Short Story- Possibilities

Remember when we were kids? When we thought we could be anything in the world? When we thought anything was possible?

"I want you to paint a mural something that unifies us as a school." Said Principal Harding.

She stared at the yellow lines, orange strokes, and blue with a light pinkish tinged of purple colors. In tiny meticulous strokes Jen had written the words "Possibility" over and over a thousand times to create a large sunrise over an endless sky. Her hands and overalls were covered in blue and purple from the recent additions to the mural. She hummed to the music of her headphones as she painted in the hallway. She had been working on it for two months and it was almost done.

When we believed that we could do anything in the world?
What happened to that?

"Do I have to say something?...Isn't the artist supposed to let the art speak for itself?" she asked.
Her best friend, Jack, laughed. "Yeah, well when the school board let you paint something in the hallway of a public school; I think they expect a little public ceremony in return."
"Is it terrible of me if I confess I'm scared out of my wits just thinking about it?"
"Of course you're scared. You poured your heart and soul into that thing. Who wouldn't be?"
"Its just there. You know, for the world to see. To judge."
She put her hands to her face. "Crap, and that feels so scary. It makes me feel vulnerable."
"You know what; I think it’s brave what you're doing."
"What exactly is that?"
"This." He waved his arm at the painting. "Look, Jen. All you can do is do what you like and care about. You can't really control the public opinion, and how good you are is history's business. But, being able to create something like this; it’s beautiful. Even attempting it is admirable in its own right and if other people can't see that, it’s their loss."
"Thanks. I feel better now."
"I'm just telling you what I think."
“Well, thanks for doing that.”

She stood in front of the crowd of students, before the unveiling. The mural was covered behind a dark blue cloth taped securely to the wall.

“And now, the last of our Beacon High murals. I'd like to ask Jen Parker to step up, and share with us a few words about her creation.”

"Well, Principal Harding asked us to paint something that unified us and when you think about it, nothing really unifies us. I mean we’re all off doing our own thing most of the time. So the only thing that I could think of that unites us all, that we all have in common is...that we all start off in kindergarten thinking that we can be anything that we want to be, and by the time we get here, we… we've somehow lost that feeling. We've all started to believe whatever our parents or friends have told us about what we can achieve and who we can be in life, and... and we've forgotten about that possibility we had when we were younger. And that's what I think we all have in common, and that's what the symbol in my painting means - possibility. I painted it because I thought we could all use a daily reminder that, if you believe in yourself, even when the odds seem stacked against you, anything's possible. So I hope you like it." (Potter)

Applause.

She lifted the tape, and the covers fell, revealing the mural. The light shown from a window onto the sunrise made out of the words possibility and it gleamed from the wall as if it had its own light. The effect was one of those serendipitously striking moments. The students clapped loudly when they saw. Jen smiled when she saw Jack. He was clapping with them and smiled.

Anything is possible..

"You know what Jack? I think you're the coolest person I know."
"Huh, you must not get out much Parker."
She laughed. "You're the coolest one and you don't even know it. All this was able to happen because of you."
"As much as I'd like to take credit for this, it was all you Jen. You drew the mural."
"That’s just it Jack. That’s what you always do. You inspired me in a way that you inspire everybody. You're the quiet hero. The one who always steps in at the right time, lending your efforts, never asking for a reward in return. Like with the mural, I didn’t think that it’d turn out this good but it did and it makes me feel like anything is possible. That’s what makes you so cool too. You don’t do all that to get something in return; you just do it because you do.”
She took a deep breath.
“Basically, I just wanted to say thanks-- for being there for me.”
He laughed. “Anytime Jen, you would do the same for me anyways.”
"Heck yeah.”

Possibilities

The end.

(Some of the things/ideas said in that paragraph is said by Joey Potter, a character from a TV alongside with some of my own thoughts) Ahh…I feel the cornball factor is high in this story, even for me. So I’ll admit parts of it are highly idealized. These are some of my ideas of what “cool” is. I think it’s cool if you are able to comfort your friend. I wish I always knew what to say or do, but I don’t, so when I do and when I’m able to, I’m pretty happy to be able to make someone feel better. I think it’s cool to be a good friend. I think it’s cool to support the people you care about. I think that’s what people need from each other, support, because in this world we can always find critique, but support is harder to find. I think….showing you care, even in simple ways is cool.

Why Jackie Chan is Da BOMB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvOFHSP4LPs&feature=related

XD

Religious Beliefs

"Do not believe a spiritual teaching just because:

1. it is repeatedly recited,
2. it is written in a scripture,
3. it was handed from guru to disciple,
4. everyone around you believes it,
5. it has supernatural qualities,
6. it fits my beliefs anyway,
7. it sounds rational to me,
8. it is taught by a respectable person,
9. it was said to be the truth by the teacher,
10. one must defend it or fight for it.

However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them."

-The Buddha

Comments to Other Final Essays

-To Rachel J.-
I thought your essay was interesting. I agree on the part where you said that everyone has their own definition of a good and meaningful life because we're all different. I think that's why religion is such a contreversial topic because different people have different beliefs and alot of them feel strongly about it so it maybe a touchy subject. I thought the advertisement of a jewish ipod was an accurate example of how corporate media works, since it'll target a more specific group. I also think part of it may be our culture's political correctness since advertising to one specific religious group of people might get them under fire from people of other groups. I agree that, it would limit the target range since they want to be available to as much people as they can so more peope would buy it.

-To Kate D.-
I liked your perspective on the meaningful life and I agree, simple is best :). I think friends and family are worth alot more than wealth. I'd take a day at the park over a day in front of the tv or computer any day. I think it gets very boring sitting home all day watching tv. I guess according to that, the tv doesn't function me very well, so its not meaningful for me to sit at home. I think its more meaningful to get outside and experience things, so I like your idea of going to the beach or park alot. I think you will hold alot of the same values you have today, like, I think being healthy to you now will still be important to you 10 years from now, and friends and family (cats included) as well. :) some things may change because we change as we experience new things but that's apart of life right?

-To Gavin-
Longboarding seems very important to you, that's pretty great to have something that makes you happy I think. I thought one point you brought up was interesting, that a good life means your not detracting from anyone's happiness because it actually gives it more definition than just saying whatever makes you happy since murder may make someone happy but that's not neccessarily a good life. I wonder if the same thing applies for a meaningful life. Is your life meaningful if it detracts from someone else's happiness?

Course Essay- Looking back on the Unit

When I saw the question, "what is meaningful in life?" I immediately thought people. People make things meaningful. I mean this in two ways; we endeavor to create meaning, and we are something meaningful to someone else. I think, for a person, life without people in it would be very dull because people need people, without the stimulation of another person or another animal like us then I think life would not be very meaningful. Also a part of it is mentality, to think life is meaningless, would make it that way. It is hard to derive any joy from life with that mindset and those who enjoy life and "live it to the fullest" would have a more meaningful life because they appreciate it. Something is inherently meaningful from just being alive, from feeling, and experiencing it. I don’t mean when we just act like zombies, wandering from place to place because that’s not living, I mean when we actually decided “I want to live and enjoy this while I have it”. There was part of class when we were talking about death and some people wondered what the point of living when we just die, I think that it’s the more reason to live all the more reason to live. We know there is an end; it adds meaning to life because we know we won’t be here forever. If we were, would we appreciate it as much?

