en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2394669 Comments by tidalwave6906 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145210640 Over the years the world has clearly become more corrupt and more easily finds it acceptable to use explosions to achieve mass destruction against an enemy. The size of the explosions grew so large it was alarming to see. Just watching the explosion on the screen though does not even do the actual explosion justice. In reality, these explosions have taken innumerable amounts of lives in mere seconds and changed the lives of people for very long periods of time. Around 1745 A.D., the explosions became more scattered and more frequent in the video and in 1780 A.D., the frequency is even greater. In 1914 A.D. the very large explosions start occurring with small explosions still taking place in other areas. I guess it is scary to think about the effects of these explosions and the intentions behind setting them off. I find it even more alarming to think of the masterminds behind the creation of what causes these explosions. Thinking that there are people actually developing these tactics and designs to destroy so much of civilization is just alarming to think about. The explosions just continue to grow larger and more destructive of people. This video is a display of how low the world has gone down to in order to achieve power. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:43:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145210640 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145210618 This short video was interesting to watch. It seems as though the small explosions keep going off in the same places over and over again. There are barely any explosions taking places on the left most side of the world map used for this video for the first few minutes. The explosions are predominately taking place in Europe areas, occasionally occurring in some Asian areas. Watching the sizes of the explosions was probably the most interesting part of this video. I don’t consider myself knowledgeable about war or bombings or anything that goes along with it but I did find this very interesting. The world uses explosions as advancement and for more power. Over time, the more power wanted, the more conflict, the more wars, and more bombs, and the greater the size of the explosions which also accounts for greater amounts of casualties. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:43:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145210618 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment143262547 This is a very difficult situation to take a side on. It was great that Mr. Devoureau got the job the Urban Treatment Associates and losing the job was probably upsetting but who is right in this situation? I can see both sides of the argument and think it would be very difficult to decide who would be right. Coming from the perspective of Mr. Devoureau, he saw himself as a man and claimed that everyone else had also always seen him as a man. He was born a female, acted as a male and made changes to himself so that he could actually be a man. Not wanted to disclose information about his sex change and original gender is understandable because he knows that people judge immediately. He wants to be known as a man and the best way for him to do that is by erasing the past of being a female, moving on in life to solely be known as a male. I understand that he was upset and hurt by the fact that he was fired after just a few days on the job, soon after the boss had inquired whether or not he was actually a male. Mr. Devoureau obviously thought that this was an act of discrimination considering it was right after the inquiry. Coming from the perspective of the boss at Urban Treatment Associates, she clearly was stuck between the rules of the company and making an exception for this employee. The rules were clear that the position must be filled by a male because it monitoring men being tested via urine samples. The boss knew this rule which is probably why she acted by inquiring and then had to firing Mr. Devoureau. If she would not have, she technically would have been breaking the rules of the company and her own job might have been compromised. Was the boss discriminating or just doing her job is the tricky part. Honestly, since I can see both sides of this argument, I would not be able to pick a side unless there was more information about the motives of the boss. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:43:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment143262547 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment141047380 After reading this, I thought about what it would be like to not much contact with my family or friends while at school during the year. It is challenging to really keep good contact with people when I’m at school because I am not actually with them. Those that are in prison for life have this battle for the entirety of their time in prison, as mentioned in this letter. In the first paragraph, this person explains how many people misunderstand what life in prison is like because of television shows and mainly just not having been exposed to the environment or the people. I think that this really creates a barrier between the prisoner and his/her family and friends. Not understanding how life is in prison would make it difficult for family and friends but also on the prisoner. The writer of this letter said that he had a lot of support from family and friends at the start of his sentence, receiving a lot of mail on a weekly basis which they relate to the type of person they were before going to prison. Others are not fortunate enough to have the stream of support coming from various people. Even for the writer of this letter, the letters they received were not as frequent as time went on because people got busy with other responsibilities. This letter writer depicted how he found family within prison among the other inmates. I found the explanation here to be very touching. This 28 year old has grown close with a lot of the younger prisoners and really provided support for them that they might not have received before coming to prison. It is really inspiring that this person can reach out to others and form a support system to help get through the days. Not to say that family and friends outside of prison aren’t important but those people in prison are going to be there every day and every night. I think it would be challenging to say the least to get through each day without a single friend or someone to turn to. