INWA

The problem is that the US Government is restricting a substance which is not only less harmful to humans then caffine, but also has known medicinal benefits.
It is important to address this issue because marijuana prohibition has failed thus far, so if we cannot beat it we should accept it as a part of society like Amsterdam has and gain from it.
The people who are affected by this are glocoma patients, people with cateracs, those with suppressed appitite from AIDS and many other sickly people. People with diseases such as this outside of the 15 states (and DC) cannot get access to legalized medical marijuana. Even within the states that it is legal, the federal law which makes it a criminal offense still is in effect.
People might disagree that it should be legalized because we already suffer from the negative effects of alcohol and cigarettes and we should not add another drug to the marketplace.

Annotated Bibliography

Brichard, John. "Marijuana and Medical Marijuana - The New York Times." Times Topics - The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/marijuana/index.html>.

This is an article from The New York Times that reports on the topic of medical marijuana in America. It discusses the possible uses of medicinal marijuana as well as the laws in states that have legalized it. The piece does have a slight bias against medical marijuana but overall is mostly just a report on events that have happened regarding the plant.

York, Anthony. "Prop. 19 Headed to Defeat, Exit Polls Show - Latimes.com." Blogs - Latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2010. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/11/prop-19-headed-to-defeat-exit-polls-show.html>.

This piece discusses California’s Proposition 19, which was a proposed law to legalize recreational as well as medical marijuana. It would allow people to grow and posses marijuana without a medical card or note from a doctor. This piece details a survey done at multiple voting polls which suggests that the proposition will be voted down. 

National Shudders CR

1. The piece is arguing that Americans are so used to the crutch of a picture, graph, video or heading that when presented with a block of text and asked to find useful information within it, they are unable to do so.  This is obvious by the situations presented by the author. He gives an example of a Boston man's uneasy reaction as well as another man from Chicago with a similar response. The examples show how unappealing and difficult a solid block of words appears to today's Americans.

2. The hyperbole used in the piece is comparing the block of text to an almost Godzilla-like character that is terrifying to the entire American public from coast to coast, in every city. It gives the piece a light hearted feel while still getting across the point that Americans all over have become too reliant on crutches to gather useful information.

Research Paper Topics

Google scholar might be one of the most frustrating and useless tools I've ever used while doing a research project. All of the articles it found either had nothing to do with what I was looking for, or if they were on the topic they were from 1976. I would rather search through the internet myself on sites I know are credible then sift through the garbage presented to me by Google scholar.

The topics that I did end up researching on my own are the effects of Lattimore being injured on South Carolina, how the American people feel about Obama's presidency thus far and specifically his decision to end the war Iraq, and finally the legalization of recreational and medicinal marijuana.

Overall the topics were not hard to come up with, but they were a little difficult to find credible sources on. The issue of Marcus' effect on South Carolina appears on plenty of sports websites but is mostly opinion based and bias. There is a similar story with the issue of Obama's ratings. How people feel about the President differs greatly from site to site and article to article. Sources which have a more conservative history tend to have a negative view of the President's progress. The easiest topic to research by far was the legalization of marijuana, this is because it is a topic which greatly interests me and has for quite some time now. I already know of a few sites and articles that I can use for the paper and because of that, research was a breeze. As a result, I will most likely choose this topic for my paper.

What Defines a Sport Response

1. In his article. Andriesen doesn't really take a stance on the definition of a sport, he simply reports on the many ways which he has heard it defined. He Mostly focuses on Rodney Fort's criteria in defining a sport. The reasons established by Mr. Fort is constantly contradicted by well known sports which don't meet the given criteria. Overall the closing of Andriesen's article is where we learn that his opinion is that as long as people are having fun doing something, it is a sport.
2. Personally I don't really see a need in declaring a sport official. I think the only thing that should be required for a sport is something that takes physical skill, takes practice and is competitive in nature.

Internet Article Response

The author's claim in "Factory Food" is that today's food and food of recent years is of poor quality and that now more and more people are becoming aware of that. His reasons for this claim are that the conditions in which animals are raised are unnatural and unhealthy for the animals. Cows are fed nearly poisonous feed and thousands of chickens are cooped up together at two massive plants. This causes the food we eat to contain less natural vitamins and proteins. Overall the recalls that have been happening due to this drop in quality has alerted the American public and turned people on to this problem. Overall the author does a solid job of supporting his points, however his argument is too general and elementary. He does not convince me to care about the issue more so then just being slightly concerned that what I am eating is bad for me.

Fear Factories Response

In the article, Scully attacks conservatives and their neglect for the rights of animals. He uses real world examples such as court cases and his own personal visits to these animal farms in conversations and analysis of conservative actions. He details his belief that conservatives use basic moralistic principles, mostly derived from biblical ideals, to establish laws for man kind. As a result Scully believes that these conservatives need to stop turning a blind eye to animal cruelty and make laws for the animals just as they would for humans. He believes that conservatives need to stop treating animal farming with a sense of obligation to kill the animals in as humane a way as possible, and start treating the animals in a humane way while they are still alive. Overall Scully seems to be disgusted with how little conservatives, and sometimes liberals, are doing about the animal farming business and other cruel businesses such as guaranteed hunting just to make a dollar. He calls them to action in order to take a stand for the rights of these animals because he believes that if we treat animals in such an inhumane manner, that we become animals ourself.