You would think that hard work is all anyone should ever need in order to be successful. However as we all know in today's society money is key in just about anything we do. While the girl in class did say that she believes that all immigrants should come into the country legally, the reality is that is really just isn't possible. Money, having connections, and definitely hard work are key in becoming a United States citizen. These immigrants coming from another country are coming here for a better life and hopes to make more money than they are making in their country. So ideally if a person wants to come into this country, having the money to get here is the first step in making that a reality. Yes, I do know though that people hop the border from Mexico or make rafts and swim a bit from Cuba, but those are the harsh realities that we do and will continue to have illegal immigrants in our country. But back to my original point in that it will and forever be easier for people with money to get into this country. They usually also have connections as well with people who will help them make the process go faster. This also relates to hard work as well. The people who have money in other countries must have worked hard to get to where they are. (Not including all of the people who inherited money from parents or family members) Then there comes the issue on the class you are placed in because of they money you have. It is very hard to move up or even down in class for most people. Obviously there are exceptions to that, but once you are in a class, you usually stay there your entire life. Hard work will not matter for these legal and illegal immigrants, because the majority of the time they are doing low-end jobs and they work long hours for low pay and they never really get to where they want to be. So for the girl who said she would rather pick pears then having illegal immigrants do it, what else would you be willing to do for the country. While picking pears doesn't seem like too demanding of a job, even though I'm sure it is, there are other jobs like working in the factories with possible unsafe situations, or working very long hours doing something else, it still wouldn't be the life you wanted. These people really and truly know the meaning of hard work because it is something they will always and forever have to do. So all in all I believe this problem will always be around. It isn't really ever going to go away because immigrants will always want to come here and make a better life for themselves and their family, because in some way or another we all want to work hard and have a great future.

Being a woman is a very hard thing to do in society today. It starts from a very young age to want to look pretty and dress like a princess, etc. Hell it even starts for toddlers in that show called Toddlers in Tiaras. Mothers put makeup on these little girls who probably don't even know what lipstick, eye shadow, and blush are. It saddens me to see these little girls start this young in something that makes them feel that being perfect is what society wants them to be. But more back to woman my age and in college. Walking around Penn States campus you see so many different types of girls. You see larger girls, taller girls, skinny girls, chubby girls, orange girls, blonde girls, brunette girls, red-headed girls, etc. You get my point. The point is that it is in fact true that other girls judge other girls more closely than guys do. I know I am guilty of judging them, not out loud, but I will just be like "what is she thinking?" in my head. Whether it be from what they are wearing to how orange their skin is, or if their hair is too many colors. There are so many things that guys may not realize we judge each other for. There is a saying that goes "spandex is not a right, its a privilege." I'm sure many people have seen that happen numerous times across campus. Then there are the girls who I personally feel sorry for. The ones who look like oompa-loompas. You know, they are orange. Fake baking is not good. But that is besides the point. In reality, girls only do this because it is what we think we need to do to in order to meet societies standards. I think that is wrong. I think a girl needs to be whoever she wants to be. We are all beautiful in our own way and the world needs to recognize that. We won't all look like Victoria-Secret supermodels, that is just not possible because we are not all born six feet tall and essentially perfect. Confidence is what every girl needs to have and look up to. Her own confidence in her own body is what she needs. Me, personally, I know I'm not perfect. Sure there are things that I would like to change about myself, but for now, I'm confident in myself. I'm 5'3" and proud of it. Yea, boob size may be important, and I'm not gonna lie I do have bigger boobs, but sometimes it gets kind of annoying cause guys like to stare. Sometimes is okay, like when I'm out and all dressed up, but just during class I don't want to be judged by other people. And on a personal level and something I would never wish for any other girl, a girl should never have to hear from her ex-boyfriend that she wasn't "hot" enough for him. And the world wonders why girls think they need to be perfect. It is because of shallow guys like that that make us believe we need to be perfect. But I do have to give some guys out there credit for not being like that. So girls, you are beautiful, you just need to believe in yourself and have confidence in yourself!

