As an aside, just keep reading Doonesbury here to get your day-by-day dose of thought about just what's wrong with things today.
Yesterday was St. Paul's School Advanced Studies Program Alumni Day (what a mouthful!). Unfortunately it was extremely hot and humid out, and I was in it for way too long, and probably hadn't been drinking enough water. So for the better part of the last two-thirds of the day, I had a heat headache, and probably getting heat sickness as my stomach wasn't feeling all that settled either; I barely ate any dinner. Luckily though, I ran into my sister's friend Morgan and her friends on the way into the talent show, so I got to hang out with them through that and at the dance later! At the talent show I was able to close my eyes and rest during a few performances, and with the slight breeze created by the huge fan oscillating way up at the front, I started feeling a little better. However, the heat in the dance created by dozens of human bodies was nearly as bad. It felt cool outside at that point, but then there the swarms of mosquitoes were in search-and-suck mode, which made getting some fresh air a risky endeavor. All that, though, was well worth being there and to meet a cool girl, to dance and actually learn that I'm not as bad as I thought, and to get people to swing to "Jump, Jive, and Wail". :-D
On another note, I recommend Philip Pullman's series "His Dark Materials," which starts with the book The Golden Compass. I liked it a lot, and it's a pretty good epic-type adventure with some pretty cool concepts. And I can't leave you without mentioning Harry Potter. I had to bring it up to my sister yesterday, and as such I won't be reading it until mid-August, when she gets back from St. Paul's and the college trip she's taking. But that's alright, I guess I can wait. (*imagines the looks of horror of any Harry Potter fanatics reading this*) But I'll have plenty of time to re-read the series in preparation then.
And on yet another note, I started my unpaid lab job at UNH. It seems to be going alright, but I think I messed up my first experiment... though it's entirely possible that something else didn't work out. But otherwise it seems like it'll be a good way to get out of the house and do something, and it'll be good experience.
And I still need a new title for this whole thing... no one has any ideas?
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
It's the stem cells. I hear their cries.
If you haven't read it already, check out this Doonesbury comic from last Sunday.
Stem cells hold much promise for many treatments for debilitating diseases, and our country is falling behind in stem cell research. Even if other kinds of stem cells which "don't involve the destruction of an embryo" might be possible, it is ludicrous to categorically rule out stem cell research before it is actually known what is possible.
So many Congressmen who know virtually nothing about a topic think they can talk for hours about morality and ethics and what's good for people. How hypocritical can these people get? "I respect life," they say, " and we must build a culture of life!" Of course by that they mean "We must end abortion! We must protect the life of embryos!" Yet these same people seem to have no qualms with throwing away the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of non-Americans in a war we've been duped into and which has subsequently been bungled so badly. What about their lives? Shouldn't a "culture of life" also mean a "culture of peace"?
There was absolutely no reason we had to go into Iraq when we did. Iraq had little to no connection with al Qaida, unlike Afghanistan, or with 9/11, much less than, say, Saudi Arabia. And we know that Iraq wasn't necessary and was pushed for no other reason than to get rid of Saddam, even though he posed no real threat to us or almost anyone, from leaked documents such as the Downing Street Memo, among other things. Explore that website to find out what it's all about, and tell me you see nothing wrong with it, especially with the changing rhetoric the administration was using. Going to war with Iraq has resulted in a damaged economy at home, instability in the Middle East, and a new training ground and more reasons extremist leaders can give to gain converts to terrorists organizations. All the money we're now spending in Iraq could be going to many better pursuits.
But speaking of abortion, anyone who considers themselves "pro-life" must realize that a full-out ban of abortion will not work. All such a thing would achieve is to push desperate women to illegal clinics or to attempt to perform abortion themselves. This would lead to a very dangerous situation for these women, and for pro-lifers to be taken seriously, they must want to protect these women at least as much as their fetuses.
The goal of pro-lifers should be to reduce the number of abortions, and any pro-choice supporter should recognize this as a noble and ideal goal. To do this, however, not only should options such as adoption be promoted, birth control must be promoted as well. Unfortunately, many pro-lifers also fall on the side of abstinence-only education, which, it is shown, doesn't work effectively enough to protect people when they finally do have sex, even though it is effective in delaying a person's first time. This is why comprehensive sex-ed, emphasizing abstinence but including birth control, is a much better idea. But many pro-lifers basically want to force abstinence on people and then want to punish them for having sex by forcing them to give birth. This is a sad worldview, and it won't help pro-lifers achieve their goal of reducing the number of abortions.
