and totally boring.  Every individual has to figure out their own way to pay attention and if they really need drugs to function in society than they can take them and stop hiding behind excuses.

People should not separate themselves or think that they are less capable than others.  If a person cannot pay attention than they are not trying hard enough.  There were less disruptive children in the last generation, because the teachers and parents dealt with them accordingly.  I am not suggesting to use violence against these people, but just stop giving them excuses.  If they can function in society than they do not need any special privileges.  Every person must learn to deal with their flaws.  It does not help any one to pretend as if there is some kind of condition that gives a person permission to act like a complete jerk.

There should not be these pyramids.  These actions should be stopped immediately.  Children should be told not to act out and why?  Children do not always like to hear why they are being punished, but it helps and it is better than not telling them at all.   It is time to teach children why they cannot do certain things.  Why can they not punch their friend in the back?  They cannot because that is violent behavior that could hurt their friends and send them to the hospital.  Why can they not cheat on a test?  Because cheating does not help anyone.  If a person’s ability is limited then they are not showing those limitations they are simply setting themselves up for failure.  Tests get harder and more advanced as a person does well.  Why should they not talk compulsively during class? It is disruptive and disrespectful to the teacher of the class.  It impairs the                                                                           students’ chances of learning.  Why?

So why be disruptive?  Perhaps it is do to a lack of respect.  Maybe these people are socially challenged.  Or quite possibly they were allowed to skate by on excuses for their rowdy behavior.  Common phrases such as, “Boys will be boys. They are just having fun. They are just being teenagers.  This is just how he is.”  These are all excuses for bad habits that people have developed over the years.  Freedom does not mean act like a juvenile delinquent.  It is time that people start recognizing the disruptive behaviors of society and come up with some method of dealing with a problem when it arises.

Sources:

http://www.help4adhd.org/treatment/coexisting/WWK5B

Sexist Insurance, otherwise known as teenage car insurance, varies with sex and GPA.  Whoever told mankind that boys and girls are equal obviously did not talk to car insurance companies.  For many years now, boys have been paying more for car insurance based on the stereotypes between boys and girls.  The mere quote, “Boys will be boys,” suggests that there is something psychologically wrong with boys.  They are otherwise not capable of change, which cannot possibly be true.  There always exceptions to what is common or the perceived “normal.”

What stereotypes do teenage boys have when it comes to driving?  Statistically it has been shown that boys are in more accidents and that they tend to drive more dangerously.  They have been known for not wearing their seatbelts, driving fast and recklessly, breaking traffic laws, driving while intoxicated, and driving longer distances.  Their reputation for driving is much worse than the reputation for young girls.  Although these reputations are old they are long lasting.  Over the last 25 years, the rate of female driver fatalities has gone up 14%, where male driver fatalities have decreased by 11%. Despite this change, teenage boys still hold first place for fatalities.  In this case there is no prize for first place.  Fatality rates are quickly becoming more even between the sexes.

It is no coincidence that teenage girls rates have always been lower and there have always been less girl drivers.  Now that more girls are getting their licenses, more girls are getting into fatal accidents.  Yet, the reputation for teenage girls stays intact.  It has been noted that girls have been picking up bad habits, much like the boys.  Girls are demonstrating the same reckless behavior that has probably given the teenager category its horrible reputation.  But like I noted earlier, the car insurance companies are behind the times.  Luckily for all the girls out there your car insurance will be lower than boys your same age.  Unfortunately boys the time has not come where boys and girls are equal in the eyes of car insurance companies.

Believe it or not a persons high school grade point average does more than just get them into a good college.  If a person can prove a decent GPA they will receive a discount price for car insurance.  If not already self-evident people who care about their GPA and getting into a good college are less likely to break driver’s safety rules.  They are at less of a risk of drinking and driving.  Teenagers with higher GPA’s are expected to be more mature and better able to handle the conditions of the road.

Unfortunately, there are stereotypes for everything.  Some stereotypes work in a person’s favor where others defame a person entirely. Girls with a decent GPA benefit from a old sexist stereotype, where boys don’t have a chance to prove themselves.  How can a person be judged based on factors that he or she cannot change?  Should sex impact insurance rates?  Sex is a category and as long as companies categorize than they can also be categorizing based on race.  Once that happens, as it most likely already has, companies are not only sexist, but also racist. Are there any factors that should impact insurance rates for a new driver?

Sources:

http://www.car-insurance-guide.us/rates_female_male_drivers.php

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/48895/auto_insurance/why_young_people_are_assumed_to_be_bad_drivers.html