Living on Minimum Wage

I was surprised by this show in that they were able to live on that little pay. The mere fact that many people live like that 24/7 is amazing. I was surprised that they were both injured and that the medical bills were obnoxious. I believe that it was a realistic portrayal of living on minimum wage because a lot of thngs happened like they're injuries and having the children over. They were also in Columbus, Ohio a city on the tip of the bell curve. I learned the diffuculty of living on minimum wage and some of the causes like medical bills and cost of living. I learned about the hell that those people go through every day just to survive.

The big picture



This is a glimmer of hope. People fighting for the further good of these nations.





This is just an average guy hes just unlucky. He lives in a slum and it just shows the human element.



   














I feel sad when i see things like this. This 4 year olds eyes have seen more f the dark side of the world than they should have. Truly saddening.

Wasteland Documentary.

Wasteland was a film about an artist, Vik Muniz, who traveled to brazil and took pictures of recyclable maerial pickers at a landfill. He then made the pictures out of trash from the landfill. They then sold these and the proceeds went to the union of these pickers. I felt enlightened and happy of the way they were being realized and helped. It showed the human lement of these landfills and presented a unique perspective.
    At first i didn't see much of a direction in the film. When the pictures came to life in trash i was amazed i felt like i was wrong about my initial perspective.
Vik helped these people by letting the realize their potential. Raising public awareness of the pickers and providing support for their union heling them to become recognized as a legitemat orginization. I will definateley wonder where my trash goes from now on.
    I think the life of american people living day to day trying to scrape by could be highlighted by muniz. They work multiple jobs try their best and are satisfied. They need recognition as ell as many other groups.

20% Time

               In my gifted and talented class we are spending 20% of our time working on our own projects. I am choosing bowling. Yes bowling. It doesnt quite seem like a learning topic. There are advanced mathmatics, history, and skill involved in bowling. I think i am going to pursue it in a general way. History, math, and even playing from a bowlers perspective.

Terri Schiavo, A bioethics case study...

Terri Schiavo's case was a very famous and contreversial situation that had most of America picking sides. Terri Schiavo had a fit of cardiac arrest caused by her bilemia which caused her to be hospitalized. She soon began to lose brain functions and slipped into an irriversible coma which required her to have a feeding tube and other life support options. This is where it gets contreversial, Mr. Schiavo, her husband, who is her legal guardian decides he wants her feeding tube removed. End of story right? Wrong. Her parents and siblings want the feeding tube left in. This spawns a "war" between people who want Schiavo alive and those who want the feeding tue removed. This got the Florida governor and the president involved. Eventualy the feeding tube was removed and Terri Schiavo died. 

   I believe that the right decision was made. At that point i believe that Terri was no longer "human" she was not even "living" in my opinion. IAlso Mr. Schiavo legaly had the right to make the decision.

Gattaca and the Bioethical Dilema of Genetic Alteration

The movie Gattaca begins with the ambiguous statement "In the not too distant future." The movie revolves around Vincent who was born in the naural way, unfortunateley most of the world is genetically altered to be the best possible. Vincent is deemed an Invalid due to his high chance of heart disease and failure as well as the need for glasses. His brother Anton is a Valid and they often try to outdo each other especially by chicken were Vincent always loses. He dreams of one day of going into space and works as a janitor at Gattaca a space faring company. One day Vincent trys to beat Anton at chicken again and succeeds. He will not be able to work there as an astronaut because of his condition. He decides to take Jerome's identity a Valid who is now paralyzed. Vincent is able to fool the genetics tests in a variety of ways using samples from Jerome. A director at Gattaca is murdered and two detectives investigate.  After the investigation a Valid is arrested and the main detective reveals himself as Anton. They play chicken again and again Vincent wins. Vincent then goes to Gattaca on his launch day and is surprised by a last urine test. the doctor sees that he is Invalid but passes him anyway. Jerome incinerates himself as Vincent takes off and Vincent says that he used to only want to leave earth now he's sad to go and that maybe he's going home.

         I enjoyed Gattaca and i believe it is a very good examination of the human condition.

      There are nine things on the "Natal Spectrum" and these are as followed (least contreversial to most) : 1.Natural Birth, 2.Fertility drugs, 3. Carrier testing, 4. Prenatal testing, 5. Artificial insemination, 6. In Vitro Fertilization, 7. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Diseases8.Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Non-deleterious Traits, 9.Human Cloning

    I chose to organize my list this way because natural birth is obviously the least contreversial i mean you can't really argue with nature. I chose fertility drugs next because it doesnt really change much. I chose carrier testing and prenatal testing next because that can be helpful in preventng disease. I chose artificial insemination as the middle point because i dont see a major problem with it. It is just natural birth with a different way of fertilization.  In vtro fertilization is accaptable to me but i believe it is very contreversial. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for diseases im not very supportive of picking and chosing embryos. pre-implantation for no delterious traits i completeley disagree with you shouldnt mess with nature in that way. Human cloning in my opinion is just completely unaccaptable.

    I would draw the line after number 7 on the scale because all the things before it offer some benefiets.but after that i think that choosing traits and  cloning are just unatural and i frankly just disapprove.

Values

The Gifted and Talented Seminar 1 class has just begun a unit on Ethics. First, it was necessary to define values, morals, and ethics. After we came to a conclusion and agreement on what the differences are among these three things, we took a values survey to determine what our values are.


 I am fairly content with my results. They were:
Honesty, Integrity
Religion Spirituality
Family, love, emotional security
Fulfillment, Intellectual and Vocational achievement
Personal freedom, Independence


 I believe these results reflect me fairly well. I don't know if i've said it before but i do not believe strongly in tests that classify you. They don't take into account that all people are unique, but i digress. I was always taught that honesty is the best policy... and even if i didn't think it was the best it was a better policy than the belt so i told the truth. I have carried on that value into my adolescence and intend to keep it until the day i stop walking this earth. I am also a Christian Baptist and making time for God is one of my top priorities. I want to provide the best life for my family possible and be a good husband and father. I want my life to have meaning and i want to reach fulfillment in every aspect of my life. My independence is my greatest gift and privilege and thats how i will treat it, as a privilege. 

"Quote of the Day",    "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...(whole poem)... i took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" -Robert Frost