tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23545282439710476752024-03-08T03:13:51.845-08:00This is MeMademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-76949970833892128472009-05-03T12:51:00.000-07:002009-05-03T13:14:34.206-07:00Pain in PoetryOut of all the lectures of this semester, i must say this is the least interesting. For one, I am not a fan of poetry at all. Despite my lack of interest in poetry, there were parts of this lecture that caught my attention. It was quite appealing to hear Professor Espito Frank read these poems expressing pain in a different language out loud while trying to follow along in the english translation for these poems. I found that although she was reading the poem in a different language you could still hear the experience or feeling of pain in the words by how they were said. The experience of pain transcends language and culture, it is a universal concept.<br /><br />What I also found interesting was <em>La Capra</em> poem and the three different english translations by three different translators. It was interesting to see how the difference in translations by the different translators for the lines of the poem. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to translate a poem from one language to another and get the exact meaning and intention of the orginial poet. This very fact is proven if you look at the different translations of the original poem. Finally, as I was typing this exact line, it came to me that poetry and poems are beautiful thing and they are a means to expressing things, such as pain, that are quite often unexpressible, in a abstract or literal way. With that being said, poems expressing pain, are a means to cope and describe a pain and can be for the benefit alone or for others.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-83982644111386535492009-05-03T12:12:00.000-07:002009-05-03T12:47:35.026-07:00Everyone one should know about Bill BairdIn a society where sex and sexuality is something that is no longer kept private but instead is publicly displayed and in most cases accepted, we (especially those individuals of my generation), need to know who Bill Baird is and how important his fight was and is in our life. After finding out what he has done for us and continues to do for us, I am amazed that very few people of our generation know of his name and accomplishments in adults being able to have the right to choose for him or herself. To even think that he was labeled as an "evil-doer" or " the devil himself", is ludicrous.<br />Sitting at his lecture, I thought to myself, " I am so happy that I came for this". Listening to him speak, I was caught up in what he was saying and there was never a dull moment. Bill Baird took a lot of torment and made a lot of sacrifices to fight for reproductive rights and autonomy and some of these things were utterly unbearable to even hear; threats on his life and children, arson, and jail. Baird really opened my eyes to what we as a society who believes in reproductive rights and having access to birth control need to do. He did it in a very visual and clear-cut way that could not be denied. Baird asked the audience to raise their hands if they believe in reproductive rights and most, if not all, of the audience raised their hands. He continued to ask how many people in the audience have actually done something like contacted legislature or participated in a demonstration and less than five people raised their hands. We owe to Baird and his family to continue this fight because it is never ending by taking action and being proactive not reactive.<br />Another part of his lecture that caught my attention is when he showed the shocking and grotesque way in which women would attempt to abort the fetus from there womb. As he explained these methods, I would literally cringe and silently make a sound of pain as if I could feel the pain. Probably the most shocking information out of all this was the fact that planned parenthood were opposed to giving birth control products to unmarried persons in the 60s and what is even more shocking is that to this day they do not give Bill Baird any credit or respect for what he has done. Certain laws that were in effect in the 1960s were outright outrageous. To print or publish any type of birth control products resulted in a 10-year prison sentence. It was illegal for unmarried people to get birth control and legal in some states to get an abortion if you were married.<br />I really enjoyed and appreciated being a part of the audience and I learned so much. Bill Baird is a wonderful , intelligent, brave, heroic, and caring man. It makes me feel good deep down inside to see a man fight for women and their reproductive rights. It makes me view this world in a more positive light and we need more people like him in this world.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-944648389233156662009-04-20T20:13:00.000-07:002009-04-20T20:37:53.475-07:00Thank God for the United and not the Confederate, States of America!!!To be quite honest I found this movie to be offensive in the way it was made to be comical but at the same time I guess it is presented in such a way to show the absurdity of the whole idea of what would happen if the confederate states won the Civil War. Although I found this movie to be very offensive, I must admit that it was interesting to see the dynamics of the slave and slave trade industry and how the southern states would go on to conquer other parts of the world and begin slavery there. The last part of the movie where the text read something about how one would be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">surprised</span> to know that there are remnant slavery items in our society today like the toothpaste, the cigar case the Aunt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gemima</span> pancake syrup and Uncle Ben's Rice really opened my