I honestly have yet to see the second part of the last two episodes, but I did hear about the controversy behind it. Thr creators of South Park have been turning heads of how they examines today's current issues with complete bluntness. I think that it is great that they proceed with what they do despite the many threats and lawsuits they have received in the past and currently. Bringing these issues to light in a humorous content is one of the perfect ways to express an opinion on a matter. While I'm sure many people disagree with what they do and think what they're doing is wrong, I think it is more wrong to just hide this issue. What they're doing is fine, and if people have a problem with it, they can ignore it like so many other people do.

Like everybody else is saying, it is amazing that the people of Haiti are able to stay in the spirits that they are in despite the disaster that occurred. It also amazing about how the economics have changed since then. There is much more competition among others because of the lack of other services people can provide now. Eventually all of this economic gain that many of these people currently have will run out when the country is able to rebuild. I never would have thought that there could be competition like that in such a devastated area, and it's great that the people are able to come through on their own.

It is interesting hearing stories that come from people inside of prison. While I agree that some of the inmates can find remorse and that many do regret what they do, the fact is that they are in there because they have committed some sort of crime. The man who wrote the letter says that he wished he could be out of prison so that he could try to help our trouble world. Honestly in my opinion, it is because of people like him that the world is in the poor condition that it is in. While the letter does not state the story behind the murder, it is probably likely that there was no good reason for committing the crime that he did, thus he belongs where he does. I'm sure if I was to say what I just did to his face though considering the logic that he seems to have, he would agree with me. Regardless, I do believe that prisoners can feel remorse for what they do and I believe that this man probably has realized what he's done. But the act of compassion seen there is no uncommon occurrence. No matter what people do, there is a certain feeling of compassion inside of everyone, even if they decide to never show it. If I was a prisoner, I would feel sorry if the child of an inmate I dislike died. What I would want to know is how can a prisoner who is convicted of first degree murder, a person who destroyed the life of another human being, feel compassion for that man who lost his child. It sounds illogical, but there must be some reason that he was able to kill somebody but then feel sorry for someone else's loss. When I see something like this, it reminds me of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Andy is an innocent person convicted of murder and is thrown into the slammer with a bunch of other lifers. The movie goes on to show the bonds that the other prisoners share with each other and the friendships that they create, even though it also shows the corrupt side of prison. This movie is what I think about most when it come to prison life, so in a sense, this letter is not too surprising to me because it shows similarities to some of the things that happened in the movie. While I can't feel sorry for what the man has done considering the nature of his crime, it is great to see that his experiences in prison has taught him a greater lesson than the ones that he had on the outside. I'm sure that if he was to ever be freed, the general public wouldn't have to worry about a relapse in bad habits, but he committed a crime and is now paying the consequence, and that's the way life goes.

I honestly don't see why the topic of a girls period was so disturbing to so many people. Sure it may have been sort of a random shock for so many people and it was quite a bit off topic. There is really nothing wrong with discussing it. Many of my female friends openly tell me that they're on their periods. While it is really something that i didn't need to know, it also is useful because I know that they're not feeling particularly well at the moment and pissing them off would more than likely lead to bad things. While I don't share the same enthusiasm about it as Sam, I don't see why people freaked out so badly about it.

Personally, I feel bad about what happened to others in the past, and I would agree that there are still repercussions to what happened back then today, especially when it comes to Native Americans, but there is no reason for me to feel guilty for what happened. Those things happened way before my time, and I have nothing to do with what happened back then, so why should I feel guilty for it. We have come a long way since then, especially within the past few years. At some point, whites will be a minority group in the United States. When this happens, what will the odds be that the group or groups in the majority will feel guilty to what may happen to us?

I agree with Sam when it comes to answering the questions brought about in class. Everything that is said is a factor in life, whether it be a natural occurrence such as a girls period, or an issue such as race. Honestly, the thought of a girls period doesn't bother me at all, and I'm a twenty year old male. It may be because that so many of my female friends have no problem telling me when they are on their period, so I'm just so used to it, but that brings up the point that maybe if we talked about things such as this a little bit more often, such problems wouldn't be nearly as bad because they are commonplace and easy to talk about. And while Sam's definition of ethnocentrism is wrong...sorry but it really is the idea that one's culture is the most important and that a person of another culture will be judged based on the first one's culture....he is right when saying that things are the way they are, everything has a place somewhere whether we like it or not, it is just our ability to suck it up and take it like it is.

