eoa 192-206, Animals 29-42

The first article is very interesting on how there are two sides to every story. race has been a problem in the world since mankind has existed. I do see a huge improvement over the last 50 years though. Just to think that we went from segregation to our first African American president is mind boggling. I would agree with Alabama being one of the more "segregated" cities in the United States. Its a shame we cant all come together as one country and live with peace and happiness. Segregation is obviously a dark cloud on the United States but I see major improvement and think we are heading in the right direction.
This article in Bekoffs book raising a good point and really goes into the thoughts and emotions of animals. I wonder the same thing on what goes through animals minds and thoughts as he or she is running around or just witnesses a dead family member. The answer is that we may never know. I do not know much about animals but I have been told some do not have thoughts. I know this sentence may be controversial and can be argued but thats all I know. However, I really have made a move to enjoy the areof animals over the last couple years.

Media, the "Mall", and Animal life

It is amazing how far the "media" has come over the last 20 years. The media is the reason actors and athletes are making as much money as they do. The media can make people believe what isn't true and can over-hype or under-hype any situation.
I think you can relate the media to the mall story as well. The media has a large part in creating what is right and wrong to wear in public and what is cool and not. It just makes you wonder why a pair or Prada shoes cost 600$ when they cost about that same price to make as a pair of 40$ Reebok's. With all this "life changing" experience people have at mall's, I can not say myself that I have encountered one and do not think about the food as "home cooked".
It is amazing on how my thoughts of animals have changed over the last few years. I use to think animals are worthless objects and didn't care for them at all, maybe this was because I have never owned a pet. But now I really begin to think about all the different types of animals there are and how unique they are. I do believe animals have emotions and think they are smarter then we think.

Terrorism

The first article was very interesting and included facts that many people, including myself did not know. I had no idea that the middle east had the least amount of reported terrorist cases out of any region. However, it may seem a little deceiving, in who the targets were. I think it is far more likely that the 16 cases were mostly aimed towards America and the 30 cases in Europe may have been aimed elsewhere. It is obvious that the "Middle East" is corrupted and the government is doing very little. The second article was a little harder to understand for myself, but in the end I would disagree. I do not see the white race in America for a very long time, There are about 230,000,000 people in America of Caucasian decent with the next closes race (Hispanic) at 45,000,000, Clearly a enormous difference.

EOA 85-90

It is very interesting of how some laws are written and enforced. I think it’s strange that the Fifth Amendment gives a person the right to remain silence; however a person can be held imprisoned until he or she decides to talk. I agree with holding a person imprisoned if they decide not to talk to a judge. I believe as an American citizen it is important to be fair and safe to every individual and if a person doesn’t want to talk they are hiding information that would probably incriminate somebody instead of letting dangerous people back on the streets. I also agree with the ticking tomb bomb theory and how it’s connected to torture and torture warrants. I believe by all means necessary it is right to protect innocent lives.

visual art

Many interesting and important points were made in this article about visual images. A picture is only as powerful as the people who view it. I do believe authors sometimes over exaggerate images to draw more attention to a subject. It is unfortunate that some images are paired with words that draw a negative perceptive. It seems as if they will create absurd titles and captions to grab attention and sell.
I am a visual learner so I enjoyed learning more about this subject and think it is amazing what technology has done over the last few years. The “digital” era makes taking, saving, and sending pictures very easy. It wasn’t that long ago when we couldn’t send pictures across the country or even world via cell phone.
I believe authors and writers need to spend more time creating a title or caption of a picture so that it is more accurate doesn’t offend anybody.

Declaration of Independence and American Cinema

I though Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” told his view on how the world works. Thomas Jefferson believed in three ideas, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A majority of his article is very negative of the British government stating their flaws and problems. He states his true feelings. It is evident that he did not get along well with the king of Britain. He makes sure everyone knows that he thinks the United States of America is the best country (colonies) in the world.
The “sex and the Cinema” article was very interesting and made some good points about nudity and films.
I totally agree in the fact that the top grossing movies every year do not contain sexual content. The top grossing movies year in and year out are movies that a lot of people can go see with one another. It is far more likely an entire family will go see Spiderman then Knocked-up. Directors and movie makers are in the business to make money, so Wal-Mart is obviously trying to lure in customers anyway possible to sell a product.

Human vs Animal Emotions

It is east to make an argument both ways about the relationship between human and animal emotions. some may believe animals have more emotions then humans and most probably believe animals do not have emotions. The elephant story about Babyls' experience and life makes a good example of the other elephants emotions about how they would help her out and stay behind for her even when she was holding the others up. We as humans learn to try to think before acting in that affects our decision making to try to do the right thing.