Malachai

“TOKYO—Television watching became even more convenient this week with Sony’s introduction of a new remote-controlled remote control.” - The Onion.

This article is amazing. This is poking fun of electronics. It seems that every so often, electronics companies such as sony, comes out with a hot new product that everyone must have. Recently, MP3 players have kicked off and every few months there is a new kind. There are already 6 or 7 different kinds of ipods that are out and other companies redo products just the same. This article pretends that sony created a new remote that would control another remote. This would make it that people would not have to spend so much time handling the real remote which can be “too much of a hassle.” This whole article is targeting people who spend too much time watching television. This qoute shows how the article pokes fun at people who spend too much time watching tv.

“These things are fantastic,” said Seated Viewing Magazine editor Ted Kohrs at a recent Las Vegas trade show demonstrating the new product. “I’ve been here all morning and my heart’s only beaten six times!”

This article shows how our country is unconstructinve in that they watch way too much tv. This is a piece of satire because it identifies the problem just as it hopes to alert people to it. The average american spend an incredible amount of time watching tv and this should be changed. I find this article extremely funny and I believe that it is an excellent piece of satire. The best bit is about the fact that the service offers to implant a 4th remote in people in order to ensure that it will never get lost. There is also a remote that a person can stick to their foreheads. This article is entirely worth reading and is hilarious. If anyone is interested visit it at the Onion.

In the past months there has been a lawsuit filed by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for suspected racial profiling. Before the lawsuit however, the Anti-Discrimination committee simply suspected that there had been a racist policy concerning the admittatnce of Middle Eastern peoples to the united states. As a result,

>>”The Anti-Discrimination Committee first requested records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in December 2004; DHS denied the filing, both initially and on appeal. The DHS said the release of the detainees’ nationalities “could harm” law enforcement activities by “revealing where the US Immigration and Customs Enforcment (ICE) focuses its resources.”    - Catherine Komp

The article went on to explain that the entire ordeal with the DHS was not because of the fear of revealing the focus of our government but instead because of a reluctancy to admit to the truth. Racism it seems is ever-present in many aspects of American life, and it would seem that our own government is not above this mentality. Racism is present in the government as well as in the lives of the people, and for it many people are unjustly treated. In the past years during the war on terror, our government has allowed and even endorsed the requirement that “…men from predominantly Muslim countries (are) to submit to fingerprinting, photographing and questioning when entering the
United States.” (Catherine Komp) As for Huck Finn, this article is extremely relevant because the book is set at a time where there is much strife concerning slavery in the government. The government at the time of the book is eventually forced to come to grips with the fact that slavery is truly a horrific act and as a result the government was forced to do away with it. In today’s society, the government has yet again come across such a case, although smaller. It took time for the government to do away with slavery just as it will take time for the government to stop racial profiling. I believe that this article has an interesting relation to the book simply in that it identifies the present problems in the government and they can be compared with the past problems that are presented in Huck Finn. 

 (For more articles concerning racism visit The New Standard)

I felt that the life of Isaac Mason as a slave was an extremely interesting piece on slavery. The early days of this man were not horrible as were some slaves. Will, alias Isaac, was lucky enough to have been born of a fair owner. Fortunately for him, Isaac had not been born to his an owner like his mistress’ son who was tyrannical to his servants.

“His tyranical passion was so great that on the day of his death he called in the men from their work and with a stick in his dying hand struck each one across their hands. As each one received the parting gift he had to file out and another take his place. This ceremony continued to within two hours of his death, when from exhaustion he had to cease.

It is acts like this throughout the narrative that really helped to truly convey the unfairness of slavery. Unfortunately, Isaac Mason’s mistress was old and with her death came new owners. At his new master, the wife began to whip him for having putting off his chores. Isaac knocked her over and jumped out the window. After that day, he was supposed to return to other owners who had used him to pay off debt. In spite, the man he had left, (READ FROM PAGE 13 IN ARTICLE)-Dr. Hyde, demanded payment from Isaac’s father. His father had been saving up to buy his wife and daughter out of slavery and had been doing the transactions throught this doctor. Simply because he was mad, the Doctor decided to demand payment and efectively kept the daughtor in slavery for years after. A simple tantrum in this case was the cause for years of penance for Isaac’s family. These examples just go do show how there has been hatred aplenty in slavery.

Isaac Mason in this narrative reminded me of Jim from Huck Finn. When Isaac had his quarrle with Dr. Hyde (quite an appropriate name I might add) it showed how Isaac, much like Jim simply wanted to go rabbit hunting. Jim had also shirked his duties and for it, the Widow planned to sell him to New Orleans. In both cases, the men had simply wanted a break, and each time they had been repaid with an extreme amount of grief.

In this narrative, I expect to more about of the horrors of slavery. Most pieces concerning slavery that I have read have been viciously against the practice. I believe that this narrative will be no different. I have chosen the narative of Isaac Mason, and while I do not yet know his story, I do not think that it will in any way support slavery. Based on previous knowledge of slavery, I am almost certain that this narrative will concern some sort of personal dealings with slavery. Past examples have shown that slaves were beaten and tortured if they tried to run away, and sometimes simply because their masters felt like it. During the time that we have been reading Huckleberry Finn, we have dicussed some of the attrocities commited against slaves. I expect that this narrative will only help to more accurately portray slavery. I believe that in addition to telling of some of these atrocities, this narrative may help to show how just how it feels to be owned by someone else. In Huck Finn, Jim does not run away because he is phisically abused but instead because he wants to live his own life. His goal is to reunite his family and live as a free man. I believe that much like these past examples, this slave narrative will help introduce just what it would feel like to be owned.