I think it’s meaningful to find your own way of living, even if that way of living is apart of other ways. I happen to feel that meaning is personal. For me, meaning is personal because it is something that we feel is fitting for us. Even though a lot of what we want is the same as any other person, what it means for us is different.

We talked about many different units that we thought was important to know in living a meaningful life. In the health unit we did in class, we talked about different aspects of health, which including mental, emotional, and physical. We thought it was meaningful to be healthy because it’ll help us live more meaningful lives. I think if you’re healthy, in all aspects you can enjoy life more.

In this unit we explored a lot of the different parts to what people think is meaningful. We interviewed different people on the street and asked them what they thought was a meaningful life. Kate said that family and friends are important, and this was an opinion held by many people of the people in the class as well as many of the people that we interviewed later on. I think because those people give us a purpose in being here, they're someone we share life with, and can laugh about it with when things get hard, they're someone to lean on and to have lean on us. It’s a sense that there is a reason why we are here. I also think that when people have a passion for something then they have something meaningful in their life. It’s not necessarily about the amount of money they make; it’s about how they feel doing it. Some people are passionate about their jobs and they really give it their all in it. I think that's admirable because I'm not sure what I'm passionate about yet. I think though, when you are doing something you really love, and it challenges you enough, it’ll be very meaningful.

I think we do incorporate what we see and experience into our belief systems. In our Corporate Culture many different values are shoved at us, which makes people more susceptible to their marketing because they believe it. Like the magazines we read in the Library, magazines like Glamour or Vogue focus a lot on beauty, and they try to say to women, that if you buy the products you see on the pages, you’ll become beautiful. That’s part of corporate media because they are trying to sell you their products. Even technology is focused on being updated so people always want the newest and the best, it is a status symbol, like the brand of water you buy or who you wear. Part of what Corporate Media tells you are that you can buy meaning. But I tend to agree more with the folk message, that we get from the people we come in contact with and I don’t care if its cliché but I think that you can’t buy meaning but if you enjoy life and have a passion for something then you’ll live a meaningful life because it lasts longer than a the cheap thrill of getting something new.

During the Health unit, we talked about the many different aspects of health. Being physically healthy was not all there was to it. We studied emotional health, mental health, and moral health. I think a lot of interesting points were brought up in this unit. Looking back on it now I think the different aspects of health that it is also connected to the way we are brought up. As kids we probably have someone we look up to or are around a lot, and we imitate them. There are probably moments when each of us thinks that we just acted like our parents and get freaked out. Just the other day, my little brother repeated something I said in a way I would say it which made me realize that he was probably paying a lot of attention to me and what I do affects him in a big way. So I don’t want to say anything careless simply because I’m annoyed because he’ll probably try to imitate it. Gavin said that Emotional health and physical health were connected, because after exercising you would get endorphins and feel better. When we were running in Madison Park, we did feel happier and we were getting exercise. I thought about it and thought all of them were connected in some way.

We also studied, an animal unit. There was a time where we got more exposed to how we are like animals. When we went to Madison Park we got to play tag and which was a lot of fun. We're oftentimes cooped up during the day and I really enjoyed the break in routine and appreciated going to the park and seeing everyone have fun. The rush of adrenaline that occurs when we're on the run or chasing someone is probably similar to what animals must experience in the wild. In a way it reminded me of the game we played in school, the rabbit and the tiger, it was like a hunt in some aspects, we were the "tigers" chasing the "rabbits". Society oftentimes represses that side of us as we get older telling us we are "civilized", not animals, we sit on stools, we read books, we're different--better. The way we're taught emphasizes the mind rather than the body because that's "human" and it is yet another way for us to be separate from the animals. We forget that we have this side to us that is not based on rationality and it creates a disconnect to that side of us. Realizing that we are animals makes life more meaningful because we will be more in touch with ourselves because that is a part of ourselves.

Throughout this unit this is what we have been talking about “what does it mean to live a meaningful life?” For me it’s simple, just enjoy it. Live it in a way that you think will give you meaning because you’ll know what that is. I think that’s what all the units are related to. Being healthy physically makes us emotionally healthy since we’re happier and being emotionally healthy, is better for our mind and makes us mentally healthy as well. Knowing we’re animals’ gets us more in touch with our physical side and be less in the world of books and knowing where the different sources that our belief comes from for some may give them a sense of peace. When we do what we think is right, then we’ll be true to ourselves and our life will be more meaningful for it. For some, it may be to stop eating meat because they oppose the way the animals have been treated, for others it may be to stand up for someone, because no one stood up for them, and we do what we think will make us healthy, morally, emotionally, to live a meaningful life. In the end, we'll be the ones deciding which is which and what choice makes our life meaningful.

Assignment 2- The Collapse (Revised)

I think from observing the mentality of most of my classmates and myself, that it is human nature, or the nature of people in this society to try to push things off that do not seem of immediate concern. Like this assignment for example, most of the people (so far) have not started because we tend to think the deadline is Friday, that's not that close, we can still get to it later on. This analogy is very similar to the train of thought people have with a collapse. In oil, we have been going on a decline. But because it is not imminent (or so we think) we think that it can be pushed off and dealt with later. That is why when gas prices were high; there was an onslaught of articles concerning the decline of oil production and peak oil because it was impacting America in an immediate way. When the prices fell once again, we thought that it can be pushed off, the deadline isn't that close. But like this assignment and assignments in general, the further we push it off to deal with later, the direr the situation becomes. People have to scramble and use a great deal more energy in trying to fix the problem or coming up with an alternative answer. Sometimes, it is all too late. The deadline has passed and we have written nothing and done nothing to deal with it. If this is how oil is dealt with the US will scramble for quick fixes, to keep the illusion that this is going to last forever when its not. According to Hubert, the US reached its peak in 1971, and the US and other countries have been on a decline since then.

How did we come to this situation? Fossil Fuels come from fossils and are a non renewable resource and at the rate we are exploiting it will not last for long to sustain the way we are living. Back then before we had all this technology we operated from solar energy, everything was connected to the sun. The hunter-gatherers ate plants and hunted animals that ate other animals that ate plants, the plants they ate grew from photosynthesis and the ground. We now are operating on fossil fuels. Even fossil fuels are called ancient sunlight.

When I was talking to one of my friend's friends about the collapse, they were really interested and when I told them about oil being part of the reason our society would collapse they said that I should include capitalism and that oil should just be part of the reason, which is true when you think about it. Looking at it as the big picture the reason our society operates and depends on oil the way is does is because of it being a capitalist society. Our culture is all about business and selling to the consumer. That’s why we use up so much oil because we have so many products and there is always a new product to be had. Most Americans don’t make their own products any more because things like clothing and food can be bought instead. There is also the mentality that new is better.

Knowing this, is there any way to delay the collapse or make it less bad? I think we can have more earthfriendly practices that doesn't use up any more fossil fuels than necessary. Like coming into popularity recently are clothing swaps for women, where women have a get together and swap clothes, jewerly, bags, and/or shoes (Today show) and men have been having swaps as well. People even trade services, like one woman who works as a haircutter would trade that service for something like getting her house clean by another person. Sites like freecycling lets people trade things they no longer use and these swaps are like a form of bartering and instead of using money, its with clothes or services. We can make our own things instead of buying them and using up oil for the product and start growing our own food or foraging. Will this help? There's no guarantee, but continuing the way we have, extensively using up all our resources doesn't

Easter Island, Collapse- Parellisms and Differences

What I found interesting was the people's surprise and lack of comprehension that the statues was able to be comprised without the machines and technology that we have come to rely on. Since machines are a fairly recent development when we take in the whole of human life on earth. After all the eygptians were able to build the great pyramids with tons of slaves a statue can work the same way.

