Conserve, Reuse, Recycle

Semrau's point is revealed in the sentence "Reuse provides maximum function for given material and energy input."

This sentence as many other parts of this article hold  a lot of information that doesn't make sense until you read further into the essay.  The information is intentionally withheld from the readers.

This absolutely helps the intent of this essay by taking what would otherwise be a normal recycling topic and then engaging you to a much deeper level on the subject.  Conserve, reuse, and recycle are the key words of the article with reuse being the author's favorite of the three. 

In discussing these, he is not referring to cans, bottles, and reusuable shopping bags.  He is talking about donating his body to the Harvard Medical School.

Once you realize that this is what he is doing, this particular writing strategy proves to be very effective.  As he states in the third paragraph that most of us have things we don't or won't use and that someone else can make use of these things.  He is reusing his body when he can no longer be of use on Earth.  He is fulfilling his dream of going to Medical School while helping others.

"Savior of the Nations, Come"

Martin Luther's, "Savior of the Nations, Come", as I see it, makes an excellent appeal of logos and ethos in regards to the Lord's virgin birth and his victory over sin.  We can first see evidence of logos within the beginning stanzas, particularly in the second stanza, by showing the importance and meaning behind the virgin birth.  Not being born of a virgin would simply undermine Christ's divinity, and as Luther states, "Was the Word of God made flesh--Woman's Offspring, pure and fresh. Wondrous birth! O wondrous Child."  The virgin birth affirms Jesus' life of purity and helps show that Christ was more than human.  In the few remaining stanzas, Luther begins to appeal to the reader's emotions by illustrating Jesus' conquer over death, ultimately saving man.  An excellent verse that I thought said it best was, "Thou, the Father's only Son, Hast o'er sin the victory won."  By dying on the cross, we are saved and, for that, we owe God eternal praise.  "Praise to God the Spirit be ever and eternally."  Luther's hymn, in a nutshell, nicely describes Jesus' great triumph over sin and is a great example as to how grateful we should be for his sacrifice. 

Jesus :D

1. Christ was referenced 28 times in Reverend Borghardt's sermon.

2. Verbs: makes holy, slain, is lamb, died, rose, reigns, lives, took sin, is holy, make pure, make blessings, slows, grabs

3. Edward's sermon predominately spoke of God's fearful wrath and judgment.  In his sermon, he discusses the Law and eternal judgment of God by using petrifying images to provoke fear.  Although Christ wasn't mentioned often in his sermon, his words still provide the realism of terror.  He wanted people to become part of the faith by acquiring the fearful wrath of God.  In Borghardt's sermon, it is the complete opposite.  His sermon contains the gospel and grace of God.  The sermon was to simply tell us how great God is by giving us his grace.  His words are more self- assuring.

Maybe the fuzzy dice aren't the way to go?

The Detroit Free Press' staff writer, Matt Helms, recently wrote an article on the rethinking process of harsh vehicle laws of draping objects from your rear view mirror.  Michigan law states that it is prohibited to dangle any type of item from your rear view mirror at any time.  Some of these pieces include graduation tassels, jewelery, flashy beads, and even air fresheners.  Legislature will possibly amend this law in the near future by allowing drivers to showcase small items that don't obstruct their vision while driving.  As of now, police forces do have the authority to enforce this law on Michigan drivers. 

The best quote in this article is said by Steve Purdy. He announces, "Unless it's large and an obvious obstruction, it's just silly for police to pull somebody over for that. People aren't hurting anybody and they're not causing any danger". This is the way that all law enforcers should view this law.  It is absurd for a police man or woman to pull someone over for this type of scenario.  If the article hanging from the rear view mirror is a distraction for other drivers and as well as yourself, then yes, police forces should take immediate action.  Objects as simple as a rosary should not be in effect for punishment.  

I do disagree with this ban.  I say this because many people already flash their personal items in their mirrors as it already is. It is simply foolish for a cop to be staking out certain drivers with objects dangling from their rear view mirrors.  If that is what a cop is searching for while on the job, he is definitely missing a lot of other action out on the road.  I also disagree with this ban, because there is much more distraction on the road to be worried about other than easy, rear view mirror accessories.  Another personal view comes from a personal experience.  I, myself hang nothing from my rear view mirror.  Recently backing out of the driveway, I failed to check my rear view mirror and ended up smashing my brothers 2010 Chevrolet Malibu.  It is not the accessories that stream from the mirrors to be distracting, it is clearly the drivers being distracted. 

Why play the race card?

In one of  Mitch Albom's recent articles in the Detroit Free Press, he makes many valid points about LeBron James and his large ego. Following LeBron James' "The Decision", he went from being known as league MVP and one of the most popular athletes in all of sports, to one of the nation's most hated sports figures. In a recent conversation with James, CNN's Soledad O'Brien attempted to identify the reason for his fallout amongst fans and questioned if race played a factor. LeBron quickly agreed and said, "I think so at times. It's always, you know, a race factor." 

Albom strongly opposes. He suggests instead of taking responsibility for his own actions, LeBron deflects the blame and uses racism as a scapegoat. LeBron makes no mention of the fact that the hatred towards him was fueled because he held the city of Cleveland hostage by delaying his free agency decision by creating his own television special to dump on his home state of Ohio.  LeBron was raised in Akron, Ohio and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers, but by egotistically choosing to "take his talents to South Beach" in front of viewers watching all over the world, it is obvious LeBron only cares about himself.

I agree with Albom 100%. LeBron James shifts the blame on racism, because he is not willing to admit what he has done. He has lost the respect of millions of people. Nobody demanded that he stayed in Cleveland, but at the same time nobody expected him to embarrass his home like that. Furthermore, by blaming race, he takes the easy way out. 

Albom's most effective argument in the essay is that previous to "The Decision", LeBron had never made it apparent that he had any racial adversity against him.  Albom points out that "the moment you suggest someone is motivated by a prejudice, you can never prove it wrong, and you can always attack the accuser." LeBron looks for sympathy by blaming race, but his actions overshadow any hope for fans to see him as innocent.  So then again, why play the race card?