According to The Center for Equal Opportunity, “Studies show that a Black or Hispanic undergraduate applicant is 500 times more likely to be admitted to Wisconsin-Madison than a similarly qualified White or Asian applicant.” In order to confront an ongoing discrimination (against minority and majority members), the Federal Government should radically amend and change former anti-discrimination policies (such as Affirmative Action) to create a more colorblind society through the distribution of resources and qualified teachers equally throughout the public schools of the United States of America to create a greater and fairer chance for true equal opportunity for all.

Across the United States, Reverse Discrimination, the act of denying a position at an institution or company to the “majority” (whites/males), has become a very real and apparent issue. The spark of Reverse Discrimination is Affirmative Action; the law enacted in 1965 that states that all institutions affiliated with the government must have at least 10% minority enrolled or employed in their system. Over time, the policy has changed into new and improved law in order to address specific problems, but of the same concept: minorities have an advantage over majorities when applying for a job or position at an institution. In recent times, people have begun to see what damage such a law may induce, and therefore, have begun to uncover new issues and topics surrounding Affirmative Action. For example, The Wall Street Journal discovered that after Proposition 209 (a law banning the state schools of California from taking race into account) was introduced, White and Asian population at all University of California colleges grew anywhere from 6% to 20% (Johnson). This statistic illustrates the shortcomings of Affirmative Action: a form of discrimination against the “majority,” and therefore discrimination against potentially more qualified candidates for positions at each of the Universities of California. The drastic increase in both White and Asian populous (both of whom are not minorities under Affirmative Action) directly after a law was enacted that cancels out Affirmative Action. This shows that the Asian/White applicants were better candidates, but were blocked access to these schools simply because of their skin color. A more specific example is that an Asian American applied to Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Yale, but only got into Yale. At first, one may think that it was not because of his color, but because of his grades. But, this student got absolutely perfect SAT scores, got A’s or A+s in all nine of his advanced placement classes, but was still denied access to any of the above schools simply because of race (Marcus). Both of theses examples are two of many complaints and articles all describing one prominent issue, Reverse Discrimination.

The Federal Government, in order to confront the above issue, is capable and should be willing to change its policies in order to reach a greater good for all people, not just specific minorities. In order to reach a greater good, there are some steps that I would suggest be done. First, take small percentages (10%-25%) of all local taxes directed towards public schooling, and redirect it to the Federal Government (rate is susceptible to change depending on the economic stature of the local area) for schooling; using this enormous sum of money, large incentives should be made so that the better qualified teachers have a reason to want to go to the “bad” areas (Spanish Harlem, Downtown Baltimore, etc). These incentives should not only be larger pay, but also greater benefits for the teachers (such as healthcare, tax cuts, etc). Once such a policy is enacted, all surplus money filtering through should be used to create better facilities across the United States. Through completing the above steps, the government will have created a more balanced populous across every level of qualification. By creating more balance, laws such as Affirmative Action will not be needed because now no student has the disadvantage of background, and schools will hold all races. Also, through creating better education systems in the “bad” areas, the area itself may become a better place to live as a whole. Furthermore, this solution could create a worldwide revolution in anti-discrimination and may cause other countries to follow in our tracks.

Although there may be great opposition to the movement, this solution gets right down to the root of the issue and may, over time, create discrimination-free institutions. The opposition to this solution may say things like, if we pay lots of taxes for our county, we should get the benefits. This opposition is absolutely right, which is why the Federal Government will be taking only a small amount of extra taxes that will not only help the greater good, but will most likely come right back to your county to create better schooling for you, too. One may argue that the country’s best teachers will not voluntarily go to the most dangerous cities in the country. When supported by all of the extra benefits and money that will come with a job in a dangerous city, it will be hard for even the most prestigious teachers to resist. Over time, the more dangerous cities may eventually become better simply because of the better school system. Finally, people may say that Affirmative Action is working, why change it? On the outside, Affirmative Action is working, but if one searches deeper, the results will show that Affirmative action was useful, but now is beginning to cause unforeseen problems across the US. These new problems should be addressed for the better. The solution gives numerous benefits to both individuals, as well as the country as a whole. Should the Federal Government invest in this idea, the country could eradicate racial and gender discrimination when deciding whom to accept into one’s institution.