eyes to things I never realized. Seeing this movie inspired me to do some research on items that are still in use today that were used in the those time to put down southern black folk. Watching this movie made me appreciate how far we have come as an Nation and how grateful I should be that I am a free black women who is capable of doing anything she puts her mind to. I could not imagine being a slave, being beaten, witnessing a lynching, and things of those sorts. I think that everyone in my generation should watch this move to get a better understanding of why we should be happy to be part of these United States. Finally, during our discussion of the movie, someone said that people are so quick to place the blame on the "white man" but it was the Africans who started the whole slave trade by selling indentured <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Africans</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Europeans</span>. That is very true but the simple fact that the Africans started this does not make slavery okay nor does it excuse the American and European slaveholders of their brutal actions against slaves. To wrongs don't make a right.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-46396101749820633922009-04-13T11:41:00.000-07:002009-04-13T12:04:12.221-07:00TriathalonFirst of all, I just wanted to put it out there : To think that a marathon is a great feat!!!! I seriously take that one back. To top it all off, when Erin said she had completed nine of them and is preparing for two more, I was kinda off awestruck. Participationg in nine triatholons (even if placing last in each and every one of them) as a women, is still a great feat in my eyes. Wait, did i just say that? As a women? placing last? Well, that's sexist of me ( and to think that I am a female myself) but what can I say, it's true. I really like the perspective Erin took during her lecture; looking at women participating in trialthons and how they have been potrayed was very interesting. It seems as though its never a simple, black-or-white ordeal when it comes women. Erin stated that female althelism is a split between the athletic and sexual body. A woman althlete must be conscious of how she potrays herself as a woman and as an althlete, with no doubt that these two tasks clash often. The Iron Man, the most harsh of the trialthons, stuck with me. I thought it was hilarious how the female version of the Iron Man was adverstised. The female version, read Iron Girl not Iron Woman ( in pink, haha!!) and there were pretty, soft images of flowers and a duck. The Iron Man logo has no flowers, ducks and the letters are bold and big, conveying a message of strength and presevervance, how nice. Watching those clips and seeing how these participatants looked like they were natural disaster or war victims being carried away from the scene was terryfing for me. The pain that they have to go through is astronomical and I can't even bare the pain of a pinch.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-21057305114836383492009-02-27T09:45:00.000-08:002009-02-27T10:29:02.797-08:00Harold and MaudeThis movie was very perculiar but ironically I loved it for this exact reason. This movie was ranked in the top 100 movies of comedy, romance, and inspiration. It found the movie to be extremely comic but not in the same way that I would usually consider a movie to be comic. Harold would consistently kill himself ( hanging, cutting his throat,setting himself on fire, shooting himself in the head, cutting his hand off, etc) to get the attention of his mother but I never quite worked. These acts of attempted suicide was hilarious in the light that his mother would always dismiss his suicide attempts but he still contiuned to do it even after he met Maude and fell in love with her. The one question I have about Herald's numerous suicide attempts was he literally killing himself or was it a figurative statement? At one point in the movie, it seemed as though he was going to kill his mother when he pointed the gun at her. That scene was not expected and ironically, hilarious. I am still trying to figure out why did Herald turn the gun on his mother. Maude was a magnificient character. She was an older lady who lived her life to the fullest, probably more than an average teenager (stealing cars, driving recklessly, exploring the outdoors). She was young at heart, free-spirited, and enjoyed nature. When Harold first met Maude at the funeral, you begin to see a change in him, he began to enjoy life's simplicity and joy and he literally, in my eyes came to life. The change in Herald is most apparent when he actually goes to his mother and tells her that he is going to marry Maude. This is very unexpected of him because prior to this he would let his mother control his life and decided everything for him.<br /><br />Herald had no happy life of his own, it was his motherr who decided everything for Herald even if it was something that he absolutely did not want. Maude inspired Herald to live his life and be happy and this is probably why Herald fell in love with Maude, she made him realize and do things that he would have never had a chance to experience. In the end of the movie, Maude kiills herself and Herald was heartbroken. This was the only part of the movie that made me sad and I don't quite understand why Maude kills herself. A classmate of mine mentioned that she killed herself because he was young she was old and wanted him to live his life. I guess I can see her point. In the last scene, we see Herald speeding and turning his car in a winded path furhter up we see the end of the path lead to a cliff. In my mind, I was convinced that Herald would really committ suicide but he did not. He ran the car off the cliff and walked away from it. I believe that was the perfect ending to this movie. Although Herald was feeling extremely low due to the loss of his love Maude, he decided to continue to live is life the way that Maude would have wanted him to. She inspired him to live his life.