Almost all of us grow up with fond memories of visiting the zoo with our family or friends.  But all those times have we ever thought of  where the animals are from? While the zoo is believed to be the only place where you can see the amazing animals up close, I have a very different perspective when it comes to the purpose of zoos and why they exist.

When I was young, I had no idea what zoos are for. Maybe it’s because I have only been there once. But even so, I am positive that I have no intention on paying it another visit. While it is a universal belief that animals are protected, displayed, shown to the public and confined within enclosures in zoos, I still think there is something wrong with the idea of zoos and keeping animals in enclosures.

This week’s Humanities article talks about a zoo in the United States named St. Louis and it’s bitter decision of letting some species die in order to save other species. When I first read the article’s title, which is “To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die”, I was really surprised that no thought occurred in my mind. I wasn’t shocked nor was I crying desperately. I didn’t now how to feel about it.

In my opinion putting an animal in a zoo is very cruel. I honestly think zoos do no good to the animals and the world. Animals need freedom and wildlife. They don’t need visitors coming in and looking at them. Keeping animals in enclosures is certainly an unacceptable thing to do too. To me, zoos aren’t the natural habitats animals can live in. No matter what people do, they will never be. Watching an animal in a zoo is never the same as watching an animal in the wild. The wild is where animals belong. Why would we take them away from their homes so they can be put in enclosures and displayed for people to see?

Also, I have always wondered if the money people pay to visit the zoos are actually used to help the animals and conserve the endangered species. I somewhat think the purposes of zoos also include gaining money, not for the benefits of the animals, but for the people in charge of the zoos.

Animals are dying. We need to do something about it. And zoos, to me, are never the solutions for it.

Image from city-data.com

Image by ki-media.blogspot.com

About two weeks ago a dedicated Cambodian activist was shot when he was collecting evidence of illegal logging and deforestation. His name was Chut Wutty, and he was a man who dared to stand up against power for his people, his very own country.

When I first read the article, I couldn’t stop thinking about how brave and mighty Mr.Chut Wutty was. After seeing the scale of deforestation in Cambodia, he knew he had to do something and so he did, he started recording data, confiscating chain saws and amassing evidence to bring up a large lawsuit to the government. But, according to the article, the government said that it was protecting its land- for the sake of its natural resources, and for the sake of the indigenous people in those protected areas, of which, I find it hard to agree and believe.

First of all, I don’t get how the government is ”protecting” its land by letting companies step in and start removing all the trees, installing huge illicit logging operations. Second, they are obviously ignoring the fact that what they are doing is going to leave huge impacts on Cambodian citizens who live around and depend on the forest. Just consider this: How is a fish going to survive in fish tank when you take away all the water from it?

But wait, that’s not all. Not only is the government lying about how it’s protecting its people and land, it is also not taking any responsibility for any of this when it’s obvious enough that the government is backing up the companies who are taking all the oxygen and resources away from the Cambodian people, putting their lives at risk.

In my opinion, I think the murder or Mr. Chut Wutty is just simply horrible and tragic. The Cambodian people have lost an incredibly brave and inspirational man who died fighting against unjust development and exploitation across the country. And I think Mr.Chut Wutty should be honored for what he had done to the Cambodia and its people since I have always believed that most activists often receive little recognition and support for their work and what they have contributed to their country, the world.

Image by culturalsurvival.org

Just last week, the Bangladeshi capital’s largest slum has been demolished. And what usually happens when a slum is destroyed? I guess it’s pretty obvious. Not only do families lose their houses and shelters, they also live in the open without sufficient food, water and sanitation. But that part wasn’t the only part that left me somewhat speechless and confused with many thoughts running through my mind. It was the part that revealed who is responsible for all of this. And shockingly, it is the government, who uprooted them from their houses.

In my point of view, I think the government did a great job at making sure the slum dwellers wouldn’t panic when the bulldozers arrive. They were informed before-hand that everything 10 feet from the road were to be removed so they have prepared accordingly, moving all of their stuffs away. Some even said they had moved their stocks over 50 feet from the road, and still ended up having everything they owned being razed away.

