The King is Killed?

It was in all the magazines, and every news channel on television, Michael Jackson death was the top news story in the world. Yes, he is “The King of Pop” and idolized by thousands, but was his life really more important then anyone else’s? On average 150 000 people die a day, and on June 25, 2009, I only heard of 2 deaths, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson, both celebrities.  If there were any chance to save Jackson, from a Utilitarian’s perspective, saving him would have honestly been better for society, then say an old woman in her 80’s; however, is this truly ethical? What does it show about us saying, saving Michael Jackson would be better then saving a man in his 20’s? I know when Jackson died I was not thinking about the 150 000 other people, but I do know that this is wrong. We have to learn that yes it is sad when such an iconic figure dies, but that it happens everyday and that celebrities are really just people like everyone else.

The second issue with the death of Michael Jackson was before his death, he reportedly had been given propofol, along with two anti-anxiety benzodiazepines: lorazepam and midazolam. These we rumored to be given to him by his personal physician, Conrad Murray (who is serving time in the Los Angeles County Jails, for manslaughter) Murry said Jackson “entrapped” him into giving him these drugs; however, from the rumors throughout Jackson career, how does one know if he was full competent? Murray has also been classified as "mentally disturbed" and "suicidal," according to a probation account. With an incompetent doctor, this could have only led to a disaster.

Two days ago, Conrad Murray was sentenced with 4 years in prison, no one knows if he actually drugged Michael Jackson; however, his actions show. He feels no remorse or sympathy towards his client, and that he does not care about him. The death of Michael Jackson was a very tragic complication; to some it was just the end to a great musician, to others it was the most awful event that they have lived to see. However nobody can compare his death to the grief of loosing a loved one, no matter how much of a MJ fan you are!  

Michael Jackson Trial

Middle East and Gaddafi

Since it is rembembered the Israelis and the Pakistani have always had problems considering the amount of rights and freedoms they have. Their lives are shortened to a very small amount of options. Like Gwynne Dyer sed, and you can read about this journalist and public speaker in this site http://gwynnedyer.com/, "if you graduate from university and high school in these countries the odds are you won't find a very good job in any other developed country. This is the sad truth, middle east countries contain a high amount of the world population and they have always been ruled by dictators and a good example of this would be, the Gaddafi case. He was killed recently, he was a ruling dictator and he never gave his population any rights or freedoms. Now ethically this situation was messed up; this guy takes over power at 24 years old, he then decides never to leave and makes his country a living hell. He gives them no writes whatsoever, and the power he has contains no responsibility at all. Middle East countries have been on the front of our newspaper since a while ago. It is something moving that's going on in the world as we speak. Here it is, a disturbing video that shows how much of a controller this man was and the terror he brought to his country. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/111024/gaddafi-sodomized-video-gaddafi-sodomy.

I only hope future generations from Libya build a much more responsible government who they trust will be a leader and will bring their countries higher, because from where they stand right now, there is not a lot of possibilities if you live there.

10% of the world is living under pliant and suffer from their own government. They should be getting help and believing in their leaders, but instead those who are the ones suppose to fight for their country are sitting down, sending military action to the streets to kill members of manifests, which are really just created because people are desperate for change. There is a curtain level of violence and un-ruling action that citizens will take from their own government, and if it is penetrated, people will act.

In Gaddafi's case manifests grew heavier and became a revolution. Having a revolution now just shows how far back countries like Libya are from full development. If you think of America, they had their revolution from the British long ago, same with other developed or even developing countries like Mexico and Colombia. In fact about 80%of the world is independent nations. It is the sad truth, but the sooner we understand the position in which these people are the better and sooner we will be able to help.

