Green Streets

Putting two at risk situations together: inner-city kids and the environment, activist Van Jones has come up with a new plan to save both. In Ned Martel's article, Green streets he examines, Van Jones' project.Van Jones wants cameras to spotlight his organization and its partners at Solar Richmond, a nonprofit organization that has a goal to create five megawatts of electricity from solar sources by 2010. One of Jones' favorite sayings was, inner-city kids would realize real ways to get rich if they would "put down the handgun and pick up a caulk gun". This quote is where the connection comes in according to Van Jones. In the article he says that hes gonna clean up the inner city teens and put them into an environment where they can improve.


Application: Do you think Van Jones' plan will work.

Clarification: Do you understand the connection van Jones is trying to make with the environment and the inner city teens.

Dope Dealing 101

In dope dealing 101, the author's claim is that marijuna should be legalized. In a similar article,"Liberal Drug Warriors! Conservative Pot-Coddlers!" from The Atlantic magazine, they discuss the same issue. The author Stuart Taylor discusses how the Supreme Court is trying to make medical marijuana illegal in all the 11 states where they are legal, including California. However, considering the fact that marijuana is used for many medical reasons, it would be less-effective to make it illegal. Also considering the fact that marijuana is a popular substance used, to make it illegal would bring more crime, because more people would rebel to that law. That's why marijuna shoud be legal nation_wide and if the surpreme court wanted to majke a law, they should treat it as Alchohol and just put an age limit on it.

Tone: Informative


Application: Do you think marijuna should be legalized?

Clarification: Do you feel the author is saying alchohol should be legalized as well?