Ive always waited for someone to address this subject. I've seen and read alot of things on terrorists, such as terrorists diaries if you ever looked it up. I was intrigued because I couldn't see how so many people could go ahead and take the lives of hundreds of people for something as simple as religion or pride. Morality has to play a role in the mind somewhere especially if they are terrorists who form bonds with Americans here, and then proceed to carry out their terrorist act anyway. These terrorists have children and families and their own life story, its not as simple as people just being goons under a payroll, cause in the end how would they spend the money anyway, but to give it to family.
In Colombia, there used to be a fear of guerillas who worked for drug king pins. My mother herself lost someone in her family to a suicide bomber who blew themselves up for an assasination on a public bus. How does someone get driven to the point where they feel it is worth ending their own lives. People don't think about the mental breakdown, or find anyway to sympathize with these agressors.
On a another subject is vigilantism. People taken justice into their own hands, whether it be against the American government, or against another enemy, there is always an eye for an eye mentality craved for when something is done wrong to another party. I'm not for people fighting over justice actually. I'm pro fighting against wrongdoing, or atleast making a stand if you see something going down that is truly wrong. I think people call the cops for the wrong reasons. I've seen alot of people I know get arrested for the dumbest shit, such as drugs or simple crimes, and actually get put in prison. However, when my friend got stabbed to death, and their were witnesses willing to testify it still took years before the perpetrator got put away, and he might not even stay in prison. I think the justice system is attacking the wrong people. I think the whole eye for an eye thing is pointless. don't get me wrong I'm all about violence and action but not really pro Iraq war. I'm from the New York area, and I still don't believe that we have any reasons fighting this war, or hating on terrorists so terribly.

I have researched Japanese and Chinese culture before, and what I have noticed is that compared to American culture, it is very much so less censored. It is understandable to see that this game is vulgar just for the fact that it utilizes a violent act of rape, however at the same time what is so different between this game and playing a shooting game where the goal of the game is kill them all. It is just a game. Sure it something that caters to actual rapists but to go so far as to advocate for the government to ban these games is ridiculous. This video brought up the one issue I had with America media which is censorship.
The one thing that has always bothered me has been the strict censorship America follows which caters to the overwhelming ignorance in this country. For example, just because one female part gets exposed on television the whole country goes into a riot attacking radio jockeys and live television. Its just a human body part, every female has it, so using the excuse that it is a family show to go into an uproar is not reasonable. I am sure every child has seen there mothers breast before. The only way it becomes an issue is by mind warping people into believing it is a bad thing. I was watching really old school family movies from back in the day, and noticed a much more relaxed use of vulgar language and jokes in movies like Bad News Bears or Sandlot. Those movies were ten times more amusing and creative than the kids movies out today which I can't even stand to watch with my little sister. It just promotes ignorance to reality of the world. The world is full of violence, sex, and crude language. What is the point of attacking people who wish to use it in media to entertain people. I just wish people would relax and not look for people to attack. My parents were very relaxed to what I was exposed to media wise. My dad and I sat together enjoying R rated movies like Blade or the Matrix when I was just 9 years old, and I didn't see anything wrong with them, I didn't even think about the sexual scenes or the use of crude language, I just enjoyed the film, and I as I matured those movies just became even more entertaining. My brother and I played old school shootem up games just for fun with all our cousins, and just giggled if words like fuck or whatever was used. Our parents just established to not say them in front of them just out of immorality behind it and we understood that. I know kids who are my age who only watched G rated movies till they got to college, and they are the most ignorant helpless kids, who end up becoming sluts or whatever because they were never exposed to the experience of figuring out what was right and what was wrong so they just follow those around them. Leave it to the parents to teach their kids right from wrong and stop blaming that wihich entertains us and makes life a little more interesting. I can say that I can thank being exposed to less censorship that I became a mature adult who made good decisions in her life and made it out of bad situations because I was able to see the bad situation and determine what to do.
I'm not saying at all that I'm pro rape or anything like that, but you could say I'm a bit of an anarchist with the whole issue of government control of media, and what people get exposed to. Its just a game, calm down. If you don't want to play it don't play it, It is as simple as that. So what if it caters to rapists, its not like anyone is getting hurt, either way with or with out the game they will go out and rape someone. That morality of the person is not going to change just because of this game. There are alot of random sexual things in Asia. There are streets that are full of half hour to one hour hotels which cater to basically people who want to have sex. Just calm down about it and ignore the bad. We are all humans which includes the good or the bad. I'm glad god didn't build us perfect, it makes things interesting and grants us ability to control how we live our lives and to be able to live it to the fullest. Its up to you to decide good from bad not others.

