Ridiculous, Irrational, and yet...Typical Detroit

Culprits: Waldemar and Louise Quade
Fine: $130
Location: Brightmoor
Violation: Misplacement of trash can?!

Sounds insane, right?

After pleading with the city of Detroit for years to clean up the dirty and dangerous streets near their home, the Quades were recently fined $130. These longtime, responsible residents were for leaving their trash can out on their curbside for more than 24 hours. Although they were simply confused as to when the trash was going to be picked up (since it was President's Day) a city functionary still found it necessary to swoop in and save the day!

"I never have been so humiliated in my life as I have been with this stupid thing with the garbage container," Mr.Quade expressed his anger after this event, "I see cans out at the curb all the time. Are those people getting tickets?"

Columnist Stephen Henderson agreed with the irrational action taken by the city's Next Detroit initiative. He uses logos throughout his article to show the city's lack of common sense. He asks, “Shouldn’t the city be working on the real problems in the neighborhood, like taking out the burned-out heaps, rather than hassling responsible home owners with tickets for their garbage cans?" This reveals that the city's priorities are what are really misplaced. If the city were not the ones confused here, this incident would not have occurred. Henderson explains the contrast of the negligent residents surrounding the Quades that make their home seen like an "oasis in an area that is just a disaster."
He further shows the senselessness of the situation by bringing up the tree trimmers. He uses sarcasm to enforce his point: Detroit's clean-up crews are focusing on the wrong aspects of the city. "So while there's no apparent move afoot to deal with the squatters or the fires or the trash, at least the trees will be nicely pruned."

Darnell's Message to Kwame...

Darnell Gardner, Jr., a junior at Davis Aerospace Technical High, recently wrote an extremely emotional, logical, and effective essay describing his opinion on the recent events in Detroit, surrounding Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

The logical order and passion of Darnell’s essay play a huge role in why it is effective. He begins his essay identifying his point of view, so that the reader can relate to him from the very start: “I am a lifelong Detroit resident, a student in the Detroit Public Schools, and a child of a tax-paying single parent." This identifies him as one who knows firsthand what it is like to live in Detroit, knows what the conditions of the schools are, and is living in a one-income home, which has a write to be concerned with how their hard-earned tax money is going to.

Darnell also describes where he is coming from- that his words are "no tainted with 'bigotry' or a product of some 'lynch-mob mentality'. This shows that he is writing out of concern for his future and the future of the city that he lives in; his words are sincere and his thoughts are genuine.

This Detroiter also expresses how difficult it is getting to defend this city. He states, “I was ridiculed, alienated and even called ‘white’ by both black and white students. But I did what many other Detroiters still do on a regular basis: try to uphold the image of our city.” It is bad enough that we are struggling to sustain hope for Detroit, but to have one of our own government leaders add to that struggle, instead of abolish these negative thoughts, is even worse. Forget calling his scandal a “personal issue” or one that does not concern the citizens; he cost Detroit $8.4 million. This is enough to make local news, national news, and further destroy the city’s reputation. He is reminded of this by the 'decay' of Detroit that he is forced to see every day. He contrasts his once "gem of the city" neighborhood of East English Village, to the unpeaceful, deteriorating, and unsafe area it has become.

The term "gem" is also used later to describe the now "lost" and "fading" Renaissance High and Belle Isle. Darnell fears that Kilpatrick has failed to recognize any value the city might have left. This fear extends to the children enrolled in Detroit school systems as well. Darnell explains next how some children are even incapable to write a legible and understandable essay. As Darnell explains, "education is the backbone of any successful community. It matters not how much you repair a place if the people who will inhabit it have no education. They will just turn to various forms of crime and end up destroying everything that was created." It is apparent that Darnell knows where to start in repairing Detroit, but it is pathetic that Kwame does not possess enough common sense to realize what even a junior in high school can figure out. This goes for the mayor's scandal as well, "The mayor is clearly a sharp man; can he not see the ramifications of his actions?" It is obvious that Kwame is only hindering Detroit's ability to turn itself around. Darnell supports this by saying that the mayor has "embarrassed this city", "disgraced us", "furthered stereotypes about blacks and Detroit", and has "disparaged the work so many of us have done." With this said, I completely agree with his message to Kwame: "GIVE US A BREAK AND PLEASE LEAVE OFFICE."

