en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4278744 Comments by mom5450 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/17/voices-from-the-classroom-150/#IDComment343165188 I have heard this a lot in life and a lot in school, and i do not agree with it what so ever. Your environment can shape you in many ways, but it cant shape your hormones, and our body. And it is those things that explain sexual attraction. I was lucky enough to grow up in a open minded family, that never really cared what I did as long as I was happy and it didn't hurt anyone. I am straight, so I guess I wouldn’t know how hard it is to come out, but I know my parents would except me. A lot of people are not raised in this manner however, and it truly is a shame. Many gay kids spend their entire lives trying to change who they are, and many others take their lives rather then living gay. Many of these people live in en and families, that are not very gay friendly, and if any environment would breed being straight it would be an environment that is gay hating, yet gay people still come from these environments. Although raising people to not do something usually ends up backfiring, so I could maybe see more people experimenting with the same sex to get back at their parents, but are they gay by choice for this reason. When it comes to raising a child I do not think a child should be sheltered, little girls should not be scared to play in the mud, or do “boy” things, and likewise for little boys. I have a older sister and I was basically her living baby doll, I was put in dresses and played with barbies, and all kinds of “girly” things, and these things never affected me in a negative way, all of this brought me close to my sister, I did not develop a hatred for her, nor did I continue to wear dresses later in life. One of the most disturbing articles i have ever read was a bash on a celebrity that i can not recall, for taking pictures for a magazine with her young son while she was painting his nails pink. It was mind blowing to me that this freaked people out. The article and web posting bashed her as a mother, saying she doesn’t know how to raise her child, and she was raising her son to be gay. If the simple act of painting a boys nails made a child gay, every male with an older sister would have turned out gay, but this is not the case. The mother replied by saying her son asked to have his nails painted after watching her paint her own nails. And I think if she said “No, you’re a boy, boys don’t do thing like paint there nails, that is gay.” the kid would be worse off. Back to the original question, No your environment cannot make you gay, it can however breed self hatred, and ignorance. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:47:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/17/voices-from-the-classroom-150/#IDComment343165188 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/06/voices-from-the-classroom-143/#IDComment333559628 In sociology we were talking about Haiti, and help for Haiti. Yet for our midterm we read and watched videos about what Haitians want and that a lot of charities really don't get anything done and the things the do achieve its achievements that they do not need. And I also read the article on the lifeboat theory, which is one of the most interesting thing I have ever read. And it really makes me think about world add and US add in general. You cant do right, if you donate to countries like Haiti and set up things like world food banks, because if Haiti fails and cant feed itself it can get food from the world bank, so the Haitians never learn their lessons and never set up their own safeguards because they can just rely on the US. But then on the other hand the US being the super power it is has a duty to give add to lesser countries, because if they don’t its inhumane and cruel. So when your in our position you really cannot win. So with the project for Haiti the fact that the money is going straight to real people trying to make a living, and are bringing people along for the ride. So I was very excited when I learned I can actually properly help someone out like a Haitian entrepreneur. But on the whole I really agree on some of the ideas of the lifeboat series so I don’t naturally get charity and total world add. Why should we worry about poverty and ghettos in other countries when we have poverty and ghettos in the US. Now its a tough thing to say, I feel bad and i have guilt that Im putting america over every other country, but isn't that the whole idea behind a country that we are better then other people. But another thing that the lifeboat series brought up is that to be a true spaceship the world has to be under one true president, one true leadership. And so I also believe that If we can improve some countries but invading and free oppressed people then I would give “add” to a country in that way and as we move across the world giving add to as many countries as i can because then we could have a world food bank because we will all be run together. But since I don't run the government and as a country, we don't share the same views I think we are at least in the right direction because it would be way wrose if we just went through the years with our blinders on and letting the worlds crys come to death ears. Sat, 7 Apr 2012 03:24:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/06/voices-from-the-classroom-143/#IDComment333559628 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/27/voices-from-the-classroom-133/#IDComment328203766 I think the video when the guy goes around USC asking asians about the pac 12 is a little over the line. But for man different reasons. When it comes to jokes about race I usually compare it to the Chapelle show. What makes the Chapelle show racial skits funny is that