A new look on protests

I think the biggest thing that has changed for me in the way I view a protest is what a protest is When I first entered into this class I didn't think that there were so many protests going on in the world. I come from a pretty small town and have been in Austin in only a year and my view of a protests was the picketers that protested their wages. This class has opened up my eyes to alot of individuals struggles that I did not know was going on in the world. To me it will really make me look different at certain groups. I know look at handout and fliers in a different way becuase I realize that they are most likely trying to get a message out and a majority of the time it is in hopes to have change instituted.
Protests in my mind have changed from being a huge gathering to something that could include just one person that is trying to make change. A protest to be effective has to just change the view points of the people in charge. This process can start small by affecting one person at a time. However, throughout the protest in order for it to be successful it has to grow and gets its message out. I think some of the most effective protests are the ones that don't neccesarily feel like a protest and it feels more like they are just sharing facts with the group. The types of protest in my opinion are more effective due to the fact that they do not push a person to change and allow for them to make their own decision.

Annie and Mikey

I do not consider Michael Moore and Anne Coulter to neccesarily be protestors. I view them almost as celebrities. I think that they have very strong opinions and they at no means are afraid to speak what they have on mind. I think the Michael Moore's documentaries are of protest but they are also very largely about him trying to get his name attached to very confrontational things. Anne Coulter I believe just feels strongly on what she believes in and with people listening to her, her beliefs get stronger. I do not think that she really protests it is more of her just trying to be heard. The american public supports both people I think not so wholeheartedly. I believe that the common american can agree with one or the other on some stances however no one would most americans agree with everything that is being said. I do however believe that they go to these extremes and it makes people feel better about themselves when comparing it to thereselves. I know people who say I am liberal, but I am nowhere close to Michael Moore, and the same for Coulter. People feel comfortable not being the most radical and they find comfort in being in the middle. There loud in your face rhetoric appeals to people in my opinion who are less educated. I think that in both of them there are many weak claims. Personally I found it interesting that our class saw through most of the claims when we discussed Fahrenheit 911. It is interesting to note that the room, full of soon to be educated students, easily poked at flaws. Also in class people noted that the way he did things, though not necessarily true, allowed for them to get the thought in their mind.
In conclusion on both I think that I will probably use them for a laugh every so often and will probably never believe any thing either say unless I go and check there sources. However, alot of America believes everything they hear and with these two it almost never is unbiased.

Ann Coulter

The main problem that I have with this woman is not really her fault. To me she is very intelligent and making a lot of money. The problem that I have with what she is saying is all the attention she gets for the books she writes. Not every author after writing a book gets to go on Good Morning America. People enjoy what she writes which is evident by the multiple best sellers that she has put out. I do not blame her for being a radical because she has a following and she has made a name for her self as being an extreme conservative. Too many people get upset with what she says but I do not view her as a professional and therefore for me I do not see what she says as all that bad because in the United States she can say what ever she wants. It is her right. I disagree with what she says however if someone were to give me a book deal that made me write confrontational topics and told me I would sell millions I would jump on it. I think that if people have a problem with Ann they should reconsider it and put there concerns on the millions of people that buy the book and make it a best seller. I do not blame the woman for just talking about what she believes and making money for her. To me if all I had to do was write my opinon and get rich it would be the best job ever. She is just practicing her first amendment right and the national media gives her a huge audience.

When I Write

First and formost I have really bad ADD especially when comes to sitting down and writing any sort of paper. It is very difficult for me to focus on the prompt and I have to really try and stay focused on what I am writing. What I usually do is go to the library with a pen and notebook only. I copy the prompt on the first page of my notebook and begin to write. Usually it takes me around an hour or two to find where I want to go with my paper. Normally my papers do not need resources and it is all previous knowledge. For this last assignment I had to go to a computer to get my information and that caused me to have many delays. I really need to focus on the assignment at hand and not going to other random sights and that is a problem of mine when I use a computer. Ideally I should have printed off all of the information I needed and then took that away from anything that could distract me and just sit down and write. However that is not what I did and my work usually reflects my attention that I have when I am doing it. In the future I need to go somewhere that doesn't distract me and ideally that would be a room that is barren besides a desk and the bare essentials. I need to use cubicles in the library because I get distracted by other people doing little things and it is very counter productive.

When I Write

How appearance affect Protests

The yes men's appearance is that of businessmen. They are clean cut men who are dressed in business suits and they are automatically given more respect than that of other protestors. The othe group of protestors we looked at are the Punk Rock Culture. The individuals associated with the punk rock culture are more likely to be teenage kids who are rebellious. The older population of the United States views the Punk Rock culture as misguided youth who dress "funny" and listen to "wierd" music. They are automatically at a disadvantage as most of the older generations of America because they are turned off on by the appearance and do not respect what they are saying. The clothing also affects what or who they are trying to protest against. The yes men are going against the World Trade Organization so they need to seem more intelligent. HOwever the punk rock culture is trying to defy authority and by dressing the way they do they get their point across to some but I feel the way they dress alients more people then they get to notice them.

PETA

I am very Anti-PETA, however, I think they did a very good job in setting up their website. It is very professional and does a good job at asking questions that might be asked of them. Peta also is very good about getting support of celebrated that believe they should be involved in a cause and this allows for naive people to believe that they are right. Even though I do not agree with what they do as long as they are not ruining my leather shoes or throwing paint on people's coats they're fine by me.

WIth that being said my family has owned cattle and my neighbors actually own a slaughter house. We don"t have enough cattle to really make an extreme profit off of but it had always been a dream of my father and we have around 50 heads of cattle. In my own opinion animals were put on this earth to give humans the needed nurishment that every human requires. I understand that there ways around it but being texas born and bred there is nothing better to me than a big juicy steak. Looking at it from there perspective I believe that cruelty to animals should never be tolerated however I do not believe slaughtering a pig is cruelty. Slaughter houses have changed a lot in the past 10 years, and the have become conscious about having the most ethical way to put an animal down. I won't get into much detail because it is still not the prettiest thing to see. I believe that some of the restrictions put into place where a direct result of PETA lobbying at the national and state levels. Also PETA protests along with the FDA there has been more restrictions put on the boiling of the meat and the storage of the meat. Even though it probably effects the profits of the small town slaughter house in the long run it is good for society to be able to have cleaner meat.