Food fight Upfront essay by Aidan Arbona

In the most recent article of Upfront magazine by scholastic a topic which had been brought up was if other countries should be allowed to market items that were named after or for a place in Europe where it was made. They also think that by banning American companies from using the European names on their products that European food companies will be able to record better sales in America. These presumptions are both wrong as most of the founders of the companies that make these foods in America were immigrants from that country who brought with them their recipes. Also as studies have shown Americans are baragain hunters and American foods will always be cheaper to buy than European foods.

In the late 1800's millions of people started immigrating to America. Many of these people came from European nations, bringing with them their culture. So the people producing these foods in America more often than naught were taught these recipes from their parents   and then decided to sell them for a living eventually making their small business a mass produced monster.

Also most Americans love deals. This is shown by the sales of mass produced foods and dinks such as "Budweiser" and "Bud Lite". These two beers have certainly never been respected as the best beers on the planet yet the Budweiser company according to Forbes.com is worth more than $20,000,000,000. This is because when compared to import beers each package of Budweiser is much cheaper. This is because of import taxes which raise the price of imports generally by around 10%. Plus State taxes so a once five dollar beer is now a seven dollar beer.

In conclusion if the European Union made America ban the use of putting European names on American foods they are disrespecting their family which immigrate to America, they are also putting themselves at a great financial risk as Nobody would buy their product over an American product. To round things off as Senator Tammy Baldwin states"Frankly...some of our Wisconsin processors are making better forms of [cheese] products than the home countries.

Romeo and Juliet Essay by A. Arbona

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, are kept apart because of their families’ feud, and eventually end up taking their own lives. If I were asked who was to blame for these deaths and all of this suffering, I would say that Tybalt is the cause of these lovers’ deaths. This is because if he had listened to his uncle’s orders neither he nor Mercutio would have died in Act Three.  If Tybalt had not challenged Romeo and fought with Mercutio, then Romeo would not be exiled and Juliet would not have had to partake in the Friar’s plans.

In Act One, Scene Five, Tybalt shows to Capulet that Romeo is at their party Capulet answers by saying “Content thee gentle coz. Let him alone.” Which shows that Capulet wants to keep the peace and therefore is less to blame. If Tybalt had listened to Capulets’ orders, then he would not have sent his challenge to Romeo which would have stopped the accidental encounter of Mercutio and Tybalt. This would have eliminated all chances of Tybalt fighting Romeo. Which would erase the tragic ending to this play. It would also end up saving four lives or more, which were unavoidable after this event.

 If Tybalt had listened to Capulet’s orders, this would have stopped Romeo from killing Tybalt to avenge Mercutio’s death, then Romeo would not have been banished after the skirmish between himself and Tybalt. It is clear that Romeo did not want to fight, as he says in Act Three Scene One, “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining  rage to such a greeting.” However Tybalt does not listen and instead fights and kills Mercutio. Due to this Romeo, feels that he must avenge Mercutio and kills Tybalt in a duel, leading directly to his banishment, when the Prince says that because he killed Tybalt “… immediately do we exile him hence…” If this fight had not taken place it would have prevented the series of events leading to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

While you may argue that Tybalt is not to blame for their suicides, as he had no role in the events occurring after Romeo’s banishment, the death of Tybalt is a major reason for why Capulet decides to arrange a marriage for Juliet immediately.  In Act Five Scene Three, Lady Capulet says, “Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child, One who, to put thee from thy heaviness, Hath sorted out a sudden day of Joy…” The threat of the marriage made Juliet take the sleeping potion that would ironically be the cause of Romeo’s death.

In conclusion Tybalt is at fault for the deaths of the star-crossed lovers, because if he had acted less rashly, Romeo and Juliet would not have killed themselves. They might have found a way to run away together and live happily for the remainder of their lives. However maybe it was a good thing that it ended the way it did because peace could not be brought to the families in any other way.

"Nazi" this wprd which means so much should we ban it? by A. Arbona

In recent events a group of prosecutors in Israel have been attempting to pass a law that would ban the word "Nazi" by placing a fine on whoever had the misfortune or had the nerve to say it. Usually I would argue against this type of behavior as it violates peoples rights to ban certain words, but un this case I say ban it, and make sure no one ever says it again. Everyday someone curses they say F___k or Sh___t , but those words mean sex and poop. What's so bad about that again? Now when you say "Nazi" what you are saying is death, peril,genocide,betrayal,insanity, and death to all Jews. That is a curse word if there every was one, and in fact I think that its above a curse word I believe it is a sign that you are a horrible person for saying a word like that casually. According to the article if you say "Nazi" in Isreal, after the act is passed that you could serve up to 6 months in prison with a fine of $29,000. While that may be severe for saying a word, think about what the Nazi's did to the world. This of course is not an issue that will ever occur in the U.S.A. as we are controlled by are constitution, also as America is filled obstinate people who say it everyday on Youtube, FaceBook, and everything else that they can get their hands on. So I agree with the prosecution, the word Nazi should be banned, and the last thing I wish to say about the topic is why they didn't bring this fight earlier. The sooner we forget the holocaust the better.