I have a reverse question to you. If you were one of the people who ate the first piece of chocolate, how did you stomach the fact that you ate that first piece without knowing? How do you eat any of the food you eat without thinking about it? How do you wear the shirt you have one? No matter what you eat or what you wear, it may have come from an underdeveloped country in some sweatshop or from a laborer who is dealing with terrible work conditions. No matter what happens, in some way or another we are all affected by people being mistreated for the clothes, food, etc. we eat. Even a lot of the fruit we eat comes from illegal immigrants from Mexico who are in our country doing jobs that we don't want to. So are you going to go back to your dorm room that is nicer and bigger and more comfortable than where these people live and sit on your hard floor and not sleep in your bed? Or are you going to go back to your cozy apartment with your couches and your kitchen and make a meal and eat it and think about all the starving children, men, and women in the world who can't eat anything for days at a time? It doesn't matter what we do or what we eat or what we wear, because we do it at a consequence and a price. Another point I want to make is that you said "What if the person was sitting right next to us?" Well if that person was sitting right next to us I'm sure they would be far better off than living in their country or being enslaved and beaten if they didn't perform the proper work or they tried to run away. Yes watching that video was disturbing and wrong on so many levels, but it is the circle of life. Here in America we are fortunate enough to live the lifestyles we do. Sam has said that even the poorest people in America are far better off than people elsewhere. I'm not saying any of this to be harsh, but it is the truth. We all have to understand that being in America and especially at Penn State, we are better off than a lot of people. I can say that I am very fortunate at what I have because I was born in Guatemala. A country plagued with violence and the people being very poor. My own biological mother could not afford to keep me as well as her other children. Which is why I was adopted into a family from Connecticut. I wake up every day because of a decision she made for me because as my biological mother said, "Love was the only thing I could give her." Because of her I am at Penn State, I have the most loving family at home, the best opportunities I could have. Guatemala is also a country known for exporting coco beans and coffee beans. So I ate that second piece of chocolate as a thank you to those people who suffer through torture and getting beaten to pick the coco beans we use to make chocolate. If I didn't eat that second piece of chocolate it would be like spitting in the face of the person who picked the beans that made the piece I ate. So now my question for you is, how can you stomach not eating that second piece of chocolate? Someone went through hell to pick the bean that made the chocolate, and you just threw it away? How can you stomach that?

I completely agree with you bud. I'm kinda in the same boat you are. But not in the way you think. I am 100% Guatemalan born there, and raised for 6 months. Then I was adopted to a white family in Connecticut. I was born without learning spanish, and without any of my own culture. The town I grew up in was a very rich, white, snobby town. Status was everything and money was a plenty. I was brought up like the rest of my peers and I guess in a way, I am a white girl. But as I got older, I didn't want to be like a white kid anymore. I started noticing race more and more, well not exactly noticing it, since it really didn't exist, but I started becoming aware of that fact that there were different people out there. I wanted to see more and more diversity and I wanted to be seen as different as well. So it was no surprise that I wanted to go to a big school, where I could see more different people. However I guess I was a little mislead with just how much diversity Penn State had. I came to a program at Penn State while I was a senior in high school. It was called Achiever's Weekend. It was put on by a minority organization, SMART. The student minority advisory and recruitment team. There were a bunch of minorities from all over at this program. We got to come and experience Penn State for the first time. It was a lot of fun and I was really excited about Penn State. But coming in as a freshmen, I started to notice that there wasn't as much diversity as I thought. I made my own diversity though. What I mean is that I started hanging out with more hispanic and black people. I went to "black parties" and joined the minority organizations. My mother actually started calling me a racist because she thought I was ignoring all the white people in my life. I wasn't ignoring them or thought different of them, but I wanted to emerge myself in culture. I wanted to learn about other people and what they were life. That was when I meant true Hispanic people, and started my crush on the black man. I found that they treated me differently than a white man. I know some will say all they wanted was to get laid, but it wasn't all about that. I got along with all these people so well. They joke around in a way that I do. So while I was raised by a white family, I was struggling to find my identity and a Hispanic woman. I wish someone had taught me spanish and I wish I knew more about my culture. But hanging out with my Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Columbian friends, I learned some traits about being Hispanic. I especially learned about the food. So while I am seen on the outside as a Hispanic woman, part of my on the inside will always be the white child raised by the white family. But slowly as I am growing up I am learning the ways of being a Hispanic woman. So I understand where this student is coming from. And what I want to say to him is that take pride in your Puerto Rican side. You don't look white to me, you look Puerto Rican. It isn't the color of your skin that defines you, it's what is inside.