I like this question. I also thought about this throughout the semester how I feel odd about how Samm just goes ahead uses white, brown, or black to identify people. If your both how would you identify yourself. In my case, I am 100% colombian however I get identified as asian or white even by Sam Richards funny enough. My father is very light skinned and mistaken for caucasian all the time, where as my mom is easily identified as spanish since she has darker skin however both were born in Colombia. With my lighter skin, it annoys me to be identified as not spanish. In highschool, I was separated from all my "brown" friends just because I was taking higher level classes which were full with a majority of white students and maybe 1 or 2 token black students, and it became just me and my friend who were the only spanish kids in those classes. We tried to establish that we were Spanish but we easily got associated as white or in my case asian. We later found out that there were some others in our classes who had Spanish blood but did not identify themselves as Spanish at all. They did everything a stereotypical white person from our town would be like. This means preppy, polo-shirts, Uggs, spending 300 on just a pair of sunglasses and flaunting it, being ignorant about the world, spoiled to the point of death, and then crying if they get put down by someone whose more in reality. I wish I was exaggerating about this stereotype but if I saw it with most of the white people in my classes. I hung out with plenty of white kids but only ones who did not meet this stereotype, but thats a side track. Anyway it just exemplifies how someone who is supposed to be brown completely denies that identity and see themselves as white. But is this alright or is this wrong. Is it like the video we saw in class where the little girls said that they identify the black doll as ugly however they recognize that they look more like the black doll. Do people with whiter skin who are actually spanish or a part of them spanish or black feel more comfortable to associate themselves as white if they can get away with it? In my case I feel as though people should associate themselve with whatever culture they are familiar with. In my case, being separated from spanish kids in highschool, started a confusion in me, where the only times I could come back to my spanish identify is when I go home and talk to my mother who acted more latina than my father who hardly acts Spanish or speaks it. I would start getting separated from my Spanish identity. I immediately became friends with the only other Spanish girl in my classes because we both felt the same way. The only problem with trying to establish that I'm spanish and was more likely to hang out with whoever was a minority in the class, was it back fired when my guidance councelor met me for the first time and was really surprised that I got accepted to University park or even had a 4.0 gpa, because the only times he saw me was when I came into school with minority students who weren't associated as the "smart kids." But anyway I just think it depends on how you were raised. If you were raised in Spanish culture then you are more prone to identify yourself as spanish and if you were raised in a white culture, you are more likely to identify yourself as white. When I came to this college surrounded once again by even larger population of white kids, I once again felt annoyed when people thought I was white or asian, and established I was spanish also even amongst my friends who are hispanic who always make fun of me for looking asian or make fun of the hispanic kids who look more white. Its jokingly but I think its a good thing if you're from another culture to accept your color and not avoid it out of convenience or out of comfort.

One of the things that interest me about the world is the way no matter which region of the world, it could be in the middle of nowhere, there is usually some kind of culture that follows some kind of belief. What is interesting here, is that there is a group in the middle of Africa, that can trace its ancestry to judaism culture. The idea that someone holds their beliefs so strongly to maintain evidence of an artifact that can trace back to 700 years ago, is remarkable to me.
Though my family is traditionally catholic, I don't really practice any religion. I make myself aware of other religions and their values, and follow some values that i deem important as best as I can. However, I admire those who follow their faith so strongly. People ridicule others for the beliefs, and make fun of it, but I see it as interesting. It takes great discipline and faith to follow a religion in the first place. I admire the Lemba for maintaining their faith for so long. To have it become a culture makes it even greater, since that means that the values and history from their ancestors are deeply rooted in their way of life. Its a show of respect to their ancestors and history. Many cultures in Africa lost such old history during slavery, however this group is able to trace their culture back to the origins of the Bible. The farthest back I can trace my own history to is to who my grandparents were, I would never know to what remarkable point of history my ancestors were a part of.
This article demonstrates the point to not judge a group of people based on where they live or the color of their skin. Just because they are from a region they could have completely different values than their neighbors. Originally colonist came to America not only for economic gains but also for religious freedom. Everyone can practice their faith anywhere they want no matter how ridiculous it is. I know people who follow the church of Satan who don’t look goth at all, I know people who are wiccan, pagan, catholic, muslim, budhist, every single person were different than the stereotype of their faith. Follow your faith don’t worry what other people say, speak in tongues if you want to , go to a revival. I believe people who are disciplined enough to follow something, are better human beings. People who respect others are equally so.

