Issue; Drilling for Oil

I think that this oil spill off the coast of Florida, while a horrible catastrophe, happened at the perfect time. Right when Obama was planning to fight for drilling right off the coast, a huge pump broke and is spilling out hundreds of thousands of gallons into the ocean daily. It will take weeks to drill a support tunnel and stop the flow. This spill will coat Florida's' and possibly some of the East Coat. I am, personally, extremely apposed to drilling for oil, anywhere. My more Democratic, Eco friendly side, wasn't the USA to break the addiction to oil, for the huge companies not to pay millions of dollars in taxes to foreign governments. We need to move forward, evolve. I understand that to drill would be a fiscally responsible move, for the present, but in the long run, breaking our oil addiction would work better. We need to create technology and be ready to lead countries like China into the "Green Revolution" , this will also be an fiscally responsible act. But rather than aiding us in this moment, it will secure the longevity of ourselves as a nation. Something that both parties are trying to insure.

Views on the Republican Party

While I dont usually associate myself with this party, there are definite positive factors along with the negative.

I find the fact that the party is united, fiscally responsible, and I agree with part of the Conservative theory. They move together, speak as one and have a singular position politically. This united front seems organized and strong compared to the disorganized, bad communication of the Democrats. While the Republicans have not been very responsible with money, they still have the reputation of being fiscally responsible. This, if it was true, would be hugely important and a wonderful trait of anyone. Something I strongly agree with, is the conservative views about institutions. The government is necessary for the development of people. Being self-centered is a natural part of human development and most people grow out of it. To grow out, education is necessary, and the government should provide that and any other necessary aids. In addition, people do not always make the best choices for themselves and their community: we can make disastrous choices that we do not see how it will effect the rest of society.

A negative is the lack of willingness to improve and evolve, they believe in "recapturing goodness", that we had the ideal once, and should work to get it back. I strongly feel that the only way to survive the situations that we have put ourselves in is to grow and change. Develop new technologies and change the way of thinking. I also strongly believe in things like the new health care bill, to which the Republicans are apposed. The way that Republicans favor large corporations also disturbs me. Corperations are not the future, and the administration under Republican presidents depend on them, and cater to them too much.

Veiws on the Democratic Party

While this is the party I usually associate myself with, there are positives as well as negatives, just as there are with any system.

A few factors of the Democratic party are; some of the liberal views in regards to institutions and government, the total lack of an organized front and the fiscal looseness. I have found that I believe that people, as a species, need a system or institution, to function smoothly in a highly dense and high pressure situations. The believe has translated to the idea that we need more institutions and bigger government, merely to give that support and nudge people down a more healthy path. While I do not agree that people are inherently bad, we do not always make the best decisions in regards to the future or others. (Might I direct your attention to things like Global warming, McDonald, and Cooperation) Democrats also have a reputation for being fiscally irresponsible, and while that is all bad, I seem to remember that it was the under a Republican administration that we went to two wars and decreased taxes. But, was it not under Clinton that are deficit was reduced? And now Obama trying to pull us out of an economic recession?

In regards to this party, I find more positives than negatives. This party tends to have a pro environment lean, a tendency to look forward and try to evolve, and many social ideas and freedoms that conservatives don't have, such as gay marriage and women's choice. I strongly believe that the Democratic attempts to increase awareness and develop new technology to preserve our earth is a necessity for the continuation of the human race. This spreading of awareness along with creating new, nontraditional solutions to problems especially when it comes to working to save our earth, is of huge importance. The issues of equality for all, things like gay marriage and stopping discrimination is also part of social evolution and is moving int he right direction. This kind of evolution is a key part to the adaption and continuation of humans as a species.

Under a President of this party this country has started to pull out of an economic recession, create more jobs and has strengthened its foregone relations. Obama has tried to takle this recession by making millions of new jobs instead of throwing money at huge corporations and waiting for it to trickle down. Our economy is staring to look up again, and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as encouragement and motivation in his negotiations with other countries.

First Experiance

I went to the orientation last Wednesday and I was shocked at how many people had shown up. The entire Mooney Family was there, along with other people I recognized. There was a short presentation in which the regional staff told us facts about the program and what to expect once we start working. There are a huge number of volunteers, hundreds of thousands, and over three million athletes world wide. It is sponsored by many major corporations, although we were not given their names. We were told that at first we would get very minor jobs from the head coach and once they found us reliable we would move up to jobs with more weight. It is apparently a huge growing experience for both you and the athletes and a wonderful place to become a life long friend and mentor. She quizzed us after and we turned in our paperwork, confirming that we read the Coaches Code of Conduct and took the quiz that's meant to protect the athletes against sexual abuse. I cant wait to get started and will be placed as soon as my security clearance comes back.

