blog # 32

Back in the 1950s roughly 5% of people had a Bachelor’s degree.  Now however,  27.2% of the population has a Bachelor’s degree.  In the 1950s  Master’s degrees and PhD’s were virtually unheard of.  Today,  8.9% of people have earned a Master’s degree and 3% of people have earned a PhD.  Those numbers have been creeping up steadily in the last few years.  It’s obvious that the world is being forced into higher education.  If one decided not to go to college, they’re pretty much saying that they are prepared to work 10 times harder to make less money.  Without a college education, one is subject to a lifetime of physical labor and that can cause premature death because it’s so stressful.  Technology has made the younger generations work harder.  Due to recent developments in biology, and technology (like computers, calculators, and the internet) teachers are expecting more from their students than ever before.  For example, when my father was in college, there wasn’t much known about biology, but since then scientists have done more research on bacteria, germs and genes and now, in a Bio 101 class, I was expected to know a lot more about biology than my father ever was. 

            In today’s world, kids are held to the same behavioral expectations as their parents but are held to different educational expectations.   Children are expected to behave the same they’ve been expected to behave since the 1950s, yet are required to have 10 more stress on their lives? How is that possible for kids not to react differently.  

blog # 31

Blog 31

In today’s world, life is harder than it used to be.  One has to be smarter, more experienced and more qualified than ever before.  The expectations for our generations has changed so drastically in the last couple of years that it’s scary to think what the next generation will be expected to do

            Over the course of history, children and parents were similar: boys did the same profession as their father, girls were homemakers, everyone had the same level of education, etc.  The rate of change between generations was very gradual up until only about 50 years ago.   In the 1950s, a college education was not necessary to a happy ending.  My own grandfather never went to college  and earned an income by being a butcher, policeman, councilman and also an agent at Allstate.  At the time, all of those positions did not require a college education, with the exception of a few of those professions, college educations or some kind of higher education is needed for those professions today. 

            Then, after the 1950s, the next generation in the 1970s (which would account for my father), had rapidly shifting expectations.  At the time, everyone was getting a Bachelor’s degree because it was expected.  Again, society had changed so that at least some sort of higher education was required to succeed.  Again, society changed so that the following generation (our current generation…us) now need to get higher than a Bachelor’s degree.  Children today all across America are expected to go through 20-30 years of college to b, what...comfortable?

            How is this far? Even with these degrees, kids aren’t even guaranteed a steady income.  A long time ago, any type of higher education was respected and a privilege but today it’s expected and hardly even appreciated.  

blog # 29

For my article, I used “Leaders or Cheaters: Steroids of the Brain,” written by Carlton Stine.  He states that use of Aderall without a prescription has increased by 35% on college campuses across America.  I believe that Aderall isn’t a bad thing when it’s prescribed for you, but when someone uses it illegally, I feel that that is cheating.  Those who are prescribed Aderall are prescribed it becsase they literally can’t focus and find it difficult to even feel motivated to do school work.  When they are prescribed it by doctors, they are given reasonable amounts, so that they can live a normal student life.  With Aderall, ADHD patients can focus for hours and accomplish what they need to accomplish in order to maintain good grades.  Without the prescription, ADHD students would likely perform less and maybe even drop out.  Those are the pros of the drug, the cons are the heightened state of happiness it puts you in, the acceleration of your heart beat, and also the depression it sends you into when you come off the drug.  All of these effects can be monitored if the dose of the prescription is correct, and that is why going to a doctor regularly is important.  But students who acquire it illegally most likely have the wrong dose, most often higher doses which increase the symptoms described earlier.  It is dangerous to overuse this drug because over time it can cause heart problems.  I think this is where the real danger of the drug  comes into play because young, healthy students are overdosing on this drug because they do not know their own dose.  I think the only way to remedy this is to have doctors be more careful who they prescribe to and also the government should monitor the drug by keeping track of the medications prescribed to each person.