Fishing for Memories, a sonnet by A. Arbona.

As days go by I swing my line through time.

I fish for memories that I once lost.

The harsh defeat like bitter taste of lime.

The memories upon my past embossed.

Intrinsically obsessed with rod and reel.

I fish this lake for what I cannot find.

The happiness is fake, sadness is real.

Nothing else matters in my state of mind.

But I will not concede defeat quite yet.

My memories of you are worth too much.

So I will hold your smile and not forget.

But there is no way to feel your touch.

As minds explode and thoughts flow red forever.

I wonder if we could have died together.  

 

Espada essay by A Arbona

Espada Essay

In Martin Espadas poems many irrational decisions and brutal misjudgments are made based on emotional responses. This is shown in Espada’s works like “The New Bathroom Policy” when, because he is afraid of losing power to his students, the principal bans Spanish in the school bathrooms. Also, in another of Espada’s poems entitled “A Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” Espada wants to take extreme action when his name is mispronounced because he believes that they are offending his culture. Another example in Espada’s work is the “Two Mexicanos” in which the fear of different people coming into America causes white vigilantes to kill the Mexicans and then take a picture of themselves hanging them.    

“The New Bathroom Policy” shows how fear can corrupt someone who is in a role of power and can end up influencing them to create ignorant situations. In the poem, the Principal is afraid that two Spanish boys are talking badly about him so he does something irrational and unconstitutional.  His paranoia is demonstrated when Espada states that “…The only word he recognizes is his own name/ and this constipates him”, showing that he’s afraid of what he doesn’t know which leads to him making an irrational decision, by banning Spanish in the bathrooms. By writing about the situation in this manner Espada brings a sense of humor to the situation by demonstrating how stupid the Principal really is.

In “A Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” Espada is provoked by the mispronunciation of his name because he feels that his name represented his culture and by mispronouncing it you are directly insulting his culture. “Whenever my name is mispronounced, I want to buy a toy pistol, put on dark eyeglasses, push my beret at an angle, comb my beard to a point, hijack a busload of Republican tourists from Wisconsin…” This quote shows how when offended Espada can have irrational over-the-top ideas. A corresponding observation I made was that even a very responsible calm man like Espada can be influenced by emotions in such a powerful way.

Finally in “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” A group of white vigilantes’ hatred for the Mexican’s and other Latin cultures drove them to take a picture with two young men whom they had just hung. Why they hated the Mexicanos could only be because the Mexicans are different from the Whites. So the Whites hate them for being different, and that emotion of hatred causes them to illegally murder the Mexicanos publicly. Espada’s description of “…A high collar boy smirking,”, shows that they don’t care about the Mexicano lives.

In conclusion, Espada’s poems show how emotion effects the rationality of the decisions people make. Whether it is fear, hatred, or anger, it always effects the way people act and think.  Espada uses this to show us how people use emotions to lash out at one another. The situations that Espada use in his poems show that he cares about the issues affecting Latin American’s that occur within our society.

        

                                                                                      

The Stand prt 1 by A.Arbona

First off today is my birthday WOOOHOOO!!!, but other big news I finally started a blog book series that I will probably have five parts to, why is this you may ask? Well its because I'm reading The Stand by Stephen King, which of course means that it is 1153 pages long. Wow.

Now onto the actual blog, The Stand is about a disease which will inevitably kill off 99.4% of the population not just in the little town where the story takes place but the entire world. So those who survive have to choose the path of order or chaos, civilization or the dark ages. Unfortunately I am not up to that part in the story and only know about the post-apocalyptic part of this book because of the blurb. As of now I have just been introduced to all the main characters Stu, Franny, and the others which I cannot remember as of now.  All of the main characters have been exposed to the virus so I can only assume that they are going to die. Not all of them but most.

As of now I deeply enjoy the book. I enjoy its realism as it really shows social issues happening today on paper, it covers the topic of abortion, family, mistrust, hatred, love, and how all of the feelings and issues go by in the blink of an eye. Also the power of the situation, as Franny is forced to make a choice that may involve the destruction of her child.

So I like the plot so far and am deeply intrigued by The Stand and will continue reading it until I am finally finished with all One Thousand One hundred and Fifty Three pages of it excluding the Forward. See you next week!
   

Poetry by A.Arbona

Poetry really is a beautiful thing , it stirs the minds of the readers and makes them think in ways they would have never thought before. Even short poems like most of the ones in Shel Silverstein's collection of poetry books sometimes raise tears, but why does poetry affect us like this?

According to Elise Curtin in her article "Poetry shown to have a music-like effect on the brain", a string of words in a certain tempo stimulates an emotional response from the body, which effects the brain by  putting it in a minor trance.

I also believe that poetry reaches the brain in an intellectual manner by exercising the minds responsiveness and stimulating deep thought, which will increase the reader's ability to make choices better in the future and have a stronger opinion  about what they believe is right.

So in conclusion, poetry improves the mind and the body and, if you really believe in poetry, the spirit. I hope you take my theory to heart and think about this, how does poetry effect you?