The people of Easter Island developed agriculture and with it social ranks. Eventually over exploiting the soil and creating their own ruin. The people of Easter Island made large stately statues that weighed a few tons solely from man power. The Europeans who came did not understand how it was possible from their lack of technology. Our society is much like the system of Easter Island's. Except I think its done on a much larger scale. Having a greater amount of people and the technology to speed up the rate of which our soil is exploited as well as the discrepancies between the rich and poor. Most Americans are middle class. That of course is also one of the key differences between our two societies. I imagine that even if our agricultural system collapses we will turn to science to try to get us out of it. When we were talking about a collapse in class I imagined how it'd be. the ozone layer is depleted and we no longer have that layer of protection over us, the rate of cancer increases, we further depend on sunscreen/sunblock and that industry explodes in different markets. The markets get to advertise the benefits of different kinds of sunscreens developing more blocking agents. Afterwards, the soil is depleted as well and the agricultural system collapse like Easter's Island did when it used more trees than could be sustained on the Island. Over-farming and wanting to accumulate wealth was their downfall. Which we are in the process of doing. But there is another difference, that is they didn't really know about soil depletion or the consequences of what they were doing. Surely, they saw it by the end, when food was scarce and the island was bare of trees. But they continued what they were doing without a thought to the consequences because they didn't know what they were. We can argue that this is what the US is doing and that isn't completely true. We know what the consequences are, we just choose to ignore it. Since we are aware of this then we can choose not to repeat past mistakes. By conciously choosing to follow the same path, nothing is changed. If we continue our course we'll eventually have a collapse like the one Easter Island encountered. I find though that even if the collapse of a civilization occurs a new one will take its place, because even without a system people still exist and eventually a new system develops to replace the one that was lost. So if this one collapse like the one on Easter Island did, I reckon that either new one would take its place or a developed variation of it.

Nature vs Human Progress- The Downside to Agriculture

Food in our society is built up in part by industrialism and consumers. Things are mechanized and made to be quick and efficient to fit in with our fast paced world. And this, is what we call progress. The system is effective in making mass amounts of food with little labor while using up many of earth’s precious resources. It has become so that it only takes one person to grow food to feed hundreds from the huge amount of manpower was required in the past. But are the costs of agriculture worth the benefits, one being growing a cornucopia amount of crops with relatively little manpower?

By this system, nature is reduced down to an equation, x amount of pesticides and fertilizers to yield x amount of crops. This introduced genetically modified crops that are engineered to be resistant to bugs, corn for example is modified to take up many crops in one acre of land, allowing a dense area of the crop. Although food is a lucrative industry it is not for the people growing it--the farmers. According to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma many farmers are broke, and barely breaking even. Pollan argues that the agricultural system has made us dependent of a few crops, namely soy and corn. Farmers who grow corn, the most common crop available in almost every food we have today, are barely able to support themselves. Since the Nixon area, Zea Mays, corn, has come front and center as the main crop in America. The goal, to grow as much corn as possible, was subsidized with government money who are helping the big corporations not the farmers themselves. Forced to grow a vast amount of corn for very little the farmers make little to no profit. Cheap and inexpensive corn has come to the forefront as a cheap industrial raw material, finding itself from everything like the ethanol for the gas tank to hydrogenated oil in margarine, to the permeating sweetener known as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

But industrial agricultural effects have not stopped at plants, it premates into the treatment of livestock; animals raised to be food. In industrial food, the animals are treated much like the corn, they are packed into as little space as possible and for the sake of quantity, injected with hormones and antibiotics to buffer them against their cramped living conditions. Watching the Meatrix, we find out out about the use of machines to milk the cows and crowded conditions to maximize the amount of animals that could be stuffed in a small area. Instead of the idyll farm scene that many Americans have been brought up, those have been replaced by Factory farms. There were many other apalling things that I didn't know before like calves that were separated from their mothers at a young age were fed cows milk replacement made with blood from dead cows, which seemed a bit twisted to me. It made sense because in the industrialization of the dairy farms, since feeding calves milk meant less milk for humans, so industry farms take the milk that would have gone to the calves to us. But because of the way that things industry they are more profit orientated and less worried about human treatment for the animals. At the end of the Meatrix the video keeps relaying the message that power to stop this is in the consumers hands, and its true, since it'll send the message that consumers don't want the product like this, its unprofitable to do it. Otherwise, the incentive to stop doing something like that is not enough to cause actual change. From a purely profit perspective if it doesn't hurt your profits there is no reason to stop doing it, never mind the risk of antibiotic overuse, the dangerous crowded conditions, or the higher risk of spreading disease. The people aren't informed enough, or they don't care so it's okay to continue doing this, that's what the people who run the Industrialized Farms are thinking when consumers continue buying their products because it shows people are not supporting the cause for sustainable food and their profit margins are safe. The Cows with Guns video follows the lives of cows and sums up what it means to be a cow in the industry. "They eat to grow, and grow to die/die to be at the hamburger fry" shows that their point in life is basically to be big enough to be killed for fodder. But it goes on to show us with the Guru cow that change is possible and tries to allay that message to us. It is similar to the Meatrix in trying to show us what is happening and that something can be done.

Watching the Farm to Fridge video and seeing the treatment of the chickens, pigs, and cows, it seems undeniably cruel and cold, how they are beaten and abused and are helpless against this treatment. The chickens are genetically modified to grow large and the that chickens can't bear the heavy weight induced by the hormones and are beaten with metal rods, which is considered "standard practice". The way they die and are killed is the same, being conscious and having their throats slit alive and scalded with hot water. It makes me think of the pig slaughter video we saw in class and how just a few moments before sliding down they were kicking and alive and they come out dead and still, because I think that's what happened with them, they were scalded alive. I can't help thinking that if they were human something like this would be considered "inhumane", but because people don't bear the lives of animals with the same weight that they do of humans. Watching the video I felt a range of emotions, I was appalled, disgusted, saddened, and angry at the way people treated the animals, to the point where they are spent. The squeal of the piglets screaming was very eerie to hear because you see them struggling as well.

After finding out about this, I had a conversation with my advisor at my internship; I talked to her about the animal cruelty and the industrial food system and she said that this is just the way things are and its how we get our food. (She's a really nice person though, I mean it). This was the T.I.N.A. perspective, that "there is no alternative" and its pretty easy to believe and get caught up in it. But there is always an alternative. Even though the alternative isn't always the easiest route to go. The alternatives in diet are very varied, ranging from buying organic vegetables and free ranged organic meat, to kosher, to growing your own fruits and vegetables. Knowing that it is possible and there is an alternative out there, we should do what we think is morally right, not just what is morally easy. We should treat animals more humanely because they are living creatures too. And this system of looking out for only profit and the bottom-line does not do that. We as consumers and everyday people can make a step towards change by showing our support to companies who treat animals in a humane way like those in kosher or letting cows eat on a pasture and limiting the amount of products we buy from those that don't or boycotting it altogether.