In conclusion, in order to confront an ongoing discrimination (against minority and majority members), the Federal Government should radically amend and change former anti-discrimination policies (such as Affirmative Action) to create a more colorblind society through the distribution of resources and qualified teachers equally throughout the public schools of the United States of America to create a greater and fairer chance for true equal opportunity for all.

SOME UNUSUAL CLIMATE CHANGES .    HOWEVER THE BASIC EFFECTS  FOR EXPANDING THE EXPRESSION OF

GLOBAL

 WARMING BRINGS THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE GREENHOUSE EFFECTS AND CONTRIBUTING GASES ,

 SUCH AS METHANE CHANGES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.  

    THE MORE THAT CARBON DIOXIDE   IS RELEASED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE , THE MORE WE WILL EXPERIENCE

 THE INEVITABLE WARMING TRENDS OF OUR PLANET.

IT HAS BEEN NUMEROUS STUDIES THAT HUMANS MAY BE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THIS EQUATION .             

THE USE  OF FOSSIL FUELS , AND CERTAIN INDUSTRIES THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED OVER THE

 PAST SEVERAL YEARS, WHICH HAVE  USED GASES , AND METHANE AND PROPANE  GAS  IS KNOWN TO HAVE

CAUSED   A NOTICEABLE MODIFICATION IN THE RISING TEMPERATURES

  IN OUR PLANET  , SEA LEVELS ARE RISING AND THESE  GASES  INCREASE  THE RELEASE  OF CARBON DIOXIDE 

INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.

                    ACCORDING TO THE MEDIA WHICH PRODUCE MOST OF OUR ADVERTISING PROPS .,,,

 IT IS NEEDLESS TO SAY AND QUITE PREVALENT THAT THE ADVERTISING IS GEARED TO GOING GREEN ,

  AND ALMOST THE SOUND OF ALERT , TO STOP SMOKING , IT SEEMS THAT MORE AND MORE  C.E.O. IS

 INVOLVED IN PRODUCING PRODUCTS THAT LIMIT THE USE OF THESE GASES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE . 

     NOW ITS ALL ABOUT THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT , AND WHAT CAN WE AS HUMANS DO TO DEVELOP

  A MORE SAFER ENVIRONMENT FOR NOW AND FOR THE PERSEVERANCE OF HUMANITY .  

          BUT THE QUESTION IS HAS ALL THIS COME ABOUT A LITTLE TOO LATE ,  HAVE WE NOT

 CAUSED SO MUCH DAMAGE TO OUR NATURING PLANET AND ITS RESOURCES , SUCH AS THE FOREST

 THAT IT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT TOO LATE .,  WE ARE NOW FACING A PLANET THAT IS RUNNING OUT

 OF FUEL , BECAUSE WE HAVE TAKEN OUR RESOURCES FOR GRANTED , AND HAVE TAKEN AND NOT GIVEN

  BACK .       HAVE WE SO RECENTLY  LEARNED THAT EVEN INSECTS EFFECT THE BALANCE OF  RESOURCES

  ON OUR PLANET .    I AM AFRAID WE HAVE LEARNED HOW TO TAKE FROM THE EARTH AND ITS ATMOSPHERE

 BUT WE NEVER LEARNED HOW TO GIVE BACK . , AND SO OUR RESOURCES ARE DECLINING AND EVEN THE

  AIR WE BREATHE ARE SLOWLY BECOMING OUR WORST ENEMIES .

                                              IF WE ONLY UNDERSTAND VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING

 WE MUST CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THAT IF CARBON DIOXIDE CONTINUES TO INCREASE AT THE RATE THAT

SCIENTISTS  HAVE CALCULATED , THEN THE GLACIERS WILL MELT AND THE SEAS WILL RISE AROUND THE

WORLD   BECAUSE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE PLANET WILL CONTINUE TO GET HOTTER AND  THIS WILL

  CAUSE CERTAIN GLOBAL FLOODING ,   WHAT WILL WE DO , ONE DAY WE WILL NOT STAND AGAINST THE

 FORCES AND BRUTAL REVENGE OF NATURE .

