What's It Like to be Born into Brothels

Though the making of this documentary may have invaded the privacy of the children and their families, I think that it is fair that their lives are on display for the world to see. I think that making this documentary allows the general public to be more informed about what goes on in the lives of people who live in the red light districts. From this documentary, I was able to view how children living in the red light districts are negatively affected and treated. I bet that many people aren’t aware of this situation and that there are still active brothels in the world – I know that if I didn’t watch this documentary in ENGL 106, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up to watch in the future. I believe that a child can give consent whether or not to be portrayed in this way. If a child didn’t want to be exposed, then I think that Zana would have respected the child’s wishes and not include that child in her documentary. I think her documentary is successful in terms of informing the audience of the struggles that many children go through and suffer from by living in the red light districts. However I don’t think the documentary is successful in terms of ways that the general public can possibly help.

My Relationship with Food

Even though over these past weeks I have learned about the “bad stuff” that happens to the food we eat, I haven’t been deeply affected by it enough to change my eating ways. I haven’t been influenced by our studies because up to now, I have been eating foods that may have been genetically modified, but that hasn’t prevented me from eating them.

If I ate some strawberries in the dining court and later found out that they were genetically modified, I don’t believe that I would stop eating them just because they were genetically modified. If they taste good, I will continue to eat them. And plus, they would count as a serving of fruit for the day!

After watching the movie Supersize Me, though I was grossed out at the negative effects that eating the food has on health, it didn’t influence me to completely stop eating at McDonald’s. Often when I travel to other places, I eat McDonald’s for a quick meal in order to get back onto the road. It’s fast, convenient, and it tastes good! Because I know of the harmful health effects of eating McDonald’s frequently, I don’t eat it a lot. I only eat McDonald’s about 1-2 times a month.

In our class discussion, I was surprised to learn that the apple pies at McDonald’s weren’t really made of apples, but rather made of potatoes flavored like apples. Every time I go to McDonald’s, I get the apple pies. Even though I feel somewhat “deceived” that all this time I thought I was eating apples, knowing that the pies don’t have real apples in them won’t stop me from buying them and eating them. They are just too darn delicious!

Taking a look at my Ecological Footprints

MY RESULTS:

FOOD: 6.9

MOBILITY: 0.2

SHELTER: 6.7

GOODS/SERVICES: 4.7

TOTAL FOOTPRINT: 18

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.2 PLANETS.
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No, I don’t believe it is fair that Americans consume more than their share of the earth’s resources. I believe that most Americans pamper themselves and their lives way too much for their own good. Americans are so used to having all their needs met by the availability of resources. However, having all of this availability – being able to get things within a hand’s reach, can lead to consequences.

With the convenience of having resources so available, it has caused people to be lazy and wasteful. One example of being lazy is that people lack simply exercise. Here at Purdue, the bus system is very convenient because a bus comes about every 5-10 minutes. Because of this, many students take the bus rather than walk – even though sometimes it would be faster to walk than to wait for the bus to come. For the buses to run continuously all day, this definitely adds to the air pollution, which may then cause negative health problems.

One example of being wasteful is the amount of food wasted in the dining courts. Eating at the dining court is like eating at a buffet – there are so many different foods to choose from – that often students pile up their plates with more food than they actually need. But the availability of so much food is so attracting that students often fill up 2 or more plates. But once the students start eating and are halfway through their meal, they realize that they weren’t as hungry as they thought and don’t finish their meal. As a result all that food is thrown away and wasted. There are so many other people in the world starving and here are Americans, throwing away good food as if it was nothing.

Americans need to realize that keeping their current lifestyles will only generate harm to the environment in the future. Americans need to take greater responsibility in making the world a better place. Americans should learn to better manage the resources around them and not take them for granted so much.

Are the foods I eat genetically modified?

I kept a log of the food and drinks I consumed on Thursday, March 27. For breakfast, I ate 4 slices of white bread. For both lunch and dinner I ate in the dining court. All the food I ate consisted of “slow foods”. For lunch, I ate a grilled cheese sandwich with ham, a Caesar salad, a piece of Oreo cream cake, and I drank chocolate milk. For dinner, I ate potato skins with cheese, a piece of cinnamon bread, a bowl of peaches and papaya, and I drank orange juice.

Looking back at the foods that I consumed, I think that I ate better than I usually do on most days. Though my food choices may not have been the healthiest, I actually ate a variety of foods with the mix of grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy.

