Over and over I ask the question, "Do you believe in rock n' roll? Can music save your soul?" (Don McLean "American Pie") to people I don't even know; of course they think I'm crazy, but let them, they don't know me. My life as part of the counterculture...

Sojourner Truth was born under the name Isabella Van Wagener. This was not even her last name but her masters last name because slaves went by their master's last name. She had at least five children with another slave that her master married her to named Thomas. For a while she lived in slavery...

"Hey nigga Word up," screams J Michael across the room to Omar! "Holla J I not seen yo in foreva, how yo ho doin'," he replies. "She be good, my ol' lady ain't be that great though," J Michael says in a somber mood. "Yo I sorry, I be stoppin d...

The Grapes of Wrath is one of the greatest most historically accurate books to come out of the Great Depression. Its main theme was the Dust Bowl, and the hard times people faced there during the Great Depression. The main message that John Steinbeck attempted to portray was essentially: mans inhuma...

The Fuel Emissions Reduction Act Pollution in the United States is getting worse and worse by the day. Poor air quality is a serious issue and health risk in cities throughout the country. The main source of the pollution problem is our transportation. Cars produce roughly one half of the pollut...

Legalizing Illegal Drugs This factual essay explains the benefits of legalizing illegal drugs that grow from the ground. It is important to understand that our issue does not deal with legalizing man-made drugs such as acid or ecstasy, but drugs that grow from the ground such as heroine, mari...

Coal Power Currently America's main source of electric energy is coal, which accounts for 1.97 PW per year or 52% of America's electric energy. We are currently extremely dependent on it for a number of different reasons. Coal is a reliable source of energy. Which is very abundant in th...

Tuberculosis is a deadly disease that kills more people worldwide than any other identified infectious disease. Tuberculosis has declined in the United States but it is still deadly and can not be ignored. The disease particularly infects people of racial and ethnic minorities, specifically Lati...

Cigarettes continue to be the most popular form of tobacco worldwide. This useless habit causes devastating problems in the United States today; it is common knowledge that cigarettes are extremely additive, create health hazards for nonsmokers, and cause complications for women who smoke during pr...

The Andromeda Strain takes place in the 1960's in the United States, primarily in the southwest region of the continent. The military is launching a series of satellites for a project called SCOOP. The satellites were sent out to enter the Earth's orbit and collect microorganisms for st...

GUN CONTROLGun Control can be called the 'acid test' of liberalism. All true liberals must favor stricter gun controls. After all, doesn't the United States have the most heavily armed population on the earth? Are we not the world's most violent people? Surely these facts must be at least casu...

With all the topics circulating the media about the issues in the United States, many go unnoticed by the general public through the excuse of lack of relevance to the individual. The fuel crisis America is currently going through is not one of the ones to be pushed aside so quickly; it affects the ...

Fluorine Fluorine is in many of the items we use everyday, such as water, toothpaste, and air conditioners. The name fluorine came from the Latin word fluo, which means, "flowing". Fluorine is the 13th or 14th most abundant element on earth. It is classified as a halogen on the per...

Over Population There are several problems that affect the world today: war, crime, pollution, and several others. Overpopulation is a serious dilemma that is growing every year, every minute, and every second. It is the root of most, if not all, of the world's problems1. It is the greate...

Endangered species are living things whose population is so reduced that they are threatened with extinction. Thousands of species are included in this category. The International Union for the Conservation of nature and Natural Resources publishes a list of threatened mammals, birds, reptiles, am...

Chemical and biological weapons are the most dangerous threats that our soldiers face today. But just how much do most of us know about them? The American public had been bombarded by stories of how our government keeps secret weapons, does secret experiments, and the everlasting conspiracies. An...

Creatine The drug I have chosen is a drug most athletes prefer called Creatine. Creatine is a colorless, crystalline substance that can be isolated from various animal organs and body fluids. Creatine is a protein made from animo acids. Our body makes one gram each day from protein. We also eat...

In 1972, The Supreme Court declared that under then existing laws "the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty...constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments." But within four years, due to hole in the system, the Court stated &q...

Energy is one of the most fundamental qualities in our lives. Almost everything in the world is run by energy. We need electricity to turn on the lights, gas to power our cars, and energy to give us heat to warm our homes. Today, we are totally dependent on an abundant and inexhaustible supply of...

In 1967, a man considered "the greatest" in boxing was inducted into the military. The Vietnam War had begun and the Selective Service Act was now recruiting soldiers for battle. However, Muhammad Ali refused to serve, saying his religious beliefs forbade him to fight. To some it may see...

War is perceived by government as a means of solution between opposing nations. Since differences of opinion cause war, of course there will be differing opinions about war. A person in a country, whether directly or indirectly involved, must adept their ways of life according to the war. This co...

What is Jazz? According to the dictionary, jazz is defined as, "A kind of syncopated, highly rhythmic music originated by Southern blacks in the late 19th century" ("Jazz" 232). But, everyone should at least agree that jazz is the mother of all music, and is referred to as ...

RACISM AND ITS EFFECTS ON LITERATURE Racial segregation and discrimination is prevalent throughout literature and it is no accident. Racism in literature stems logically from the experiences of the authors and the treatment of minority's. Throughout Braided Lives, there were many short sto...

In all of history, there has yet to exist a group of people to feel the effects of genocide to the extent in which Native Americans have. There might be a valid argument concerning the injustices done to the people of African descent, however, slavery and 500 years of colonization marginally compar...

Vietnam: Take 2 We are on the brink of World War III with good old Uncle 'W' leading the way. A black gold owning Texan, the most powerful man in the world, who can't finish complete thoughts at the State of the Union address is going to lead us into the battle against terrorism o...