                                                           JOIN TRIOND AND LET YOUR IDEAS BE HEARD

BANANA – Bottom Row

GRAPE – 3rd Column

LEMON – Bottom Row

LIME – Bottom Row

Words Collapse: Fruits Level 2

APPLE – 3rd Column

PAPAYA – 3rd Column

ORANGE – Bottom Row

LIME – Bottom Row

PEAR – 4th Column

BANANA – Bottom Row

CHERRY – Bottom Row

Words Collapse: Fruits Level 3

PEAR – 7th Column

PAPAYA – 3rd Row From Bottom

ORANGE – 3rd Column

APPLE – 2nd Column

GRAPE – Bottom Row

BANANA – 2ND Row From Bottom

LIME – Only Column Left

CHERRY – Bottom Row

Words Collapse: Fruits Level 4

PEACH – 5th Row From Bottom

GRAPE – 6th Column

PAPAYA – 2nd Row From Bottom

PLUM – 2nd Row From Bottom

PEAR – 3rd Column

ORANGE – 2nd Row From Bottom

LIME – 2nd Row From Bottom

APPLE – Only Column Left

APPRICOT – Bottom Row

Words Collapse: Fruits Level 5

MELON – 4th Row From Bottom

PLUM – 4th Row From Bottom

LEMON – 1st Column

LIME – 3rd Column

CHERRY – 5th Column

PEACH – 6th Column

MANGO – Bottom Row

GRAPE – 7th Column

PEAR – Bottom Row

APPRICOT – Bottom Row

The unconscious mind that produces your dreams is a doctor. All dreams contain important messages. The psychiatrist Carl Jung discovered the real meaning of dreams and their healing power, but humanity couldn’t perceive that he found a superior solution for all our problems.

By following the unconscious guidance in your dreams, positive thinking will be part of your reality. The dream messages will help you evolve and positively change your life.

Many people who belonged to ancient civilizations used to predict the future by interpreting the meaning of their dreams. Native Americans respected the messages contained in their dreams because they knew that the dream messages were protecting them from all dangers.

Many ancient civilizations have already discovered the meaning of life and death, but the barbarous civilizations that managed to conquer the world destroyed the weaker civilizations that were not violent and well-equipped like these cruel civilizations, and couldn’t beat their armies.  

Many Greek philosophers had already found many solutions that only today our scientists can really understand. This happens because the unconscious mind that produces our dreams and gives us artistic and philosophical inclinations has a divine origin. The unconscious mind has already helped many human beings discover many truths through many ways throughout human history.

Carl Jung admitted that the unconscious mind was God’s mind, but he didn’t have a religious attitude before God’s wisdom.

I recognized God’s sanctity, respecting the religious importance of my scientific discoveries. This is why I could discover a lot more and simplify the complicated method of dream interpretation discovered by Carl Jung.

Many people couldn’t believe in the power of dreams when I told them that I would help them find sound mental health and happiness through dream translation. They told me that they didn’t even remember their dreams.

As soon as they started caring about their dreams and writing them down in a dream journal, they started remembering so many dreams that I had to find a way to easily translate many dreams for the same dreamer. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have time for the dreamer’s psychotherapy after my translations.

Dream therapy will surely guarantee your sound mental health, help you solve your daily problems, and help you find authentic happiness in life. This is not a theoretical method. The scientific translations are based on research and real discoveries. You will really understand the wise unconscious messages contained in your dreams when you’ll follow the scientific translations, and you’ll surely find solutions that work.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to accurately translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Learn more at:

http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com

http://www.booksirecommend.com

The rain and even the storm are very good signs. The storm represents a very important solution for a very big problem. It represents divine justice after pain.

The rain gives water to the dry earth. Without water, there is no life. We depend on the rain for many reasons.

The rain also cleans our dirty world. Its water is a true blessing. This is why it represents important solutions in dreams.