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 17:35:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment141047380 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/20/frost-bitten/#IDComment139245726 After reading this, I felt saddened. Saddened that someone would have to feel these feelings and live like this everyday for the rest of their lives. Feelings of loneliness, exile, and rejection. Feeling of loss and coldness from lack of love and lack of feeling. How awful it would be to be numb to feeling and feel everyone around you was numb too. It seems the writer of this feels like they are just drifting, as if in limbo. They have lost emotions and do not know when the feeling of coldness started taking over their life. Reading this, I think about the days that I have been sad and felt alone but that is nothing compared to the depth of loneness this person is expressing through this passage. Prison for this person has basically sucked the life them, for lack of better explanation. However, it is not just this prisoner. Everyone seems to be cold and lifeless living with their sentences of life in prison. This prisoner wishes for the day that the coldness will thaw and diminish. Thinking about it, having hope that life restored while in prison would be extremely difficult. Being in prison, the support system for that prisoner diminishes extremely quickly leaving that desire to have someone to love and someone to live for as this prisoner writes. There is a ray of hope that this prisoner says that they refuse to be one of the empty souls, they have the desire to live for something and love something. They want the frost bitten feeling of their heart thaw but they must find the strength to overcome the coldness. It can take a long time for a person in this situation to find the meaning of life. It is really difficult for me to grasp what it would be like to have so much taken away from life. To have no one to love and seemingly no reason to live anymore. Overcoming this would take a lot of growth but it can be done and the coldness can be overcome with some strength and hope. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 01:01:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/20/frost-bitten/#IDComment139245726 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment137368315 “You’re retarded,” “that’s retarded,” I could list numerous ways in which the retard is used in everyday language by people who do not even realize or second guess what is coming out of their mouth until, in the case of politics, it’s documented by the media. When as a society did it become acceptable to use the word retard as an offensive slur towards someone or even coming someone with, for example, down syndrome, retarded? As the word has grown in popularity, it has become more offensive and hurtful as it keeps getting more twisted out of context. I thought the end with Frank Stevens saying that people with mental problems are the same as everyone else to be very impactful. Why do some people in our society cast these people out like they don’t belong? There are two issues that I see coming up with this topic which I have mentioned. One being that the word retard is being used so incorrectly and two, that people with conditions, such as down syndrome, are tired of being called retards and being placed on such a low level in society. One of the people interviewed on the street said that using the word retarded shows ignorance. I very much agree with that. Using the “r-word” does show ignorance and a lack of respect towards people in society. But why do so many people drop the “r-word” so casually? This is where group think kind of comes into play. Hearing the term so much in such a casual manner starts an effect of other people using the word in such a casual manner also to the point where someone doesn’t even realize what they are saying anymore, it’s just a part of their vocabulary. Yes, it is wrong that people in the public eye would be the r-word incorrectly for obvious reasons. However, I kind of feel it has had importance on truly getting the word out about “spread the word to end the word” which was discussed in the clip. It is not okay to use the term whether a politician or a fifteen year old, it’s hurtful, incorrect and a poor reflection on our society. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:45:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment137368315 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135853138 Although this was not a long speech, I found it to be extremely impacting. Zach Wahls not only defends both his mothers, and his family but also his own character while giving this speech. He made some really bold points about how unfair and unrealistic laws about same sex marriage are in today’s society. Why is it that the state thinks two mothers or two fathers even would be incapable of raising children together? Why is it that there are still so many people that see only a mother and father couple the only ones capable of having a family and raising children? I thought one of the most interesting points brought up in this speech was about what defines a family. Zach clearly and unarguable stated that the state does not and cannot create a sense of family. The sense of family can only come from commitment and love of the members of the family. That love cannot be created by the state by any means so it should not be fair to restrict marriage and families to male/female couples. It is all too easy to assume that children of same sex couples would be raised differently than children raised by mother and father couples but Zach clearly states that he was never even questioned about the sexual orientation of his parents and feels he was raised no differently. His family does the same things other families do when they are together. That being said, where did the idea come from that same sex families would be so different? Why are same sex couples treated as second class citizens in our society? I strongly believe that people should be able to marry the one they love with the state’s say or control over it. Zach said that it was difficult for his biological mother’s parents to accept or even acknowledge her sexual orientation and the fact that she was having children with her partner. However, they came around and opened up to it and were more accepting. I think the most important thing that Zach said was that the sexual orientation of his parents has had no impact of the content of his character. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:56:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135853138 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130695175 Watching this video really got me thinking about how our society goes about “educating” the youth. A student is in school a large chunk of time, years of which they are going through more changes than one can even count. In the past, education was the path to a good job. That is not the case anymore. A college degree no longer secures a job only assists and looks better than no degree at all. Education is not about finding one’s passion or bringing forth creativity, it is focused on structure, cramming information into a kid’s brain, testing them on it, and in most cases that information will not be remembered for long. As the speaker in this video said, our public education system was conceived for a different age, “we are getting our children through education by anaesthetizing them.” ADHD rates are rising and the medication is stripping kids of their creativity, taking away their interest in things. It is important to reform education to keep up with our ever changing technological society. More and more kids are numb to the information they are learning in school and lack the interest necessary to help them succeed in the educational system. As mentioned in the video, which I agree with, our society needs to go in the opposite direction of standardization and try something new, something more stimulating. Collaboration should be encouraged instead of frowned upon. It is a constant competition in the education system, but that is the only way we know though. I really enjoyed how the topic and information were displayed in the video. A creative idea was shown in a creative way. I stimulated thoughts for me in regards to my own education and what I am actually getting out of it besides a degree that will help me get a job. I attended private schooling up till college because that is what my parents thought was best. I applied to college because it was expected of me and I never thought otherwise. I chose a major more based on job outlook than true interests, I chose a college based on which schools had my major. Going to college today is more expected than it is an accomplishment. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:10:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130695175 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128641619 This video threw me off a little. I’ve obviously heard of polygamy in the sense of a man having multiple wives but have not heard of the opposite, a woman having multiple husbands. I found the dynamic of the region in the video clip to be very interesting and quite contrasting to how our own culture thinks about relationships, marriage, tradition, and children. The reason that the women have multiple wives is not something involving sex but more of a tradition in order to keep family land together and as a form of birth control for women. Their lifestyle makes sense in this context. The video described that these people are at peace, happy, efficient, and very able to provide for family on many levels. This tradition though, is not something that people really have a big say in. Families of the oldest male sit down and discuss what would be the best option for the family in regards to choosing a wife. The consent of everyone is necessary in order to make a final decision which involves group think. It would seem that everyone in the family would try to have a group consensus to decide what is best for the family. Considering this region has been mostly isolated, their traditions do not seem unordinary and it is probably the only thing they have ever known. Marriage is not based on romance or love for this population as it is for us. However, towards the end of the video, it was mentioned that technology has started to infiltrate the region. A road was constructing leading up to the area, education is now more readily available, and satellite provides a link to the outside world. Will the traditions of these people change now that they are getting a small taste of a marriage of love and romance, monogamy, contraception, and other ways of life that seem strange to them yet normal to us. Will their polygamy traditions withstand or will their norms slowly begin to change as they are more exposed to new approaches through education and the technology being brought to them? Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:00:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128641619 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/09/4092/#IDComment127197802 Reading Remember, brought forth a lot of emotion for me. There is so much meaning behind each line this prisoner wrote, listing the things that he has long forgotten and stating the things that will always haunt his mind, probably for the rest of his life. Being that I am not a prisoner, I automatically draw this line between myself and this lifer as being drastically different people, which is extremely unfair. Granted, I have never killed someone but as humans, we all make dumb decisions sometimes. I have made my own stupid decisions but luckily, nothing bad has ever happened as a result. This prisoner on the other hand made a mistake in a split second and became a prisoner for life at the young age of 22. When I think of how young this prisoner was, how quickly his life changed in a few seconds, the line kind of disintegrates. No sane person would predict killing a person ahead of time but in reality, accidents happens. We get into car crashes, get too intoxicated sometimes, start fights with people, and lose control of our anger, all of which could have a bad ending. This prisoner has basically lost all hope, having lost his final appeal. They have lost contact with almost all of his social support from family, friends, past love. It is most likely because the ones close to them no longer view this person the same way. How could they? In our society, killing someone is obviously not taken lightly for punishment is always the automatic consequence. Murderers are slammed with the reputation of being terrible, morally rotten people. There are reasons that these people killed maybe not good reasons but reasons nonetheless. It could branch back to the environment they grew up in, what they have experienced in life, or a number of other things. I am not by any means justifying killing a person, just contemplating why they might make such a decision. In the case of the prisoner who wrote Remember, it was a decision made in a state of drunkenness. As a society, we struggle to forgive anyone who committed a murder, regardless of the situation. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:31:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/09/4092/#IDComment127197802 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment126021171 Through the years, teen pregnancy has become more common. I don’t want to say the teen pregnancy is necessarily socially acceptable, but it is definitely looked at differently today than it was in years past. Personally, I think it is important for teenagers to be educated about safe sex and the options they have in order to protect themselves and prevent pregnancy however, going to private, Catholic school my entire up till now, I was taught that abstinence was the option. It is truly unrealistic to think that teenagers are not going to partake in sexual acts before marriage. Granted, when a person decides to have sex depends upon what type of family a child grows up in, how open their parents are about sex, how much pressure is involved, and the type of peers surrounding them. Of course it is astounding that 90 students at one school are pregnant, for it will affect some of them for the rest of their lives. It will affect their education, their health, their social life, and financial situation. The video said that nearly 100% of the students qualify for free or reduced rate for lunches which shows that a lot of the students are already financially unstable. Some of these students may be coming from families that are not stable or do not give enough attention to their children. Maybe this is a generalization, but it seems that most of these kids are ending up in similar conditions. It is terrible that there are schools that do not have a sex education program and terrible that some schools are not even allowed to discuss safe sex practices, only being allowed to preach abstinence. I think that abstinence should be the best recommended option, but safe sex is so important in today’s society, so it needs to be discussed. Kids need to know how to be safe in they are going to be sexually active and they also need to understand the responsibility they could potentially be taking on if they are not safe. The sex talk they probably are not getting from their parents, they should be getting from school. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 23:45:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment126021171 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment124252428 Beauty pageants are a competition to choose the most physically attractive and appealing person from a group of contenders. It used to be young women who competed in such competitions however, now the age has plummeted down to the tender toddler years. I rarely felt compelled to run a comb through my mangled hair as a child and to see three year olds being primped to perfection by their forceful mothers (or fathers) is repulsive to say the least. These poor girls are thrown into a world of makeup, spray tans, teeth whitening, hair teasing, and heels before they even know how to pick out their own clothes. The question remains, why would parents decide to put their child through such a thing? Everyone wants to feel attractive. Let’s face it, it is a nice self-esteem boost when we are told nice things about the way we look. However, beauty pageants go further to establish who is the prettiest of them all. Parents putting their toddlers in beauty pageants may being doing it because of self-esteem problems. Maybe they did not get the self-esteem boost they needed when they were younger and instead use their child for a confidence boost. A lot of the motive behind placing children in these pageants has to do with the mothers upbringing and values. If the mother was taught that beauty is something of supreme importance, then of course she would see no harm in parading her child around for people to judge and admire. There is some good feeling that mothers getting seeing their child transform into seemingly grown women. There is always something more behind their reasoning though. It is just baffling to see what supposed “real beauty” is being displayed as because most people do not look the way these toddlers are being transformed into. My question is when did society decide that beauty was big hair, tanned skin, sparkling teeth, and thick mascaraed eye lashes? When did these standards for beauty get established and why should they be established if physical appearance is something beyond our control? Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:12:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/blog-1-freedom-and-toddlers-in-tiaras/#IDComment124252428 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122584750 After reading this blog about the meaning of being free, I attempted to examine all the decisions I had made that day or even just that morning. Of course I came to the conclusion that there are way too many decisions made on a daily basis than one can keep track of. I feel as though sometimes I am drifting through life mindlessly, without ever recognizing how fortunate I am just to be able to make decisions for myself and be free. It seems to be so simple to choose to take a shower or have a snack that I never even think twice about it most of the time whereas the inmate writing has been stripped of the freedom to make such seemingly mindless decisions. I think the first line of this blog really sets the tone for the entire piece because it is so true, we take our freedom for granted. It is not because we are bad people, just as a society we have lost sight of how freedom affects our everyday lives. We fall into routine, we never think about why we do what we do because there is no need to. From birth we are given a great deal of freedom so it is difficult to grasp what life would be like if most of this freedom was taken away, as it would be when in prison. Even just sitting here thinking about the freedom I have compared to a prisoner, I still cannot fully understand just what is lost when one’s freedom is taken away. I think the hardest part for me to think about is that this prisoner was just eighteen years old when they were sentenced to life in prison. There is so much to still experience and it is scary to think that this person was my age when they went to prison. However, it is inspirational that this prisoner can be so positive about losing so much of their freedom. They said they are freer now because they can see and appreciate the freedom they still have. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:38:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122584750 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cs%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122575524 Soc 001 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:46:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cs%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122575524