Persuasive Essay

Should Minors be Allowed to Consume Alcohol in Their Own Homes?

Olivia Sutter

Mrs. Biggers

English 10

21 October 2013

            Alcohol is a substance deemed only for use in adults over the age of 21 in the State of Idaho. Many other States have expanded their laws to allow minors to consume alcohol within the confines of their own home. Should this be changed in our state too? Many problems could potentially arise if this was changed. It could be the cause of many accidents and could be a factor in the creation of drunks at an early age.

            I believe in the unalienable rights spoken of in the Declaration of Independence such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It may seem that by allowing minors to drink you are giving them these rights. This is not so. By allowing minors to consume harmful substances such as alcohol, you are putting the general public in danger or, in other words, are infringing upon the rights of all the citizens in our state.

            The question states that minors would only be able to consume alcohol in their own homes. As a result of this you could understandably argue that it would not harm the public because those under the influence would be contained. Do you honestly believe that an intoxicated person is going to stay in one place, or even know that they are not allowed to go somewhere?

            An option that would seem viable, without much thought, is forcing them to stay at their homes. This idea presents an even larger issue. Who or what is there to enforce this if it became law? Here is yet another way that the general public's rights could be infringed. It is not right for Police Officers to constantly be searching the public for intoxicated teens. It is not right for the public to live in fear of their minors being taken at random to have their BAC(Blood Alcohol Content) tested. It is not right for the Government to take these measures. We do not want to create a dystopian society where we have a law enforcement officer on every corner or, worse yet, a BAC testing device in every home just to be able to open your front door.

            By making alcohol more available to minors we are encouraging them to drink more. People who start drinking often lose a lot of their self control over the matter, and will drink more and more. This law could potentially cause the development of many under-age drunks. Alcoholics are already a burden on society. If thousands more of them are introduced in our state, it will wreak havoc.

            Studies have shown that alcohol consumption significantly increases hormone levels in women.(1) This, coupled with the fact the alcohol is being consumed by minors who are already hormone crazy is not a great way to help society at all. We do not need anymore problems created because of our nation's immorality and this surely would create a few.

            Forty-eight out of the fifty states in this country allow minors to consume alcohol in their own homes. This fact should not sway us. Just because everyone else jumps off a bridge does not mean that we need to! If we change our laws just because of peer pressure we are no more mature than elementary school children.

            If we truly care about our society we will preserve it. We are not preserving it when we are allowing-or even promoting-our youth to drink, even if it is in their own homes. Our community is calling us to stand up and voice our opinion. No! We will not accept this. No! We will not let our attempts for a healthy society go down the drain. Yes! We will fight for our unalienable rights. Yes! We will preserve freedom.

Sources

1. http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/85/9/722.short

Tess

This was one awesome mare. 

 

Talk about an amazing best friend

who never doubted you, 

or thought you were silly

when you would get

the wildest ideas in your head.

We trained each other, 

and if horses could cry,

 I'm pretty sure there would have been

 equal amounts of blood, 

sweat and tears put into each other.

  I loved this mare like crazy 

and I am so grateful for what she taught me. 

But Heavenly Father needed her more than I did, 

so she returned home,

to him.

 I'm pretty sure she is loping around the pastures of heaven right now,

 knowing she lived a good life, 

and brought so much happiness to me, 

and the many others who rode her. 

I miss you like crazy, but I am so happy you are out of pain now.

I love you

My babies!!

This one is by Mr Silver Pistol x Playgun and out of Justa Toucha Pepper x Dry Spec a Pepper

This one is by Dynamo Dunit x Hollywood Dunit and out of Glenna Rockin x Rockin Rooster x Gallo del Ceilo

Fair 2013

 I took Grand Champion in Showmanship and 4th in Freestyle!!

Sweet Italian Stuffed Dinner Rolls

Super Easy Sweet Italian Dinner Rolls
(so good you'll never make anything else!)
Makes over 3 dozen small rolls

*All measurements are approximate. I don't measure hardly at all- I just dump.*
* I use my Kitchen Aid but mixing in a Bosch or by hand would work too.*

Mix:
2 cups HOT water
2 tsp or so of yeast
3/4 to 1 cup sugar

Add:
3 cups flour
1/2 to 1 cup of Olive Oil
1 tsp or so or salt
1 TBS dried parsley (I like using a lot more than this but start at about this much)

Mix well then add 3 more cups of flour. Add it slowly so that when it reaches the consistency you want it to you can stop adding. 

For stuffed rolls(soooo good!!) - flatten out about a TBS of dough in your hand then put a small cube of mozzarella cheese in the center and wrap the dough around it and roll it like a regular roll.

For non-stuffed rolls just take about a TBS of dough and roll it around into a ball shape

I like to make them pretty small so I can get more out of a batch. One batch makes anywhere from 2 to 3 full 9x13 pans full when I make them small.

Place in greased pans. Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes, (more if they are bigger)

Meanwhile, mix:
1/4 cup or so Olive Oil
5/6 cloves crushed garlic(I like garlic. a. lot. so I use a lot. You might not want as much is what I'm getting at)
1/2 tsp salt

Brush on rolls after 15 minutes. Bake 5 more minutes. Remove from oven. Brush the remaining oil over them then cover so they stay soft.

Then try not to eat them all  :)

Experimenting with Camera Angles

Rereading Freckles

Freckles is one of my favorite books. I love it! I reread it this past week and wanted to share just a couple of my favorite quotes. 