While reading the article I was wondering whether Dhaka’s government is actually doing their jobs. Honestly, I don’t think they are. I guess I have always thought the government is supposed to provide the citizens a system in which they can benefit from many things such as the freedom of religion, protection, property, law, business, economic so on and so on. I have never believed that it is acceptable of them to uproot their citizens from their homes and lives, even if they did live on government land, I still think it is a very unacceptable thing to do, if not, sadly ferocious as well.

I found it really hard to predict what will happen to the people. Will they be provided with alternative housing from the government? Will they be able to take back what they have lost? Will the be paid? Will the government tell them what the land they lived on will be used for?

I don’t know. I doubt they will.

“We are not criminals, but people working hard to earn a living and provide for our families,” Mofizul Islam, a slum dweller said.

And I absolutely, without any single doubt, agree with him.

I believe they have done nothing wrong to deserve what has happened to them. They didn’t steal the land from the government. They needed a place to live. The government should have known better that it is one of their jobs to make sure their citizens are provided with safe homes and other needs. That they are ought to help those citizens as much as possible, in every way they can. Because after all, what really is the purpose of the government?

And if they’re going to take away other people’s houses and shelters, they have got to at least make sure the citizens are provided with enough proper food and other needs. Because when their houses and belongings are taken away from them, not only do they lack proper housing and supplies, their business are also destroyed and their lives are immediately endangered, leaving them with barely any chance of making a living and feeding their families, let alone surviving on this planet.

Image by Shahidul

Annotated Link

Perfection is a funny person. And maybe funny isn’t the right word to describe her, but I still think she has a pretty funny personality for she is always worrying about all sorts of things, as if the world is going to end in the next five minutes.

Perfection usually set a lot of standards for herself, and sometimes, if not all the times, they always seem out of reach. But at the end of the day, I always find myself questioning her ability to stick with a task for so long after everyone has given up on it. Maybe that’s what she has in common with Persistence, a best friend of hers.

Perfection has tons of hobbies. They are the things she never lacks. And it just occurs to me that none of her hobbies can be classified as “pointless” or better yet, “useless”. I guess that pretty much explains why she loves to do things with obvious purposes.

Perfection has always been known for her competitive personality. Some people like her for the fact that she is always willing to sacrifice her time to work on a project or an assignment with her best effort. Some people don’t, saying how her expectations of everything are so great they end up becoming unrealistic. That once left me wondering what would happen if Perfection and Worry were to live in the same household for a little while. Chances are, they would become best friends for life.

Perfection and Failure never got along. They are like magnets that repel when they are put anywhere near each other. Back in the past they used to quarrel a lot. Perfection would argue how Failure never takes anything seriously, especially his class works. Failure, in the other hand, would always struggle finding the right argument to say against her. Every so often he would just back down and let Perfection gives him a lecture about how to aim at being the best in what he does.

There’s one thing I find really special about Perfection and it is how she never feels like she’s good enough, even after spending a ridiculous amount of time working on getting good grades and ideal inner self. She usually judge herself upon others and what they do. She once told me she that the “unworthy feeling” sickness has ran in her family for ages. I guess I have never been really sure if it is a good thing or not. But judging on how she always demand the best of everything, I don’t think it is.

Perfection’s favorite color is Pink. And if she were to win a contest, she’d won the first place for never, ever, being happy enough.

Image by combinesboth.blogspot.com

Shocked. Dazed. Stunned. Astonished.

These are the words I would use to describe my first reaction upon hearing about this particular subject in Humanities class. It’s just, WOW.

Strangely enough, I have never thought technology would change at such a rapid rate. Recently we have been introduced to the highly consumed smart phones, tablets or inventions such as the Blackberries, the iPhones, the iPods, iPads, the Kindles, Androids, Samsung Galaxy tabs, Square’s inch-tall card readers and now, the famous Google says it is currently working on its augmented reality eyeglasses that are going to be capable of interacting with what you’re seeing, act as a day planner, turn-by-turn navigation system, camera, view the weather, send text messages, and do much of what a smartphone can do.