when the skits over your laughing and thinking how outrageous the stereotype was in the first place. And I feel the Chapelle show really did break down stereotypes for my generation. But when it came to this video it did nothing like that, they went out to see how students felt about 2 more schools joining the pac 12 and, apparently USC has a large amount of international students, and so they asked them questions about stuff that for the most part they wouldn't know anything about. Where this skit takes a turn for the worst is when they make it about all Asians. That all Asians are clueless about sports, and are nerdy and “talk” funny. And at points in the video there was a lot of mocking on the students use of english, which is were the skit definitely goes the wrong way. Thats like if there where american international students in China or Japan, and they interviewed us on something deep in there culture and then laughing at them when they don't know what they are talking about. So when it comes to racial comedy how I judge it is where it comes from, is it coming out of hate, or is it to show how funny some stereotypes are. Because I feel like some jokes can really break down racial walls and on the other hand some jokes can really build racial walls. There are different ways to break down walls when it comes to race don't take me wrong, but they involve interactions with race, and a lot of people live in areas where they cant interact and break down walls for their own, which is a shame. And so they have to learn about race in other ways, and jokes can really get through to some people. Its just how the joke is handled. The biggest thing that goes into if a joke is acceptable or not is if you can say it in front of the race the joke is about, if you cant then the joke probably shouldn't be said. If you have to turn around and look over your shoulder before you feel comfortable saying something then that should be a tell tail sign not to say something. The day when you cant talk and joke about race will be a dark one. Race should be taken seriously but if you cant talk about it or joke about it then we are moving in the wrong direction, we need to be able to laugh at somethings in life and certain aspects of race. Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:22:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/27/voices-from-the-classroom-133/#IDComment328203766 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-123/#IDComment317970897 When it comes to america’s global involvement, whether thats add or military we really can’t do any good. When we add countries, whether we add them with what they “want” or “need” or what we think they “want” or “need” we more often then not come out of it with a negative light on us. Like when we supplied the Taliban with weapons to protect themselves and take back their land from russia, they turned right around and started biting the hand that fed them. Now I know that we didn't supply them with weapons just because we thought it was the right thing to do, we did it because we were in a global conflict with russia, but even so we tend to be hated or viewed in a negative way no matter how much we help, reasons aside. Now I don't think this should make us go around with blinders on because that would just worsen the problem, and as a country in our position I do think its our right to intervene. When it comes to war and military involvement we also can do no right. War is a business, that without we would have never came out of the great depression. And war is expensive business to enter in. So i can understand why we pick and choose which conflicts to intervene in. Its a shame that we can’t help every country in the middle east that wants to overthrow their dictator do so, but those countries that we can benefit by doing so I believe we should. Now obviously we chose to point the finger at iraq after 911, and we did that knowing well that they had oil and we had a lot to gain by going to war with them, we also had a lot of reasons, and good ones at that to invade. Im not supporting the idea of going to war just to get what we want, but after 911 the country needed to be brought together, and they chose to do that by going to war, and lets be honest, if we didn’t do anything after 911 people would have been asking why we didn’t. It is also a shame that we have developed a racism against middle-eastern’s as a cause of the war as well, but thats what happens when we go to war, we send out propaganda so the country will stay behind it, its just a horrible effect of war. And when it come to conspiracy theories about 911 I want to say I thought the response to the girls question was harsh. Now I don’t know what it was like to lose someone that day, and i also know it was a sensitive subject to the soldiers, and i know that the thought is repulsive and brings anger, but it was also an honest question, and a rational one and we can’t just not listen to things we don't agree with for the simple fact we don't agree with them. You should always question your government, and the emotion should have been taking out of the response. Going back to the subject of war, until we are untied as a planet, under ONE leadership, war is an necessary evil for some reasons, and for others a unnecessary evil when money starts to take the reins. Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:15:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-123/#IDComment317970897 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/02/the-kiss-seen-round-the-web/#IDComment312551867 I see nothing wrong with gays and homosexuals, I think that gays should be allowed in the military and I support gay marriage. I think that gays should have all the rights that straight people have, with that said I don’t like public displays of affection, straight or gay, now i see nothing wrong with this case in particular, because he's coming back from a tour, and thats a big deal and very emotional, so i don't think that this was too much. With that said i wouldn’t want to see that walking down the street. I really don't know why stuff like this gets so much negative attention, its someone coming home after risking his life, fighting for his country, and he can’t in-brace the person he loves without somebody talking about it, it really is no ones business who you choose to lay down with. The fact that this is news worthy means that we as a community and a society have a long way to go. We as a society has come a long way with how we view homosexuality, but like race we still have a long way to go. The fact that gay marriage is not legal in every state is crazy to me, I cannot see how someone can have a definition on love, and write laws to “protect” love. By not allowing gays to marry, your making them a second class, it very belittling, especially in a not so excepting world. I think its amazing that a presidential candidate can take a stage in front of the world and say they don't support gay marriage, it is truly amazing that someone can be a true bigot on national television and have a chance to run the country. The day when everyone excepts homosexuality is the day pigs fly, there are always going to be people that do not except it, and for the very least do not approve of it, but there will come a day, and i hope this day comes, where these people can live openly. Racism and homophobia still exist and are big things. But the thing with race is that you can’t really hide it, at some point you have to except it and take pride in it, and not just race, this should be done by every person regardless of color. But when it comes to gays, the society, for the most part, tell them to hide it and be ashamed of it, and that there is something wrong with them and not to take pride in who they are. Its a very sick system, but were moving in the right direction, five years ago this picture would have been a bigger deal, but the simple fact that this is a deal in the first place means we have a ways to go. Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:16:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/02/the-kiss-seen-round-the-web/#IDComment312551867 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295341237 Certain races excel at certain sports for a variety of different reasons. The biggest thing that determines what sports people excel in is income level and poverty. When someone excels at a sport they work with it and improve at it. When people in normal income level house holds and communities there are different options. Sports like hockey and lacrosse cost a lot of money to play. With equipment cost over a few hundred dollars, and the cost of being in a league. Ice rinks and sport fields are also more common to be in communities that have more money. In low income areas the options to escape the endless cycle of poverty are limited. Its either go to school or have a “hoop dream.” And this is why we see sports like basketball dominated by blacks. Basketball is a very cheap sport to play, the only cost of basket ball is the ball itself. The athletic people in the poor black community, and in poor communities in general, tend to steer towards basketball as a sport. Then comes the passion and the drive, many athletic and naturally gifted poor kids see basketball as the only way out so they develop a drive to succeed and excel and become the best at what they do so they can make it out of the projects, or the city, or area that their family have lived in for generations. Since to make it in the next level of sports, and play on a professional level, there is a decision along they way that someone has to make and that decision is to dedicate your life to that sport, and so the poor children growing up playing basketball make this decision very early in there lives. When it comes to middle class and upper class families where sports are more of a hobby then a way out and a way of life, if the sport of choice is basketball they have to compete agains the people that chose basketball as there life, and for the most part can’t stand on the same level as them. An that is the same reason why you don’t see blacks in sports like hockey and lacrosse, two sports that usually are popular in richer areas, and baseball a sport that requires teams over individual skill. When the kids that excel in these sports decide to dedicate their lives to it they don’t have to compete against the individuals that have decided from a very early age that this is what they want. So I do not think that races excel in sport I think passions for sports is what makes people excel, and in low income areas, with high populations of blacks, that find passion in sports, usually find a passion in basketball and that is why basketball is a black dominated sport. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:04:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295341237 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/10/voices-from-the-classroom-101/#IDComment289297347 There is a theory that cognitive thought was the result of consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms. That the monkeys that we evolved from would dig and eat insects, and some of these monkeys would dig up mushrooms and also consume them, without knowing they were hallucinogenic, and the effects of living on a diet of these mushrooms, cognitive thought and the brain developed over generations. And this theory has a lot of sound backing. If you can believe this theory then its only a testament to how powerful nature is, the only reason we have the ability to think for our selves, dream and create is because of such things as mushrooms, so they can only teach us more. Now when I go to the doctor and I need medication or surgery I want my doctor to have a degree and to know what he's talking about. But I wouldn’t belittle a shaman, because that is their culture. Instead of dedicating a certain number of years to a university to learn modern medicine, these people dedicate their entire lives to researching plants and nature. Also all modern medicine comes from chemicals, and a lot of these chemicals are man manipulated and altered and unnatural, all herbs and plants chemical structures are natural, and I would trust a man mixing chemicals together, when that man harvests all materials he uses over a man genetically altering and combining all unnatural chemicals, when all they know about the chemicals they are using are from second hand knowledge. I see nothing wrong with shamans using drugs and hallucinogenic to go into meditation. I already don't see anything wrong with using drugs for recreation, but this is anything else then recreation, this is something they consider sacred and is an intricate part in their culture and society. Hallucinogenics are a very powerful thing and they respect it for what it is and use it to improve themselves. The brain is a very powerful thing, you can do incredible things when you put your mind to it. It is so powerful that if you believe that you are sick you will actually physically become sick. And what hallucinogenics do is they facilitate this, and allow you to think in ways you normally never would. By no means would i ever want to be high all the time everyday, but I have had the most incredible conversations with people when I am high. It closes out the distractions of the outside world and lets you look within and think on a deeper level, and it truly is a amazing thing. When people think about weed they may think, and other drugs, they think of lazy “hippies” and “stoners” but these people have used these drugs to open there mind learn things about nature that no one could ever dream of learning and become a sacred leader of their communities. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:33:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/10/voices-from-the-classroom-101/#IDComment289297347 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-96/#IDComment283310628 I am a white male that said I would adopt a child of a different ethnicity then my own. In-fact I don't think I would adopt a white child because I feel that a white child would question my love for him compared to my blood children more then a child of a different race. But I would not be alright with a black or other ethnicity then my own, for my wife’s sperm donor. My reasoning behind this is that this child would be birthed by my wife as my child and I would want it to resemble me, and be a white male. When it comes to interracial relationships I support them, but don’t entirely agree with them. I believe that you cant control who you fall for, so it shouldn’t matter the race of that person. But when it comes to the child of the interracial relationship that's a different matter. It not an easy life growing up as an interracial child, I am speaking from a third person point-a-view of course. My sister best friend growing up was a mixed white and black girl, I was also very close with her, and she had a very tough upbringing because she felt that she never truly fit in with whites or blacks, and even up through high school she had a very hard time finding herself. Another example is one of my good friends, he is a all-star athlete and a very popular kid, but often is the bud of black jokes and jokes mocking his “whiteness” and although he takes it with a smile, it cuts deep and you can see it. I don’t have any close personal stories about other mixed races but I can imagine that it would turn out in a similar matter. I would never object to an interracial relationship or marriage for that matter, but I think having interracial children is asking for a hard upbringing. But as long as the parents are together to support their children I would not object them to having children, I just would want them to think about it first. Now when it came to my own children I would be lying if I said i would completely support a interracial relationship, more with my daughter then my son. I realize this is a double standard in more then one way. If my daughter came home with a black guy, or any other ethnicity for that matter, my first thought would be what are you thinking, but I wouldn’t forbid her from seeing him until i gave him a fair chance and got to know him, but from my view on life at this time I would also be lying if I said I would ever truly support it. On the other hand I think I would come around faster and even support my son being in a interracial relationship more. And I don't have any reasoning behind it, I just is. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 02:35:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-96/#IDComment283310628 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/26/voices-from-the-classroom-92/#IDComment276402876 During the weeks leading up to Joe Paternos death I really wasn’t happy at all, and each day just seemed to be the same old shit. Well this was when I started to question my desision to come to Penn State, I felt like just another nameless student, a number amongst the masses. I was beginning to think about things like my major choice, I am in the college of engineering, and although I’m not completely sure what field I want to go into, I’m in classes that will lead to a computer engineering degree. As I started to think about my major choice I started to think that these classes I am taking this semester will be just worthless credits if I don't end up going into computer engineering, which made me