The appearance of this positive dream symbol in a dream will give you courage and hope. It’s very good to discover the solution for a problem that you couldn’t solve! The rain or the storm in a dream will give you relief and self-confidence.

You may immediately understand that you found the magical solution you were looking for like Archimedes, the known Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer.

Archimedes stepped into a bath and noticed that the water level rose as he submerged a part of his body. He suddenly understood that he found a way to measure the volume of irregular objects with precision. He was so excited for finding this solution that he leapt out of his bathtub and he started running in the streets naked and claiming ‘Eureka’, a Greek word that means ‘I found it’.

However, the ‘Eureka’ moment may not be so clear for you. Many times, you’ll have to think about what is happening to you and your life in order to discover what solution you could finally find.

This happens because while you are making a research, you are involved in a big number of possibilities. You are dizzy, thinking about everything. Your mind is not clear. You may find the right answer somehow, but without understanding that you have really found the solution for a certain problem.

The rain in a dream will show you that you have really found the answer you were looking for. The unconscious mind will help you understand what you have found and why this finding will help you solve your problems.  

The rain in a dream can also be a prediction. You may be about to discover what you need. In this case the dream symbol prepares you for finding a solution. It works like an alert.

A dream about rain or about a storm will make you pay attention to your reality, without forgetting that you are looking for a certain solution. You will have the serious attitude of a researcher, without being disconnected with your reality, thinking about something else. The rain in a dream reminds you that you have to pay attention to many details in order to finally find the solution you are looking for.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to accurately translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Learn more at:

http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com

http://www.booksirecommend.com

When you remember a lot of your past ,
When memories follow you everywhere ,
Every single moment you say I will forget ,

But you find yourself lost between an ocean of endless memories.

Good time , your happiness , your joy , your laugh , your tears , your words , your fights Everything….Everything stored in your memories.

Some of them did a lot for you ,
Another who did nothing but hurt you.
A lot who served a lot why you don’t know but you feel failed after all of these days, Between all of these memories , you find something good.

You don’t know why or how?
You only feel it sounds good.
It tastes like sweet,
It makes you forget for a while all other sorrows and pains,

But you still sink in the ocean of memories.

Every time  you decided to stand up , you find a memory that pushed you down.

Something unsolved in your brain and can be solved by a call,

But you’r afraid of doing so.

Your personality don’t let you to do so,
But your mind won’t let it go.

Memories will be after you and tears will procede it too,
Each day , you will find it similar to something happened before.
Each word , someone told it before
Few are very special.
But almost everything makes you remember.

You want to migrate from this world.
The world of the grand halk day,
The world of deja vu.

You want anything new,
But you should erase the past too.
You should learn from it , to make it a motif ,to make it something that push you not to miss the old crew.

To say I will survive , to solve the problems and to save your life.
You say it is over but it is not.
You said they will and will….
But they won’t.
You said I did but they don’t.

You didn’t listen and they don’t.

So take a step , it is not that easy but it is not that hard.
Don’t lose yourself,
Don’t sink,
Try to invest your breaths , don’t let your life stop.
Open your phone and call,
Open your mouth and talk,
Open your mind and write,

A message , a call , a meeting….
Anything….
Take a positive step.
Don’t let yourself impending.
Don’t say it ’s over , you are sure it is not.
You’r sure you wanna talk,
They wanna talk,
But you’r afraid and they’r too.
You’r afraid from hearing,
They’r too.
You did mistakes and they’r too.

Your brain won’t accept something you’r sure it is not real , your brain and your soul like to face the truth.

It is not over.
You need that talk.
You need it.

Your memories won’t leave you , your present will make you remember.
Your future will make you remember,
Unless you solve it between you and them,
Unless you take a positive step that satisfies your brain.

Every situation will make your brain see it as a deja vu.
So solve it and don’t let your life pass away with memories.
No one can go back to the past,
But everyone can build his future and live his present.
That’s why it is called present,
Because it is a gift from your GOD.

The present is a gift to learn how to learn and forget the past and how to build the future
to be another present like this.