Community Service Final Essay

Coaching Aquatics in the Special Olympics

The organization that I decided to donate my time to is the Special Olympics. This is a worldwide non-profit organization that is dedicated to creating an environment where disabled peoples can interact with the community, learn to believe in them and have fun, all in a safe and supportive environment. They provide cutting edge research for new legislation, health care for impoverished disabled peoples, and a sense of empowerment for all who participate. The Special Olympics operates in over 150 different countries and trains over three million athletes. This organization operates using hundreds of thousands of volunteers; because of this style of operation we are able to provide free training and competitions to all of the athletes year round.

Part I

The current status of this organization and the issues that they are working on and support can be described as spreading. The Special Olympics have many projects, all of which have dramatically improved and grown in the past forty years since the formation of the Special Olympics. The awareness and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities is ever growing, in part thanks to this program. There is also an increasing support system, both regarding education programs and social communities. These things are important because these programs represent steps forward in accepting all peoples. The Special Olympics also provides basic health care to many impoverished and neglected intellectual disabled. They have provided more than 700,000 screenings in 92 counties and give checkups and medication as needed. Programs for training healthcare professionals have been started to teach them how to work with patients suffering from intellectual disabilities, that is then brought back to their home town and put into practice. This is important because what they have done is improved the health, or saved the lives of many people around the world, and by educating the doctors they are providing this care exponentially. Historically, people with mental disabilities have been hidden away in houses for the insane, and shunned from society with disgust. Accepting people who were born with disabilities or were involved in tragic accidents is a necessary step to achieve a world perspective. In earlier times, black people were discriminated against, women were discriminated against, homosexuals are still discriminated against, and people with mental disabilities are currently over coming those discrimination and challenges with the help of organizations like the Special Olympics.

As with most new ideas and changes, support varies by location. There is so much positive support for this program, although there are always those who are set in their beliefs and refuse to consider a new approach. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people volunteer for this organization and they have been accepted into over 150 different countries, even wars have stopped for the Games, shows how the power of this movement. In regards to the war that they overcame; the city of Beirut in Lebanon halted the civil war so that the athletes could compete on the streets safely. Also in 1999 Palestinians and Israelis competed side by side with no hint of anything but friendly competition. The fact that the Special Olympics has been so graciously accepted into so many countries signals that they opinions of many people are finally changing in most locations, the foreign government has allowed outsider specialists to come in to their country to teach their teachers, to help the education and social development of those with disabilities in their countries.

Part II

The Special Olympics influences the government greatly, it is the spearhead of research into intellectual disabilities and reports their findings to the heads of multiple programs. The provided information gave the basis for the U.S. Surgeon General’s report titled “Closing the Gap – a National Blueprint to Improve the Health Care for Persons with Mental Retardation”. This in turn led to the expansion of the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program. The researchers that work for the Special Olympics report to high officials in various government sectors, including: Health care, education, nonprofit sectors and business sectors. In 2007 the Special Olympics gave a presentation on the Global Policy Summit on the Well-Being of People with Intellectual Disabilities to almost 70 representatives of major international organizations. The federal government has created many acts and bills regarding people with any number of disabilities, from laws regarding wheel chair accessibility to the mandatory minimum curriculum taught in special education class rooms. The state government helps by enforcing these laws in their specific jurisdiction while the local government gives support for programs and events through advertizing and land provision.

The two ways in which this project can relate to what we have been learning this year are; the process that the bill went through to be passed, and the structure of the Special Olympics’ organization itself, these relate back to government and economics, respectively. There are whole Administrations dedicated to peoples with various disabilities, for example; the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. These administrations had to be created by the president in a piece of legislature. Workers had to be hired and each piece of the bill had to be proposed by the House, and then passed in the Senate before going to the President for a final signature. The nonprofit organization ties in to our economics unit. This organization draws upon cooperate sponsors and volunteers time to continue operation. The corporations donate to make themselves more appealing to potential stock holders, just as many are now promoting aiding our environment and going green. The donations go into the program allowing free training and competitions to commence year round. The significance of the Games being free of charge for the athletes is it allows more people to compete, not to be rejected because of lack of funds. The sponsors also fund sending a few randomly chosen delegates to the world competitions every year, for example this year’s World Finals will be in Athens, Greece. Free health services also made possible because of these donations. In these ways the money that the corporations donate is, in a way, trickling down to the middle and lower class in unorthodox ways. The organization has very few paid staff, there are regional managers, two in northern California, who lead a heard of eager volunteers.

