Extra Credit: Alexander the Great to the so-called Islamix State

I learned so much going to the lectures that Shadman Bashir gave. I learned so much information about the regions and the history of where it all began. Their ways are so much different then the way we do things in the U.S. and other places are just as different as well. The people worship a different God, or Gods, and are very strict on their religion. I never knew that they had to pray a certain amount of times a day to their God no matter where they are. In America, we can pray whenever we want, but some people prefer to do it in private because others might judge them for their religion.

Also, when 9/11 happened, the ones getting revenge felt that when they got the job done that they would automatically go to heaven and meet their God. From their point of view, they feel what they did was heroic and they will be remembered forever in their country. It's crazy to think they thought killing innocent people was heroic and would bring them honor after they crashed those planes. All Americans know that they was a terrible thing and they will not go to heaven because it was such a horrific thing. But then again, if I was of their descent, I would like at it from a different point of view and think what they did was honorable.

I thought overall it was a great lecture and he answered a lot of questions that he felt were the reasons certain things happened. This topic was something I would always hear about in school, but I always wanted to know more. I'm glad I got to hear it from his perspective and I got a better understanding of the reasons of why they do certain things and live the way they live.

Final

Social media as we all know can be a good place and a very bad place. We here a lot about bad things that happen on social and the things people say to each other which can be very horrible. I think social media desensitizes because it's there to spread news and entertainment. Social media allows us to stay connected with family, friends, things going on around the world, and even celebrities. All things are not there to bring people down or make people feel bad about themselves. The users on these networks are the ones that bring the bad to social media because they say bad things about others and just do negative things on there. We can't stop all the idiots that say stupid stuff on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook from saying something stupid, but I feel there are more people who are positive and make social media very positive.

I think compassion can displace shame by people thinking about what they say before they post it. Some people say dumb stuff and then that one post causes controversy and that person ends up regretting what they said. People for some reason feel so tough saying things on social media that they would never ever say in person to anyone. Some people just have that negative mindset when they go on social media and just want to bring that person down. People just need to think twice before they post something or comment on something because it just might turn out bad for them.

I don't think I can make a change as far as trying to stop cyber bullying or internet shaming because it takes a group to make a change. I feel like if I have other people behind me that want to make a change then it is very possible to try and stop these horrible things going on on social media. I do stay away from commenting or posting negative things on my social media and keeping things positive because the internet is not the place to discuss those type of things.

On The Media #2

Women have been waiting a long time for something like a pill to make their sexual experiences more fun for them. Just like men have Viagra, women wanted something that could help them get more aroused in bed. The FDA approved a pill called Flibaserin, but sold under the name Addyi. It is a medication approved for the treatment of pre-menopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. It is said to do a lot for women when they are wanting sex from their significant other and increase their sexual desire. Just like a lot of experiments that start off, this pill had some problems of its own.


A lot of pills or medicine people take today have some kind of side effect. It could be a few or a whole lot of side effects after you take the pill. With Flibaserin, some side effects that occurred were dizziness, nausea, fatigue, sleepiness, and trouble sleeping. No woman wants these things to occur when they are taking the pill for one thing and one thing only. I think the people can be very dangerous for women because it could affect what they do everyday, their body process, and their hormonal cycle. If the FDA was to not approve of this pill, people would have said that that is sexist. Women just want to have the same sexual experience as men do when they take Viagra. In my opinion, I just feel like women get bored with their partner and want to try something new with their significant other or with someone else. Studies show that women are more sexually frustrated then men by a big margin. Women are sexually frustrated 47% of the time while men are only sexually frustrated 31% of the time. They have done things to the pill which have made it more safer for women, but I still think it can be dangerous for women if they take it.

Automatic Attitudinal Response

Throughout the semester we have talked about quite a few interesting topics in our blogs and in the classroom that we all have had different opinions on. It took me a little while to find something to talk about in this post because we've talked about racism, religion, privacy, and a lot of political discussions. I feel like in all my posts I never really looked at the other side or from another person's perspective on how they see it. Not only myself, but I feel a lot of people in the class this semester posted from their perspective or research they found on the topic.

When we talked about racism at the beginning of the semester, I remember Eric asked if I believe if racism is still alive and I answered no. I don't know why I answered no, but I don't think I looked at the big picture of it. Racism still exists in this world and it really is sad. I think I was looking at that from my perspective because I don't know anyone in my life that is racist or has a problem with me because I am black. What I should've done was look at it from other people's perspective and what is going on in the world today with the black lives matter movement and everything going on with cops killing black people.

