week 9

1. Today’s dinner appeared to be just a regular sandwich consisting of ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomato on wheat bread. However, it was much more than that when you actually break it down and consider where it all came from. The main part of this sandwich, the ham, did not just come from the Fry’s deli. Instead it came from gentile pigs that roamed a farm in Indiana, feasting on nutritious slop and other things pumped into their veins. They were then transported to a slaughter house in Indiana, where they did everything for the last time, and were slaughtered. The chunks of ham were then sent to a packaging and distribution center in Kansas. From there they were sent to Fry’s, where two lucky slices found themselves on my ham and cheese sandwich. The next item on my sandwich was two slices of cheese. The cheese originated from cows at a California farm. The milk was taken from the cows and then sent to a place that specializes into turning milk into cheese. Once through the transformation process, in which milk solids are separated from the liquids, they are put in an area to complete the aging process. The process also included vitamins being added to the cheese and other precise slicing to turn it into the lovable cheese slices that sat comfortably on my sandwich. The other item on my sandwich was some lettuce. The lettuce came from a farm in Georgia, where lettuce heads were abundant. The lettuce was pumped full of water and the proper soil as well as tons of prolonged sun exposure to promote it’s growth. It was then ripped from the ground as well as many of it’s lettuce head friends and was harvested and packaged. It was sent here to the Arizona Frys’ supermarket, where it was purchased by me. It then was brutally butchered by my cutting knife and placed in my sandwich. The tomato was grown in South Carolina, and similar to the lettuce, was raised on sunlight, thousands of gallons of water, and plenty of fertilizer and pesticides. It too was harvested and packaged and then shipped here to Arizona to meet it’s demise. I guess I have never really considered all the effort and hardwork to put food on my plate. Each item has it’s own unique story as it’s been handled by all sorts of people, from all sorts of places, with all sorts of stories. It’s actually pretty cool when you think of it this way. The only thing I wish I hadn’t learned was the exact processes that it takes for some of this food to get here, and how it is made. Some foods that are “natural” are actually loaded with all sorts of junk that really shouldn’t be consumed any living organism. Sometimes however, we must sacrifice what is “natural” for what is convenient.

Blog 7 week 8 global warming

Today we are faced with many issues. With two unpopular wars going on as well as a struggling economy where a dollar is no longer the dollar it used to be, many of us find ourselves struggling to make it day to day. However there is another pressing problem that simply can't go ignored, as it might even have more unfavorable implications that will affect us for decades and maybe even centureies to come. I'm talking about global climate change. Also known as Global warming and to some it marks the possible end of this earth and the human race as we know it. Global climate change is no longer just something strewn up by tree hugging liberals to anger the coservatives and to keep loggers from tearing down trees. It is certainly a real disaster waiting to happen that has been plaguing us for years and only seems to get worse with every single passing day. there are simply more humans on earth than ever before, and with this there is much more waste and pollution. There are also much more technology, vehicles, power plants, etc. that all vastly contribute waste and pollution, destroying our precious OZone. Polar ice caps are melting and temperatures are at the highest they've ever been. Meanwhile entire species are dying off and massive cities such as Mexico City are overcome with pollution. the human race is killing itself off and most don't even seem to notice it. And worse, some know it and simply just don't care. At the rate we're going, we'll be lucky if this earth is even able to survive and support the human race for another hundred years. We have simply been using and latelye just downright abusing this earth for the past hundred years. We have become carless and wasateful, not thinking about the impact every single individuatl has on this earth. However, we all leave our footprings on the earth, our carbon flootpring that is. Each individuatl on this earth contribues to the waste and pollution. If everyone became aware of how much of an impact they had on the earth, they would htink twice about throwing that Skittles wrapper out the window, or putting a Pepsi can in the trash, rather than the recycling. It is the small things like these taht really add up to make a difference. As humans and the sole reason for global warming, it is our responsibility to do as much as we can to reverse the damage done, for our own sake.

week 7

Simon Cole’s “How much Justice can Technology afford?” documents the many effects scientific technology has on race and justice. Cole’s article explains the relationships of gender, class, and race and how technology through the development of DNA impacts all of them tremendously. Cole also states that DNA has the capability to change justice and race due to the increasing use of DNA to solve crimes and the ever increasing criminal database due to collecting DNA. Another person who debates the importance of DNA and its impact on justice is Marx. Marx believes there are two opinions on DNA and the ways in which it’s involved in justice. One way in which Marx believe DNA is used is to help the powerful and rich people and to “promote social control.” This indeed is a negative view but also a view in which I would have to agree with. Marx’s other view is that the new DNA technology is good in that it kind of keeps things even in regards to race and justice, as it is science and therefore does not discriminate. Marx also notes that DNA helps in regards to true justice because it has helped many falsely convicted men and women be exonerated and get out of their unfair prisons sentences. Cole’s article brings up the question of just how much justice can people afford? An example of this is that in some cases they guarantee you legal representation. However this certainly does not mean you’re getting the best representation. On the other hand, if you have the money to afford a top ranked defender or attorney you can get away with pretty much anything, even murder. You can just look at the OJ Simpson case for an example of this. Personally I like the idea of DNA technology as it is simply incapable of lying. DNA technology does not see race, gender or social class and is therefore unable to make certain biased assumptions and decisions. Simply put, it is a machine. DNA is perhaps the most effective weapon in combating crime and even discrimination in justice. DNA creates equality and truth while evening things out. I personally hope that DNA and forensic technology continues to evolve in order to combat crime and also rid our prison cells of innocent people serving time for crimes they did not commit.

week 5

To achieve true justice, we must also achieve true equality as there can not be one without the other. However it can be argued that true justice and equality can never be achieved, as people have different ideas of what justice and equality really are. So what is perfectly equal for some people, may not be enough to others. One type of distributive justice that we learned about is utilitarianism. The basis of utilitarianism is the idea that there is only justice if the set of norms and regulations work to increase the well being of all people. However even with this there are always going to be people who receive more advantages than others, which would still make it not completely fair and equal. Due to the unequal distribution, a new theory was put to the test: the contract theory. The contract theory was created in order to create “fair” distribution. The theory is based on the idea of the “veil of ignorance,” a theory that basically creates a fair distribution by making unknowns before the person can even pick or choose which set of rules and norms they were going to have to live by. This theory was created on the assumption that if people don’t know their starting point and who they were to become, then they would choose a set of rules and norms that were as equal as possible, so that they would not get the short end of the stick and everything were as equal as possible. This theory can only be possible through equal behavior however, and is just that, a theory. Another theory is “communitarian.” It relates to what it sounds like, a community, as it states that people must band together and achieve equality through socially held values. Personally I do not believe any of these theories are possible or even logical. I honestly wish that everything were equal though, but with billions of people comes billions of different ideas of fair and standards of living. There are all to many people that are just too selfish and even narcissistic to even want a fair and equal world. For any of these to even happen, it would require literally everyone to agree on what is equal, right, and fair. That is something that just simply will never happen. Through teamwork and working together, much is possible. However I must state that total equality and fairness is certainly just a pipe dream.