Yeah I totally agree with you. People die everyday for a lot of reasons, and we just don't care about it. I mean, we do care about it. At least we sigh at some point, or we chatted with our friends about it just as some news. We seldomly shake our hearts for that. We seldomly have some sort of connection in heart with those families who lost members in the wars, in earthquakes, in floods...etc. I think it is our responsibility to help those who have lost families. We should share our hearts with them. We should do something, instead of just watch TV and talk about it as if it is just yesterday's movie show. .

We can show some sympathy to those poor people. I think Americans really care about others, look at the number of NGOs and Americans working in those poor countries-- but when it comes to shake a little bit of Americans' own interest, some of them just act intolerably. Isn't this a little bit controversial? Well it is also understandable. It is kind of a human nature to protect what you've get from taken away by the others. You may say that hey the Americans they first came here illegally, how come several hundred years ago they keep others from entering it. This idea makes sense at some point, but remember, in this world, "making sense" doesn't make any sense, what really matters is the power you have. That's why the US would be the most powerful country in the world. They fully understand this philosophy.

In my opinion, learning another language is always a good thing to do. No matter if you are going to use it or not. The process of learning a language helps you understand the culture and customs in that country, which helps you understanding the world on someone else' shoes. This is very beneficial. Actually I am on my way learning my third language Japanese. I found it really helps me understand something I didn't even think about before learning the language. And learning language always makes me feel happy. So start to learn Chinese guys-- no matter it's for a practical reason or not. Chinese market place is becoming more and more important to the world.

I have always been thinking about one question: what if the hate towards terrorism is misled by the US government? Many proofs can prove that point. The Iraq war is a good example. There weren't any direct evidence saying that Iraq had any relationship with terrorism. Actually the religion environment in Iraq is quite open compared to many other mid east countries. Is war the only solution? I doubt that. In my opinion, the war is unnecessary. There are more important things than that. The hatred is not a good thing. No matter you like it or not.

This is the COOLEST class I have ever taken in the whole semester. It was really punching, and as what I observed moved some students in the classroom. I think war is a very complex thing, maybe the most complex human activity. There are always various reasons for a war-- for righteous, for freedom as many Americans say, for more lands, but most importantly, for the greatest interest of the country. A country is only gonna start a war when it believes that this war is going to benefit them. And that contributes to the nature of the war. As what I observed, people always tend to fight for resources because resources means money, and money means power, threatening power. I am not a guy against war. I do believe that there are wars must be fought, there are interests we must get, there are people we must rescue... But I do not support the Iraq war. Why? There are several reasons I hold.
First, this war was not approved by UN, which means this war that the US fought was not agreed by most countries in the world. Don't forget the United States (and some other countries) built the UN mechanism to prevent unwelcome wars. And now the US just went against it and even threatened UN that if it doesn't let go the US will not continue to pay the fee.
Second, this war didn't solve the problems in Iraq. Yes the war did end the dictatorship of Saddam in Iraq, but it didn't end the chaos situation in Iraq. Every week we hear something exploded in Bagdad again and again until we are all numb to these news. I think the situation in Iraq is even worse. Maybe the "liberation" is not really what Iraqi people want. Of course they didn't want to be oppressed by the Saddam government, but without the control, conflicts emerged. Like the conflicts between Shia Muslim and Sunni Muslim.
Thirdly, US troops are now in a dilemma, they cannot leave there in the foreseeable future, but staying means a huge cost. Is it worth it?
Fourthly, I remembered that the US government claimed that it found the Iraqi government had been secretly researching biological weapons. But they didn't find any evidence after the war was over. Now we seem to forget that this war was based a lot of untrue causes. Many of the causes that Bush government claimed weren't approved to be true. I don't know if they found any evidence that says Iraq has connection with terrorism. If not, then this is another excuse which was used to mislead the US people.

So, I don't support the war in Iraq. I don't like liars. I have no problem with conquering others' land and grabbing their resources. But I don't like being cheated.

Last but not least, have you ever thought of why those guys in the middle East hate United States?

