Kidnapped; 1O Whole Years ..

How would you feel if you turned around one day and someone that you were very close with had just disappeared? What if you had never heard from them again? Wouldn’t you assume that they were dead? Well recently I have read an article called “Man charged with kidnapping, raping Cleveland girls” as seen on CBS3 eyewitness news, about three women who were missing for about a decade before deciding to free themselves.

In the article, CBS3 reporters talk about how Ariel Castro held three Cleveland girls captive for about a decade. It was said that he lured them to his car by offering them a ride to where they needed to go, he must’ve looked like a trustworthy person. In the article it says, “Sources tell CBS News the girls and Castro all confirmed that Castro did not force each of the three girls into his car at the initial abductions; he offered them a ride and they went willingly -- but there is no doubt they were kidnappings.” Meaning, that although the girls willingly got in the car, it was still considered the beginning of the kidnapping.

Also in the article, they talk about how neighbors had repeatedly reported the noise of which they heard coming from Castro’s home, and also reported having seen a naked woman in the backyard and police had done nothing about it, in the article, it says “some neighbors said that they had told police years ago about hearing pounding on the doors of the home and seeing a naked woman crawling in the yard.”

I think that there is more that police can do to prevent things like this from happening because if they had responded to the reports of the people, those women would not have been held captive for a decade. I think that the three women had formed a bond while being held captive for so many years. If you ask me, Castro and his two brothers deserve the death penalty

Kendrick Lamar (found poem)

“Would you say that my intelligence now is great relief

And it’s safe to say that our next generation maybe could sleep

With dreams of being a lawyer or doctor, Instead of a boy with a chopper

That hold the cul-de-sac hostage,

Kill them all if they gossip”

Kendrick Lamar, daring; with ambition

Vexing rapper of the day, on a story-telling mission

Good kid, m.A.A.d city ß great hip-hop

Sold 200,000 copies when that album got dropped

Good kid, dark past;

Tremendous verses, prayers last

Accomplishments made, eases to the beat

Excitable star,  who’s gonna knock you off your feet

 I chose this poem because I am into hip-hop and rap music. I like Kendrick Lamar’s style of rap at times, especially in the song “m.A.A.d city” which tells about his life and the things that he’s faced growing up, although he’d always wanted to be something more than what he was. I think that Kendrick Lamar's style of rap is unique and it is more like poetry. I also chose this article to do my found poem off of because it was an article comparing and contrasting Kendrick Lamar and Meek Mill and their two different styles of rap music. It was hard to write this “found poem”. I struggled greatly to come up with an ideal topic and/or what to write.it wasn’t easy to write 14 lines or less about Meek Mill and Kendrick Lamar, so I had to choose one and try to come up with something to say about them in poem form.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/arts/music/kendrick-lamar-and-meek-mill-rappers-with-debut-albums.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The Elephant Effect

Have you ever stopped to think about all the prehistoric animals that once roamed the earth? Are you aware that as we speak millions of elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory? Did you know that we, as the people can try to prevent this? Recently I have read an article called. “Slaughter of the African Elephants” by Samantha Strindberg and Fiona Maisels about how elephants are being driven into extinction by people who are desperate for their ivory.

            In the article, Strindberg and Maisels talk about how elephants are being driven into extinction by humans who don’t care too much about how they place a major impact on our environment, but only kill them for their ivory, which they use for jewelry. In the article, it says “Forest elephants play a crucial ecological role in the life of the forests they inhabit, places of incredible biodiversity and one of earth’s most important carbon-sequestering regions.” Which means that life might change drastically since people are killing off forest elephants just for their ivory.

Also in the article it says, “A universal attribute of humanity is compassion. We protect those in harm’s way. We need to show this compassion to forest elephants, giving them space to roam and protection from danger. Most crucially, people must stop buying ivory. If we do not act, we will have to shamefully admit to our children that we stood by as elephants were driven out of existence.” Which is pretty much saying that elephants are very important to our environment, and in the future when there are no more elephants roaming the earth, there will be no one to blame but us, as humans for buying and selling ivory without having the slightest clue of what it can do to us. Elephants not only have a good influence on our environment, but they also have feelings just as well as humans do. Babies die from heartbreak and loneliness after losing their parents, when killing one elephant, think of how many babies will die.               

I think that it’s wrong to kill elephants just for their ivory. They don’t deserve to die. In fact, they deserve to live much longer than they do. Elephants are part of the reason that humans can live the way that we do. Elephants plant trees, which contribute to our oxygen, helping us to breathe better. So instead of killing elephants.. we should be praising them. Humans can survive without ivory, so is it really worth killing a harmless animal who only contributes to the environment?