Meatrix and Farm to Fridge Video- Draft 2

Watching the Meatrix, I saw some things that I knew were already happening, like the use of machines to milk the cows and crowded conditions to maximize the amount of animals that could be stuffed in a small area, but found a lot of new things that were shocking, like calves that were separated from their mothers at a young age were fed cows milk replacement made with blood from dead cows, which seems a bit twisted to me. It made sense because of the industrialization of the dairy farms, feeding calves milk meant less milk for humans, so industry farms take the milk that would have gone to the calves to us. But because of the way that things are that is more profitable for the industry and they only worry about their bottom line. The Meatrix keeps on giving the message in the end of the video that the power to stop this is in the consumers hands, and its true, since it'll send the message that consumers don't want the product like this, its unprofitable to do it. Otherwise, the incentive to stop doing something like that is not enough to cause actual change. From a purely profit perspective if it doesn't hurt your profits there is no reason to stop doing it, never mind the risk of antibiotic overuse, the dangerous crowded conditions, or the higher risk of spreading disease. The people aren't informed enough, or they don't care so it's okay to continue doing this, that's what the people who run the Industrialized Farms are thinking when consumers continue buying their products because it shows people are not supporting the cause for sustainable food and their profit margins are safe.

Watching the Farm to Fridge video and seeing the treatment of the chickens, pigs, and cows, it seems undeniably cruel and cold, how they are beaten and abused and are helpless against this treatment. The chickens are genetically modified to grow large and the that chickens can't bear the heavy weight induced by the hormones and are beaten with metal rods, which is considered "standard practice". The way they die and are killed is the same, being conscious and having their throats slit alive and scalded with hot water. It makes me think of the pig slaughter video we saw in class and how just a few moments before sliding down they were kicking and alive and they come out dead and still, because I think that's what happened with them, they were scalded alive. I can't help thinking that if they were human something like this would be considered "inhumane", but because people don't bear the lives of animals with the same weight that they do of humans. Watching the video I felt a range of emotions, I was appalled, disgusted, saddened, and angry at the way people treated the animals, to the point where they are spent. The squeal of the piglets screaming was very eerie to hear because you see them struggling as well.

I think if that people must eat meat for food, then these animals should be treated as if they were real, living, breathing beings not just another source of food for humans. Industrial food is very mechanized, the animals are treated as if they don't have feelings or emotions, like Descartes theory, when the scientists had animal test subjects they thought it was alright because animals did not have "souls". Like the anemic cows whom are practically crawling because their muscles have atrophied from lack of use, what kind of living is that? When we selfishly think that we have the right to live, does the right not also to extend to animals? We are animals and for that to extend to them is only natural. What that means is being able to go outside and play, walk, eat, to breathe the fresh air. To live, NOT locked up in cramped little cells for all their lives, NOT going insane from the lack of mental stimulation, NOT abused and mistreated until they are spent from the daily poking and proding. But to have the chance to breathe. I support vegetarianism, but I don't think its wrong to eat meat, I just think its wrong to eat meat that has been treated like that. In the wild, lions hunt and kill deer for food and nutrition, but at least in the wild that deer has been able to run and live their life. What's happening in those animal "farms" isn't natural at all.

The Meatrix and Farm to Fridge Video

Watching the Meatrix, I saw some things that I knew were already happening, like the use of machines to milk the cows and crowded conditions to maximize the amount of animals that could be stuffed in a small area, but found a lot of new things that were shocking, like calves that were separated from their mothers at a young age were fed cows milk replacement made with blood from dead cows, which seems a bit twisted to me. It made sense because of the industrialization of the dairy farms, feeding calves milk meant less milk for humans, so industry farms take the milk that would have gone to the calves to us. But because of the way that things are that is more profitable for the industry and they only worry about their bottom line. The Meatrix keeps on giving the message in the end that the power to stop this is in the consumers hands, and its true, since it'll send the message that consumers don't want the product like this, its unprofitable to do it. Otherwise, the incentive to stop doing something like that is not enough to cause actual change. From a purely profit perspective if it doesn't hurt your profits there is no reason to stop doing it, never mind the risk of antibiotic overuse, the dangerous crowded conditions, or the higher risk of spreading disease. The people aren't informed enough, or they don't care so it's okay to continue doing this, that's what the people who run the Industrialized Farms are thinking when consumers continue buying their products because it shows people are not supporting the cause for sustainable food and their profit margins are safe.

Watching the Farm to Fridge video and seeing the treatment of the chickens, pigs, and cows, it seems undeniably cruel and cold, how they are beaten and abused and are helpless against this treatment. The chickens are genetically modified to grow large and the that chickens can't bear the heavy weight induced by the hormones and are beaten with metal rods, which is considered "standard practice". The way they die and are killed is the same, being conscious and having their throats slit alive and scalded with hot water. It makes me think of the pig slaughter video we saw in class and how just a few moments before sliding down they were kicking and alive and they come out dead and still, because I think that's what happened with them, they were scalded alive. I can't help thinking that if they were human something like this would be considered "inhumane", but because people don't bear the lives of animals with the same weight that they do of humans. I was appalled and disgusted and saddened, and angry at the way people treated the animals, to the point where they are spent. The squeal of the piglets screaming was very eerie to hear because you see them struggling as well.

I think if that people must eat meat for food, then these animals should be treated as if they were real, living, breathing beings not just another source of food for humans. Industrial food is very mechanized, the animals are treated as if they don't have feelings or emotions, like Descartes theory, when the scientists had animal test subjects they thought it was alright because animals did not have "souls". Like the anemic cows whom are practically crawling because their muscles have atrophied from lack of use, what kind of living is that? When we selfishly think that we have the right to live, does the right not also to extend to animals? We are animals and for that to extend to them is only natural.

Comments

I thought the comparison of the American mentality to flock to an expert to sheep was interesting. It does seem to be true since magazines advocating it are so popular so people must be buying into it. I agree that the health interests borders on obsession and that we are able to decide as individuals our own food culture even if the majority aren't.
-Posted on Gavin's

I like how you add in some of your personal eating habits. I don't completely agree that all food Americans think is healthy is unhealthy, some of them really are healthy. I think they just focus too much on health and forget about simply enjoying eating and food. Its pretty easy not to since everything is made to be eaten fast. Like microwaved foods and of course McDonald's.

I liked how you give alittle tip to avoid junk food and even go into detail about what some foods are made of.
-Posted to John Li's

I thought it was interesting about the menu and the cookies. At the place I'm interning at there are alot of entrepenuers who are doing things like the booth that gave samples of healthier cookies and substitute with ingrediates like agave or stevia or make cookies that are catered to diabetics so I thought that was pretty interesting. As for the menu, I think it is a bit more expensive and maybe they can do what they we're doing to the cookies by making healthier versions of a certain dish, or just offering the choice to eat something else because I agree not everyone wants to eat tofu and meatless sandwiches. To have the choice to eat that is fine, but replacing it altogether with other foods teenagers typically is unrealistic.
-Posted to Kate

Simple Recipe-Brocolli Soup (Gordan Ramsey )

This is not particularly deliscious sounding but I like Gordan Ramseys so I'm trusting this will be good =]. Its very simple. I'll make it and we'll see won't we?

