This letter touched me deeply, I thought it was an incredible story and exciting to see into the life of a “lifer.” With the exception of Shawshank Redemption what inmates are mostly portrayed as everyday thugs or hardened criminals with no regrets for anything they did to get into jail. What this man was saying is easily correlated into an underlying theme in this class, and that is that deep down we are all the same, we feel pain, compassion, love, hate, regardless of what facet of life we live in. Eye opening is definitely a phrase that I would use to describe what I felt when I read this letter, it really did show the depth of humanity and how caring for someone is as basic as breathing and that we are all capable of compassion and love.
I will admit that the people in prison are usually an afterthought, I rarely think about these people and how they feel, but after reading this I don’t think that these people will be able to just be an afterthought anymore. This letter played to feelings in everyone’s heart, everyone makes mistakes, the “lifers” made mistakes and although the severity of these mistakes differentiates them from us, they really are no different and are truly as human as any other person.
After reading the letter this man wrote I began to think, what if I was put into a room with 10 people one being a “lifer” would I be able to tell which one is the convict? After reading this letter, and being able to see into the heart and mind of a “hardened” criminal I highly doubt I would be able to do that correctly, I know I would probably actually pick the wrong person. There really is no difference between someone on the outside and some inmates, other than one mistake or a few, these people are living the same lives as us as human beings on this Earth. It really is amazing the insight that this inmate has given me through the letter he wrote, I really was touched by what this man and his experience.

As a guy I know that girls have it much tougher in this life. I saw a poster once that had Marilyn Monroe on it and the quote was “I don’t mind being in a man’s world, as long as I am a woman in it.” And what she said is right, this is a man’s world and women are dealing with that. I as a man want to be accepted and feel the pressure to be one of the guys or to fit into society and be part of the majority but, it is nothing along the lines of what it seems as what women have to face. To the best of my knowledge it seems as if women are struggling with body issues, self confidence issues, and issues with the media at a much higher rate than men. Look at any magazine stand throughout the country and you will see “perfect” women, super skinny, voluptuous breasts, and amazingly beautiful. Women see this and think that this is what they need to look like, what is the norm and what every guy wants.
I feel as if most guys are more comfortable with themselves and don’t feel the pressure that most women are facing with issues seen in such as these. Girls dress up and try to look perfect, but most guys don’t really care how perfect you look, guys don’t care what a girl is wearing and a lot of the time like their girls dressed down, but still women continue to dress up and put too much pressure on themselves to be perfect or look like those girls on the covers of magazines. Men on the other hand don’t really feel these pressures to be perfect in your looks and don’t feel the need to dress up and be perfect for anyone else. Although men don’t feel as much pressure to be just like that guy on the cover of the magazine, they feel pressure in other areas such as being “the man” being strong, unemotional, and above all else tough. Everyone feels the pressure to be a part of the majority whether you are a man or a woman.

This game is absolutely fucking ridiculous. And yes I do think that dropping the f bomb was necessary to depict how I feel about this. Who could possibly think up this game and be able to look at themselves in the mirror, after making a game where the priority is to rape, molest, or brutalize a woman or anyone for that matter. I don’t know of one person who I am close to that would support a game with the basis and idea that some of these hantai games are based around. There should absolutely be regulations on video games in Japan and everywhere in the world, to prevent games such as these from being sold. Having a sister, a mother, and plenty of female friends makes me feel even more strongly about having a game like this in the world. I would never ever want anything like this to happen to them, a situation that some of these games are portraying are likely one of a girls worst nightmares.
Another thing is how could this game possibly be fun to any sane person? I immediately thought that a game like this being made could only be popular or even bought by sociopaths who get off to the thought of actually raping someone. Now that I actually think about it the person who created this game has to have some sort of fantasies about rape to even think that a game like this could even be sold or accepted anywhere. This game is not artistic, and is depicting one of the biggest travesties in the world today, rape is in no way something that should be put into a videogame where someone can control a character rape, sodomize, or molest a helpless woman.
Although there are plenty of shoot ‘em up games and games such as grand theft auto that also have questionable basis this game has taken this to a new level. I cannot believe that someone would purchase this, support this, or otherwise have no opinion about this game. This game needs to be taken off the shelves and no game like this should ever be put into circulation ever again.

