United States Foreign Affairs

The question is "Do you think the United States should interfere with other countries affairs?"

In my opinion, the United States go into other countries too much, when we are not wanted there. I think we have this reputation of trying to solve other countries problems, but sometimes we are not welcome there. Because of this, i believe we get a reputation of being a big bully by forcing ourselves on other countries and trying to "liberate" them. Maybe, if we found a way to offer assistance in a less violent way, we would be more welcome by others, but for now, I think the United States should stop focusing on other countries and try to work out our own problems first.

Barder the Dog

Assume the dog in your story is named Barder, and that the orange turban gives him the power of flight…

Once there lived a sad, homeless German Shepherd named Barder. The family he used to live with has recently had a newborn baby girl, and that girl was scared of the big dog that always wanted to play, so unfortunately, the family dropped Barder off near the humane society, hoping someone would find him and take him home. But no one ever found Barder, and he wandered the streets all alone, eating out of garbage cans and sleeping under park benches. One day he was so fed up with his life that he decided he couldn't live with it anymore. The day had come, and when the two o'clock bus drove by the park bench, Barder ran out in front of it and killed himself. What seemed like hours later, but was only three minutes, Barder awoke in a storage white room, with a young boy standing over him. The boy explained to Barder that this was dog heaven, and here he could be granted one wish. Barder thought long and hard about his wish, and finally decided that he wanted to be able to fly, free like the birds. Like a magician, the boy began to pull a piece of orange cloth out of his sleeve and tied this cloth to his head like a turban. Then the boy climbed on top of Barder and told his to run as fast as he possibly could. Barder ran and ran, but when he looked down at his feet, he was no longer running but flying. Barder was now as happy as could be since his lifelong dream had been realized, and he and the boy lived happily ever after together.

Find more of Jan Von Holleben's photography at

http://www.janvonholleben.com/?page_id=4

Writing in Reverse

For this assignment we chose a photo from Bill Sullivan’s Turnstile Photography Project and wrote a short story about what that person had done before or after passing through the turnstile. This is the story of Tenique Mist and her husband Robert.

Tenique Mist and Her Corkscrew

Tenique Mist has just finished killing her husband with a corkscrew. Late last night, Robert had his wife pour him his usual glass of Mortlach, but little did he know, there was nothing usual about this night. Tenique had discreetly slipped some rohypnol into his drink. While he was semiconscious, she used the small knife blade attached to the corkscrew to slit his throat. She then sat back on the couch to watch her husband take his last few breaths and bleed out onto the plastic tarp covering the chair he was sitting on.

Robert is Tenique’s fourth husband, and fourth murder. Robert had no idea of her history before they got married. He only knew her the kind woman who had lived next door to him for three years. When he heard of her previous husband’s death, he had befriended her, as he had lost his wife just a few years before and thought he could be of some comfort to her. Now, one year and three months after their first encounter, he was facing the same fate as her previous husband.

After he had thoroughly bled out, and Tenique was certain of his fate, she went to work with the blade of the corkscrew once again. Slowly and meticulously, she cut his limbs off his body one by one. She was sure to not let one drop of blood fall onto the carpet below the plastic tarp, as that was her one mistake seventeen years ago.

Jonas was Tenique’s first husband. He had met the same fate as Robert, Michael and George, but one thing had been different. A small drop of blood had fallen from his arm onto the carpet beside him. When the police received reports that Jonas was missing, they first searched the home where he and Tenique had lived for just over a year. When they found the blood spot on the carpet, they were quick to question Tenique, but after years of training, she passed the polygraph with ease. To the dismay of the police, she was let back onto the streets where she would inevitably kill again.

Now that Robert’s body was dismembered into easy to handle chunks, she was able to put them into small black trash bags and take them to the city dump. Unfortunately, Tenique’s car had been impounded the previous day, so she was forced to take the subway there. But Tenique was certain that with her careful planning and her ability not to show emotion, no one would be any the wiser as to what was in her bags. But the one thing she was not counting on was the camera as she walked through the turnstile into the subway station.