why we flirt..

After reading only the first sentence of this article, I already didn't like it. Single people and married people are not the only ones who flirt. That makes no sense. ALL people flirt. It's natural and in our human nature, no matter what your status is. You can be single and available. You can be in a relationship but not married. You can be "together" without the title. You can be divorced, widowed, currently married, anything! Flirting is flirting. It happens; there is nothing scientific about it. Everybody flirts.

"Battle Stories Bring Former Enemies Together"

My favorite part of this passage is, "We are completely committed to working for peace together." It really shows that no matter where someone is from or how they were brought up, there can be that want for peace somewhere within anyone. We cannot control the world we are born into, nor can we choose the cultures that raise us. To be forced to abide by the rules, regulations, and traditions that we disagree with is simply a way of life. Sometimes the differences within two different parts of the world are what can bring the true similarities together. Don't we all truly want the same thing? Isn't that what we are fighting for?

When You Have to Shoot First

Judges have too much power. It's like they think they're God or something. They have the power to control the future of innocent or guilty humans. Why should one single individual have access to that much power just because they completed years of law school? It's actually quite ridiculous. The whole scenario of the law, ethics, morals, etc. is bizarre. Without order, there would be chaos. But is it better to have chaos with no order than to have the system we are living through today? I guess no one can really answer unless they themselves are put in the situation. No one can really say, "Oh I would have done....," because you don't really know what you would have done.

"Iraqi Kids Play Make Believe War Games"

I think it's hard to ask these kids to stop their "war games" when all they see in the real world around them is war itself. Perhaps their make-believe games is a way of dealing with the real horrors and fightings? They don't have much of a distraction or get away. It really is sad to know that instead of make-believe games consisting of magic and fairy tales, children are playing games involving all they know. What is the world coming to?

Response to "An Inconvenient Truth: Introduction"

I actually saw the film, "An Inconvenient Truth," last semester in my Writing 120 class. I thought the film was highly informational and definitely got through to its viewers. Also, the research conducted and performed to create the film was professional in many ways. The article states how important and serious global warming is, and how as humans, we need to be taking it into real consideration. In this state of emergency the Earth is facing, everyone has to work together to help. If one person says, "I won't make a difference," and then other people follow that same path, then there really won't be hope. But if everyone does what they can, we can be saving the very Earth we are relying on for survival. Global warming is a threat to so many aspects, such as worldwide increase in sea levels, storms as serious as Hurricane Katrina, too much CO2 in the oceans preventing formations of new coral and sea shells, and the melting of iceburgs for polar bears. We have to take this into high consideration not only to save ourselves and our Earth today, but the future of our kids and the future of our Earth. When I'm grown up with a family, I want them to be able to look out at a lake or ocean and appreciate the beauty of the Earth. I don't want them fearing for the end of natural beauty.

Response to "Go Back to Black"

I have never fully understood the appropriate times to use the term "African American" when referring to black-skinned people. From reading this article, it's now clear that African American can and should be used for black Americans who can trace back from where they came. There had been a controversial argument concerning whether or not Barack Obama was an African American. Since he has one parent from each continent, it makes him an official African American. It's amazing how Obama has already made history and it's only February of 2009. This goes to show that the world really is changing and growing. Years ago, black people had to live through discriminations, such as not being given the right to attend schools, ride public transportation, eat at restaruants where white people ate, and several other unfair restrictions. Now, the President of the United States is a black man.

Also in the article, Dilday mentions how whenever she travels, she is approached in some way by other black people. I have noticed that these means of socialization are present almost anywhere I go as well. Not through personal experience, but more through the eyes of an observer. There are still groups of whites and blacks separated. Yet I don't necessarily see it as a racial issue. I see it as a mutual bond; an understanding of one another. I have several friends who are "African American" or "black." I have no problem being approached by someone of a different skin color, and certainly no problem with approaching them myself. There's nothing wrong with socializing yourself among your own and among others as well. We just have to open our eyes. We have a black President.

Response to Commercial Eugenics...

It's a little creepy how scientists nowadays have the power to actually almost control genetics. Isn't genetics supposed to be something natural? Giving birth and producing a child with inherited genes is a beautiful phenomenon, and I don't think it's something to be messed with or experimented. It says that over a five-year period and almost 600 patients, a successful therapy still had yet to be performed. That's a little scary. Once the experiments and procedures are perfected, they claim that the health of individuals will be higher and risk of birth defects will be lower. This all sounds like a great thing, but can't it also be dangerous? I think giving birth and making a child should just be natural. Also, how is it harming the parent? There has to be something done to the parent in order for the child to be effected, and I don't understand how messing with a pregnant woman's genes could be good for her. The costs of these procedures will no doubtedly begin sky high, and even though they will drop in the years to come, the 21st century isn't exactly a time where people have extra money to spend on not-so-promising experiments. It also says that parents who choose the "traditional" way of genetic biology, they may regret not choosing the alternative option. However, personally, I would feel even worse if I agreed to the corrective gene changes and something were to go wrong because of them. Although it seems sketchy and dangerous, there seem to be many reasons to believe in these procedures. For example, when done successfully, preventions of diseases such as cancer and diabetes can be promising. The health and safety of the children to be would be even more likely, which is every parent's concern.