I am really glad that this woman posted this. I can’t generalize for everyone, but for me, deep down I know this. Just because certain people do horrible things it does not mean that that is how all Muslims are. A lot of us want to get angry and generalize this and I feel like this woman put a face to the truth that we all know deep down. It was an awakening that I think we all need to keep in mind more often. We don’t want to be grouped with people who do something simply because we have one similarity with them such as religion.

I agree with you completely. This controversy surrounding South Park is completely ridiculous. South Park most definitely does push the limits of decency and satire, and has been doing so since it came on the air. I think it is pretty cool that they took on such a controversial issue, and I am sure that they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. I completely agree with you when you said you were happy they took on this issue because it truly tests the boundaries of free speech. I really think that it is completely ridiculous that their lives are being threatened.

I think that this letter was extremely eye opening for me. Whenever Sam talked about visiting the “lifers” in class, I was always really interested. At first I was thinking how he could possibly go in and talk to people who committed such horrible crimes, but once I really thought about it I found it absolutely intriguing. I have absolutely no idea what it would be like to be so trapped. I really felt like it was fascinating the way Sam talked about these “lifers” and how much insight they had about life.

I was really excited to see that Sam posted a letter from one of the inmates. It was definitely not what I expected from someone convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. It was so uplifting to see that even convicted murderers are capable of compassion. His stories and insights made me want to talk to him and find out more about what he thinks about life. I was really surprised by this because even when Sam talked about it in class and I was interested, I never thought I would want to experience talking to a murderer. Now, I can honestly say that I would most definitely want to visit Rockview and get the experience that Sam and Laurie have with the prisoners.

Reading this letter also made me so grateful for what I have. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life (obviously, not to the extent to which I could be sent to jail) but regardless; I am still able to experience life to the fullest. It seriously blows my mind to think that these people have nothing to look forward to but can still show compassion and kindness to fellow inmates. It is heartwarming, for lack of better words, to see such goodness.
Regardless of how moving the letter that the inmate wrote was, I still believe that there are consequences for actions, especially actions as serious as first-degree murder. I do not disagree with the United States justice system and I think that people who commit these crimes need to pay for them. I think that as a society, we need to not shun them away and label them as “criminals.” They are still human beings and there is so much more to them than the crime that they committed. Society needs to dig deeper and try to understand these “lifers” and understand their life experiences.

This man, in particular, because of his evolved understanding of himself, is absolutely fascinating. I think he is a wonderful example of how people can change and be comfortable with the person that they have become, despite their past. I thought it was really cool that Sam posted this blog for us to see.

Obviously, I think that English is used the most in business transactions, but I think learning mandarin would be a wonderful language to know in the economic marketplace. My personal feelings are that adding it as a language to choose from in high school isn’t the best option. I’m friends with a family in Germany, where they learn English at an extremely young age, and they are all pretty much fluent in English. This is not the case when we start in middle school or high school to learn a language. If we really want to be fluent in a language, our education system needs to focus on it much earlier than middle school or high school.

I think Laurie gave everyone a good warning about today’s lecture on Tuesday. You can’t just take what Sam says as the “absolutely truth.” He’s saying things to try and provoke people. He wants you to be mad about what he’s saying, he wants you to start thinking about the other side. That’s the point. Sam isn’t saying at all that Christians are taking over the world. He’s showing how the Arabs/Muslims perceive this war. I bet that a good proportion of us think that most Muslims are radical. Sam was trying to get everyone to see that they see us the same way. Sam pokes and pries because he wants people to get rattled and to think more.

I also really enjoyed the play that was put on in class. It was very interested to see the roles reversed and having smaller breasts be more desirable. I agree with a lot of people who already posted and said it was like an “icebreaker” and opened up this topic for women to talk about. Obviously, I think that women are so much more than breast size, or their appearance in general, but it is without a doubt an issue. For some, it is a comparison between themselves and friends. A “Do they look better than me, I want what they have” mentality. For others, it is trying to draw the attention of men—“what will make them look at me more” or, more than likely, a mixture of both. No matter what a woman’s reasoning is—it happens. Many women may claim that they are completely secure with themselves, however they cannot deny the fact that it affects other women and that it is an extremely widespread issue.

I consider myself someone who does not care what others thinks about me. I don’t care how I dress. I wear sweatpants and sweatshirts that are too big for me everyday and have never felt any sort of pressure to impress anyone. That does not mean that I do not think about my body and compare myself to other people. While I am not completely flat chested, I am pretty close to it. I constantly say that I would love to be a little bit bigger. I think that every woman, in some ways, has these insecurities. This idea that even if I am just a little bit bigger or smaller, it would be so much better. It really is an interesting topic to contemplate about. In some women this insecurity is magnified to the point that they cannot see one beautiful thing about them. How do we change this mentality?

Part of me thinks that as humans we have this competitive nature to be “the best.” It is our society, however, that defines what is the best. I think women feel the need to conform to this societal demand much more so than men do. To be completely honest, I have absolutely no idea why that is. I also have no idea how it would be possible to change this yearning in women. I think Laurie posed that question in class. Yes, we want everyone to be comfortable with themselves and perceive themselves as beautiful, but how do we get there? It is truly saddening that no one was able to answer that question. I wish more women could think like the girl who posted this that said that it doesn’t matter shape, size, or culture, every women is beautiful as she is.

I also think that this is a good question because I’ve thought about it too. Personally, I don’t think that anything Sam has said this semester has changed my opinion about anything; however, Sam has definitely made me think a lot more about things and has also made me question things. Someone else said that in the beginning of the semester Sam made the comment that he isn’t here to change our opinions about issues but to at least get us to think about things. I think this is absolutely true. I feel as though SOC 119 has opened my eyes to things and made me think harder about my own beliefs.

This absolutely made me sick. I cannot believe that anyone would actually create this game and think it was a good idea. It is absolutely appalling. This “rape fantasy” video game has taken it to the next level and I think that the Japanese government has to take some action to prevent such crude, tasteless, and sick video games. I agree with many posts that say that this video game is teaching men how to rape women. It is putting such disturbing ideas into the heads of people who are clearly already disturbed if they see this game as fun.

I was really appalled at the two “gamers” from England, one of which was a female. I honestly can’t believe that Lucy and Jim think that there is nothing wrong with this “rape fantasy” game. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?? I really think it’s a disgrace that Lucy finds nothing wrong with this game at all. Listening to them defend the game really, really angered me.

This post reminded me of the sex doll article that Sam posted earlier this semester. The idea is all the same: they are giving men the opportunity to control women and do whatever they want to them. Creating products and video games that just further satiate this disturbing mentality in men is only making the problem worse. There are many people in the world with sick thoughts and I feel as those these products and video games is simply egging them on. I mean seriously, what is our word coming to??

With video games such as the “rape fantasy” coming out, I think that not only the Japanese government, but also governments around the world, need to do something to put a stop to this. I understand that the same could be said for violent video games that are prevalent anywhere but I really believe that when it comes down to a video game where the object is to “rape women,” it has gone entirely too far. I honestly have no idea what sort of action governments could legally take on this issue, but I definitely feel as though something must be done about this absurdity. The availability around the world to this video game is unbelievable.

Watching this CNN clip honestly made me sick to my stomach. It’s horrible that this is even an issue in the first place. I think the majority of people would agree with me on that, but it’s that small minority of people, like Lucy and Jim, that enjoy this and perpetuate the life of video games where the object is to rape women. This CNN news clip made it very clear to me just how sick of a world it is that we live in.

I agree with Sam that it is so important to question everything. I also can see what he was saying about flipping the script. This idea of race being an uncomfortable topic that we ignored for so long is in fact somewhat similar to the idea that we don’t want to talk about a woman’s natural cycle. There should be no reason why we should feel “suppressed” and unable to talk about this topic because people are uncomfortable about it. I know that I, personally, do not mind talking about my bleeding with people. Society places certain norms on what is proper to discuss and what is not, and in many circumstances, those norms need to change.

I do not think that the U.S. Census is trying to offend everyone. They are simply trying to take a count of our country. The problem here is that no matter what, someone is not going to be happy about something. That is just the way that life works. You can’t please everyone. I think that the U.S. Census has done a fairly good job at trying to incorporate everyone in the country. Is it perfect? No. Does it still offend people? Obviously. I think it’s just a fact of the world and something that isn’t ever going to really change.