blog # 28

For my blog, I chose the article “Taylor Swift: Combating Typical, Scandalous Celebrity Behavior,” by Katie Huston.  The article is basically saying that Tayor Swift is a better song-writer than people might have given her credit for. By analyzing the song “Fifteen,” by her, the author of the article talks about Taylor’s ulterior motives.  According to Hurston, Taylor is telling her audience that at 15 you don’t know what you’re going to be, and that you shouldn’t rush growing up, like the other teen celebritites, like Lindsey Lohan and Miley Cyrus are encouraging.  Because of this assessment, Hurst says that Taylor is different than most sing/song writers because she is trying to keep teenagers young while they still can be instead of trying to grow up too fast.  Swift doesn’t completely ignore the stresses of the teenage years, she simply states that there are more important things that will happen to you in the future and that it doesn’t  matter if you date the most popular football player, because it’s not going to define you.  I also like how Hurst mentioned that celebrities today don’t exhibit kind, caring, intelligent personalities.  She said that celebrities are now focused solely on being attractive to the opposite sex.  This argument is very timely because Taylor Swift is popular right now, and she will be popular for a while because he career is just beginning.  I find her argument compelling because I am getting sick of Miley Cyrus and Lindsey Lohan and the bad examples they are setting for kids today.  And it is relevant because bad role models are becoming more and more of a problem.  As technology increases, so does exposure to the media at a younger age.  It is important now more than ever that children and teens have a good role model to look up to.

blog # 27

Abuse of power is an offense on human kind in which the abuser takes advantage of a weaker individual.  Sometimes the indiviual (or individuals) are powerless or defenseless against their assault.  In the popular sci-fi series written by Joss Whedon, called Firefly, Joss Whedon does a good job of showing the viewer that the effects of a power trip when one person with a cocky attitude is left in charge.  When the captain of the ship is away on a mission, an arrogant character (Jane) is left on the ship and feels that he was left in charge.  When the mission goes south, he attempts to force the ship and the crew to leave the captain, and example of an abuse of power.  This is an abuse of power because the crew could never leave the two crewmembers, but Jane was willing to force them to leave.  In real life, abuse of power is all around, in work places, schools, hospitals, and even prison; anywhere that an aggressor remains unmonitored for an extended period of time is grounds for things to get out of control.  For example, the prison guards at Abu Ghraib abuses their powers when they took it into their own hands to punish the prisoners through means of unhumane torture, humiliation and neglect.  It is important to examine these actions so that these actions can be prevented in the future.

blog # 27

Abuse of power is an offense on human kind in which the abuser takes advantage of a weaker individual.  Sometimes the indiviual (or individuals) are powerless or defenseless against their assault.  In the popular sci-fi series written by Joss Whedon, called Firefly, Joss Whedon does a good job of showing the viewer that the effects of a power trip when one person with a cocky attitude is left in charge.  When the captain of the ship is away on a mission, an arrogant character (Jane) is left on the ship and feels that he was left in charge.  When the mission goes south, he attempts to force the ship and the crew to leave the captain, and example of an abuse of power.  This is an abuse of power because the crew could never leave the two crewmembers, but Jane was willing to force them to leave.  In real life, abuse of power is all around, in work places, schools, hospitals, and even prison; anywhere that an aggressor remains unmonitored for an extended period of time is grounds for things to get out of control.  For example, the prison guards at Abu Ghraib abuses their powers when they took it into their own hands to punish the prisoners through means of unhumane torture, humiliation and neglect.  It is important to examine these actions so that these actions can be prevented in the future.

blog # 26

When considering how Jane reacted to his new authority, there is a tie that can be seen between his actions and the actions of the prison guards of Abu Ghraib.  It is important to see resemblance so that we can stop the actions of the prison guards in the future.  If people are aware of the actions of past prison guards, they may feel that actions such as torture, humiliation and physical abuse are wrong, no matter if the person is a prisoner.  The best way to learn from mistakes is by analyzing them.  In Jane’s case, he became angry and bossy, almost forcing the crew to abandon their captain and head warrior.  If he had not been knocked out by Simon, he would have completely overruled the crew and become a tyrant.  In the case of the prison guards at Abu Ghraib, they were left for months on end without outside interference, and therefore, there actions weren’t kept on track.  Their actions become more and more torturous and humiliating, and the prison guards came to interpret these actions as acceptable.  There is evidence to support this because the prison guards were photographed with thumbs up and other casual poses in front of these acts, and their faces showed that none of the prison guards were uncomfortable with their actions.  Unfortunately, there was no “Simon” there to stop their tyrannous power, and that is how they remain un-checked.  It is important to analyze these things because it is important to realize that people makes mistakes and that they need consequences for their actions.

blog # 25

The Stanford Prison Experiment.  1999-2009.  Web. 22 April 2011.

