Who says that?

This article by Larry Elder is mostly about the liberal's extreme hate of conservatives, particularly, the current president. Larry has a conversation with a very interesting individual about some of the things the president "did". The man was convinced that Bush was the mastermind behind 9/11 and that he did it to kill black people. What the man didn't know, was that most of people killed were white. However, he refused to give up and rambled on that "They were in the way." The man clearly did not know what he was talking about.


I believe the main point that Larry is trying to get at here is that liberals (no offence) express extreme hatred to conservatives. They gave Saddam Hussein a higher rating than Bush on the "temperature scale". I agree with Larry that liberals, at least in this case show some ruthless hatred towards conservatives. It is hard to believe that some of these people actually believe the president is out to get them and is a mass murderer. Well, at least Larry can defend himself, and he does a pretty good job at it too.

One of the most noticeable ways that he mocks liberals is by throwing out their own comebacks before they even say them. He even shows why it's wrong with proof, so they can't even use it against him. "Explain to me why people like Bush and Cheney run for public office in order to commit murder." "Because that's what they do." "For what reason? To get rich?" I asked. "They already were." I found this quit amusing, this guy obviously didn't know what he was talking about and Larry made that crystal clear. He puts out the liberal's excuse and shoots it down before the guy even has a chance to defend it, that's skill, and for on the spot thinking, impressive. Not only did he shoot down the question, he made the guy look like a complete idiot because he didn't have any proof. He never gave one example with adequate evidence. "How do you get up in the morning thinking that somebody in Washington, D.C., wants to murder you?" He couldn't even answer that question, so how could he possibly know what he's talking about? Basically, the guy was talking out of opinion and decided since he didn't like Bush, he was going to blame the end of the world on him. Larry Elder is truly quite skillful in the art of "they say" "I say".

Comics

The comic strip I chose is one from the FoxTrot series, authored by Bill Amend. This comic portrays a young boy trying to teach his pet iguana how to download music using BitTorrent, which is a download provider. His older brother warns him of the danger of downloading music illegally but the young boy believes he has an idea that will work. Since the iguana isn't a real person, he will teach it to download the music for him. He believes he cant be sued because, "who would sue and iguana?" The next slide shows a recording association executive delaying his appointment with a doctor because he sees someone is downloading music illegally.



The message here seems quite obvious. It is showing that the recording industry doesn't support illegal music downloads and will punish people for trying to do so. The young boy foolishly believes that as long as he isn't downloading the music himself, he can't get in trouble for it. The truth of the matter is, the recording industry doesn't care who downloads the music, if they find out it came from your computer, they may choose to sue you regardless of who you are. The comic shows this by having the recording executive concerned over noticing that someone is downloading Metallica. To further prove that this concerns the industry, the executive has his psychiatrist put on hold just to track this download.



Downloading music illegally is risky and should be avoided at all costs. I personally know people who have been caught and have been lucky enough not to get sued, but let off with a warning. Remember if you get caught, they aren't just going to sew you, they are going to sue your whole family partially because they are your parents and you are under their care. Also, unfortunaly, you wont be able blame it on your dog either. In the words of P.B. "Don't be a rascal"

Marion Jones: The needle, the Lying Done By: Mitch Albom

In this article, Mitch Albom discusses the negative effect that steroid use can have on your life, especially if you are a professional athlete. Marion James just admitted to steroid use and had all her Olympic Medals taken away and is banned from all track and field games. She will now be serving six months in jail despite her plea to the judge for mercy. Mitch discusses the difference between Jones and the other athletes who get caught. Jones openly admitted to it and confessed while other professional athletes tend to fight it all the way to the end, and still lose. Roger Clemens. "The star pitcher was screaming his innocence all last week, despite charges in the Mitchell Report that he was injected with steroids numerous times by his personal trainer, Brian McNamee." Mitch points out that this guy can scream and cry all he wants, that deosn't change the fact that he was being injected with some kind of substance, most likely steroids. Hopefully we can all learn a valuable lesson, at least athletes can, that steroids aren't worth it, and that you can only cheat yourself by using them.



I agree with Mitch completely on this matter. Steroids not only cause other athletes to look down on you, they also have side effects and long term results that are bad for your health. Part of the thrill of competitive sports is for it to be a challenge, a time for you to reach deep inside yourself and give even more when you have nothing else to give. Using steroids totally does away with that challenge and though you may excel faster, its not really you, and if anyone ever finds out, you will go down as just another cheater and will eventually be forgotten. If you have trouble believing this, just look at all the athletes who have used them and have completely ruined their careers and popularity. It's a no win situation, and one that you cannot recover from if you happen to make the wrong choice.



This article could easily be altered to address a high school football team. In high school, kids tend to get more obsessed with athletics and will do anything to get to the top. Sadly some even resort to steroids. One thing about this column I would change, would be to show more of the health effects of steroids. Mitch does a good job showing the financial and moral effects, but I would also cover some health issues. High school kids, especially football players want to get bigger. As I'm writing this I can still hear our high school coach yelling at us to get in the weight room, and "get huge." However, our team knows that our coach does not mean to use steroids, but to merely get in the weight room and to push yourself. Kids today want everything fast, and they think taking steroids will give them muscles fast. This is somewhat true, however, they will also receive multiple health risks, and most kids will look down on these athletes (cheaters). I would also go into more details about how these people who have done them feel afterwards. Almost all of them regret it and if given another chance would have never done it. After covering these topics I would encourage kids to eat healthy and if they feel they have to do some kind of supplement, to just take vitamins. Eating the correct combination of foods and minerals can give you natural results, and you will be better for it. Finally, I would end it with some kind of catchy saying, like the one used by our coach, "Now go get huge".