Part III

Different people and groups of people have different ideas as to how issues revolving around people with intellectual disabilities are to be handled. The first one that comes to mind is one that is highly controversial and is currently not regarded in a positive manner at all. It is the biological approach, which involves either IVF or genetic testing after the pregnancy has commenced. In the current time James Watson is the leader of this movement, he has made many great contributions to the scientific community, including revealing the double helix structure of DNA. This concept is using modern technology to extract gametes from both parents and fertilize the oocyte within a Petri dish, thus the Invetro name. When the mass is eight cells big one can me extracted and tested for a multitude of genetic problems, including Trisomy 21, Autism, predisposition to manic depression and a multitude of other abnormalities. If the post conception technique is used, he urges women to abort genetically abnormal children. This approach, instead of supporting and accepting humans with intellectual and other types of Disability, seeks to obliterate them. He wishes to drive them to extinction and erase them from our gene pool. This technique has been stated to merely be a technological version of Hitler’s extermination of non-Aryan Europeans and the Eugenics movement in the US’ earlier history. While the Eugenics movement does not hold a candle to the Holocaust, in both cases those who were deemed genetically or socially unfit were imprisoned, forcibly sterilized and killed. There is also another argument against Watsons theory’s, it is regarding where we stop. Do we stop at terminal genetic diseases, ones that will minimally hinder the child, or eye color? I personally do not find this a solution that we should pursue at this time. People with disabilities commonly can a huge positive influence on their society and can enjoy life, as much as any of us.

What I feel needs to be done, is for more people to gain knowledge about this movement. It is a huge force already, but it can always spread further. They have started to create schools, and give medical care to those all over the globe in impoverished and conveniently ignored rejoins of earth and this need to continue in increasing number. There is a great deal of legislation that has been created in regards to this subject and this is a great positive step. There should be more education, probably within the public school system about disabilities, and more opportunities for interaction and learning about those with disabilities. As of now, some have gone through our school, never having met many of the kinds who have been in our Special Education programs, even though Donathan is probably the nicest student at our school. There are people who have never heard of Lunch Buddies, and there are people who would cringe away from a person who was autistic. This relates to the triangle of ignorance, fear and hatred. If one is ignorant of disabilities, then when faced with a person who has one of those disablilites, the unknown threatens their previous knowledge of how every person looks and behaves, causing fear. If we could eliminate that ignorance, by educating and letting people get involved in this community, much energy put towards discrimination and fear could then turn to positive energy used to improve the lives of yourself and the people you surround yourself with. It comes down to providing more knowledge, so that those who were previously unaware can learn, change their ways, or get involved!

My community service hours have not yet started other than an orientation to the program. But already, by reading their site and blogging on this subject for the past few weeks have learned much in regards to my upcoming project. Because what I have chosen is a spring sport, the aquatics program started last week, and I am now just waiting on my security clearance to be sent back so I can be placed and start coaching. Before we could even sign up for the volunteering we were all required to complete an online test to protect the athletes from abuse, mainly of the sexual nature. We were also required to turn in a signed copy of the Coaches Code of Conduct, which was a very throughout lest of how to act and what not to do in any situation. I was told that I will be given small jobs at first then moved on to large responsibilities. I will get to know many athletes, who, I was surprised to find out, range from 5 to over 50, and many other volunteers. I might be asked to hang out with a few athletes or to lead part of a workout, either way; I am excited to start this process and to get on deck. Because my hours have not officially started yet, I will be extra careful in documenting them and in getting a signed letter from the head coach to prove that I did, in fact, complete my promises. From my research I have learned about the wonderful programs that the Special Olympics offers and the amount of good they do all over the world. I was surprised to find the sheer numbers of people involved in this project and just how large their sphere of influence is. I have learned the proper ways to refer to people; they have intellectual, or developmental disabilities, not merely mental disabilities, or problems. And I have learned how much many people donating a few hours each can do for a group of people. I look forward to learning more from the athletes and fellow volunteers in the weeks to come; I have been told it is a wonderful growing experience for both athlete and coach.

Genetic Soulution

In the history of many countries there has been a movement to use "genetics" to make the population better. In the US it was called Eugenics, in Germany it was called the Holocaust. Both were attempts to purify the gene pool and make the population better suited to life. While the Nazis took the cleansing a lot further, to the destruction of over 6 million non-arian persons. Here, while we did not kill many people, we locked them away in mental hospitals, some of which used the same gassing techniques as the Nazi, and we forced thousands of sterilizations on people the Eugenics movement found unfit. They made pedigrees of things feeble mindedness or bad temper, things that had no genetic basis. Now James Watson is promoting a new kind of genetic sorting. Using IVF, it is possible to take a cell from an eighth cell mass without any harm to the embryo and test its DNA for a multitude of genetic diseases or mutations. He urges that embryos with things like autism or down syndrome be passed up for "better" ones. Or if it is a test after pregnancy has started, he suggest abortions if any test comes up positive.

