Carbonated Killer

Do you really know what’s in a can of Diet Coke? Are you just going to believe that Diet Coke is good for you because it says “diet”? Although you may not think a simple can of Diet Coke could cause you much damage, you’re wrong. It is actually slowly eating away at you’re insides, without you even knowing. Diet Coke has been linked to a 61% increase in your chances of having a heart event (stroke, disease, etc.), and a 30% decrease in kidney function, and yet, we still drink it anyway.

One way that Diet Coke is actually very damaging is because of how it tricks your body. Some studies suggest that when our taste buds sense sweetness, the body expects a calorie load to accompany it. When that doesn’t happen, due to the artificial sweeteners in Diet Coke, it may cause us to overeat. This is because we crave the energy rush our body was expecting, and we need to catch up. We do this by eating, and often too much, and get fat. The scary part is, you may do all of this without even thinking that you are craving food. You probably just think of this as hunger, even though it is your body trying to catch up with the artificial sweeteners.

Another way that both Diet and Regular Coca Cola are not beneficial is due to one of Coca Cola’s main ingredients, phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid has a pH level of 2.8, and can dissolve a steak in 2 days, and a nail in 4. So why do you want this in your body? Think of your body as a giant steak, getting eaten away by the soda lurking in your body. In addition, phosphoric acid causes calcium to be excreted from your body at a pace more rapid than normal. As a result, your bones lose calcium and have trouble keeping up with demand. This causes your bone health to drop significantly.

Aside from being a refreshment, Coca Cola also has many other (slightly concerning) uses. In many U.S. states, the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coca Cola in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident. Also, you can apply Coca Cola to car battery terminals to bubble away corrosion, or to clean rust spots from chrome car bumpers. You can even use Coca Cola to loosen a stuck bolt. In fact, the distributers of Coca Cola have been using it to clean the engines of their delivery trucks for about 20 years! Both Diet and regular Coca Cola does all of this, and yet, people still drink it on a regular basis?

As you now know, there are many aspects of Diet Coke that are very damaging to your body. Its artificial sweeteners make you gain weight, and its highly corrosive acids are literally eating away at your insides. Although the label may say, “diet”, that doesn’t make it healthy. Diet Coke is a killer, no matter what labels people put on the can. And if the delivery truck for Diet Coke has to use a warning sticker for “highly corrosive materials”, why should you drink it? Think of all of the cold hard facts that are in front of you. Now, would you like a Diet Coke?

Angels and Demons Prediction

Author's Note: I am not very far in the book yet.. And I feel that my prediction probably will be completely wrong once I read more, but for now, this is what I have.

I think that Langdon is going to get blamed for the murder. I think this because the illuminati (the guys at the lab) are probably mad at him for exposing them through his books and studies.When he gets to the lab, he will probably discover that this was all a setup. Other things that could happen include them killing Langdon, or severely injuring him. Although the guy on the phone seems legit, I feel that something is not right..

Good Vs. Evil

Author's Note: This is my essay for To Kill A Mockingbird, and I hope you enjoy reading it. I also plan to keep editing and revising it.

The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book’s exploration of the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this question by dramatizing Scout and Jem’s transition from a perspective of childhood innocence, in which they assume that people are good because they have never seen evil, to a more adult perspective, in which they have confronted evil and must incorporate it into their understanding of the world.

As a result of this portrayal of the transition from innocence to experience, one of the book’s important subthemes involves the threat that hatred, prejudice, and ignorance pose to the innocent: people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are not prepared for the evil that they encounter, and, as a result, they are destroyed. Even Jem is victimized to an extent by his discovery of the evil of racism during and after the trial.

The moral voice of To Kill a Mockingbird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who is virtually unique in the novel in that he has experienced and understood evil without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical.

 In this way, Atticus is able to admire Mrs. Dubose’s courage even while deploring her racism. Scout’s progress as a character in the novel is defined by her gradual development toward understanding Atticus’s lessons, culminating when, in the final chapters, Scout at last sees Boo Radley as a human being. Her newfound ability to view the world from his perspective ensures that she will not become bored as she loses her innocence.

Speak Up

Author's Note: I know this is very bad but I intend to improve and tweak it.

In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is a normal girl in high school, but when she calls the cops during a party, everything takes a turn for the worse. Her friends won't speak to her, she's doing bad in almost every class except art, and she's afraid to speak. She needs to learn to speak up if she wants to get her friends back, or if she even wants to accomplish anything in life.

