Forever Perilous Times???

http://animoto.com/play/4hDe4X3r23GtmivbkKPQfg?autostart=false

What's really important?

Sometimes it's important to take a reality check before going to sleep or waking up in the morning. At the start of every day it's good to realize what will be good in this day ahead of you. After a bad day, look to your green light in the near distance and see what it means to you. While reading The Great Gatsby, it didn't take too long for me to realize that Gatsby's morals were slightly different then mine. So much of his life was money based. He had the theory that from rags to riches was the ideal American dream. Gatsby didn't love money because he wanted to prove to himself that he could live a happy life in East Egg with all the money he could ever dream of, he wanted to prove this to the love of his life. He realized how much she loved money, so he slaved away so he could prove to her that she made a mistake. In the end was Daisy really worth it? Her high-maintinance qualities didn't prove herself as a good person. Daisy's greed proved that money can't buy happiness.

Forgive but don't Forget

This past weekend, I've learned a great deal about myself as an individual and about others around me on a religious retreat through the Faith Hope Church. I learned first hand some of the most amazing stories about people that I used to just pass in the hallways at school. Many people on this retreat held back and didn't know how to openly talk to strangers about struggles from their past, or anything that's going on in their every day life. For everyone this wasn't an easy thing to do. Most importantly, this outstanding experience showed my I'm not alone in any aspect of my life. It showed me that the people you would least expect to have every day struggles, really do. No one's perfect and the image of perfection can be easily seen through. I've never in my life looked at a person this way until now. One of the most valuable lessons I've learned is to forgive. "Forgive but don't Forget" is the new outlook I've had for the past 4 days. Right now, I don't know how to look at an situation differently. The friendships that I've created this weekend will stay with me forever and are unforgettable. I hope my new outlook on life stays with my forever, because it has changed me as a person for the better.

Going Against Morals

Many people for moral reasons or due to religious beliefs don't believe in stem cell research. Looking beyond individuals with their personal morals, John Wagner, a clinical researcher at the University of Minnesota stated, "every discovery with [embryonic stem] cells has furthered our work with stem cells from umbilical cord blood or adult tissues." Going against this science research will stop (for example) cancer patients from getting better faster and having an easier/more effective solution to their illness. John Medelsohn, the head of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas said that federal funding might have the unintended consequence of creating financial incentives that would encourage the creation of frozen embryos in order to destroy them. The controversy of having people "kill" a living embryo is the equivalent to killing a human being. After hours and hours of research, George W. Bush stated, "we're tinkering with the boundaries of life here". Personally, I don't think and embryo and a living, breathing human being are incomparable with which is more valuable. I understand that it's a hard decision to say which is more important than the other, but I believe that saving a life that has the potential to get better if stem cell is performed is more important. "They are not a person. They are not alive," insisted Doug Melton. An embryo hasn't experienced life and if it never does if it should be used to an equally important cause, saving a life. George W. Bush has also said, "This is too important an issue to take polls about. I am going to decide this based on what I believe is right."

Stem Cell Research

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act's bill was vetoed by George W. Bush but was passed twice by Congress. The research has grown an impressive amount since it was discovered. A family friend of mine recently had Stem Cell done. He was diagnosed with Cancer in his Sophomore year of high school and as time flew by, six years later, his cancer reappeared and he knew he needed Stem Cell done or there was a great possability that he would die. A current WHY question for this issue is: Why does the Government intervene with science? The Government has enough power to persuade people's opinions and "play God" sometimes. But for this issue, the scale is close to 50/50. People are having an issue with stem cell because it is taking away a human embryotic cell from growing to it's full potential as a human, and being used for a sick, living human being. There are pros and cons for both sides but is it really isn't the Government's place to limit scientists and doctors from their work to better the lives of people who have endured a great deal.

http://www.cancer.org/downloads/stt/CFF2007EstDthSelSiteByState.pdf

This site provides the statistics of the year 2007's cancer estimated death rate in the US. MANY of these patients, depending on their case and situation, could have been cured of their cancer if they had Stem Cell to help. As technology improves and stem cell is better well known, I believe cancer's death rates will drop dramatically in the near future. It needs to be given the chance it deserves and a second opinion by certain branches of the Government.

(The picture above symbolizes the opposing view of stem cell research)

JT

The infamous JUNIOR THEME starts off difficult even when picking a topic. For not knowing much about it, I can still feel the stress building in the room when different topics are discussed. After picking three main ideas, I narrowed my list down to stem cell research/cloning. The narrowed focus of my topic is the history of health and how this information and enhanced medacine can become beneficial. A recent article in the Chicago Tribune is what caught my eye on this particular topic. The article mentioned scientists testing on animals, cloning a black cat, and advancing their medacines a great deal since last year. It will be amazing what they can do in a few years from now. Their advanced technology was impressive for the amount of time they've spent trying to perfect their studies.

Reconstruction

Slavery was not completely abolished during the reconstruction era. Lincoln, who had the same point of view of the North, was against slavery but made the decision that African-American people could continue their work, as long as they were paid wages. Therefore, slavery faided out slower than it should have, and wasn't until later recognized for how horrible and wrong it actually was. Owning a person as their property was viewed as normal and perfectly acceptable until the Civil War. When the US worked on becoming a new place were equality was finally important, all people who were previous slave owners struggled with their new life of working for themselves. While doing this, white people had to work longer hours and spent more time slaving away like black people once had to. When the North began to take control of Southern territory, they destroyed more than they actually reconstructed. Some people's homes and property were destroyed. The most important part of this time was that slavery was finally coming to an end. Although the Civil War, in my opinion didn't resolve the majority of the problems, the North finally fought for as long as they needed, and until they won their battle to end slavery.