Upfront Magazine: The End of America's Car Culture?

In the Upfront Magazine article "The End of America's Car Culture?" it shows how recent studies have shown the decline in usage of cars in the last few decades. It shows that younger people have used less and less cars and instead other forms of transportation such as bikes or buses. It also poses a question of whether or not this could be the end of the cars era in the U.S. because of the decline of how popular they've been used as a mode of transportation.
One debatable question about this article is: Why do people today seem to have less interest driving and owning cars than their parents and grandparents did at the same age? There are many factors into the decline of using cars. The ages in which this decline has hit more powerfully is between 16-19. Back in the 20th century when cars first came out, gas was cheap, cars were a new invention, and it was a great way to interact with other people because you could just drive to their house. Nowadays some teenagers feel that the web is a much simpler and cheaper way of communicating with their friends instead of seeing them in person. For example it says in the article "Instead of driving to meet friends, young people use the Web to feel more connected" this may be one cause to less and less teenagers driving. Another example of what may be the cause to the decline in cars is "the resurgence of cities where shops and activities are within walking or biking distance-and where bike-sharing programs have sprouted in places like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco" this quote shows that bikes are becoming ever-so popular and as cities grow and progress, there are more activities to do in small areas so there is no need to travel long distances in order to get something. These two examples may some of the reasons that cars have become less and less popular in the last few years.
Another debatable point is: In the text, researcher Thilo Koslowski says, "The iPhone is the Ford Mustang of today." What does this mean? This is an analogy to compare the popularity of social media and inventions such as the iPhone to how popular the Ford Mustang first came out. This statement is accurate because it shows the two biggest inventions of both time periods. When Fords first came out, they were extremely popular and driving was extremely popular but over time as new inventions such as the iPhone let you interact with your friends within seconds, driving became less popular because you didn't have to go drive to talk to them.
In conclusion, driving has become less and less popular due in part to smart phones and how easier it's become to interact with people. Will driving be unused anymore? Of course not, but for shorter distances and in big cities, cars are un-neccesary because in the rise of popularity of bikes, bus and trains. Also due to the rise of iPhones and electronics, cars have become less popular, but it will be interesting to see how car's will play a role in the future with daily life.

Syria: Who decides who goes to War?

In the UpFront Magazine article "Going to War: Who Decides?" the author writes about the War in Syria and President Obama's decision to attack Syria. It also speaks about the past decisions that were made about who decides whether or not to go to War. Most of these decisions were based off interpretations of the Declaration of Independence. The author separates this information into 5 questions and gives some extra background information to fully understand the whole picture. There are a few main points in the recent decisions of attacking Syria that are heavily debated.
One question that is debatable is: Why did the Framers of the Constitution split the nation's powers between the executive and legislative branches? Is the system working out the way they envisioned? The Framers of the Constitution divided the powers between the executive and legislative branches to balance out the powers. Also known as the Checks and Balances system, this was used so that not only did the government have to work together, but it gave no one branch too much power. It is working out mostly as they envisioned. To their credit, they could not predict the certain circumstances that the U.S. would be in 250 years after the document was written. They left much of the document to be interpreted by the leaders of the following time period. But they wrote it in such a way that the main came across and they would have to distort the words in some way to make them apply to each particular situation. So yes it is working out as they envisioned, because they could not exactly know what kinds of problems the U.S. would be involved in the future, but wrote it so that it could be applied to it in whatever way it needed.
The second heavily debated question is: By asking congress to authorize an attack on Syria, did President Obama strengthen and unify the nation-or make himself and the nation appear indecisive? With President Obama's decision to ask congress about whether or not to go into Syria, it showed that the U.S. works together as a nation. Even though Obama is commander-in-chief and technically could've just made the decision by himself to go into Syria, he asked Congress because not only is this an extremely hard decision to make, but it's dealing with peoples lives and the future of the U.S. It did not make him look indecisive because this was a very tough decision to make, and it showed he is a real leader who isn't all about using his power, but making sure that it's the right decision for his country.
In conclusion, President Obama's decision to go to Congress and talk about going into Syria unified the country because it showed that Obama is all for making sure that the country is making the right decision and they are working together in the best interest of the U.S. This relates back to the Checks and Balances system, and it shows Obama respects that because he is making sure to incorporate the other branches even in a situation like this when he could just not listen to them all because he of his commander-in-chief position.

Where Things Come Back

In the book "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley, the author addresses social issues by showing the effect it has on the characters. When Cullen's brother goes missing, the author does an incredible writing job by making Cullen show how he feels instead of directly saying how he feels. It makes me able to imply how Cullen may feel and what it might lead to next in the book.
One way shows the issue of his brother missing and the impact it has on Cullen is by showing the lack of energy Cullen starts having. For example one powerful quote that shows this is when he says "and she asks me the same question I've heard for the past few weeks, and I give her the same answer I gave everyone else." This shows how he's starting to sulk and get down about his brother's disparition and the author does a good job of implying that Cullen may be going through some kind of depression that could potentially continue on in the book.
Cullen also handles his issues in a teenager-like way. As most stereotypical people handle a depressing situation such sleeping through it, Cullen is the same way. The author described it as "never getting out of bed". This is a sign that because of Cullen's brother being missing, Cullen has given up hope. He wants to try to put this issue to the side and try not to think about by staying in bed and trying to sleep through it. That is Cullen's way of addressing an issue and confronting it.
In conclusion, the author does a spectacular job on describing how his characters confront and address issues. Cullen has a way of confronting the issue of his missing brother in a way that most people who are handling a very depressing case do. It may not be the most effective, but it's the way that he does it. This leads me to believe that further on in the story, Cullen might deal with some more depression.

Reading Response: Faithful Elephants

In this emotional short story "Faithful Elephants" by Yukio Tsuchiya, the story speaks about three elephants in a Japanese zoo during World War II. The Japanese government had ordered for the animals to be killed in case the zoo were to be bombed and they didn't want to risk these big animals out of the zoo. The author of this short story provides very powerful and generational themes that can be applied to all people of all ages. The most important of these themes is that it is okay to rebel against what the majority of people may think.
One example of these generational themes that can be applied to anyone in any particular situation is that it's okay to rebel against the majority of people if you know that it's right. For example, in this story this theme was applied when the zookeeper was supposed to starve his three elephants and could not resist looking at them dying, and fed them. One example of this in the story is when he feeds his elephants "Eat your food! Please drink. Drink your water! All of the other keepers pretended not to see what the trainer had done. No one said a word." This is a very powerful quote from the text because it shows that the zookeeper not only had the courage to pull this act and feed the elephants, but out of all the zookeepers who wanted to feed the Elephants, he was the only who was brave enough to do it. This can also be known as an act of rebellion even though it isn't against the zookeepers, it's against the Japanese government which is a more powerful group of people.
Another generational theme that can be applied to any generation is to make sure that there is no war. As simple as it may sound and sometimes obvious, still today there are wars all around the world. One example of this theme in this story is "Above them in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more. Still clinging to the elephants, the zookeepers raised their fists to the sky and implored 'Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop all wars!" This is an extremely powerful quote because it shows how war not just affects people directly, but it also can affect animals.
In conclusion, this very short story provided many themes that will be held onto for generations. Rebellion and stopping war are lessons that are still trying to be applied today. Wars in Syria and rebellions against dictators in Libya and Egypt over the past few years all started because a group of people didn't agree with the majority, and they knew what they were doing was right. Maybe the way they approached trying to solve their problems could have been modified, but it was the only way to act. People still are trying to constantly stop all wars. And this story is a great example of how one day, maybe we can all be in a world of peace and no war. The author incorporates these themes into a simple short story about three elephants.

Million-Dollar Throw

In the book "Million Dollar Throw" by Mike Lupica, Lupica comes through and provides strong themes to teach the reader. Some of these strong themes include how to handle pressure, and wanting to provide for your family in whatever way you can. It teaches that a kid as young as Nate who is 13, can help his family in the only way he can, with his very good football arm. This may be considered a sports cliché but it doesn't just speak about sports, it relates it back to everyday life.

One way this book teaches a mental lesson and how to handle pressure is when Nate is under pressure to make the million-dollar throw. Since his family is in desperate economic needs, if he were to make this throw, he would solve all the problems to their financial needs. But it teaches a big mental lesson in how to overcome his fear of missing the throw and not bringing back the money. This shows that someone could be very capable of doing something but out of fear of messing up, they do not achieve that goal. It's a big mental fear to overcome but Nate knows it is something he will have to over come.

In conclusion, it shows how mature Nate is because he knows there is pressure on him, but by knowing this, he knows how to deal with it. That shows great maturity for such a young boy who has a lot to weigh down on his shoulders. This book has many themes, but it's most important are overcoming fears and handling pressures.