I think that this post may have been the one that I have looked forward to reading the most out of all of them. I think the reason for this is because I was really interested to see how someone who has spent time in prison feels about life and things that happen in life. Being that I have never been in prison and hopefully never will this information and insight will be some thing that I will remember and take with me and learn from. I do not think many people realize what it is like to be in prison unless they have been inside themselves. That is why this letter is cool to read and really puts things into perspective for me. When you read this letter you are reminded that just because someone is in prison and has committed a terrible act that they to still have the same emotions and need the same comforting as someone just like ourselves. It was interesting to hear that those men hated each other, yet in a time of need the one guy was comforting this other man. You would think that these two guys would not like each other no matter what but it was interesting to hear that they could put their differences aside and help out a fellow inmate. If only this type of thing could translate to everyone in the world we would have far less problems then there currently are today. After reading this letter it is hard to not think that even these men in prison have not undergone some sort of change. I do not think that all of these guys will undergo this sort of change but this event and this letter I think some what proves that it is very possible to recreate who you are when you think about your life from a different prospective. I think that this is in a way what Sam wants us to do, take a look at who we are and realize why we do what we do in life. If these men can change then we certainly can. I honestly believe that everyone makes mistakes and that sometimes we realize to late after we have done something that we are not that type of person at all. It just happens that some mistakes as in this case are more violent and much more severe than others. The thing that was good to see was that these men realize what they have done and are trying to make amends for their mistakes as much as they can. Overall it was just very interesting to hear the perspective of life from inside a prison and from a person who has gone through so much in life. I dont think that we could understand what it would be like if we did not experience what these men did but this letter definitely helps.

I think that introducing Chinese into the schools is a great idea. The main reason I say this is because many things in our world are being produced over in China and a lot of the economy is coming from China as well. We will have to be working more closely then ever with Chinese producers because of the fact the a lot of our stuff is coming from over seas in Chinese speaking countries. I also agree with the fact that many of the languages we learn in high school we have no use for later on in life. I know that I hardly know any of the language I was taught through the four years I took it in high school. I feel the reason for this is because we have no real use for the languages we are being taught. I have never came across a situation where I have said to myself that I need to use what I was taught in my high school language while talking to someone. The only thing I worry about when we get rid of the other languages is the jobs of those teachers who have been teaching language in the schools for many years and that is the only thing they are really qualified to do. What do you say to them when you have to get rid of them to fund Chinese in the schools. They soon will not be able to go find a job because no one will want to hire a teacher they have no use for and that is only qualified to teach a language they are soon going to be phasing out for Chinese. I would be really upset if I were one of those teachers and lost my job over this. We are taking away jobs from good teachers who payed good money to go to school to teach a language and now were going to tell them that they no longer have a use in our school districts. I agree though that Chinese should be an option for students due to its increase importance in the world we are living in. It could help with deals made among people in the business world and help if you end up working with or for some one who speaks Chinese. One thing I worry about is that we may be getting away from worrying more about English and start giving too much importance to Chinese speaking. We first need to make sure that our kids are getting the needed teaching in English and understand that first before we go mixing them up with Chinese language. If we help our kids learn English first then I see no problem with teaching the Chinese as well but lets not forget the importance of teaching them English first.

First of I would like to say that this game has to be one of the most offensive and ridiculous games I have ever seen. I do not see any reason why people would want to play such a game. I know that there are people out there who will definitely be buying this game because there are a lot of sick people in the world. I just do not see who could think to themselves lets make a game about raping some one, and think that it would be a good idea to have other people play around the world. I very strongly agree that the government needs to step in here and regulate what is going on in the gaming community. Who would have ever thought they we would see the day when rape was the object of a video game. Aren't video games supposed to be about having fun? I mean if your the type of person who finds it fun to play a video game about raping some one then you ought to be locked up for a long time or get some mental help as soon as possible. I can see why women would be offended by the game. It is just plain wrong. Who ever thought the game would sell is an idiot and has no moral values what so ever. If the game did sell at all that just goes to show you what type of people are out there. There are a lot more games that can be fun to play that you do not have to buy a game about raping a young girl. Imagine how you would feel if you were one of the unfortunate people in the world who actually did have this occur to them. You would not find this game funny in the least bit. They have to live with that the rest of their lives and all this video game is doing is making fun of such a terrible offense. This is extremely disrespectful towards those people who have experienced being raped in the world. The people who made this game need to take a good long look in the mirror and think about what they are doing. To think that this would be even close to a good idea takes a mad man or woman. While I agree shoot em up games can be very bad to, this just takes it to a whole new level. I am not surprised though that someone would try to make money off of this idea. People will try anything to make a profit in todays world. This sort of game needs to be banned and the government needs to do something about it soon. To think that it even made it past the inspection in the first place just sickens me.

