Although I have not seen this episode of South Park yet, I have heard a lot about it. I watch Family Guy, which is another controversial show, so I know that producers of these shows just like to push buttons. It does not necessarily mean that the producers believe exactly what they are portraying on the show; they just want people to think about the topics in a different, more humorous way. It is using humor to ignite conversations and thoughts. So while I kind of understand why some people might be offending, I still think that they should just take it with a grain of salt because it is just for entertainment.

Illegal immigration as we all know and have experienced in class, is a very controversial topic. However, this video brings up a good point about simply getting through life through hard work. I definitely agree that you do not always need to be rich or have a lot of money to get by in life or succeed. Of course, money can definitely assist with getting far in life, but that is not the only way to do it. While I do not really discriminate against illegal immigrants, I am still unsure about how I feel the situation should be handled.

And of course, the second video is so bittersweet. It is remarkably sweet to see the boy’s expression when he is with and talking about the girl that he likes so much. While it is very cute, there is a very important underlying message about being “color blind.” The world definitely would be a better and peaceful place is we all were colorblind towards races, just like these young children are. Everyday, people in love are being torn apart, judged, and tortured if they are of different races or backgrounds. It is really a sad thing to see. While this video was portraying young children and was a bit silly, we need to seriously consider the fact that this happens in reality. Like the first video, it was very inspiring and thought-provoking and more commercials and videos like these should be out there for the public to see.

Dan and Myra both seem like such great and genuine people. Myra is such a great person for taking a mundane job and turning into a friendly atmosphere and make others feel great about life and wanting to do such great acts such as Dan. It was so great to see how appreciative Myra was for the deed that Dan did for her. No matter how she was feeling, she was always kind to the customers, and Dan knew her so well that he knew she was not being herself. While Myra may just be a cashier to some customers, to Dan, she is a life-changer and vice versa. With all of the horrible news that we hear about these days, I think that we should be becoming aware of the great stories such as these. It is stories that these that inspire others to do similar acts of kindness.

Wow! What great videos! I was so happy to see both of these videos posted. They are both so extremely uplifting and put me in such a happy mood. I had already seen the second video in class, but it was even better watching it again for a second time around. Both videos are ones that everyone should see.

The first video about Dan giving his kidney away to Myra, the grocery store clerk was very astounding. This is an amazing act of kindness; in fact, words cannot really express how kind that deed was. Personally, I do not think I would give my kidney away to a complete stranger, but I suppose the situation has never really come up. I feel that usually in places like grocery stores, the customers barely acknowledge the workers there unless they are paying or have a question. This can be understandable because people get busy and are sometimes very focused when they are shopping, but barely ever give the time of day to the employees, especially the cashiers.

I am very glad that Ian came in and spoke to our class about Haiti and his experiences there. While we see coverage of the horrible earthquake and its aftermath on TV and online, it is always more riveting to hear the experience live from someone who was there and saw it with their own eyes. 300,000 people are an excruciating amount of people to die from one single event, and it is still very hard to comprehend that. It is not only 300,000 people that are dead; it’s all of their friends and family that are extremely devastated. The mass graves say it all and are so hard to comprehend.

Wow! What an interesting story! I had no idea this type of market was going on in Haiti after the earthquake. It is amazing that these individuals who have been through so much, are taking advantage and using their economic smarts to try to move forward with their lives and make money. It was interesting to see the different types of businesses that are going on, and interesting to see that the individuals who used to be doctors or teachers, are now compensating and doing something completely different in order to survive after the destruction. I would love to see more coverage on this!

Wow this is a very intriguing post. Ever since Sam and Laurie explained to the class their experiences with the lifers, I was quite curious. To be honest, I was not sure, and still am not sure how I feel about all of it. I mean, these individuals took a human life. While they are getting redemption for it for sure by being in prison for the rest of their lives, I am still not sure about the level of respect we should give them. I have never spoken to anyone in prison, who has ever been in prison, or spoken to anyone who has spoken to a prisoner, let alone a life. So while I had and still have my misconceptions and apprehension about this topic, the letter from the life posted on this blog definitely made me think differently about it.
The letter that this individual wrote for this class was actually pretty compelling, especially with the story in the beginning. When reading the story about the father who lost his son, I was picturing this happening outside of the prison. But once the setting was in the prison yard it really hit me hard, because it makes you realize that these lifers really do have family that they are concerned for and that they love. Imagine being a parent and losing a child and not being able to call ANYONE. No matter what you have done in your past, at that moment, you need someone to talk to and you really do not have the outlets that non prisoners have.
I guess I have such a stereotypical vision of what a prison and its prisoners are like. I would never pictured men (who are probably capable of such violence themselves) embracing each other and offering each other help. Compassion was never a word I would have picked for these individuals. But while these individuals are inside of a prison for the rest of their lives, they still hear about the horrible disasters that happen around the world, and they still deal with the deaths of family and friends. And there is not much they can do about it. They are powerless, which they do deserve to be. Committing such a crime to become a lifer in prisoner must mean that you did something horrific, so while these individuals may be real compassionate people with feelings, they caused horrible pain for a family out there in society, possibly even multiple families.
So there are many dimensions about the lifers that we need to think about. There are other dimensions that I have thought about previous to reading this letter, but this letter added another dimension that I have to consider. It does not mean I am fully for believing that the lifers can change in prisoner or can be compassionate, but it is a new topic I have to think about more.

So I do not necessarily think that our society needs to change how we portray beauty, I think that each individual girl has to look within themselves to figure out what they think is beautiful. But I still think that this is a very important topic to talk about, both with men and women.
I really do not think this topic is ever going to go away, though. There will always be celebrities and models that many girls will look up to and perceive as most beautiful, but it just depends upon each individual girl and what they think of themselves. While the majority of the women displayed in the media are very thin, there are all different types of women that are portrayed. Hopefully in the future, this will continue and increase even more.

My older cousin had very large breasts when she was in college. She not only got teased, but she also had back problems to go along with it (I think a lot of people tend to forget that breasts do carry some weight, which can be painful for some girls). She was in a lot of pain and very stressed out about it. So, she got a breast reduction. Her confidence is boosted, and she is finally pain free. Aside from the confidence, it was most important for her to be pain free. No one should go through life with physical pain, so this was a great procedure for her. So everyone has their own issues with how they feel about themselves. Even if we think they are the most beautiful girl in the world, they probably still have parts of themselves that they feel insecure about.