50 Questions

1. When did the 10 commandments first become visible in public areas?
2. Does the 10 Commandments posted in public pose a public safety hazard?
3. How many lawsuits have been filed over the 10 Commandments being placed in public areas?
4. Do the 10 Commandments, being a tenet of many different religions,and represents the morals of many people and faiths, really bring up a seperation of church and state issue?
5. Has anyone ever been hurt by seeing the 10 commandments in a public area or a court house?
6. Has the ACLU brought awareness of the 10 commandments to a higher level in the United States?
7. Are the 10 Commandments displayed in public places in other countries?
8. Are the 10 Commandments banned in other countries? Which ones?
9. What were the circumstances of the first court case involving the 10 commandments?
10. How many states are currently being challenged for having a 10 commandments monument?
11. Were the 10 commandments offensive to anyone before television media told us that it was?
12. What do the public opinion polls reveal about how Americans feel about having a monument of the 10 commandments in a public place?
13. WHat is the cost for legal fees for the public to defend the free speech aspect of the 10 commandments monuments.
14. Do the courts have to answer this question separately in every, city, state and county to see if it is constitutional in some cities and not others?
15. Are religious civil liberties less valuable than Atheist civil liberties?
16. Which state has had the most law suits over the 10 commandments?
17. When did the 10 commandments first become controversial?
18. Are there other occasions in history that the 10 commandments were not allowed to be displayed?
19. Who first brought the complaint to court and what were the damages?
20. Should the court allow 5 of the 10 Commandments to be displayed for a compromise?
21. What type of displays have been challenged, were they equal, or is there more added which adds to the public objection?
22. What does covet mean?
23. Are the 10 Commandments part of our legal history?
24. Should the 10 Commandments be displayed in schools, and civic buildings?
25. Should public leaders be allowed to speak of God or Prayer in public speeches?
26. Is there a different context in which the 10 commandments are displayed which could be acceptable to all people?
27. Why is the 10 commandments monument such a big deal?
28. Were the monuments already there or did they start sprouting up all over the place after litigation processes began?
29. How many organizations are funding the legal battles for the public right to display the 10 commandments?
30. How many organizations are funding the legal battles to ban the 10 commandments displays on public buildings?
31. WHat is the purpose of a court decision on this issue anyway since it is always appealed?
32. Are the 10 commandments necassary?
33. Have the 10 commandments monuments ever done anyone any good?
34. Do any of our US laws or State laws look similar to any of the 10 commandments?
35. Are Lawyers getting richer from the 10 commandments controversy?
36. Are Religious leaders jumping on the bandwagon to make money from the 10 commandments controversy?
37. How much money does it cost the tax payers to remove the 10 commandments displays? How much of that is renovation cost, and how much is court cost?
38. Does the 10 commandments displayed make society a better place, reducing crime etc?
39. Was there a time when there was a movement to display the 10 commandments? Was there a controversy regarding their being displayed in the first place?
40. Who funded the dispays, Public or Private?
41. Are the 10 commandments the basis for civil laws as well as religious laws in other governments?
42. How does the display of the 10 commandments reflect the history of the United States?
43. Where was the most recent monument of the 10 commandments placed? How long ago?
44. Is it more tolerant to see a 10 commandment display or is it more tolerant to remove one?
45. Is the ACLU making money on these constitutional legal battles>
46. Are cities removing 10 commandment displays to divert liability to a lawsuit in reference to recent cases?
47. Is ousting the 10 commandments considered a good cause by many American Citizens?
48. Are there 10 commandment displays in other languages in the Untied States?
49. Are there any remaining public monuments of the 10 commandments in Kentucky or Texas?
50. What will the future be for historic monuments that have 10 commandments displayed on them?

Grammar Post March 11, 2009

The / is called a Virgule. Also known by other names such as, Slant, Slash, Solidus. Virgule separates extended dates like 2008/09 school year.
Virgule represents "per" as in mi./sec (miles per second).
Virgule stands for the word or as in boy/girl.
Virgule separates lines of poetry.
And of course Virgule is used by computer users as you know.

For more information about Virgule go here


http://essayinfo.com/sguides/virgule.php

"Two Ways a Woman Can get Hurt":Advertising and Violence By Jean Kilbourne

In this essay by Jean Kilbourne, many points are brought up about how advertising about products by using women in a visibly vulnerable situations, has become accepted and more common. Speaking of word economy, the pictures were worth 1,000 words and that was definatly utlized in the essay to make a point. Her analysis of the advertising was insightful and informative. Certainly some of the advertisements are cultural abuse due to the fact that what they are showing is criminal in nature, however I think that advertisers choose to sell their products this way because the public does have an appetite to see these types of images due to to popularity of these things in movies as well as in the porn industry. Putting porn into advertising is a sure way to get their product noticed either way, such as the Calvin Klein ads that were pulled, leading to more attention in the media and resulting in higher sales. The gender reversal test which Kilbourne applies to some of the advertising shows the slant against women very effectively.

"Two Ways a Woman Can get Hurt":Advertising and Violence By Jean Kilbourne

Poetry Reading by David Lee

Before attending this Poetry reading I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know what a Poet Laureate was either. David Lee was introduced with a long resume of experience including baseball player, and military service along with writer and college professor. I had to look up what Poet Laureate means. According to wikipedia it is a government appointment, and so David Lee was the first one to be appointed by the State of Utah to write poetry about the state. He read some of that poetry which described the beauty and culture and history of the desert, the rain, the mountains. He said he liked to speak to other writers in his writing, and he also introduced his writing with a background and other sources such as music refernces or Bible references. As he read his poetry he used hand gestures to emphasize the imagery. He has a warm southern way and talks like Andy Griffith. My very favorite poem that he read was a narrative poem "House made of Time".

Comma vs semicolon

A comma links two independant clauses with a conjunction following the first independant clause. A semicolon links two independant clauses without a conjuction.
Independant clauses could be independant sentences. A semi colon is a comma PLUS a dot above. So you can remember to use it similarly to a comma, but it has a little more power, you don't need to use conjuction. The semi colon is used in cases where you prefer the reader to make the connection rather than the writer such as in humor.
Semicolon can also be used with a transition such as- in addition to, however, otherwise, and therefore. For more insights on the uses of commas and semicolons look here.

Roots of Debate in Education....

In Deorah Tannen's essay titled: The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue the qualities and drawbacks of debate in the academic setting are examined. She starts off by criticizing the technique of classroom debate, showing that only a few are realy participating and that it is easy for teachers to set up. She then goes into a historical picture of how this technique became prevalent in an academic setting while pointing out that women have not had the advantage of it. The article ends up with a plethora of examples of how in a broader academic setting,such as in academic publishing, it is still the easy way for a few to get academic recognition and tenure.
I was suprised to learn that in Europe the debate or challenge is a compliment to the teacher and they welcome it. It reminds me of the cultural difference of saying Yes Sir or Yes Ma'am in the South as an accepted way of showing respect and is expected while here it is considered rude or sassy to call anyone Ma'am or Sir.
Tannen really argues her point to the very end, mostly against the debate, but the tone of how the cards are stacked against women in the arena of academic debate comes through her writing very strong. The debate issue is saturated with men vs women throughout her writing which I think has a strong case for women learn in a different way than men. She points out that males are more active as youngsters and thrive in a 'fighting to learn' environment. The "show and tell" example, while I couln't see the connection to debate, did seem to have a strong suggestion that females might learn better in a relational value based learning envirornment.
I believe that critical analysis is present in this essay. She does point out that in some cases the debate is a useful tool in learning and in teaching although much of the information in her essay I believe makes an unintended point.