Analyzing the foods I ate, I believe that probably most of the ingredients used to make my meals were genetically modified. The chocolate milk I drank may have been modified by the cows and what they were fed that produced the milk. I don’t believe that I ate organic fruits. It is not the season for peaches and papaya so the fruit I ate was probably canned. The potato skins I ate were fairly large so the potatoes may have been modified to cause them to grow bigger. I would guess that of all the foods I ate, the potatoes had to travel the farthest to get here – maybe from Idaho!

(S)(P)(R)(I)(N)(G) (B)(R)(E)(A)(K) (!)

Although I usually don’t go anywhere during Spring Break, I always look forward to a week-long break. This is the first year that I had Spring Break in March instead of April. A low point of my break was that I felt this break was more of a Winter Break than a Spring Break. Another low point is that I felt this break wasn’t really a break from school because I spent the majority of my break doing school work. I was able to finish 2 major projects for 2 of my classes and finish reading a book for my literature class.

The highs of my break included catching up on sleep, playing video games, cooking, and shopping. My mom bought 2 new video games so I spent parts of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday playing with my sisters and friends. It’s always fun playing games and winning!

On Saturday, my sisters and I baked cheesecake cupcakes for fun. We made a variety of flavors including chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. Although we had to make adjustments to measurements because we were short of ingredients, the cheesecake cupcakes turned out delicious! My dad liked them so much that he wanted us to teach him how to make it!

Now that I am in college, I feel that I don’t get to go shopping as much as I did at home. So whenever I have a break and get a chance to go shopping, I will definitely take it! I bought new clothes and 3 pairs of shoes. I am pretty excited that I finally bought a pair of boots…even if there may no longer be any more snow this year. Hey, there’s always next year!

Classes started again today and I wish it was still break! Break definitely went by too quickly! But overall, I felt that I had a great break and got a lot accomplished.

Thomas Edison has saved us!

The historical figure that I find to be “heroic” is Thomas Alva Edison. Many people view a hero as a courageous person who has overcome and accomplished a great obstacle, saving many people in the process and making their lives better in some way. Though you may not think so at first, Thomas Edison IS a hero. Sure, Edison didn’t help fight against crime and he didn’t fight for racial equality, but in my opinion, these aspects are not the only ones that make a person a hero.

After working and earning enough money, Edison opened up his own lab and performed hundreds of experiments. Of course not every experiment was successful and Edison had numerous failed attempts, but Edison didn’t give up. Edison continued to experiment over and over again, and spent the majority of his life creating inventions that would be useful to everyone. Eventually after years of persistence, all his hard work paid off.

Thomas Edison is most well-known for his invention of the light bulb. Two of his other famous inventions are the phonograph and the motion-picture projector. I view Edison as a hero because he overcame his struggles and failed attempts and accomplished his goals of creating great inventions. Edison’s inventions caused the beginning of significant technological advancements. I believe that Edison "saved" the people from boredom and contributed to making the world a better place. With his creations, people were able to listen to music and watch films, which are very popular activities today. With Edison's invention of the light bulb, he shone light into everyone’s future and inspired others to create wonderful inventions. I am very enLIGHTened by Edison's view that "anything is possible, if you try."

Should Columbus Day be a national holiday or not?

In Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen describes what he means when he comments “everything your American history textbook got wrong.” Just like the thousands of others students in America, in the past years of learning about American history, we have been taught that Christopher Columbus was the man who founded America. What we learned from our history textbooks and teachers generally follow the points that the U.S. State Department covers. But after reading James Loewen’s writings, I can see that I was not presented with the whole truth and all the important details. In Loewen’s writings, Columbus is not presented as the great discoverer that many people view him as.

I believe that Loewen’s description is closer to the “real” history of Columbus. Loewen includes several facts and includes all references that he uses, which strengthens his credibility. Like we discussed in class, I believe that American historians that created the textbooks we use in school, don’t want us to learn about the negative sides of a well-known man, whom many praise. These historians don’t want to expose that Columbus wasn’t as great as he is set out to be. These historians are not lying, but they are not presenting the entire truth.

After reading and learning that Columbus had discovered America accidently, I believe that Columbus Day shouldn’t be a national holiday. On Columbus Day, people celebrate the “great tasks” that Columbus performed. I think it is silly to honor Columbus and have a national holiday for him when there are many other people who have done great things but don’t have a national holiday.

Never have regrets of spending time with someone you love

I have been meaning to post other blogs not related to ENGL 106, but I never felt that I had anything to post that would be interesting for others to read. This may be long but I needed to write, to capture what happened to me today.