LRA or Lord's Resistance Army

The LRA, a prime example of a radical movement, bent on terrorizing the people of Central Africa and mainly operated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This resistance movement is led by the infamous Joseph Kony who has been making recent headlines in CNN (click here). The LRA all started when Joseph Kony raised an army to fight against the government of Uganda, in 1987. The goal of the Lords Resistance is to establish a new state governed by the ten commandments and an african tradition called Acholi. This movement is very violent as many as 200o innocent civilians have been killed and another 3000 have been abducted. Many crimes against humanity have been committed to the point were the atrocities can not be ignored by the government of the United States and pleas for help have been issued by the people of the Congo. Obama has not turned a blind eye on these people and their suffering but he announced 100 troops be sent to the Congo to hunt Joseph and his followers. The LRA has committed some of the most vile and disgusting crimes ever on the face of this planet. The accounts of a few of the survivors are disclosed here. Many of these accounts include horrible unimaginable acts of horror such as making family member kill each other, cutting off lips, ears and noses, leaving people to die in the jungle with broken knees, as well as murder and sexual enslavement. In the documentary disclosed a reporter ventures deep into the heart of the Congo and actually interviews Joseph Kony and his victims first hand. This group has been labeled as a terrorist cartel and needs and should be put to an end to save the lives of many Congolese citizens.

Zombies? (Part 1)

After the airing of the new season of "The Walking Dead" it accured to me that the majority of people do not know what to do if an outbreak of a zombie virus were to happen. This can turn out to be a problem becasue the more poeple that dont know how to handle them selfs during an outbreak the more zombies there would end up being. This is why a "zombie plan" is essential next to earth quake and fire plans. However, these plans differ from person to person but should have similar prioities amoung each variation. The first thing people would say is finding friends and family. This can pose as a major challenge as the world is slowely consumed by chaos. Therefor the first step is to have a place to go to. Cities and heavy populated area pose as huge targets for the infected as well as the military. Once it is seen that the infection cannot be stopped by civil way the military will begen to fire bomb urban areas to destroy not only the infection but also its food supply. Escaping to the country side or some less populated area is key. I myself plan to go to Alaska because everyone knows zombies cant survive the cold. Do not try to fly to places like Hawaii or other island areas because they are either already infected or the military force on the island will be ordered to eliminate any incoming refugeses. Barricading ones self in a basement is a bad idea because there is no place to run if a zombie breaks through. It is better to be in high places like a skyscraper or other buildings because if in the chance you do get swambed you can always jump and avoid being devoered. Always remeber, anything is better then being eaten by zombies even being eaten by little kittens.

Disturbing. Absolutely disturbing. From 1939-1989 they had been trafficking babies throughout Spain. They took the babies from their homes and shipped them to local hospitals where they where then adopted by a different family. This was done by the catholic church no less. This was done to prevent harm to general franco but even after his death it continued. The god that was supposed to stop people from doing this. Even his own church were hurting people. This leads to the question is there really a god?

For one god can do no wrong (apparently) so why had he permitted the trafficking of children or the poverty that people suffer in Africa. This just not seem ethical to let so many people live with such a disadvantage. Another reason is that we have only heard stories about people doing remarkable things in the past. And yet nothing remarkable has happened for a couple hundred years. Also the bible is updated and changed to fit modern churches beliefs better. With so many updates the truth would be diluted. For example if you have ever played the game telephone. That is when you say something into one person’s ear and as it gets farther down the line until the end there is only a inkling of the phrase you had told in the beginning and this is very probable with the bible. Also the bible was first written in latin and when it was translated it could have been translated to mean something totally different as words in another language tend to mean more than one thing. This all shows that there is no god. Maybe god had been a statue that we would worship or it was a human being and throughout the years the story got more and fabulous that the original thing was an all-powerful god. That is all I will say on religion. And I am also catholic I just did this for the sake of an argument

Now back to the injustices of the world. For example as I mentioned earlier poverty in Africa. We are trying to help but still people die more and more everyday. From things as little as chicken pox that cost but a few cents. Here in the 1^st world countries we treat patients for thousands of dollars. If we donated but ⅛ of that money we could lessen the amount of deaths in Africa and other 3^rd world countries. It is just not morally right to spend so much money on things that we don’t need and then throw them away the next year. Just donate a couple dollars a month and we could put an end to poverty!

Dogs Are Man's Best Friends?

There are many reasons to believe that Dogs are Man’s best friends. The countless abilities that dogs have are unbelievable and many people use them for special reasons. Some dogs can herd sheep, while others will sniff out drugs and explosives, and even be a guide to blind people.

