jacks honors

The past few topics have been very interesting and educational. They have covered many different topics and kept the class more interesting because  it was not always the same thing each week. I personally enjoyed the reading about genetically modified food and trying to feed nine billion people in 2050.

All of the topics did have to do something that affected the way that we live our lives; like the one about sexism problems when women are running for political positions. People need to see that is happening and accept that women are just as smart a men. So they should change their perceptions about women.

There were other topics that discussed supreme court decisions and how they have affected our first amendment. For example: the Westboro church that protest during funerals for people that served in the military. Another article dealt with fast food restaurants and how they put chemicals into their food to give them tastes that people love to eat and crave it frequently. This was also a very interesting article.

Actually getting people all the food that they need and being able to produce enough to feed the amount of people. Another would be distributing the food and making the food have a higher yield so that the plants would be more efficient. One really big issue is making the crops have good nutrition in them and the crops not just a bunch of calories

Many organizations are trying to convert lands that weren’t farmable or being farmed into land that is very prosperous. They also want to get local people to have battery animals that are feed a certain diet and kept in a cage, so the animal will have more meat and can be used more.

Their responsibility is to make sure that everyone is getting feed and nobody is getting cheated. They should also educate people on farming techniques and proper land management.

Our individual responsibility is to listen to the government and organizations and take their advice and use it properly.

The issue on freedom of speech is very delicate because there are so many things that could fall into that category. The reading all had to deal with it and court cases that pertained to the freedom. I don’t agree with all of the verdicts and decisions that the courts made.

The one that dealt with the Westboro church is a little gut wrenching because it surprises me that someone would want to treat another human being like that. It is even worse that the person that died was a soldier and fought for the lives of the people that are protesting.

There are others like the cyber-bullying and how it has to be a real threat for the police or government to step in and take control. I personally think that some Americans need to get some common sense and learn how to control their emotions without hurting another person. the internet has changed many aspects of our community and how we interact with other people.

The Bill of rights and constitution were made to change and adapt to different and new things that happen in America. Now it is up to the Supreme Court to interpret them and make changes to them on new issues that appear.

Sexism is the way people see the other sex and what stereotypes they have in their heads. It also deals with men bashing women and making them stay inferior to them. It is important because it is stopping women from getting ahead of the male sex and contributing to the world. The media has a large impact on the way the nation perceives women and men. They control the pictures of the women that we see and the things that they say. It makes the view that we have of the people cloudy and not clear because we do not get the entire story.

The media portrays Hillary Clinton as an old woman that dresses too conservative. She is also viewed as to masculine because of the clothing and the things that she says. The media portrayed her as a mother that is extremely scolding and uptight about the smallest things. When she had Chelsea give up her chair because there was to many people was one example of her being a harsh mother.

On the other hand Sarah Palin was seen as a very attractive woman that wore very sexy outfits. Some sex novelty stores went so far to make a sex blow-up doll that looked just like her with a “sexy” business suit on. Other believed that she would take this race just like a beauty contest and not actually be ready to run the country if she were to win. Most people did not like how she had some many young children at home, and if she won the spot for presidency she would not have enough time with them.

They are prevalent because since the beginning of time women have been inferior to men and it hasn’t really changed. I know that women have more rights and freedoms now but mentally men still believe that women are below them. To me it is almost an instinct.

We should care because some women are not getting the opportunity that they deserve and they might just be able to do the job just as well, if not better, than a male. I believe that I do. I need to stop making sexist jokes and get the stereotypes, which I have grown up with, out and learn that there should be a more equal share of things in the life between a man and a woman. They probably do affect my life but I do not see them in a daily sense. Yes they do affect my future career. If these stereotypes disappeared it will be more of a struggle to get a job, and I can see a woman as a manager or in a boss position hiring a woman before a guy just because she is a woman.

It would matter a lot since it would be the first time, but it would not matter in the decision making. It seems that America cannot do anything right and there is no reason that we should try something new. It might just work. I do see issues with foreign countries looking at us in a different light and maybe trying to take advantage of us.

This reading was extremely interesting because I have never read anything about food additives and the process and what goes into that process. The last little part where he described the flavors that Grainger put in front of his nose was pretty crazy. He described it like he could actually smell someone grilling a hamburger in the room, but when he opened his eyes it was just the strip of paper and a flavorist. That is pretty crazy that the scent of something can play tricks on the brain and make it believe that something is there but it really is not.

The thing that these companies are doing to food is an interesting topic. I am not really sure if I am all right with it or really against it. They are giving flavors to things that should not really have that flavor and the companies are just changing the flavors of things to get fast food places, processed foods, and drinks to make more money. Also, there is an argument, that vegetarians have, that is stating that some of the flavors are coming from animal products and we all know that vegetarians cannot eat animal products. They also say that some of the flavors could cause allergic reactions.

Flavors are a large part of a human’s day because the smell of something makes your brain judge it a certain way and flavors are connected to the scent of things. They explained that when you are eating something gases are being released from the food and then traveling up your nostrils and hitting this soft layer of nerves that gives food its taste.

I wasn’t all that surprised that someone has done this kind of experiment. I think that it is a good one to perform and actually see how far beauty will get you in the work place. I was a little surprised that the front desk jobs and the maintenance jobs are actually close together and both are similarly influenced by beauty. I was not surprised that there was a difference between front desk jobs and housekeeping jobs. It is obvious that when someone enters your hotel they don’t want to be greeted by an “ugly” person. Right away it is a turn off, and all they want to see is a nice, young, and beautiful lady smiling and waiting to greet them.