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-19943421108758338832009-02-24T16:28:00.000-08:002009-04-21T13:46:05.592-07:00Love is Pleasure and PainI must say that I really like the idea of the lecture but the delivery of it was not as appealing as I would have liked or expected it to be. The discussion was excellent. What I really found interesting was the fact how its human nature to create an image of the perfect soulmate. Is there such a thing? And if so, how often does it happen? I would bet not often. Nonetheless we all have this idealized, romanticized image of our perfect soulmate and we compare this image to those we are in a relationship with, not realizing we are setting ourselves for failure and oh yeah, pain. I am guilty of this, big time. I have been with my boyfriend for quite a while (June will make it 5 years) and I have always tried , unsuccessfully to adjust who is to fit my perfect soulmate image. The pain of love is a very paradoxical statement but its very true. If we know creating the perfect image of a soulmate is setting up ourselves for failure, why is that we continue to do it? Is it perhaps the stories of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and Aladdin, that was engrained in us at a very young age and we get this idea that love is perfect and we can find a perfect soulmate. When we grow up, we see that these love stories hardly occur but the idea of being happy all the time, complenmenting each other, and feeling complete is associated with the perfect most-of-the-time non-exsistent soulmate so were steer towards this direction because it is better to have the hope of the perfect image than to be alone.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-24040969838570810202009-02-24T15:43:00.000-08:002009-02-24T16:25:42.572-08:00Rape is NEVER Funny, so should they be made into jokes?Let me just take this moment to say ...Wow!!!!!!!<br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture/discussion about rape jokes. It was very interesting to see a different perspective because in our society we typically see and focus on women getting raped than men and I think this was a great way to shed some light on the fact that men get rapped too and it is just as traumatizing experience as it is for women.<br /><br />I think is particularly psychologically tormenting for those men who were raped because not only do they live in a society that where it is believed it is only women who really get raped and men who do get raped rarely come out and admit to it because they fear they will be laughed at, viewed as weak or feminine, or not believed, but there are jokes out there about these rapes in all forms of media (television, radio, newspaper, Internet) that constantly remind them of that terrible event. As a society, we need to realize that although rape jokes can be funny and are not , for the most part, intended to hurt those who have been raped, they still do hurt the rape victim and bring back terrible flashbacks.<br /><br />Two wrongs don't make a right is all I can think about when the movie who stars Rosario Dawson was mentioned in the lecture. In the movie, the main character, who is a female, was raped by a male and retaliates against the man who raped her by getting one of her male friends to rape him . The message may be that women who have been raped should do everything in their power to fight back but I feel as though the set up of the movie is basically saying its perfectly okay to rape someone to get back at them. Where do we draw the line? When is rape okay? Rape is never okay and I am not saying that if a victim is raped that the perpetrator should not be punished. What I am saying is that if the assailant was raped, then we are basically telling him or her that it is okay to go back and rape the victim again. The other French movie about rape (the name also escapes my mind) should be viewed by all those people who casually make rape jokes because they will get a vivid and graphic <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">glimpse</span> of what it really feels and looks like to be raped . When someone one is raped, those nightmarish memories are forever etched in their brain and any joke or movement can quickly trigger a panic attack. Finally, I really want to watch both of these movies to get a better sense of what went on in them.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-86718872910130551472009-02-10T14:01:00.000-08:002009-02-10T14:27:49.792-08:00Requiem for a DreamI must say this movie takes on a completely different perspective of how drug addicts face or better yet ,fall into their addiction. Also, the way in which the director decides to depict the addicts when they taking drugs was eye-opening, literally and figuratively. Watching this movie made the Nick Sheff book, Tweak ,come to reality. I found the many things Scheff explained in his book when he was high and what he did to get high were pretty much the same. Things like selling his body, stealing, selling drugs, and participating in all types of risky behavior were present in the movie. Addicts more than just physically dependent on their drugs, they are emotionally/mentally dependent on them and they use it to get away from the reality they don't want to face. I can remember someone asking why didn't Harry look after his mother when he found out she was popping pills? I would argue that if Harry could not bring himself to stop sniffing drugs how could he possibly persuade his mother to do so. As a matter of fact, after finding out that his mother was popping pills, Harry started to cry and took his on drugs to get away form the situation. Addicts feel as though they have no control over what causes them pain when they are sober and ironically, when the take their drugs they get a great sense of control, freedom, and are willing to do anything but in actuality, this supposed control is an illusion that they believe to be reality. This movie is true to the reality of a addict in the sense that those who do not find ways to cope with there addiction, end up like Marion, Harry, his mother and friend. In the end of the movie, we do not see no happiness.