In many cases, dogs have saved their owners from certain death. One instance is when Omar Rivera was working at the World Trade Center when the infamous 9/11 happened. He was blind and he had a guide dog named Durado who led him down the stairs to safety amidst the panicked people (click here for the full story). Another example is of a dog called Honey (link here), who rescued her owner after his car got stuck in a ravine by finding and leading people to where the car crash occurred. Dogs also have undying loyalty towards their owners. One famous story about a dogs faithfulness is the story of Hachi , an Akita dog who waited everyday at the train station for his master, even after he had passed away.

Dogs have many uses and can also be a companion to you. They are fun to play with and maybe someday, your dog might even save you!

Criminal Minds vs. Our Minds

When someone gets into an accident there is always that feeling that something could be seriously wrong, maybe a broken limb, internal bleeding or worst of all damage to a vital organ, more specifically the brain. In an episode in the seventh season of Criminal Minds a man goes through a serious car crash. The car crash was so bad that he suffered severe damage to his brain. It became so bad that when he saw faces of people he was close to, his parents for example, he would think they were imposters. The brain is such a delicate thing; it’s scary to think that something that happens many times throughout the day can alter our lives forever. I want you to put yourself into their shoes for a moment. Imagine looking at your significant other and having your brain send you signals that are not real. Thinking that someone you care about has been taken over. He felt absolutely alone. Now, this man was not in a competent state so even though he committed crimes and broke several laws he could not be thrown into jail; however, he would be put into a mental institution. Think about your little brother or sister or daughter or son. This man and other people with the disease take one look at them and believe that their family has been abducted and people are replacing them. Their brains have the natural instinct to go into overprotective mode. Some cases are more severe than others, for example the man in this episode has an extreme case of this mental disorder. However this disorder is not always permanent. When the accident occurs a pathway in your brain that connects two different parts of the brain is broken, it can sometimes repair itself or find another route to connect the two parts together again. This episode was not only a way of learning about behavior it was also of a way of learning about the brain. Criminal Minds is a show that teaches us about our behavior and lets us see into the minds of criminals.

http://www.tvfanatic.com/videos/criminal-minds-promo-dorado-falls/

The Right to Die

Humans have a natural instinct to stay alive and to do everything they can to keep living. So one would think that humans have the natural instinct to know when the pain has become too much and to know when the life has already left them, and it is time to die. We as humans find ourselves constantly contemplating the meaning of life and finding the purpose of our lives, and we are constantly on the search for things that make us happy or enlighten us in certain ways.

But when disease has consumed your body and your life, it is almost impossible to continue living a happy life, as the pain is all you can think about since it will never go away. These are the effects of certain terminal illnesses, such as ALS.

If you were put in a situation where you could put your patient out of their misery, would you let them die? A utilitarian would not, as they believe in the greater good for the greatest amount of people, and would probably presume that by letting one person die, that it would mean letting every person with the wish to die, die. But, a deontologist would respect the persons right to self-determination, and let them make the autonomous decision to end their life.

In the case of Sue Rodriguez from British Columbia, she would have liked to have had a few deontologists on her side. Sue Rodriguez suffered from ALS as it explains in her case, http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp349-e.htm, and wished to have a physician aid her in terminating her life. As a competent person, she was still denied her wish. Sue, as most people, wanted to die with dignity. She did not want to spend the rest of her life incapable of doing almost everything independently, and the pain became too much for her to deal with. But how could the judges understand just how much pain she was in? Everyone has different tolerances for pain.

There is a point where life ceases to be a right, and becomes a duty that is forced upon you. The right to die is seen as a true testament to how much autonomy people legitimately attain. But should each person with a terminal illness have the choice of euthanasia? Yes! One should have control over their body and mind and be the master of their own life. How many times can you cheat death until you end up putting yourself into more pain?

Do I smell early lunch?

Sitting in our last class we count down the minutes till the bell goes, signaling lunch. Around 15 minutes before we are allowed to go, listening to our teacher suddenly isn’t what’s on our mind anymore. It’s the question of “hmm. I wonder what’s on the menu for today? See getting early lunch is something that every student wants everyday (aside from sleep in maybe) but the thing is the Brentwood staff or who ever decides to deprive us of this wonderful privilege doesn’t take into account what the benefits of early lunch really are.For some of us the last 15 minutes of period 5 are used to fantasize about the massive sandwich we will create or maybe the mouthwatering bowl of rice complete with soy sauce and melted cheese, honestly our stomachs are thinking of food and our minds are listening.

