Accusing someone with my beliefs as prejudice is wrong, so don't assume so. Airport officials aren't prejudice either, in fact they'd sacrifice their job if they were. They are hired to keep people safe. I think it's safe to say we've all noticed a pattern in the characteristics in those that have threatened to or have actually taken action to harm our citizens whether we're prejudice or not. Though some may find profiling accusatory and unjust, I think that we sometimes fail to consider the facts. For starters, profiling isn't only done by race, it could be done by where they're from in the world, where they're flying to and from. Secondly, there's no harm in keeping an eye on someone, especially if they are a suspicious person, but there could be harm done if they don't. If an official pulled you to the side and questioned you, I'll admit you might be slightly offended and surely caught off guard, but if you weren't there and had nothing to hide, I doubt you'd have a real problem with it; Nobody else should either. Again, there's a pattern to be seen, and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

You have some valid points, but torture isn't used only to get information or take personal revenge. When you learn a lesson, it's the pain and suffering that makes you regret what you did and want to change your ways, whether that thought or feeling comes naturally or is provoked by something else. There are also different levels of torture, and not all of them involve physical pain.

Take into consideration the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Those who take part in disgusting acts of torture should pay the consequences. If you feel it isn't justified, one of your points may be that it's too brutal, but I feel it's simply a way to make someone learn a lesson. It wouldn't be a cycle because, if you think about it, people who punish those who torture most likely work as someone who benefits the community. Also, know that physical torture isn't the only type of torture. In some cases just watching something take place does the trick. Think about this: You're driving down the street, hurrying to the movies to get there in time to get popcorn and candy, when you hit someone with your car and put them in the hospital. You wouldn't have to be hit by a car to learn your lesson. Perhaps you're introduced to the family of the individual you put in the hospital. After seeing the pained look on their faces, the agony you would feel would make that amount of torture an appropriate consequence.

By choosing their school, students are, in a way, choosing their education. Every school has their pros and cons. Some schools have better teachers, more opportunities to create a more successful future for yourself. I feel that being allowed to choose your school isn't a black and white situation. The gray area includes restrictions. The fact that a school may not meet the students' needs. If, for any reason, a student should decide they want to go to a different school, they should be allowed to fill out paperwork to transfer. However, a number of schools are built per city to fit the population. If crowd control becomes an issue, students may receive less attention from teachers and therefore not do as well academically. I feel that kids should be allowed to choose the school they attend, even if restrictions are set, because it can potentially help them be more (or less) successful.

I feel that we should be able to learn from others in order to improve ourselves and progress. For example, if the best president we've ever had serves two successful terms, the preceding leaders should take notes and try to imitate the behavior of the greatest president. Chances are, they probably won't even be able to compare to what the other president did for the country, but it shows the effort. Also, history will repeat itself, but keeping a president in office for more than two terms will only increase the chances of a pattern. I feel that a variety of leaders is necessary. Sometimes a president is voted in based off of popularity more than their requirements as the leader of our country, and, although it may be risky or disappointing at times, it's their chance to potentially make or break our country. Allowing a leader to serving only two terms seems just and fit to me.

Illegal immigrants end up reaping the benefits of a nation they do not belong to, and that just isn't right. Jobs, housing, food stamps...things like that are earned by legal working citizens here. They wouldn't want us going to their country and taking their job, house, medical attention or meals away from them, so they shouldn't do it here. I'm aware that becoming a legal citizen of any country takes quite a bit of time and money, but if they want to be here that badly, and if our country is as good as they believe it is, I feel it's worth it. I also know that different people are in different situations, but regardless, people should come here legally instead of cheating their way across borders. Cheating is for golf, not immigration.

Although we've had to overcome several obstacles, it's those obstacles that have made us a stronger country. It doesn't take much to start a fight, battle, or war with someone, but it takes pure strength, not just of our forces but as a whole, to resolve things and move on. If anything, we've gained every time we may have "lost". Winning or losing a battle doesn't mean we have won or lost as a country, it just means we had improvements to make. Over the years, the problems we had in the past (with more to come in the future) have and will continue to allow our country to flourish.

I think the schools try to let us be creative, but I still feel like we aren't able to let our creativity shine through sometimes. Everything we do has too many guidelines to follow. We're given assignments with specific directions on how to complete. I mean, TAKS writing is about the most creative we've been able to get. Even our notes are outlined or formatted a certain way sometimes. The Gifted and Talented teachers are better about giving us assignments that we have to complete creatively, but what about the rest of the kinds at school? Sure, we can be in many organizations at this school, but everything we do is still so structured that the only creativity we see is in the color of things. They need to give us a little more than the room in this little box to think.