The presentation about the MPAA movie rating system and the actual people who rate the movies got me thinking, and I came up with a connection. The presentation explained how the Motion Picture Association of America is somewhat corrupt and that they greatly favor big companies such as Sony. It went on to add that this association will always favor a big motion picture name, like Warner Bros. as opposed to an independent film maker. Another part of this presentation was about how there are 12 members who rate movies are completely anonymous and essentially "undercover." I connected to this bit of information because I remember my step mom telling me that when she lived in Russia, every year they would have to turn off the hot water supply to fix water pipes. She told me how the man actually had to turn off the hot supply was completely anonymous as well. This was obviously to avoid confrontation or even assault much like the "undercover" movie raters. 

There are many pro con issues emerging in War by Sebastian Junger. The pros of the argument are that we are searching for the terrorists who blew up the Twin Towers and using our time and resources to ensure it never happens again. Some of the cons are that we are using too much time and too many resources  to catch a relatively small group of people at the cost of many American lives. However I believe that to achieve anything a price me be payed, which is why I would fall on the pro side of the argument. It is an awful thing to loose this many lives in a war, but we have to think of how many potential lives could be lost if we were to never catch these people. I believe we are doing the right thing in searching for the terrorists to ensure an attack like September 11 never happens on our home soil ever again.

As I begin my reading of the book War by; Sebastian Junger many pro con issuesare emerging. War is a book about an Army Platoon in the Korengal Valley, fighting against the Taliban. Some cons are that the Taliban use innocent civilians to sheild them, causing the soldiers to have a very tough time shooting the enemy. However more obvious reasons some people are against this war are because, sometimes scouts see Taliban movement near local villages, causing the Army to bomb that area sometimes killing civilians. Another very controversial issue is that the Taliban are very illusive and ghost like, this causes the military to push further into the valley, making them very deep in enemy territory. All this movement is happening at the expense of American lives, making some wounder if this war is really worth all these deaths. Although some people may favor the con side on this issue they must also acknowlege the pros. We are fighting to kill the very people who are constantly attacking us and want to kill all "infidels". Americans are risking their lives to make sure we are never attacked again like the day we were on September 11, 2001. 

      H.G. Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" helps me to learn that their are other worlds and cultures than that of my own. In his book he talks much about how small Odessa, Texas is a totally different world, and it is. His book helps me relize that not everybodies life and surroundings are similair to mine. Bissinger shares how in Odessa Mojo football is the only thing that matters.Bissingers explains, "In the county library, where the 235 page history that had been written about Permian football was more detailed than any of the histories about the town itself."This quote relates to the fact that Odessa is a totally different culture and a world of its own because the town revolves completely around the Permian Panthers and their high school football, the outside world really just doesnt matter to Odessa.They take pride in their Panther football and they have more to tell about their high school football than they do about their own town history, playing football for Permian is a very big deal. Every boy dreams of playing for The Mojo, they all have a preordained life to represent the Odessa on the gridiron. This is a culture shock to me because I dont understand what it is like to grow up in a small town and be so genuienly attached to something, in this case high school football. I grew up in a world where it was okay to be who you wanted to be, not live to play for a high school football team. Friday Night Lights helps to open my eyes to new universes i didnt really know much about.

   In Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger Boobie Miles experiences a rough childhood, making him do bad things although he is a good person.
    Growing up Boobie had lots of bad experiences, we he was just a young boy when his father had beaten him, after his school officers saw the bruises on him word eventually got out to authorities, and the case went to court. This resulted in Boobie being placed into foster care. When he was eight he was put into his uncles care. His uncle L.V. would often make trips to the elementary school, where Boobie would be in trouble for getting into fights or talking back to the teachers. Now Boobie wasnt a bad person by any stretch but, his tough childhood probably influenced him to not trust others and always look out for himself. Boobie may have also had lots of anger inside him, this may have caused him to get into fights. As for talking back to teachers, he probably grew up in a world where no one really cared about what he said, or nobody told him what to do. Boobie Miles wasnt a bad person at all, but his rough childhood probably caused him to be more prone to bad things.

In H.G. Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" The town of Odessa Texas is estatic about their high school football.I can relate to this from when i lived in Billings, Montana, everyone i knew followed the Mustangs 3A basball.
 It says in the book, "On ABC's "Nightline", he called Permian fans "football crazy", and during the show it was pointed out that a 5.6 million high school football stadium had been built in Odessa in 1982." Odessa really was "football crazy", "after being ranked the fifth worst city to live in in the country out of three hundred cities", the town of Odessa used 5.6 million dollars to build a football stadium, instead of putting the money to a better use, Odessa loved their Permian Panthers, and they really were "football crazy". Now Billings wasn't that crazy about the Mustangs but it was much like it, we all followed them or went to their games. They were a team we could call our own and we liked that, much like the town of Odessa Texas when it came to the Permian Panthers.

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