Hersh, Seymour M..  “American soldiers brutalized Iraqis. How far up does the responsibility go?”  The New Yorker.  May 2004.  Web.

Jane’s attitude that he had while he thought he was in power is similar to the actions performed by prison guards everyday in prisons across the world.  More specifically, the prison in Baghdad, Iraq know as the Baghdad Central Prison, or more commonly known as Abu Ghraib.  The prison guards at this prison were prosecuted for doing inhumane acts towards the prisoners held at the prison.  According to the Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted in the summer of 1971, there is evidence to show that prison guards, when wearing a uniform and having authority over prisoners, feel stripped of their identity and feel no responsibility for their actions.  This might explain why some of the Abu Ghraib prison guards may have acted in the way they did.  But can that excuse them from their actions? Should the government not press charges simply because of the evidence from this experiment? The prisoners should be held liable for their actions, no matter what any experiment says.  People must remember that the experiment was cut short after only six days and that is not sufficient evidence enough to release people from committing atrocious crimes.  The prison guards at Abu Ghraib were aware of their actions and were intentionally torturing the detainees.  “Homosexual acts are against Islamic law and it is humiliating for men to be naked in front of other men,” (Hersh).  The prson guards must have known that those actions were considered torture rather than just humialiation, and that is what makes their actions unforgiveable.

blog # 24

Seeing as I’m hoping to change my topic, and also because I am pending a response from my professor, I thought I’d just start my new topic tonight so that I wouldn’t get even more behind…

Initially, Mal and Zoe are not supposed to be left on the planet for long.  They were supposed to get on the train and finish the deal quickly so they can get the goods back to Niska in time.  But when the plan goes south, they are forced to stay on the planet for a little longer than they expected.  It’s obvious that Jane enjoys the power because he mentioned “I’m in charge, and I’ll make the rules,” more than once.  When the plan goes south, and they are all in danger of angering Niska, its Jane who thinks he has the authority to order the crew into doing whatever he pleases.  Jane says “Now I’m in rutting charge here and I’m telling you how it works.  We’ve waited long enough.  Let’s get this bird in the air.”  He says all this when Mal and Zoe don’t come back from their heist.  When in command, Jane does things tat normally would be allowed.  But since he has no higher authority to tell him no, he feels free to act as he wants to.  The same is true for prison guards, more infamously, the prison guards at Abu Grahib and Guantanamo Bay.  The prison guards there are in a position of power and are stripped away from their identity, which is a recipe for disaster.  

blog # 23

When the scene begins, the crew does not know what they are stealing.  They get the assignment from Niska and don’t ask any questions because they are so desperate for money that any job is better than no job.  But when they learn to true nature of the job they were given, they decide that no amount of money is worth the weight they would carry on their conscience.  When they are faced with this decision, the chose to take the medicine back to the planet village, and this is what differentiates Mal and Zoe from Niska.  Both have the option to do the right and wrong thing, but it’s their choices that make them who they are and shows what they stand for.  For Mal, although he is a smuggler, running from the law and hiding fugitives on his ship, he still has a heart of gold and we know this by his actions.  He seems likes a bad guy, but when he is faced with moral dilemmas, he always chooses the option that is the right thing.  When it comes to Niska, he does the same thing as Mal, he smuggles, runs from the law, and hides fugitives on his ship, but Niska also takes pleasure from harming people and intentionally inflicts pain on people.  Both people live a rebellious life, but Mal doesn’t let his rebellious life warp his morals.  That is the main difference between good and evil on Firefly and in daily life.

