Prohibition

     In the 1920s an amendment was passed that banned use, ownership, and production of alcohol in the United States. This was the Eighteenth Amendment that was pushed by progressives who had a new and clean image of the government. Almost the whole country was against this amendment. Protests, riots, black markets, all arouse and people were demanding an end to this ban. The poor had absolutely no source in possessing alcohol. However, the rich were able to illegally have ownership of alcohol and smuggle it into their homes. The Great Gatsby was set in the 1920s, during the era of prohibition. Alcohol was difficult to get a hold of and people consumed it at every chance they received. Jay Gatsby, a rich individual who had means of owning alcohol, had extravagant events almost every weekend, in his mansion. These parties consisted of alcohol and that is mainly the reason why large amounts of people attended them. These events were opportunities for people to finally catch a hold of alcohol. The word was probably spread around that there is alcohol at these parties and that is probably the reason why most of the guests were uninvited and unknown to Gatsby. While these guests enjoyed the parties much more than Gatsby, Gatsby would just observe the events and host them, just to provide happiness to these people. Maybe he was against the prohibition and this was his protest against it.
     Also connected to the prohibition, Miss Baker told Nick how Daisy had had her first drink right before her wedding and was not used to it. This was probably due to the prohibition and Daisy had not seen alcohol ever before in her life. Also Jordan explained how while all the women would drink, Daisy would keep her morals straight and keep her reputation high. Even after the end of prohibition, Daisy continued to not drink because it was what she was used to and drinking seemed disreputable to her.

A Dog or a Hero?

"Dog Wakes Owners, Saving Them From Fire in Their Home"

Published on February 18, 2013

The Los Angeles Times 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/dog-fire-wakes-saves-family.html

     Some say a dog is a man's best friend. In this case, a family's dog was not just their best friend, but their hero, too. On Sunday night, a family woke up to the sound of their three-year-old pug barking and trying to grab their attention, in order to try to make them aware of what was going on. The dog smelled fire and sensed smoke and decided to tell her folks about it. The family later called an ambulance and due to early detection, the firefighters were able to put down the fire, leaving no harm to the family or most of the house.

     Some keep dogs for protection. Some keep dogs for entertainment. Some keep dogs in order to not be lonely. In the case of this article, this dog did her part in protecting her family. Dogs have a strong sense of smell and can prevent various troubles from occurring. This dog did the job of even the fire alarm and sensed the fire before the alarm could. So why pay extra for fire alarms when one can pay for one dog and receive the whole package? 

The Colbert Report: One Direction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ejgq0r0SEU

Stephen Colbert is known to satirize almost every aspect of society. In one of his episodes he decided to dedicate a segment to the amazingly talented, British/Irish boy band, One Direction. One usually dedicates a video or a novel to a beloved. Stephen Colbert decided to dedicate this segment to One Direction, not to express his love towards them, but to satirize their famous, hit song "What Makes You Beautiful". He begins by making fun of their name. He states how he does not want "a bunch of... telling America the number of directions we can go at" (Colbert). Then he starts talking about their number one song. He starts out by being sarcastic about the lyrics and how they convey a "great message" (Colbert). One part of the lyrics are "you don't know you're beautiful, that's what makes you beautiful" (One Direction). He contrasts between exaggeration and understatement because although he is exaggerating the simple meaning of the phrase, he is understating the whole song itself, by showing the audience that it makes no sense and is therefore pointless. He uses innuendo and verbal irony at the same time. He states, in a sarcastic tone, how the song gives advice to young women, but he implies how pointless and useless the meaning of the song really is. He uses distortion by twisting the real meaning of the lyrics and satirizing them. Colbert's main purpose was to instill common sense into the public that this hit song actually has no true meaning. He probably wants to change society's new idea of music and have people tell the difference between real and meaningless lyrics.

Thirteen and Pregnant

-"8th Grader Impregnated During Trip to 'March for Life' Event"
-Published on January 25, 2013
-The Onion
-http://www.theonion.com/articles/8th-grader-impregnated-during-trip-to-march-for-li,31038/

Abortion is a controversial topic. Some think it is one's choice and others think it is qualified as death and cannot be done by human hands. Thirteen-year-old Mallory Pickens was at the "March for Life" event fighting against abortion. What she did not know was that she was actually pregnant herself. Yes, thirteen years old, in the eighth grade, and pregnant! The night before she was with her church's anti-abortion organization and apparently she had spent some quality time with one of the members who is also thirteen. Unaware that the thirteen-year-old boy's sperm had won over one of her eggs, she marched on and had her anti-abortion thoughts passed through to the audience. Sources predicted that Ms. Pickens, being fully pro-life, will drop out of school, exclude herself from friends and family, and will suffer depression. Although abortion is wrong, only the parents of the fetus truly feel the situations they might be put through with a child, and all that can be changed in their own lives. For a girl who fought so hard against abortion, what decision might she make now that the issue of keeping and raising a child is in her hands?