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-9154663223342497192008-12-02T15:27:00.000-08:002008-12-02T16:00:40.093-08:00Dealing with Loss and PainAs I read the four essays, I was intrigued and shocked. All of the stories painted a vivid mental image and I felt as though I was feeling what the authors were feeling. All of these essays dealt with loss in some kind of way. The essay I liked the most was Love of My Life by Strayed. Strayed didn't only have a very interesting story to tell but she made some interesting agruments. She argues that there is not an single, set way of going through grief and that it is not right to make it seem as all losses have the same emotional impact from one individual to the next. As a matter of fact Strayed, didn't go through the prescribed stages of grief she simply fucks to deal with her grief and say outright that she would replace her moms lost with someone else who wouldn't be missed as much as she misses her mom. In Beard's essay, I found the relationship Jo Ann had with the dog was a little bit odd. I don't know maybe because I am not a big fan of dogs. It seemed as though when I was reading her story, I found myself reading it over again because it was like she was going from an awake state to a dreaming state. I was shocked how Beard's story turned out, I had no idea. The Fishing story reminded me of a movie I once watched called The Family That Preys and I was the least interesting out of all the readings. All in all, I liked these four selections because they allowed me to see how different people with different experiences deal with loss. <div><div><div><br /></div></div></div>Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-35389841756732178582008-11-18T12:17:00.000-08:002008-11-18T13:09:17.728-08:00PUSHI must say that this book was a very compelling and graphic. As I was reading this book, I had a hard time convincing myself that this book was a work of fiction. Ironically, I found this book to be equally inspiring as it was unfortunate.<br /><br />Precious had alot of anger and pain boiling inside of her and it made her confused, aggressive, rude, and doubt her self-worth. And to read about her complete turn around when she started to go to the alternative school ,was a suprise as much as it was inspiring. After going through the terrible things in her life, she was more than committed to bettering herself and the life of her two children.<br /><br />What really bothered me was when she expressed hate for her father for raping her but at the same time found it to be pleasurable. This was a major conflicting feeling that made Precious confused and hate herself. Having two children by her father, one at twelve and the other at sixteen; being abused, neglected, and molested by her mother; and getting HIV from her father would drive me right over a cliff. Precious was a very strong girl.<br /><br />Sapphire did a great job transforming the words on the pages to an undeniable, vivid mental image and letting the reader walk in the shoes of Precious.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-47750090894908083362008-11-11T15:47:00.000-08:002008-11-11T16:16:10.597-08:00Songs of PainWell, I must say : I'm guilty of liking all those songs. As a listened to the variety of rap, rock,and hip hop selections, I found that there were reoccurring themes of violence, drug use, relationships, crushes, sex, and break-ups. I would say that this songs use pain and those themes to achieve popularity with teenagers and young adults, such as myself. During teenage and young adult years, the processes of finding oneself is achieved by heavily the music you listen to. Most of the music that caters to teenagers and young adults, are those that have the message of conflicting ideas ( such as "Come As You Go"), a sense of urgency, and the "Say and Do Anything attitude". All these messages are some of the obstacles teenagers and young adults face, so composing a song that has these messages gives them a feeling that there is something they can relate to when there is no possibilty to relate to parents or peers. <br /><br /><br />Four songs stuck out to me: Bleeding Love, You Oughta Know, F..k It, and F.U.R.B. These stuck with me because they were particularily graphic in their description, language, and images. In Bleeding Love, she describes her love by cutting open her veins and bleeding love;it is a very vivid and graphic image, to say the least. In You Oughta Know, there is explicit sexual behavior, profanities, and a frankness in the lyrics that quite honeslty might excite a teenager or young adult rather than make them cringe. The F..k It-F.U.R.B. rebuttal is quite hiliarioius. This back and forth promotes the idea of "getting even" and uses profanity in almost every line as well as sexual behavior. There is alot of emotion, anger, and pain jam-packed in all these songs that it is ALMOST hard to fathom.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-47689446292343908152008-10-21T16:05:00.000-07:002008-10-21T16:23:55.787-07:00The Wounded StorytellerAs a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">pre</span>-med student, I must tell you I really enjoyed this book. After reading this book, I had a completely new outlook on how I view the "wounded storyteller" and her story. I found myself thinking back to the stories of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">illnesses</span> that I have heard and how I reacted to it and I must tell you that I never thought about any of the things Frank's talks about. This is probably because I have never been ill to point were a needed surgery or any other serious treatment. But I must say going to the doctors is an robotic experience. I never really thought about what happens after an ill person is supposedly cured of their disease. I my mind, as naive and inhumane as it sounds it was just: well your cured, so now you can move on with you life. And I guess according to Frank, that is what our modern society tells us about illness.