This new way of manipulating our population is very controversial. People think that we are going against god, that it is unnatural and that we do not know what we are doing. We are taking evolution into our own hands. But once we start manipulating genes, where do we stop? At genetic diseases, or at eye color? There is a slippery slope.
There is also the lives and contributions of those people who would have been terminated. There are many artists who were bipolar or manic depressive. Just because people have a problem, does not mean they are worthless.

Mental Health

An Actual Use for Social Networking!

Lately people with debilities or who are ill or handy capped have been using social networking sites to expand their world and gain support. This is a good option for people who are unable to leave their homes often or have problems that prevent them from interacting normally with others in a face to face situation. These networks, provide support through live chats and lets disabled people make friends and talk about their situation and the world that they might not be able to see. These people can seek out others that understand their situation and can provide an understanding friend, instead of the disabled persons feeling alone and misunderstood.

“Soon I had a little neighborhood. It was like stopping in for coffee every day just to see how things were going.”

There is only so much that you can understand about the world bu watching the news, these networking sites allow people to feel connected once again to the world outside of where they are confined.

I think this is a great use of technology, much better than students procrastinating on their homework by chatting oh Facebook.

Closer to the recreation of the Big Bang!

In Pasadena on Tuesday scientists rejoiced as a proton accelerator, called the Large Hadron Collider, successfully worked and sped protons using 3.5 trillion volts of electricity at over 99 percent the speed of light. The protons collided and the effects were recorded. This machine has been and 11 billion dollar project that has lasted many years. Three years ago it failed to work because of a bad connection between the magnets that are used to move the protons. There are a few other examples of this type of proton accelerator machines, all trying to recreate the Big Bang. While those machines have been collecting data for years, this is the highest output that has been created, unfortunately it is not possible to run the Large Hadron Collider at full power for another few years, due to slight problems with the magnets involved.

These scientists are trying to recreate the Big Bang so we can better understand out environment. They have opened a whole new area of science that will be explored. Their current goal is to find the definition of dark matter and to hopefully create Higgs Bosom, I don't understand what that is, but it has something to do with imbuing energy into particles. As Harvey Newman, a Caltech professor who works on the C.M.S. experiment:

“It’s very exciting because we are entering a new energy range,” ...“We’re looking at all kinds of exotic things,” he said, including signs of extra dimensions."

This is an exciting new field, I wish I understood better. The exploration of the origins or our universe.


Scientist celebrating with Champagne. With a back drop of the computerized model of the impact.

Wrong Way!

Obama is now proposing to start drilling for oil off the east coast. While the rigs would be out of sight and the states would get some of the profit, I feel this is a big mistake. While I know that he never deceived us, even saying in his State of the Union Address that

“tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.”

will be made, and I am sure, as the president and a global player, he has a view of the state of the world that far exceeds my own. But even with that being the case, i can not agree with this plan,

I feel that it is working towards the wrong end. Our goal should not be merely to reduce the US's dependence, but move away from using oil in general. It would be like the Prius, better for the ones buying the gas, but in the end, it has one of the most toxic batteries in existence which goes right into our earth. So while it claims, low emissions, and environmental friends, its really just pocket friendly to those who drive it and is hurting the environment in other, less disclosed ways. This drilling will not help up break our addiction of oil, merely foreign oil. I think that he should instead invest all the money that would go into buying the property, doing environmental research, drilling, then refining into creating alternate energy sources and making our country compatible with them.

Lets Learn From the Fish!

I don't think that this is a new break through, but scientist have found that when dealing with damaged hearts, injecting stem cells do not create favorable results, they are useless. Ulrike humans, who replace maybe half of their heart cells in their whole life and when damaged produce scar tissue that does not contract, Zebra fish can regenerate a fifth of their heart if it is cut off. The scientists do no know how this is naturally don't yet, but they have noticed that the mature cells revert back to slightly differentiated cells before multiplying to regenerate the lost tissue. This is currently impossible within in humans, they have found that the DNA in human heart cells after damage replicates in the beginning stages of P1, but does not pass through the checkpoints.

While we do not know how Zebra fish are able to regenerate, or why we cant. I believe that studying other animals and essentially copying their genes into our own genome could, quite possibly, be the future. It will be extremely controversial, raising questions like "what is human?" and "how human do you have to be to gain human rights?". But this future, where we can take the desirable traits of all the animals, this is when we can take evolution into our own hands.

Mental Health

...A Little Late, Maybe?