This video profoundly affected me, I don’t think that in this class I have ever felt more pain then when watching these young children pick the white doll over the black doll, or even just the pain that can be seen in their faces as they try to decide which doll to choose. These aren’t teenagers looking at cosmopolitan magazine and deciding that since the women in the pictures are white that they are beautiful and that’s how I want to look, these are little kids who should not be feeling that they are the “mean” person because of their color or that because someone else has white skin that they are the “good” kids. I don’t know how you could look at this video and not feel anything, all of those kids that were picking the dolls really don’t need to be agonizing over which doll to pick, this video really is hurtful to watch.
I know that as a white person when I was a child if I was given the choice to pick between the two dolls, I would have picked the white doll if not for the only reason being that I look like this doll and have the same color skin. It should work the same way for little children with black or brown skin as well, but when I saw most of them pick the white doll I not only began to feel a little guilty, I actually begin to get extremely upset when the children chose the doll with the white skin. I wish that there was a way to stop influencing these children in this way so that they can see that the color of their skin doesn’t determine if they are bad or good like what the woman asked them. One of the most upsetting parts in this video is when the young black boy was asked which of the dolls was good or bad, and he chose the black doll to be bad because of its skin, and after being asked which doll he resembled he chose the “bad” one, you could see in his face that he began to question if he was bad because of his skin.
It isn’t possible for these kids to think that being black is bad and being white is good just when they are born, this video shows the power that the media has over young kids and over everyone. What is being put into these kids brains is real how could so many kids pick the white doll because they thought it was prettier or because it was the “good” doll if society wasn’t built like this or the media hadn’t portrayed it like this. Hopefully one day the message will be that everyone is equal that good in bad is based on the person not the skin color.

This is a great question that this guy asked, I was wondering the same thing myself. A lot of what is said on the text boards is pretty funny in my opinion and I know that there are a lot of people laughing with me. Although there were a lot of funny comments a lot of them were also some comments that could be considered offensive by people of both the people on the white team and people on the black and brown team. I for one am not easily offended and I was not offended by a lot of what people said but, so much of what was said throughout all of the texting discussions was really immature and stupid. I am a huge believer in if you dish it out you have to be able to take it too. It seemed to me that a lot of the people on the black and brown team would get a lot more upset about an off color comment or stereotype, it may have just been a few people and I really don’t want to lump everyone into the same category, because I hate when that happens to me, but it was definitely louder and there was more opposition to comments made about the people on the black and brown team.
I like the whole idea of no political correctness in the text messages but I also believe that if that is really what you want to say or how you really feel, you should say it out loud and not hide behind a text message. Stand up and be heard, and be the person to start a debate. I think that Sam would love it and be able to run with what someone says and be able to convey a lesson to us students that we may not have had the opportunity to have before. We are all hear to learn and we are safe to say what we feel in this class so I guess I really am all about everyone being able to speak their mind. Being able to speak your mind is what this class is all about, and although some of the text messages in the discussion were “offensive” or mean these are some of the things that need to be said to spark a true debate about the differences that are seen by all of the races in this class. I just don’t know if the text message debates are really helping us to learn about race relations, it seems like it is being more abused for cheap jokes then for constructive comments. And even sometimes when the comments are constructive it seems like a lot of people are offended by them, we just need to stop being offended and be able to take what we dish out.