As the non-existent smell of lunch wafts through our heads just taunting us, the lunch ladies are preparing for the herds of students that come running in… pushing and shoving to get their food first. The ladies who dollop food onto our plates are now under the stress of making sure 400 students get what they want…. And fast. I mean come on now, how hard is it to handle a mass of hungry teenagers… I’m guessing pretty damn difficult. See if there was early lunch for classes, scattered out there wouldn’t be such chaos. So why isn’t it taken into account? how hard the rush must be of feeding these hungry beasts? Some people who see the enormous line up skip lunch because the hot food line is so extensive and after having 6 hours of learning drilled into our heads, all we want it to taste that food. I’m also pretty sure the teachers of the classes wouldn’t complain either…lets be serious now. Early lunch isn’t just to satisfy our empty groaning bellies, it also helps spread out the flood of all students so there is not such a long wait. I’m not saying this has to happen every single day but as a treat once in a while…. Having an early lunch would be fantastic!!

Are Fairytales Bad For Our Children?

We have all been told the stories of how Jack climbed the beanstalk and found an unexpected giant or how the Three Little Pigs escaped the Wolf. From a young age we have been taught that these stories have moral values that are to be followed and never questionedBut is it right to teach our youth that we should accept the decisions of people without questioning their intentions or morals? What if there are hidden negatives in the stories that we read to our children, that if focused on, could have been the reason they wouldn’t have been heard again? For instance the fact that we are raising our children to believe that life will be as perfect as the characters’, or that beautiful people get it better, and even the little negative details of stories that we do not notice. These are not positive opinions that we should be putting in our children’s minds.

Fairytales are basically stories that we tell our children to amuse them and stretch their imaginations, but unless we specifically tell them, they are unaware that these stories are not reality. No girl really meets her prince that easily and certainly nobody magically awakens from a coma to find that their life is perfect. To us, this seems ridiculous, but to a five year old, they do not know what reality is, and for all they know, that’s it.

Every story has it’s moral message. Beauty and the Beast tells us that beauty is within, Pinnochio teaches us to live honestly. That is the primary point of us as children hearing them: to learn lessons that we should live by. But nobody seems to remember that Cinderella doesn’t stand up for herself, or that Ariel gave away her voice in return for legs, so the prince has to fall in love with her without hearing her speak. The messages that are under the surface should not be taken so lightly.

As humans, we believe what we are brought up to believe. Our virtues are based on what our parents or gaurdians wish us to think. By reading our children these fictional stories, the morals that are meant to be focused on may be overshadowed by the negative messages that they are sending.

The Canadian Health Care System

Today in Canada, healthcare is a word that has almost become a synonym amongst the population for political inefficiency. And who could blame them, with the waiting lists, and the insufficient medical coverage? But does anyone really know the rules and regulations they are relying on to save their lives? Do people really even care until they or a family member are dying because the waiting list became a race against time they lost and had to pay for instead with their lives? So many problems, and no one seems to have the answers. Or if a select few do know the facts they aren’t doing enough to inform the public because health care is and remains one of the most misinformed topics in the political system.

I’m not saying I have all the answers but I do know that the Canadian Governments, statement about health care makes me nothing but nervous. “ The basics, however, remain the same - universal coverage for medically necessary health care services provided on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay.” This statement if of concern simply because of their usage of the word need, without defining what they are promising.

Dictionary Definition:

need [ned]

verb [trans.]

1. require (something) because it is essential or very important

Canadian Government’s definition:

need [ned]

noun

1. a medically relevant situation that that needs to be acted upon immediately.

But what about the medical situations that aren’t urgent? The cases where a lack of medical treatment can negatively impact a persons life in the long run? Are their needs not as important because because their condition is not as critical?

For example, a recent study in England showed that one in every 10,000 babies is effected by anopthalmia, a rare disease that results in infants being born without their eyes. You may be asking, what the problem is, since visually impaired people need relatively little medical treatment and are still capable of living a normal life. But the difference is that the children effected by this disease are still growing and developing and need glass eyeballs in order for their sockets and face to develop normally.