My older sister Bonnie currently attends Purdue. Bonnie and I have truly gotten closer these past few years and now that we attend the same school, I am able to see her more often. Just this past week, I spent 3 nights eating dinner and shopping with Bonnie. Last Thursday was Chinese New Year and to celebrate, we went to KFC! Yes, we had Kentucky Fried Chicken instead of Chinese food!

Last Saturday, Bonnie called me and asked me to join her for dinner. When I told my friends that I would not be eating with them again that night, my friends were upset that I was spending so much time with Bonnie instead of them. One of my friends commented, “Hasn’t Bonnie had enough time with you this week? It’s time for you to eat dinner with us.” Even though my friend said this in a joking way, I took it to heart and even thought about not going to dinner with Bonnie. But I decided to eat with Bonnie and I am glad I did. It could have been my last time.

Monday, February 11, 2008, will be a day that I will never forget. After every class, I always check my phone to make sure I did not miss a call or message. However for some strange reason I didn’t do that on Monday. I didn’t check my phone until 2:30 – the time when shock took over my entire body. I saw that my mother had called many times and left a voice message around 1:00. I listened to the message, wondering what could have been the matter that she called me so many times. As I listened to the message, I heard my mother crying, telling me that Bonnie had been hit by a car while walking to class and that she was in the hospital right now.

So many thoughts raced through my head. What had happened? How could this be? I just talked to her this morning on the phone! Was she okay? How badly was she hurt? Was she conscious? Was she alive?

I am extremely happy to say that Bonnie is okay. Miraculously she only suffered from a few cuts, several bruises, and a small head injury - even after being launched into the air and landing on her head and face. She has no broken bones. How amazing! I believe that Bonnie is truly blessed that she was able to walk away alive. I am still in shock and thoughts still race through my mind. What if she hadn’t been so lucky? She could have broken many bones. She could have lost her memory. She could have been paralyzed. And worst of all, she could have been killed.

Today will be a day that I will never forget – a day that I almost lost my sister. I regret that I was influenced by my friends, who made me feel bad for spending so much time with Bonnie. Why wouldn't I want to spend time with Bonnie? She's my sister! Though this may sound harsh, I believe it: friends are replaceable - sisters are not.

We always hear, “Treat every day as your last.” and “Always tell your friends and family that you love them today for tomorrow may be too late.” I never took these sayings seriously until now. What if Bonnie didn’t make it out okay? I would have regretted that I didn’t tell her how much I loved her and appreciated her.

I wanted to share this story with you all and to really stress this point: Never have regrets of spending time with someone you love. Never, never, never. Never regret the time you have with others. Take the time to tell the special people in your life how much you love them and care about them – even if you know that they know. What’s the harm in telling them again? Treasure the time you have with your loved ones. Treasure all the precious little moments.

Proportionality should be a guideline in war

Yes, I believe that proportionality should be a guideline in war. I understand that when countries are at war with each other they want to completely destroy the other country. But in all honesty…that’s really not necessary. War…what is it good for? When one country attacks another country, the attacked country wants to get revenge. When that attacked country gets revenge, the other country gets revenge back. Just as Ishmael Beah stated in his book, revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end - it just keeps going and going. Proportionality should be a guideline in war. When a country completely destroys another country and feels victorious, that country should view the situation as if it were the one that was attacked. How would it feel if it was completely destroyed?

No, proportionality was not followed in WWII. The U.S. destroyed much of Japan. When The Fog of War showed the comparisons of the 67 Japanese cities that were bombed with U.S. cities, it was shocking to see in proportionality how much was truly destroyed. I do not believe that McNamara and LeMay should not have been prosecuted as war criminals because they believed that they were doing the right thing. They were doing what they could to protect their country. However if they had used proportionality as a guideline, they could have saved many lives – both Japanese and Americans. I believe that people should not be punished for doing right. I believe the U.S. is doing better in using proportionality and is using it in the war in Iraq.

Ishmael Beah, a long way gone from the nightmares of war, tells all of his experiences

My impression of Beah from the interview was that he was very cool, calm, and collected. In the ways that Beah presents himself, it is hard to believe that behind the peaceful and smiling face, he once was a child soldier. Just from looking at Beah, one could not tell that he suffered from the horrible nightmares of war. Beah’s on-air personality is very warm and friendly. In the interview, I liked the part where Beah says that the only way to move on is to forgive. In order for Beah not to be stick in the nightmares of war, he had to forgive all the people who had brainwashed him and caused him hurt.

Yes there are many things that Beah says in the interview that remind me of certain passages from his memoir. Beah talks about women carrying their babies on their backs while running away from the shooting, and not realizing that the babies were being shot to death. Beah also talks about fathers carrying back their dead sons. Both of these situations were used in his book A Long Way Gone on page 13.