<br /><br /> As a doctor, I do not want to just poke at my patients and not listen to what they have to say about their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">experiences</span> with the illness, I want them to be an active part of their diagnoses. I think what Frank is getting at is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">that</span> we need a more inclusive medical system when it comes to patients and doctors. This approach would be beneficial for both doctors and patients. I wished that Frank talked more about is our society moving towards a more postmodern one and if so what has been done to achieve this type of society.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-20284847476145923442008-10-21T15:00:00.000-07:002008-10-21T16:05:24.073-07:00The Ghosts of Abu GhraibAfter watching this movie, I was in shock, angry and agitated at what I saw. And as I observed the reactions of others around me, I also saw the same or similar reactions. There were a lot of things that just stuck with me after watching this movie.<br />The US government justified their "any means necessary" torture policy by asserting that the captured where not prisoners of war but unlawful combatants. And since the Al-Qaeada did not abide by the rules of the Geneva convention, it was seen as okay to treat them as criminals. However, two wrongs do not make a right. Just because these terrorist groups are not following these rules,does it mean that the U.S. doesn't follow these rules because these terrorist are not? No, The United States is known to advocate for human rights and to dismiss the rules of the Geneva Convention when dealing with this alleged terrorist puts us in the same category as them. This goes along with the military keeping the prisoners wife and children in the prison to get information. That is just inhumane and tells the rest of the world that this is what we do as Americans. <br />Some of the things that the prisoners went through was unbearable and caused more psychological and emotional pain than physical pain. And what is even more unfortunate, is that most if not all of these prisoner had no information that would be helpful to the military. These individuals will be scared for life for no reason at all. The "curing" of mental or emotional or psychological pain is far more difficult than curing physical pain. With that in mind, I get help but be frustrated and angry at that one female soldier that kept on justifying her reasons for taking those humiliating pictures. I almost felt like she did not regret taking those pictures expect that she served some time. <br /><br />What also bothered me was the fact that the lower-ranking officers were punished, but the high-ranking officials like General Miller and Secretary of State Rumsfield were not. The lower-ranking officers were pretty much used as scapegoats for Abu Ghraib and I believe that in order to show that this kind of despicable behavior should not and will not be allowed those high-ranking officers should be held accountable and punished. They were the ones who were the mastermind of this whole operation, not the low-ranking officers who got punished for what they were told to do. <br />Many would argue that they would never inflict such inhumane torture to prisoners if they were told to do so by a high-ranking official, but can we really say what we would do in a situation such as that of Abu Ghraib? Can we say that we will not act in the same way as the prison guards did? Well, when we are angry, afraid, and feel threatened do we do? I am by no means justifying what was done, I am just contemplating what would have made this soldiers go along with everything.<br /> The question that still remains to be answered: should pain or torture be used to for social or political ends? <br /><br />I guess my answer to this question is it depends on the situation. And as easy as it is to answer this question in typing the same is not true in reality. If we think about, our society as well as many others use pain (emotional, psychological, physical, mental, etc) as way to keep order and peace. Is it the type of pain used to torture someone that makes the difference in whether this torture should be allowed or not? If so, how would one categorize capital punishment???? Is is a form of torture? If so should it be allowed?Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-91489183714884188532008-10-07T15:29:00.000-07:002008-10-07T16:02:02.540-07:00The 9/11 Report: A Graphic AdaptationI want to start off by saying this graphic representation of the 9/11 commissioners report was excellent in that it was a short and to the point in covering the major findings of the commission and explaining them to the average person. It has an appeal that reading a lengthy text does not have but yet it is quite informative.