And yes, you guessed it, this disease, is shockingly not covered by the Canadian Health care system, since glass eyeballs are simply too expensive despite the fact that it is a necessity for the people effected by anopthalmia.

The fact is though that, "everyone as a person has the same rights as any other person," as is stated in the Deontological Principal of Equality and Justice. These people have the same right to a normal life as any of us, and they should not be deprived of that right simply because of the limited defenitions of one word. Need.

Learn more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584062,00.html#ixzz1d5EMNnor

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/index-eng.php

"Pardon My Language"

Why do you need to pardon your language when you cuss? Are swear words really as bad as they're made up to be? Humanity is full of atrocities like torture, epidemics, and starvation. This list could go on. If an alien was studying the human languages, he would learn of these things and wonder why we use them in everyday language casually. "Man waiting in that lunch line was torture!" or "I'm starving!" "that video was sick." Why do we use the worst things we can possibly do in everyday language? The funny thing is as that as soon as we say a swear word like "F***", there's a huge stigma and we're considered irresponsible and a bad influence. The "F" word meaning reproducing, showing physical attraction and love between two people; one of the best things we do as a human race is "F". I might be being an egoistic person saying this, but I feel like something is wrong.

There is sometimes a stigma on words that are good words,

and the worst words are just thrown around like it's nothing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSQmk6gGTcE&feature=related

This is a video on Stephen Fry talking about "swearing"

Being Minor: The Pros and Cons

Minor: A person under the age of full responsibility, lesser in importance, seriousness, or significance. Legally, a minor is a person under a certain age (usually 18) – which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood. Of course, being a minor is not something we can control as children or young adults. Which means that there is no way out of “being a minor”. However, whilst we are still under this category, we should take some time to observe what we can do, what we can’t do, what all this means, as well as our limitations. Should society and the government still use this term and set of rules?

Minors are always looked at as unimportant and incompetent and are seen as individuals who are not able to make their own decision. Their Guardians make major life decisions; not just because they (the minors) aren’t capable of doing so, but also because the law commands that they do so. As minors, people, often from the older generations (who, in another words aren’t minors) see us as not being capable enough to carry out functions or point our life in the right directions. This leads to my next point – As our society is progressing rigorously and the media is starting to take the reins on our communities, individuals of the younger generation start to question their place in the society, and the freedom they are allowed to possess. Now, this brings in a tricky situation, where the younger generations start to have their own mindset and ideas. Since we are in the early ages of media, the internet, connectivity throughout the world, and all that fancy stuff, it is understandable that minors, especially young adults would start to think differently, and act more aggressively than ever.

This then brings in a dilemma about who is right. Of course, for the older generations, keeping up the standard, upholding this status and our amount of freedom would be key, as they have all the right reasons to believe that keeping up this standard would allow us a bright future. As minors, we would be less mature than adults, and would not be able to weigh our options as well as someone who has lived in this world for a longer time with more experience. Yet, it has never really been tested to listen to the younger generations, as parents and the older generations generally have authority over minors, simply because of the maturity and age gap.

Of course, there is the natural positive side of being a minor. Aside from being young, free, and a juvenile, we are also given the ever- important benefit of the doubt. Although we are less important and less trusted, there are also lower expectations and a higher frequency of forgiveness. As a juvenile, the court is always lighter on us (unless in extraordinary circumstances), and in certain countries, children under the age of ten are immediately dismissed from federal disciplinary action. This is all in the name of immaturity and ignorance. So you could say that other than child slavery and exploitation, we’re pretty fortunate as minors.

Of course, this isn’t all there is to being a minor. But I believe I have touched the surface of it… You can read more about minors and their statuses in other countries here. But, bottom line? You can’t change being a minor. But as you go along in your youthful stride, enjoy the leeway and understanding you get, because it won’t last for very long.