Worthy Sets the Record Straight

Kym's point is clear: "even children understand that lying is wrong." It is obvious that there is no justifiable excuse for Kwame. Whether a juror, lawyer, judge, or elected official takes an oath, honesty is always vital. Kym uses logos throughtout her comments, when pointing out that even children have enough common sense to know that lying is unacceptable. She also says that whenever the "moral force" of "honesty, integrity and honor" is "mocked or downplayed or ignored or laughed at or excuses [are] made for them", it cannot be ignored.
She follows this use of logos by describing the consequences of lying: "if a witness lies, innocent people can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don't deserve. And lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it." This is especially important when dealing with public figures. When the eyes of the city are on leaders such as Kwame Kilpatrick, and he decides to make a mistake that compromises his morals and causes the city to question his motives, it makes a difference. It doesn't matter if you are 5 or 45, when someone lies, there will be consequences. How can the people of the city be expected to lead morally sound lives of integrity and honesty, when this simple trait, understandable by even children, cannot be accomplished by their own mayor. Kwame's actions set an example, whether he realizes it or not. If there are no consequences for his actions, he is mocking the judicial system and everything that it stands for.

"Witnesses must give truthful testimony. And we have to demand that they do...it is perjury if there is lying and perjury is a crime."

Most people wouldn't expect their own mayor to be committing any crimes, but sadly Kwame has violated every one of the "fundamental principles of the justice system": not telling the truth, not taking responsibility for his own actions, not admitting when he was wrong, being unfair, taking things that weren't his, and not realizing that there are consequences for his bad behavior. Kym expresses that even though these may seem to be "fairly simple" and that "we learned them all as children", Kwame has thrown these, along with the principal of honesty out the window. And, just as a child temporarily loses the trust of his/her parents, Kwame has also "trampled on the public trust." But sadly for him, it is not going to be as easy as being a prisoner to the timeout chair or serving time in his bedroom to pay for this mistake.
Kym also uses logos again to help the reader understand that this is not a private or personal matter, as some are calling the scandal. She states, "our investigation has clearly shown that public dollars were used, people's lives were ruined, the justice system was severely mocked...this case is about as far from being a private matter as one can get." It is obvious that once his decisions start effecting the lives and well-being of the public, it is no longer personal. Now that Kwame is forced to realize that his actions do have an effect on others, we'll see how he tries to get himself out of this one, with the public's love, trust, and support no longer on his side.

Own Up, Kwame

Does Kilpatrick really think that by calling the public unethical he will point the blame even an inch away from himself? Talk about not taking personal responsibility for your actions! Kwame strayed from his planned speech in an attempt to free-style his way back into the hearts of Detroiters. He resorted to the usage of pathos to appeal to the emotions of those listening in the audience. By pointing the finger at the people, he tries to cause others to pity him, instead of victimize him. He mentions his wife and children, yet he is the one that hurt them the most; he says that he loves and is focused on Detroit, yet he provides its people with an immoral and untrustworthy leader. This supposed spur-of-the-moment strategy, which was meant to redeem him, will prove to be ineffective on the less than simple-minded Detroiters.
Also, as if manipulating the hearts of Detroiters isn't enough, Kwame also attacks their character. Ironically, Kilpatrick says that THEY are the ones who are REALLY unethical. He makes remarks about "illegal lynch mob mentality", and "hate-driven bigoted assaults" on his family. He thinks that by using ethos to focus on others' character, the public will examine themselves, and realize that their integrity should be questioned, instead. Kwame is cleverly getting away with using these condemning strategies, (while actually criticizing their integrity) because of his careful choice of words. It is shocking that by pretending to “side” with those listening, he believes that others will not see through his speech of deception. "WE've never been in a situation like this before"; "I humbly ask that WE say 'no more' together." Kwame can pretend that he is focused on Detroit's best interests, but he is only fooling himself.

