Amy’s Blog!!!!!

Child soldiers, some as young as seven or eight, have been taken from their families throughout some third world countries.  This horrible crime most often occurs in Africa where rebels have arose.  The rebels rape the women, steal the young boys, and kill many of people in the town.  And what disturbs me the most is that things like these are happening right now, as we speak.

After watching the movie “Blood Diamond” my eyes were opened wide to the horrendous acts of violence that have been occurring in Africa over something as simple as a diamond.  Like usual, everything revolves around money.  It is hard for me to sit and think about the millions of people every day that are stuck in refugee camps, living in constant fear of what is coming next.  I can not even begin to think about what life would be like for anyone in these conditions.  “Blood Diamond” depicts child soldiers very well, and shows the atrocious situations that these children have to go through as well as the conditions people in these countries experience.  The kids are literally brainwashed into thinking that they need to kill people to help their country.  Full grown men have extremely detrimental effects from going to war, (post traumatic stress disorder), it is impossible to imagine the problems that these children have gone through, and still are.

“Blood Diamond” really shows how lucky each and every one of us is to have been born in America.  I know we worry about shootings and things like that, but I don’t think it even compares to worrying every single day of your life about what is coming next.  If only there was more we could do for these people.  I think the real problem is that American, as well as other countries, just decide to push it to the back of their minds because it is too difficult to think about.  Hopefully that will change someday soon.

Homesourcing is a fairly new concept in American culture.  And although it is not an overly dominant force right now, I have a feeling that in the not-too-distant future homesourcing may become extremely popular.

Homesourcing is when jobs that would have previously been done in an office are accomplished at the home of the employee.  With all of the computer technology available it is now becoming more and more possible (and feasible) to successfully work from home.  I really think that homesourcing is a good idea for some people and an easy way to balance home time and work.

For many people it is difficult to find a balance between being home and having a job they enjoy.  In general, people involved with homesourcing spend less money on gas, and sell more of the product they are vending.  Homesourcing also cuts down on office prices and heating expenses for employers. 

Overall I do believe that homesourcing has many benefits, but there are also many disadvantages.  I think it would be especially difficult to do this with children because it would be hard to find the line between work and family.  Also there would be a detrimental social aspect because you would be home alone without any other adults to talk with.  Homesourcing definitely has strong prospects for the future but I would never want to have a job where I was home all the time.  I am perfectly okay with the idea of homesourcing, but it most definitely is not the job for me! 

It seems to me that the world has an odd fascination with over-the-top animal lovers such as Timothy Treadwell and Steve Irwin.  After viewing the movie “Grizzly Man” I couldn’t help but wonder why people, American’s especially, seem to love everything about these people.  I have a few ideas.

I think that many people feel a connection with these devote animal lovers like Treadwell because they wish to be like them.  People like Treadwell are not afraid to show their emotions and take life-changing risks that the average 9-5 worker may be lacking in their life.  Animal lovers like Treadwell seem to live an extraordinary life which is something that many people wish or hope for.  They also are out in the world making a difference and sharing their love of animals and knowledge which is a very admirable thing to do.

Overall I think animal activists like Treadwill and Irwin are something people enjoy to watch and learn from because they are just over-the-top with everything they do.  Even though some may view them as “crazy” most anyone could tell that they are doing what they love and are getting the most possible out of the one life they have to live.