Biohumanism Lecture

I felt that this lecture was something that everyone in our class should have experienced. James Hughes raised important questions regarding our future in transhumanistic ways including drugs that will make us healthier, live longer and be happier overall. Some people, however, feel that such processes would dehumanize us and it would be very dangerous to have certain groups of people being stronger mentally and physically because of certain drugs you could take. Hughes seemed to believe that there was no limit to what we could do with these things. Our brain power could be set free without limitations, the use of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology would be available to millions. Overall I felt that Hughes raised many good points. This is definitely something we are going to have to deal with in the upcoming years. While his presentation was not the most unbiased piece of work in the world, it was something that I felt transcended all age groups and made it easy for me to understand. The biggest point Hughes brought up, however, is that these processes should not be mandatory or anything like that, but that they should be made available to us if we want them.

Heart of Darkness Pt. 3

After Kurtz is found sick in the jungle, the Russian trader explains some of the memories, good and bad, that he has with Kurtz and also explains that he doesn't have any medicine or medical supplies to help cure him and that Kurtz has been left behind and abandoned by the Company that he gave so much for. The natives rush out at the group, but Kurtz calmly explains to them that he is sick and they let them pass. Marlow leaves the room in which Kurtz has been placed and ends up meeting his mistress, who is worried that she had something to do with his illness. There is yelling from inside the room and it is found that Kurtz believes people just want his ivory, rather than to actually help him. The manager comes on deck and tells Marlow that Kurtz isn't in the right mind to run the Company and that there is nothing he can do but remove him from his post. Marlow defends Kurtz and by doing so alienates himself from the entire Company. After this the Russian trader tells Marlow that Kurtz actually ordered the attack on the steamer to fake his own death, and Marlow tells the Russian trader that there has been talk of possibly hanging him. Kurtz then decides to leave during the night, and Marlow is looking for him. Marlow catches up to him just outside the native's village and ends up guilting Kurtz into coming back. The steamer departs the next day amidst chaos involving the pilgrims and Kurtz' s mistress. On their way back to civilization the steamer breaks down, and unfortunately Marlow is becoming sicker and sicker by the day. Because of this delay, Kurtz knows he will probably not make it back to Europe and gives Marlow a packet of papers so that the manager cannot destroy everything he has worked for. Mr. Kurtz dies not long after yelling, "The horror! The horror!" Marlow then leaves Africa and returns to Brussells, still recovering from his illness. Marlow returns most of the papers to Kurtz's family and then visits Kurtz's wife. She asks him what his last words were, he lies and tells her it was her name. She was certain that that's what it was going to be.

I thought the final part of the story really seemed to give Kurtz more credit than he deserved. His wife's reaction seemed to more immortalize and idolize him more than should have been. You actually seem to see Kurtz as a human being though as he became sicker and closer to death. By doing this, it actually ties the story up in a nice ending, as this imposing character has turned into just a regular human being.

Bush's Iraq Plan: Is It Enough?

Unforunately, I am still completely dumbfounded by the fact that this man is our president, however, that is neither here nor there. The fact of that matter is that we as a country elected him, and now we are dealing with the consequences of our actions. How much will these 21,500 troops really be able to do that the other soldiers haven't been able to accomplish? Why are we still putting up with our government elected officials being able to get away with these kinds of things when we are the ones of who have the power to elect them or take away their power? Why is it our responsibility to bring a democratic society to this country, and who are we to decide whether or not they even approve of it? We have rid them of Saddam Hussein and have planted the seed of democracy in their general psyche, but it is not our responsibility to take care of them for years to come. It is not our fault their own police system is not developed enough to support the chaos their own people have created. Yes, I agree that if we completley abandoned the Iraqi people, there would be hell to pay and the country would most likely tear itself apart. My only quarrel with the entire thing is why did we even go to this troublesome country in the first place? Why couldn't we have stepped in during the Rwanda genocide or the Congo genocide? Oh, I forgot, there's no oil there. Whoops, my mistake. There are better things we could be doing with our time, power and wealth that would do more good than bad, which this confrontation is actually doing. All it's doing is causing American families hurt, pain and family members because of one man's decision to pursue soething to compensate for something else in his life. This plan is quite possibly one of the most underthought follys I've ever heard of and if it was up to me, Bush would have been impeached years ago.

Africa News Article

Africa might be China's next imperial frontier, base...
The article starts off talking about how China has become Africa's third most important trading partner after the US and France. In 2005 alone trade grew 50 percent. Today about 30 percent of Africa's exports go to Asia. One of the main reasons is that China has secure access to the raw materials it needs to feed its economy as well as the fact that China invested billions of dollars in Africa and more is ready to be given later. They use this money to build railways, mines and manufacturing plants. Unfortunately, China has begun meddling in African affairs. During the elections that were held, China threatened that if Sata won, it would pull out its nationals and resources. The other candidate, Mwanawasa won the elections and therefore did not pull out. If they had Zambia would have lost such things as mines and manufacturing industries in Zambia. Also, there have been questions raised about safety regulations in Chinese-owned firms.

This article was very eye opening for me due to the fact that because of the extent of trade between China and Africa, China has gained much more control than it might deserve. It just goes to show that maybe money does go farther than a government ever could. Unfortunately, while the economy might be flourising, the employees in the factories and such are not.

Heart of Darkness Pt. 2

This story starts off with Marlow overhearing the manager and his uncle discussing Kurtz and his antics. They feel that what Kurtz truly wants is to turn the stations into the centers of civilization as well as taking charge. The conversation turns to a trader that the manager is worried about. He doesn't trust him. His uncle tells him to just hang him and be done with it, as well as implying that Kurtz could possibly die due to environmental conditions such as the heat, precipitation and the illnesses that come with it. Marlow reveals himself and startles the pair. The manager's uncle then leaves with his expedition. We now discover that Marlow's ship is nearly fixed and he starts making preparations for the treacherous travel up the river to Kurtz. On their way up they spot a pile of firewood and when they investigate the manager decides that it was a Russian trader who left it. The steamer ends up close to the station and Marlow wants to continue on but the manager tells him how dangerous these waters are and Marlow decides against it. They are suddenly immersed in fog hear voices surrounding them. They open fire on the surrounding voices and the helmsman is stuck with a spear.

This section of the book is definitely much more action packed and a quicker read. By incorporating the fight scene as well as the conspiracy between manager and his father, we are actually wanting to find out what happens next. Also, I felt that we got to know Marlow's character and attitude much better. At the end of the section I thought that Marlow wasn't actually taking the situation seriously when he asked for new socks, etc. It showed that maybe his mind wasn't in the right place.

Heart of Darkness Pt. 1

The story starts when an old ship captain starts retelling his story of the time when he captained a ship going to the Congo. He explains that he had been interested in the unknown spaces on the map since he was a child and that is why he took the voyage. He got a job with a Belgian trade company and set off. Marlow tells the story of the captain before him and how he had to go into a native village and collect his bones after he was killed by a native. Marlow goes back to his original story about signing the contract. He then says good bye to his family and sets off. After a long voyage into the Congo he is slightly disheartened due to how bad of shape the area is in. The natives are prisoners on their own land. After he discovers this he learns that the ivory trade is alive and well here and that it is an excellent way to ensure advancement. When he finally arives to the Central Station, he learns that his ship is sunk. The manager says that the Inner Station is suffering from severe illness and that's why he took the ship out.

So far I think this story is very compelling to read. Not only does it continue to draw you in and make you actually want to read more but by inserting mysterious details and the ideas that some things may not be what they seems such as in the sinking of Marlow's ship, it adds interest.