How can we stop the violence?

In the article "Aggression: The Impact Of Media Violence" by Sissela Bok she tells of the violent behaviour of people, be them children, adolesence or adults after they view programs that contain violence.

Bok tells of how the media can affect us, and in most cases it tends to be for the worse. Almost every day there seems to be some violence that takes place that finds its way onto the news, and for some who watch this clips start to have aggressive behaviour shortly after watching. There is no real way to prevent these aggressions other then to stop putting violent scences on the television. But then it doesn't allow for many ratings on the channels its broadcasting on.

Bok uses pathos in her work to get her point across about the violence that goes on in the world after media viewings, it is when she is directing the attention to the media that we instantly think of the news. She then goes on the say that after men viewed "violent pornography the levels of aggression toward women have been shown to go up". There is nothing appropriate about aggressive sex, and all the men walk away with is that its better to inflict pain onto someone ie: rape.

We all tune into the news, read news papers or use the internet to see what is going on in the world, but when we see anything to do with violence it becomes more clear that this world has nothing but violence and yet when we watch the news we see more of it. There has to be a way to prevent the media from broadcasting violence on television. I don't want any child to see what goes on in the world and have them believe that it is okay. They now have an "epidemic of children killing children".

Should we allow our children to see what is going on in the world? The violence that is all around us? Should they have to live in fear of getting killed by another child they're age? What has this world come to?

HELP! I NEED SOME BODY!!

In the lecture "Pandemic: My Country Is On Its Knees" by Stephen Lewis, he describes his travels to South Africa in the 1960s. Stephen speaks of how excited he was after stepping onto the soil; "the music, the energy, the kindness, the generosity"; everything about this newly independent country was exciting. It wasn't until Stephen travelled back to South Africa that he was shocked to see how much it had changed. South Africa wasn't "struggling under the weight of oppression, disease and dispair", it was thought that it would triumph over everything, however, it became "induced by Structural Adjustment Programs" and "Aids". Africa has been torn apart by this pandemic, the world needs to know what is truly going on, so that we can help those in desperate need of our help.

With many African doctors being "poeched" into going to the United Kingdom, it leaves little to no doctors around to take care of the sick. Stephen can only describe the hosiptals as a "picture right out of dante", 2 people per bed with someone underneath laying on the concrete floor. They have to find anyone to give out the antiretroviral drug and with only one nurse on the floor for 10 hours the situation is "impossible".

Stephen goes on to say that some help is being done from groups like the PMTCT and MSF, but Africa is still in need of more help. Stephen is opening our eyes to what is going on to make us realize that everyone is capable of helping, so why isn't more being done?

What can I do to help? And what are you willing to do to help?

How your life and times have changed

Margaret Atwood a Canadian born Author who has recieved many awards and honourary degrees. She is a poet, essayist, and a critic among other great attributes. Her views on other cultures are insightful and makes you think about your role in the world. It is in her work that we find humour and truth.

In the story, "Letters to America" by Margaret Atwood, she speaks of her affection towards her memories of the American culture. Then she starts to speak of the negative effects that have happened, such as the war in Iraq and the ever consuming debt. Its clear that everything that has happened in America has its repercussions on Canadians, but the world has changed its views on how they view Americans.

Atwood expresses her disappointment of the downfall of the American culture. She makes a point of stating that "some of us used to be you; some of us wanted to be you; and some of you used to be us". We are neighbours as makes sure to note that even in history we were lumped together with Americans. Its clear that the Atwood disagrees with the war in Iraq the need to "rampage, many lesser plants and animals" in the way of conquering another place after a great devistation. The amount of money the Americans have spent on military equipment has caused them to go into debt, do they need to spend at an alarming rate? At the rate they are going they won't be able to "produce anything".

It is a "letter to Americans", but its a wake up call to Canadians, we've followed under their leadership, helped them in times of hardship, and when the time comes we will go straight down the "plughole" with them.

What would Americans think if we stopped helping them in their ill-thoughout plans?

About me :p

Hey,

My name is Jeena and welcome to my blog. Alot of my friends call me JeanBean hence the title. I am 23 years old and work at Butchart Gardens in the Coffee Shop. I am a huge animal lover...and because I am my family and I have rescued a dog, 1 cat from a dumpster after she was shot by a pellet gun, 2 from the SPCA, and 4 we brought in before winter hit when they were kittens as we didn't want to see the poor things freeze.

I enjoy walks, reading books and can often be found doing sudoku games to pass the time. I'm not a big fan of watching tv but on the odd occasions I will sit down and watch movies.

Thats about all there is to me.