blog # 22

The sun is almost blinding as it gleams off the hard metal shell of the  Firefly, a ship that is primarily used for smuggling goods between planets.  Its many engines slow as the ship lightly lands on the hot, sandy earth.  One can almost see the heat waves radiating off the ground.  A whole crew jumps off the ship as soon as it lands, hoping they didn’t run into anyone looking for a fight.  Thankfully, they found no one and they can now do their job with ease.  The ship’s captain, Mal, scopes out the land and makes a plan.   As he tells the crew what the plan is, he recruits one of the crewman to help.  Zoe, a former warrior, looks like someone you don’t want to run into when she’s having a bad day.  The crew starts the plan.  Mal and Zoe walk off towards a small settlement just over the hill.  They are going to a train station and buy a ticket.  Once on the train, they find a seat and don’t make a fuss so as to not draw attention.  As soon as the train starts to move, they stand up inconspicuously and walk through the cabins, heading to the back of the train.  When they reach a certain cabin, they are unexpectedly met by an entire cabin filled with Alliance soldiers.  The Alliance is the big, juggernaut of a government who controls the main planets.  Mal and Zoe fought in a war of Independence a few years back against the Alliance and lost, but still remain faithful to the cause.  When they see the Alliance soldiers, it seems as if any normal person would call of the mission.  But Mal is different and chooses to continue.  When they get to the second-to-last cabin, Mal and Zoe throw a fogger and sneak into the last cabin, a storage cabin.  Once there, they open the ceiling and unexpectedly, the ship is waiting for them with a big, long hook protruding out of it.  They hook is lowered into the train and Mal and Zoe attach the goods to the hook and it seems like they can’t also go with the ship.  So they improvise and just let it go and sneak back into the passenger cabin so that they don’t get caught.  The soldiers sweep the cabin and realize something is gone.  Everyone on the train is questioned, including Zoe and Mal.  Obviously, they act cool under pressure and no one suspects a thing.  But as they get to talking to the mayor of the city, they learn that what they stole for a crime lord are medications that are much needed for the masses of sick people that they are surrounded by.  When Mal and Zoe get back to the ship, they decide to take back the goods, even if it meant angering Niska, the crime lord.  When Mal and Zoe are taking the goods back, they run into the mayor.  For a second, it is thought that the mayor isn’t going to forgive them for stealing the goods but then returning them.  But all is okay because they are forgiven.  In the end, Mal and Zoe return safely to their ship and all is forgiven by the mayor.  But the same can not be said about the crime lord.

blog # 21

Rowling, J.K, . Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York, America: Bloomsbury, 1999. 223. Print.

            Sometimes it’s not what is inside a person that counts.  A lot of the time, the defining factor of a person is the actions they take.  The saying “actions speak louder than words” is an accurate statement, meaning that it doesn’t matter who a person is, they’re actions will show who they really are.  In one of the most famous series of al time, Harry Potter, a main character, Dumbledore, states "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  This statement was pertaining to Harry’s ability to speak parstle-tongue.  Harry was worried that he was becoming Voldemorte because he shared many of the same qualities as Voldemorte.  But Dumbledore reassures him that it is not what abilities he has (like speaking parstle-tongue) but rather how he uses his abilities.  The same is true with the characters in Firefly.   Each of the characters have the same abilities, but who they are is defined by what they do with their abilities.  Both the crew and the mayor have the ability to do the wrong thing, and both choose to do the right, moral thing. Niska has the ability to forgive but he chooses to hold a grudge and punish them later in the series.  If what Dumbledore said was true, then we can safely assume that the crew and the mayor are good people due to their choices and we can also assume that Niska is  bad man when we observe his choices too.  Overall, it is important to remember the words that the beloved Dumbledore said and to keep that in mind when making decisions. 

blog # 20

Schwartz, Barry.  The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less.  New York: HarperCollins, 2004.  Print.  