This may seem simple, however, throughout Speak, a reoccurring  theme is the negative consequences for speaking up. Every time someone speaks up, they seem to get punished. While speaking up may seem daunting to  Melinda, if she wants things to be better, she's going to have to face the consequences and speak up. At the point she is at now, what does she really have to lose? Her parents don't treat her well, she has no friends, she has bad grades, and it seems as though she might as well give speaking up a shot, because the worst  case-scenario is that there is no difference in her current life.  If she starts speaking, people will see her side of things, she will gain confidence, and she may even gain a few friends.

What Melinda really needs to do is look at her life and say, "What is the worst that can happen if I speak up?" If she does, she may realize that speaking is in her best interest, and is the first step in solving her problems.

Thy Dystopia

Author's Note: This is my second draft of this essay, and I would appreciate any feedback.

In Fahrenheit 451 and The Hunger Games, the power of the government has become so strong that no one questions the decisions that the government is making for its people, even though it really isn’t in their best interest. In both books, the citizens' extreme apathy to stand up to their governments is based on their inability to trust one another, and the fear of the repercussions of questioning authority.

In The Hunger Games, the government has set up a system of oppression in order to control the standard of living of their people. Those deprived of food and other basic necessities are motivated to participate in “the hunger games” in order to improve their standard of living. Others who are living a higher lifestyle are made to think it’s fun and "normal" to watch people kill each other on T.V. because they believe it’s ok since the government itself is sanctioning the hunger games. In a rational world, it would seem counterintuitive that people would watch, let alone volunteer, to participate in a killing game. But this government has positioned the games as a necessity for some, and as a form of acceptable entertainment for others, and neither group thinks to question the system.

In Fahrenheit 451, the government has banned all books based on the fact that they believe that books can be offensive.  There are people who try to keep their books, but if anyone is caught with them, the government quickly sends firefighters to burn the books. Friends and family members turn on one another, so no one knows who they can trust. The government works so hard to try “not to offend anyone” that they actually stifle individuality and many people lose their interest in life.

Both novels demonstrate that when a government has excess power, it can cause downward spirals in their societies. Burning books in the name of “making everyone happy” ends up causing a loss of intelligence, purpose, and meaning in life, so many people are actually not as happy as the government intended. On the other hand, having people kill each other causes much violence, and as people are taught this is okay, the world becomes a dystopia, all at the expense of a bit of entertainment, that could be provided by other means.

These books are examples of the how extremely powerful governments can be damaging with their ways, causing people to greatly alter their way of life. If governments change something to please someone, or themselves, it is often at someone else’s expense. So they can't change things too much, or they could reach the tipping point in which everything becomes a downward spiral, where instead of creating a positive society, they have instead created a dystopia.

The Nightmare

Author's Note: This is a FICTIONAL piece I wrote, inspired my my winter break, during which my family went skiing out west. No, this didn't actually happen to me, or anybody, I hope you enjoy it. Please comment and tell me what was good or bad.

Although Jack was unsure that he could tackle the nightmare, his friends had pressured him into doing so. There was no turning back now, he was already on the chairlift, rising up to his doom, slowly, he glanced down. There it was. The nightmare. So steep that professional skiiers from all around the world came to try and survive it. Finally, they got to the top. He looked down, and started to shake in nervousness. His friends were standing there laughing, then he felt a push. He stumbled forward , and started to glide down the hill. He started off okay, doing some usual turns and such, when he saw a small bump ahead.  He tried to swerve to the right, but his skiies hit an icey patch. He twisted sideways and flew off the bump. He felt weightless as he peered down through his crossed skiis to see nothing but 30 feet of air underneath him. He felt his stomach turn as he plummeted to his doom. Ten seconds later, he heard a loud "CRUNCH!"

A Good Man

Author's Note: I recently had to write an analysis on a quote from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I chose "He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world." This was towards the end of the book, when Scrooge starts acting like a regular jolly person celebrating Christmas. I know its short, but I hope it speaks  message. I might edit it some more and add stuff to it, but I think for now it is a good interpretation of the quote above. Please comment and let me know what was bad/good about it, and what could be improved.

I think this quote goes to show that if you keep up a positive attitude, you can make a huge positive impact on your friends, family, and neighbors and even yourself. Don't be the Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol, a bad friend, master and man. Instead, be the positive influence that you want to see in the world. Be a caring person, just like scrooge was at the end of the book. A good friend, master, and man.