I do believe this is true because all of those guys that work in that office or building don’t want to see her there. They just want her to be at some bar serving them drinks, so that they can hit on her without really worrying about a lawsuit. I definitely don’t think that this is fair. Women should be able to work whatever job that they want to and not worry about being harassed.

I personally don’t care if they are attractive or unattractive in the end I will judge them by how well they diagnosed me, served my food, or just was able to help me with my problems. I do think subconsciously I have a bias towards unattractive people and their influence on the work place. I wish that I didn’t.

Male’s jobs aren’t based off of looks because the jobs have to do with the knowledge that they have over the topic and the jobs are normally masculine jobs. Males also have a strong hold on the computer science and programming area and they don’t have to look good for that job since they sit in front of a computer and have minimal interaction with other humans. While women seem to have jobs that they need to look good to get the customers to come and buy from them. Women are also judged more than males because women look at women and judge their outfits and makeup and stuff and then males look at women and see how hot they are or how ugly they are.

These stories about the cat, Homer, and the dog, Oogy, were stories that were created to make humans feel sympathetic towards the animals and what they have gone through. I am personally moved by these stories and amazed that both of these pets were adopted and were capable of surviving.

Both of these animals have a beauty that is internal. They might not look that beautiful on the outside but they have amazing personalities that allow them to get through their rough lives and go day to day being happy. Oogy has a spectacular personality because after all of the thing that humans have done to him and the mistreatment he has received; he still loves his new family. He instantly knew that they were good people and seemed to have a sense about them. Homer, the cat, also has a good personality since he has no eyes. He could just go day to day mad and frustrated that he cannot see, but he loves and cherishes his owner and seems to love his life.

The abused animals are easy to get adopted because the organizations make people very sympathetic for the animals. They always have the animals looking sad and abused. People always fall for that kind of advertisement; I know that I do.

I am not really sure why the color of an animal would affect it being adopted or sold. The one reason that my family does not buy black colored cats or dogs is because we live on a major highway. When it’s dark out they are really hard to find or see, so there is a larger chance of them being hit on the road. There are probably other reasons as well. Who knows it might just be that the majority of Americans that are white are still subconsciously racist towards blacks, and since there are laws against discrimination they just take it out on black colored animals.

The topic of beauty was a very interesting topic because it really isn’t something that most people sit down and discuss daily. I truly enjoyed hearing what others thought of beauty was and their opinion about the media’s influence on our perception of beauty.

I don’t think that I would want to keep going into detail about it. I would much rather have another topic that  has something to do with current events or politics. I am always curious what others views are when it comes to the debt crisis or wars in foreign  countries that we are fighting in.

The last few honors classes have been about the concept of beauty and different aspects of it. We discussed if beauty is a natural concept that people have when they are born or is it a concept that we slowly learn as we grow up. We also conversed about how media is starting to affect our looks on what true beauty looks like.

Our first topic of discussion was about a fake documentary that confronted an issue about a thing called Calli. Calli is this ability to send waves through your brain and it turns off your ability to see beauty or differences in people’s faces or appearances. I personally would not want this ability because it’s a natural instinct to judge people by the way they look, but it is up the person to be mature enough and not let first appearances stop them from talking to someone.

After that documentary we were supposed to watch a youtube video and read some online articles about the contrast effect. There was another link that showed a professional photographer’s pictures and the digital editing that he did. This was an interesting discussion in class since it was about how people hang out with uglier people just to make them look more attractive. That was the contrast effect and the other part to the contrast effect is when someone sees a really pretty person or thing and then sees an average person or thing it will appear below what it truly was. The other link that connected to the pictures was very intriguing because it showed the before picture of just the normal person and then the picture with computer alterations. The people looked completely different and they sometimes even moved body parts around, like the arm would be down but the person put it on top of the T.V. using a computer.

The most recent topic was over a bible passage. It seemed to be about this guy that was worshiping a dead idol that seemed to be beautiful but to God it was dead and did absolutely nothing to help him. All the things, like his family and possessions, which this person gives credit to the gods that he worships but are really due to God and Jesus Christ. He should give God credit that he deserves for making all of these beautiful things. I think that nature is a true beauty that humans do not always altar, like being out in middle of nowhere in Alaska’s Denali National Park would have to have some of the most beautiful scenery and God was the creator of it, in my religion.

The Wisdom of Solomon Chapter 13 is an interesting section of the Bible. It seems to be all about how God is the real ruler and the rulers that the people believed in were false. The people were also ignoring his existence while worshipping his items that he has allowed them to use. It also talks about how the people are amazed by the power and beauty of the elements that they should be even more amazed by the one that created them and know how powerful their creator is. It also mentions how people are worshipping things that cannot do anything for them and do not have any experience to help them. There is a long passage that seems to be about this guy that makes a little idol that he paints red and places on a wall with iron things holding it up. Then it goes on about when he prays for his possessions and his family he is not ashamed about addressing a lifeless form.

The other passage about the introduction to the Apocrypal/Deuterocanonical Books was and still is confusing. I think that it is just covering information about past religious conferences that changed Christian and Judaism books and laws.