Article

http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=1828&issue_id=62009

Rant Reflection

The article I chose related to my problematic issue did shift my thinking. My original rant was about a time where I didn't respect the power of someone in charge. I felt like I shouldn't have been stopped for breaking a rule because I was an exception. However, after reading this article, I decided to write about how police officers should be appreciated more. Studies were tested which concluded that most police officers felt distrusted by the public. I found this to be very interesting, yet disturbing. It's ironic that police officers are there to protect the public, but most of them don't even feel like they are wanted in society. This study actually wasn't surprising to me. As I stated in my rant, the news usually doesn't talk about how police officers are arresting criminals and risking their safety for the rest of the world. Instead, we hear about the very few officers who commit crimes. This ultimately leads to more viewers and more revenue. It's sad that this is what it has come down to.

This gave me the idea to post on twitter. Twitter users generate 340 million tweets per day. It's a really good idea to use twitter to send an important message since there are so many people using it. It's very simple to use as well. Only being allowed to use 140 words can actually be a good thing in some situations. I was able to get directly to the point, which makes it easier for others to understand.

Revised Rant

In today's world, many people don't appreciate the authority of those in charge. I am guilty of this myself sometimes. My original rant was about a time I was in Colorado when I was pissed off with someone in charge. A ski safety worker stopped me for skiing too fast in a slow zone. I was mad that he was not able to make an exception since there was no one else around me.

After some thinking, I realized I had no right to expect the ski safety worker to not stop me. It is his job to stop people who are skiing too fast for the safety of other skiers. If he had made an exception for me then it would only be fair that he makes exceptions for others.

Incidents like this happen all the time with drivers. People are constantly getting pulled over for driving too fast and have to pay speeding tickets.This creates a bad perception on the way cops are viewed since they usually only talk to people when they break laws. Police officers are only doing their job to keep all of the other drivers safe.

This leads to my main point. Nowadays, it seems like the only time we hear about cops in the news is if they commit crimes. What about the vast majority of the cops who put their lives in danger to protect us? I suppose we don't hear of any courageous acts of officers on the news anymore because it doesn't stir up as much of a reaction.

It frustrates me that many times police officers are portrayed as people who are power hungry. People take for granted what police officers do to keep the rest of us safe. A lot of this stems from the media. Lately, it seems like the only time a police officer is brought up on the news is if he or she possibly committed a racist crime. I really hope this perception changes eventually.

I decided that the best way for me to share my rant would be through twitter. There are many advantages to using twitter. Twitter allows people to network efficiently and with large groups of people. People can communicate with their target audience immediately. It’s not as time consuming as creating a website to get a point across. I am able to send a post immediately to a mass group of people and also receive instant feedback. However, there are also some drawbacks. I have to limit my posts to 140 words or less since that is all that is allowed. Additionally, I need to constantly be posting on twitter for people to see my posts.  Because of all the interaction on twitter, if I only post one or two times a day, my posts will quickly be buried in my followers' news feeds.

Rant

This rant probably doesn't relate to other people but it's something that pissed me off pretty recently. So I went to Colorado over the super bowl weekend to go snowboarding. On Monday I was riding down the mountain minding my own business when a ski patrol guy stopped me at the bottom of the mountain. He told me the reason he stopped me was because I was going too fast in a slow zone. He explained to me that I was a danger to the other skiers. He let me off with a warning but he said the next time it happens I will lose my lift ticket. There were a couple reasons this pissed me off. First off, I know how to steer and have never even came close to hitting anyone. And secondly, it was empty since it was a Monday and there was no one even near me. It just didn't make any sense to me. Not to mention the guy was pretty rude to me and acted like I knew I was doing something wrong. It would be hilarious if I had to explain the reason I got kicked out for this to someone. "Oh, I got my lift ticket pulled because I was riding too fast."I thought the purpose of skiing and snowboarding was to have fun and not have to follow a speed limit.

Works cited for documentary

"The Cove Documentary Film." Cosmos Documentaries. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. 
     <http://cosmos-documentaries.blogspot.com/2013/07/ 
     the-cove-documentary-film.html>. 

Favorite Questions

5)            There are a several problematic concepts that I see in the film. The main problem I see is the mass killings and capturing of the dolphins. The film notes that there are approximately 23,000 dolphins killed in Japan every year by the country’s whaling industry. Another problem is that the Japanese government knows that what it’s doing is cruel and inhumane because barbed wire and “keep out” signs are put up to keep the public away from seeing the killings. Anyone who is found trespassing will be under arrest.

            A few more problematic concepts can be seen throughout the film.  It’s said that studies have shown the dolphin meat being sold to the public contains a high amount of mercury, which is hazardous to the human body. Not only that, but the dolphin meat is being disguised as healthy meat. So, even if the public in Taiji knew about the mercury in dolphins, they would have no way of knowing for sure if they are actually buying whale meat. Additionally, Japan has allegedly been giving smaller countries financial aid so that they vote for Japan in the International Whaling Commission in return. These countries include Cambodia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Laos, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

6)            There was one specific scene that stayed with me and made me shocked, sad and angry. During this scene, the main crew was taking pictures of the dolphins that were being escorted to the secret lagoon where they would be slaughtered. Even though the crew couldn’t see the actual killings of the dolphins in this part, there was one baby dolphin that managed to make it over the nets as it was trying to escape. You could see the dolphin coming up from the water and all of the blood from its wounds right behind it. I felt helpless as I watched it take its last few breaths before it finally sank to the bottom and never came up again. I also felt very angry that the fishermen have no remorse for slaughtering the dolphins and making them suffer until their last breaths. The forbidden footage obtained by the camera crew shows the fisherman continuously stabbing these mammals. This scene was very disturbing and I couldn’t believe that the Japanese government would allow this to happen.

There were a lot of things that I really enjoyed while watching “The Cove”. The best part about the film was how determined the cast was to reveal to the world the dolphin slaughtering taking place. These people had to break the law in order to catch everything they wanted to on camera. If they were caught breaking the law in Taiji, Japan, they would immediately be arrested. This shows just how secretive they wanted to keep the dolphin killings. The most problematic concept that I see in the film is the mass killings and capturing of the dolphins. The film notes that there are approximately 23,000 dolphins killed in Japan every year by the country’s whaling industry. As I noted in my earlier posts, these dolphins contain high concentrations of mercury in them which is harmful to the human body when consumed. That being said, slaughtering that many dolphins is completely unnecessary. It's said in the film that the reason Japan continues this practice is because they don't like being told what they can and cannot do. What did the dolphins ever do to bother these people?

            If I chose one person from the film to have lunch with and chat, it would be Rick O’Barry. I would ask him if he thinks there is hope that the whaling industry in Japan will stop these killings anytime soon. Rick has definitely done his part by showing the rest of the world these inhuman acts of dolphin slaughtering. Now it’s up to the rest of the world to take action. So, I’d like to know if and when he thinks this problem will be fixed.