This article really touched me. It is so interesting to think about how their actions in society as a free person would be like if they were released today. And I have to agree with you, free people sometimes tend to lack compassion towards each other. You have to wonder how their behaviors and ideals have changed since they arrived in prison. Although the crime he committed must be punished, it is a shame that we cannot come up with an evaluation system that can determine who truly could be a beneficial part of society. Its really too bad that this man will never be able to share his experiences with others, maybe as a public speaker or an activist, using his experiences in prison to teach others.

It is interesting to think about how their actions in society as a free person would pan out. And I have to agree with you, free people sometimes tend to lack compassion towards each other. You have to wonder how their behaviors and ideals have changed since they arrived in prison. Although the crime he committed must be punished, it is a shame that we cannot come up with an evaluation system that can determine who truly could be a beneficial part of society. Its really too bad that this man will never be able to share his experiences with others, maybe as a public speaker or an activist like you said.

In today's society, it is so simple for us to hear about a man in prison for first degree murder, serving a life sentence, and think, "well, he deserved it. he committed a crime, took away someone's life, and now he has to deal with the consequences." While it is hard to think otherwise, especially when dealing with something as heavy as murder, it is positive to think about it from the perspective of the person who committed the crime. We make mistakes all the time, no matter how good or bad of a person we may be. This was a young man, not very educated, at least not at a high school level, who made a very poor life decision and must bear his consequences everyday for the rest of his life. It is hard for us to relate because we sit there and think "well, i never killed somebody, thats his fault", but sometimes we have to look from a different view. Say for example you had a few drinks and decided you were in good enough shape to drive yourself and a friend home. You get in a car accident and (god forbid, but for the sake of a hypothetical situation) you kill the person driving the other car. Are you a murderer? By definition, yes. Naturally you deeply regret your decision and wish you had not driven your car. But that one little decision that you made has now taken away someone elses life, someones child, husband, wife, friend, grandma, etc. Maybe when this guy committed his murder, mind you he was a young man, he had a lapse in judgement. Not to justify any murder, but the point is who knows what kind of person he is. He clearly still exhibits compassion just like, if not more than, someone who is free and not serving a life sentence. Sometimes looking at people in jail as people who made bad decisions is more practical than thinking of them as people who are monsterous humans. The story of compassion that this particular man tells in the letter is very humbling. That even though his life is monotomous and every day for the rest of his life will be spent in a jail cell, compassion is not dead. He is capable of sincere emotions that sometimes free people decline to feel. While what he did many years ago was terrible and he can never take back his actions, he can proceed to live his life trying to repent and remain a sincere human being. Writing this letter was very noble of him and has provided me with a new outlook on how although he is serving a life sentence, he still can be a genuine person. I would like to talk to a "lifer" and see if other people have feelings similar to him.

That is true. Girls are constantly feeling the need to better themselves, myself included, to live up to what is "ideal". While its easy to say "I just don't give a shit", the truth is, we do give a shit. If you do not feel good about yourself or feel like you are not matching up to what it is you want to be, it is hard to fake confidence. Girls will be girls, we will feel threatened by our friends and others looking better than us, having a better body, a prettier face, better clothes, a hotter boyfriend, the list can go on forever. Girls are emotional by nature and constantly want to please the societal ideals.

This question definitely has a two fold answer. Looking at it from a psychology point of view, both men and women are taught from birth that they should perform in the way society deems acceptable. Our gender performance models come from our society. When we are born, girls are dressed in pink and wear dresses and bows. They play with dolls and barbies and learn that girls are not supposed to play rough or get dirty. Boys are taught to be rugged, not to cry, and to be like dad. Before children can even speak, their identities have been molded by their parents to perform their gender.

So what happens when a boy grows up, goes through puberty, becomes a young man, and realizes that this is not the way he wants to act? What if he does not like girls, does not like doing handiwork, and does not want to fulfill the macho man stereotype? Either he accepts himself as different and acts how he feels is right, or he conforms to what society wants and denies his true identity. In this situation, a man may be considered to have just as difficult a time as a woman filling societies standards.

However, in comparison to women, men seem to have it easier. If a woman is crude and rough around the edges, she is considered an outcast much faster than men. I feel that women have a much higher standard to appeal to than men. Especially due to the fact that women are constantly competing in a man's world, the pressure to be what society deems the "ideal woman" is very demanding. A woman must reach above and beyond to get the education, get the job, raise a family, all while remaining classy and acting like a stereotypical trophy wife.

An example we can relate to as college students works well to support this point. Let's say its the weekend and there is a big party to go to. A girl goes out, and trying to conform and keep up with the boys she drinks too much. She spends the night in the bathroom throwing up and draws a lot of negative attention to herself. When she wakes up in the morning not remembering anything, she feels terrible. Her friends and people at the party make fun of her and she feels awful about herself. But say this happens to a guy. Let's say he goes out, gets absolutely wasted, smashes his hand through a window and passes out on his friends couch. He wakes up in the morning with high fives and is complemented by his friends for being such a badass when he was shitfaced. The double standard is always an issue across genders, hence why I believe men usually have it slightly easier than women.

I agree with you. I almost started crying when the little girl identified as the black doll after saying it was the "bad" doll. That was so sad, especially because she was so young. It is obvious that the media plays an extremely large role in what we think about race and what is good or bad at such a young age. Its such a shame that we can never be happy with the way we are. Like you said, white people wanting to be tan, little black girls wanting to be white. The grass is always greener on the other side.

This article is mostly interesting to me due to the fact that it is stating the inevitable. There is a great rise in the number of minorities in the United States, and this has been happening for the past few decades. The fact that the numbers are increasing should not have that great of an impact on our everyday lives. The article states they are not sure when that "benchmark" number of 50 percent will be passed, and they predict this will happen by 2012. My question is: why should is matter the exact number? Not that it is a bad or good thing the number of white people versus the number of non white people in the United States, but why is the exact time that the majority flip is so important? I guess I just do not see this affecting us all that much, but maybe I am just naive to the consequences. The article talks about older elderly white people and their effect on the ballots, in areas such as taxes for ethnic schools. If the birth rate of non-hispanic whites declines and the minority becomes the minority, that may be an effect we have to address. It is a shame to think that in this day and age people would want to deprive children just because of their race.
As a white person, I do not feel any concern regarding the fact that birth rates will cause whiles to be the minority. I don't think having a bunch of babies adding to the numbers of people who are not white to create the new majority is really going to effect our daily lives. While the numbers may make white people the minority, that does not mean all the sudden there is going to be a takeover by those who become the majority. We have a troubled past as Americans for our behaviors to races that were not white. We can review the history of America over and over and as white people be made to feel guilty for slavery and oppression, but the past is in the past. White people do possess a lot of power in America, but so do others. We are making changes in how we view others and they are moving into power positions. But it is not because the birth rate is rising. It is because they are smart, successful people who are qualified in what they are doing.
Without articles and census results telling us that white people are becoming the minority, I doubt most of the American people would notice these things. I am interested to see what comes about with this change, if anything. We need to stop focusing on things like majority and minority and focus on unifying and making things fair for everyone.

Anyone in America can say they are offended by the census. Its a very generalized survey that is supposed to be simple. There are so many different types of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc., it is hard to keep everyone happy. People need to just check the damn box and get over it. The people who wrote it are trying to not offend anyone, and in America that is a hard thing to do. Until people can come up with a way to keep everyone satisfied, just fill out the census as accurately as possible and stop blaming people for making it offensive.

Its almost funny to admit how sweet that sounds. Your girlfriend is lucky that you are so understanding. For something that causes women to be a total bitch sometimes for nearly two weeks out of every month, it is nice to see a guy who accepts the fact that it is natural and theres really nothing we can do about it. Guys can be so grossed out about blood and tampons and whatnot but semen is pretty gross too and girls generally don't complain about it. Girls buying tampons is similar to guys buying condoms. Sometimes you feel weird doing it but its totally necessary.

I like that Sam came out and bluntly talked about periods. Like he said, its totally natural. There is nothing we can do about it but accept the fact that sometimes it totally sucks and we wanna punch everyone that makes a note of the fact that we are moody. Get over it, its hormones. Its really annoying how some males undermine how painful it can actually be. Sometimes its so totally debilitating its impossible to leave the bed. Thanks Sam for talking about it and understanding women. More guys should understand it, especially considering its necessary for us to have if we ever want to have a baby.