Reflection #8: "Bad Luck, Why Americans Exaggerate"

Now on days everyone is scared from terrorist attacks. That’s because the government has given us fear, they make all this fear that we got it is all because of them. This essay talks about how everyone exaggerates when it comes to terrorist.

The government used those like an excuse to sell more things to us. They are like: “There is an attack in x place, buy some food and other thing so you can be safe if something happens. It is like weather, they announce hurricanes so we buy food, candles, things to guard our windows and other thing. The fears that we have made us buy all those things and do everything they told us to do. They manipulate us and all because of the money. They are also scared that the people revealed themselves to the government so they keep putting fear on us so that does not happen.

The essay also says that those entire things that people fear of have a low percent to happen like an airplane crash, how many accidents of airplanes happens in a year? How many times does a cruise crash? All those things are what build the fear in us. It is more dangerous to walk on the streets at nights than fly in a plane, it is true. We have to surpass those fears and concentrate in what really danger is like a car accident and things like those that happens almost every day. That does not mean that we are going to stop driving cars it just that we have to be caution and forgot those fears that the government have put on us so many years. It is time for us to see the true, live our own life like we like to and don’t let nobody tell us what to do and what to fear.

Reflection #7:Its the womans, stupid

This essay describes the woman’s rights, basically how different they are in the Muslim culture to our cultures. This essay shows how the woman suffers because they do not have any rights at all. They can not choose anything; they are like robots the do what they are told to. There is also no democracy; I can not imagine how difficult it is to woman there. How could they do such thing, the woman’s are the most precious thing in the world. They are the ones that make us who we are. Also we always tend to think this as being so far away but, we have an example like this pretty close, its Cuba and there men and women are brained washed to think that dictatorship is the best thing that has ever happened to them this occurs since they are young. This essay shows us how important the woman's rights are. Because the realities is extremely different, today women compose a huge part of the work force and are the ones that in many women are the ones who work and men are what we used to call “house wives.”

Also the other purpose of this essay is to inform the reader that the biggest difference between the Middle East and the western society is the gender equality. Many people are always wondering; why does the western society have so many conflicts with the Middle East? Well I think that the main cause of all those conflicts is that the people that live in the Middle East are envious of the American economy and live style.

This was a very good essay in the way that informs us the current situation in Muslim. I thing that they need to gave the woman's the same respect that they have for men’s.

Reflection #6: Two Americas

In the essay “Two Americas?” by Joseph Contreras, you can see a comparison and contrast and it explains how he sees the clash of civilization between the Anglo and Hispanic culture, the new war is between the white majority and the Hispanic population, all this is because of the immigration. How is this possible? All this is possible because all the Latinos that are living in poor condition they see the States like a land of hope and progress. The most outstanding comment in this essay would have to be the one where the author says that soon United States will be completely divided into two cultures: Anglo and Hispanic. Also, he says that there will be not one, but two official languages: English and Spanish. The fact that stood out from the essay was the one where it says that the rate of Latinos going to college has risen from 16% to 22% in a mere 20 years. The household income has risen also 4.3% in just 11 years. The teenage and young-adult group is earning more money than anyone else in their age group. And lastly, Latinos beyond the age of 25 with college degrees are earning more than white workers with comparable educational backgrounds. In my opinion, it's great that the Latino culture is expanding, but what's even greater is the acceptance that the United States are giving to the Hispanic culture. Ads are being shown and published using Hispanic viewpoints and backgrounds. Once one begins to realize that it's true that the United States are accepting the culture, it is clearly visible in any mass media medium. In television we clearly see Hispanic culture, be it in an MTV show, or even famous Hispanics having American documentaries made of them. In newspapers and news we see how news from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and even Cuba reach the tabloids. In one of United States most famous landmark: Hollywood, we see a wide array of Latin stars, from Ricky Martin and Mana to Jennifer Lopez, we see many role models for Americans, all with Hispanic Backgrounds. In the government we see how Puerto Rico is slowly gaining some insignificant but viewable power in congress.

Reflection #5:Is there a solution to Global Eating Disorder?

Global eating disorder is all around the world, is a problem that have spread in the whole world. Is something that people worried about. This are basically eating and body images problems and this eating and body images problems are not only crossing racial and class lines, but gender lines. They have also become a global phenomenon.

An example for this is one that gave us the book. Fiji's, they are islands that do not have access to televisions until 1995, when a single station was introduced. Before that, all the girls no matter how large , they were comfortable with their bodies. After that 11 percent of woman reported vomiting to control weight and 62 percent of the girls surveyed reported dieting.