Ingredients
to taste Water
to taste Salt
to taste Black pepper
2 heads Broccoli very fresh
to taste Olive oil optional, for garnish


Instructions
Cut the florets off the heads of broccoli. Cut the stems into similarly sized pieces. Add all of the broccoli -- florets and stems -- into a pot of rapidly-boiling, salted water (2 tablespoons salt in 5 quarts of water). Cover. Cook 3.5 to 4 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, put the cooked broccoli pieces into a blender. Fill blender about halfway with cooking liquid. Blend carefully since it's hot. Add more cooking liquid as necessary to achieve the desired consistency. Check seasonings.

If desired, add cheese (goat cheese or cheddar cheese) to the bottom of the bowl before pouring the soup in. Serve, drizzled with olive oil if desired.

Here's a Youtube video of Gordan Ramsey making it;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtYfJONfI90

Mother's Day-Food post

Yesterday, I had a little cooking project with my friends. Made some caramel popcorn, chocolate cake, and black and white cookies =9 yum. Just alot of sweet stuff.

I think my mom likes the chocolate cake. I'm hungry right now..

Omnivore's Dilemma

In the Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollen writes about the American Paradox of how even though Americans are so health obsessed but most aren't healthy themselves. They follow fad diets and food trends because they don't know what to eat and lack their own food culture, besides the occasional barbeque and hotdog stands. Like the Atkins diet, that we talked about in class, where mostly meat and protein is eaten but no carbs and no fruits and vegetables. This was a popular fad diet that Americans followed for a while. Even though its not healthy to cut out whole food groups no one thought about that because they wanted the end result.
I've never understood the point of fad diets or any other diets myself because in the end people just return back to their normal eating habits. Some of the diets are so bizarre like, the cabbage soup diet where a person will only eat and drink, you guessed it-- cabbage soup. None of the diets I see seem too healthy. Perhaps because America's a jumble of different cultures that Americans are so confused as to what to eat and are so vunerable to different trendy diets. They feel like they need directions to tell them how to eat because they've forgotten how to.

Food Post

Grocery
When I go shopping with my mom, it'll be either in the chinatown supermarket, where they sell a lot of fish and vegetables and fruit or once in awhile it'll be at WholeFoods (because its also near my home). Well I've been thinking and grocery stores sometimes use coupons to encourage costumers to buy unhealthy. They also try to disguise unhealthy food as healthy so health aware costumers will buy them. Like adding omega 3s to ice-cream, fruit on the bottom yogurts, or granola bars (which seem like a healthy choice but are not). In general alot of what Americans eat aren't that healthy because they tend to eat alot of fried and greasy foods compared to other people of other countries. The grocery stores try to push sugary cereals on younger kids, because when I was younger I remember seeing a lot of cereals like that at my eye level. For grown ups there are more healthy and whole grain or oats cereals where they would see.

I think I eat about an equal amount of meat and vegetables though lately I've been eating more veggies. I think this is because I feel like I've eaten too much meat and I'm trying to balance that out by eating more veggies. Because of this, when we go food shopping I ask to get fruits and when my mom is shopping she buys more vegetables because I keep asking for her to make them. Now in a typical week I will eat more vegetables as compared to last year. I also like eating fruit like oranges, cherries, tangerines, bannanas, etc.

Food Habits/Change of Food Habits
When I was little I didn't care as much, I would eat what ever was available even if it was unhealthy. I ate alot of junk food when I was younger because my elementary school had ice cream vending machines and soda machines. During lunchtime, students bought chips because they showed a movie during that time to keep us entertained. I also used to go to the YMCA, and across the street would be a cup noodle place, that had a bunch of chips and flavored ice pops. I drank alot of soda too because that was what you did when you were younger, I remember because I had allergies or something and the doctor said I couldn't drink dark soda so I was left with Ginger Ale and 7 up. I think now that I'm older my tastes has changed because I no longer like sweet stuff and rarely drink soda. I think this probably happened in 6th grade when I met Lisa, she worked at a clothing store and had a dog (that's how I met her, I asked to pet her dog) and this one time she had a boxful of tea from Itoen and would offer it to me because she had so much. It was unsweetened but it grew on me. So now I like drinking unsweetened tea even though most people my age don't. That's where that habit of mine comes from.

Favorite foods
Yesterday my mom cooked one of my favorite dishes, well two. It was garlic and chinese vegetable, and spring onions with leeks and this la Ruo which I love. It was leftovers but the smell was droolworthy, just cook the ingrediants in a wok or pan with some oil. Lets see, for the first dish, put the garlic in oil and add the vegetables afterwards, it'll wilt pretty fast so you can add alot and afterwards it'll be alot less. I think that's pretty simple..so I bet ya'll already know how to do that.. The other dish was done the same way (it was leftovers but my mom added spring onions and peppers to it). I think I like it because its familar food I had in my childhood. I also like congee with preserved vegetables. My mom's been cooking alot at home lately (maybe its the recession) but I like the food. My eating habits are mostly healthy, though it can be anything I'm in the mood for, like today for a snack I got chinese beef pancake at a dumpling shop on Eldridge st.

The Importance of History

Knowing your history is important, having a future is important, being in the present is important. Scientists say that time may exist all at once and there is no past present or future, but a time space continuum (Einstein and Minkowski). If this is true history is important its the same thing. We can't have one without the other can we? But its important how you make use of history too, because if you let the past drag you down there is no future, on the flip side if you have no history, who are you then? That sense of what has been done and what we're part of is important to people.

The fact that so many Americans have forgotten about Mayday and that it is so pushed aside shows that we have forgotten apart of our past, and it doesn't show up in our present because we haven't acknowledged it or cared to. How Mayday isn't commerated in May shows how important our society is trying to make it, because we remember whats important to us, but we don't remember this, which has a large impact on our lives. The may day riots were an international effort and a labor movement supported all over the world. Its part of our history. What those workers fought for and died for was us, everyday people who just want to have more time to live life. Forgetting that is like forgetting part of ourselves because if it were us at that time period we would do the same. Then maybe someday in the future we will be forgotten as well. So is history neccesary for living a good and meaningful life? I think yes, we all need some kind of history and connection to the past. Its part of who we are, our struggles and our losses, our triumphs, and our victories.

http://www.answers.com/topic/spacetime

Random-This is Cool!

This is such great fun. And I love how everyone joins in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM&feature=related

ahhh i think music and dance brings people together

Here's the making of; I think its pretty interesting seeing how they got it done too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFNM8f9WnI&NR=1

haha yes there's advertisement at the end but the whole thing itself is great so don't get all corporate media on me. XD

Well just wanted to share this enjoy!

Food Question

What are the health risks of obesity? Why are so many Americans obese?

"Roughly two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. About 16 percent of children between 6 and 19 are carrying around too many pounds, according to the National Institutes of Health."

Obesity increases health risks for heart disease and many cancers.

Most Obesity experts believe that the reason usually isn't because of lack of willpower but because obesity is triggered in "food-rich, activity scare environments" in people who are more genetically disposed to weight gain. They strongly believe that sluggish metabolisms and out-of-control hormones, rather than sloth and gluttony, spurs the inclination to gain weight and keep it on. Even though only a small percentage of obese people are fat solely because of a sluggish metabolic gene (Schwartz)when this genetic susceptibility to weight gain is paired with an environment in which little physical effort is required to get to an abundance of cheap food, we get a "recipe for rising obesity rates".

