en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2442076 Comments by HungerGame http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/16/the-kill-team-tragedy-in-the-middle-east-001-blog/#IDComment145277366 I read articles that talked about how innocent civilians were killed during the war, but I have never heard about how soldiers actually planned on killing innocent civilians and they actually killed some people. I do not blame how soldiers might have killed some civilians during the war, but this incident is really shocking. Thinking about killing innocent civilians for fun can happen during the war, because soldiers kill a lot of people during this time of period, but actually doing it is not right. Soldiers are meant to kill enemies, but to protect civilians. However, somehow, I can understand why they did this. I just “understand” why they did, but I do not agree with their action. I know that most of soldiers suffer in their adaptation to be able to kill and then in their transition back to the real world. They often have a problem from stress disorders and other psychological problems. Maybe because of those problems, they thought it would be okay if they kill innocent civilians just for fun. Maybe because of the environment around them, they thought killing some people would not be a problem. Maybe because of killing people before, they thought it would be fine if they kill somebody. However, any of those is not an excuse of killing some innocent civilians. This incident can be a huge shame to this country and it can be a good reasonable fact that anti-war people can use against continuing this war. In class, we watched a video how the government is training soldiers to be killers. This can be a good thing, because most soldiers in the US are efficient when they are in a war. However, it also can be a bad thing, for example, this incident. If being a good killer means that he or she will kill innocent people, I do not see any point of training them in this way. Again, this article talks about a terrible and horrific incident that happened in Afghanistan. Soldiers, who killed innocent civilians, should be punished correctly, and may the Afghanistan civilians rest in peace. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:51:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/16/the-kill-team-tragedy-in-the-middle-east-001-blog/#IDComment145277366 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143244537 When I heard the news that the US force attacked Iraq, I thought this war would end soon. I do not know why, but probably because I have learned about wars just by textbook, not in a real world. Even now, I never experienced war in my life, but hearing news about deaths in Iraq and expanding the budget of the forge through the media makes me think how long this war is going to last? I still remember articles about soldiers that were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan three years ago. Most articles talked about how family members were depressed because of soldiers’ deaths and how soldiers were killed. As I read those articles, I wondered why are they not finishing this war as soon as possible and I still think the same as I did three years ago. Then I saw this video, and it made me certain that the war is not going to end soon as I hoped so, again. Some people disagree with increasing the size of army, increasing salary of soldiers and increasing the amount of money for the US force in other countries. However, some people agree with it, and that is why the budget of defense is increasing. The information from the video was really interesting and kind of shocking, because I have never heard about this kind of information, because, the government usually does not share this kind of information in the public. I feel disappointed to President Obama, because one of his main points during presidential election was that he would end this war as soon as possible and bring everybody home safely. However, I guess the president do not want that to happen anymore. The US government says that they are doing this to protect people from harm; I think they are harming a lot of people to protect their own people. More money on the budget means there are going to be more fights than before and more people are going to be harmed. I do understand why the US cannot take troops out there, because of fear. However, before fearing another terrorist attack, they also should fear how many people are going to be hurt by their action. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 23:09:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment143244537 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment141102562 I think this letter does exactly include how the healthy relationship forms and what women want from men when they are in a relationship; however, unfortunately, in reality, this relationship does not occur in every couple. Some guys think that what all girls want are just money and sex, and I think it is because of media. Even the author says, “I’ve been brain washed into believing that all women want is sex and money. Seeing videos, movies and television shows gave me this false impression”. In movies, dramas, and even music videos include women who want to have sex so badly or women who will do anything for earning money. So when girls say no, some guys think that girls do not really mean “no”. In class, few weeks ago, we watched a video that showed how music videos are made from men’s imagination; how guys want to have sex with girls and how guys want girls to behave. Some girls might act like that, but most of girls do not even think in that way. The author, who wrote this touchable letter, did not know how the healthy relationship works before coming in prison. He did not know what he has done to girls was wrong. When people are exposed to media, which gives people false impression, they do not try to think in different way; they think the media is right and not even trying to change those images. Sometimes guys make fun of other guys, who do not behave as the media shows. The author says, “My question is, if I’m right, why is it I had to come to prison to figure this out. Why did it take me so long to get this understanding of females?” After coming to prison, he would have more time to think about his previous relationships and what went wrong. Now he knows what he did, and he apologizes to people, who may have been offended by his actions. And he promises he will not be the same man as he was before to his future relationships. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:19:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/what-a-man-is/#IDComment141102562 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment139216042 Before I was taught in the sociology lecture, I thought prisoners were not supposed to be forgiven, because they do not know what they did wrong, and they are still aggressive and selfish, as I saw them on television drama or news. And some people say that most of prisoners made “a stupid mistake” in their life time. I did not believe the statement; I thought that was a stupid excuse for people who were in prisons. However, after reading their letters and listening to their stories, I noticed that they were truly sorry and trying to pay what they did. They think they are deserved to be punished and they are deserved to be in the prison. Their real personalities were totally different from what I have been thought. When I moved to the US, it was easy to keep in touch with my friends who were in Korea at first time. However, as we got older, I got more stuff to think about and they got more stuff to do. So I totally understand what this person is trying to say. It is hard to keep in touch with someone, who is not near you. However, that does not mean that they are not concerned about you. If I was in prison and if I get letters from people that I know, even one time in like a month, I would be really appreciated and those letters will help me to think again about how the relationship is important and how to thank people around me. I am not one hundred percent positive that when prisoners get out of the prison, they will not commit the same crime as they did before. However, I think they deserve one more chance in their life. All people make mistakes (I guarantee presidents of the United States make mistakes). When people make mistakes, they want to be forgiven and they try not to make the same mistake as they did before. Prisoners are humans, too. They deserve to pay their mistake and have one more chane. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 22:50:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment139216042 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137588359 All my family members, including me, are catholic. When I was at home, even though the church started at 10 am, I always went to church every weekend, because my parents did and all of my friends did. When I came to Penn State, I heard that the church had a mass at 4:30 PM on Saturday. I was pretty happy about that, because I did not have to wake up early to go to the church. I thought I would go to church every Saturday and I imagined myself making new friends at the new church. However, I was wrong. I stopped going to church, because people around me were not catholic and they did not go to church. My best friends did not even bother to go, and eventually, I did not bother either. I realized that the main reason that I stopped going to church was that people around me did not go. Although I am still catholic, I just stopped attending to mass. Now, I am going to a Christian church, because most of friends are Christians. Because all people are connected by invisible strings, sometimes people follow other people’s decisions. Before I was in Korea, I used not to go to church, because my friends did not go. However, when I came to the US, I started going to church, because I could always see my new friends. Some people might say that I stopped going to church because I got lazy. That might be true, but if someone pushed me, like my parents did, to go to church, I would go. I do not really have any friend to go to the Catholic Church and people around me does not really enjoy going to church, I stopped going to church. I think sociology can explain why people start not believing in any god. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:00:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137588359 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135925070 After watching this video, I was impressed by his speech. I was surprised that Zach Wahls spoke his opinion for three minutes without reading any script, but I was more surprised that he was not embarrassed at all, even though he was saying that he was raised by a gay couple. I am not saying that raised by a gay couple is an embarrassing fact, but most people will think that is such an odd fact and some of them might show hatred emotion toward him. I can imagine they way people look at me if I say I was raised by a gay couple. They would not say anything out loud, but I know that they will say something about me. However, I do not think Zach feared for that thing. Many people do not agree with gay couple marriage. For example, my few friends think that homosexuals were not supposed to be born, because they cannot act as normal people. Then I would ask them, “What is the definition of normal people?” Homosexuals were not born as what they are because they wanted to; it is not something that they could have chosen between being a gay and a straight. I do agree with homosexual marriage, because I think it does not really matter whether you are a gay or not, if you want to be a parent of some lovely kids. I personally think making gay marriage legal in all states will reduce orphans. If my family did not love each other, what would happen? We would not talk to each other as much as now; we would not care what each other are doing; we would not even try to be a family. However, those things are not happening because we do love each other. The same thing goes for gay couple family. They love each other, they care about each other and they try to be a family as like other families. I do not see any problem to make gay marriage legal. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:38:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135925070 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment133053235 Winning lottery means that the person, who won it, is going to be rich. They can buy a fabulous car, a huge house with a pool, and they can hire some people to make their life easier. Also they can buy whatever they want, such as clothes, food and accessories. Just thinking about that makes people happy, because people can satisfy their unlimited wants. However, that necessary does not mean that they will be happier than before. When rich people become poor, most time they do not know how to live in that condition. Also when poor people become rich, they do not know how to live in a high social class. They do not know the culture and language of rich people. Poor people will not get along in that society. That is not the only problem they have. They can be threatened by a lot of things. Relatives can become enemies, strangers can break in the house and even close friends might betray them to get the money. When I was young, my mother told me that the money does not bring happiness. I personally do not think the statement is always right, because people get really frustrated if they do not have enough money for living and buying stuff whatever they want. However, the statement can be true, because they can lose their close friends, can be killed and can be out casted in the society. Therefore, I personally think winning the lottery is a curse. Mon, 7 Mar 2011 06:01:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment133053235 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment130658579 It is true that getting kidnapped by a stranger is really rare to happen. However, that does not mean that it is not going to happen to people; it is going to somebody in somewhere. That is why people in New York City are altered about this kidnapper; although it is not likely to happen to me, but I have a possibility to be a victim of this incident. The news altered the parents to hold their children’s hands when they are walking on the street. The reporter said, “Will he try this again on someone else? They have to assume he will, which is why the investigation is stepped up.” This tells people that there is a possibility that this can happen again, which will make people even be more scared by strangers. However, he did not emphasize that this incident is rare to happen to anyone. And it is true that there is a high possibility this incident would not occur. I personally do not know how invisible strings are attached to people, so I do not know what is going to happen to me if I talk to a stranger; would the person smile and talk back to me or would the person just ignore me or would that person harm me? I think that is why people do not prefer talking to strangers and this is why parents are trying to protect and tell their children not to talk to strangers in any place. Although people know that getting hurt by strangers is not likely going to happen to anyone, they do not know what is going to happen for sure. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:06:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment130658579 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126076543 I watched the video for five times, and every time I was laughing, but at the same time, I was surprised by people’s actions. Also I felt I was kind stupid, because I do the same thing every day. In class, I do not answer first, because I want to know if other people have the same answer as I do. In any event, I do not do something unusual thing that people are not doing. When I meet my friends, I do not force my opinion; usually I follow their decision and do the same thing as they do. One time, I told myself that I will not care what other people do and what other people say about me. However, that is not an easy thing to do. Because people are connected by invisible strings, their actions are going to affect me, even though I want to ignore their actions. For example, in the video, although facing forward in the elevator is usual, when people started facing other side, the person was confused and even followed them. Also I am pretty positive that I will do the same thing if that happens to me. Although I know that I am right, I will follow other people like they are right. When I was in high school, my English teacher asked the class that if we can say yes when everybody says no. I did not know how to answer that question before. I did not know whether I can do that by myself or not. And actually I was wondering why I cannot say yes to that question. When everybody wears green shirts, I do not want to wear beside a green shirt, because I want to be in a group like other people do. People make a society to live together, and they do not want to be excluded from the society. So my answer to my English teacher’s question will be no. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 04:53:15 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126076543 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126075062 I watched the video for five times, and every time I was laughing, but at the same time, I was surprised by people’s actions. I was amazed, because I do the same thing every day. Before I go out, I look at people if they are wearing normal shoes or snow boots and I look at people whether they are wearing a thick coat or not, so I can decide what I am going to wear. In class, I do not answer first, because I want to see if people have the same answer as I do. One time, I told myself that I will not care what other people do and what other people say about me. However, that is not an easy thing to do. Because people are connected by invisible strings, their actions are going to affect me, even though I want to ignore their actions. For example, in the video, although facing forward in the elevator is usual, when people started facing other side, the person was confused and even followed them. Also I am pretty positive that I will do the same thing if that happens to me. Although I know that I am right, I will follow other people like they are right. When I was in high school, my English teacher asked the class that if we can say yes when everybody says no. I did not know how to answer that question before. I did not know whether I can do that by myself or not. And actually I was wondering why I cannot say yes to that question. When everybody wears green shirts, I do not want to wear beside a green shirt, because I want to be in a group like other people do. People make a society to live together, and they do not want to be excluded from the society. So my answer to my English teacher’s question will be no. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 04:40:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126075062 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124456003 I believe many people agree that arresting five years old kid was ridiculous. I personally do not think that the boy knew how to pull the trigger. But still, I guess the society has to punish the five years old boy, because he brought a gun to school and that is the rule that it made. I understand that all the people have to follow rules in order to keep the society safe. However, the kid has done anything wrong. He picked the gun in his stepfather’s car; he probably thought that it was a toy gun, not the real loaded dangerous handgun. If the boy was in high school, that would be a really huge problem, because high school students know how to kill people with a handgun. However, this boy does not know about that. His parents can be blamed, because they were not careful about their gun. The police should have called the boy’s parents first and told them they needed to pay fine or go to a class about how to hide a gun in a safe place. A parent, who was in the video, said that the boy’s parents should be punished or blamed, not the boy. However, even though the boy is victim, he was punished. Because of this incident, I think the boy would have bad feelings toward adults, because he does not know what he has done wrong, but he was suspended from the school. Because all people are connected by invisible strings, this incident will affect a lot of people. People, who have their own guns, will be more careful about guns, especially people who have young children. Also, many people will suggest different ways to handle this kind of problems. Then, later, if this kind of incident happens again, many people will not make fun of the society. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:19:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124456003 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment122849048 Every person in this world has their own freedom; they can buy stuff they want, they can eat food they want and they can decide what to do. However, the freedom is often limited by many factors, such as position in society, relationships and money. Even decisions people make are influenced by surroundings. Losing jobs, failing school and having no money can make people unhappy. When people are depressed by any reason, they do not think about good things they have, but they just think about how pathetic their lives are. They feel miserable to be in the situation, and often they blame themselves for being a failure. However, being in a horrible situation is not their fault; because people are connected to each other by individual strengths, their actions are connected to each other also. If person A has done an action, that action can affect person B’s life style and can lead to commit a suicide. If suicide is the most private act people can do, then why is the suicide rate not random? If people are making decisions to commit a suicide by themselves, the suicide rate should be random, but it is not. Actually, the suicide rate is increasing, which means that it has to be related to the other things, and those factors are influencing people. In Asia countries, parents push their children to study hard and get good grades, so they can get in excellent colleges. They do not have time to play sports like in the US. I believe that children in those countries, especially Japan, Korea and China, do not have any freedom; their freedom is often limited by their parents’ pressure. The pressure does not end when they grow up; they need to get a good job and they are going to repeat what their parents did to them to their kids. In the video, people in Japan think their existences are lost when they lose their jobs. People are influenced by the pressure from the society or the family. The suicide rate will never stop increasing, unless the culture changes. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:16:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment122849048 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ck%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122645367 soc001 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:07:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ck%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122645367