essay 4

Adam Chan

Eng 111

Professor Barnoy

Soft Drink: The Addiction Poison

            Soft drinks are everywhere in our country and you would likely see someone holding a bottle of coke rather than a bottle of water. But who can really help it when stores are putting Soft drinks up front while water bottles is hidden elsewhere. From soft drinks like soda and energy drink they have the ability to kill literally. According to a New York times article Soft drinks are already linked to heart disease and the more someone drinks one the more likely that they will have health issues.  The fact is many people are replacing water with Soft drinks which have no significant nutrient value at all except a high caffeine and many food additives. What makes Soft drinks so addictive is the caffeine and sugar inside it and the body creates a huge dependence on it. Even though Soft drinks aren't regarded as hazardous yet it should be there many health related problems due to soda and it seems the awareness to slow it down isn't happening anytime soon. Even though people know its harmful to your health and addiction most will not be giving up anytime soon.

            First off all I want to start up on the availability and exposure of soft drinks that is part of the reason. Advertisements, Television shows and in nearly every store in the United States there is a soft drink being ready to be purchase. Every time you walk into a store there is a soft drink close by available for purchase it lures people in much closer to it than any other healthy beverage that is available. Most people wouldn't even tell you soda was bad and unlike cigarettes which has been put in a bad spotlight, soft drinks are hardly mention at all as bad, making people think it's okay. Even if people know the negatives effects of soft drinks, when a water bottle cost the same of a soda it's pretty easy what people would rather choose for their thirst quencher.  The availability of soda is a major factor on why soft drink addiction is very out of hand.

            The health risk of soft drinks is very great and often left less expose and ignored. One major threat from soda is obesity which can lead to even diabetes and heart issues. Not only can it affect you on the inside but even on the how  the way you look you look. For instance tooth decay, cavities, obesity and phosphorus which weaken bone if you plan on getting bigger.  But you might be wondering why hasn't this happen yet? Well it takes time but drinking daily in the next 10 years or even sooner will affect your health greatly. From personal experience even if people knew these hazardous risks they will still drink it just because of the addictive nature of it. When soft drinks like this has a chance of affecting your health people will have to decide between pleasure or health but sadly the lather is always chosen. Maybe unlike other dangerous products if it doesn't affect the way you think there is no need for a issue. The health issues of soft drink isn't instant or even short term but it can be just as dangerous as alcohol, drugs and tobaccos.

            There are many risks to soft drinks and people might either not have enough knowledge or choose to ignore it so it comes down to lifestyle. Even I am guilty of this I may know the risks but even I would rather grab a bottle of soda than anything else. The biggest restraint to dropping soft drinks is  people very own willpower but I often see people that say that and end up not doing it since most wouldn't care one way or the other. It may take a bigger number of people to feel the health casualties like drugs and alcohol to make any real influence in our lives to change it. For example until the media or death reports like alcohol and cigarettes come in most people won't understand the serious issue of it. Changing lifestyles isn't easy and without imminent health hazard I don't suspect soft drink addictions will end anytime soon.

            Even if people read this essay it would most likely wouldn't have any impact on how they drink soft drinks even when knowing the health risks.  For most people dropping soft drinks is just like dropping water it can't happen and this is why it isn't possible. It may take media attention or casualties of lives for any health issues of it to have any influence on us but it can and will happen one day.

Work Cited

Ideaconnection. "Addiction to soft drinks." ideaconnection. IdeaConnection Ltd, n.d. Web. 24 Apr.

     2012. <http://www.ideaconnection.com/solutions/422-Addiction-to-soft-drinks.html>.

Essay 3

Defining "World Peace"

            World peace is a powerful idea that is defined as peace or happiness within all nation or people. It can be said everyone would want peace in the world when they were young and others would want to just harm others as they grow older. But it can be heavily implied that world peace cannot stand with individuals alone due to the human nature of things. There are many factors which would stops world peace from happening war, terrorism, governments, beliefs and much more are responsible between world peace and instability. For those that still believe in world peace it is still quite possible due to strong communication between governments today compared to the days before world war 2 and the cold war. The way the world has come close to world peace is very significant and while it may not be possible for a world peace to happen in individuals it can still happen within nations.

            The first and most important step is for nations to come to peace with one another is communication. But world peace alone isn't just nations not attacking one another it is coming together and settling issues through discussion and promotion of peace. One example of a failure of this was when the early league of nation had forced Germany to a terrible treaty, causing enough turmoil which would lead up to war world 2. After the war world 2 the league of nations was replaced with the United nations that took more effort to show peace instead of punishing those that threaten the organization. The way I see it right now there is another popular version of world peace and that is helping one another and everyone or anyone else in the world. The red cross help influence this idea due to being able to cross the war zones and helping people on both sides.

            Even though there can be several definitions of world peace there are many limitations holding back world peace from existing. In the current time there are several issues to holding back world peace. One of them is governments even though democracy isn't perfect there is less chance of hard threats like from communism and dictatorship countries in the world that often promote war. For example North Korea and China both communist countries often issues threats to any land they see as invasive and more often then not causes instability and much more tension.  Another issue is one that affected us in our lands and it is terrorism, terrorists often destroy many lives witch leads to turmoil, hate and is the leading cause on why the middle east cannot find peace on their own lands. Even human nature may be a factor with this as we fought each other for thousands of years and no matter what we do we cannot always stop the murder of one another.  These issues are the reason why world peace is being prevented and is why world peace with every individual is not possible.