"Experts say the answer is all around us -- in the cars we insist on using for every outing, in the giant mugs we fill with whipped-cream topped mochas, in a culture where everybody seems to be always rushing around and yet sitting still most of the time." and we live in an environment that encourages doing just that.

Weight gain comes down to this, taking in more calories than you are able to burn off.

http://www.seattlepi.com/health/189899_obesity08.html

Food Journal

Last night, I was a bit tardy for my afterschool club at another school because an old friend called me up. I didn't want to rush her because she was talking about her college process and asking me to help her decide between two schools. Well I got a drink with her before the class, which had condensed milk, ice, and grass root jelly. I never had it before. At first I liked it but afterwards it was too sweet. Walking with her and her friend, we passed by a place called Cup and Saucers (the owner is really nice) I go there to buy smoothies and he gave me a free glazed donut the last time I went. I waved enthusiastically at him as I passed and he waved back the same way. (He really is a very sweet person). I'm going to go in and ask how he's doing next time.

Afterwards for dinner I ate a large serving of pasta, with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozarella. My mom cooked it for 20 minutes. I liked how the mozarella tasted because it tasted like it was fresh. I got more basil and tomatoes because I'm trying to eat more vegetables. I ate it with my mom and brother and my mom talked about summer college classes and asked if I had turned in the form yet (its due a month from now). My little brother was on the computer (an arm's length away). After eating it I felt sleepy and went to sleep because pasta is so heavy. Usually in the spring I want to eat lighter foods. I fell asleep around 9:30 and woke at 5:30 and finished my hw.

I felt really hungry afterwards so I searched through the fridge and found a ham and cheese sandwich and ate it. I was really thristy. I ended up going to the cafeteria and buying water after english was over. That was in the morning around 10:00. I was kind of hungry but I didn't want to eat the cafeteria food. After classes when it came lunchtime I went to the cafeteria and ate 6 meatballs, had 7 pieces of garlic bread(Bao lin didn't feel like eating, and Na lin gave me 1 too), and drank milk. Dinorah offered me her fries..but I have an aversion to the cafeteria fries because they're so limp and soggy and partially I think because I relate them to a story I heard about McDonald's fries; so I politely declined...I may not have been in the mood for the cafeteria food today BUT the cafeteria lady is reallly nice because she always gives me extra tuna and sometimes even seconds. Yay me! Well I think I like people who give me food. I like people who like me, or are at least decent people, which I guess are most people I know. After school I sat on a bench in front of Baruch and took a 10 minute nap because the breeze was really good and my brain felt kind of tired. It was from 3:13-3:23. I planned on taking a 20 minute nap but I didn't want to be late for class which was at 4:10. I may have taken a nap because of the meatballs, or maybe the pasta made me sleep too early and I didn't sleep too well as a result. When I got to the 13th floor there was no one there it was empty, which was strange because there were usually more people. I drank my water and continued my nap. Around 5 minutes later Leon, one of my classmates came up, and asked if I was sleeping I replied yes. But decided not to nap and go over my notes for the debate. My groupmates were pretty good at BSing, which I wish I was. They have notes too, but made up this one statistic. I can't lie, or rather I can't lie well even if I did try, so I choose not to. Well Annie came up a few minutes after Leon and she had her usual Mocha Frap and offered me some. I took it because I wanted some caffine before the debate so I'd be awake. She also gave me two bags of chips that she "stole" from her school. I think she probably got it for free at lunch. I ate one bag. The caffine was a pretty bad idea because it made me really jittery before my debate. I was actually shaking. Not noticably but I couldn't stop moving. I'm not too great at public speaking probably because the anticipation of speaking makes it worse when I actually speak. I was 4th in my group to present our argument out of the 5 people there. I was I think not that clear. Which was really bad because I actually had decent arguments...and my brain shortcircuits when its time to give them. For the rebuttal I was clear and said a good argument against my teacher's comment (the caffine affect probably died down alittle). Next time, no caffine...I'll risk drowsiness but I think caffine makes me way too hyped up especially when I'm sitting down. I think caffine and nervousness is a bad combo for me. Especially when I wasn't all that nervous beforehand, it seemed to amp it up.

Okay, so now its dinner time. My mom's going to school around dinnertime, so its leftovers. Someone from Florida visited on Sunday and there were alot of leftovers from the dinner. Its fish, vegetables, and rice, cantonese food. Yay? I think there's so much leftovers because the food wasn't that great. Its 7:03 right now. That's the end of it. Cheers.

Food Cultures- Home and Corporate

At home my mom makes alot of asian dishes when she cooks, ones that her mom have taught her before. There's many different dishes and when she does cook she cooks vegetables, soups, beef, chicken, and of course rice, things you've probably seen in other restaurants except cooked with my culture's flavorings. My mom comes from sichuan and the people there are known for their taste for spicy food. Like there would be spicy tofu mixed with some kind of spicy sauce or during hot pot there will be a side for spicy food and a side with plain water. When we eat hot pot we usually have friends over. There's be stuff like fish balls, beef slices, shrimp, pigs blood, cow intestine, dumplings, vegetables, etc. My mom has also made pasta since one of her coworkers taught her and now she makes it when she feels like it, with fresh mozarella and tomatos, the sauce she does buy canned. In the summer she makes cold congee, which is rice porraige and its pretty refreshing. Oh, and when she doesn't cook, she buys takeout. She tells me that some of the stuff put on the menu is for white people because its not authenthic asian food, like beef and brocolli or Gerneral Tsao's Chicken which I thought was kind of funny, they're making food to suit American taste so it makes sense. Well when we eat dinner, we have conversations, but we also tend to do our own things. The tv isn't on because my family doesn't watch much tv except in the morning before school or work. We eat at a table and talk. So that's basically it for my family dinners.

I think with American food there's alot of junk food and fast food and also foods that has been Americanized from other cultures. McDonald's is a wellknown example of fastfood known all over the world, as well as KFC. Americans seem to be in a rush many times and the faster the better, which is how fast food came into being. On tv or movies, we'll see people saying grace over a huge dinner. Potatoes and meat is a common in American meals. I think alot of different cultures have meat in them, except Americans just tend to eat more meat like steak or hamburger or something like that. Now I think there's a health movement because of the obsietity epedemic in America alot more magazines are touting a more healthy lifestyle. So what foods are good for you or not has become something more Americans think about. I think a typical American dinner is shown on tv as a t.v. dinner like the show Married with Kids, or as a meal at a table where the people make nice conversation, things like how was your day. I think pizza, hotdogs, onion rings, and chocolate chips are American food as it is part of what the typical American will eat.

I'm a pretty simple person, or maybe just a pretty lazy person but I'll eat whatever is in front me pretty much. At school I go for the cafeteria food, because its free and I'll have whatever's there BUT there's one exception, I won't get pizza. Because I am tired of eating pizza and the pizza at the cafeteria is not always the most appealing thing in the world. I have what some may call "quirky" food habits. I think I'm open minded about diffent foods because I've been exposed to so many different kinds of foods. I like all kinds of food from every culture. Anyways with food, I tend to eat anything and everything and when I find something I really like I will eat it nonstop for weeks until I don't even want to see it anymore. I've this with quite a bit dishes like ma po tofu, egg and shrimp over rice, beef and peas over rice and I even went vegeterian for awhile. Yes, I do know that eating too much of a certain food will cause me to go allergic to it but thankfully this is not a common occurence, just every once in a blue moon. I don't eat much fast food anymore because I just don't...I've been scared off by my friend who told me the McDonald's french fries would never expire because they have the same perservative as the one people use to perserve dead bodies at funeral homes. I haven't eaten fries at McD's since or much other food. That's basically how I do food.

