#6: test rats

As consumers, we are hazardously uninformed about how our food has been made. We don't take it upon ourselves to go out of the way to find out about the processes in which our groceries have gone through. With all of the complex scientific ingredient names, artificial flavoring and carcinogenic nitrates, by the time the food hits our taste buds we really can't be sure what we're eating. I see this as a vicious cycle. The people in charge pump our foods with chemicals, then citizens become unhealthy which leads them to the doctor or hospital where they rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills to pay off for the rest of their lives. I don't understand how food makes it to the shelves when people knowingly put harmful additives in them. As conscious individuals, why wouldn't we want to make sure our food is 100% safe for our bodies? This process would start at the seeds, the very root of food's existence, and they are now being pattened. After watching the "The Future of Food" video, I learned about how living organisms were never supposed to be pattened and once that door was opened by the Supreme Court, animals and human genes were being replicated as well. Technically, these companies with pattened seeds were claiming that where ever their genetically engineered seed grew or inhabited; they owned. The point was brought up by Dr. Kimbrell that down the line they may try to say they own the human in which the pattened gene has been consumed. Lines keep being crossed and boundaries are inched farther back to the point where we are making inhumane actions legal. It's very scary to think about what I've eaten after watching that video and makes me weary of the foods I have yet to consume. Monsanto has played a huge role in the direction that seeds have been engineered and spread in the last few decades. After hearing the stories of the life-time farmers in the video, it saddens me to think that a corporation would belittle human beings just for the pure goal of power and money. I know this response was supposed to be framed around Monsanto but the big picture of this issue has gotten me thinking bigger than that single company. The kniving nature of people to get another dollar richer bizzare and so far from equality and unity. The fact that millions went into funding genetic engineering for seeds and plants that would be sprayed with chemicals for us to eat, it's literally sickening. This is a major deal and I feel like no one really knows about it in the United States. Other countries have made it manditory that genetically modified foods are marked in grocery stores, and we should all have a right to know how our food was made. After seeing how many people had been employees of Monsanto and then went on to making decisions in higher places, it really does seem sketchy. The FDA never seemed so corrupt as it has after learning about this issue and it makes me second guess a lot more than I already did.

extra credit: sound of noise

In the movie, 'Sound of Noise' Amadeus grew up in a musical household and never fit in. His mother was a pianist, his father a conductor, and his younger brother was a violinist and grew up to become a conductor; Amadeus was a policeman. He was not accepted as successful in his profession and was even teased with musical jokes. Being tone-deaf from birth, he didn't have the ability to understand music like the rest of his family and it made him feel very inferior. Throughout the movie, music was destructive for him mentally and physically and seemed to consume his life. I could infer from his feelings towards music, that Amadeus probably never had a favorite song, and that is deep. Music brings people together and can have joyous affects of being light-hearted and whimsical. Someone would have to be quite emotionally scarred for music to have such a negative connotation in their life. The case he was assigned about the radical performances of the six drummers turned out to be very ironic to his particular relationship with music. The female of the group referred to their plan as a bomb and wanted to strike back because their city was contaminated by shitty music. The rebellious theme to this movie was entertaining and definitely kept things interesting. I also liked how creative their ideas and how unconventional the instruments were. The band considered their music making as a movement and a work of art; I couldn't agree more. Although the songs were a bit destructive, it was still a form of expression and could not easily be recreated. One line that was severely crossed was when one of the members used two air horns in close range of metal crates right in Amadeus's face, blowing his ear drums. Seeing the blood on his fingers from his ears was unnerving. When he went to the symphony he couldn't stand it, as well as everyday sounds were torturous for him. Towards the end of the movie he smashed dozens of instruments and had a mental breakdown; he had always said that all he wanted was silence. I wasn't quite sure how to interpret the way he couldn't hear the metal tray they had played on, and then he couldn't hear the patient or the one-eyed man after they had been played on as well. The end showed him peacefully in silence at his brother's symphony and it was like he had become immune to the sound of music. Overall it was a very well directed movie and I would recommend it to others.

#5: babies

There are two sides to abortion: pro-life and pro-choice. I am pro-choice. Most pro-life activists would criticize my view as being insensitive towards the life of a baby. In Linda Greenhouse and Reva Siegel's Before Roe v. Wade: Voices that Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court's Ruling, an excerpt included the Catholic's view for the right to life for the unborn. First of all, I do not believe religious groups have any right to impose on the decision for a woman to have a child or not. Rights for an unborn is almost an oxymoron to me because I see a fetus as not being a real live person. It hasn't taken a breath yet, so how can it have rights? You can't pop a balloon before it's been blown up can you? Yes it may be harsh, but when the population of the United States alone has tripled during the 20th century, it doesn't hurt to cut back on a few unborn people. I don't understand why people care more about an unborn child than the person that is carrying it and the future of their lives. People have dreams and aspirations, once you begin a family you have to put your wants aside for the good of the child, and not everyone is ready or mature enought to do so.

Involuntary servtiude was not seen as a substantial reason in the case of Roe vs. Wade which I highly disagree with. Although everyone knows that sex conceives babies, doesn't mean that every girl that consents to sex means that she wants to have a child with that person. Parenthood is infinitely more long-term and expensive than an abortion procedure and should be taken more seriously than a decision to terminate a pregnancy. It really should not be anyone's business than the mother's if she wants to keep a child or not because she would know if she was ready to make such a life-long commitment. It's very unfortunate when the mother realizes after the child is born that she isn't ready because then the child becomes another orphan case. According to UNICEF (United Nations International Childern's Emergency Fund) statistics, there are 143 million orphans worldwide and everyday there are over 5,000 more children that become orphans. Would people really rather a child consciously suffer from inadequate care, than eradicate the fetus before it has the fate a poor life?