Homelessness in the USA

Introduction:
Homelessness is the situation of people who have lost their homes. That kind of person usually is forced to live in the streets. You can find them in the big cities which are capitals of states near shelters, traffic lights, and in the bus stations. They are persons, families, children and old people. I think most of the homeless people had learned in schools before they became a homeless. According to Miller, “their average age is thirty five years old. Forty to fifty percent of them have completed the high school diploma while a quarter has either full time or part time job. Studies indicate that homeless men are four times more than women. Single men account for 51% and women alone account for 12% of the homeless population” (3). This particularly shows that the rate of homeless people who are educated is very huge.
I think the history of homeless in the United States had begun many years ago. In addition, the beginning of detecting the homeless in the United States was in the big cities such as New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. I agree with “Homelessness in the United States” point that “Homelessness in the USA is back in 1879 when it discovered by oldest homeless shelter in New York City, the Rev. and Mrs. A.G. Ruliffson. In the late 1970’s the deinstitutionalization of patients from state psychiatric hospital was a precipitate factor which seeded the homeless population, particularly in urban areas such as New York City” (par. 5). This clarification tells that America discovers the homeless people long time ago so that now the rate of homeless people is being enormous as I noticed from the article.
The question is why are people homeless? How did they become homeless? There are many factors that make people homeless. Poverty, alcohol, drugs, family disintegration, and homeless veterans are the main causes of homelessness for which the U.S. government is trying to find a solution.
Causes:
The first main cause of this problem is poverty. In the USA, poverty and homelessness are inextricably linked. People who are poor often can’t pay for their living, housing, food, health care, child care, and education. Children who grow up in conditions of poverty usually will live and grow up in the streets. Stephen Shames, who wrote Child Poverty, describes proportion of children poverty’s case in America. It is true, as Stephen Shames states, that “the children age thirteen and under are considered a third of the homeless. Statistics show that seventeen percent of the homeless are under age of five and half of the homeless are families” (par. 1). This brief explanation describes the proportion of the poor children’s case in the United States. I think there are some homeless people have their own job, yet almost most of the homeless people do not have a real job. Consequently, a huge number of the homeless people are jobless. Additionally, because of the fact that there are some homeless people lost their jobs, they preferred to go back to their original countries. I think all of these things had happened to the homeless due to financial predicaments. Stephen Shames claims that “Although less than a quarter of the homeless have jobs, forty percent are without work and jobless. Furthermore, they always lose their jobs and studies represent that half of them lost their jobs in the last six months. Twenty two percent are on welfare and many of them aren’t drifters, so many of them turned to their countries for at least one year. More than three quarters of the homeless lost their home because of financial issues” (1).
Also, lack of affordable housing is an issue linked with poverty. Indeed, some of the homeless people who have their own house leave or escape from their dwelling because they do not have adequate money to pay their rent. Therefore, they just decide to go out in the streets and be a homeless people. My own experience has shown that “today, at least thirty percent of people who need housing are getting it. HUD's report in January 2001 shows that the number of units affordable to low-income households dropped by 1.14 million between 1997 and 1999” (“Homelessness and Poverty”: par. 2). What the article says applies with my idea that a number of homeless people who have their own home decide to become a homeless because of the diminution of their money.
Besides the poverty reason, addiction to alcohol and drugs can lead to homelessness. This type of people has great difficulty finding and keeping good jobs. Moreover, without the support of friends, family, or community groups they may find themselves destitute and on the streets. “Homelessness in the United States” says, “Statistics represent sixty two percent of homeless addicted alcohol and fifty eight percent of them addicted drugs” (par. 5).
Usually it is hard to find any solution for homeless people who are addicted to alcohol. According to David Bender and Leone Bruno, “two percent of homeless never drink alcohol and eighty percent reported that they are still drinking. By their own estimates twenty percent of the men reported that they are moderate, heavy, or spree drinkers, respectively; forty nine percent of the men drink every day and thirty three percent drink several days per week” (77-78). What the author mentioned here that just a few of the homeless people drink alcohol even though almost more than half of the homeless drink alcohol.