Alright, so here is the deal. As a woman, I get my period. It happens on a cycle just like Sam said, and it is a big pain in the ass. It is a natural bodily function for woman to get their period and there really isn't anything bad about it, it is just annoying. Just like the girl who posed the question, I think it is also a miracle that we can reproduce and have children. Sooo my problem with what Sam was talking about is that I didn't want to hear about his wife's period or the fact that he likes to look at it. That is between the two of them. He doesn't need to share it with his class of 700 or so students. When he asked all the men to put their heads down so that we could really see how many girls were on their period, that was fine. But I certainly didn't want to visualize in my head Sam Richards going into the bathroom with his wife to look at what she put in the toilet. The reason toilets flush is so that we dont have to look at it anymore. Within relationships it is fine to discuss a woman's period because well if the guy wants to get laid and the girl is on her period, sorry we can't do anything with you because that is just gross. Of course all guys know what a woman's period is so its no big deal between the two of them. I personally never felt embarrassed to tell the person I was with that I was on my period. It bummed me out as well because I'm not gonna lie I like sex. As a woman I like sex, maybe not as much as men do, but it is fun and enjoyable and my period slows me down. Someone once told me that people who are in relationships who have sex enough, tend to not fight as much and tend to be happier. You know what? I freakin believe him. Because it happened with us, and we were happy. But anyway, not the point. Point being that yes girls can talk about their periods with each other. Girls can talk about their period with their significant other. Girls can even talk to their period with their parents. On a personal note I know that my father doesn't really care all too much about it because he would buy feminine products for my mother and I. I really think it is when your comfortable enough with someone it is an open topic. But hearing your professor say he has looked at his wife's period in the toilet before. Totally gross. And I do want to add that I do think he may have brought it up to show that this may relate to race issues as well. It is just a topic that in general no one really talks about too much. Therefore, in a way, Sam is a genius.

I have to say I'm not surprised by this school canceling this prom. Look where the school is...Mississippi! What a joke! This girl should not have even asked the school if she could bring her girlfriend. She should have just gone and made a statement. As we can see this is a big deal because BBC has posted something about it. If a high school prom dilemma is making BBC news, then clearly, once again, American idiots are doing something stupid once again. It is also apparent that Mississippi has not grown out of their comfort zone yet. The poor girl now also has to deal with "a bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this." That is so sad to read because of a high school prom. Prom really serves no purpose except for "popular" kids who just want to feel good about themselves because everyone will fall all over them telling them how pretty or handsome they look. It really is a joke. Then there is a girl who just wants to be able to enjoy her prom with her girlfriend, and she can't. These two people actually really like each other and care about one another, unlike those popular kids who just think its fun to see who can get the better/hotter date. Ironic, isn't it? And another thing how in anyway would all of this be a "distraction to the educational process?" Seriously? I'm sure all of the kids in that school have heard of gay or lesbian couples. Maybe they may not have witnessed it first hand, but how does seeing two girls together distract them educationally? It's a PROM! There is nothing educational about a prom. I'm just happy that all of this made national news because maybe this idiotic school will wake up and smell this century. Whether someone likes girls, boys, both, etc. is a way of life now. It is not something that we should look down upon by any means. It doesn't mean they are different, it means they just chose that the person they enjoy being with most is someone of the same sex. There is nothing wrong with that. If you love and care for someone that much, it shouldn't matter what sex they are or what color, etc. Another fact that was sad to read was that her teacher in the end of the article told her she had to remember where she was. Mississippi-GROW UP! It isn't all about white power and the heterosexual marriage anymore. There are people in this world who have other preferences. Get it in your small-minded brains and give people the opportunity to live. You can't control other people, so stop trying. This school should have lt this couple attend the prom so that maybe it would open up the minds of her fellow students and their parents to the reality of life. I so wish that this girl had a chance to go to some dance with her girlfriend and show everybody just how amazing she is for being who she is. It is probably safe to say that she has already won the majority of the American people over by her story.

