gdp's Comments

World In Conversation : What Americans Fear -- 001 blog

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:38:10 +0000

Watching this video made me think a lot about the religion of Islam. I believe that most Muslims feel like they can defend their religion by destroying other religions. I totally disagree with those people. I feel like if you want to be a Muslim, you can be one but don’t try to punish those who aren’t. Those posters and quotes really scared me like the ones that said “behead those who insult Allah.” I mean it’s ok to feel like you have to defend your God or Allah but don’t take it to the extreme. But that’s just how I feel personally. I was kind of scared while I was watching this video. I mean not because I’m scared of Muslims but seeing what some Muslims have done to our country and other western countries just scares me. Many Muslims in power try to persuade the people that America is a bad country and we don’t deserve to have the power we have. They are basically brain washing the people of their country, so the people feel like they need to defend their Allah by attacking us. This is really sad, if you ask me. I can’t seem to kill many innocent people for no good reason. I think that anyone who watches this video, despite their religion they are would definitely feel at least some degree of fear. The video displays people that distribute terror and hate to others, regardless of the fact that it is coming from Muslim extremists who are wishing to dominate and probably exterminate anyone who disagrees with them or gets in their way of jihad, of course, especially Americans. Jihad is a really touching topic. It has destroyed many countries like America, Spain, London, and many more. I usually don’t follow the news very well, so most of the countries that were named in this video that were attacked by Jihad were a complete surprise to me. I never knew they had started their attacks since the 1950s or something. The first time I heard about them was September 11 2001.so watching this video I was really surprised.

World In Conversation : Transgendered Complications

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:51:48 +0000

Before reading this article, we had discussed the same story in my women studies, so I was familiar with it. We are currently talking about gays and transgender people have an extremely difficult time in the world. Everyone just seems to judge them for their sexual preferences and their gender preferences. Hearing El’Jai Devoureau story really opened my eyes. I have realized how transgender people are discriminated in today’s world for a while now. His story had just reminded me how hard life must be for transgender people. I don’t think many transgender people rights have really been noticed. I personally know someone that I went to school who I went to high school with who was a transgender. He was formerly a woman before known by the name Stacey, but many people didn’t know that. Everyone treated him with respect and love when they thought he was a just a regular boy. He was a starting football player playing wide receiver position. All the students and faculty thought he was just a star and he could never do anything wrong in their eyes. But all that changed when his past history came out. Someone from his childhood decided to out him because they were jealous. When the school found out, it was the biggest deal in the world. Almost everyone started looking at him differently after his past came out. The football coach and stuff decided to let him go off the team. After that he was just having the worst experience of his high school years. He started becoming depressed. I felt very bad for him. It looked like all his hard work just fell in pieces. I thought the football couch and staff made the wrong decisions in letting him go because his talent shouldn’t be discredited he used to be a woman once upon in his life time. I believed he should have sued the school because they were discriminating against him. His case reminds me a lot of El’jai case. They were both treated wrong by people they thought they could trust. I find this to be extremely sad.

World In Conversation : So what your take on those "inequality classes"?

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 01:58:01 +0000

I completely agree with Sam on this one. I believe it’s ok to work hard to get what u really wants. If you put your mind in to it, you can achieve anything in life. There are some wealthy people who had to climb up all the way from the bottom to the top by working extra hard and spending all their time to achieve their goals. Then there are the others who just think they can do anything in the world that they want by cheating and manipulating the people and the system. They don’t care who they hurt along the process. I personally can’t respect that. I feel like the main reason why people try use people to put themselves in a better decision is because they are just playing old greedy and selfish people. That really disappoints me. The reason is that they already have enough power and money so why cheat the less fortunate. That’s just wrong in my eyes. I just can’t imagine myself doing that if I was in power. I’ll always try to do the right thing even if the right thing isn’t necessarily going to benefit me. There are some extremely wealthy people who have enough power and money and they still feel like they should get more that to me makes no types of sense. It even angers me sometimes because I just can’t bring myself to understand why they feel like that. Like they already have enough of everything, they should e giving it to someone who really needs it and also qualifies for it. I don’t believe that equalities will ever end. I’m sad to say this but I think it will just get worse and worse as the years goes by. The younger generations are just becoming more greedy and selfish. They just don’t feel like they have enough so they tend to do many unethical behaviors to get what they want. I believe this is a serious problem today and we need to try to solve it as soon as possible or at least somewhat fix it.