To be honest, all I can do is laugh at this company. I know that Abercrombie and Fitch has had multiple problems involving racial diversity in the work place before, and firing someone for a religious scarf is awful. In the video the woman who was fired by the company, said that the firing came down from corporate because she was in violation of the “look policy,” but in my opinion Abercrombie and Fitch is in violation of being a fair and admirable company. In Twenty-First century America this should not even be a problem. The “look policy” that Abercrombie and Fitch/ Hollister use to tell their employees what to wear is obviously flawed, it may not be a bad thing to say that nothing should be worn on the head of an employee, but there should be an exception when the head wrap/scarf is religious. Freedom of religion is one of the basic rights that the United States was built around, and because Abercrombie and Fitch fired this young woman because of a religious belief/clothing and not because of a short coming in the workplace Abercrombie and Fitch is directly violating this basic right. Muslims deserve to have the same chances as any other group of people, and most definitely should not be discriminated due to what is worn on their head.
As a college student, I realize that Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister are iconic brands that a lot of people shop almost exclusively at. I was one of those people that would occasionally shop there but, after hearing this and knowing some of the companies past, I would hesitate to begin to shop at these stores again. Since it is a corporate policy to discriminate against Muslims with their religious scarves and not an isolated incident based on misled decisions of a single store, I don’t think I could give my business to such a company. Historically, it sounds as if A and F is taking a step in the wrong direction, instead of being more open to diversity in the workplace, they are keeping up their own trend of hiring mostly white employees. Even as a business decision I think that, If A and F broke away from the bulk of employees being white, then maybe they could even gain a greater majority of the market, more people of color may be willing to buy from this company, and the negative connotation that Abercrombie and Fitch has due to their discrimination would be diminished. Getting back to the Muslim woman and her problem with A and F I think that she should continue to sue the company and hopefully justice will prevail and she will receive compensation and send a message to this company and others that discrimination and against what America believes in.

Kyle Korver, Luke Walton, Kirk Hinrich, some super star names right there right. What Moose is suggesting is to make a league of only white American born players. What about Yao Ming, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Steve Nash all of these players would be left out of this league in an attempt to bring about a game more focused on the fundamentals? Steve Nash has amazing basketball IQ and fundamentals. And what about Jason Kidd who was born to one white parent and one black parent in the United States, would he not be able to play in this league? His suggestion may have not been the worst idea but, he would be leaving out all of those amazing athletes and ball players. I know it wouldn’t be leaving out athletes of that magnitude because it is a semi pro league but I still think that the All American Basketball Alliance is an absolutely ridiculous idea. An all white American born semi-pro basketball league is not exactly what a basketball fan would want to see.
To be completely honest if I wanted to go see a bunch of white guys run pick and rolls, the motion offense, and shoot some threes, I could just go watch any number of suburban high schools throughout the country. The majority of basketball fans that follow the NBA would agree that the unbelievable superhuman athletes throwing down ridiculous dunks and playing above the rim is an integral part of the game today that makes the NBA so much fun to watch. Moose claims that breaking the game down to the fundamentals would be good for the sport, which may be true but, putting limitations on who can play based on race is definitely the wrong way to go about it. In my opinion “moose” is being racist in his attempt to make this all white U.S. born league.
“Moose” says that a lot of the white players don’t like the up tempo game played today in the NBA and that they deserve a chance to make a living off of their skills. But what about the Chinese ball player who doesn’t like the speed of today’s game, or a Black player who doesn’t like the speed of the game. Why should white basketball players get special treatment and get another chance at playing “pro” basketball when there are so many other people of all races who could and can play just as well if not better fundamental basketball then white players. Although “Moose” says that it is just a business plan to fill a “niche” in the market, the reality is that he wants to support an all white basketball league, not a basketball league based on a different style of play and focused on the fundamentals.

In my opinion love and sex are as intertwined in each other as they are apart from each other. Sometimes it is easy to distinguish between love and sex, like a son’s love for his father or mother. But, there are also many times where the line between love and sex becomes blurred. One night stands are sex without love, sibling relationships have love without sex, but there are also instances where like I said before this would get blurred. An example of this would be just like the woman who asked this question stated in her situation, two female best friends or roommates who experiment sexually with each other. Are these two people bisexual because they love each other and had sex? I think that the answer to that question would be open ended. If the two people were sexually attracted to each other and not just acting on an idea to experiment then I believe that they are bisexual, but it also goes the other way as well. Since I think that sexual orientation is a feeling of arousal than if they were just experimenting and not aroused by each other than I don’t think that they are bisexual.
This question specifically addressed where the line is drawn at being bisexual and just having love for a person of the same sex. I think that this not only applies to bisexuals but, also to people who identify as heterosexual and homosexual as well. Where do u draw the line between love sex and being bisexual? Sometimes this is a fine line and, I think that this line would be drawn when you have a sexual attraction to that person. As Sam put it when you get that feeling “Down there” the sex of the person that you are looking at or fantasizing about would decide you’re your actual sexual orientation is. So if you get aroused when you think about your best friend or your roommate then that is the deciding factor on what your orientation is. So in response to the woman who asked the question, her not feeling that way toward her roommate would mean that she loves her roommate but, in a non sexual way. If she were to ever develop sexual feelings for her roommate and were to act on those feelings then that would be a different situation. On the other hand there are also other situations that not necessarily make someone bisexual even if they experiment with someone of the same sex.
Since love and sex are not always linked it is possible to have a sexual relationship with someone without love, and to have love without sex like in the case of the woman who asked this question. As a heterosexual male I know that I have many female friends that I have no sexual attraction to and love, as well as others that I am extremely attracted to but have never met and do not love.