I was talking about this with a friend of mine the other day and it is funny that it came up on this blog. So my first response is that we have a lot of crazy ass white people in this world. I don't think show producers are discriminating against other races, I just believe that only white people are dumb and desperate enough to actually do this type of stuff. Yes I know there are exceptions to every show, but like we see, the majority of people are white. With a show like the bachelor it could also be that the actual bachelor himself may not prefer to date someone of another race. If that isn't what he wants, then maybe that is why they don't put any one else on the show. Although I feel as a hispanic woman, that we more often appear on things like this than black woman because we in a way look kinda white. However, there are plenty of other shows on tv where black woman, hispanic woman, and white woman all come together. For example, a show that I just recently finished watching was for the love of Ray J. He is a black man and he had white woman, black woman, and hispanic woman on that show. Although I'm 99% sure they were all golddiggers, it goes to show that ethnic people do go out on shows like that. Along with other shows like Flavor of Love that was on, A Shot at love with Tila Tequila, and all those shows on VH1. Those are majority ethnic shows. And also on BET, which is obviously an ethnic station because it stands for Black Entertainment Television. Another point that I want to bring up is Girls Gone Wild. How many ethnic woman do you see going on camera and flashing there stuff and pretty much being a dirty whore? I have yet to see one. Wanna know why? Lots of trifflin ass white people out there. I was joking with a friend and we said it is because we would want to get paid to do that kind of stuff. We don't just go around getting wasted and start flashing ourselves for the camera. Somebody has to pay up. I believe someday we might not have silly shows like the bachelor, because so far I have yet to see one of those relationships work out. On another side note, on shows like The Apprentice with Donald Trump, you did see a wide variety of ethnicities. That was definitely a nice thing to see. The minorities fighting for what they know could be theirs. I believe one day we will see more diverse tv shows, but until then we have to deal with what we have. And what we have is a lot of white people reality tv shows. It's always entertaining and gives you a good laugh!

I believe that in American society today, race and money have everything to do with the court system. Like the person above me has stated, race may not play as much as a role as money does. Most of the time when a black person gets arrested and a white person gets arrested for the same thing, the white person can either make bail or hire a damn good lawyer to help them get out of the mess they are in. Whereas a black person is read his miranda rights which says, "if you cannot afford (a lawyer) then one will be appointed to you." So many times some lawyers do pro bono work for people. I can say from personal experience this is the case. When I was back in high school, my school had a shadow program where we could choose someone local to shadow around for the day in a profession of our choosing. I was following a local lawyer and we went to a courthouse in New Haven. In this court house the judge was hearing many cases back-to-back. And what seemed to be the case was there were more black people being charged with crimes than white people and these black people had these pro bono lawyers because they probably couldn't afford a decent lawyer.

The next issue I want to point out is also about my town. You see where I come from in Connecticut, we are considered a white, rich town. To my dismay I had to live with these people for too many years. But what I saw with them was power and money. When there perfect son or daughter would get in trouble for something, such as an underage drinking citation, what happened? Yea thats right, they got off with a slap on the wrist because money got them community service or whatever other punishment is out there.

As far as the judges go, well I believe that many judges out there are racist. Or these judges seem to fall into the stereotypical mindset that they are supposed to let the white man off while the black man sits in prison. Now I'm not saying that this is what all judges are about, but I believe the older ones still believe that they should be more kind to the fellow white man. It is a shame that black people have to suffer more just because they can't afford a decent lawyer or because of their skin color.

Ultimately I believe that it is money that plays a big role in keeping anyone out of prison. This is definitely a fact because we don't see too many A-list celebrities in prison. Let's take Paris Hilton for example. She was in jail for what? 8 days before she was whining to daddy about having to sit in some nice, luxury cell? She broke the law and she should have had to suffer for it like anybody else. I'm not saying that celebrities shouldn't get reduced sentences just because of who they are, I'm just saying if you break the law, you should do your time and learn something from it. So all-in-all I believe that money has way more of a role than race in most cases. The people who can afford the lawyer, whether white or black, are better off than those who cannot afford the best lawyer and are appointed one.