On Thursday, it finally became easier for veterans of the Perian Gulf war, a war fought in 1991, 19 years ago, to recieve diablility benifits for diseases that they have been living with for the past almost two decades. Now, they can qualify by

showing only that they served in one of those conflicts and suffer from any of nine diseases, including malaria, West Nile virus...brucellosis, campylobacter jejuni, coxiella burnetii, mycobacterium tuberculosis, nontyphoid, salmonella, shigella and visceral leishmaniasis.

Personally, I think it is terrible that the veterans have had to wait almost twenty years for the government to make it more possible to get compensation for their years of suffering. I believe that it should always be that easy to get disability if you have served and been injured, that is what disability is for, and it should be freely given to those who need it, not to only those who can get the correct paperwork. But...better late than never!

New Options for some Disabled

This video is about new options for disabled people like Byron who can no longer talk because of a progressing condtion. This type and talk technology gives him the ability to easily communicate with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, his health insurance has fallen behind the new, smaller technology and does not cover some of the new, small compact options for patients.

I think this is a great option for some types of patients, not all solutions will work for everyone, but this seems to be a very stable solution for thoes patients who have lost the ability speak but have all mental faculties and need to communicate in a timely manner.

A New Part of Our Hisory Discovered!

Archeologist have recovered a finger bone from a cave in Denisova that could date anywhere from 30,000 to 48,000 years back. They have found a bone of an child about age 5 to 7 and of currently unknown gender. The mitochondrial DNA has shown that there are major differences in the genetic code from modern humans and the ancestor of the modern human. The scientist are still waiting on nuclear DNA to confirm their theory. If this is indeed another new species of human, it means that migration out of Africa was more common than they originally thought. They also believe that the different species that existed could have lived together, coexisting in some parts of the world. When this child lived it would have been at the end of the Ice Age, and clothes would have been worn to avoid freezing. Within the same layer that the bone was found in there are jewelry and pottery that are normally associated with more advanced species. This could be just a shift in level, but there is, of yet, no more information on this.

The scientists arem, for now, holding back on their theories until nuclear DNA has been sequenced. But we are all hopeful for a new discovery into the past of advanced organisms. I realize that I am a science geek, but this significantly brightened my day, at the prospect of knowing even a fraction more on our evolutionary path.

An Old Veiw

In the past, the disabled have been viewed in a variety of ways. Not always have they been so accepted and integrated into society. In the recent past it was said:

'The invalid is a parasite on society. In a certain state it is indecent to go on living.
To vegetate on in cowardly dependence on physicians and medicaments after the
meaning of life, the right to life, has been lost…' - Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900

The first recorded organization formed to support the disabled was created in 1970 and was called "Disabled in Action". To put this in perspective, the Civil Rights movement, when the Constitution was ratified to involved African Americans and their right to vote in the 1870's.

When survival was the focus of life, Disabled people would have been thought of as a burden and had an extremely short life expectancy, if any. Later, they would have been thought a burden and most likely killed. Certain disabilities would have looked like a Devils possession to religious fanatics, creating fear and hate towards the disabled. Now, we re starting to reverse this, helping and welcoming disabled children into our society.

Taking Initiative

UNICEF is an organization that is trying to save the lives of children in over 150 countries. Everyday Twenty five thousand children die of preventable causes and it is UNICEFS mission to halt those unnecessary tragedies.



UNICEF also works in those countries to integrate children with disabilities into society using schools and other forms of support. This is a video about one school they have opened in Russia, when this was filmed, schools for disabled children was a new concept in Russia.

While UNICEF does not focus specifically on my community serves project, it is undeniable that what they are doing, for not only disabled children, but all needy children, in commendable and saves many life.

Mental Health

A few banned commercials.

Why Am I Not Sympathetic?

It seems that the drug companies have been taking quite a hit the last few years in relation to China and India and are fearful for the future. China accounted for 45% of the gross income drawn in by the drug companies and had a growth of 21%, contrasting greatly with Americas 5% growth. A reporter describes the situation saying:

“These traditionally peripheral economies are gearing up to turn the tables on the established pharmaceutical world order,”

Meaning that while America and Japan are still huge contributors, the gap is being bridged between the former top, and the growing former inconsequential countries.

They say that Americas misfortune on this front is caused by:

worldwide economic crisis, but also of patent expirations on a variety of name-brand drugs, growing use of generic drugs, reduced investments in biotechnology and tighter government restrictions on the pharmaceutical market

All things that will not improve in the very near future, unfortunately for the pharmaceutical companies.

I find it difficult the be sad for the corporate executives who might not get to have their multi million dollar Christmas Bonus. I understand that this is harming our economy, but the pharmaceutical companies have been cheating people out of money, refusing necessary treatments, and generally abusing their power for too long, Its time they fell and gave the medication field back to the scientists.

Almost There!