I am perfectly having no problems with these games. Before "hentai" video games, there were "hentai" mangas and hentai animes everywhere in Japan. Reading a hentai manga on a public train on the way home or to work became many adults' daily life. They have no problems with that . They didn't become some kind of monster, and it didn't increase sexual harassment cases in Japan at all. It is just like those shooting games. Game is a place to realize something that you couldn't realize in real life. If these games should be banned, so should COD, Battlegrounds so on and so force. I think most player won't kill people because the killed people in the game. They know that is wrong and horrible to let it happen in the real world. So why would you say these porno games is wrong? Especially they are sold to adults only. If any teenagers happen to download them, the government should take steps to monitor the Internet, not those game producers.

This video clip we watched in class was really heartbreaking... I saw how those little boys and girls struggled in their minds. This video makes me started to believe that the racial advantage really exists... before this video I didn't even think about it. What I don't understand is that what makes this happen? Is it a 100% aesthetic issue? or is it something else? This video makes me wonder. Are blond hair and blue eyes really "God's Gift"? How do we get out of all these thoughts ( or say, discrimination) to the beauty of the other races? I don't know the answer.

This class is not about "winning". This class is about "understanding". I love this class because Sam let us see things from many different aspects, although some of them are quite offensive and rude, like those stupid comedians, I must say I have learned a lot. Hoping one course to "win" is not realistic. There is no way to change everybody's mind through a "class". There are too many people out there. Although Sam's efforts are very little, little by little we may see the hope for understanding each other-- at least among all of us who have taken this class. Sam is no more than a college professor and this class is no more than a class. I personally don't have any expectations for this class, but I do believe that during the process of continuously thinking, communicating and talking, the racial issues will no longer become racial issues.

In my opinion, race or ethnicity is a matter of self recognition, especially in a country like the United States. There too many cases in which people of different races living together and getting married and getting babies. To identify your your belonging solely by race category or ethnicity is somewhat impossible. The mix of blood is not only a mix of blood, but in many cases the mix of culture. As Sam talked about during last lecture, just choose the side that you feel most comfortable with. It is definitely true that you might find features of both side... So just simply choose one side. If you feel happy being recognized as a hispanic latino, then you are a hispanic latino. If you feel like to be called a white guy, then you are a white guy. The ultimate thing is not about the color, but about how to fly over it. When you don't feel uncomfortable with any racial problems, there are no racial problems. It is quite subjective I would say. Or maybe you could jump into the subgroup of mixed culture. I am pretty sure there are such things out there. There must be others like you who are half white and half Hispanic. They might have already started an organization... There were no roads at the very beginning, but with more and more people stepping on the land, there becomes roads. There was nothing but air in the beginning. You don't really have to find a "suitable case" for you-- anyways it still a case. You need to make one on your own. This is my opinion. Don't get lost in the forest of races, just be confident and I am pretty sure that you will find your own way to make it.

More importantly, other than recognizing yourself, you will want to respect your own culture. As you mentioned in your comment, you grew up with your mother's side so you have been educated in a Latino way... You might stand with us at the brown and black side. (Actually I don't agree with roughly separating us into black/brown and white--- isn't it a little bit too general?) The Latino things are in you... The way you talk, the perspective you see the world, and the art talents should be all from the Latino side. ( I don't understand why Hispanic Latinos would be categorized into the black/brown team, aren't they Europeans and aren't they white? This is just my own personal thought.

But anyways, you really should go far beyond the white team or the black/brown team thing. In the end, why all these topics matter is just to help you understand the process of self recognition. There are only 2 out of 7 steps different-- which means, hey don't panic at all, it doesn't really matter to be on either side. What matters is your confidence in you culture.

I don't know a lot about the TEA party, but I heard that they stand for "English Only". I think this is on the boundary of racism and conservatism. First of, not to mention Asian languages, Spanish existed for almost the same length to English in the United States. These people have no right to determine what language other people speak! They may say that they don't like liberalism, but they cannot force people to do what they don't want to do. Besides, rationally showing your opinion is a basic requirement for protesting. Although what they have done is legal, I still don't like it. They said Obama is Nazi? No, they are Nazis.