World In Conversation : B.'s Response

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:00:41 +0000

This letter was very interesting. I was very surprised to hear that he got a life sentence when he didn’t even commit the murder. When I think of a person who gets sentenced a life behind bars, I would say to myself this person must have done the most horrible thing in the world which is kill another human being. I never knew that you could get a life sentence when you weren’t even the actual person who took someone else’s life. I may need to educate myself more on the Pennsylvania laws. I was very sad when I read he was given a LIFE sentence for being part of a felony and as the felony was being committed someone was killed. When he mentioned that he feels freer now than he did before. Before taking this Soc class, It would have been shocking for me to hear people who serve life sentences consider themselves to be freer than they have ever been because being free means having to do whatever you like whenever you feel like it. I feel as though people who serve life can’t do that, so for me to hear him and other people who are serving life say they feel more freer now than they ever did in their life time just wouldn’t make any sense to me. But after taking this class I can understand what he and other lifers mean when they say they feel free. This class has thought me to think outside the box. The most interesting he said to me personally was “I learned to paint and play the guitar and to do both you have to have inspiration which is where I live with the Freedom I have in my mind.” I find it as a big accomplishment that he was able to learn all the talents he never knew he had before he was in jail. I also like the fact that he was able to forgive his step-father. Nobody should hold a grudge especially on a family member. Like he said family plays a major role in his inspiration as well as many other people.

World In Conversation : Freedom

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:37:38 +0000

This article was very interesting to read. I was very surprised to find out that the man spent twenty four years in prison. That was very shocking for me to find out. The article was mainly about what freedom really means. I feel like many people have different opinions on what it means. So I decided to look it up to see what it was defined as. The true definition of freedom as found in http://dictionary.reference.com is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint, exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. It is also the power to determine action without restraint, political or national independence, personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery, exemption from the presence of anything specified, the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc., ease or facility of movement or action, frankness of manner or speech, the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without. For me personally freedom meant to me way different to me when I was younger than what it really means to me now. When I was young freedom meant being able to go out to parties without having to ask my mom and dad for permission. I felt like I didn’t have any type of freedom as a young child because my parents never let me go out to parties or anywhere else with my friends. It also meant making my own decisions without having anyone tell me what to do and judging me about my own decision. It used to mean having to ability to make your own choices. After reading this getting life stories, I learned that freedom can mean many different things. It all depends on the way a person thinks about many things. As the Lifer in this article says freedom is something one must define, find, or create. My meaning of freedom can differ from my roommate’s, my brothers and sisters, my parents, and my friends mean of freedom. So basically, the point is freedom can vary based on people’s perceptions.

World In Conversation : LGBT families. There's a lot of fear out there.

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:54:40 +0000

I thought this video was very interesting! You can see how much legalizing gay marriage in Iowa meant to the man. He was very passionate about it. He spoke very well and intelligently. Listening to him talk made me think a lot about same sex marriage and families. You can see that he comes from a great family, who deeply love him, and a wonderful house. You can’t even tell that he was raised by a homosexual couple. He looks and acts like any other child that was raised by a heterosexual family. He was very confident in his beliefs. I believe that a homosexual couple could raise any child as well a heterosexual couple could or sometimes even better due to the pressure they face. Sometimes I feel like they can be a better parents than a non-homosexual parents because they may feel like everyone one is watching them and criticizing them at all times. They may feel like they are being watched under a microscope, so this just makes them even want to be the best parents they can possibly be to prove to everyone that they can raise a child just like any other parents can. They will provide the best possible environment for the child to grow in as well as give the child unconditional love. As we discussed in class, the gay families can meet all the requirements of being a good parent or sometimes even better. Just because you are being by a homosexual parents does not mean you won’t be loved the same. There are many children in the United States as well as in many other countries that need a family to raise them. So I feel like if a gay families wants to adapt them and bring them into their home to show them unconditional love and support, why shouldn’t they. The little children would not mind if they being raised gay or straight families, all they want is a place to call home and people to call their parents and families. So with that being said anyone who is willing to show a child everything they possibly can should be able to raise them.

World In Conversation : The Lottery as a Blessing or a Curse

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:57:01 +0000

Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of winning a lottery one day. I always thought if I did win the lottery I would be the happiest person on Earth. I would use the money to do many good deeds not only for myself but for many others. I would donate money to a lot of charities, distribute some of the money to my relatives, pay of my parent’s debt, buy a house for myself, and pay for my education as well as my siblings. That was just my dream ever since I knew about the lottery; I thought it would buy me happiness. But after reading this article, I have learned that things aren’t always as simple as they may seem. I have learned that with the good come the bad. You may be happy for the first month after winning the lottery, but if you can’t manage your money right, you will start having problems. Not only that but many friends and relatives will start depending on you a lot and if you cannot meet their needs, they will start to look at you differently. They will start saying you have changed and maybe even start talking about you and bashing your name to others. Other problem you may encounter is people hurting you or your family. Some people in your community may try to rob you after hearing that you have won millions and millions dollars. You will start getting scared and start living life fearfully. Your life may not be so happy after all. Winning the lottery could be a good thing if you learn how to manage it or put yourself out there as a new millionaire. As the article says, manage your money have a plan on what you will be doing with you money. Also if you win a lottery make sure you create many memories with the people you love about what you did with you money, those memories will bring you happiness for a really long time. If you also want to be happier, be a giver and not a lender like the article says. Giving others makes people happy.