So stand up, take good memories and lets start to build a Beautiful Future.♥

Image via Wikipedia

So when will the countries we borrowed from come asking for there money back? Its really only a matter of time. Soon China is going to want their money, but you see, we don’t have any money! Then its going to turn nasty. I predict China asks first and eventually launches war against America. Then other countries who we owe debt to will start to do the same and at that point we’re looking at a third World War. Only this one will be the worst. The outcome? America will own half the world or America will be extinct. I don’t think there will be an “in between”

Image via Wikipedia

The only solution is immediate action by our “friends” on Capitol Hill. Yet, this is still extremely difficult. What can you cut? Education, they’re trying to and schools are already getting worse and drop out rates at record highs (http://www.edequality.org/facts/entry/drop_out_rate/) that’s definitely a bad idea. They could cut infrastructure, but then we would look like a third world country after 2-5 years. The most logical and friendly thing to cut would be OIL. There is about $604 Billion imported in oil each year if we were to completely cut oil (and thats not going to happen, but if we were) it would only take 25 years to pay the debt back assuming we don’t spend ANY more money than we have in that quarter of a century. Unfortunately cutting oil from America is impossible, but it would be a good start to only use our oil and promote other ways of getting energy. Let’s all hope that the American government can figure this thing out. And I mean everyone from Americans to Australians to South Africans to Germans. Because I like not being forced to hold a rifle in my hand before I plan on it. I also like the world at peace not in turmoil.  Like and Comment if you like this and still comment if you didn’t like it or you have suggestions to make it better. Thank you for reading!

For many years people have been trying to learn true culture in America. Many people in America have failed to receive or be able to find this through college or the workaholic mainstream resulting in depression, massive unemployment and apathy. People move to their pleasures to find a sense of satisfaction in celebration, a release from the mundane and an exposure of their wild side. From here often people experience large rushes of creativity resulting in creation of music, art, writing, poetry, dancing, singing, the eastern arts and more. With the influx hitting the US in the 1960’s through what is known as hippie culture (or the modern day renaissance) many have found some sense of peace in going this route and have stood to make and re-make American culture in a way that works for themselves and their surroundings. These are the hippies turned yuppies that took this philosophy into the mainstream and helped to affect our culture. Again in the 90’s we had a rush of “Raves” that did the same thing, with the addition of the information age and the ability to obtain all kinds of information at the tip of your fingers through the world wide web. Events that represented the culture proved to shape and reshape our society injecting vibrations of hope of overcoming obstacles, a deeper sense of love, faith, caring about each other, sharing what is valuable with others and celebration of Life. To some it has become known alternative healing culture through intentional music, healing arts and edutainment is taking a stand for things that helping to solve some of the problems of our society (and spending a lot less money that mainstream culture to do so). People are walking away, impressed, awed, inspired and going home and using the passion and enthusiasm that they found in this new culture and rebuilding lost hopes into new dreams. When we experience great and amazing things, your body is becoming at one with heart, it is are telling their friends and family and they are checking it out and getting involved and therefore the festival circuit and conscious event circuits are growing in a very fast pace. At one of these events People walk from a stage where they hear their favorite music and over to a stage where a Unity Church Minister is talking about Universal Laws of Love and the person has an inner revelation, changing their mind set for the rest of their life turning them into a giving person to humanity who goes out and start a non-profit themselves based on Universal Laws of Love. Another person may be in high spirits from dancing to their favorite DJ and go listen to a comedian talk about how simple it is to recycle and use renewable energy. Feeling lifted and inspired this person goes home to do the action, tells others and feels so inclined to start a solar company impacting his region. This is how education works, it is based on passion, enthusiasm & creativity, without these sparked our society will not enjoy doing the work therefore it will be bland and uninspiring, leaving people apathetic.

The Dalai Lama himself said some of the best things that we could do as humans is produce festivals and celebrate life. This is why it is so important. These are trying times, where we continue to try what works and stop what doesn’t. We can use these events to educate the people of the nation to become better people, love themselves and the planet . I feel this is a very wise thing to invest in right now. If we were to Spend 10% of the money that would go to Banks and Housing market to fix our problems on the rapid advancements of these events, we would see a youthful energy within a few years. This will impact the SPIRIT of our land, the women that birth our children and the indigenous people of our land that have been saying the same things to use for quite some time. Its time to forgive ourselves and venture out like brave pioneers into a new world where we reshape the world into a world we want our children to grow into. We could learn how to start caring and remember how to feel the good parts of community; furthermore how that will help us get out of this crisis TOGETHER.