 

"I have been studying over this matter." Answered McLean. "I am not so sure that a man no older than you and similar in every way could do this work very well, if he were not a coward, and had it in him to be trustworthy and industrious"

Freckles came forward a step.

"If you will give me a job where is can earn me food, clothes, and a place to sleep," he said, "if I can have a Boss to work for like other men, and a place I feel I've a right to, I will do precisely what you tell me or die trying."

I love how freckles presented his argument to Mr McLean of why he should be hired. He wasn't trying to be a showoff, he was presenting his moral values and saying -at least to me- take it or leave it.

"That winter held the first hours of real happiness in Freckles' life. He was free. He was doing a man's work faithfully, through every rigor of rain, snow, and blizzard. He was gathering a wonderful strength of body, paying his way, and saving money. Every an of the gang and if that knew that he was under the protection of McLean, who was a power, this had the effect o smoothing Freckles' path in many directions."

I love how Gene Stratton Porter so skillfully captivated how when you have a job or a purpose you are naturally happier. Even though Freckles was working very hard he was happy because he had a purpose.

"Well, if life ain't getting to be worth living!" he said wonderingly. "Biggest streak of luck I ever had! 'Bout time something was coming my way, but I wouldn't ever thought anybody could strike such magnificent prospects through only a falling feather."

It it amazing how he appreciates life s much, and can see the beauty in just small things.

"Well, maybe you are going to be a great scholar," she said, "but you don't look it. Your face isn't right for that, but it's got something big in it - something really great. I must find out hat it is and then you must work on it. Your father is expecting you to do something. One an tell by the way he talks You should begin right away. You've wasted too much time already."

Our life misions are built inside us, it is in our very genetic makeup and we all have the potential to become some thing 'really great' but, as the Angel said, we've all wasted too much time already. So go and seek out your missions! Our Heavenly Father wants us to do something, so do it!

"I'll do anything you want me to," said Freckles largely "and if I can't do what you want I'll go to work at once and I'll try 'till I can"

I Love his dedication to the Angel. Ladies, this is a real man, a man that will take care of you no matter what!

"Anyone who knows you even half as well as I do, knows that you are never guilty of a discourtesy, and you move with twice the grace of any man here. Why shouldn't you feel as if you belonged where people are graceful and courteous?"

It doesn't matter our social status, if we act graceful and courteous than we have every right to associate with people who do likewise!

"I want you to be my real knight, Freckles, and come o me and tell me that you -like me-a little. I have been counting on you for my sweetheart from the very first, Freckles. I can't give you up, unless you don't like me But you do like me-just a little- don't you Freckles?"

I Love how devoted the Angel is to Freckles, and how sweet she is.

Just some thoughts...

I guess I've forgotten about blogging in the last little while. No, I don't have an excuse. :) Here's just a couple of thoughts for ya.

• Life of Fred is the best Math Book EVER!!! I have never liked doing math for years until I started doing Life of Fred, if it just awesome! 

Flex-Force Pellets are awesome, I've been giving them to Idaho for a couple of months it is super cheap and works GREAT! I keeps her from getting stiff as I train her. If I had a horse in more stressful training I would probably buy something like this. But for now this works great and is about 1/3 of the price. I buy it here. They usually have the best prices and shipping etc.

• Feed Flax Seed to your horse for extra shine, better hoof quality and overall wellness. I feed 1 TBS a day(1 oz) but you can feed up to 1 cup(8 oz) a day. I love the stuff! I buy it in bulk from Winco.

 

• If you live in the Magic Valley the best radio station ever is 88.1 The Bridge! They play 100% Christian Music. I'm not a huge fan of the styles of the artists, but hey, it's clean music! So it's better than nothing!

• Roxy aborted her baby right before Christmas so we will not be having a baby this spring. She is healthy at least, I still have no idea what caused it. I have a secret fear that it was EHV, but none of the other horses were sick around that time and none of them have been exposed to other horses in MONTHS!! I am really hoping it wasn't EHV! She had a little bit of retained placenta so some oxytocin fixed her up. She was fine for two days and then got super sick and we gave her lots of antibiotics and NSAID's for a couple of days. It wasn't too fun to have to be running all over town to get drugs on Christmas Eve when we had a bunch of family over! But she was fine again after a day or two and she's been fine since then. I am going to have her cultured this month (hopefuly!) to make sure she is still good to breed this spring. It was cool I got to see the placenta this time(I didn't see Que's because Bailey was at the vets).

Sorry if this grosses you out! It was pretty awesome!!!

•  Christmas was good, we got to see lots of family which was sweet! We were able to have our big family dinner at our house this year, something that hasn't been able to happen for a while. :)

• We also were able to go to the Care Center again to deliver lap quilts on Christmas day. It is a special tradition that I love! 

(Kayti, Justin and I) This is the only picture we got...and it's super blurry...and it was super last second so it's all kind of silly looking. I love all of our faces. :)

 Hopefully that's all! See ya later...

Festival Pieces

These are my two pieces for Festival next month. They are so pretty!

So God made a Farmer

Lets get this straight before I show you this video. I did not watch the Superbowl. Good, now that that's out of the way, I heard this ad on the radio this morning and it was pretty cool so I found it on youtube. Oh, and it has DODGE PICKUPS!!!! My favorite! Gotta love dodges...oh yeah...and farmers. This is a perfect mix :)

Thank You

Thank you Wendell for that priceless gift you gave us 8 months ago...the gift of life!

 

Get better soon!