Rex

Your Crooked Heart

Liz Feldman once said "It's very dear to me, the issue of gay marriage. Or as i like to call it: 'marriage.' You know, because I had lunch this afternoon, not gay lunch. I parked my car; I didn't gay park it." You may be wondering why I opened up with this particular quote. In case you are, have patience young Padawan... I'm getting there. I don't understand discrimination. I don't understand homophobia. What's the point? We're all the same on the inside. Love is love, people are people. The Principle of Autonomy and Respect for Persons states that everyone has the right of self-determination subject to the equal and competing rights of others. In other words, we all have the right to well, rights. It shouldn't matter where you come from, what you believe in or if you like men, women or both. It may sound like the lyrics to the next John Lennon's Imagine , but I honestly don't see why people can't put these kinds of things behind us. Firstly, it's nobody else's business and secondly, bullying kills. And voilà, this is why I chose that quote. It's no one else's business who you love or marry.

As you're reading this, I'm sure you can think of too many headlines in which a child or teenager committed suicide over repeated sexual orientation and/or racist slurs. In fact, we discussed one in class the other day, which is what sparked my interest to write on this topic. I don't know about you, but I'm done with hearing those stories. I'm done with the hate and the angst. I mean, it's the 21rst century for crying out loud! We might not have the flying cars depicted in Back To The Future, but people all around the world are in the middle of rebellions and revolutions, fighting for what they believe in: the middle east with the Arab Spring, North America and Occupy Wall Street. People are trying to change, so why can't we eliminate some of these last, great weaknesses of human nature? The ostracizing and the aggression need to stop. I know we've all heard it a thousand times, and yet the message still doesn't seem to be getting through to everyone. Why the hate? What's the point? What do you benefit from hurting someone else? Nothing. Nothing is gained, and nothing every will be.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dreaming of a utopia. I'm not saying I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school or that I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy like the girl from Mean Girls, but I am saying that people have the right to be comfortable in who they are. This also implies that everyone has the duty to be treated with respect. Do unto others as you would like done unto yourself. Bashing them because they don't like the same things as you is not remotely acceptable. Yet people get away with it every day. That's the truth, and I've had it with the fact that people can't put aside their beliefs and differences. Beauty and character come from our flaws and all our little imperfections. We all have faults and we all have beliefs.

In WH Auden's poem, As I Walked Out One Evening, the speaker writes "You shall love your crooked neighbour, with your crooked heart." I shall, because no one is perfect, and we could all use a little more love. Will you? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Aspartame: Godly or Ghastly

Everyday throughout the world, a dieter, health fanatic or just a lover of diet foods, is faced with an ethical dilemma. Should I come to terms with calorie filled sugar? Or face the alleged cancer causing aspartame, which is used as a sugar replacement. One would most likely choose aspartame due to the large labels stating “diet” and “sugar-free” but one must consider the positive and negative benefits of aspartame on the human body.

Although the positive effects of aspartame are rarely focused on, there are numerous benefits that one must learn in order to successfully answer the ethical question of “should I use aspartame knowing it may cause many undocumented health complications?” Aspartame was first created in 1965 but was not used as an artificial sweetener until 2009, where health activists and Internet “trolls” heavily criticized it endlessly, stating it caused cancer. Many have fallen into their trap and truly believe that it does cause cancer among other things, but several studies have shown that these results were inconclusive. As a sweetener, aspartame is the best, having zero calories, being 200 times sweeter than traditional sugar, and easily made and sold so one should weigh their options by becoming fat, with loads of sugar, or eat the foods you like, with the sugary taste of aspartame.

Society has mainly focused on the negative aspects of aspartame, as many believe there are terrible health risks associated with the use of aspartame. These health risks range from cancer, as mentioned earlier, to blindness and originated from a spam email that flowed to millions of North Americans, warning people that the government is attempting to kill us with aspartame. But you need not to worry, as not one of these many diseases including multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, methanol toxicity, blindness, spasms, shooting pains, seizures, headaches, depression, anxiety, memory loss, birth defects and other annoying symptoms, have been proven truthful by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)

If you’d like to read more about the controversy involved with aspartame, there’s a Wikipedia page here dedicated to the American outrage at aspartame. My final thoughts are live life to the fullest; even if diet coke is going to give you cancer and you avoid it, there are millions of other products out to get you in the long run.

Patty Cakes