Wait. You can’t believe it? So do I.

-

Actually, when I first watched the video showing off  the upcoming futuristic specs on the article we are introduced to in Humanities class, I was in fact really, really excited and curious. I mean, what’s there not to be excited or curious about? The glasses are believed to be both voice-controlled and view-controlled. Even the sound of it makes the whole thing seems.. magical? - But after a while, the whole magical thing doesn’t seem magical anymore. Not only does it seem out of reach (not that I’m questioning Google’s abilities), it also seems to me that there are, in fact, some negative aspects of it.

In the video, the glasses are presented with many uses…

• If you see a closed subway stop, the glasses could tell you why it’s closed and give you an alternate route.
• If you see a book you like, you could get book reviews and (controversially) prices from other retailers.
• If you’re waiting for your friend, your glasses could show you where he is, exactly, and how far away he is from you.

..I don’t know about you but why does the third one seem somewhat dangerous and weird to me? Isn’t it similar to stalking in a way? Which is a pretty creepy thing to do?

Anyway, let’s get back to the point.

After knowing some of the uses presented, I started to think about how people are likely going to be more dependent on technology, which, to me, isn’t a good thing at all. People will forget how it feels like to complete those tasks without the glasses. People will stop meeting other people in real life because they can already see them with the glasses. People will never have to ask for directions or ways anymore because the glasses have already taken care of that. And people, someday, will eventually be discouraged to think because, face it, there is really no point of thinking when you can just ask the glasses to do things for you isn’t it?

Last but not least, another thing that worries me is that people might turn out to become lazy.

To sum up, technology have already impacted the world we have today. So yes, technology can be great.  It can be really useful and beneficial. But, it can also be unsafe, insecure or in this case, harmful. I’m just really scared that this “giant step in modern technology” is going to affect the world negatively one day.

On a side note, I think the glasses actually make people who wear them look no different from controlled, human-like robots.

But this is just my point of view. What do you think?

Image by The New York Times

Annotated Link

How did you come up with the ideas for your writing assignment?

I came up with ideas for my writing by looking at Ruth Gendler’s examples and reflecting on my personal experience. I chose the two qualities Fear and Acceptance because I felt really comfortable with them. I also believe that I will only be able to describe a particular subject or explain my point of view of it once I’ve been through it or once I know how it feels like. That’s pretty much how I came up with the ideas for my writing. I also searched for the qualities’ definitions to expand my points of view.

What problems or challenges did you encounter in this writing?

Well, I wasn’t really sure if readers would understand my feelings of the two qualities. Sometimes I felt like I’ve made the wrong decisions and that I need to redo everything all over again, but at the end of the day, I always came back to the original ones.  Also, I wasn’t familiar with this type of writing (personification) so it was a challenging task to me.

What goals did you set for yourself with this writing assignment?

For this writing assignment, the first goal I set for myself was to focus and review the qualities whenever I’m free so I could get a better , more vivid look at it when I’m writing. My second goal was to stay true to my feelings as they were the important factors of this assignment.

If you were to start this assignment over, what would you do differently

If I were to start this assignment over, I would spend more time working on it because I was kind of rushing through it and I didn’t really make sure that my final draft was done with my best effort. I would also explain/give more information to back up some of the details I wrote for the qualities as I thought they weren’t totally clear. And lastly, I would make sure I manage my time well so I don’t end up forgetting about it and having to do it overnight.

Image by ariseventures.ne

Fear likes to travel more than anything. She can bring you everywhere around the world but you will always end up where you started. She’s quiet, sneaky and nobody knows where she lives even though they always see her around. She only seems to appear when someone isn’t feeling well or is being especially quiet. Somebody once spread a rumor that she almost killed Bravery with her dark,deep and mysterious eyes because she hates him for being so courageous and not deterred by any danger or pain. She never talked about what happened and her eyes would dart to the floor when somebody asks her about it.