            While world peace isn't accomplished yet it may not be far off at all compare to many years ago. Many nations are communicating now while dictatorships and communist governments seems fell off more such as Russia, Egypt, Iraq and several more. Compared to the cold war where threats of a nuclear destruction was very close the world right now is in a much better place with all major nations taking part in talks of peace. Overall while we may not have world peace as individuals helping one another, it is possible that we will have it as nations if our progress keeps on going. Unlike back then where one country would declare war the United Nations allow all sides to agree in armed conflicts. The goal for world peace for all nations may be near but as for individuals it is not.

            World Peace can be put in many different definitions and some are close while others seem more like a dream or fantasy. But there is truth that a peace within nations is possible and it can come up at anytime as long as nations come together and communicate. Individuals may never find peace with each other but if nations can then it will come eventually. There are wars and issues holding us off this path to world peace but it is possible.

Work Cited

“League of Nations”  Jan 2011 Wikipedia foundation

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

Lickerman, Alex. "Happiness in this World." Psychology Today: Here to Help. Accessed April 23, 2012. 

     Last modified February 22, 2010. htthttp://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/ 

     201002/how-world-peace-is-possible. 

Essay 2

update: I am not sure what wrong with the text

Internet freedom

            The issue I would like to talk about is the restriction of internet freedom of how it can and will affect every last one of us. The issue is there are many bills waiting to restrict our freedom in the internet such as PIPA, SOPA and a new one starting to emerge CISPA. I chose this issue because for several years internet was free from taxes, restrictions and even help produced many jobs thanks to the way the internet connect us all together. But now the government is trying to place themselves to be part of the internet process, all of this freedom may come to an end. States are already trying to impose taxes on digital goods and bills are coming in quickly for a chance to restrict and control the internet. Even though the goals of the bills is to protect copyrighted material it has the power to bring down any websites infringing on their material. Even though these bills are meant to protect people digital property it does more harm than good.

            Even though bills like PIPA(The protect IP act ) and SOPA(The Stop Online Piracy Act) failed to pass through, it can come back in other different forms. These bills gained strong momentum and were almost passed, but thanks to strong lobbying and internet blackouts the supporters of the bills backed out and it can be said that the freedom of the internet has won for a short time. But what these bills were to protect copyrighted material so why are these so bad? PIPA the protect IP act allows companies to force internet providers to block access to websites that infringes on copyrighted material and let companies the ability to take legal actions against any websites that have copyrighted materials on it even a simple comment post. Next on the list is SOPA or stop online piracy act that will force search engines and advertisers to block contact with any websites that is deemed infringing on copyrighted materials. Even though these bills is shelved there are even more bills hanging around such as CISPA(Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) which would "allow companies to pass around personal information about Internet users" which is even more invasive of our freedoms.

            Now that we got what these bills do the question is how do they restrict us exactly. These bills  have many issues such as that all of them can be abused for the company own gain and not what it is intended for. Overall this quote explains the issue" The gist of the bill is that it gives content creators the power to force ISPs, search engines or payment services to shut down access to a Web site that the owner believes violated its copyright. On its face, the bill is designed to stop access to foreign Web sites that are profiting off of stolen content. (U.S.-based business can simply be dragged into court.) In reality, it's much more insidious than that." Both PIPA and SOPA have the power to bring down websites and may do so at their own interest such as a picture of their logo on a blog can have the entire website taken down or blocked and even sued. But beyond interest and even freedom blocking off websites may not even be possible due to the huge technical issues involve with blacklisting and blocking websites off. Overall due to the restrictions the power for abuse is much more alarming then protection digital property can even cause massive errors on the system of the internet.

            The last issue for internet restrictions is who actually wants them? From a newspaper article by Beaver County Times only those major company with creating or distributing content would want such things mostly the entertainment industry and pharmaceutical companies would want them so their sales would improve . But who are the opponents to this? Mostly everyone else and websites such as Wikipedia, facebook, Reddit, Google and potentially thousands more. Due to a internet blackout, by many of these companies it forced the bills to be shelved and the majority won.

            In conclusion internet restriction by SOPA and PIPA was a issue and still is if we are not prepared for it. Even though these bills were meant to help people the potential of abuse can be far greater and much more consequential for the freedom of the internet. When only a few gain and the majority disapprove it should not be happening. With many laws coming to place to restrict the internet we must be ready to make sure we have the awareness to stop it.

           

           

Work Cited

Joshua, Topolsky. 0001. "SOPA and PIPA: The wrong tools to combat online piracy." Washington Post, The, 1. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2012).

McClatchy-Tribune news, service. n.d. "INTERNET BLACKOUT HAS BILL SUPPORTERS BACKING OUT."

Hamilton Spectator, The (ON), n.d. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2012).

2012. "Activists fight U.S. cybersecurity bill." UPI Top NewsNewspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2012).

By David Bell, Wired /. 2012. "The Internet Soap Opera: SOPA." Winnipeg Free Press (MB), January 22. 0. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012).

Jamal. "What is PIPA and SOPA." 1st web designer. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/how-sopa-pipa-can-affect-you/>.

Pound, Michael. 2012. "The SOPA/PIPA effect: Internet goes silent." Beaver County Times, The (PA), January 22. Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012).