Part 3:
I feel that whenever you are dealing with issues like this it’s important to remember history and to see it from another angle. Another thing that really bothers me too is people who say if they want to come to the U.S. they should all speak English. Well as a matter of fact many illegal immigrants do learn to speak English, but guess what many don’t have the time because they are slaving away to make enough for their families. We are quick to say that others should learn English but when we go to other foreign countries we demand and expect others to speak to us in English.

Part 2:
Before I go on I want to clarify something else. I am not saying that illegal immigration is right, obviously it would be ideal for everyone to come to this country legally, but unfortunately that is just not possible. The people who come to this country come in the search for better opportunities, for some people it’s even a matter of life or death because the conditions in their homelands are just impossible. When I was in high school I actually used to work as an interpreter for Spanish speaking illegal immigrants at a clinic. The people that I met were incredibly hard working and just wanted a better life for their children and in a way it made me happy to see these people grow and progress in this country. I just feel like a lot of people who are quick to judge don’t really see the human side of this issue. Yes illegal immigration is wrong, but perhaps we should change our system or create some kind of program that will prevent more illegal immigration. I also really liked the video that Sam showed in class about the European immigrants who came ILLEGALLY to the U.S. I think it’s kind of ironic how people forget about that and again this is an example of ethnocentrism.

Part 1:
Thursday’s lecture was really interesting and I agree with you. I mean like you said the immigrants who come this country illegally are most likely poor therefore they don’t have the money or the requirements to come to the states legally. Not only that, but the regulations to come to the States are so strict that it’s probably another reason why there are illegal immigrants. I am glad that you brought this up because a lot of people don’t really realize this. I mean, coming to this country illegally is not by any means easy. Although there are illegal immigrants that come from all over the world, I will just use Mexico as an example. Mexicans who come to the U.S. illegally will most likely come by crossing the border this means walking through the desert! So many people die just trying to come to this country for a better life so just thinking about that is important before making stupid remarks like ( oh they are taking our jobs, and they should learn English etc..)

I’m glad that you brought up this topic, because after class I was wondering about it. I was kind of hoping Sam would mention it but he didn’t really talk about it. Perhaps there wasn’t enough time. It also kind of upset when Sam was asking around about what countries are democratic in the Middle East and he mentioned that perhaps Israel was somewhat of a democracy, I feel like this is the view of the West, because to me if we are going by the meaning of democracy (a democracy is a political government carried out either directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people) It is meant to avoid uneven distribution of political power. Yet Israel by no means practices this. Israel by no means meets these standards. I mean to me Israel is a terrorist nation. Israel continues to reinforce an occupation whose every element, including the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes, violates international humanitarian law, and particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention. It explains the absolute impunity by which Israel invades Palestinian cities, imposes a permanent closure that impoverishes millions of people or imprisons an entire people behind barbed wire, checkpoints and walls. I’m tired of hearing the same thing over and over that Israel is defending its self. I am sorry but denying people, food, water, medicine an education and imprisoning them behind walls is not defense. It’s called ethnic cleansing and genocide. The problem is a lot of people particularly in the states are not even informed of this because the American media always portrays the Palestinians as the enemies. As a matter of fact getting the information from any other international newspaper is better than relying on American media especially when it comes to international affairs. I mean this conflict has been going for over 60 years and we still haven’t done anything to stop this?? This is just unacceptable. Of course if asked about the South African apartheid or the genocide in Rwanda anyone would stand up and say yes that was unacceptable I would have been the first to do something to stop that injustice. Yet this is happening today and why are we not taking a bigger stance to help out? Israel might one of the U.S.’s biggest ally but this doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be held to the same standards as every other country. And if you say that you don’t want to be political or take a stance, well I’m sorry but you are already a part of this if you live in the states and pay taxes because our tax money is buying the weapons that the Israeli army uses to kill innocent civilians every day. I honestly hope that this conflict can be resolved soon and the U.S. seriously needs to step up and hold Israel responsible for its crimes. I think that once this conflict is solved the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle East will definitely improve.

Part III:
It is also sad that these video games are all over the internet and that anyone can access it. I’m sure there are sick people in the U.S. who already play this video game, but I think and I hope that it won’t become popular here. There are way too many regulations and women’s rights groups that I think that anything would be done to eliminate these games. I also didn’t like the way CNN reported this because they only reported on what was happening and what these video games are like and that you can basically access them over the internet. This is obviously going to spark curiosity in some people, so I think that CNN should have included ways that we can try to stop this.

Part II:

I also think it’s unacceptable that these types of video games are legal in Japan and that no government officials wanted to comment on this issue. Some of you mentioned that things like “I guess Japanese morals and culture vary greatly from ours.” Yes we me might have different cultures and values but what I have to say is that at the same time I don’t think that our morals are that far behind. Games like these might be legal in their countries, but it’s not like the U.S. is morally good. I mean we support countries that kill innocent people, and kill innocent civilians, but most people not really know about this because our media decides not to report it, so no we are not innocent either. It would be a very naïve thing to say that we have it right and all those other countries are just wrong. This obviously does not mean that I don’t condemn these violent video games. Although violent shooting video games are different from these rape video games, they are still a form of violence that I also think we should try to get rid of because like Sam commented I don’t think they are really creating any kind of contribution to society.

Part I:

I would have to agree with almost all of you that this video has certainly crossed the line. It is definitely appalling and the fact that CNN couldn’t even show the footage is really scary. I can’t even imagine that someone would ever consider making such a game. I mean think about all of the women who have been rape victims and are trying to move on from this horrible experience and then they see something so disrespectful and insulting such as this video game? How do you think they are going to feel? Rape is a serious crime and I think that the creators of this game and those who are endorsing it are taking it way too lightly or frankly just not even caring at all. It almost seems that as if to them rape is a turn which is an absolute disgusting thing to even think about.

Part IV:

My only hope is that they are not getting these negative messages at home or at school. I feel that what parents and teachers tell kids has such a big impact on them that I think it’s extremely important for them to send them positive messages and whenever they see a student teasing another student that they do something about it and have conversations with children about acceptance. It’s never too early to have these conversations and I actually think that the sooner the better because kids absorb everything very quickly and if all they are receiving from society is negative messages, then this will definitely affect them one way or another when they grow up.

Part III:

Every day after school I would come home crying because I was teased and picked on and because I didn’t have any friends. All I wanted was to just look act and speak like all the other light skinned, and light eyed girls so that I could fit in and make friends. I even began to try to change myself and deny my ethnic identity just so I could be like everyone else without knowing that this was actually harming me. I guess it wasn’t until later in high school and college that I actually began accepting myself and finding beauty in myself. This just proves that your surroundings definitely impact your way of thinking especially at a young age.

Part II:

I also feel that I had a somewhat similar experience to this. Back home in Peru I never really felt ugly. I grew up thinking that I was pretty. I was light skinned compared to the indigenous people of Peru and I guess in a wrong way I felt superior to these people when I was little because I didn’t know better. Moving from South America to the states at the age of nine was a really hard adaptation process for me. First I was teased all the time in school because of my thick accent and my lack of knowledge in English, I guess I was easy to pick on and stood out. I was the one with darker skin, darker eyes and darker hair compared to everyone else and suddenly I began to feel like ugly, really ugly.