I actually am not entirely sure what to say when it comes to the sex doll Roxxxy. This is an interesting product that shows off how far our technological advances have come. The sex doll was built in a way that it has skin made of silicon, and is warm to the touch, and has many amenities to make the doll seem even more human like and able to resemble a woman. The doll even has the ability to speak, with a computer under the warm silicon skin. This doll was built to resemble an actual woman, and built to be used as instant gratification for men who can shell out the asking price of $7,000. But who has that kind of dough, $7,000 is a lot of money I don’t even know of one person who just has that kind of money laying around to spend on anything let alone blowing it on a “realistic” sex doll.
The creator of this product has a projected consumer base of lonely men who have an extremely hard time talking to women. I understand the frustration of what some of these men feel, but I don’t believe that a created sex doll that simulates real female human interaction is the answer that these men should look for. Then again I may be wrong because there have already been a couple thousand pre-orders for the new product. I don’t know if I could actually take someone who uses this product seriously, to me this sort of seems like a plot line to a bad movie or just a joke. It seems like you would see this doll in an American Pie movie, something to laugh at but not to take seriously. It also brings to mind the Fembots from one of the Austin Power’s movies. I feel like a sex toy such as this doll would be like having sex with a robot, a “woman” with a computer for a mind. Now I am sure that robot sex is a fetish that plenty of people throughout the world thoroughly enjoy but, I don’t how many people would actually be comfortable with the idea of having sex with a robot.
The inventor of the Roxxxy also was marketing the sex doll to not only single males but, to couples stating that sometimes “a few straight women who wished that they had a Roxxxy to take over the bedroom chores.” That statement that the inventor made just made me want to ask what woman in a healthy relationship would want a robot sex doll to “satisfy” her man? As a man, I would like to think that woman would want to satisfy her man as well as get satisfaction back from him.

Welfare is a touchy subject for many people, some think there is too much help for those on welfare, others think there is not enough. Despite the split on the subject matter between many politicians I did not think that one of them would ever consider calling someone benefitting from welfare an animal. Does Bauer really think he knows these people? Does he know what its like to come from the types of adversity that those who benefit from welfare go through, and to have to swallow your pride and take the help that the government is giving to you? I don’t think he has any idea what some of these people have to go through and how much they benefit from the government subsidies. Maybe some of these people have lost their job and need food stamps to feed their starving kids, maybe some of these people have a disability and can’t work. This politician just bunched everyone on welfare together and targeted them and referred to these human beings as animals.
He said that he was just using an “analogy” but what a poor analogy to use when referring to a group of human beings who are going through life and its hardships just like so many of us taking this class and in this world. Being referred to as an animal would piss me off beyond belief ,and just reading that this politician decided that he would call any human being an animal is making me mad. This man supposedly represents the views of the citizens in his state, but I don’t know one person who would agree with this man.
I understand there are some people that abuse the welfare benefits and are living off of this, but seriously in the comments that Bauer made he is putting children who need to eat, parents who lost their jobs, and elderly people who cant work because of disabilities. To me that just doesn’t seem fair. If I were put into a situation where I had no where else to go and felt like the only way to get back on my feet was to take advantage of welfare benefits I would be so thankful that I could feed my family or help myself. But I would also be working my ass off to try and get back onto my feet.
Life is an uphill climb and for some that climb seems more like Mount Everest than a hill. Everyone can use help in this climb, and others need more, welfare is there to help people who have fell and need to get up and start reaching for the top again. No human being deserves to be called an animal and I don’t believe that anyone has the right to judge someone based on if they receive benefits available. This is America after all, everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed.