Navy yard shooting

On September 16, 2013 our nation was faced with yet another tragedy. Aaron Alexis gunned down 12 workers in the nation's capital at the Washington Navy Yard, where he was working as an information technology contractor. This is a very controversial topic regarding how this horrific event could have been prevented. Our nation has faced many of these insane incidents but what we need to figure out is how this can be stopped.

    Aaron Alexis was not known to be a very mentally stable person. There have been many cases of so called "red flags" regarding Alexis. In 2004, Alexis was arrested for shooting his Glock into two tires of someone's car and told police the man was disrespecting him. In 2008 Alexis was kicked out of a metro Atlanta club for damaging the furnishings, according to a police report, and was later arrested for disorderly conduct.  In 2010, police arrested Alexis after he allegedly fired a bullet through his ceiling into a neighbor's apartment. And lastly, in August of this year, Alexis told police that people were following him and a microwave machine was sending vibrations through this body. 

     The police notified the navy for many of these incidents. The question is why didn't the navy do something earlier to prevent this tragedy. Aaron Alexis was clearly viewed as a person with a mental illness and seemed very dangerous in many aspects. The families of the 12 that were lost mourn to this and probably ask the question "how could this have been prevented".

Syria

     U.S. involvement in many problems happening in Syria is hard for many Americans to understand. Syria is experiencing an absolute tragedy. President Obama wants to get involved due to the Syrian governments use of chemical weapons and he believes it causes a huge threat to our national security.

    The amount of deaths due to the civil war is unforeseen. This war all started because of peaceful protests turning violent from the government of Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government killed 1,429 people due to a chemical weapon attack in the Damascus suburbs. This civil war has caused much tension with many other countries trying to get involved. President Obama wants to help and get involved. He wants to assign a limited strike to punish the Assad regime. Congress first has to approve before this strike is made but Obama is trying to convince them. The U.S. government has donated over five million dollars in order to help the Syrian people. Many American are asking themselves why and think money should be spent on other things. What Americans don't realize is how good we really have it. Smith would agree with this. It is our duty to help the less fortunate, especially in a situation like this when we have all the tools and resources in order to help the people of Syria in this tragic civil war.

      These problems have made us as Americans realize how lucky we are as a nation and how we can help in every possible way. Syria is going through tragedy. We need to help them in this time of need and pure terror in there eyes.

The nature of men

           The concept of taking sides in a fight to the weaker person is an every day occurrence in our modern lives today. A fight is a something that displays strength and weakness. Men will always fight. It is there human nature. A fight will always explain that a man, no matter what circumstances will always be more interested in his own happiness then others.
       The world is split into two different types of people; the dominant and the weak. In paragraph seven , Smith says that Mandeville believes every man only takes part in fights for praise by others and being viewed as the more dominant person. In paragraph seven smith states "Man, he observes, is naturally much more interested in his own happiness than in that of others, and it is impossible that in his heart he can ever really prefer their prosperity to his own. Whenever he appears to do so, we may be assured that he imposes upon us, and that he is then acting from the same selfish motives as at all other times. Among his other selfish passions, vanity is one of the strongest, and he is always easily flattered and greatly delighted with the applauses of those about him. When he appears to sacrifice his own interest to that of his companions, he knows that conduct will be highly agreeable to their self–love, and that they will not fail to express their satisfaction by bestowing upon him the most extravagant praises. The pleasure which he expects from this, over–balances, in his opinion, the interest which he abandons in order to procure it. His conduct, therefore, upon this occasion, is in reality just as selfish, and arises from just as mean a as upon any other." Smith is pretty much saying that in a sense every man is selfish. Even though they try to help the weaker in a fight, they're are only doing it for praise by and audience and being viewed as a strong person. They are only interested in they're self love and perception by other people.
     Men will always reach out to the weaker in any kind of "fight". I agree with smith and believe every man is selfish and that is there human nature. The nature of a man is something hard to understand but a man will always be out for himself.

liam

In order to find sources of the topic on Syria, I would start form the world's greatest search tool, google. Google offers me every source or article based on any topic simply by just typing it in the search bar. My other option would be to start at an online database. The online database would give me many valid articles and not something that may have the possibility of being invalid information. First, I would search the word "Syria". Based off that search I would see what the lastest news and major problems are regarding Syria. Based off of the latest news, the major problems and issues regarding Syria will come out.

Liam

1 Today, the average age an American girl has her first drink is 13; for a boy, it's 11. In the U.S. and many other countries, underage drinking is a widespread problem with often serious consequences. Young people who drink are more likely to be the victims of violent crime, to be involved in alcohol-related traffic accidents, and to have depression and anxiety. Other risky behaviors are also linked to early drinking. Young people who start using alcohol before age 21 are more likely to be involved in violent behaviors, attempt suicide, engage in unprotected sex or have multiple sex partners, and/or develop alcohol problems in later life.

2  "Today, the average age an American girl has her first drink is 13; for a boy, it's 11. In the U.S. and many other countries, underage drinking is a widespread problem with often serious consequences. Young people who drink are more likely to be the victims of violent crime, to be involved in alcohol-related traffic accidents, and to have depression and anxiety. Other risky behaviors are also linked to early drinking. Young people who start using alcohol before age 21 are more likely to be involved in violent behaviors, attempt suicide, engage in unprotected sex or have multiple sex partners, and/or develop alcohol problems in later life."

3 Today, the average age an American girl has her first drink is 13; for a boy, it's 11. In the U.S. and many other countries, underage drinking is a widespread problem with often serious consequences. Young people who drink are more likely to be the victims of violent crime, to be involved in alcohol-related traffic accidents, and to have depression and anxiety. Other risky behaviors are also linked to early drinking. Young people who start using alcohol before age 21 are more likely to be involved in violent behaviors, attempt suicide, engage in unprotected sex or have multiple sex partners, and/or develop alcohol problems in later life. (Helpguide.org)

4 Teenage drinking is a very common issue in the united states. One of the most widespread issues we have ever had. Recent studies have shown that teenage drinking can have alot of long time negative effects such as suicide and violent behaviors.