In this article, the impression given is that the Health care argument is almost over: that something will be passed soon. The Senate has approved a variation of a bill, and now the House is attempting to add some budgetary reconciliation. This will allow them to pass the bill using only the 51 votes instead of 60, because there is no filibusters on reconciliations. It looks like, no matter what happens at this point, something will be passed. As a

Republican of Texas, said Democrats were using “a sneaky snake oil gimmick” to pass their bill. “Let’s have an up-or-down vote on this bill and not hide behind some procedural mumbo jumbo,” Mr. Poe said.

the main attack the Republicans are using is that the process is cheating, or sly. While this technique might not be the most honorable, it is technically a valid strategy and, in this situation, extremely effective.

Personally, I am very hopeful for this bill, and eagerly await the completion of this long and painful process.

At least its not Demon Sheep!

This is rather old, and just as creepy as when it was new. Enjoy...or not.

Vision Therapy? Woah.....

A new type of therapy has entered the stage! This new type of therapy, poinered by Stanley A. Appelbaum focuses on manipulating the vision to help with bad behaviors and learning disabilities, as well as a large range of other problems, including trouble focusing and bad hand-eye coordination. It is a more acceptable option for some parents of the disabled children, because they do not want their child stereotyped or given psychoactive drugs. This is a more natural, less degrading approach to the behavioral problems. There are many success stories with this treatment, but scientists are still very skeptical, saying that it has no real basis in science, and the testimonials are biased, only positive reports are included. There is also some speculation as to the role of the placebo effect, having the results not actually because of the manipulation of the vision.

I think that, if this new therapy's can be tested and proven to work, it will be a huge breakthrough in psychology. The use of drugs on children could be minimized with vision therapy, at home exersizes and glasses. This also seems like it would be able to treat and extraordinary range of disorders and behavioral problems. A far greater range then medication. I think this new technology and field of study is well worth looking into farther and pursuing with great intensity.

Personal Experiance

One of the reasons I chose my specific project, other than the fact that I love teaching swimming, is because of a friend that I have. While she does not have a large disability, she does have slight learning disability that has greatly effected her life. She was born in Nepal and was adopted and brought here. She told me that if she had not been adopted, because of her difficulty learning, she would have been sent to work in the coal mines at a very young age. The programs in the United States was what has given her the opportunities and resources that she needed to get through high school and into DVC. The Skills programs in Acalanes, because of the bills regarding children with disabilities, supported her all thought the four years. Now unfortunately, she has failed to find the same type of aid at the college and is now struggling immensely.

Lower, But Unified, Worth It?

There has been a new "breakthrough" with the education programs. All states but Alaska and Texas have agreed to a new unified curriculum that has specific requirements each year from kindergarten to senior year of high school. While unification is a step forward, and will be easier to manage and regulate in the lower end school districts. This program, once again, seems to lower the standards for learning in each grade level. This seems like a continuation of the "no child left behind" acts which tried to unify the education levels for each child. This will never, and can never happen. There will always be children with disabilities, or who have trouble learning, or merely dont want to. And I don't think that that should hold the motivated and smart kids back. Because, in reality, it will be the tops of the classes that will be leading the world when our generation is middle aged. And taking away from their education by not challenging them, by not challenging the teachers will only harm us.

“Many states have too many expectations in their academic standards that force teachers to cover too much in a superficial way,

So, this sounds like, instead of finding a way to help teachers better cover the material and to provide a higher education for the students, we are once again, merely lowering the standards.

Dragon Twista!!!

I would like to make a point clear before this video is watched. I think it is absolutely wonderful that a child with autism can achieve this and put himself out there for this kind of critique, I know I couldn't. I merely want to show his awesome move DRAGON TWISTA with you. Please never attempt this with anything sharper than a stick, injuries would result.

Another Perspective

On this issue, I gave into curiosity and decided to see what Fox News had to say on it. I am not quite shocked at the deference between the original article I read at the New York Times website and the one belonging to Fox News. While Reconciliation is barely mentioned in the Times, it is treated as a horrific concept and a word to be feared, I quote:

Obama to invoke the "R" word.

It goes on to give quotes from democrats stating how it will make things harder for them, and how they do not know if it will succeed. Later, the article shows the situation in a light in which Obama and the Democratic party are threatening the Republicans, planning on ignoring them anyway, and tricking the people. In the conclusion of this article, the writer comforts the reader by making it sounds as tho the Democrats have no chance of pulling of a reconciliation.

I find this article interesting, mainly because of the radically different approaches that the reporters have between The New York Times, and FOX News. I tend to find myself trusting the Times more, then what has been said to be extremely biased and not always situated in fact. I have concluded, yet again, that Fox News, is not to be trusted for anything but entertainment.