<br /><br />After reading this book, I found out the inner details of incidents related to 9/11 that I was not aware of before. The happenings of 9/11 could have been prevented if our government and its agencies took serious and extended action in deterring <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Osama</span> Bin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ladin</span> and his terrorist regime. What really bothered me is the fact that there was no sharing of crucial information between the FBI and the Justice Department that could have prevented 9/11 altogether or lessened the colossal effects of it. These officials who participated in the withholding of information did not have the American people's safety from pain and suffering as a priority. From Bin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ladin's</span> public declaration of his intent to destroy American soldiers as well as civilians, the 1993 basement bombing of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">WTC</span>, the USS ship bombing and countless other incidents that occurred before 9/11, our government should have had ample motivation or proof to take action and improve the nation's counter-terrorism plan.<br /><br />What is so sad and shameful, is that once 9/11 occurred everything changed- new policies to better protect American citizens and communication between the FBI and Justice Dept happened. Unfortunately, the happenings of 9/11 goes to prove the fact that we are more affected by pain that directly affects us as oppose to the "far-away" pain. It took mass destruction and pain in our land to make it very clear how important homeland security is. Pain that is near and dear has this great power to move us to action.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-42732530751411374002008-09-30T15:53:00.000-07:002008-09-30T16:12:26.689-07:00Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless MindAfter watching this movie, I asked my self the seemingly simple question: If I could erase memories that caused pain,would I do it? Honestly after watching the movie, I can't say I would. If your were to ask me this question before I watched this movie, I would have an infinitely long list of memories of pain that I would love to erase. I have come to the realization why the memories of pain are so important. Those memories of pain no matter how painful they are teach us a lesson, makes us stronger, and makes us wiser. The memories of pain provides us with the ability to judge what is pleasurable. Without darkness you are unable to appreciate light the same goes with pain and pleasure, without pain you are unable to appreciate pleasure. Reliving or reprogramming our experiences and thus our memory may not work as the movie clearly shows us- customers would come in and erase a memory many times but somehow,someway it always seem to happen the same way.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-25236693607950165252008-09-30T14:53:00.000-07:002008-09-30T15:47:12.510-07:00Susan Sontag's: Regarding the Pain of OthersI really enjoyed reading this book. Sontag explores how images of war affect people. Do these images inspire us to take action in stopping war or not? In the beginning of her book, Sontag praises the power of photos/images in saying that they are objective and have a point of view. Later on, she describes incidents where photographers have staged photographs so that they have a certain look and affect. To often than not I am moved by the images of war or other atrocities but after reading Sontag's book, I have become more critical of photographs of war. Photographs are very powerful tools used to show the atrocities of war but at the same time they can also be powerful weapons if they they are staged. At one point Sontag asserts that altering images and staging them for the camera seems to be decreasing but i feel as though the opposite is true.The power that a photograph holds is that it does not have to be taken by a well-trained photographer and can still be credible or in light of the previous, even more credible.<br /><br />Something else I found interesting was how viewing images of war changed depending if the war was something that was near or far. Those who are viewing images of war that are far away and not affecting them are prone to "sympathize' by looking at the image and feeling a sense of sorrow and then moving on if you will. However, when the war or atrocity is happening at home, they are more prone to have a stronger reaction than just acknowlegement. And sometimes may find it hard to look at these images. I belive it is human nature to have a stronger reaction to things that have a possibility of affecting us as oppose to things that do not have that possibility. So when viewing images of war in far away places one can sympathize with the suffering or just be amazed/intrigued by the carnage(aided by the constant bombardment of the images war,crime, and carnage).<br /><br /> The only criticism I have for Sontag is that she does not include any of the photographs she uses as examples and I feel as though it would have definitely helped to have them so that we can see the connections she is making.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2354528243971047675.post-6000507836513235182008-09-16T16:14:00.000-07:002008-09-16T16:27:55.514-07:00Pain: The Science of SufferingI was fascinated by how comprehensive the concept of pain is. The first couple of chapters really didn't interest me but the others that followed really sparked interest. But the one thing I found missing that I really wanted Wall to touch on more was emotional or mental pain and how that affects our perception of physical pain. We all experience pain but according to Wall, our pereception and intesensity of pain differs by many factors that are not genetic or physical if you will. Wall talks about this in postoperative pain and how medical personell need to realize that there is no such a thing as "standard pain" and must treat each patient indivually when it comes to pain. The problem with that is how exactly will medical facilities and the people that work for them apply this new way of thinking about pain. Another thing that reall caught my attention in his book is how animals below humans react to pain and the reasearch conducted. This topic should be explored more.Overall, I enjoyed the this book.Mademoiselle R.B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14941560747010663496noreply@blogger.com0