In the episode Train Heist , of the TV series “Firefly,” there are many decisions and choices being made.  The main characters Mal and Zoe have to make a decision between money and a clear conscience.   The mayor of the town where the train heist was taking place had to choose between forgiveness and punishment.  And Niska also had to choose between punishment and forgiveness.  In the end, Mal and Zoe undoubtedly choose to return the goods and wipe their conscience, the mayor chooses to forgive their mistakes but Niska chooses not to forgive them and later in the series the crew sees these repercussions unfold when he takes Mal hostage and tortures him.  Barry Schwartz talks about choices in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less.   He says, “Healthy people want and need to direct their own lives, (3).  This is an important statement because without choice, we are not free to do as we please and we are essentially slaves.  With choice, we have the freedom to choose the options that are true to ourselves.  Through the choices we make, it shows people’s true intentions.  In the episode, when Mal and Zoe decide to return the goods, it shows that they have a softer side (even if it doesn’t always show).  When the mayor decided to forgive their mistakes, it showed that he was a fair and honest individual.  However, Niska’s actions showed his awful, hateful side and that is the difference between good and bad. 

blog # 19

Chang, un-Juang, Gregory A. Davis, Sarah J. MacNaughton, John R. Stephen, Albert D. Venosa, , , and David C. White. Microbial Population Changes during Bioremediation of an Experimental Oil Spill.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology.  65.  (1999): 3566-3574.  Print. 

Some mistakes are impossible to fix.  After oil spills, it is hard to recover the environment and make it how it once was. Even if rescue groups were to clean the marshes and coasts, they would still be removing much-needed nutrients in the process.  In an experiment conducted at the Center for Environmental Biotechnology, at the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, Tennessee, where plots were treated with non-oil, oil alone, oil plus nutrients and oil plus nutrients plus indigenous inoculum.  The results were significant.  The environments introduced to oil developed a certain type of bacteria whereas non-oil environments did not.  This evidence shows that the oil in the environment causes new bacteria to grow.  According to the Applied and Environmental Microbiology Journal, “microbial community structures of the oiled plots were becoming similar to those of the unoiled controls from the same time point, but DGGE analysis suggested that major differences in the bacterial communities remained,” (n.p.)  Fromt his we can infer that in some respects, environments introduced to oil can sometimes fix themselves.  But most of the time these oil spills will permanently damage an environment.  This can be seen in the show, Firefly,  because sometimes, the crew’s mistakes are forgiven (or fixed) and sometimes they are not.  The sheriff forgives the crew’s actios, and Niska, the crime lord, did not forgive them.  This is a good example of the choices people can make concerning situations and how their choices can reveal their character. 

Blog #17

“Topped the chain of command on the Deepwater Horizon rig. Took risks to lower costs. Cut corners on testing cement. Failed to implement safety measures like an acoustic switch. Misled about its ability to prevent spills in deep water. Overruled crew objections on day of explosion. Grossly underestimated the rate of the spill.”

List of words: cut corners, failed to implement safety measures, misled about its ability to prevents spills, overruled crew objections, and grossly underestimated the rate of the spill

In every major catastrophe in history, there is always someone to pin the blame on.  Even if the person (or business) is not solely responsible for it, it helps to understand and make sense of the situation.  In a way, it helps people cope with it and perhaps prevent it from happening again.  A good example of this would be the Bp oil spill that occurred in August of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.  Obviously, the majority of the blame is placed upon Bp’s shoulders.  According to Grist, a Green Paper, Bp cut corners, failed to implement safety measures, was misleading about its ability to prevent spills, overruled crew objections, and grossly underestimated the rate of the spill (n.p.).  This means that the oil spill could have been completely avoided if stronger materials would have been used and if they would have taken their responsibility to protect the environment more seriously.  And if not avoided, they could have dealt with the situation in a timelier manner.  Although BP made a mistake, there are some redeeming qualities about the institution.  They worked tirelessly for the next months to clean up this spill and that is a very commendable act.  This is similar to what Mal and Zoe did in Train Heist, because they made mistakes but they worked very hard to amend those mistakes.  Although the mistake was a huge one in both cases, both individuals tried hard to fix this mistake by reversing their impact.  

Blog # 14

Thomas Havrilesky (1989) Those Who Only Remember the Past May Be Doomed to Repeat Its Mistakes. Journal of Forensic Economics: December 1989, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 23-28.