I had a previous discussion about this kind of issue on television. Its funny that shows like the bachelor or bachelorette hardly ever had a minority in the cast. With a huge population made up of several ethnic groups, watching television, then wouldn't there be a far diverse range of casts in shows such as this. On younger television networks such as Oxygen, MTV, or VH1 there are many shows, with casts and target audience from any ethnic group. Though often the shows message, or representation of these groups are twisted for entertainment, they understand that it appeals to a broad audience of teenagers and adults. For older shows, with a older target audience, there is a less diverse cast. Shows on NBC especially, have a small number of minorites on their casts in their primetime schedule. Stars like Tracy Morgan and Kenan Thomas, seem to be their token minority stars. With the jokes made on these comedy shows, you would think that there would be a more minorites on the cast, but there isn't.
I’ve heard another point of view where they see that there are shows such as Tyler Perry’s shows that have a clear target audience of black people. I’ve seen Tyler Perry’s show, and there are clear differences on the culture of the characters on the shows from my own, however there are times that the show is just so out there, and funny. There are also shows that I believe are full of a minority cast however can appeal to any audience such as the Lopez sitcom or the Fresh Prince of BelAir. They maintain some roots to their own cultures however their overall messages and jokes can be understood by anyone and aren’t as farfetched when representing their own cultures. The George Lopez late night show is an incredible show that breaks through all cultural barriers. It features a diverse list of guests that appeal to anyone, and also shows Hispanic pride. There are hardly any sitcoms like those anymore. In fact NBC’s list of sitcoms or CBS list of sitcoms, though I loved watching most of them, I couldn’t really relate to the worlds of the characters at all. In fact, I felt disconnected from white culture. I couldn’t even relate to the teenage issues. It made me think of white people as over dramatized and materialistic, and it wasn’t even the fact that it was a sitcom. I started connecting it to the way my white classmates acted, and it matched significantly, so I felt disconnected. I not only hope for a diverse range of shows of all kinds and diverse casts, I wish for the messages to be diverse as well. For there to be something to watch for everyone, not just related to ethnic backgrounds but different cultures of life.

I kind of agree with Vinny's comment. I mean it was a certain group of people who came to this land and took the Native American's land and made it their own. Those people took the land and made America. I nor many other people have any connection to those attrocities commited against Native Americans. I am the first generation here, what do I have to do with it to feel bad about it. I can bet that there are very few students in the class who can trace their ancestry back to the original settlers or to soldiers who were involved in the massacres to take Native American land. My lineage and many others did what we had to do we saw an open land of opportunity and went to it despite the means that the original settlers went to get it, and decided to live on it so we could have better lives.
Is it wrong that Native Americans had their land stolen, yes. But its not like they are the only ones. European nations conquered most of the world. Many histories and towns were burned down and lost forever. Slaves lost history. I understand Native Americans are suffering and share my sympathy but I don't believe Sam Richards should target every American to take responsibilty for the suffering of Native Americans.
At the same time I also respect Native Americans for holding on to their traditions, we all do the same, but I think if living of reservations and the suicide rate to continue to rise, then something should change. I believe the government should help Native Americans. They lost their land to the settlers, and continued to lose land as America expanded west however they can't expect to get it back. Its just the way of life, survival of the fittest. I don't have any greater opportunites in life. I have whatever I was dealt and took that and went to school, and went to college. I have had people stomp on me and defeat me, and there's nothing I could have done about it except, move on and make things better with what ever I had. Native Americans have a strong lineage they could expand if they integrate into the system of this country.
What I mean by this is not conform, and go kiss a white man's shoe, but go to more melting pot school and towns and raise families within the country and not just on reservations. They should fight for happiness not for land.