After watching this video I agree with the statement that Sam made before he showed it to us, this video was really disturbing. I was really shocked to find that this was the response that was given by these children of color. I would have never thought that the majority of these kids would choose the baby doll that was not like themselves. I would have thought it would have been the total opposite situation in fact. I think that this is a big issue for many reasons. The most important one had to do with the answers these children gave when the interviewer asked them why they chose the kid that they did and not the other one. Some of the kids answered caused they like the white one better while even more disturbing is the answer that the white one was prettier and that the black one was uglier. Some where down the line this idea that white is better had to have been instilled in these kids minds and that has to be a big part of the reason why they are acting this way and are saying these reasons for why they feel that the white baby doll is better and prettier than the "ugly" black baby doll. I feel that the only reason they would have come to this conclusion is if somebody told them this or they have heard it for a part of their lives. Maybe its because they grew up seeing this type of behavior towards whites and blacks and based this off of that, I do not know but this is definitely and issue that should be taken care of immediately. I feel like the culture that people grow up in has a big deal to do with this whole idea of thinking that one race is better than another or is prettier or better looking or more normal. These kids are clearly not racist in any way because of their youth so that should not be the answer as to why they felt the ways they did towards the baby dolls. They are still innocent for the most part and do not know any better. They have no idea that what they are saying is wrong or is not the way they should be feeling their just little kids who are exposed to these sort of prejudices in real life. I do not know what can be done to change this from happening to more children but I do think it is an issue that needs to be handled as soon as possible and not taken to lightly. Maybe it is the culture we live in that is doing it to these kids, If so we need to change that and start to even the playing field and show kids that everyone has their own traits and qualities but that does not make one person better than the next.

I find this article really interesting for a couple main reasons. First is that when we talk about race relations we never seem to talk about the Native Hawaiians. I honestly think that most people are not really aware of this fact and that is the main problem. I definitaly think it is something that needs to be discussed because after reading this article it seems like there is a problem somewhere in the government and something needs to be done about it. I mean I do not really know the whole story but it seems like some injustice has been committed that needs to be corrected by someone. I think that we may focus to much on other groups of people such as African Americans or Native Americans that we tend to lose touch with other minorities who have been evenly discriminated against or wronged in the past. Most people probably think of Hawaii as this beautiful place that is just perfect and there is never anything wrong over there with the exception of a few volcanos going off or a case of sharks in the water. That is why we may not think that something such as a take over a long time ago had ever occurred. I think stories such as this one need to be out in the open much more often so people become aware that there are more than just a few causes of wrong doings in the past of the United States. I feel that the Hawaiians deserve to have back what was rightfully theirs in terms of land and also should be compensated with some amount of money to help all the homeless Native Hawaiians get back on their feet and become a part of the local community again and get out of the situations they are currently in. It was very shocking to hear that a majority of the people who were homeless were Native Hawaiians. I think the reason for this is because I did not expect their to be that many homeless people in Hawaii in general. I think the image we have of Hawaii as a nation is the reason for this. I know when I think Hawaii i think nice beaches on a chain of islands with warm weather that I would not mind taking a nice vacations to. I would not even think for a minute that many of the Native Hawaiians have been displaced from their land a long time ago and are now suffering because of it. I think this view may be shared with any others in the world. If we can change this it would go long ways in making people everywhere more aware of situations occurring all across the country. When it comes down to it we just need to be more proactive toward situations like these that are happening in places we may not expect them to.