start to think about engineering in general. “Is this a major I really want to go into?” Is a question that constantly shot through my mind... and I started to feel trapped in the college of engineering, I don’t want a business degree, and I didn’t come to Penn State to get a teaching degree, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. These questions brought others to my mind like “Is Penn State a place for me?” If I wanted to get a teaching degree I could have went to Millersville, a school where my sister went and loved, a place where I felt I wouldn’t be just a number, because of its class size. But as I pondered these questions I was beginning to just think college wasn’t for me. School always came easy to me and I am a smart kid, but I just wasn’t really enjoying school. It was aways assumed that I would go to college, and to my parents, and myself, it was never a question if I would go or not. But when it came to applying to schools I never really put much thought in where I really wanted to go, I knew i didn't want to stay in the city, so I never even bothered applying to Drexel or Temple, and when it came down to it I put all my eggs in one basket and only applied to Penn State, even though my parents thought I also applied to Pitt. And after visiting and my first semester I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else. But school wasn’t doing it for me this semester and on The eve of the death of Joe Paterno all these feeling were at there worst, and really starting to weigh down on me. The next day I woke up in my same old slump, but today I had another thing weighing down on me, and that was the death of Joe Paterno. Now to answer the question of what I have learned in these pass weeks, and I have learned a lot, and I have Joe to that for that. Nothing had changed in the way I was thinking about college on the day of the candle light visual for Joe, but the did change that night. As everyone came together to morn I started to feel like a part of a family not just a number, and I really started to think that I too was Penn State. As I listened to the speakers of the candle light visual and the monorail service and how they were touched by this great man, I started to think differently about college, that no matter how big we are, we weren't just a number to this man, he truly cared for all of us. And I thought that even though my major will be challenging, its something that I have to work through, and it is something not set in stone. And lastly that I can make the most of my college experience, and my college experience is dependent on what I make of it, and thats something I have Joe Pa for. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:20:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/26/voices-from-the-classroom-92/#IDComment276402876 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/19/alabamas-migrant-workers-colberts-perspective/#IDComment270045467 The Colbert Report is one of my favorite shows on television, mostly for the laughs but also for the news. Steven Colbert and John Stewart alike do a great job of delivering relevant, and important news in a “tongue-in-cheek” tone. These news stories often turn into a big joke, more so on the Colbert Report than on the Daily Show, although it is ok for these stories to make you laugh, but they should also make you think. This story in particular made me think, and it made me think about something I have always believed in. It has been argued, and a personal belief of mine, that illegal immigrants only take jobs that americans would not want. Yet others argue that americans would want these jobs yet illegal immigrants increase the number of workers in a given field, suck as farm hands, and therefore lowers the wage paid to workers in this field to a point where americans would no longer want the job. This argument was brought up in our economics class, and it was also the only major issue that came along with immigrants. So it turns out that immigrants do take jobs from americans, just at a lower wage that a legal american would work for. But this video proves this argument wrong, at least for a farm hand job, Arizona farmers cannot find people to take these jobs at normal wages. I have seen Colbert’s original video on this subject, highlighted in this video, where he went to work on a farm, and although it was done in an extremely sarcastic way, it proved that these jobs are extremely demanding and a hard living that most americans would not work these jobs for double the normal wages, which would never happen because then food prices would go up and that is entirely different argument. Now that there are no immigrates to work these farms, and farmers cannot find legal americans to work these jobs, they are passing a bill to put inmates to work in these fields. Colbert also makes a very good point at the end of his video, he says “apparently americans that have chosen a life of crime, don’t have the same work ethic as guatemalans that walk through 500 miles of desert to feed there children.” This brings up a couple things, for one these people are hard workers and they will work backbreaking jobs to support there family, and also that people really do risk there lives and throw everything away for a chance to come to America, a chance to support there family. With all of this said we should allow illegals to work jobs that others do not want, and work with bill like the one Obama has/is working on that illegals can become legal immigrants more easily because we need them, and our country was build on immigrants, and immigrant labor, so who are we to just call an end to this. Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:01:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/19/alabamas-migrant-workers-colberts-perspective/#IDComment270045467