Lost at Sea Essay -- Personal Narrative Rescue Essays

Lost at Sea The breeze from the Indian Ocean moved across my skin like freshly ironed silk as I stood on the fantail of the aircraft carrier looking up at the night sky. It is an impressive sight to look upon the fires of those uncountable stars. If you were to take the grandest starlit sky that you could imagine, then imagine it after God has thrown another bucket of stars across the dark. That is like the night sky at sea can be. Flight operations had secured several hours earlier, and I used the opportunity to escape from the steel interior of the ship. I tried to get some fresh air at least once a day to deliver my senses from the smells of jet fuel and sweat that pervaded my world. Days are long when the ship is underway. The fifteen or twenty minutes of fresh air I could get in the evenings rejuvenated me. There is no deeper dark than the dark at sea. The stars are bright in the sky, but they don't lower themselves to light the deck of the ship. Warships practice light security and no white light is allowed to breach the weather decks. White light travels for miles at sea. The only light on deck is what meager light your retinas can collect from the moon and stars. There seemed to be no moon in the sky on this night. I could barely make out the vague shapes of the aircraft parked around the flight deck. I stood there for some time letting the stars persuade me that my home wasn't really all that far away, when I sensed someone's presence. Half way through a turn toward the feeling, my arms were grasped and I was being pushed toward the catwalk. I remember calling out, trying to figure out what was going on, when I heard a gruff voice say, "This just ain't your night swabby, you're going for a swim with the... ...me small drinks of cold fresh water. I grabbed for the canteen, but didn't have the strength to take it. "It's a lucky thing we spotted you, shipmate." another voice said to me. I was lifted into a stokes type stretcher and a blurry face appeared before me "They've got the two dudes that tossed you in custody. It seems like it was a case of mistaken identity. They thought they were tossing someone else over." He laughed a quick short "Ha!" and looked at me like I was the hero, and not him. I would have cried if there had been any water in me to spare. The chopper followed the octopus wearing my boots and landed on the deck I had left four days earlier. I felt the stretcher being offloaded, bouncing me toward sickbay. I looked at the sea one last time with burnt red eyes before they brought me into the interior of the ship and I said to it, "I beat you!"

Argument for the legalization of Marijuana

Can I see a show of hands how many people have ever smoked Cannabis, also known as Marijuana? I see none of you have raised your hands. Well evidently no one would want to admit to a criminal action in front of others from their community. But why is it that smoking ‘pot’ is so forbidden in our society? George Washington said, â€Å"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere! † Marijuana is a natural plant, known to grow in the wild in Central and South Asia. Traces of people smoking Marijuana go back as far as 3,000 B. C so, what had changed over the years to make cannabis illegal? When considering the legalization of marijuana, the normal reaction would be to think about the negative factors of the drug. But what people forget is, marijuana’s positive features overrule the negatives by far. There would be many benefits if the ‘drug’ where to be legalized, especially for the government and the economy as a whole. Our government spends 500 million pounds a year on ‘overall response to drugs’, but receive no taxes from the estimated 1. 8 billion pound illegal drug market. If our government were to legalize marijuana, they could place high taxes on it because people are used to buying the drug at a high price anyway because of the risk of selling it illegally. This would be very beneficial to the government because they would have a larger increase of tax that then could be fed into the NHS and other funds, which are beneficial to the general public. This brings me neatly onto my next point, I am fully aware of the abuse potential of the drug, but its value to the medical world outweighs this potential by far. Although the argument of legalizing marijuana is extremely controversial, without knowing it, hundreds of people around you are in desperate need of its medical side, and are suffering dramatically without it. How would you feel? Marijuana would be of high value to the suffering, distressed, and disheartened cancer patients fighting for their lives. Let me try and paint you a picture: imagine there is only one medication that will relieve you from the pain you are caused by nausea, marijuana will free you of this pain and will give you a little bit of assurance and courage that you need to keep on believing that you are going to be safe. But yet, we still refuse to believe that the drug is acceptable, but there is something I must ask you all. Do you know what ‘the black market’ is? Well let me tell you, the black market is a market in goods or services in violation of legal structures defining the scope of appropriate forms of trade. It is a market for products that are illegal or stolen. Marijuana appears frequently in the market, and has become extremely popular. The problem with the drugs produced in the black market is that they are not manufactured under any safety or health regulations, this can result in unsafe drugs being produced and users experiencing problems from consuming unknown substances. If the government where to legalize marijuana they could potentially safe lives, as the drug could be bought in shops from legal proprietors, this would assure users of good quality and information about what you are buying and consuming. Jeffery Miron, the visiting professor of economics at Harvard University estimates the national marijuana market at about 10 billion pounds per year. When will the public and government realize? Marijuana is only dangerous and harmful when sold and consumed illegally, and the government is preventing and keeping us from a product that is so beneficial not only to cancer patients, but also to the paper and clothing industries, the government itself, and for the crime rate of our country. Long gone are the days when we could go outside at night and not be worried about our safety, long gone are the days when we didn’t have to worry about our kids getting involved in gang activity, and long gone are the days in which we had the freedom to consume a substance which satisfied us. I am thoroughly aware of how high the UK’s crime rate is, and how terrifying and worrying it is for the citizens of our country. I am aware that the amount of crime that goes on in our country impacts and affects almost every single person in the country, which is why legalizing marijuana would be extremely helpful. The crime rate in the Netherlands is generally low, especially compared to other European countries with tougher crime polices such as the UK. Indeed, in the UK they have found that 60% of inmates in British jails have served a jail sentence previously. In the UK where the consumption of marijuana is illegal the crime rate is actually higher than in Amsterdam where it is legal and the consumption is lower. This proves that, if our government was to legalize marijuana, it would result in the use actually decreasing, as it is known that when humans are not allowed to do something it appears much more attractive, and have a larger urge to do it.

The Two-Faced Character Polonius Essay - 868 Words

Polonius played a vital role in Hamlet even though he was not one of the main characters. He continued to reinforce the theme of corruption and displayed the social and ethical collapse of Denmark. His deceitful actions show the reader that he is one of dishonesty and chicanery. In the play, Polonius was portrayed as someone who is a deceiver and pretender that betrays people he is supposed to be devoted to; and who only cares about things that will benefit him. These characteristics of Polonius are seen through his interactions with Ophelia, Hamlet, Laertes, Reynaldo and the King. Polonius can be depicted as two faced. This is evident with his interactions with the King. Polonius was loyal and faithful to King Hamlet, Gertrude, and†¦show more content†¦He does not care about her emotions, as he shows no comfort after heartbreaking confrontation with Hamlet. He also uses Ophelia to test Hamlets sanity for the benefit of himself and King Claudius. Moreover, Polonius has Laertes spied on. He convinces himself that it is righteous. Yet, he is controlling the situation for the good of himself. Polonius had an evil plot. Polonius always spies on others to gain secret and private information. Polonius and Claudius together, work against Hamlet, and try to verify his sanity. Polonius performs as if he would do anything that Claudius asks of him, or anything that satisfies Claudius. Polonius willingly uses his daughter to assist Claudius in their plot against Hamlet. He even plans to ruin his son Laertes’ reputation and drive him from Denmark. Despite Polonius’ death, his unethical ways are still evident through Claudius’s actions. Claudius requests that Laertes fight with Hamlet, and he tries to poison him. Polonius shows the need to manipulate a situation regardless if it concerns him or not. This is especially seen through the relationship with his children. 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