Not only did we have a great conversation on racism, but we also talked about religion. People are going to have different perspectives on this topic because everyone comes from a different background or were raised differently. The majority of people in Utah are Mormon and that was a different experience for me when I came to Dixie last year. I remember two missionaries used to come talk to me about the book of Mormon with me and wanted me to convert. Although it was interesting learning a new religion, I was not ready to just convert to a religion I had just learned about. I kind of felt like it was being forced on me to get baptized and convert to being a Mormon. What I'm trying to say is everyone is going to practice religion they want or what they were raised on. Religion is not something that people can argue about because everyone is going to have an opinion on it, but it will be a conversation talked about for a very long time.

Democracy 2.0

Democracy is a system of government in which all people of a state or polity are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives or to a parliament or assembly. The U.S. has been using this system for many years now and many people think it is the best way to handle things. The government goes through the people to have them vote for many different positions in office for the city, state, and the president of the United States. Other countries use different systems to run their country and some are good and others are bad. The question though is democracy the best system to operate a country?

Some people believe that democracy is a good system, but don't believe the U.S. is doing a great job right now of doing that. Their are a lot of things the government doesn't tell the people and if they do they make it seem like it is not a big deal. The government doesn't want the people to panic about things they are doing in the country and around the world. If democracy is for the people then why does the government hide these things from us? A lot of the things we see on the news is not very relevant and they are not showing the important things going on in the country. Elections are a big deal right now and they show little news of what is going on in politics. These are things we need to see in the news so we know what is going on and who might be running our country very soon.

Another reason why people don't think the U.S. is doing a great job with democracy is because they feel like we are being ran by a dictator. People are going to say whatever they want about Obama, but he actually did some good things in his 2 terms as president. The reason people think it feels like a dictatorship is because the government doesn't tell us everything we should know. They feed the people a lot of lies just to keep us calm and make some people believe the things they say. The people in the elections running for president feed us lies also. They say they will do all these things in office, but will most likely not be able to do them. They tell us this just so they could get votes in different states. The government has been accused of doing a lot of very bad things, but they will continue to do whatever they want. Democracy is a great system for any country, but is the U.S. really a democracy?

Religion 3.0

All around the world their are so many different religions that people believe in and practice. Many different cultures believe in on God or many Gods and practice different things in that religion. Some of the more popular religions that people are familiar with are Christians, Jewish people, Catholics, Buddhists, and Mormons. A lot of these religions are different because they all have different beliefs about the world and how it was created, they all praise different Gods, and have different ways of showing how they want to praise their God.

Most of the time, people are really not comfortable talking their religion with other people unless they are talking about it with people who practice the same thing. It is something that people take very seriously and want their family to learn so they can pass it on to the next generation. As kids, religion is put into the lives of children and they don't really know what is going on until later in their life. Sometimes, when they get older they may or may not carry the religion to practice those beliefs. In my opinion, I think it sucks when religion is forced upon people at a young age because they don't know what it is and it will be hard for them to understand it. I think they should be able to choose what religion they want to practice when they get older because they'll be able to understand it better and they should be able to make that decision for themselves. It shouldn't be the other way around where they have to practice a religion just because their family practices that religion.

I think religion is one of the things that no one can ever argue or debate about. No one should be able to tell someone else that they cant practice that religion or praise this God because they are not practicing the same religion as them. Not everyone in the world is going to have the same beliefs as everyone else and new religions are going to be created and expanding everyday for a long time. For example, I am a Christian and I have friends that are Catholic. I'm not telling them that they shouldn't believe in that religion just because I'm Christian and have a different belief. Just like their are different ethnicities in the world their are different religions and I'm not going to judge anyone else just because of what they look like or what religion they practice.

On The Media

The Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus flavivirus. It is transmitted by day-time active mosquitoes. I've always hated mosquitoes because they would always bug me when I was outside playing or just whenever I'm outside. It mostly occurs around Africa, Asia, and along the equatorial belt. Another way they said it can be spread is by sexual activity. A man become ill two weeks of returning from around the Zika virus and he had had sexual intercourse at that time as well. This would be very scary to me if it happened to me and it should be taken very seriously. The virus can cause little to mild symptoms. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain, or red eyes. The virus stays in the persons system for days, a week, or a little longer. A few ways the virus can be treated is by getting a lot of rest and drinking a lot of fluids. It can't be prevented and there is no specific medicine for the virus. It is something that scientists and doctors are trying to find a cure for so it doesn't happen as often or can be prevented.


