A flash mob is a group of people that perform a pointless act to catch the attention of bystanders. When a flash mob gathering is being planned a notification is sent out using technology and social networking. The 'original' flash mob was unsuccessful because their location was ratted out before the flash mob even started. Flash mobs are often performed to amuse, or confuse the crowd, or for fun! There have been countless times where flash mobs have resulted in violence, vandalism, riots and injury.
Police have used pepper spray as crowd control, which is very similar to the book when the crowd at Dolores Park is pepper sprayed and taken in by the DHS. A bunch of Xnetters had planned a concert at this park, and to disobey any orders the DHS. That is when things turned ugly for them.
Torture, however ..is violent and brutal. Not only is it physical, but its mental and pyschological. This can effect the way you think, the way you feel and the way you look at things. I don't think it's okay for people to be tortured, or for people to allow torture. It's not okay to torture someone just to protect others, because if it was turned around I'm sure we wouldn't like it.
A man named Christopher Hitchens volunteered to 'waterboard' in order to write an article about it. Waterboarding is a stimulation that makes you believe you are drowning. Although he volunteered this man is still being tortured. He was in the stimulation for less than a minute when he released the metal objects. He says he knew he was drowning, and felt like he was going to die.
Torture can be related to our novel, "Little Brothers" because the DHS has been taking teenagers from San Francisco to Treasure Island where they are held captive until proven innocent. Marucs, Van, Jolu and Darryl found themselves in this situation. They were interrogated because the DHS had reason to believe they were terrorists, since they were at the Bay Bridge when it was bombed. They were held captive for six days with or without food and water depending on their cooperation. When they were uncooperative, they weren't given and food or water. They were sent back to their cell to wait.
Wow Shaundra, I thought your post was great. I really liked how you discussed both of your points and then gave specific examples from the book, and the examples you chose were very fitting. I also really liked how you included the blurb about Christopher Hitchens, it added a new perspective and made the concept of 'waterboarding' easier to understand. Adding your own opinion about torture also made your post really great. The only think I could possibly critique is explaining a little more about 'why'. You explained why people participate in flash mobs, but you didn't explain why people are tortured, or why it works. Other than that I really liked your post, well done.
ReplyDeleteThat was a well defined outline. You had a strong opening, which I appreciated. Though I didn't see the relevence of your photo it was definatly amusing. Though your points were well defended and explained I found you had no connection between the two so I was wondering why they were together. Though your basic structure and referances were very good and it's good you focused on your strong points.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really well written blog. I liked how you gave a clear definition of the topic being discussed so the readers could have a better understanding of the topic. One thing you could have done differently was include the 'Vampmob' that occurred in the book because it gave a clear example of how flash mobs is a group of people that perform a pointless act to catch the attention of bystanders.
ReplyDelete