Health Unit

In our unit we explored different aspects of health such as mental, emotional, spiritual, moral, and physical. I've realized after thinking about it and I think all this and they are all connected very strongly, in ways we don't even realize sometimes. In the beginning of the unit, we had alot of fun exercise. The rolling was alot of fun. I guess its shows us how being physically healthy ties in with being emotionally healthy. Whether being physical would help with depression is up to question. But it probably helps, at least a little bit. I think being physically healthy affects your overall mood, because exercise boosts your endorphins, which in turn boosts your mood. I liked running and exercising and getting to interact with other people while doing it. Maybe that's the part of myself that's animal/human. When we had to research therapies I chose existential. One part of it that made sense to me was that courage was to be able move ahead with full dedication but paradoxically be aware that we may be wrong. For me that means that to go with what you think even though you might be wrong and being flexible enough to change if you are.

I think alot of interesting questions cropped up, one was whether we could be moral without religion and I think we can. As humans, I think we developed morality even before we developed religion. Some people think that without religion there would be nothing to "stop us" or help us restrain ourselves from doing horrible things, but I believe that we could. I believe we developed as we did because we're able to. Also recently we've been talking about moral health and what that meant. Yesterday, on Friday, we were on the roof and Andy told us the story about the woman on the train and how one of the workers bargained oral sex in exchange for her passage way. I think he was taking advantage of her, because he was bargaining something that he knew she needed and for something that was very intimate. I don't know, its kind of strange to me, because I don't understand it, what the point is in having that kind of a trade. Its meaningless and degrades sex by turning it into something you can buy. That inevitably turned the conversation to prostitution. Even if by choice, it doesn't seem to be something that can lead to anything good, despite what the movie "Pretty Woman" shows. I think most people who do something like that don't enjoy it, because they're selling themselves, they're selling something that is intimate...I think that leads to emotional health, its not emotionally healthy for you to do something like that. I think when they sell sex like that, afterwards their self confidence is lowered because its hard to come out doing something like that whole, and emotionally healthy. It just plummets because its not with someone who cares about you, its with someone who has paid for you, and that means nothing. Alot of prostitutes do drugs, to numb themselves just to get through the act. It was strange for me to learn that something like that may happening near where I lived. Just now, I'm wondering what kind of people would do that, pay for sex and I think...they are probably people who are missing something and they're trying to fill that through sex. But I don't think it really does though. I think without a good moral health, its hard to have a good mental health, which makes it hard for us to have a good emotional health. Like psychopaths have no moral health, they don't care about about right or wrong, and their mental health is probably "off", even if they are smart. Their emotional health is limited because they really have no empathy.

Fridge Post

In my fridge are;

-9 oranges
-4 apples
-ketchup
-sugar packets
-5 takeout containers (with left over food)
-ketchup packets (from take out)
-sichuan dressing sauce
-chili bean sauce with fried shrimp
-salad dressing
-grape jelly
-raspberry jelly
-apple cider vinegar
-apple juice
-whole milk
-soymilk
-skim milk
-vanilla soymilk
-eggs
-expired eggnog
-fishballs
-spring onions
-chinese spinach?
-medicine (dunno why its in there)
-rediwhip
-green tea
-brown sugar

I seem to have alot of condiments, I don't really seem to use it that much...maybe my mom does. I also have alot of take out food. This is because my mom works for a restaurant company as a book keeper and her company's restaurant is literally right besides where she works so she often goes there for lunch because she gets an employee discount. I eat alot of takeout as a result. I don't know if that's healthy but its what is available so I won't deny it. But I also realized that some of the things I usually eat are not in the fridge because its finished before it has to go in the fridge so there's nothing left over. I think I eat fairly healthy because I live near a Whole Foods and my mom somethings goes there to buy fruit. She usually buys bannanas, and she shops more often at the chinese supermarket in Chinatown to buy apples...which is funny because she seems gets food that doesn't get as much pesticides from whole foods like bannanas and oranges at Whole Foods and the fruit that tends to have more pesticide to ingest like apples or strawberries at the Chinatown market. I guess I also realize that I tend to eat what's around, which seems obvious, but we do do that even if its junk. So what you buy impacts what you eat at home alot because its what's there.

Vaca Post

Day 1:
Thursday April 9th

- I got up relatively early, at 7:30. I went to my internship today. When I got there I was set to work on a roladex which is a big round wheel of little papers. I organized it and finished sooner than was expected. I made conversation with them later on, it was a good break from the silence and after I was done I sat on the couch near them and chatted. My advisor was pretty excited that I got the rolodex done and said it was marvelous. (Marvelous sounds like a funny word.) I was alittle more in my own world for awhile because I was just thinking about things, but I wasn't totally out of it. I asked them about their work and she told me about one of the clients and how some people are very disorganized. My advisor told me about what we were going to do next time, with all the articles. I was looking forward to it because I felt like all that work was actually going somewhere. She told me I was a great intern, so I wanted to be a good intern because she thought of me like that? I wonder if I am a pleaser by nature, but I recall a bunch of times in the past when I didn't care, but I think at some point I decided that if it was a good expectation, I may as well push myself to meet it. I wouldn't lose anything by trying. I was happier later on when we went to lunch and we talked. They walked me to the train station and that was nice, it was on their way. I was happy when I hugged them goodbye because it was a really familiar hug? It just made me feel comforted. My stomach was full by the end of it. I think I ate a bit too much. But the food made me feel satisfied.

-Update-
Sunday, April 12th

Today I went with my mom for her colonoscopy and while I was in the waiting room I took out an Arts and Craft's magazine I had in my bag. I was happy reading it because it gave me alot of cool ideas that I could do. It has food recipes and diy stuff and I really enjoy reading over it. There was one that showed you how to make cool patterns and designs with paint, like wood grain, or graham, and you could actually use it when painting the walls. So I liked to read stuff like that. Well the lady next to me asked me if she could read it and I said alright and handed over the magazine. I was looking at her and I realized that she was bending the edges of the pages with her thumb and it was getting creased. Okay this may sound totally obssessive compulsive but it was bothering me. After about five minutes I asked her (nicely) if she could stop bending the sides. She smiled and said okay. I guess she didn't understand me because she continued doing it. After another few minutes I asked her again. She said the same thing, she countinued doing it but this time turned the pages slower...I was going to ask her again and before I finished speaking she handed the magazine back. After that I wanted to call my friend to tell her about it but I left my phone at home. I was going to ask my mom for her's but she was getting her colonoscopy, so I sat there for about half an hour in silence. Then I decided to do something. I had a pencil in my pocket and wrote a story (not about the magazine lady...). It gave me something to turn my energy to and I liked it. I started doodling on the paper after I got stuck. Then I was reminded about what happened and started feeling anxious not being to say anything. (I sometimes fret until I'm able to get it out and then I feel better and I forget about it). Well after that one of the doctors called me in and I saw my mom. I asked her how she was feeling and she said she was fine. My mom told me we would have to wait for the doctor. I gave her a hug and asked if I could use her phone. I called my friend immediately. She laughed when I told her my story and reacted like I thought she would and called me anal. I laughed too and was really animated and happy to talk after being silent for so long.