Family disintegration is another of the main causes which lead to homelessness. Generally, the broken family is one of the biggest problems that happen in the US. However, many of homeless are divorced. The victims of broken families usually are children, so many of them become homeless. According to “Advocates Declare War on Youth Homelessness at the Covenant House International Candlelight Vigil,” “In Denver twenty five percent of homeless are children without parents. As Paticia, the president of Covenant House, explained that thousands of the young are living and dying in the cities between the boulevards. Many of them are victims of community decay and broken families, caught up in a desperate struggle for survival. We have to work hard to save those kids before the violent street battle sweeps them away “(par. 3). This obvious description apprizes that a lot of children and young people dying after becoming homeless due to the broken families.
Additionally, the current status of homeless veterans is an issue in the US these days. Actually, the veterans are one of the most significant concerns that cause a lot of argumentation between the people and the government. I think because of the veterans’ handicap which happened in the latest wars like Vietnam, more of them couldn’t be accepted in a job, so most of them become homeless. The United States has many programs to help veterans who become homeless; nevertheless, most of them are still homeless. “The USA spends six million dollars on programs for them.” as Hombe wrote (68-69). This short clarification tells that some of the homeless people are considered as the veterans who hadn’t found a job because of the old war which they had gone in the past.
Every peaceful night that civilians enjoy, should remind everyone that some veteran has sacrificed to make this peace possible. According to Patrick Markee:
Some 250,000 veterans are homeless. As the Department of the Veterans states: There is a half million veterans facing homelessness. Ninety seven percent of veterans which are homeless are white, while fifty six percent are black or Latino. Forty five percent of them are stricken by mental illness, and above two-thirds are stricken by substance abuse disorders. Two-thirds of the homeless veterans worked in the armed forces for at least three years. Homeless veterans who served in Vietnam War are about forty seven percent. Based on a 1996 nationwide survey of homeless people, thirty three percent of all the homeless are male veterans; and twenty three percent of the whole homeless population is made up of veterans (par. 2).
This shows that most of the veterans who are homeless are white and the others are black or Latino and most of them have a mental illness.
Solution:
One of the solutions proposed for reducing homelessness is for the government to make policy to provide the homeless with housing, food, work and medical treatment, though there are policies dealing with homelessness at this present time. I believe that most of the government will put an end to the homeless problem. I agree with “Homelessness in the United States” point:
By the year 2012 the Bush Administration would like to see chronic homelessness ended. The idea started as a part of a 10 years plan to end homelessness by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) in 2000. The following year, then-Secretary Martinez announced HUD’s commitment to ending chronic homelessness at the NAEH annual conference. In 2002, as a part of his budget, President Bush made ‘ending chronic homelessness in the next decade a top objective.’ The bi-partisan, congressionally-mandated, Millennial Housing Commission, in its Report to Congress in 2002, included ending chronic homelessness in 10 years among its principal recommendations (“Policies”: par. 12).
This brief, perfect elucidation notifies that the world is trying to resolve this problem, but I believe that the homelessness in the United States will not be solved in ten years because the homeless problem is a complicated phenomenon that cannot find any solution for it in a few years.
Community service groups one of the most important organizations that I believe that it will assist to end the homeless problem. Usually, these organizations try to put together some beneficence from the societies to assist the homeless with food, house, and the most important thing which is job. My own experience has shown that “Moreover, the result of this organization is practical as evidenced by 3.5 million homeless in the United State now living without the shelter or subsidized housing. In 2006, HUD (Housing and Urban Development) collected $28.5 billion for homeless programs. Section 8 housing takes $1 billion and $1.4 billion is allocated to Homeless Assistance Grants” (“Homelessness in the United States”: par. 11). This brief, logical description shows to us that the non-profit organizations can realize many useful things that the government sometimes can’t realize because of the government’s regulations.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, homelessness is a serious problem. There are many causes of homelessness. I've discussed four of them. I think homelessness results from a collection of situations which require people to choose between food, shelter, and other basic needs. Some people don’t care about them. They think the homeless are bad and addicted people. I would say if we leave the homeless alone, poverty, drugs, alcohol, and crime will spread in all states of the USA. In my opinion, the government along with community service groups have to work together to help these people. The government can offer solutions by providing housing, food, work, and medical treatment. On the other hand, the local community organizations and churches should also get involved.




