World In Conversation : Stranger Kidnapping

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:37:06 +0000

Before taking this Sociology class, I used to believe that it wasn’t a good idea for a child to speak to a stranger like many people in America. Society makes you think it’s a bad idea. It makes you believe that if a child speaks to a stranger, the stranger will kidnap them or harm them. I personally watch a lot of News and every time I hear about a child being kidnapped by stranger, it scares me a lot. It scares me to let my little cousins walk to school by themselves or even play outside of our house by themselves. This is just what society and parents thought us to believe. My parents always said “Don’t talk to a stranger, they are not your friends” to me, so that’s what I believed. After having the lecture about how rare it is for a stranger to kidnap a person, all the things my parents and society thought me just disappeared and I started looking at it in a different perspective. It is very unlikely that a stranger would kidnap your little boy or girl. Most abduction or kidnapping happen by a family member not by a stranger. I also learned that it is actually helpful for a child to speak to a stranger because they more likely to help your little boy or girl when they get lost. So you should teach your kids that it is ok to speak to a stranger because one day they can be very helpful. If a child was to get lost in a big crowd of people or anywhere, I learned in class that they should ask the very first person they see, even if they are strangers, for help. The stranger isn’t going to hurt them; they are going to help them find what they are looking for. When I have children I plan on teaching them to talk to strangers. I still don’t understand why society teaches us to fear talking to strangers if People who study risk and children say that the best advice that you could give to your child is “to talk with strangers when you have a problem.” It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

World In Conversation : Social Structure Shapes Free Will

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:51:53 +0000

When I watched this video, I was very astonished to find out that polyandry was practiced in some area. Polyandry is like polygamy but instead of one husband with many wives, it is a wife with many husbands. I never found myself thinking if even polyandry occurs in the world, but obviously it does which is very surprising to me. I just can’t imagine a woman with multiple husbands. I don’t necessarily agree with polyandry just like I don’t agree with polygamy. I believe a marriage should be between one man and one woman. A marriage is TWO people uniting into ONE. It shows one commitment to another one, that being said I don’t believe that the family featured in this video marriage is real. I believe that the only reason n why the woman and the en agreed to this “marriage” was because they knew that it was necessary. I also believe that polyandry causes jealousy within the marriage. I’m sure one of them gets jealous if the wife is spending more time with the other one or if she showing the other one more attention. I know I would be jealous if I was in that position, so I’m sure they are too. I understand that there isn’t enough women for everymen in that area so that’s why they practice polyandry. So I blame the government for making restriction on how many kids a family can have. I just feel like if a family want to have however many kids they want, they should be able too. If I lived in an area where polyandry occurred, I would have moved out of the country. I’m sure the area where this family lived didn’t really know anything that was going on outside the country or village but after they found out they should have stopped practicing it. I was also very surprised that the men agree to this. The reason being that most men believe they should be the only ones providing for the family. I also know that men get their pride in the way of many things. So overall I was just very shocked.

World In Conversation : The Other Side of Life

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:23:19 +0000

Before taking this Soc class, I used to think that people who murder other people should never be able to get out of prison. Since they decide to end someone life, they should have no life outside of prison. I never thought that those murderers would change. I didn’t think they would become wiser. As I read this getting life blogs, I see more and more that these people are truly sorry for what they have done. They feel extremely sorry for taking someone’s life and hurting many family members and friends of the victims. These people that have been serving life have been in prison for a long time and they had a lot of time to think about what they have done. If I was the family member of a victim, I can never see myself forgiving the murderer. Like that person has taken away someone very special to me that I truly admire, love, and care for. But after reading this getting life blogs, I can see that people change and they become mature. Like this man, he committed a murder when he was 15 years old. When I was fifteen years old I was very immature, I mean I still a somewhat immature. I have done and made bad decisions when I was fifteen years old. So I’m sure he wasn’t thinking wisely when he made the decision to kill that person. I think after 36 years, he has become much wiser and he is absolutely truly sorry for the bad decision that he made when he was 15 years old that ruined his life and the life of the victim and his families. After a lot of consideration, I came to the conclusion that if I was a member of the victim family, I would find it somewhere in my heart to forgive this man. He knows what he had done was extremely wrong. He had a lot of time to reflect on what he has done and how many people he had hurt. So because I know he truly is sorry, I would forgive him.