Tables Turned

It seems that the situation has changed a tad from when the Republicans were playing the role of the "No Party". They have, instead of merely rejecting all ideas, finally proposed some of their own. President Obama has chosen four to agree with and include. These four include: the use of tax-advantaged medical savings accounts, increasing the pay for Medicaid doctors and spending 50 million dollars in sending undercover medics to find corrupted medical systems. Now instead of the Democratic party looking like the driving force, they are the ones rejecting these suggestions, and letting the Republicans turn the tables on them. President Obama has cushioned this by accepting the four proposals. Republicans say that if the new Medicaid bills pass, the budget and consequential tax increases will drive the Democrats out of office. They also say that the current budget is an impossible number, and would not have severe enough effects.

“There’s no question Medicaid won’t be able to provide adequate access,” Mr. Grassley said in response to Mr. Obama’s letter. “It’s good if the White House has figured that out.”

It is greatly hoped that with this new action, further negotiations might be instigated, and this bill might get through the system.

No Child Left Behind

No Child Left behind was a Act passed in 2001 that includes benefits designed to aid children with learning disablibties. This Act startedn in 1965 with the Elementary and Secondayr Education Act. This original act was the largest source of federal funding for schools. This new version raises the stanards and tries to close the gap between the brigh students and the disadvantaged students. This program is not only for students with disablilities. It is also for economically challenge studetms thoes of ...tbc

http://www.greatschools.org/LD/school-learning/NCLB-learning-disabilities-opportunities-and-obstacles.gs?content=856

Eduaction in Califonia

On the California District of Education website they have many links, including; Inventory of Services and Supports for Students with Disabilities,
Assistive Technology for all Individuals with Disabilities
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, All pertaining to the education of children with mental disabilities. A whole web page is dedicated to the rules and programs made for disabled students!

In 2009 the IIS analysed many schools programs and set a standards at a district level. The teaching is based on accurately assessing the students progress, and identifying the students, then coming up with a strategic and intensive support system. The parents of the children are also an important part in the process. They are responsible for the children at home and for the continual emotional support.

The NICHCY is a site on disable students that has a great deal of information on the schooling of disabled children. They have a wealth of information on; Disabilities in all ages, IDEA, No Child Left Behind, and new research.

Lately, it seems, our school system especially, as been more and more responsible and providing towards those with disabilities. I believe that this is a great improvement and should continue to progress. The students in our, personal, special education program are some of the nicest and most worthy kids at the school. They deserve all of the education opportunities that are possible, and all the help that can aid them in their success and happiness.

Trisomy 21

While looking though the pictures of the Special Olympics athletes, I noticed that many had the distinct facial features associated with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is mainly caused by an extra homologous chromatid with the Chromosome 21. This happens because of nondisjunction within meiosis when the gametes are being produced. This mean when the assorted homologous pairs are being pulled apart by the spindles in Meiosis 2, one of the pairs fails to split, creating one gamete with the entire chromosome and one missing a gene. The gamete lacking the genetic material can not produce offspring, while the one with the extra material will, produce off spring with Trisomy 21.



The facial features that are associated with this condition are an abnormally small chin, oblique eye fissures, poor muscle tone, a flat bridge of the nose, a small oral cavity, short neck, along with other noticeable symptoms. Most individuals with Down Syndrome have IQs in he 35-50 point range, signaling mental retardation and have severe abnormalities affecting their body systems.



Trisomy 21 has been shown to be more common as the maternal age increases. While about 80% of children with this disorder are under 35, when the age of 42 is hit, there is a rapid increase in risk.

IPAD...again.

It seems that the only critisim I have heard about the IPAD is its name, which, is all too easy to make fun of...

SONC

The Special Olympics host year round training in Olympic-like sports for disabled children and adults. It was started in the early 1960's by Eunice Kennedy Shirver as a day camp for children with developmental disabilities. The first Special Olympics was held in 1968 in Chicago with 1000 participants from 26 states and Canada. It is now one of the most successful organizations for sports and volunteering, and has over 149 countries involved.

In Northern California, specifically, we have over 13,000 athletes and a variety of sports events and training that happens all year round.

Torture...why?

Binyam Mohamed, a prisoner, suspected of receiving firearms, that had been kept in the UK until recently has brought his years of torture to light. He was constantly deprived of sleep, shackled and threatened. This was at the hands of the United States military with the knowledge of British officials. The treatment was:

"cruel, inhuman and degrading"

and has now been taken to court. The reasoning behind the torture was questioned, it was said:

"This judgement is not evidence that the system is broken, rather it is evidence that the system is working and the full force of the law is available when citizens believe they have just cause."

Personally, I do not see how torture is a sign of a working system. And justifying the torture makes it even worse. That indicates twisted people as well as an unfair and inhumane system. If it is possible to make the torture of another human seem like the right thing to do, morally, as well as lawfully, it is more then just the system that is broken.