Works Cited




“Advocates Declare War on Youth Homelessness at the Covenant House International Candlelight Vigil.” Covenant House. 16 Nov. 2006. 27 Feb. 2007. <http://www.covenanthouse.org/about_pr_20061116-vigil.html>.

Bender, David, and Bruno Leone. The Homeless. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1990.
Hombs, Mary. American Homeless. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2001.
“Homelessness and Poverty in America.” NLCHP. 27 Feb. 2007.
<http://www.nlchp.org/%20FA_HAPIA/>.
“Homelessness in the United States.” Answers.com. 30 Jan. 2007. .
Markee, Patrick. “The Current Status of Homeless Veterans.” Coalition for the Homeless. 19 Mar. 2003. 27 Feb. 2007.
< http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/news/War_and_Homelessness.html>.
Miller, Juanita “Poverty Among the Homeless.” The Ohio State University. 27 Feb. 2007. .
Shames, Stephen. “Child Poverty in America: The Homeless Families.” The APF Reporter. 26 Feb. 2007.<http://www.aliciapatterson.org/%20APF0803/Shames/Shames.html>

Aramco

Saudi Aramco considers as the largest company in the world about not only the oil but also terms of proven crude oil reserves and production. The name of Aramco came from an Arabian American Oil Company when King Abdul Aziz signed a concessionary agreement with Standard Oil of California (Socal). Socal company couldn’t discover the oil and compelled to buy a 50% to the Texas Oil Company which succeeds after 4 years in discovery area has oil a few miles north of Dhahran in 1938, that area immediately produced over 1,500 barrels per day. King Abdul Aziz wanted to agree to share its profits on oil sales 50/50 as American oil companies in Venezuela a few years earlier. In 1973 the Saudi Arabian government had share of Aramco a 25%, and increased to 60% by 1974. In 1980 Aramco became Saudi Arabia Company 100% and changed its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company.

In my opinion, there are strong relationship between Saudi Arabia and the USA in many kinds of business. The USA considers as the first country which has many of excellence in Saudi Arabia. Many countries don’t like Saudi Arabia because of its oil and the strong relationship with the USA. In my country there is the largest company which has oil and it considers as the first country which has strong decisions in the Middle East and the world.

Afghanistan's WAR

After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. and its allies attacked Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in October 2001 in return . Their goal was building a new, democratic Afghanistan and the elimination of the Taliban. Lashkar Gah is an important city called by Afghans ''little America". It’s the capital of Afghanistan's Helman province. They called it little American because it was built by the USA during the Cold War . Nowadays ,the Helman province has been taken over by the Taliban . They have checkpoints , interfere with reconstruction in the area, and sell drugs, making up 92 % of the world's production. In October 2004 , afghans elected Hamid Karzai to be the first president for Afghanistan . Also, last year, they elected a parliament. Their new Constitution incorporates Islamic and democratic ideals giving women equal rights ,yet still 80 % of the women are illiterate. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries due to the corruption and inaction of Karzai's government .

On another hand, in 1979 the USA considered the Afghan guerrillas, the mujahdim, it's allies in their war against the Soviets . After the withdrawal of the Soviet Union , the U.S cut off all aid to them . This resulted in civil wars and ended with the Taliban terrorist government in control . The Taliban united with Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden to establish a government whose goal was to terrorize the people. Many people have different ideas about the situation in Afghanistan and if the USA can succeed. People who agree with USA policy, like Richard Boucher, say 1.6000,000 girls are attending school and 730 miles of roads ,and 1,ooo schools , clinics, and government buildings have been built. On the other hand , others say the USA has missed opportunities by focusing to much on Iraq.

Abortion

Perpetrators: person who commits a crime
vigilance: to be alert.

One day two criminals went to anther criminal to kill their victim. They agreed on the time of the murder. The killers were two men and a woman , the victim was a child. They were not afraid to commit their crime because the law was in agreement with them. The killers knew their victim . The first killer was the child's father and the second one was his mother. The executor of crime was a doctor. The law does not call this act murder, but it calls it " abortion ".
Now I am going to illustrate what abortion means and what the problems are that result from abortion.

Abortion means the act of destroying the unborn child. Abortion causes many health problems for women who obtain an abortion, like breast cancer. U.S. studies show that 13 out of 15 women who have had abortions
have increased risk of breast cancer.