Also, pregnant women have been found to have caught it from sexual activity as well. The virus could cross the placenta and cause a mother to child infection. They found that in two pregnant women and the babies died within 20 hours of birth. Now doctors are having them tested before they continue on with their birth plan so they nothing bad happens. It is also important that the couples use condoms the correct way so no sexually transmitted diseases are transferred. I think this virus can be treated and sooner or later scientists will start treating it to patients.

Privacy 2.0

In this day of age where technology is outstanding, I don't think anything is very private anymore. Everything we do or say is being watched by the government, on the internet, or by people that are right next to you. It is very hard to keep things private with the way things are now a days. I feel like celebrities have it the hardest because they have the paparazzi around them all the time taking pictures of them and asking them questions. They cant even go out to eat with their family or go to the mall to shop for things they want. As soon as they become famous, a lot of things change for them and privacy is one of the biggest things that change for them. Also, the president of the United States doesn't have much privacy. Anything he says or does could affect the way people look at him because he is on the highest platform. Him and his family are always surrounded by body guards and they aren't really able to do much without being watched over. I guess that's the price of those things when you're in the spotlight all the time.

Not only do celebrities or the president not get much privacy, but also regular people around the world are being watched. Everything we say or do is being listened to by the government. They are trying to keep a better eye on the people to make sure nothing bad is going on. They listen to our conversations when we talk on the phone and see what the conversation is about. It's crazy how much they can do and they don't even tell this stuff to the people. The government even has access to our text messages and the pictures we send to people. Also, they check peoples social media to see what people are talking about and putting on there. Privacy in my opinion, is very non existent at this point because technology is out of this world and it will continue to grow.

Informed 2.0

Social media is at an all time high right now. Social media is basically used for everything we do everyday. We use it to check the weather, watch sports, look up information, and other things as well. There are different social media sites we use to communicate with others like Twitter and Facebook. People go on there to post their own opinions on what is going on in the world and what they feel should be done. Not everyone is going to agree with that person on what they say, so they could reply back to them with what they feel should be done. Social media is universal and it is a gift and a curse.

Social media can be a good thing at times because we can use it to communicate to friends and family that we don't get to see everyday. People are able to reach out to them and talk to them about what has been going on in their life. I personally keep up with my family members on Facebook and Instagram and talk to them as much as I can. I also keep up with my friends on social media since I'm in a different state. Twitter and Instagram are the main sites I can communicate with them on and I always try to keep it positive with them when we talk. Celebrities use social media to communicate with fans and promote things that they be participating in. Social media can be used for all different types of things to promote different advertisements.

Social media can also be a curse. Social media is a place where a lot of cyber bulling takes place and it leads people to suicide. Some of the things people say on there really hurt others feelings. People are attacked on social media because of the things they post and it makes them feel bad about themselves. Another reason why social media can be bad sometimes is because how the media talks bad about celebrities. One bad story about that person can make others think badly of them. Cyber bullying is a horrible thing and makes other do horrible things to themselves.

Social media can be good and bad, but it is one of the most popular things around the world. Many different people use social media for different things. Young teenagers are the main ones who use social media on a daily basis. It is important for the younger generation to carry on a positive impression of social media so it is not used to attack people and make them feel bad. Social media will be around for a long time and it will continue to grow even bigger.

Well Informed 2.0 - Racism

Racism is a discussion talked about every day and it is very sad that it is still around in 2016. Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. This was a big problem back in the 40's, 50's, and even the 60's. A lot of things have changed over time, but we still deal with racism in different parts of the country. Black people are not the only ones being discriminated against. Many different ethnicities are being racially profiled every day for the way they look, dress, and the way they talk. It's really sad because we shouldn't judge that person off of what we see at first. We don't know what that person does for a living or what they go through everyday.

Another topic of racism that is being talked about a lot recently is police brutality. We have seen on the news many police officers killing black people for things that they might not have done, but they killed them anyways. A trend called #BlackLivesMatter has be circulating for the past 2 years and some people respond by saying that all lives matter not just black lives. I do believe that all lives matter and everyone should have the same rights, but right now we are seeing a lot of police brutality and them killing black people. In my opinion, I feel that racism is going to be around for a very long time. The U.S. has had a big change by giving minorities a lot more rights but we still talk about it today.