This is what I did when a middle aged woman appeared to me with a story of her family that left me breathless, dazed and out rightly confused. I had to excuse myself on two occasions to go into an inner room to regain my composure. It was so weird that at one time I could not hold back busts of laughter as my mind tried to grasp the consequences of her life story. If indeed it was true.

The woman was second in a line of three waiting clients. After I finished with a man who was my first client, the woman walked in and closed the door behind her. Her flowered dress seemingly about to bust under the mountain of flesh it was supposed to cover. The woman was plump and though on the verge of old age, you could discern her chocolate beauty of years past, brought back by a stylish wig of hair that adorned her head. It was easy to tell that money may not be a big problem to her.

I welcomed her to a seat and started by introducing myself. She cut me short by telling me she knows a lot about me from people I had assisted and was sure she will get the answers to the questions that brought her here. I wondered what questions she was talking about.

“I have a problem”. She started. “A big problem but I don’t know where to start”. I sat attentively.
 “Am a widow of 3 children. My husband died in a road accident in 1989 and left me with a daughter and a son who were 19 and 16 years respectively then. We were firm Christians as we were both leaders of our local church” She paused for some moments. When instinct told me she is taking too long, I prodded her with a question. “Has it been difficult bringing up the children alone?” I asked. She ignored the question, looked up from the floor and gave me a sharp inquisitive look. I waited.

“I want you to promise me that whatever we discuss hear will be between me and yourself only”. She asked in a hoarse but firm voice. I promised.

“The issue that has brought me here has been a tightly guarded secret which I have never shared with anyone else but it has come to haunt and tear apart my family.

 After a few moments she continued. “3 years into the death of my husband, my eldest daughter wanted to get married. According to our tradition, a suitor cannot pay dowry if the mother of the wife-to-be has not accomplished specific marriage rituals. So, after discussions with local elders, it was decided that I will have to fulfill the rituals to my own parents as my husband would have done were he alive. The event was very colorful as everybody ate and made merry. A lot of traditional beer had been brewed to bless the occasion and this is where things started going wrong. It was free for all as everybody took the beer and I, my 18 year old son and her sister were not left behind. Everybody became drunk and there was a lot of confusion and misbehaving. I don’t know what happened between my son and some visiting cousins and a fight ensured. My son who, it was alleged had abused an uncle, was thoroughly beaten by a mob of cousins. So badly beaten was he that we had to take him to hospital. He was treated and discharged but was so much angered by the incident he was crying uncontrollably and wanting to avenge the beatings. I took him home in his stupor and he could not sleep however much I tried to comfort him. He would sleep for a few moments and then would wake up crying and screaming and I had to rush to his bed to comfort him and lullaby him back to sleep. During those episodes, and spending sleepless hours, I don’t know what happened but I woke up in the morning in the same bed with my son who in his drunken stupor had, you know, spent the night with me. You-know-what-I-mean”. She stammered amid sobs as she suddenly took out a handkerchief and wiped away tears which were now flowing in a torrent. Jesus Christ. I knew what she meant.

I waited for her to regain composure as I tried to figure out where this story of hers was heading to. I couldn’t bring myself to imagine the truth of what she was saying. That her own son would do something like that to her. When she was able to resume, she confirmed my worst fears. She later informed me that a month later she discovered she was pregnant. She didn’t know what to do. She told me she contemplated having an abortion but being a church leader she didn’t know where or how to go about it until the pregnancy became evident to everyone and she decided to keep the baby. She went through nine agonizing months of humiliation as she could not divulge what had happened. She was excommunicated from the church on the presumption that she had committed adultery with another man. She let that notion prevail among the villagers, being a lesser evil than what had actually transpired. She eventually delivered a baby boy.