The quote is: ‘Those Who Only Remember the Past May Be Doomed to Repeat Its Mistakes”

I think this is a good quote to consider because I’m exploring the fact that humans have made mistakes in the past and that the only way to move on from those mistakes is to forgive and learn from it.  The crew of Serenity is a perfect example of this because they DO make a mistake by stealing the medicine away from the town, but they learn from it because for the rest of the series, they always ask what it is they are stealing before they steal it.  I think Joss Whedon did an excellent job of balancing the good and bad of the characters aboard the Serenity.  He made these people crooks and wanted people running from the law and that would make anyone assume that these people were not good in spirit and were evil.  But in contrast they are actually the fairest and good willed of anyone you meet in the series.  Most people who work for the Alliance are corrupt and harsh, enforcing their power quite eagerly over the civilians.  I think Joss Whedon is trying to make a point that sometimes, the majority can be wrong and that they can be power mad.  Overall, I think the characters are doing the right thing by taking back the even if it causes them trouble later in the series and I think they learned not to make the same mistake twice.

blog # 13

Henry E. Palmer, The Lawrence Raid Kansas Historical Collections 6 (1900): 317, at 322-323.

The year was 1863, during the Civil war.  Grant was practicing something called hard war.  Before 1863, the war was considered a “soft war,” where opposing sides thought the war wasn’t going to last for a long time.  That is, until Grant came to power.  Hard war is when the opposing sides will continue to attack a fallen side until there was no possible way for them to come back and fight anymore.  In 1863, there were these people called cloth sellers, who were predominantly Jewish.  At this time, smuggling was illegal and these cloth sellers smuggled cloth to the north so that they could make profits during the war.  Therefore, they were basically working for the black Market.  Grant’s father tried to make a deal with these cloth sellers so that he could maybe turn a profit.  Grant found out about this and got upset that his father was breaking the law and sent out an order to evict all JEWISH residents from four counties in Missouri: Independence, Hickman Hills, Pleasant Hill, and Harrisonville.  Grant made the mistake to associate all Jewish people with these cloth sellers.  This is the first time in American history that a specific group of people were target and forced to move out.  When Lincoln hears about this, he takes away this order and the people are allowed to move back in.  But basically, after this the Jews forgive him for this and it shows that there ARE people in the world who have a heart big enough to forgive.

blog # 12

 Forgiveness: Letting go of Grudges and Bitterment.  Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web.  10 April 2011.

According to the Mayo Clinic, forgiveness is important. Harboring resentment for years can cause someone to be permanently afflicted.  “By embracing forgiveness, you embrace peace, hope, gratitude and joy.”  One of the benefits to forgiveness is less stress and hostility, which consequently leads to lower blood pressure.  This is physical reason to forgive people.  The reason why I am talking about this is because in the episode, Train Heist of the series “Firefly,” the crew of the Firefly  are asked to do a job and do the job without out asking questions, only to realize they were stealing form people who really needed the stolen goods.  The stolen goods turned out to be medicine and once the crew realized this, they decided to return the goods.   I think two extraordinary things happened: 1) the crew decided to not earn the money and return the medicine.  2) the sheriff decided not to punish the crew for stealing the goods in the first place because he forgave them.  It takes a big man to forgive and the sheriff of the town obviously had a big heart and a caring personality to recognize that the crew made a mistake and that they were sorry for it.  The way that the sheriff knew that they were sorry because the crew made the effort to come back and return the goods, an action the sheriff appreciated.  This makes me hopeful that in the future (even if this is nothing like the future) someone else believes that good people will still exist.

Blog # 11

The English Standard Version Bible:  Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha.  Oxford:  Oxford UP, 2009.  Print

     People shape their lives based on the religions, they have for thousands of years.  When people are faced with a decision, the will most likely consult the Bible to see how his disciples dealt with the issue and if it’s not specifically in the Bible, sometimes they will ask the Lord himself in prayer for guidance.  These rituals are inbred in many of the people around the world because their parents taught them to follow the Bible in your daily lives.  In the Bible, men are supposed to act as Jesus would have and therefore, parents around the world raise their children to be conscious of their actions and to take Jesus into account.  So when it comes to doing the right thing, people almost always have a guide as to what is right and to what is wrong.  But what if enemies choose the wrong path and intentionally (or intentionally) hurt others? What are we supposed to do then, after the deed has already been done?   The Bible is very explicit when it comes to forgiveness.  When asked about it, the Bible says in Colossians 3:13  “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  This is clear that the Lord wants us to be forgiving because the Lord knows we all make mistakes and that is important to forgive the mistakes of others.  