This video did not completely surprise me. The thing is in many countries gay and lesbian relationships is considered completely wrong because most of the population especially South American countries are very religious. There are members of my family that I could not even reveal that I had sex before marriage because they are so traditional. There are religions strictly against use of birth control at the same time. Its ridiculous many of the things people abide by whilst practicing their religion. If a less restrictive culture wise country like the United States does not allow gay /lesbian marriage in several states, its going to be less recognized by immigration.
I fully support homosexual couples being able to raise a family and be recognized by state atleast as a married couple. I believe many gay couples in fact make better parents than many heterosexual people, because if you think about it when a gay couple has children it is because they want to take on that responsibility and care for another life. Whereas many people are throwing the children they nurtured in their bodies into foster care, adoption, dumpsters, completely ignoring the child. I mean if you have to you have to but in the end of the day why does such a person get to have all their rights and stay in the US while a parent to two beautiful sons gets deported out of the country just for being a homosexual.
. I admit I get weirded out when I go to very openly gay communities like Boston and there are gay couples all over the place walking hand in hand displaying intense PDA, but thats just because after I'm not used to seeing that since its so rejected by the population.
One other thing though just to throw out there my views on lesbian and gay couples. I fully support lesbian and gay couples, however I don’t like those gay men who are so scared to come out of the closet that they go on to have families and be in a heterosexual marriage, and then break the family into pieces when they decide to come out of the closet randomly. One thing that turned me off from fully accepting gay people is a couple of speakers that came into my highschool to talk about how they are gay. Instead I found myself less accepting of gay men because these men selfishly tore their families apart just because they wanted to hide from their homosexuality and force others into their deniles. Eventually I was able to realize that it wasn’t that they were homosexual it was that they were cowards. I just believe people should go ahead and fully embrace who they are at a young age. Im still young and learn new things everyday, but I recognize who I am no matter how outside the box I may be. I am heterosexual, but either way I do not think I am any better than the person next to me to deny them the same rights and opportunities I have. Many people in this country forget that. Its not just about being an exclusive member of the America its also about being a member of the human race. We should all embrace the diversity and large knowledge that every human being carries. Talk to those people you think are strange or not typically part of your group you may find out something interesting.

I actually heard about this happening and remember my immediate reaction was of disgust for the politician because he is another politician filled with ignorant ideals that were influenced not by actual experience or research but by the uneducated beliefs of those he speaks to. However, I did not completely put down the actual thought or at least the reason to how some may come to that kind of generality about people who are on welfare.

I know many people including family who are on welfare. For example one family member who works everyday of the week morning to night every holiday. She works hard but still need the welfare check to help out with bills since she has kids to take care of but still has to pay as much as a middle class citizen. The rent prices keep rising. Welfare also offers insurance to take care of health concerns. Taxes are still high. She is smart and responsible and nothing like an animal. Is she one of the animals this man is talking about. One who is still lazy, I'm sorry but if you are working on Christmas day to support your family instead of drinking all day and having fun that is not lazy.
I do admit I also know of those who do take advantage of the system. They take their welfare check straight to the bars and manipulate whatever they can out of the system. But this does not necessarily mean that they are animals in anyway. A human being is a human being. One's morals may be higher than the others but no one deserves to be called an animal.
If I were to call anyone an animal out of disgust it would be the political pigs on the top of the chain or anyone of position who do nothing but skate on their position titles and collect on the earnings of others while they do nothing but shove money down their throats that could instead be distrubitued back to the population not necessarily those in poverty but also those in middle class who are barely making it. In other countries people are astonished by our work days. Some people work 40 hour work weeks. This is unheard of in places like France. I walk into offices hear and I ask an advisor to help me out and you know what I get as an answer. “Oh all the info is online.” Then they proceed to go chitchat with the other ladies in the main desk. I can’t believe that I pay full tuition so that these simple woman who get their jobs in this office through friendships and sit there do nothing and get paid are eating my tuition money away. I’m sorry I have utter disgust for upper class citizens who do not appreciate their money and then judge others who are less fortunate.

