However you have to understand that the show is meant to be funny. Forms of entertainment take all forms. For example you have movies, sports, drama, reality, and comedy. South Park is a form of comedy that is successful for over a decade. There aren’t many shows currently on TV that lasts more than ten years. The Simpsons has the record for the longest lasting TV series in history. South Park is like the Simpsons. The format is a cartoon and the main characters are abstract. During some episodes there would be appearances by celebrities and most the time the celebrity would be made fun of. South Park is a show that does just that. Muhammad is a god like figure in the Muslim community; therefore, can be argued that he is a celebrity.

When I say the word material, it means props or ideas that the writers use to make the shows. We already established that South Park is a show which makes fun of current events in a humorous way. For example, just recently the show made fun of Facebook users and their addiction to the website. Also, a few years ago when Steve Erwin died, South Park had him the next episode that aired. It’s a show that makes fun of everything in the world. There is no stopping on what they make fun of. In response to the people who are upset the Mohammad was criticized, they have to realize it’s just a cartoon. South Park already made fun of Jesus many times during the franchise. They called him fake and made up. So the point I’m trying to make is that there is no segregation of topics that the writers use to make their shows. Religion, sex, deaths, and celebrities are all far game on South Park. There are sometimes where South Park can be offensive for me because they are making fun of issues I feel strongly about.

In response to the South Park comment, I am an avid South Park fan. I have been watching South Park for basically my whole life. The writers of the show depict current events and make abstract situations in order to make the show more entertaining. The closest shows I can describe South Park as is the Simpsons. Instead of the whole family being the main characters, picture Bart, the son, being the main character. The comedy central hit, South Park, is about four third grade students in a Colorado Elementary School. Of course, to make the show funny, the elementary students curse obnoxiously. Essentially they don’t act like third graders at all; they act more like middle school students because of their intelligence levels. With that quick overview of the show, now comes the main discussion of their material.

My great grandparents worked and were injured in the coal mines and got paid small amounts of money. The wages were so low and it was controlled by the Unites States. I can image what the wages would be is a foreign country would control the coal mines. I can guarantee that the United States wouldn’t be a super power like it is today. During World War II, the coal mines in Pennsylvania were a key component to the factories producing weapons for the allies. If the Chinese or another foreign nation would have been in control of our fuel, the war might not have been won by the allies. Of course this is all theory but it is an accurate theory. Sam was trying to make the class think about a global issue that affects our economy every day. In return, the economy affects our way of life every day.

Many people still live in a bubble that is enclosed onto State College. The lecture was fascinating and precise. He made the class into an abstract Iraqi college where we were to imagine that we were Iraqi students. The exercise was a success! I followed him completely through the exercise and it made me think of my parents. My parents have been saying that the war isn’t for the terror, it’s for oil. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do now to stop the war because it’s already on the decline. Overall, I was amazed at the lecture today. It was my second favorite lecture this year, the first being the king of the hill scenario. Also, the example that Sam used about the coal being mined by the Chinese was very effective in my mind. Since I come from eastern PA, there is a lot of anthracite coal mines where I live.

In response to the lecture on Thursday, I have to say its eye opening. I believe that Sam is a fantastic professor. I do not agree with every word he says but I do listen to every word he says. I’m getting tired of people in the class stating comments on the website that Sam doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The people who are stating rude comments are people who can’t grasp global problems. They see a global problem as a right or wrong. In order to understand Sam, you unfortunately have to have some sort of intelligence, which some students do not have. Sam was making very key points in the lecture today and people were walking out in discuss. Why? I have friends in Iraq right now. So they surely aren’t more offended than me. However, Sam wasn’t making points to offend people; he was making points to open people’s eyes to a global issue.

I believe that every working citizen wants to see their tax money go to a good cause. Welfare is a good cause if it is used appropriately. I believe that the United States should not abandon the welfare program. Since there are individuals out there that really needs its support. I do want to change the program though. I think if the program had a lower budget of money that would cause it’s over seers to be more productive. With the over seers (government officials), being more responsible to whom gets aide, the system will be hard to fraud. It would hopefully cause a domino effect in society. The next generation that is destined to be on welfare might not become a reality. Since now, that they know the system (the government) will be harder to get money from. Hopefully youths today will see that having children at a young age and being unemployed is not a bright future economically, therefore they will be less inclined to have children.

Since the United States is a country that believes in freedom and helping others, the citizens are inclined to think positively. They think by having a welfare program it is a positive way for people to help indirectly. (The welfare program, of course, is funded through taxes.) The taxes, obviously, is paid by the American citizen who has a job. So people who have a job and work for a living, have to pay for people who don’t have jobs. These people who don’t have jobs have time to have children though. A lot of the people on welfare are single mothers who have more than one child. The fact that adults have children and they don’t have a job is mind boggling for working Americans. Of course there are many exceptions to many rules, there are people on welfare that do work hard. However, I’m calling out the individuals that take advantage of the government.

Welfare is a subject that politicians have discussed among their peers for decades. It’s a subject that the average American citizens knows and debates. Some people agree with the current system of welfare but an overwhelming people in America are against Welfare. I will discuss examples that I have seen over the past years of people’s reactions to welfare. Over time it seems to me that people are getting irritated that people in America live on welfare. Not only do parents of the past generation live on welfare, but the next generation of youth is currently living on welfare. So we see a trend of people living their whole lives on welfare, which is referred to “generations of welfare”. I believe this is when people not on welfare start to have a problem.

In response to the video I was not to surprised when I saw it on Thursday. When I was in high school I saw it in Sociology class. At that time, it was astonishing because I did not think that race effected young children at that age. I thought young children were not aware of the causes that race plays in Society. For example my brother’s best friend in kindergarden was a black boy whose name was Jamal. He told me that they would play together everyday in school. Then one day Jamal’s older brother approached the two of them at recess and asked Mike way does he play with a black boy. I can assume that Mike probably did not understand the question at the tie and responded with a confused face. I remember this event because my brother came home from school and asked my mother what the question meant. My mother is a very understanding woman who raises my brother and I to understanding just like her. She comes from an area that is racist and she probably was a little racist when growing up. However when my brother and I were born my father and mother wanted to raise to great children. In order to raise to excellent children my parents knew they had to set a great example. The process of being a role model isn’t a switch you can turn on and off. The process is constant. So she replied to my brother that sometimes people don’t always get along and they sometimes blame this on their skin. However this family judges people on their character not their skin color. I remember her saying this because she constantly states this quote when race plays a role in our family. I come from an area that is mostly white. Racism does play a role in my high school and my neighboring high schools. At my rival school Pottsville my brother is currently student teaching. Pottsville is a high school where the location is set in the city. Unlike Blue Mountain, my alma mater, the black population is much less then Pottsville’s. Many inner city adolescents go to Pottsville high instead of going to the Catholic High school Nativity. My brother notices these racial classes in the school while teaching. He sees that white people in Pottsville are a lot more accepting to black people and the black people are a lot more accepting to white people. The racial clashes in a city school are much less then in a rural white school. So I would challenge the test of the dolls again. I feel that the black students in Blue Mountain would choose the white doll. On the other hand, I feel that the black students in Pottsville will choose the black doll.