Shark Finning [abstract]

Few people ever give sharks a second thought, but if we are to maintain our oceans, that needs to change. While many people fear sharks, the reality of the matter is that sharks kill about 10 people annually, while humans kill +30 million annually. Sharks are a vital part of the marine ecosystem; they were around even before the dinosaurs, and have been the top predators for millennia. If they were to disappear, the entire ecosystem would be thrown out of balance. Animals that were kept in check by the shark’s populations would boom, and with the increase of so many other predators, there would come a large decrease of many prey fish. Reef systems, and other marine habitats, would fall apart; and our own food supply would suffer. However, the root of this problem truly has no bad intentions. The cause of the near genocide that is taking place in our oceans is the result of the demand for one particular bowl of soup. In china, Shark fin soup has been a sign of wealth for centuries, and with the recent increase in the nations middle class, came an increase in demand for shark fin.

The methods that fisherman use when collecting fins from sharks is cruel, and savage; shark meat is of very little value, and most sharks take up lots of space on fishing vessels. This has lead fisherman to simply cut-off the fin of the shark, and dump the often times still living shark back into the water, where it dies a horrible death, either drowning or sinking to the sea floor where they are eaten alive by other fish. Sharks are generally unprotected, and even those that are considered endangered, or reside in marine reserves, are harvested for their fins. Not only are they unprotected, but there is no true regulation of the shark-finning market. In some cases, it is required that the fins be returned to port with the body they came from, but most times, there is no one taking inventory of the number of fins-per-body, and the rule is generally unenforced.

The solution, I believe, should be to gradually add more regulation to the shark-finning market, if not find some alternative to the cruel practice, or completely banning it (I propose regulating first, because it is unlikely that the Chinese middle/upper class would be willing to make a change to what they know as a centuries-old status symbol, and they would likely take offense if we were to ban shark-finning). To regulate the market would take a global effort, so it would probably be easiest to lead by example, and require anyone fishing for sharks specifically to have a permit that allows them to. We should also put a quota of how many any one vessel can harvest, and require the sharks be returned to port fins attached. Anyone who breaks the rule, finning at sea, would lose their permit. If a vessel has lost its permit, it would be searched every time it comes back to port, and if it is caught with sharks, or their fins, on board, they will have their shark-fishing hooks (if they use them) confiscated, and be fined. If the fine is not paid, the boat will be taken.

In Defense of Food

Why do people choose to eat products that are unhealthy for them?

Because its easier/cheaper to get a hold of, and it's what most people are now used to eating.

What roles/responsibilities does the gov't have in framing your traces?
-Product management?
-Education?

I, personally, believe that should try and regulate the amount of chemicals put into our food, but I doubt they will, even if they could.

Barder the Flying Dog

Kevin Baileys parents were both in the military. They had no one else to take care of Kevin in the states. so they took him wherever they went. So when they were both sent to Pakistan, they of course took him with them.
They didn't want Kevin leaving the base at all, but there were no other children there, so his parents decided to get him a dog, Barder. Kevin and Barder quickly became best friends. One of their favorite tings to do was dig, Kevin had tried to build a sand castle a few times, but the sand was far too dry.
One day, while Kevin and Barder were digging, they hit a wierd door like thing. They opened it up, only to find a wierd old man with a great big beard hiding inside. The man looked absolutely horrified at first, but then, realising that it was a child and his dog who found him, he quickly thought up a way to trick them into telling no one they had found him.
He told Kevin that he would give him his "Magic Turbin" if he didn't tell anyone he was there. Kevin, of course, grew excited at the thought of a new thing to play with, and agreed. The man said that he needed to preform a spell before it would work, he then spoke a bunch of gibberish, while putting some LSD he had inside the turbin, then handed it to Kevin. Kevin took it excitedly, and asked, "what was that you put inside, Mister?", The old man replied, "Umm... Fairy dust, now when you wear that turbin, you can fly!". "thanks Mister magic guy, I promise I won't tell anyone you're here!" said Kevin.
Kevin then closed the hatch, and covered it up, then put on the turbin. He suddenly felt a strange rush, jumped on Barders back and shouted, "I'm flying!"

Should the U.S. Get involved in...

The prompt given to us was, "should the U.S. help out in Mexico, Uganda, or England?"

I, personally, don't think we could even afford to get involved in any other country right now. While I have heard about all the violence and riots in Uganda, and I wish we could do something to help sort things out, we already made the mistake of going to the Middle-East, and seem like we're going to have our military stuck there for sometime. I also know of the problems in Mexico, such as the violence with the Cartels. I live just a couple hours away from the border, and do worry about the violence spilling over into the U.S. sometimes, but again, I'm not sure we should "get involved".

Writing in Reverse

Karen Sanders woke up on Tuesday the 8^th of September. It was a bit later than she usually woke up, but she had work off that day. For the past few weeks, she’d had a terrible pain in her back, and had an appointment with her doctor to see what was wrong. She got out of bed, got dressed, then headed for the subway, because unfortunately, the hospital was across town.

After a fairly boring subway ride, she made her way to the hospital. Once inside, she went over to the front desk and checked in, then she noticed a woman that she thought looked an awful lot like her heading for the bathroom. Of course, it was early, and she was tired, so she assumed it was just her mind playing a trick on her. A few minutes later, a young looking nurse called her in, “Hello miss summers!” she said as she lead her down the hall. She looked down at her clipboard, and then said “Says here you’re here for your injection?” Karen sleepily nodded. The nurse led her into a room, sat her down and then left, saying “I’ll be back in just a sec with your injection.”

Karen sat there by herself in the room for awhile, still not quite sure what was going on. The nurse came back in with a rather large needle, saying “Ok miss summers, here is your Morphine.” As Karen saw the needle, she began to wonder what was going on, but it was too late. Just as she was about to say something, the nurse stuck the needle into her arm, and injected her with the morphine. All of a sudden, she completely forgot what she was going to say. “There you go miss summers!” the nurse said, “now let’s get you on your way home.” As they went back into the front office, they passed by the front desk, where the woman who looked an awful lot like Karen was having a heated conversation with a doctor and the receptionist, “I don’t have a back problem, just give me my morphine!” The nurse had overheard this, and suddenly had a look of terror come over her face. “Oh-my-god, Uh… You can find your way home, right miss summers?” she said as she rushed her out the door. “I am SOOO fired…”

This was a project from Government class where we picked a picture out of Bill Sullivan's Turnstile photography project, and write a short story about it. Bill Sullivan’s Turnstile Photography Project