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.

Play Time

The next generation always takes something significant to a higher level. Studies have proven that in later years, children's play was focused on activity vs. play with toys. The cost of toys has risen significantly along with the amount of toys comercialed regularly on tv and in magazines and newspapers. Since toys have developed and become more advanced for a young child's mind, play time for younger children is needed to be more structured or planned out. It has also been said by doctors and by different professions that "make believe" utilizes "private speech". When children talk themselves through the steps of play time and explain how someone should play, this shows that they have more controling ways of working and enjoy a controled environment. Along the side of developing toys, throughout the years, tv has become more and more popular for younger and older people and different tv shows target different age audiences. It's been said by the older generations, who lived without tv's in the earlier years of their lives, that watching people on tv live their lives instead of our own is a waste of time. Instead of only looking for the negatives of tv watching, there are many bennefits to watching tv. There are educational purposes for watching different programs on tv and there will always be certain shows that target audiences for social purposes. Every generation will tell you differently.

Children are their Parents' Possesions

I disagree with this statement because everyone eventually is capable of managing their own lives. When children soon reach their teenage years, they learn that they can pursuade parents easier and can soon have the freedom to make decisions for themselves (whether they will or wont do something). Yes, children are given their parents' name at birth, but legally once a young adult reaches the age of 18, they are their own person and can by law do whatever they want. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pap treats Huck as his possession. "And he said people allowed there'd be another trial to get me away from him and give me to the widow for my guardian, and they guessed it would win, this time." (23). Even though Huck shouldn't be, Huck is treated as a gift handed over to the widow. Although Huck's father, Pap should have a strong say in Huck's life, he shouldn't be allowed to control his son.

Books are for educational purposes only

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book we're currently reading, has been known for years for it's misunderstood connotations. No one exactly knows why Mark Twain used some of the language he used, or added certain parts of the story in his book. For educational purposes or not, he was telling a story from his point of view from the time era that Huck Finn lived in. For some people, this was unnecessary to read about and could have been taught to students differently. Some said, " The word "n*****" was derogatory during the period in which the book was written; today, it is outrageous and inflammatory.". While the quote is in fact true, students shouldn't be reading the book and abusing the language inside it with the understanding that it's wrong. This book is a good example for people to see how to learn from the horrible experiences some went through in the past. Without examples and evidence and notifying others about the tragedies of the past, people cannot learn from the mistakes of the past.

women and children FIRST!

If all people are given equal rights, there shouldn't be exceptions for any one, whether they are woman, men, or children. Women and children are viewed as more vulnerable compared to men. For years, women have been told that they are physically weaker than men and there place in life is to live at home and do work at home for their husbands, and for years they have done this. In modern day society, women have been more and more welcomed into the work force and recognized for their accompishments and equal to men in many ways. Since people have become more open to allowing women to work and more jobs are available for them, the more the working society has grown in many different aspects. Continuing this recent adjustment to the working world and outside the home, could only bennefit our country as a whole by unbelieveable amounts. Men and woman both have very different experiences and knowlegde to share.

INTO THE WEST

Since Native Americans (or also known as indians) were the first people to settle and live off the land in America, why are cowboys viewed as the "heros of the story of America"? In old movies or tv shows, the cowboys of the West were seen as the good guys while the indians were view as savages who were the bad guys. Realistically, if you see the cowboys from the indians point of view, it's the complete opposite. The indians were bothered by people with more advanced equipment, who wanted to take over their land and selfishly take it for their own and get credit for being a good guy/innocent person in all the encounters between the cowboys and indians. It might not have been until later that the cowboys realized what they had done was bad, but to this day, they are viewed as the ones defending themselves against the big bad indians.

the question of the YEAR!!

What have you changed your mind about?? I know that every day my mind wanders in and out of topics and all over the place, and in just in one sitting. It's completely out of my control and since I'm used to it, I don't find it annoying. I guess it's a small part of who I am as an individual because it's a piece of my personality. As people mature and grow year after year, they're asking themselves different questions and finding as the year goes on different answers. People eventually learn from their mistakes. The question of the year is very broad and can lead to different directions of critically thinking but the best part about having something so general is that it is applied to everyone. For me, something that I've learned a lot about this year is how to truely respect other people and how to show that you do. It's a common quality that everyone no matter who, should have. It's easier to lose respect than it is to gain respect. I've changed my mind about how I view people. Just because someone you know or love doesn't like another person, doesn't mean you have to agree with them. For many instances I've sided with my friends on my view points of other people in school and sometimes not. but for everyone, it's not always easy to stick with what is right. Since I've tried walking in other people's shoes this year, I've changed my mind about a lot of people.