And again, I'll express my believe that that's a goal my fellow pro-choicers should aim for as well. We must make abortion a rare last-choice procedure, and to cultivate that as a common view in our society, promoting birth control and informing about adoption. It should be the woman's choice, but we need to decrease the chances that a woman should have to make that choice, and to let her know, without pushing one or the other, of other choices she has.
Stem cells hold much promise for many treatments for debilitating diseases, and our country is falling behind in stem cell research. Even if other kinds of stem cells which "don't involve the destruction of an embryo" might be possible, it is ludicrous to categorically rule out stem cell research before it is actually known what is possible.
So many Congressmen who know virtually nothing about a topic think they can talk for hours about morality and ethics and what's good for people. How hypocritical can these people get? "I respect life," they say, " and we must build a culture of life!" Of course by that they mean "We must end abortion! We must protect the life of embryos!" Yet these same people seem to have no qualms with throwing away the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of non-Americans in a war we've been duped into and which has subsequently been bungled so badly. What about their lives? Shouldn't a "culture of life" also mean a "culture of peace"?
There was absolutely no reason we had to go into Iraq when we did. Iraq had little to no connection with al Qaida, unlike Afghanistan, or with 9/11, much less than, say, Saudi Arabia. And we know that Iraq wasn't necessary and was pushed for no other reason than to get rid of Saddam, even though he posed no real threat to us or almost anyone, from leaked documents such as the Downing Street Memo, among other things. Explore that website to find out what it's all about, and tell me you see nothing wrong with it, especially with the changing rhetoric the administration was using. Going to war with Iraq has resulted in a damaged economy at home, instability in the Middle East, and a new training ground and more reasons extremist leaders can give to gain converts to terrorists organizations. All the money we're now spending in Iraq could be going to many better pursuits.
But speaking of abortion, anyone who considers themselves "pro-life" must realize that a full-out ban of abortion will not work. All such a thing would achieve is to push desperate women to illegal clinics or to attempt to perform abortion themselves. This would lead to a very dangerous situation for these women, and for pro-lifers to be taken seriously, they must want to protect these women at least as much as their fetuses.
The goal of pro-lifers should be to reduce the number of abortions, and any pro-choice supporter should recognize this as a noble and ideal goal. To do this, however, not only should options such as adoption be promoted, birth control must be promoted as well. Unfortunately, many pro-lifers also fall on the side of abstinence-only education, which, it is shown, doesn't work effectively enough to protect people when they finally do have sex, even though it is effective in delaying a person's first time. This is why comprehensive sex-ed, emphasizing abstinence but including birth control, is a much better idea. But many pro-lifers basically want to force abstinence on people and then want to punish them for having sex by forcing them to give birth. This is a sad worldview, and it won't help pro-lifers achieve their goal of reducing the number of abortions.
And again, I'll express my believe that that's a goal my fellow pro-choicers should aim for as well. We must make abortion a rare last-choice procedure, and to cultivate that as a common view in our society, promoting birth control and informing about adoption. It should be the woman's choice, but we need to decrease the chances that a woman should have to make that choice, and to let her know, without pushing one or the other, of other choices she has.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Summer Update
Soon there are going to be some changes around here... Like my title is too depressing. As this is my blog, representing my life, the title must reflect my current feelings and such. I like the Avalon line and the "nickofcamelot" address only because it's awesome, and picked the title to go with that... I must give this some thought. Any suggestions are welcome!
Of course, any changes here would be just another of my summer projects, which so far are:
1.) Actually learning the stuff from the last half of my Chem class - I got way too behind there and need to be up-to-date for Orgo next year (that's Organic Chemistry for you cool non-scientist types).
2.) Getting a job or other such summer amusement - I'll be volunteering for Children's Museum events, at least, and if no job comes I may be able to work on some research at UNH with the Biochem & Molecular Bio folks. Oh, I should mention that latter possibility is unpaid; ah, money would be nice.
