Affirmative Action2 essays

Affirmative Action2 essays I. We didnt land on Plymouth Rock, my brothers and sisters Plymouth Rock landed on us! Malcolm Xs observation is brought out by the facts of American History. Snatched from their native land, transported thousands of miles in a nightmare of disease and death and sold into slavery, blacks were reduced to the legal status of farm animals. Even after emancipation, blacks were segregated from whites in some states by law, and by social practice almost everywhere. American apartheid continued for another century. In 1954 the Supreme Court declared state-compelled segregation in schools unconstitutional, and it followed up that decision with others that struck down many forms of official segregation. Still, discrimination survived, and in most southern states blacks were either discouraged or prohibited from exercising their right to vote. Not until the 1960s was compulsory segregation finally and effectively challenged. Between 1964 and 1968 Congress passed the most sweeping civil rights legislation since the end of the Civil War. It banned discrimination in employment, public accommodations (hotels, motels, restaurants, etc.), and housing; it also guaranteed voting rights for blacks in areas suspected of disenfranchising blacks. Today, several agencies in the federal government exercise sweeping powers to enforce these civil rights measures. But is that enough? Equality of condition between blacks and whites seems as elusive as ever. The black unemployment rate is double that of whites, and the percentage of black families living in poverty is nearly four times that of whites. Only a small percentage of blacks ever make it into medical school or law schools. Advocates of affirmative action have focused upon these differences to support their argument that it is no longer enough just to stop discrimination. Liberal Democrats feel that ...

10 Reasons Dinosaurs Make Bad Pets

10 Reasons Dinosaurs Make Bad Pets It seems that everyone these days is keeping dinosaurs as pets, what with supermodels tugging tiny Microraptors on leashes and pro football players adopting full-grown Utahraptors as team mascots. But before you fill out the paperwork at your local dinosaur shelter, here are some things you may want to consider. (Dont agree? See 10 Reasons Dinosaurs Make Good Pets.) 1. Pet dinosaurs are expensive to feed. If you dont happen to have a Cycad Hut or Ginkgo Emporium in your neighborhood, you might find it difficult to scrounge up sufficient vegetable grub for your pet Apatosaurus (and your neighbors probably wont appreciate him eating the tops of their shrubs). And do you know how many cute, fuzzy mice, rabbits and Labrador Retrievers the average Deinonychus goes through every day? 2. Its virtually impossible to teach a dinosaur tricks. Believe me, its easier to train your cat to clean your windows than to teach the average dinosaur to sit, fetch or heel. Your pet Ankylosaurus will probably just sit there on the floor and stare at you dolefully, while your teenaged Spinosaurus eats the drapes from the top down. (With a little persistence, though, you might be able to teach a purebred Troodon to roll over.) 3. Dinosaurs create a lot of poop. Unless you live smack in the middle of a turnip farm, you may have a hard time disposing of the hundreds of pounds of poop the average Triceratops generates every day. Flushing it down the toilet isnt an option, and neither is using it for insulation in your attic. Some pet owners have experimented with creating kiln-dried dinosaur-poop furniture, with mixed results. 4. No veterinarian will want to de-claw your dinosaur. For liability reasons, most municipalities require you to trim the claws of any raptors, tyrannosaurs or allosaurs residing in your household. Good luck getting a vet to do thisand, if you do miraculously find someone willing to take on this task, even better luck stuffing your Gigantoraptor into your Honda Odyseey  and shlepping it to the clinic. 5. Your pet dinosaur will want to sleep in your bed. In the wild, dinosaurs are accustomed to hunkering down in rotting foliage, urine-soaked sand dunes and ash pits strewn with rotting carcasses. Thats why the average Styracosaurus will insist not only on sharing your mattress, but layering on every freshly washed duvet cover in the house and using your pillows as antler cozies. 6. Dinosaurs arent very good with children... As much as kids love dinosaurs, its unfair to expect the average Ceratosaurus to reciprocate that affection, especially since a well-fed five-year-old can supply a weeks worth of calories. Teenagers will have a slightly easier time of it; in any case, theyll put up more of a fight before being swallowed head-first. 7. ...or with other dinosaurs, for that matter. So youre looking forward to hauling your pet Majungatholus over the local dinosaur park and meeting that cute chick with the Archaeopteryx  popping out of her handbag. Well, bad news: the only thing dinosaurs hate more than children is other dinosaurs. Take your pet to the dog run instead, then sit back and watch the fun. 8. Dinosaur pet-sitters are hard to come by. Isnt it cute when your neighbors eight-year-old daughter drops by to pet your kitty, feed it kibble and scoop out the litterbox? Well, she might think twice about doing the same for your pet Therizinosaurus, especially given the mysterious disappearance of the last six pet-sitters you hired to do the job. 9. Most cities have very strict dinosaur leash laws. Unless you live in Seattle (for some reason, Seattle is very liberal about these kinds of things) you cant just saddle up your pet Centrosaurus and take it out onto the sidewalk. Flout the rules, and your municipalitys animal-control squad will gladly tug your pal over to the nearest dinosaur shelter, assuming they arent eaten first. 10. Pet dinosaurs take up a lot of room. As a general rule of thumb, the American Purebred Dinosaur Association (APDA) recommends at least 10 square feet of living space per pound of dinosaur. Thats not much of a problem for a 25-pound Dilophosaurus puppy, but it could be a deal breaker if you plan to adopt a full-grown Argentinosaurus, which will require its own aircraft hangar.