Where have all the criminals gone?

When I first started reading this chapter the Communist dictator of Romania story about abortion made me sick to my stomach. I don't by any means agree with abortion, but making it illegal just to strengthen Romania by boosting its population is absolutely ridiculous. Him and his wife were very selfish for doing the things they did. If it were up to me I would have thrown them in jail for the rest of their lives instead of killing them. As I started reading about how the crime rate differed back in the 60's from today, I was extremely shocked. As I grew up, my parents always said when they were my age they never felt threatened or scared to wall down the streets by themselves. They always said the crime rate wasn't that bad back then. However, this chapter mentions that in the 60's violent crime went on a growth spurt, and during the 1990's which happens to be when I was born, crime fell by nearly 40%. So my parents were actually wrong. I would have never of thought crime rate was worse when my parents were growing up. As I read further into this chapter it began to be more and more difficult to read due to all of the percentages and numbers involved in all of the criminologists' predictions. I felt like every sentence was a math problem and it began to get harder to comprehend and put all of the pieces together. However, aside from all of the numbers, the chapter was interesting. I learned a lot about crime rates within the last 50 years that I would have never of imagined to be true.

Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?

This chapter was very interesting to me and definitely held my attention. Their was many things I learned from this chapter that I never knew about. For instance, how huge crack gangs could be, or how much money they really make. I was flabbergasted when I read how much money each gang member makes but particularly the leader. It was interesting to find out how a crack dealers job, or profession in this case, works. Even though crack dealing is the most dangerous job in America, some people still devote all of their time into it and it blows my mind. However, what frustrated me the most throughout this chapter was how the criminals used their families lack of education and motivation to make a better life for themselves for a reason to go out on the streets and sell drugs. I don't understand why people don't look at their families way of life and realize that isn't
what they want for themselves. On the other hand however, the money they bring in doing such a risky job clearly pays off in the end. But knowing that somewhere down the line you, or someone you are involved with is going to end up in prison should right then stop you in your tracks and understand that it probably isn't a good idea. Before I started reading this chapter, I thought it was going to be more about why drug dealers live with their parents, but the author surprisingly didn't go into much detail with this subject. However, I still enjoyed reading this chapter and it defintely gave me a whole new prospective on drug dealers.

Chapter two FREAKONOMICS

This chapter was very interesting to me. When i first started reading i thought it was going to be a hard reading to get through but I was actually very easy. I didn't know much about the Ku Klux Klan before i read this and it gave me a completely different view on them. I knew how big and world wide they were but i didn't know how intense this group actually was. The things they did made me sick to my stomach. Another thing i found very fascinating was their handshake and the question they would ask if they located a brethren in a strange town. However, my favorite part was how Stetson Kennedy basically destroyed the Klan in Atlanta with such a bright strategy. The fact that a man would go to meetings and attack the Klan by acting interested and discovering all of their top secrets is phenomenal. If it wasn't for people like him this society would have more groups like the KKK that would be destroying our towns.

Star Wars and America

To me, Star Wars and America was a very difficult reading. It was boring and I felt like I was being punished. (Sorry to those who picked this!) I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve never seen Star Wars, but after reading this I definitely have no desire to watch it. I felt like the writer basically summarized the entire movie into 2 pages and read too much into the film.

Deciphering I, Robot: Random thoughts from an evolving film reviewer

Not being a huge fan of sci-fi/fantasy films, and not seeing I, Robot, this reading wasn’t very interesting to me. What I did find a little interesting was how fascinated the writer gets about such movies. Even watching and thinking about movies for the past 12 years and still learning so much everyday and every time a new type of technology is invented, seems like an exciting job. The passion he has for every review he does is phenomenal. However, I can’t imagine getting ready to watch a movie in a theater and having to pay attention to so many elements, such as the writing, the music, lighting, camera angles, performances, film stock, effects, editing, etc. Being able to take note of all of that and still comprehend and enjoy a movie is very talented in my books.

The Sport taboo and Censoring Myself

In “The Sports Taboo,” I found it really interesting when the author said “The assumption is that the whole project of trying to get us to treat each other the same will be undermined if we don’t agree that under the skin we actually are the same.” I understand what he is trying to say, but how can we actually say we are all the same under the skin if records prove that black people and white people have different skills when it comes to sports? Is it all in our head? Do black people only run faster because they feel like they have to in order to keep their status quo? I don’t believe that is true, but some people might. I think different races are completely different in every way, sports included. All races have different specialties, and that’s just something all athletes need to accept.
“Censoring Myself” to me was a little bit difficult to read. I found it a little boring because I couldn’t really relate to it.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria

In “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria,” I felt like I could relate my childhood and adolescent stage to the reading. When I was in middle school I definitely caught on to the different racial cliques around me. It always seemed normal and the way things should be, because that’s how I learned. When I reached high school, one of the best friends I ever had was black. We had so much fun together and really enjoyed each other’s company. I never would have thought I would have a best friend who is black. I’m not racist, but our lifestyles were completely different. Our way of thinking, the way we spoke, and even the clothes we wore were diverse. But that didn’t stop us from being good friends, we accepted each other for who we were and didn’t try to change one another. But I can completely understand what the author says about blacks and whites because I’ve experienced it in school. In the cafeteria I would sit with all of my white friends, and the black people would sit with their black friends. That’s just the way things were and still are today. I don’t believe that will ever change.

Race and ethnicity

I thought this chapter was very interesting because it talked about race and ethnicity but didn't stereotype different nationalities in an offensive matter. The first thing that caught my eye was a sentence on the first page "Scientists believe that race is a social and not biological." I thought that was very interesting because it sounds so true. As i grew up and hung out with different nationalities or groups i found a change in the way i thought about things or how i handled situations accordingly. I felt like i had different characteristics when i was with different people. I didn't mean to get like that, but sometimes peoples personalities rub off on others without people even noticing.

Reading and writing about television

When i first started reading this chapter, the concept of every type of text being in our hands was a little bit confusing. I understood that anything being written or anything we read is considered a text, but i didn't really think about television being considered a text. I always thought of television as entertainment or a getaway from reality. It was interesting to read how the structure of television encourages passive viewing. The most intriguing paragraph i read in this chapter was "The audience pays for its free television." When i used to watch TV, i always wondered how the characters, authors, producers, etc make so much money. Learning that the advertisers pay for the commercials and then in turn choose which shows to broadcast was really interesting. Its funny how they know which commercials to play for the target audience, knowing that the ads gets passed on to us when we purchase items seen in the commercials.

How I got my name

Before my mother gave birth to me, her plan was to name me Danielle. Since she decided my siblings names, Chris, Brittany, and Jessica, my father didn't mind. However, the plans changed the morning she was giving birth to me. The umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and i almost did not make it. As the doctors saved me and my dad got a glance at his newborn, he knew he wanted to name me Dominique. I remember my mother always telling me that when the doctor put me into his arms he instantly knew that I was not going to be a Danielle. It is a very unique and different name and i absolutely love it.