Liberals Say the Darndest Things

Contrary to popular belief, liberals aren't as open-minded as they say they are. In Larry Elder's column, "Open-minded Liberals?" he discusses why their title of being a liberal, contradicts their actual beliefs. And who would be better to tell us than the liberals themselves? His column would have been just another opinion, had he not used the examples of dialogue and factual quotes in the way that he did. Elder gives his opinion AND proves his point solely by quoting others, using the "they say" strategy.
In this column, the reader is given countless (or perhaps 6) examples of liberal Democrats comparing Republicans to Nazis, and their differences to "a struggle of good and evil." But, Elder's strongest support is his dialogue between a local barber and himself. In their discussion of politics, the (liberal) barber's first response to Elder's support of Bush was "WHY?!" Even before the conversation gets started, the barber’s shock reveals his lack of respect for Elder’s opinion, and inability to accept that one’s opinion might be different than his. The barber goes on to say that 9/11 was an inside job that Bush was behind, without any proof or reason except that "he did it to kill black people" (of which the majority was actually Caucasian). His weak arguments show how simple-minded and naive he was. The barber simply disagreed for the sole purpose of disagreeing; his series of answers shows no proof of reasoning whatsoever. He could not stand to be wrong, and was too stuck in his ways to be corrected. I agree with what Elder is saying, not because of Elder’s opinion, but because of his convincing use of the “they say” strategy.

OMG! GTG! BBL! TTFN! TTYL? LOL!

R u confused by this new age way of dialogue exchange? Or do u find urself speaking in IM code during a typical conversation? Nothing seems 2B fast enough 4 the busy American these days, and AIM/Text Messaging lingo proves it. This cartoon illustrates society's need 4speed.
Obviously, Tigger can't seem to get away fast enough. In fact, all of that rushing seems to have costed him his grammer skills!
Now, I do not find this new age way of communication a plague on society, though some may disagree. I do not believe that being in an IM conversation or a simple "txt msg" exchange will lead to bad grammer habits or that the act itself is dangerous. However, if you find yourself compromising your exercise for a 24 hour IM conversation, going on about what your favorite poptart is or what your dog is doing right now, we have a problem.
The issues that even I've experienced through all of this is that nothing seems to be fast enough for our busy lives, and no one seems to take the time to smell the proverbial roses anymore! Feel like chatting? Chat! But don't forget to stop and let the steaming keyboard cool down every once and a while.

Stepping Out of our "Selfish Comfort Zone"

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2007/sep/29/outgrow-the-selfish-need-to-exclude-others/

I absolutely love the way that Jeanie Miley often begins her columns in a parable-like fashion, with a short bit about her 3-year-old grandchildren. This causes the reader to see the nonsense in the situation, and then goes on to give the reader a reality slap, by relating the exact subject to their lives. Genius.
In this Christian columnist’s article, "Outgrow the selfish need to exclude others" she wonders if it is possible to learn from others that are different, rather than single them out or ignore their presence. She says that many times, children and adults alike need a "home base" in life- to be with a group they feel comfortable around.
I completely agree with her. When I'm in an awkward situation or I'm feeling out of place, it is always good to be around people that are "like you." In that same way, it is also natural to see that person who is different or being left out, and continue to leave them isolated. Why is it so hard to step out of our selfish "comfort zones?"
If I were to address a different audience with the same topic, I wouldn't change a thing. Whether she is talking to a different race or an older age group, she explains her point in a simple way without shunning her audience or being discouraging. Looking back at my job coaching piano, I have learned a lot about myself by watching how the kids I teach act towards each other. It is always easier to put myself in their shoes, rather than the shoes of someone in my age group. The conflicts they go through in their lives aren't all that different from mine, and are often easier to understand. With children, so much is black and white. They don't overcomplicate things, their logic is simple, and they usually tell it like it is. By translating an everyday struggle into child's situation, the message is delivered straight forward and quick to the point. This makes it easy to reach any group of people in an understandable way. And who said we couldn't learn from children?