After I read David Brook's op-ed I immediately thought to call my father due to it relating to a previous debate my father and I had. The debate was over the repetitive pattern of the white, typically male character being the hero or at least surviving the whole movie. The other side of it was the notice of Hollywood purposely using a more diverse cast now so more than ever.

My father and I thought similar to Mr. Brooks idea that the movie sadly fit the typical pattern of white dominance over society. The idea that a white man can go into any environment and believe they are superior or have power over a something. I am not saying this is a true in reality but it is a common theme in film. How often have you seen a movie where a Hispanic character or any minority character go into a society and save everyone, where its not a ghetto or a prison, or a poverty-stricken school, or a comedy film. Never, especially if the populace they save is a majority white population. I mean there could be many reasons for choosing his particular cast. I love the main actor especially in Terminator and Sajorney Weive r(mispelled, i know), but there is definately a purposeful image Cameron is portraying. This image is a dominant image over society.

One thing that always bothered me was the fact that alot of times when there is a minority character that could be as potentially strong as the white main character, they are almost always killed off. I loved seeing a strong, beautiful, latina female kickass in the movie, but of course she dies and is treated like she meant nothing in the movie. Without her character the main character wouldn't have survived, but she is sacrificed.
It could mean nothing, but still another example of a common pattern in Hollywood.

At first when I read the op-ed I thought, he's reading too much into it, but as I thought about it more, and I am a huge movie buff, it is a common theme I see in movies. You see the white character swoop in and save the day most of the time in blockbuster movies. Nowadays though there are more movies coming out with black main characters. For example, the remake of the Karate Kid with Will Smith's son. Something like this is obviously saying something since the past karate kid was a teenage white male. Diversity is growing in Hollywood. Which is good but my hope is that it is not being done on purpose to fulfill a quota or to make Hollywood look good. I hope to see more Hispanic actor and actress, or any minority be the next one being fought over when casting for the next action star that's in all the movies. I think avatar would be a completely image and the response would have been different if it were a more diverse cast on the human side. I am not trying to say, minority actors would be better than white actors but it would certainly mix things up.

With the world cup coming up soon, as a big futbol fan, I immediately skipped to this post. Henry is one of my favorite players on the field so to find that he has had to concentrate on the game and deal with this racial discrimination at the same time, makes me admire him more. If it were I would eventually just walk off after the first monkey noise I hear.

In my perspective in the US racism still exists all over, no matter what color you are, many people believe that they should recognize their own color before any other. It is just less out in the open. However I must say that when it comes to sports or most events many ignore this and focus on the stats of their players more and cheer on their favorite team. But you can't exactly compare sports that represent a diverse state in the US such as football to something that is played internationally, where teams are representing the pride of a nation such as futbol. It is not as simple to ignore the color of the player since they are representing a country. I mean if you think about it what do you think is the immediate image of an American to someone who hasn't met one before. I asked this question and its most likely a white business man or a cowboy. So as you look at France or another country and see their team you would see what represented a citizen of their nation. I am trying to explain that outside of the US racism is going to exist at a much grander scale. It is a harder struggle because the majority are much more stubborn about what is considered pride in their nation.
I believe that if any thing is going to changed it should start within the walls of the futbol stadium. To me atleast the World Cup is pretty much the only sport event I look forward to watching. The Olympics is probably bigger but I don't care much for it. I'll watch the Superbowl but it holds less of an impact as the World Cup does. The shaningans and intensity of futbol fans is at a whole other level. I hope that FIFA does enforce the 3 point penalty policy during this World Cup. It may ruin the game but I believe it would successfully change the behavior of the fans. I would rather hear the fans chant their hatred for the other team or player than fans of both teams on the field chant racist calls to the same player on the field. These players work hard to lead the team to a win that all players on the team should be respected. If the fans continue their conduct FIFA should definately shut it down. I mean I can't wait to see it be hosted in Brazil but since its the World Cup fans from all over the world are going to make their way their along with their beliefs.

Globally, I would love to witness the ideal of people respecting fellow human beings equally. I don't wish to see any team get penalized due to the racist conduct of the fan not because of how it will effect the win or loss of the team but because it evidence of racist behavior still existing in this world. At the same time I would love to see Henry kick the ball at the next person's head he hears a monkey call coming from or holding a fascist flag.