I think that this story is a great one. This type of thing needs to happen more often. I think this will do wonders in changing the way people see women and sports around the world. You can tell that this woman loves the game of football and she does not seem to be threatened or worried about the situation she is going into. I hope that people in that area will continue to be supportive and not discriminate against her just because she is a woman or because she is black. I do not think enough can be said about how huge a thing this is for woman in the world of sports. I can imagine how many people this will open up to the idea of having a woman head coach in the future. I think that in order for this type of thing to work the woman has to be extremely tough minded and know her stuff when it comes to football. Every move she makes is going to be watched very critically and people will try to use her mistakes against her. That being said I think that she is the perfect woman for the job. She clearly knows her stuff about the game of football having played it before and judging by her interview she seems to have a confident demeanor about herself. That will be needed being pretty much the only female football coach in the world. I think at first the community will be critical of her every move, but I think once they get to know her more they will begin to like her. She seems like the perfect candidate for the job. This is one tough woman and that will help her immensely on the football field. Having played for a woman professional team she should have a better understanding then most women about how to play the game of football and what strategy is needed to win a game and perform on the field. She is going to have to try to ignore all the ignorant people out there that will be making a joke of her being a female football coach. There are definately going to be people who want their son to play for a man and not for this woman. It is ashame that it will be this way but most likely its going to happen at one time or another during her coaching career. Overall I just want to say that I hope she has a great career as a head coach and I know I am pulling for her. She will do fine as long as she sticks to her morals and coaches the game the way she know how which I think she will do.

After reading this article I was really disgusted by that school and the people who are running it and allowing this sort of thing to happen. I think it is ridiculous that this couple can not attend their prom just because they are of the same sex. I feel really bad that the school did this to them and is making the cancelation of prom look like it is all their fault. I can only imagine the things that will be said to these two girls blaming them for being the reason there is no longer going to be a prom. I thought school was supposed to be a safe place where people are free from judgement and humiliation. By canceling this prom the school is creating a situation in which these girls will be made to feel unwelcome by their fellow classmates. Prom is supposed to be one of those things that unites your class as seniors and is sort of a farewell event that you have with all your friends. To exclude a couple of girls because they are lesbians is down right wrong. I am just shocked that the school is trying to get away with this like it is not a big deal. There has to be something out there that will stop them from being able to make this ruling. I know my school had this situation with two lesbians and no one had any problem with it. No one made it an issue at all and things went on like normal. This is the type of thing that is causing all the problems in the world and stopping us from crossing the line where everyone thinks of everyone else as a human being and it does not matter what sex, race, or anything else some one is. People need to support cases like this and stand up for what is right in the world. It was nice to see at least the dad is standing up for his daughter and backing her up. More people need to be like him and not care what some ones sexual preference is. I believe it is not a choice; that you can not help who you are attracted to. It is one of those things that you are born with and that being said you should not judge some one for who they choose to be with or what race they are. Something needs to be done to this school for them embarrassing these girls and making them feel unwelcome where they go to school. I thought school was supposed to be a place where you can feel comfortable and the environment is supposed to be the best for learning. Obviously it is not the best for learning for these girls now that the school decided to make them stand out and humiliate them. This case needs to be overturned and something done to the school. If not we will never end this cycle of prejudice towards others who may be a little different then ourselves. We all need to remember that people are still human beings just like all of us.

I myself do not watch to many of these reality show or anything to that matter but when you think about it this statement is very true for a show like the Bachelor or the Bachelorette. After having thought about it for a little bit here I can not really come up with to many reasons why this is occurring in this type of show. With this ever changing culture of diversity I think that it would be a good change in television shows such as the bachelor to have more diversity. I think it would create for a much more diverse group of people watching and bring up new issues that would otherwise have not occurred. But one thing that is kind of funny is that there are shows that are the total opposite. Look at MTV for instance. There are shows that are very diverse and represent every type of culture that is out there pretty much. Shows like I Love New York and Love of Ray J seem to be more focused on diversity then on this predominantly white culture that has seem to set in on shows like the Bachelor. Maybe the reason for this is due to the fact that there is a much younger generation of people watching programs on MTV. I mean maybe its because there are still older people out there who are still stuck in this "white culture" of things and the people in charge of the television stations are worried for the sake of their ratings, i do not know. But if this is the case i think it is stupid and there needs to be a change and be more diversity on shows such as the Bachelor. I feel people would be more welcoming of these type of shows and would love to see this change take place. All the different scenarios that would arise could create for some interesting and entertaining television that I know i would not mind watching myself. Maybe this whole thing is nothing at all but there certainly seems to be something to notice in this case. I feel like overall the culture of the world is changing and we are seeing more of this diversity all around us. In most cases it seems as though television is trying to portray this diversity and working toward making everyone more accepting of people other then themselves. Honestly though I think this show is kind of stupid to begin with so I do not think that it should be one of the things we worry to much about in terms of this making this an important issue in terms of race relations. I think that there are other things out there that could do more to get people to be more excepting of others different then them.

