Ben's Domain- Rants (November 2006)

November 2006- Rants

Natalee Holloway

Dear Beth Twitty,

I am sorry to report that your daughter, Natalee Holloway, is dead. She has always been dead since you arrived in Aruba, and will stay dead whether you stay in Aruba or not. The cause of death was this: Natalee was a horny slut who couldn't keep her legs together, and so she screwed complete strangers, who then kidnapped her and killed her. There's really nothing more to it.

"But Ben, you have no evidence!"

You're absolutely right. I do not have any evidence. I'm just assuming this because I put two-and-two together and this sounded right.

"Well, you gotta give Beth a hand for doing all this."

Once again, you're absolutely right. I totally respect Beth for giving up months of her life to find her daughter. She must be a very loving, dedicated mother, and I am very sorry about her loss. Honestly, I am; no one deserves to lose a child. All I'm saying here is that Natalee Holloway is most likely dead, and that we should stop our rescue missions. We have better things to do; better things to search for. Arubans are getting pissed off, and they have good reason to: a clueless tourist was killed, and now the peace is disrupted. Sure, I can't say it's not her kidnappers and murder's fault, but nobody's perfect. And I'm not standing up for the murderers, either. But put yourself in the Arubans shoes: how would you like it if your town was disrupted over a murder? You probably wouldn't like it too much. If the island of Aruba has been searched this much, the only possible solution was that her dead body was dumped into the ocean.

Sincerely,
Ben.

*This rant should have been written a long time ago, but I wanted to write it anyway, so yeah*

November 2006- Essay

The Driving Age Should Be Lowered

Driving is an important aspect in a teenager's life. A current problem we face is that they take their driving ability for granted. Certain things affect their driving performance, such as alcohol and lack of sleep. With the price of cars nowadays, teenagers aren't going to as good colleges as they nor their parents expected. If the driving age is not raised within 2010, we are all in severe danger.

Teenagers are solely not ready to drive. Although the following statements are stereotypical, most teenagers cannot be faced with such a mature responsibility. They have not fully developed the ability to fully estimate the hazards of dangerous situations, nor to deal with them, which can lead to both fatal and non-fatal accidents while driving. Taking risks is also very important in a teenager's life. Going fast, for example, is a necessity. In driving this can lead to severe results if not cleverly managed. Mentally, a middle-aged teenager cannot be trusted at the wheel.

Certain conditions affect driving performance of teenagers. Lack of sleep is one of them. Most teenagers enjoy staying up late, only to wake up early because of school. This lack of sleep will impair reaction time, vigilance, attention, and processing of information at the wheel. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Safety Administration, almost half of the annual 100,000 crashes linked to drowsy driving involve drivers aged 15-24. That's almost 50,000 teenagers a year that get in automobile accidents because they're sleepy! These kinds of accidents are also likely to be serious.

Another condition that affects driving performance is alcohol. Although teenage drivers are not as likely as other drivers to drive drunk, when they do, they have a particularly high risk of getting in an accident; higher than other drivers, that is. This is thought to be because one, teenagers are fledglings at the wheel, two, they have probably gotten intoxicated only once or twice, and three, combining the two makes the situation even worse.

Nowadays, there are many scary facts affiliated with teenage driving to be comprehended. At least 14% of all drivers and passengers in fatal accidents are teenagers. They exceed all other age groups. As I mentioned before, they often feel the "need for speed." One-third of fatal automobile accidents involving teenage drivers were speed-related accidents. For non-fatal accidents 20% of the drivers were teenagers. In addition, there are more and more teenagers who cannot afford to go to college nowadays. Why in the world has this come to be? Well, they are spending too much money on cars. To reach the highest rung on the "popularity ladder," they feel as if they must buy the coolest, most flashy car, which 99.9% of the time is also the most expensive; shattering their college fund as they know it. Even if they buy a cheap car, they are busting their college fund little by little. For example, let's say someone's college fund is 75,000 dollars. Buying a cheap car won't "break the bank" that much, but considering than an average person spends 1,800 dollars on gas each year, starts driving at 16, and goes to college at eighteen or nineteen, that?s about 10,000 dollars right there; the cost of one year at a basic state school. Besides, it is not a necessity for teenagers to drive until they are at least sophomores in college.

The facts are shown. I rest my case. The reasons in this essay are what lead me to what I believe. First of all, most teenagers are just not mature or responsible enough to be trusted to "put the gas to the pedal" themselves. Lack of sleep and likelihood of drinking alcohol put them at even higher risk to get in an accident. Expensive cars are preventing them from a good college education, plunging the ratio of well-educated Americans down even further. As I mentioned previously, we must raise the driving age by 2010 or we are in trouble. Let me explain. According to various sources, there will be 23% more 16-20 year old drivers by 2010. Unless by a sudden miracle teenage drivers actually learn how to drive well in the next four years, we are all doomed. This is why I strongly believe the driving age should be raised.