World In Conversation : Conformity Rules the Day

Fri, 4 Feb 2011 07:47:12 +0000

When I first saw this video clip, I couldn’t stop laughing. I didn’t really understand why the individuals in the elevator felt like they had to do what the other people were doing, in this case turn to their back. Then I decided to watch it again to understand why people tend to do that. I didn’t find a specific answer though. But I believe that people tend to go along with the crowd because they don’t want to be the only one standing out in a big crowd. They don’t want to do one thing when everyone is doing another thing. For example, in the clip when everyone turned back in the elevator, the people decided to do the same thing. I find it funny that they did that because any other day they would be turning to the front. I believe that people are scared to be the only ones doing different things than others or they feel uncomfortable even though they know that they wouldn’t’ be doing that if the others weren’t. I’m sure if I was in the same situation, I would have done the same thing because if I didn’t the whole elevator ride would have been very uncomfortable for me as well as for many other people. I find it weird that many of us wants to be different and to stand out but we always seem to do things to blend in. About a month ago I and my friends decided that each of us would get in the elevator and turn our back in the corners to see how people would react to it but it was a fail. My friends didn’t know how to follow the rules so it didn’t work out well. But I believe if we had actually followed the rules and did what we were supposed to do, many of the people that entered the elevator would have felt that they should turn to their back as well. That’s just something we can’t explain. We’re trained to try and blend in with others. It is caused by those invisible strings we talk about in class.

World In Conversation : How "free" are these 90 students?

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:42:59 +0000

When I first heard the news about the 90 teen being pregnant in one school, I was extremely shocked. I couldn’t believe that 11 percent of the school bodies in an 800 student school were about to experience what it means to be a parent. A lot of questions ran in my head like did they plan this? Did it just happen that they all got pregnant at the same time? If it wasn’t planned, were they not using any protections? What does the school think about the situation? How do the family members react to this news? Are they educating the younger students about safe sex? I believe that pregnancy maybe a normal thing in that area because there is no way that all 90 students could be pregnant if they weren’t using protection. I know a lot of big schools with more students and less pregnancy percentage than Frayser High School. Did the high school didn’t have a sex education course? Even though it’s up to the individual to choose if he or she wants to have sex, or have a child, I think it is the school’s responsibility to let the students be aware of safe sex and even abstinence. I wonder if they’re all going to keep the babies or not unless it was all planed, then they would. I really just want to go inside their heads and figure out what they were really thinking. Did they think it was cool? I’m just really confused. I think these deals with deeper issues. In class we talked about the invisible factors. For example, in Wednesday class, we learned that if a child was abused, he is more likely to become an abuser when he grows up. So I’m thinking these teens were born from teen parents. Since their mothers were teen moms then they are more likely to become teen parents themselves. Overall I think this story is just ridiculous. I have no clue in the world how 90 teens in ONE school could end up pregnant at the same time. I understand it is their choice to have sexual relationships but they should always make sure they are safe when they decide to do it because they cannot only end up pregnant but may possibly end up with sexual transmitted disease.

World In Conversation : Last Name “A” – Intense Debate

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:07:30 +0000

soc 001

World In Conversation : Letter from an Inmate

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:47:07 +0000

When I read this letter I was very shocked and taken back. When I think of prisoner the very first thing that comes to mind are evil people that have hurt many people and a lot of families. I think about how they have made the worst possible choices they can ever make. I also think about how inconsiderate and sinful they are and how they have disappointed many people in their lives. I never thought that they would be willing to change to a compassionate people. After reading this letter, it made me rethink of my whole idea of what prisoners are like. Some of them actually change for the better. They have time to find themselves and rethink the wrongs they have done as they pass time inside the prison. The prisoner who wrote this letter is a prime example of how some people in prison change. He has tried everything in his power to become a better and considerate person. I’m surprised that he was willing to change since he has no life outside of the prison. If I was him, I would have been a very miserable person. I wouldn't see why I would have any reason to live for especially when I know for sure that I’m in prison for the rest of my life with no possibility of parole. This would have just made me more violent and careless. I actually would like to congratulate this man for becoming a better person. It must be hard to know that will never step outside of the gate for the rest of your life and that you won’t be able to see your families whenever you want. But instead of becoming depressing and helpless, this man decided to help others out. This man and most of his fellow inmates has become a very compassionate people. They probably are more compassionate than many freed people walking down the streets today. I recommend that many people read this article because I’m sure that there are many people out there that have the same initial thought about prisoners that I had. Many need to realize that sometimes people make mistakes and that they are deeply sorry for their actions. This people will spend the rest of their lives behind bars and they will learn their lessons and change for the better.