3.) Typing up all my class notes from last year - Okay, so I'm a nerd. But, it'll be very helpful for me to have them on my computer and available to me if I need them in the future. Plus I won't have to keep tons of binders around later.
4.) Working on the website for the Bates College Student Government - I'm the official BCSG Webmaster and I must work on the website. However, the documents and information I need seem to be in some sort of "safe" on the Bates campus that no one seems to have access to. So I'm kinda stuck on this one at the moment.
4.) Catching up on reading. - I have at least 4 more Star Wars books (that's right, Star Wars books... I love Star Wars and I'm proud of it! lol) at the tail end of the series to read, and I'm beginning to accept that I'll have to read the novel versions of the movies and the stuff before the original movies as well. Plus I should work more at other more literary books... maybe Dante's Inferno (Miki says: "it's not fun at all"; so maybe not that) or some such, maybe some of my science books on Conciousness; those should be interesting. See my post about conciousness down there, it's fun!
5.) Various odds and ends. - Keeping my room orderly, paying the town $10 for living here, fighting back my allergies with the help of Claritin, getting in shape so I lose the dreaded 15, and keeping in touch with all my friends from Bates, and re-establishing touch with my Newmarket friends.
So there you have it. My work is cut out for me, as you can tell. Provided I survive the hot muggy weather, the bees (hate them), and my own self-destruction (just kidding), I should have enough time to finish all these. Or so I tell myself; we'll see what the status of these are in the fall before school starts up again.
Of course, any changes here would be just another of my summer projects, which so far are:
1.) Actually learning the stuff from the last half of my Chem class - I got way too behind there and need to be up-to-date for Orgo next year (that's Organic Chemistry for you cool non-scientist types).
2.) Getting a job or other such summer amusement - I'll be volunteering for Children's Museum events, at least, and if no job comes I may be able to work on some research at UNH with the Biochem & Molecular Bio folks. Oh, I should mention that latter possibility is unpaid; ah, money would be nice.
3.) Typing up all my class notes from last year - Okay, so I'm a nerd. But, it'll be very helpful for me to have them on my computer and available to me if I need them in the future. Plus I won't have to keep tons of binders around later.
4.) Working on the website for the Bates College Student Government - I'm the official BCSG Webmaster and I must work on the website. However, the documents and information I need seem to be in some sort of "safe" on the Bates campus that no one seems to have access to. So I'm kinda stuck on this one at the moment.
4.) Catching up on reading. - I have at least 4 more Star Wars books (that's right, Star Wars books... I love Star Wars and I'm proud of it! lol) at the tail end of the series to read, and I'm beginning to accept that I'll have to read the novel versions of the movies and the stuff before the original movies as well. Plus I should work more at other more literary books... maybe Dante's Inferno (Miki says: "it's not fun at all"; so maybe not that) or some such, maybe some of my science books on Conciousness; those should be interesting. See my post about conciousness down there, it's fun!
5.) Various odds and ends. - Keeping my room orderly, paying the town $10 for living here, fighting back my allergies with the help of Claritin, getting in shape so I lose the dreaded 15, and keeping in touch with all my friends from Bates, and re-establishing touch with my Newmarket friends.
So there you have it. My work is cut out for me, as you can tell. Provided I survive the hot muggy weather, the bees (hate them), and my own self-destruction (just kidding), I should have enough time to finish all these. Or so I tell myself; we'll see what the status of these are in the fall before school starts up again.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Short Term!
Ah yes, another post! What a rare sighting this is. Well well... I don't have the patience to write a full update, so here it goes:
semesterendedhistorysuckedhalfmygradeswereworsethaniwashopingdisney
worldwasveryfunoverbreakandihadanawesometimeandnowshorttermishere
woohooexcepttheweatherisn'tasgoodasitcouldbebutohwellilovemyclass
lifeintheuniverse
Whew, that's it. :-p I'll be more serious in a little bit.
semesterendedhistorysuckedhalfmygradeswereworsethaniwashopingdisney
worldwasveryfunoverbreakandihadanawesometimeandnowshorttermishere
woohooexcepttheweatherisn'tasgoodasitcouldbebutohwellilovemyclass
lifeintheuniverse
Whew, that's it. :-p I'll be more serious in a little bit.
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