This story really is eye opening to me and I would believe it has to be for other people as well. Me personally, I believe that same sex marriages should be recognized everywhere and not just in a few states in a few situations. I think that gays should have the same rights as people who are straight and be able to marry whoever they want and be told that they can not be with someone they love and want to spend the rest of their life with. Personally this sort of thing is against my religion but I still think they should be able to have a marriage if they love the other person and it is for the right reasons. Who are we to say just because their way of life is supposedly not the intended way that they can not spend the rest of their life living in a marriage with the person they have chosen. It is my opinion that you can not help who you are attracted to so that is why I believe that this sort of thing needs to be taken care of and taken care of soon. I mean look at the case with this family. It is not fair to be able to tear them apart of this whole issue of them not being able to get married. If they could have gotten married this problem would not have occurred. It is tearing them apart for no good reason at all. Its not their fault that they happened to fall in love with someone of the same sex. Plus if you look at those kids they did nothing wrong to deserve this. They do not deserve to be punished for something that they had no control over. This may drastically change their lives and for something they had no hand in controlling or choosing. I think in certain situations laws need to be taken care of for these sort of problems. You are tearing a family apart just because the law does not except this marriage. It is totally uncalled for and wrong in my book. This is just a family trying to live their lives the way that makes them happy and they should be allowed to do that. I mean imagine if this was your family how would you feel if the parent you loved was being taken away just because of some law that many disagree with. It is complete bs that a family will have to go through this in their life time. Something definately needs to be done about this and very soon to stop incidences like this from happening again. These families should be able to live how they want and no one should have a say in the matter in my opinion.

I think that it would be very hard to ignore the fact that most arguments on race come down to the conversation about differences between black and white. I believe it is just in our nature to divide things up this way cause just like Laurie said we have seen evidence of the black Civil RIghts Movement in America. How many other races or ethnicities can we say that about? One thing I do think though is that some younger students do get the idea in their head that blacks are different than whites because of the whole slavery issue that happened in the Americas. Almost every kid growing up has heard about how the whites had slaves when they first came to settle America. I think this may start to create that image in a young persons head that blacks and whites are very different, when we all know that this is not true, but to a young kid who has not been taught this kind of thing yet they do not really understand all there is to know about America and the past with racism. I believe that through more awareness we can help to stop all this dividing of talk among the white and black line. Only once people become comfortable with people who may not look like them will they ultimately be able to understand that were not that much different and we should all be talked about as one people. While I feel we should still all be proud of our heritage and our color; I do not feel that it should create tension among people. I know this is not some thing that can be done anytime soon or at any extreme rate, but even helping one person to see this can be crucial to helping many more see that very thing. Like I said before being comfortable around other people will help us to forget about skin color and just worry about what type of person someone is by how they act. I think having things like a black history month is not helping the cause. While I think it is important to celebrate everything blacks have done in history, I feel by having this month we are making it seem like they are different and need their own month. We should incorporate the things we learn during black history month into everyday curriculum and not just learn about it during on designated month. If we really want to get rid of this color barrier we need to do away with things that point out differences. This is how I feel it can be done. I think we should respect and honor all people as individuals and not judge them by what skin color they have. The whole idea of changing everyone to see this is not going to be an easy process but I definately feel it is worth the try. Even if only a small portion of people change it will be a big win. All we can hope is that someday everyone will see that were all just people in the end.