Yes this is a book that I would recommend to my friends and family because I think it is important for people to be aware of the situation in Sierra Leone. This book is not fictional and just for reading pleasure, but contains real, personal experiences. If I did not read this book for class, I probably would not have read it at all. Therefore I would not have known what a serious problem that diamonds caused. I think people need to be more aware of world issues.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4yhPSQEzo

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.....or are they?

Growing up, I thought diamonds were very beautiful and I liked the way that they glittered and sparkled in the light. When I was younger, I always dreamed of having my own diamond and awaited the day that I would get finally receive one when I got engaged or married.

Prior to ENGL 106, I wasn’t really aware of the wars in Africa and the problems that diamonds were causing. Definitely after reading A Long Way Gone, watching Blood Diamond, and reading articles on conflict diamonds, my feelings toward diamonds have altered. My desire for a diamond has greatly decreased and I have come to see that even though a diamond is technically really expensive and worth a lot, to me, the value of a diamond isn’t of great worth. A diamond is just a type of rock. If I really wanted something that looked like a diamond, I could simply just go to Claire’s and buy a ‘diamond’ ring for $5 and I would be satisfied.

Yes, I believe that the movie, songs, and practice of counter-storytelling are effective. People need to be informed of conflict diamonds. I think it was a great idea for Kanye West to write a song about the diamonds in Sierra Leone because numerous people like Kanye West and listen to his music. If people listened to this song and they actually paid attention to his lyrics, they would understand what he was talking about.

If I ever did receive a diamond, I would not be so wrapped up around the diamond and only focus on the diamond 24/7. If I did receive a diamond, I would not want to know if it was a conflict diamond. However, whenever I would look at it, the thoughts that it may have resulted in the deaths of many people would always be in the back of my mind. Also, I don’t think that I would give a diamond to anyone because I don’t think that I need to give people a diamond to show them that I love them.

The sad truth is that there really still are thousands of child soldiers fighting in this world

After seeing Blood Diamond, I was very angered to see how cruel the rebels were, that they would brainwash innocent children into becoming horrible killing monsters. The rebels would train the young children to shoot innocent people and behave in inappropriate ways. I do not think it should be legal for governments to force children to fight in wars. Making young children become involved in a war by forcing them to pick up guns and shoot innocent people, is totally outrageous.

I think the age of 20 is the age that someone is old enough to fight and understand what they are fighting for. At the age of 20, a person has probably graduated from high school and has experienced a little bit of college life. A 20-year-old is no longer a teenager and is experiencing more of an adult life. I think that at the age of 20, a person is mature enough to handle being involved in a war.

Consequences of children fighting in the war do not only affect the children themselves, but also their family and friends. At such young ages, children exposed to such violence and terror can traumatize and negatively affect their lives forever. They may have great difficulty in returning to a ‘normal’ life again. This is especially true if the children are ever forced to kill their own family and friends.

I think the most logical solution would be to stop all types of warfare, but of course that is not always a possibility. After watching Blood Diamond and reading A Long Way Gone, I am reminded of the song by the Black Eyed Peas called “Where is the Love?” I think the best part of the song that fits with this subject is:

It just ain't the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane?
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong?
Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone?
So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong?
In this world that we livin' in, people keep on givin' in

Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love?

Time to get to know a little bit of JCo!

My name is Jessica and I am from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I am a freshman at Purdue majoring in Business Management, and my dream is to one day start my own craft business. I love to spend time with family and friends. In my spare time I enjoy watching movies, playing video games, and making crafts.

My favorite movies include You’ve Got Mail and The Italian Job. My favorite video games include racing and karaoke. I am a big fan of singing! When you get to be around me a lot, you will notice that I am either always singing or humming. The crafts I am the best at making consist of crocheting and jewelry making. I make my own jewelry and try to make all sorts of cool, unique designs. I enjoy listening to all types of music, but my favorites are Chinese, Christian, and Country. An interesting fact about me is that I can speak Chinese, but I can’t read or write it.

During the summer, I love to travel and go on road trips. In the past 2 summers, I have been on road trips to Yellowstone Park and to the Grand Canyon. I have also visited France and Taiwan. I enjoy observing other cultures and experimenting with new foods.

I am not a very talkative person so whenever other people first meet me, they think that I am a shy person. However when people get to know me, they realize that I am quite a loud and crazy person! I like being in classrooms with 20-40 people because it makes it more possible to get to know everyone in the class. I really like meeting new people and I can't wait to get to know all of you! :)