Lesbians are more accepted than gay men because men would rather see two lesbians in a porno than gay men. It's as simple as that. Whatever the man wants to see, the man will get. I also believe that women are more emotional with each other than men are. For women we like to hug each other, kiss each other on the cheek when we greet one another, and we just in general naturally act closer to each other because we are all the same physically. To see men in this country go up to each other and kiss each other on the cheek or embrace in a genuine hug is what we the American people like to point out as gay. I do want to say though that in other countries it is in their culture to kiss each other on the cheek when greeting one another. Just in American we put so much emphasis on peoples sexuality that it is hard for some people to be who they truly are. Our society isn't ready to see men holding hands in the street or making out in the park. Whether people believe this for religious, moral, or just personal reasons, it still isn't accepted to the public. But what makes me angry is that we are all human beings. Whether or not we are heterosexual, lesbians, or gays, we should all be treated the same. I am a firm believer in gay marriage, yes marriage. It is not a union or whatever else these critical people want to justify it as only a union. I believe that because gay men or lesbian women are the way they are, they will be more accepting of those who are different around them. They also know what they want and who they want and no matter what, it is still called love. Love is something that can happen to anyone, no one tells you who to love or what to believe, it just happens. And for now if society is more accepting of lesbians, then I guess we are headed on the right track somewhere. I also want to point out something that Sam said in his lecture. For those people who are questioning whether or not to accept lesbian and gay couples, he said that they themselves are questioning their own sexuality. And I believe him on this. People shouldn't be so quick to judge unless they know what it is like. It is just like an old saying "you don't know what it's like, until you've walked a mile in another mans shoes." Something like that. The last point I want to make is that males are usually more homophobic than women are so it is hard for them to believe that a fellow brother is attracted to another one. Someday I hope it is all equal.

After my initial reaction of disgust at this man, I can only wonder what type of household he grew up in. To me it would seem he grew up in a wealthy, white home, with no care in the world. His grandmother probably was a racist as were his parents. Because what gives him the right to call someone an animal just because they receive welfare. Personally I do not believe that welfare is the best program that our nation has, but there are some people I'm sure definitely need it. But the people out there who take advantage of the system are the key problem this man was talking about. Welfare is a program to help those who can't help themselves. But what really pisses me off are those lazy-ass human beings who sit back day in and day out receiving their government check in the mail without actively looking for work. It is people like those that I believe Bauer was trying to refer to. Now in no way am I approving of what he said, but he did not need to out step his boundaries and say that these people are like animals and all they do is make more animals. That is just wrong on so many levels.
And another thing that really gets me going is that this man now wants to run for public office? Yea ok, that is just what we need to follow a cheating Governor who was in the public eye for having an affair with a woman from Argentina. Who in their right mind would want to vote for this guy after what he just said?!? They just got rid of one scumbag politician, how many more do they want to elect? It would be the pure stupidity of the American people in South Carolina to elect this idiot.
I'm also curious about the "welfare queens" that was posted in this blog. Is it really true that the rich are using welfare as well? If that is the case well then...what the hell is going on in the government?? Rich people using welfare? Now tell me how fair is that to those who actually need welfare. It is hard to even imagine that the majority of people on welfare are children, but apparently that is the case. It is saddening to read that rich people are sending their messenger boys to Capitol Hill to get money for themselves. I just wish that the lazy people on welfare right now would get up and go make something of themselves. Try to provide for your family in the way that you should. Don't rely on the government to pay for your food, or get you lavish things in life. I was reading the post above me and he said that his uncle is using his government check to pay off his new Escalade. I agree with him...WTF? It in all honesty is people like that who make me not like welfare because they have all these expensive things, but can't go out and earn the money to pay for this stuff themselves. It is just sad that Bauer had to go and call these people animals and that welfare is such a messed up system.