Abortion leads to mental problems , depression and suicide. Many women who had abortions later suffer from mental problems ,depression, or even commit suicide. A study that was conducted in August of 2001 examined data on over 500,000 abortions from 1995 to 1998 . This study showed a relationship between abortions and female suicides because of mental disorders and depression.



In short ,There are some people who agree with abortion because of their deviant ideas , financial gains, or other reasons we do not know . Except when the life of the mother is in danger. In my opinion, abortion causes many troubles. I am strongly against it. This my opinion about abortion , what about you ? .





Reference :
Peter W. Miller, "Abortion is Hazardous to Your Health-Seattle Catholic " 1/25/2002 C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\Abortion.htm

Drugs addiction

How many people die every year from using drugs? What are the effects of drug use? As is well known, many people know more about drugs than they would like. In fact, there are many uses of drugs in our world. Drugs can benefit people when they are used as medicine for sick people. A good example of this would be when sedation is used in order to operate on a person. More often than not, however, drugs are used by people in a negative way, which often leads to addiction, which causes them to spend much of their money.
A person who is addicted to drugs will face many problems. There are three essential effects of drugs addiction. First, there is a negative effect on the addicted person's life; second is the effect on the addicted person's family, while the third and final effect is the negative effect on society as a whole.
First, the main effect is on the addicted person. Drugs users feel that drugs are their only way to escape from their problems. Most adults or teenagers who use drug believe that drugs give them a powerful feeling, such as the feeling of being in control of their life. So, they think drugs will be a good choice to help them forget their pain. In fact, they don’t know that their problems will not go away by using drugs, but will only disappear for a short period of time because the brain will believe that everything is going well, when it is not (D’Angelo, 2004). This is not only common for people using illegal drugs, but also for people using drugs their doctor prescribes to them, like adderol (Kahn, 2003). For instance, while the addicted person is using the drug, he could feel very happy and laugh a lot, but when he wakes up he will have to face the problem again. For example, when the addict person woke up, absolutely he will find him self very tired. More recently, it has been shown that cocaine causes problems with a person’s ability to react in certain situations, as well as cause their temperature to rise (Medical Letter on the FDA & CDC, 2006). In addition, drugs have a terrible effect on the user’s reputation which means that drug users will face many problems in their community. For example, many people in the neighborhood will avoid being in contact with drug users. While addicts are not respected by other people, they don't respect themselves in the first place.
Secondly, the most common effect that hurts users almost as much is the effect on the user’s family. As President Bush stated on August 25, 2006 “Alcohol and drug abuse disrupts families, threatens the safety of our neighborhoods, and ruins the lives of countless men, women, and youth.” This is especially painful whenever the drug user is a parent. Raising children is the parent’s main responsibility. According to Nelson, P (1989), “The drug abuse prevention community is now recognizing what family life educators and researchers have long known: families play a key role in developing resilient youth who can withstand pressures to become involved in unhealthy lifestyles.” (p. 310). A father using heroin which is really expensive drug wastes most of his money buying drugs and forgets that his children need his love and care. Also, using drugs destroys the families when the children see the parent using drugs because this makes the child feel that it is okay to repeat these actions.
Lastly, using drugs have a negative effect on society. For example, if several employees who are working in a big company use drugs this negatively effects the company and the economy. So much in life is laid in the hands of workers and if these workers use drugs, the economy will begin to slide. In fact, the economies of any country depend on the people who work in it. Legal drugs, too, would hurt the society because of how it would affect the poor. A good example of this would be the Netherlands which legalized the use of drugs. The Netherlands, like any society, has many poor people. However, unlike other societies, it is legal for these poor people to spend their money on drugs. In addition, legal drug might raise the amount of crime in the society. For example, people who smoke hashish might lose their mind so that they may commit a crime. In fact, there are many kind of drug which makes users lose their mind such as, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol. Also, there is relationship between mental disorder and criminal offenses that many societies face in this live.
Although drug users may feel powerful and free by using drugs, this does not negate the fact that raising children is essential for a healthy society, and legalizing drugs would be detrimental to the poor in society. As demonstrated, the three most important effects would be the effects on the addicted person, the effect on that person's family, and its negative effects on society as a whole. Drug use is a very important issue that must be discussed. Educating people on its negative effects will benefit all people.