BLog #10

You seem to be saying the through “Train Heist,” the writers of Firefly are arguing that after someone makes a mistake, it’s still possible to make it right again and that it takes a big heart to forgive someone.  The main evidence for this is when Mal takes a job from a crime lord with no questions asked.  Then when he learns the truth about what he stole, he finds out that the stolen goods are actually much needed medicine that were going to a small village with a plague.  A real world example of this is when Ulysses S. Grant ordered Jewish citizens in four counties in Missouri to evacuate in 1863.  He soon realized that he was very wrong for enforcing this and apologized to the Jewish community for his actions and they forgave him.  They embraced him so much that the Jewish community voted him back into the office.  This is a timely argument because people make mistakes everyday and it is important that people learn to forgive and forget.  I think this is important because some people need to realize that everyone, including high power people and officials, make mistakes.   

Griswold, Charles L.  Forgiveness: a philosophical exploration. New York: Cambridge University, 2007.  Print.

Aureli, Fillippo and Frans B.M. de Waal, eds.  Natural Conflict Resolution.  Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.  Print.

Peterson, Christopher and Martin E.P. Seligman.  Character Strengths and Virtues: a Handbook and Classification.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

Hampton, Jean and Jeffrie G. Murphy.  Forgveness and Mercy.  New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Murphy, Jeffrie G. and Sharon Lamb, eds.  Before Forgiving: Cautionary views of Forgiveness in Psychotherapy.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.  Print

Blog #9

Joss Whedon’s undermines our expectations of females in his hit tv series Firefly.  When the plot began, the viewer assumed that the characters were straight-forward and would not fool you.  However, this is not the case when it comes to River, Zoe and Kaylee.  All three women are not “average” by society’s standards; in fact, most are extraordinary in their abilities and accomplishments.  But each woman has a talent that society would consider improper for a woman to hold, which is what makes Joss Whedon’s series quite interesting.

            River Tam was introduced in the first episode by being the human cargo of her older brother, Simon Tam.  For almost half of the series, River is thought to be small, weak, scared and helpless.  But as the series progresses, her true self comes out and she is revealed to be intelligent, telepathic, and a real danger to anyone who crosses her.

            Zoe is a tall, incredibly gorgeous, no nonsense kind of woman who, upon first glance, you wouldn’t expect to be the fiercest fighter in the series (apart from the human weapon, River).  Zoe is a veteran of the Alliance/Independence war who fought right along side of Mal.  In some respects, she is a better fighter than Mal because she has some of the common sense that Mal seems to lack. 

            And finally, there’s Kaylee who is the sweetest person you could ever have the chance to meet.  She’s quick to light a smile on her face and always has a comforting word to say to any of the characters in the series.  She might not look lie it, but Kaylee is the best mechanic in the universe.  She managed to keep the ship moving at all costs and her crew depended on her for it.

            Joss Whedon’s interpretation of the female is a good indication that society’s constraints placed on women are fictitious and are only based on men’s unfair bias.  I believe that Joss Whedon is trying to prove a point: women are equal to men.

Blog #7

I would like to talk about the series Firefly and also the movie Serenity as a whole.  I thought the series was phenomenal, that is…until it ended.   It left me with so many questions left unanswered.  I think the worst thing a writer could do is not finish a series.  I mean, I know he was cancelled, but he still then he was given an opportunity to do the job when given the movie opportunity and he failed miserably.  I have a few questions for Joss Whedon:

1) What happened to the men with blue gloves?

2) When River was placed in danger in almost every single episode, why did she not spring to action?

3) When did Shepherd Book get off the ship and move to a small planet and make a settlement?

4) Did River and Simon live a life of peace after the movie ended?

5) Did Mal and Inara ever end up together?

6) What did Reavers have to do with the assassin in the movie?

7) Why did Shepherd book know so much about warfare, and what did his badge say that allowed him to be given emergency care?

