In Class Contribution Essay

Honestly, in this class, I would grade myself with at least a 90 in participation. I regularly attend class, the few times that I have missed I have tried to let you know and have also had decent reasons for missing. I try to vocalize my opinion during class discussions when appropriate and also listen and comprehend other peoples opinions and views to give concise replies. I listen and comprehend what you have to say as well. There is a difference between hearing someone speak, and listening to someone speak. I listen, not hear. I've tried my best with the grammar shmammer, even though one person from our group dropped the class and we were left not knowing when or what our next grammar shmammer was on. I like to think that we did the best we were able to given the circumstances. However, In no way am I blaming the other member who dropped the class what so ever. I did the majority of the readings even though we rarely discussed them. At the end of the day though, no matter my final grade in the class, I can truthfully say that I learned in this class. I will leave this class with knowledge I did not posses prior to this class. Thank you Sweeney, you're not just a professor, you're a TEACHER.

Justice Served?

This is going to be a long post, It's a story that effected one of my close friends in Alabama that happened recently, However names will be changed for privacy. We will call the two people Marcus, and James.

Alright, James is a responsible and intelligent person, who does indulge in smoking Marijuana, typically very carefully and cautiously. This is his tale that ended up unfortunately for him.

One evening, James decided that he needed to pick up some Marijuana, he did smoke for recreation, but also because he knew that he had un-diagnosed Adult A.D.D. One evening in early December he decided that he was going to try to pick up a small amount so he could get through the next week or so of school before the break. Marcus, was extremely sketchy, and told James to meet him somewhere (Public place) to pick up what James wanted. James told me that they parked next to each other and got into Marcus' car. Moments later an undercover police car pulled in front of the car and told both of them to get out, he then told me that they were both put into handcuffs and hilariously, Marcus fainted, not once, but twice. James gave the police his honest story, they searched him and his car and found absolutely nothing. Unfortunately Marcus didn't know what to do and tried to blame it all on James. They both ended up with the original charge of  Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute. That isn't a very good charge to have. Marcus ended up getting arrested, and had his car towed. After that they kept James and continued to talk to him. James was, nor is a drug dealer, however the police tried to get him to flip with the offer of "If you know anyone else you can call and have them meet you here, we will do the whole thing again, have you get in the car, we will pull up, pull both of you out, and once the other dealer is arrested and taken away, you will be free to go, with no charges." Unfortunately, since James wasn't a drug dealer, he knew of no one to call, and as he told me, on a moral stand point, he felt that even if he did know someone, if they hadn't wronged him, he wouldn't do that to someone just to get out of it. Fast forward to the court date. James told me that he was standing there with his lawyer in front of the judge, and to the left was a police officer and their attorney. The lawyer had told James that he had talked to the Judge and the police attorney that it would be amended to simple Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana. This confused James a lot, seeing as how he had nothing on him nor in his car, why was he getting charged with possession? This became clear once the police officer read the report and stated that a transaction was made and that they had confiscated a small amount of Marijuana off of James. I believe James entirely, that he had nothing on him. So in the end, Marcus' lies, and the police officers lies, left him with a Possession of Marijuana charge. Luckily he got the First offender program and only had to go through 6 months of "Good Behavior" probation. Two lies, got James into a terrible situation. The system is corrupt, its not made to serve and protect, its made for money. People try to say colour matters, that's right, colour does matter, but the colours aren't black or white. The only colour that matters now is Green.

We have been talking a lot about gay marriage/ rights in class lately. Everyone has their own opinions, so that is something you need to keep in mind. I believe gay marriage should be legal. Honestly, if two men, or two women who love each other want to be married then they should be able to. I highly doubt that any person who opposes gay marriage is actually gay. It's straight heterosexual people who are against it, which is stupid. It will actually have zero effect on you. It doesn't effect your family one bit. People try to say that they might not be able to raise children properly, honestly I doubt any person would be able to without knowing that the person was raised by two adults of the same sex, know that is what happened. People are stupid. The end.