“Did you discuss it with your son?” I asked her.
“No. We didn’t discuss it and it seemed my son did not comprehend what really happened because he was also among those who blamed me for having secret affairs with men from our church. I let the matter rest as it were and I absorbed all the ridicule and rebuke that came with it.” She told me swearing that, for the 3 years after the death of her husband, even after the following 18 years after the birth of this ill-gotten son, she has never, even entertained the idea, of going out with any man. I had no reason to doubt her.

“Now you are telling me that the father of your son is his brother?” I asked, not to her in particular, as I tried to digest the information. She told me she has gone through hell every day she looked at both of them and has been agonizing on what would happen if the truth came out.

“Martin, the bad thing is that, these two sons can never do a thing together. They hate each other and it has gotten worse now that the younger one, who is 18 now is big enough to stand against his ‘father’ for a fight. I had all along thought it was the older son who hate the younger one because he thinks he is illegitimate, but these days even the younger one do not want to set his eyes on the older one. Right now as I talk to you, they are both booked in the police station because of fighting after the older one found the younger one quarreling with his wife. I was on the way to the station to request for their release since I always blame myself for their predicament, when I decided to first pass by you and seek a solution to this problem. You are the first person in this world to have told the truth about what happened and as you can see am getting old and would want a solution before I die.

“Would they respect each other if they knew the truth?” She asked me. The answer I had right then was, I truly don’t know. But of course she couldn’t take that as an answer, so I kept quite.

After some time I honestly told her I needed some time to think over it and we should meet at a later date to give her a solution.

Dear reader, what would you think is the best way to settle this issue amicably. Comment.

Marine litter is believed to come from four main sources, with the majority of marine litter entering oceans directly from public sources. Public litter includes items such as plastic bottles, aluminium cans, food wrappers, cigarette butts and golf balls. The remains of helium balloons from ‘balloon races’ are also frequently among this litter. The second highest source of litter is the fishing industry, with items such as fishing line, rope, cord, floats and hooks being found. Many of these items are lost to the sea accidentally, making it a more difficult problem to eradicate. Sewage related debris makes the third largest contribution to marine litter around the UK. In some cases, toilets are used as ‘wet bins’, with debris entering the sea from sewage pipes. Britain has around 20,000 emergency storm overflow pipes that carry raw sewage and rainwater to the sea, but some of these are continually used, releasing items such as sanitary towels, tampon applicators, condoms and cotton buds to the sea. Cotton buds alone contribute to 70% of the sewage related debris found on our beaches, possibly because they are so thin that they are not removed by sewage filtering systems. Binning plastic items is the only way to be confident that they will not end up in the oceans. The final major source of marine litter is the shipping industry, which contributes items such as oil drums, strapping bands and crates to our oceans. In addition to these sources, there is a large amount of litter that cannot be easily sourced, frequently because it is broken into microscopic pieces. Marine litter from these four sources has been shown to have several key consequences.

One such direct consequence is the entanglement and death of marine organisms. These litter items are said to continue ‘ghost fishing’ – accidentally entangling organisms in fishing line, net and rope. Post mortem examinations on 30 baleen whales stranded on the Scottish coast since 1990 concluded that 16 of these died from entanglement in creel lines and other ropes. Fortunately, conservationists sometimes reach stranded animals and are able to disentangle them, but this is both a difficult and dangerous job. Entanglement is believed to be a huge risk to turtle species, all seven of which are included on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Seabirds also suffer entanglement when they dive or swim into litter whilst foraging. Images of entangled seals are particularly disturbing, because as the seal grows, the string or rope becomes progressively embedded in the animal’s flesh, restricting its breathing and ability to forage. In 2002, a scientist from the Sea Fisheries Institute, showed that of the Cape Fur Seals harvested on the South African coast, approximately 84 seals per year suffer entanglement, representing 0.1% of the harvest.