These are just a few questions that have occurred to me and I fear they will never be answered again.  I mean, the series was excellent: it was exciting, dramatic, funny, romantic and entertaining.  I just feel that the show should not have been cancelled.  I can’t put my finger on it exactly but something about this series seems unfinished and it seems as though Joss Whedon had a lot more tricks up his sleeve, but was wripped away from the project before he could further the plot.  Overall, I recommend the series, I just recommend that whoever watches doesn’t get their hopes up thinking that all the loose ends will be tied up, because the viewer is left to wonder on a lot of aspects of this series.

Blog #6

I would like to talk about how Mal views every member of his crew as a family member.  I’m speaking about episode 9 called Ariel, when the ship visits the planet named Ariel so that the crew could steal incredibly expensive medicines from the store closets while Simon took River to a brain-imaging laboratory so he could diagnose River.  Simon once worked at this hospital so he knew every little nook and cranny, so he was responsible for working out a plan to accomplish all that they needed to accomplish.  The plan would have succeeded had Jayne not sold out Simon and River to the feds.  Fortunately, everyone gets out okay, including Simon, River and Jayne; but Mal knows what Jayne did and almost kills him because of it. 

            I think Mal’s reaction was interesting.  After all, Jayne did nothing to Mal, yet Mal almost killed Jayne because of his betrayal.  Mal is a different type of; he is extremely loyal to his crew and will protect them til the end-a trait that is very hard to come by.  It seems that in this series, almost every single person the crew on the Serenity deals with has an ulterior motive. It makes the future seem kind of bleak if everyone is about numero uno and making a profit.  But Mal gives us all hope because he is a true gentleman who remains loyal to those he cares about.  If you ask me, we need more people like Mal in the future and also in the here and now.

Blog #5

In the fourth episode of Firefly, Inara, Mal and Kaylee go to a ball where Mal gets in a fight with Inara’s customer, Atherton Wing.  The fight happens because Atherton regards Inara more as property than a human being, and Mal is not alright with that.  The culture on Persephone (the planet they landed on) requires anyone who agrees to a duel to follow through with that and fight in the duel; this rule is so strictly enforced that Mal was held captive all night so that he couldn’t run away.   In the dual, Mal wins and walks away with Inara back to their ship.

            I think that it incredibly ironic that Mal, a thief, crook and smuggler, has better morals than Atherton, a rich, high class, high society figure on the planet of Persephone.  In most cases, high society peoples have better manors than low income peoples because they were raised to have higher standards.  In the future, it seems that the people with good personalities are not given the life they deserve simply because chose to NOT follow the Alliance and to stand up for what they believe in.  This brings me to my question for the day: do the people who have high positions in our society have the highest morals and do they deserve to be there? In today’s society, the leaders of our world are often people who looked away at the wrongs in society just so that they could advance their career.  Some people purposefully ignore opportunities to help so that they can focus on other aspects of their career.  Is it right that only the most  popular and well known politicians get elected when the moralistic ones are stuck behind the scenes trying to make a difference in the world?

Blog #4

In the third episode of Firefly, the crew on the Serenity finds a derelict ship and search it for survivors.   They find one man and they rescue him off the abandoned ship, and soon learn he was mentally disturbed (probably by what he witnessed).  I think when they begin to asses him, Mal understands immediately that he has turned into a Reaver, horrible inhuman cannibals who commit atrocious crimes on humanity.  My question is, how could the man turn into a Reaver after he watched the Reavers murder 13 other families and probably his own family too?

             I think the answer to this is that when someone witnesses a horrible action, the person is going to be affected by that for the rest of their life, and become severely disturbed. His humanity was stolen by the Reavers, which subsequently caused him to become very homicidal and violent to anything that could possibly be threatening to him. In a sense he was similar to that of a beast waiting in the ship to pounce on anything that entered his domain. Mal’s humanitarian effort was commendable for giving the people a proper burial and saving the sole survivor. Which, because of his lack of religious morality and his cold personality, would be something he wouldn’t do.  Even though he did this for monetary gain, it was still a very humanist act. The Priest gives the last rights to these poor, slain, civilian families, which were looking for a new life in deep space (something that, if Mal’s humanity did not permit, they would still be without proper burial). Overall we are starting to see Mal’s more kinder and caring side as the series progresses.