en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/769650 Comments by S_Josaphat https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/tent-cities-in-haiti__trashed/#IDComment70114675 This video is beautiful. It allowed me to remeber to think in another lense then I usually look through. Life's complexities are not neccessary to survive. There are communities out there who are much happeir with the limited resources that they have instead of these mega citites and developed countries. The hope and faith of just knowing you will see the sunrise the next day is the glory needed to lifet someones spirit. As far as mega consumers in capitalist economy belive that little materialistic things will eventually make us happy. But the sad part about that is that its only making us more depressed sad and less faithful. Now what does this have to do with the video is that the hope and faith the population of Haiti has had over the past years and now even after the tragedy has been measured out to be greater than many wealthy countries themselves. This booming economy in Haiti is lovley to see how the country within weeks of the earthquake can turn around and get back on their feet and make ends meet for survival. Its also intereesting to see how money little, none, or alot is good for business. The city of Port A Prince has somwhat of a better economy than before. Haiti has little money but is able to conduct successful business not on the mission to make money but to help the community while being able to help themselves. This is somewhat of a sustainable definition of Haiti's economy. The business to charge cell phones while allowing children to watch movies is an smart economic move in order to attract more business. Many other moves like this are going on throughout these tent cities. It doesnt always takes books and having book smarts to think of these good economic moves. One of the men in the video said the movies are to be of a distraction for the kids of the visible struggle, something to uplift their spirits in order to keep the faith going. Its an alarming issue to know that these tent cities may be in Hait for years, but its nice to know they are reacting to the tragedy in a positive way instead of sulking around looking for help from other nehboring or even long distant countries. Haiti is building its infrastructure little by little through ends meet. Complex measures are being taken in order to do business and help the citizens of of HAiti. This booming economy in Haiti is lovley to see how the country within weeks of the earthquake can turn around and get back on their feet and make ends meet for survival. Its also intereesting to see how money little, none, or alot is good for business. The city of Port A Prince has somwhat of a better economy than before. Haiti has little money but is able to conduct successful business not on the mission to make money but to help the community while being able to help themselves. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 05:40:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/tent-cities-in-haiti__trashed/#IDComment70114675 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68466393 I feel that t is very selfish that we Americans can go to someone elses land and tell them we will take something that is naturally theres and qwill kill there own people over it because they have no say so. The things we are putting the countries in the middle east through is just wrong. They are fighting with us because they believe in what is theirs should be controlled by them, and they are not at fault for that. Unites States citizens just need to man up, and fight for whats realy theres and make use of it. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:54:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68466393 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68466380 Our country clings onto the natural resource of another country and believes that is ok to do so. Its like going to someones house and claiming their parents as their own and telling those who live there as well that they should have all rights to their parents and there is nothing they an do about it. I am not sure if the name Christian invaders is the right name forthis topic although it is understandable. Not all christians believe in the war against the middle east and the United states, but again the christians going to war are representing the Christians in the United States as a whole. I guess its only right to do so because we look at the middle east countries we are at war with an we assume they are all muslims. This is not right, we should call it the war and the reaction or invasion of the countries who are at war. I can stand and say its United States citizens are the only ones on the western hemisphere that are invading the land of the middle east not Christians who are found in many parts of the world. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:54:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68466380 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68466325 The lecture on Christian invaders actually made me think more about the war in Iraq. Ever since the war begain i stood nuetral on the whole idea. I didnt really think my input was neccessary therefore i stayed in the background for years, as far as touching on that topic in conversations. After our Thursday's class I can actually say I have picked a side on the war or anti war issue. My stand in the war between the middle east and the U.S. is that I am all the way against it. Although rituals and the culture of the middle east is unfamiliar to me, I have some type of understandings on the measures and precautions that the people of the middle east particularly the citizens of Iran, Iran, and Afganistan. The fact that the Amerian genrals in key positions pertaining to calls making certain procedures to be seen oout can actiually say it ok to kill aroung 28 innocent people in order to capture, hill, or just even get to one person it is ok. That is just insane, who in there right mind can believe that that is ok to even be said, they are just straigt sick and selfish. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:53:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68466325 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64292389 ____A major contributor other than manufactors to this continuing image would be the media. The images on tv shows, music videos, and etc, is the same ideal image. ____It would be great if this issue could be fixed because gives some children an advantage to succed more than other children when faced with this problem within the same area. Children are not mature enough to realize natural beauty so they have to go along with what they are being taught which is mostly through media, what they see in the stores and what they hear. Having to go to school and have extra everyday constantly revolving problems to deal with on top out someones school work can put people to an unfare advantage. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:52:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64292389 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64292376 This video is crazy, but the sad thing is that its true. This happens all the timee every where in the United states and even outside the us. The perfect face or ideal image of a person is instealed in our minds from a very young age. When christmas roles around, mostly every young girl looks forward to getting a barbie doll as a present. Most of these barbie dolls all look the same just with diffrent skin color. Although these manufactures try to be diverse but all the attributes that make of someone of color is portrayed on the doll with attributes of someone with straight hair, narrow nose, slim waiste, and tall. When in reality its only a minority of the world's population that consist of people with this ideal image. Maybe thats why that is the ideal image because it gives everyone something to stride for. If the ideal image was someone that was obese the there be nothing for people to look forward to. If you get where im coming from. Everyone would be like robots. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:52:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64292376 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-comment__trashed/#IDComment58920948 Yes it is hard to get out of the hole, but also anything is possible. I believe and have witnessed first hand that through hard work and determinism anything is possible. Yeah the journey to getting to the top may be easier than others and one will have more obstacles than the other. Thats just how the world operates, life is not a box of chocolates. I am not saying that it is ok that its always the under privileges or minorities get faced with these problems because thats how life is, what I am saying is that the obstacles will be different for everyone but inly through natural unexpected interruptions. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:59:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-comment__trashed/#IDComment58920948 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-comment__trashed/#IDComment58919915 The struggle still lives on. Although it was more of a struggle for black people then and now than white people, this is a prevalent issue is found among a variety of races and classes. Of course one person may struggle more than the other, but life is usually never easy for the average person when it comes to picking ones self back up after a hard fall. As a result major changes are mad in ones standard of living pertaining to finances, education, food supply, economical stipend, and etc. Its said to be good when day one just works according to plan. Applying that approach to the decisions they should come across . The real question is what is the hole and is there another opening in this hole, but people are just afraid or award of this imaginary secondary path. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:49:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-comment__trashed/#IDComment58919915 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/men-and-women-were-really-this-different__trashed/#IDComment57082030 This is insane. What is this world coming to. Why can't men just man up and face reality. Its apart of life to build your self esteem and sense of courage. I do not agree with this or other sex toys. This era of humans rely too much on modern technology. I am not saying technology is not helping us, but there are some areas where technology should be really pushed and there are some areas where technology should be only pushed to a certain extent. Why? Why are we having machines control how we act, we are eventually going to turn into robots because the way we respond to things will depend on the capabilities of a machine. We may not see it now but its already happening around us. For example if we had to give a report on something and our computer went dead, a person will wait until the computer is capable of operating before they will begin research instead of going to the library and just writing it out on paper. Back on the topic of Roxxxy. $7,000 is a lot of money to satisfy yourself when you can just become a man for free and get over it. Roxxxy or the other doll in the picture is not even cute. Yeah they may feel real but you have to close your eyes just to keep the imagination stress free. Cause they are a bit scary if you ask me. I don't get it, they put a lot of work into this doll, she makes sounds of an orgasm, and heats up. We are spending to much time and money on things that are just harmful to the human race and the global environment. Get it together, put your time, money, and brains towards something else that can change the world. Or if you really want to put Roxxxy to use, send it over to Sub Saharan Africa where the fertility rate is high along with the Aids virus. Roxxxy can still satisfy the men while cutting the down the rapidly increasing rate of fertility which will then result in the HIV virus and Aids disease to decrease. I don't think this doll will sell as these porn executives may think. They are only saying that because they love it and think it is so cool. But in reality how many people have $7,000 to spare or to save up on a toy. The darn doll only last for three hours, yeah you can do a lot in three hours but is it not kind of scary to make love to someone and you both fall asleep snoring then you wake up and the darn toy is dead. How would you feel waking up to a bunch of micro chips covered in some sort of prosthetic material. I would feel pretty bad about my self. Three hours is not enough for $7,000 no matter how many time I can charge it up, because it probably will only last for about three years. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:18:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/men-and-women-were-really-this-different__trashed/#IDComment57082030 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56597192 I agree. I think the conversations always goes back to white and black when having race related conversations due to what we know and see through out time. When in middle school and in high school during the month of February the black history in America is taken under a deeper scope than what we know by word of mouth. Now that we have a national hispanic week or month do we see a change in institutions exposing society to the hispanic people of America. No, that is not the case, it will take time. What I am getting at is that because people in America other than what they know about the nation's history of politics, and independence is the knowledge on black history of America. Sometimes not even all the accurate information is shared to students. But because people have learned and had gained some type of personal feeling towards black history in America people can react. This understanding is somewhat strong because people have learned about the good and the bad, inequality, and racism. Conversations dealing with race related topics lead back to the issue of white versus black. A reason for that is that you can not discuss and compromise on a issue without not knowing the situation faced or feeling towards the type of situation. Having a conversation between latinos and latinas in America and their differences with whites my be successful on the hispanic end because they know so much about the American History and more so have possible heard stories of the past that have trickled down through generations. A conversation between whites and hispanics would not work on the white end because the whites are not knowledgeable on the subject enough to understand the struggles, strengths, and weaknesses. As the nation continues to change and its younger generation becomes more culturally challenged then maybe we can find conversations relating to race relations ending up with many other races other than white and black. What type of people does it take to have a conversation on the topic of race does it take for the conversation to have some type of balance of around maybe 6 cultures or races that no one race with be the dominant of the conversation. Personally I think it would take a group of intellectually, open minded, or caring people the successfully carry through such a successful conversation. I think conversations do happen like this, we just don't see it as much in secondary education institutions as much as we would see it in the UN discussions or debates that is grounded by bright people. Students in secondary education are still trying to figure themselves out therefore you can't rely determine who is from who. Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:48:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56597192 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55546497 Avatar was not on my list of movies to watch over winter break. I have noticed that of my friends only the non black ones from college where interested in seeing the moving. Now do not mistake me for saying black people were not interested in this movie its just that majority were not so anxious to see Avatar. So the question I imposed was what type of movie is this that it only catches the attention of from my knowledge the more wealthy, or should I say have a better standard of living than most. After reading these blogs I have noticed that this movie Avatar was a global award winning movie. So than I asked myself who really are the viewers. What type of people are getting some type of satisfaction out of this movie. Well of course if the movie is showing American's being gunned down and killed so unfortunately people get a satisfaction and empowering feeling to see the Masiah of most countries being stopped i their tracks. I never noticed the white Masiah plot in all the movies I have watch, only because I never looked for it. Now that it has been mentioned more than eighty percent of the heroic movies I have watched has had the white Mashiah plot behind it. This is a serious issue the way media throws things in our face. Entertainment itself can blindly effect how one would perceive the world through 'hidden plots. Ever since I was young I was always able to manage to succeed in my school work, but when I was every I was unsure about a situation there we only certain people in particular I turned to for help. And those were people that I thought always had the answer. These people I am referring to are white people. Why couldn't I look to people of color for help. Because engraved in my head was that the heros or the people who can actually save you from trouble where the white people, although of the many different races I could have looked to for help were one of the least physically equipped people to conquer a situation. But because I thought they were intellectual I falsely believed they could solve any situation, all because that was just the idea blindly engraved in my mind. This suggestion has been stated many times before, but maybe a solution to racial profiling may be to clear out some of the false stigmas found in the media, and using a more realistic approach to portray people of color and white people. This simple change may not change the attitudes if some adults but it will certainly change the views imposed on the young. Which in return will make the world less segrated based on ones negative display on people of our society. Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:01:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55546497 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54250474 I agree with this entire comment. If America can just open there eyes to what this country stands for ( Land of The Free ) we as a country would be more aware of the different religions, cultures, and racial backgrounds in our country. I had a discussion a few days ago with a group of people, and the topic was Active Citizen vs. Citizens. One person ignorantly stated that immigrants to our country should learn English, and how they hated for people to come to the United States and continue to speak their native language. After that statement I commented America doesn't have a set language, so you can't get upset when someone doest speak english, plus when the europeans founded America they didn't learn the Native American language, they simply took over and kept to english". With that being said, Americans can't be upset or act fearful when they experience something outside of their normal daily lives because what is not normal for them may be normal for someone else, and according to our founding principles that is alright. From the time Europeans came over to this country and created a reason for their wrong doings the United States of America has been changing ever since. Personally I think the constitution states "land of the free" only to justify their wrong doing and to gain followers so that they wouldn't be sought under a negative spotlight, as the bad guys but as the "founding fathers of the land of the free". As an American of the United States I think it should be more common for citizens to be aware if other cultures, religion, and racial backgrounds. The United States of America is like a toss salad, where there are many different ingredients (people) that fall into one bowl (The United States of America). In order for the salad to work each ingredient needs to be conscious and aware of its surroundings. Understanding cultures other than your own allows one to be more comfortable in many different settings and exposed to many different opportunities whether its a job or a friendship. If this country can just simply follow this thought we wouldn't be so paranoid in every situation that is uncommon to their rituals and belief. It's sad to know that the boy and his sister was put into handcuffs. I understand the authority was trying to handle the situation the best way they could, because it could have been another national tragedy, but that was not the case. The problem from the beginning was that assumptions where made out of ignorance. Like stated before if one is more in-tuned with others cultures, backgrounds, religions and etc. this could have been simply avoided. Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:32:13 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54250474 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-i-or-j__trashed/#IDComment53884293 Ciao Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:45:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-i-or-j__trashed/#IDComment53884293 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53503269 Silence over takes my thoughts and speech, as I sit back and here more and more about the tragedy in Haiti. The stories become more and more intense. Trying to paint a picture in my head of how big of a catastrophe this natural disaster has effected the island of Haiti is still hard to conceive in my mind. I know its bad,from others, from stories heard from broadcasters, to stories heard from my own family in Haiti. Why, how, and what are the questions running through my mind. Why did the 7.0 earthquake strike the poor city of Port A Prince. The city didn't have that much infrastructure to begin with. Monuments, along with government institutions, and aid was the central source for many people in the country of Haiti which was all located in Port A Prince. The nation's capitol is where everyone throughout the country ventured to, in order to recieve the benefits of modern advancment in technology all the way to modern medicne. This city was the heart of the nation. There is where the source of hope started then distributed throughout the country. Why do these horrific, intensence, unimaginable natural disaters always seem to find Haiti. A country of low wealth and value. How did this natural disaster come at such a surprise. Couldn't something at such great stregnth be detected or forscence. If many people in china can jump at once and cause an earthquake couldnt geologist conclude that Port A Prince was an earthquake zone. Years of research could find this stament to be true. How did many people survive then die. Was that god's way of giving them one more chance? What will the people of Porte A Prince do now, what will they eat two months from now, what are families doing now to keep the hope, what can I do, what can you do, what can we do, what can haiti do, what can God do? As a true beliver in Crhirstianity I quote if we are going to pray don't worry, its all in the hands of the beholder. Is this another crucifixtion, just with thousands of saints. My opinion is that this is not just a test for the people of Haiti put for all God's children. Is this a lesson of how one should love all their brothers and sisters who are children of God. We are taught lessons from day to day ranging from small to big. Haiti's crisis is just a big lesson to be learned by all. I know this comment may sound dry but after denial and hurt comes understanding. Who knows what God has planned, all that needs to be said is to keep faith and hope in God cause only he can touch the the untouchable, or seen the unseen, and create nothing into something. Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:14:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53503269