Work cited
Bush, George W. (August 26, 2005). Proclamation that National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Month will have the theme: “Join the Voices for Recovery: Build a Stronger, Healthier Community.”
D’Angelo, Laura. (April 26, 2004). “Brain change: Two very different ways.” Science World, 60, 13.
Kahn, Mahvish. (July 7, 2003). “Drugs used by college students to enhance studying draw concern.” Knight Ridder Tribune, 1.
Medical Letter on the FDA & CDC. (October 29, 2006). 12.

The Minaret

Do you know anything about Saudi symbol? Actually, the most widespread symbol in Arabic countries, especially in Saudi Arabia, is the minaret. For instance, Mozammel Hague wrote about the minaret in "Al- Haramin in Makkah Al-Mukarmah." Also, Jonathan Bloom wrote about the same topic in "Saudi Aramco World." I think many people in Saudi Arabia don't know anything why the minaret is really important to Muslim people because they just know that the minaret is important, but they don't know the reason for that Therefore, there are many reasons that make the minaret is an important symbol of faith and power, according to Jonathan M. Bloom in "Al-Haram in Makkah Al-Mukarramah."

The first reason is that the minaret is very important because we believe in that in our religion. For example, in the past, there was a man who scaled the minaret who se name was bilal and called the Muslim people to pray for their God. Actually, we always pray 5 times, so the man on the minaret who is called muezzin calls us to remind us to come to a prayer. Also, it is important in my country because if any Muslim comes to a strange hometown and wants to pray, he will see the minaret because it's the highest part in the mosque so that anyone can find it. I think this one of the reason that makes the minaret very, very important.

The second reason that is the priority one is the minaret has a peculiar meaning for Muslims. Actually, it indicates the grandeur of Islam and that God's utterance always is regarded as above everything. For instance, when our prophet Mohammad told us about Islam, no one believed him especially people in my hometown; nevertheless, he was born in the same hometown which is Makkah in 570 AD. This was written by Dr. Mozammel Hague. After a while, many people became Muslims and our prophet Mohammad went up to the minaret and called the people to pray, but many Muslims were wondering about that. They really asked Mohammad why he went up, but he bravely said that we must admire our God so that he went up. Also, he did that because our God told him to do that to teach the new Muslims that they have to respect their God, his speech, and the prophet Mohammad. As a result, we still now call to pray from the highest part of the mosque.




Last of all, the minaret in Saudi Arabia is important because of our economy and tourism. To illustrate, in my hometown, there is the first mosque which is called Al-Haram. I think the reason for this name is that when we go to Al-Haram, we wear individualized cloth which is called Al-Ihram, so they derive the name from the cloth. Also, I think the one who established the first holy mosque is the first prophet Adam, but some people think that the one who did that is our prophet Abraham and his son. Therefore, many people come to Makkah to see the holy mosque and the biggest, highest minarets on it, so the government gains a lot of money because of these tourists.

In conclusion, the minaret becomes very important symbol of faith and power for several reasons such as that the minaret is an important thing in our religion, it has a particular meaning for Muslims, and the minaret attracts many tourists so that our economy becomes very good. I think you should visit Saudi Arabia, especially my hometown, Makkah, to see these minarets and know more information about them.

Work cited:
Bloom, Jonathan. "The Minaret." Saudi Aramco World, March 2002.

Haque, Mozammel. "The Masjed Al-Haram in Makkah Al-Mukarramah." The Islamic
Cultural Center & The London Central Mosque.

Picture reflection

When I saw this picture, my first thought was of a woman losing hope in her life. It reflected multiple of things, such as disappointment, fear, and the lost of hope in her life. This woman who’s laid down next to the tree showed to us that she came to an end in her life, and she is probably waiting for a rescuer to come and save her life. It’s compared to the tree, and trees will die if the don’t get rescued by the rain. I personally, thought this lady lost hope and she is like a tree if she doesn’t get help she will die. In my opinion, the artiest reminds us that we have a life now, but every once in awhile something happens in our life that might destroy us. That’s why we need to surf people and help them and give them hope in this life; in addition, it will hopefully reflect positively in our lives.