The real question is: 'Is there a solution to global eating disorder?' I can not give the answer to that question because i am not familiar with any of this problems and never encounter with one but I'm sure that there must be a solution to at least control it, not cure it, control it. With all the technology we have in this days I'm sure there is something, some pills or medicine that help people with this problems to control that person for a while, so they wont feel uncomfortable with their body images.

Is like i said before, there have to be something, also it is a cultural problem.. If eating disorder were biochemical, as some people claim, how can we account for there spread across race, gender and nationality? What I'm saying is that in empire of images, no one lives in a bubble or self-generated "dysfunction" or permanent immunity. The sooner we recognize that and start paying attention to the culture around us and what it is teaching our children the sooner we can begin developing some strategies for changes.

Reflection #4: The Veiled Threat

In this paragraph yu will see how the regimen act and how they take control on every movement of the society. I hope you enjoy it the way i did.

The most important thing mention in the paragraph 35 is that the regimen create a special vice squad that patrol the cities on the look out for any citizen guilty of a "moral offense". This guards have the right or permission to enter every public place and even enter to private homes. They look for alcoholic drinks, "decadent" music or videos, people playing cards, sexually mixed parties or unveiled women. All of this things were consider crimes and the people, women and men, was arrested and send to jail. This guards have no mercy for now body if they saw something "out of order" they take the person away. A lot of normal and common things were prohibit, even clothes, nail polish and Reebok shoes were treated lethal weapons.

With all of this situation that was happening at first only a handful of encounter women had opposed the law. But 20 years later children's of 20 years old and less are the ones that get arrested, by the vice squads, more frequently because they opposed to the regimen a they do not follow the "moral" laws.

In the paragraph 37 it is mention that the women were uncomfortable with the modernization and secularization that had taken place in Iran since the revolution. And so Ayatollah Khomeini, who protested when women were granted the right to vote, was received whit open arms and change his way of thinking to get all the votes of the women. Since then women began to work. The encounter women that have no been part of the regimen reaming in their jobs and the regimen gets benefits. And whit time the traditionalist women find out that they have a lot in common, whit the encounter women so their differences gradually blurred.

Reflection #3:The Spanglish

In the latest class we discuss two essays. Both of them were assign to be readed in our home so we can discussed later in class. The first one was call Mute in an English-Only World. The second one was call Spanglish: The making of a New American Language.

The first essay is about a korean family. There were a mom with two childrens. She had store and live in New York. The problem was that the mother did'nt speak english so well so she wait until her children who were six and seven years old, came from school so they went with her to buy some things to her store. One day they went to a new store to buy some oxtail, they enter to the place and stayed there for a long time and nobody notice them. One lady appoach to her and wave a ticket so then they wait pattiently again until a man call their number. She began to search for them but theres nowere to be found, then the man ask her and she get nervious so she say the koren word for oxtails, soggori. The men look at her strange and call the next one in line.

Those kind of sad stories are the ones that make me want to lear how to speak english.

The second one talk about a mexican who came to the United States, he explains how it all begins. He arrived in Manhattan in the mid-eighties. He stayed in an apartment in Broadway with three roommates. He encounter a lot of different languages in the streets. He said that near him was a store that sells newspaper in spanish like El Diario/La Prensa, Noticias del mundo, etc.. In those newspaper were written some things that seems hilarious to him like: "Conviertase en invesor del Citibank", "Para casos de divorcios y child support, llame a su advocate personal al (888) 745-1515.", and " Alerta! Carpinteros y window professionals. Deben de tener 10 años de experiencias y traer tools". Thats what we call Spanglish. So thats basically what this essays talks about.

Reflection #2: The way to Rainy Mountain

Hi, I'm going to talk about "The Way to Rainy Mountain". The truth is that I didn't understand it that much so I didn't like it either.

The story is about an old woman that was raise in a tribe. She helps the tribe to rise again. She gave them hope, cultures, history and other things. The tribe was called "The Kiowa". They were allies of the Comanche and together they rule the whole of the southern Plains. They were among the finest horseman the world has ever known. One day the soldiers of Fort Sill came and the Kiowas began to panic. Suddenly they surrender to them and were imprisoned in the old stone corral that now stands as a military museum. They were behind the walls like eight or ten years.

The name of the old woman was Aho. She reverence the sun, she also was a Christian in her later years. When she was a child she had been to the Sun Dances and take part in those annual rites. When she was seven it held the last Kiowa Sun Dance in 1887 on the Washita River above Rainy Mountain Creek.

The old woman had a grandson and he is the one telling the story. He remember her like it was yesterday. Also remember a day when he saw her praying looking at the window but he couldn't understand because he doesn't speak Kiowa language.

Appearance was something that differences them from others. His grandson is sad because his grandma died. When she died her only daughter was with her. So he is going to Rainy Mountain to visit her grave and in the way he remember all the moments they spend together. When he got there he look at the mountain and came away.