Not to be Outdone

So as not to be left behind, Google has now added a new social networking tool, called Buzz, to gmail. They hope to compete with the 400 million users of Facebook and Twitter. Google is trying to tackle the information overload problem, as well as integrate the working world with the social one. Meaning, that the product, they hope, can be multifunctional, not merely used in spare time. Facebooks response is to increase the horizons by incorporating other chat programs and trying to enter the messaging business.

This increase in social networking technology has been a rapid progression. However, being in contact with people all the time, does not help the torrent of information that is constantly being fed to each individual. Even though Google claims it will help, because of the filters and programs they use to search with, giving people merely another entry way into limitless information, does not seem to be very helpful. Now, in giving us a new entry way, they might have made the searches more defined and useful, but it is still another crack for information to overtake you.

I am a large fan of Google, most of their programs are very useful and, from what I have experienced, stable. I am interested in how Buzz will fair against instant communication sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Largest Economic Growth in Six Years!

According to the numbers the Bureau of Economic Analysis released, the economy just had a period of the largest growth in about six years. The economy grew by and annualized rate of 5.7% , apposed to the average 2.2%. And while this sounds good, the GDP shrank by 2.4% over the 2009 year. The growth is encouraging, but as White House economist Christina Romer said:

"It is important not to read too much into a single report, positive or negative,"

The road to economic recovery will not be a smooth line, there will be bumps, small pockets of large growth, and probably some relapses; just because it is growing, does not mean we are in the clear.

Distraction

It seems that the health bill has found itself in a lockjaw with Republicans refusal to cooperate. The Democrats themselves have been distracted from this bill and have moved on to trying to implementing tighter regulations on banks, reducing the deficit, and creating jobs. All worthy tasks, but it it imperative that, just because there is trouble, congress does not ignore and move on from the health bill.

A thing I don't understand, It says (In regards to Obama's plan to create more jobs after the Republicans opposed it):

(it passed anyway as all 60 members of the Democratic caucus hung together)

This was in the Senate after the State of the Union address. I thought the Democrats had lost their 60/40 slip when Kennedy's seat went Republican.

Palin teaming up with Fox

While this is rather old, It is worth mentioning.
Sarah Palin has signed a contract with Fox News, while she will not have her own show, she will be appearing regularly on the channel. She says she

"It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news."

This opinion is not shared by much of the viewership, but are right in line with her politics.
It was theorized that she was pursuing a TV career since she gave up the post of governor, and now she will be co hosting a show that displays inspirational Americans.

Come on! Get the Carrot! Good Boy!

Cleaner Air!

The EPA, under Obama, is proposing a new level of restriction in Ozone ppm from Bush's o.o78 to 0.06-0.07. Only a few of the currently agreeable countries would abide by the level if it was reduced. It would take about 19-90 billion a year to reduce the smog, but all of the money would be payed back in full because of the higher level of health, as many as 12,000 would be saved from fatal lung cancer, and many other non-life threatening conditions could be reduced. The smog does not come from only factories and cars, many other everyday objects produce this pollutant, and awareness alone might serve to help the air.

More, but Less, Jobs Gone.

The number of unemployed Americans went up another 11,ooo people. While this is better than the 700,000 of before, or the 85,000 of December, it is a unexpectedly high number for our so called "recovery". The unemployment rate, surprisingly stayed the same, this is because people have lost hope, and given up searching for work. They have found what seems to be a pattern to the contraction and recovery of the economy related to jobs, and hope to fix this loss. Fortunately, this holiday season many temporary jobs were created, and a total of 4000 jobs were make by the government in the construction genre.

Tunnel Tension!

Between Gaza and Egypt, there had been many layers of tunnels, used to smuggle goods into Gaza. Egypt is now placing metal plates on its boarder, stopping this smuggling. This is creating even more hardship withing Gaza, shop keepers and other citizens are already struggling to sell, and buy goods. In some areas, most of the food in shops, comes from the tunnels, this will leave them with nothing when the tunnels are shut down. While smuggling is not the best course of action, they are boxed in and desperate with one of their last sources of imports being rapidly cut off.

Voulenteering

For my CS project I wish to participate in the Northern Califiorna Special Olympics. The position will be trying to fill would be Sports Assistant, that requires me to aid the coaches with training and work with the athletes once or twice a week, during their practices. The sport I feel I can truly help with is the Aquatics program. I have been swimming since I was four, and have confidence in my Life guarding ability. I have sent an email concerning volunteering to the office, and am currently awaiting a reply.
If this does not work out, I will peruse a opportunity that relates to feeding impoverished people. An organization such as a soup kitchen, in which meals are made for the hungry.