Book List: "Rifles for Watie"

Written by Harold Keith in 1957, this book has become my favorite Civil War novel. It's about a young Kansas boy who joins the Union army after his family's farm is raided by bushwhackers. He enlists with several of his friends, looking for glory and action in battle. He gets everything he wanted, and so much more. Throughout the book, he served in the infantry, cavalry, artillery, and as a scout in the Rebel army. He falls in love with a Rebel gal, and although she heartily disagrees with him, she loves him back. He endures hunger, fatigue, and nightmares as every soldier does.

For my American History class, I've had to read several Civil War novels, like Uncle Tom's Cabin, Across Five Aprils, and Harriet Beecher Stowe's biography. Soon, I'll be reading Up From Slavery, Red Badge of Courage, and Around the World in 80 Days as part of the same class. So far, Rifles for Watie is my personal favorite!

Independence

Again, a past school assignment. :)

by R Jazz Biel, 9/28/11

Money makes America go around. We all use money every day, from bills and groceries, to our TVs, computers, clothes, and more. Americans and our modern lifestyle has become 100% dependent on money, and this an unhealthy place to be. At the rate our government has spent our tax dollars, the American dollar has declined in value in the international market, which means our money is almost insignificant in trading with other countries. Currently, our absurd system of money barely supports the majority of our population, and without it, life as we know it would cease to exist.

Eulogy : A Poem

Here is another school assignment - to write a eulogy. I hoped to make it ambiguously meaningful, so try to figure it out before moving on to the "Explained" section... :P

Eulogy

That distant girl, in faded clothes

Marches behind the clouds of the dawn.

Her radiance masked by the dissonance between

Far are we from similarity,

But one we are, she- me, and I- her.

She whispers from the grave

Laid distilled upon the mantle

Captured in modest frames.

We have already met and goodbye.

There is another, she- us, and we- her.

She lies somewhere beyond, unknown, a stranger.

Her back to me, she walks away.

I don't know her, but she knows me.

And as I to the first, she has to me

Said goodbye, and left me be.

R Jazz Biel, ©2011

The Problem with Power: Corruption in the Christian Church

This is an open-ended English assignment that encouraged me to discuss a situation having to do with power.

(Ananias Receives Saul, St. Mary’s Cathedral)

Power is all around us everyday. The government, by definition, embodies power. The media, which holds the ear of most of the population, has control over the supply and demand of the entire economy. Everywhere you go, there are signs of greed and power. There are innumerable examples of power in our society, and, as is human nature, countless examples of power abuse.