No one likes Fear. They say she looks like a ghost who has lost hope. She shakes and shivers whenever someone talks about Challenge. She would sometimes act all terrified and scared then blames the weather for making her uneasy.

She gets along pretty well with Deceit and she always seem to be murmuring something to herself. I once heard her saying: “ I can’t do it, I can’t do it” continuously and in her eyes I saw something really abnormal. Nobody knows why she despises adventures and parties so much.

When you see her, don’t be thrilled at how calm and cool she may look. You will never know when she might explode and start tearing things apart. She is also extremely unpredictable and is a master at guessing people’s weaknesses.

Try telling her to knock it off and stop living like the world is going to end soon. You will be surprised by how she might act.

http://lymeliving.blogspot.com/

(This type of acceptance is the feeling/the need of being accepted by our friends and the ones we love & the urge to be accepted for who we are and what we do )

Acceptance makes sure everyone agrees with her on every matter. She would freak out if someone disagree as she always try her best to make sure everyone thinks the same way she does. She really cares about what other people think of her. One bad rumor is spread and she would become all grumpy and suicidal.

Acceptance usually spend time alone by herself. She would tell everybody that she needs to figure things out and would appreciate it if they give her some space. Her appearance changes all the time. One day her hair is yellow and the next day it’s purple.

Her everlasting enemy is Disagreement. They have totally different personalities and she would do anything, including changing everything about her just to defeat him.

Some people like Acceptance for the fact that she would do anything to make other people happy while some people don’t. Some people try telling her to be more true to her feelings but she never listens. She likes to play with clay in her spare time.

Acceptance never really knew who her mother is. People have been saying that Friendship was the one who gave birth to her and left her just after she was born.

Kony Poem

Twenty-six years,

thirty thousand children abducted.

Twenty-six years,

two million people were raped, killed, mutilated.

We don’t know how much they had suffered,

how much struggle they had encountered.

Their destinies were like illusions,

deceptive, false, and loveless.

Their painful lives were reserved,

and they were never, ever at peace.

Joseph Kony,

he is the worst.

He is the man behind the LRA,

the Lord’s Resistance Army.

For years and years,

their cruel, brutal crimes remained unknown.

They were almost invisible, unidentified.

But now,

now that we know,

what is really there to offer?

Shall we stand here irresolute then?

Shall we be lost in inaction?

No,

no we shall not.

We shall not deceive ourselves.

It is time for us to stand up.

To show our care for the world,

the people crying for help.

It is our very responsibility,

to build the world we desire.

Donate for a cause.

Spread the message.

Sign the pledge.

Or just simply wear red.

Red for fearless,

for undefeatable,

for liberty,

for strength.

Red for we are not disarmed,

not backing down.

The war have just begun.

Join the argument.

Be a voice.

Make Kony Famous.

No Taxation Without Representation!

‘Why wouldn’t I ?’, is really the question to be asked.

We have respected the British like our brothers and treated them no different than how we treat our own people. Most of it was because we couldn’t see why we wouldn’t do so. We are all humans, we fought for the lands, and we started living together ever since.

The British said they’re going to protect us, we believed them. They said they’re going to help us rebuild the country, we trusted them. Days passed. Nothing has changed. Months after months we waited for the day we’re ought to celebrate our new, strong and united country. But as time flew, we’ve begun to realize the excruciating truth, the one we should have realized sooner, because what they have done to our country and our people, is not even a tiny bit identical to what they’ve said.

The British imposed taxes on our behalves. Why? They needed money to help pay their own debts.They taxed us on sugar and other goods. Why? So they could collect revenues from us. And as if they’re not satisfied enough, they even made us provide food, housing for their soldiers, and invented Acts that were just plain unreasonable. Their soldiers never stopped wandering around our places, leaving us no freedom, invading all of our rights.

“There is no longer any room for hope, “ Patrick Henry said. And he is right. We lost our hope the moment we trusted them. Our people have suffered enough. We have to let them know that they have got to stop what they are doing. Our people can’t stand it any longer.
“But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?” I believe not. This is the time. We can’t wait any longer. We can’t postpone. I can’t quit. I will fight.