Not only can litter entangle marine life, it can also be fatal when ingested. Marine organisms often mistake litter for food items or have a low discrimination rate when feeding. Upon ingestion, litter can block the passage of food, causing starvation . Large plastic pieces have also been shown to cause inflammatory lesions in the intestines of Albatross chicks. Plastics can sequester man-made toxins from seawater, and some debris already harbours toxins when deposited. For example, some plastics contain PBDE, a flame retardant. Amongst other consequences, PBDE has been shown to affect the neurological and hormonal functions of marine life, hence influencing reproductive capacity. Chemicals found on plastics, such as DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons, have been shown to cause low steroid production and a delayed reproduction in several species; for example ringneck doves. Bioaccumulation of toxins can occur on moving up the food chain – occasionally concluding with human consumption.

Evidence of ingestion by marine life is extensive. For example, in 2005, a minke whale washed ashore in Northern France was found to have 800 grams of plastic bags in its digestive system – approximately one bin liner full. In 1985, a study of fulmars in the Netherlands showed that, on average, each bird had 12 items of litter in its stomach. In fact, 80% of plastic washed ashore on the Dutch coast has peck marks characteristic of those made by seabirds. In 2002, scientists from the University of Valencia found that 43 of 54 juvenile loggerhead turtles had debris in their gastrointestinal tract, possibly because these animals have a very low discrimination rate when feeding. Additionally, the consequences of the many microscopic plastic pieces in the sea are largely unknown, but they have been shown to be ingested by barnacles, lugworms and amphipods, and it is likely that this ingestion is not without consequences.

Marine litter is also capable of indirectly influencing species richness and biodiversity by transporting potentially invasive species to new areas. Invasive species are species not native to a particular area that can exclude native species by depleting limiting resources. Well-known examples have shown that invasive species can have dramatic effects on native species. One such example is the decline in red squirrel populations in Britain because of the introduced grey squirrel that delivers squirrel pox to native red squirrels whilst being more tolerant of the disease.

The durability, high abundance and buoyancy of much marine litter make it particularly suitable as a vector for invasive species. Man-made debris is capable of harbouring species, as demonstrated by a plastic strapping band, found on Adelaide Island, Antarctic Peninsula, shown to be the home to 10 species, including sponges, bryozoans, polychaete worms, a mollusc and a hydroid. On several beaches in the Seychelles, more than 60% of the debris was shown to contain potentially invasive species in 2006. In 2002, David Barnes from the British Antarctica Survey estimated that man-made debris has doubled the spread of invasive species to subtropical regions compared to the spread promoted by natural materials and more than tripled the spread to subpolar and polar regions. He has described marine litter as a ‘commercial jet airliner’ for invasive species, allowing unlimited travel.

With so much litter already in the oceans, financial support for investigation into suitable removal methods is required. Currently several methods are used for removing floating debris from the sea. The US Army Corps of Engineers typically remove 90 tonnes of debris from San Francisco Bay shipping lanes every month, because of the threat that they pose to seaplanes. It is unknown whether removal involves trawling for debris but this would be counterproductive since it would also unavoidably remove marine organisms. In the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve, Puerto Rico, debris is removed from reefs by snorkelling, tow-boarding and scuba-diving. Although this is effective on a small scale, it is impractical on larger scales and equipment is costly. Manual removal is considered to be the most environmental method because, unlike machine collection, it does not remove organisms from the environment. In Britain manual removal using gloves and litter pickers is popular and several environmental charities regularly organise beach clean-up events. These events also entice community involvement, whilst also improving awareness of the issue.

Governments have important roles to play in the mission to decrease marine litter. Alongside environmental charities, governments can assist in providing funding for investigation into removal methods. They are also responsible for ensuring littering laws are enforced and carry appropriate penalties. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 1973/1978) is one intergovernmental initiative that has proved successful in reducing marine pollution from ships. Amongst other outcomes of this convention, plastic disposal at sea is now prohibited.

What can society do to decrease the damage on wildlife from marine litter? Prevention is the key! Society should continue in its effort to reduce the amount of waste produced and attempt to reuse and recycle existing items where possible. Furthermore, by supporting beach clean-up events and other environmental debris removal methods, it is hoped that society will be able to assist conservationists in ‘turning the tide on marine litter’. Because of the cost, impracticalities and time-consuming nature of removing floating debris, there is an urgent need to promote prevention!