When we saw this video in class, I was surprised by the answers that the black children gave for the study. While I don't think it would be surprising if many white children had answers like that, I found it really surprising that a few of the black children actually called the black doll "the bad doll." While all of us hopefully know at this point in time that there you can't judge between good or bad when it comes to color, it goes to show that some of the things our youth are learning at an early age are just down right wrong and are also alarming. As a white child, i had no notion of the difference between black or white when it came to social aspects and i played with action figures of all colors, not noticing the difference between the colors. It may be because I grew up in Harrisburg, where I lived in a dominant white development surrounded by dominant black developments, and where over half of the population of the city is black, but I really never noticed a difference in skin color. In a sense, I ended up being one of the lucky ones because skin color and race never ended up influencing any of the decisions I have had to make. Sadly for these children, the same cannot be said. At that early of an age, they should not be able to distinguish a difference between good and bad based solely on the color of the skin of a doll. The fact of the matter is that they shouldn't have been able to make that choice in the first place, a better answer to the question "which doll is the bad doll?" would have been "what is the difference?" Hopefully this is the answer all of us would give right now, and will probably be the answer for those kids in the future, but the fact of the matter is what ended up influencing those kid's decisions and why. Whatever or whoever it may be, what thing or person needs a major readjustment. There's a good chance the cause of that answer has to do with the influence of the media, which while hard to change, has become one of the major sources of education for young children, possibly surpassing that of the parents, who often let them sit in front of the television or computer and rot instead of letting the be involved in real social interaction, such as the summer programs my parents made be be in or the sports that I played throughout my childhood. This kind of interaction is the kind of thing which lead to answers which would be more appropriate for a child to answer. This is because they get to make their own decisions on how they feel instead of relying on the media to give them an answer.

It is very easy to get mixed feelings form an event such as this. On the one hand, the way the idea was out forth, it does sound sort of racist, the idea of a whites only basketball league definitely carries the notion of racism, and some of the reasons for it were a little out of line too, such as that "other" players carry guns around or attack the fans. But the likelihood of that happening is just as likely with white players as black, it's just thta the majority of people in the NBA are black so more incidences off the court involve black people. On the other hand, a good majority of white basketball players are not up to par with black basketball players due to height and the perceived notion that black players are generally better than whites at basketball. However I can understand if some white players do not want to be constantly outplayed and put aside by black players. My personal opinion is that this white only league should be allowed because the NBA has pretty much become a mockery of traditional basketball in the sense that there is no real defense in the game anymore and that the majority of the game is just a offensive showboating spectacle. But there is a solution to this issue, and that is the idea of a black only basketball league. It would be built along the same lines as the white basketball league. No one would be able to complain about it and odds are the blacks only league would be a lot more popular anyways because in general black players are more exciting to watch than white players and more people would want to see a more exciting game anyways. I'm sure either way people are going to consider this to be an attempt to discriminate against black people, but I disagree. Basketball has become a predominantly black sport and this league would give white people a chance to play on a level that is more their own. If there is anything remotely discriminatory about this whole idea, it is the thought that this white only league would only accept white people from the United States. So in this case, black people are not the only ones who are being singled out for something that they can't control. The odds are that this league will not actually become existent considering the circumstances under which it wants to be created. Another thing that will keep this league form being any bit successful is the money involved in creating and maintaining a sports league. Since not too many people in my opinion are going to spend their time watching a bunch of white guys play basketball I'm guessing that the league won't even last that long anyways.

I thought that the experiment from class was very interesting. Personally if it was me inside that store I probably wouldn't have said anything and just paid attention to my own business, unless it was a matter of some person's safety. It also makes me wonder what would have happened if the same thing would have happened to an American or someone who acted American in another country. Would the members of that country who were inside that store come to my rescue or would I have to fend for myself? In the end, it really all depends on the ethical beliefs of the people who are around you.

This story about Yvrose is about as inspiring as you can get. Getting the kind of job that she has and only based off of a fifth grade education level is pretty much unheard of in the United States. I'm sure she is very proud to be able to stand above many of her own countrymen. It would be really interesting to see what would have happened had she gotten her education in America and competed on the American circuit for a job, but by the looks of it, she would have done a fine job and gotten many of the bonuses that today's corporate CEO's and other important businessmen and women get.