When the doctor came, I told her I'd finish telling her the story later. He said he thought it sounded like a good story (haha a story about a lady creasing a magazine is a great story) I told him that it was. The doctor later thought I was going to do an english major (for some odd reason) and said that out of nowhere. I wondered whether the interns at his office majored in premed and what their personalities were like and wondered if he thought that because he thought my personality was of someone who typically wanted to major in english was like. I told him "Sure." even though I wasn't planning on majoring in English and let him think what he wanted. Okay so afterwards I went to the restaurant with my mom and she told me that I'd have to carry everything because she couldn't carry heavy things. I said alright. I held the door for an older couple. I'm happy to be able to do things for people. Sometimes I feel strange when they do things for me though. Sometimes I feel guilty when I feel like I haven't done the right thing, my friend says I'm just oversensitive because I get that way even about the small things. I would be compared to most people I suppose. My mom's friends came over and said stuff about my looks and height, and I just say thank you and smile, but even though they're compliments sometimes I feel weird. I'm fine with my looks, so it doesn't have anything to do about that. I know that people's friends probably say that all the time about someone's daughter or son but I perfer to hear those kind of things when its about my mind, or on some project I worked hard on, otherwise I find it strange. My mom's friend has two daughters, both in middle school. I was touched when the little one, Jessie asked for a group hug when leaving, because that was something I had said when I hadn't seen them for a while. I thought it was very sweet. Okay this post is getting a bit long and its only 2 days. I'm going to visit colleges on Tuesday, update again once I get there.

-update-
Tuesday, April 14th

I went on a college trip for a few days during my vacation for 3 days and two nights and the program I went with tried to make sure we got the most of the day so we would wake up at 6 am and be at the hotel around 10. I visited 8 colleges by the end of the trip. For the first two days I was pretty cheery in the morning. That's partly because I got a smoothie and there's a shop called cup and saucer's and the owner there is so nice, he gave me a free glazed donut to go with my smoothie. It brought my mood up for the day. Once there everyone there around 50 people got into a circle and yelled out our names. We visited two colleges today, Bingmington and Cornell. I like Bingmington because I like how the food system worked and everything is just super cheap. I also liked how everything is student run, and the students get to decide where they put the money. When I went to Cornell, it had a nice campus, but it felt too large for me. It seemed like the kind of place where you could go without having anybody talk to you and it would be easy to be by yourself but also because of that I thought it might make it harder to connect with someone. The tour guide mentioned that some people do have trouble doing that because of the large campus size. I knew immediately that my friend would want to go there because that seemed like what she wanted.

-Update-
Tuesday April 14th

It was early in the morning so I was surprised it was opened and it was a good way to start off the morning. I liked the trip because I got to get the "feel" of the campuses and listening to some of the people made me feel motivated to apply and try to get into alot of club because it reminded me there was more to college than just school, and that I wanted to experience that as well. My mood was rather optimistic overall.

-Update-
10:00 pm Wenesday April 15th

We visited four colleges today, it was crazy. I kept falling asleep on the bus and my seatmate kept pushing me off her shoulder. At Ithaca I learned about a program called HEOP, where they would pay for a whole 5 years of college if needed, room and board included, as well as giving you a stipend of $700 for your textbooks, but I was disappointed to learn that you had to have a academic handicap to get in, like if you had low grades but high SATs or vise versa, they said they wanted to help students that wouldn't traditionally have gotten in otherwise. I could understand it and for a few seconds considered purposely flunking the SAT but decided not to. But even when I was tired I felt emotionally healthy because I knew that it was from all the walking and the trip and alot of other people also felt tired. Because we had such a packed day I was tired when we got home at 11. I pretty much dragged myself to brush my teeth and went to sleep.

-Update-
Thurs, April 16th

Today I visited Syracuse and Albany U. I enjoyed it because the tour guides today were very enthusiastic and informative. While on the lunch line, there came an awkward pause when the line and myself included where waiting for the lunch lady to clean up, it took around 10 minutes. The person next to me asked me what she had said, I told him what I heard "something about cleaning up". While I was waiting for her and I started thinking about whether I should say anything. Then I thought this was kind of like Existential Psychology's self actualization or at least what I had read of it. I wanted to start a conversation with a stranger or become the kind of person who could and that psychology argues that people are always striving for perfection, or to become an individual. It also asks what it means to be human. I wondered about the whole college process, what did that mean. Each thing we do, contributes to who we are. Going to college was another experience to do that. It is how we choose to live that makes each of us what we are. "We each create ourselves." Maybe that's part of the process. Everything seems to be part of the process. I was feeling contemplative for a few seconds on line. Then the food came and I went to my table.

When I came home from the trip, it was 10 at night and my mom picked me up. She asked me what I thought and I told her. When I mentioned that I didn't see myself going to Cornell, she told me that it was a good name, because it was famous and alot of people would reconize it. That annoyed me because even if that was true that didn't mean it would be a good fit for me. I didn't really want to talk about college related stuff with her. I told her later about how I called my friend's mom by accident on the way home and thought it was her. I took me a while to realize that it wasn't my mom, and I was pretty confused because I was thinking what is she saying? why is she taking so long to reply... and then it hit me that I called the wrong number. My friend laughed at me when she heard and my mom did too. When I handed the phone to my friend she hung up and her mom called a few minutes later, I found out later that her mom thought I was her during that call. My mood was pretty tired because it was so late. I was annoyed when I got home because my little brother was being a drama queen. He's very dramatic and likes to make a mountain out of a molehill. (well that was what he was doing when I came home) actually he was screaming like a banshee. I went to sleep and ignored it and was in a slightly annoyed mood. When I came back to the city, I felt a definite shift in mood from when I was in the rural and suburban areas, the tone was just changed.

Well thanks for reading my rambling, that seems to be the appropriate word.

Existential Pyschology

Existential Psychology is a mix of philosophy and psychology. Its focus is on achieving the authentic self. It believes that life is a series of choices, one that either pushes a person to the future or another that pushes a person back to the "routine predictable past". These two choices involves choosing the future self, which brings about an anxiety of the unknown, or choosing the "safe status quo", which brings about a sense of missed opportunity. It says that authenticity involves accepting the way that things are and finding the courage to choose the future, which minimizes ontological anxiety (fear of the unknown). Existential psychology believes is that doubt(ontological anxiety) is a natural feeling that accompanies creating your own meaning and doesn't hinder the decision-making process.

Courage is part of one of the Five cores of Personality; the personality types emphasize self definition and world view.

5. "Courage: Courage is the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair. Courage is necessary in order to make being and becoming possible. The paradox of courage is that we must be fully committed but at the same time aware that we might be wrong."

http://psych.eiu.edu/spencer/Existential.html
"The philosophical bases were formed by Kierkegaard and Heidegger. The writings of Rollo May are considered as a primary source."

Emotionally Stable and Unstable Characters

[Start]

Smile 1
St. Geran grinned, his smile stretched from one side of his face to another. He was called Ran for short. "Hiiii!!!!!!" He said to Al. Ran continued to smile like that for the next few hours. Al stared at Ran. "Dude, how long are you going to stay like that?" Ran continued to grin. "I don't know until I feel like it I guess."
"Did you fall in love or something like that. Did something particular happen?"
"No, do need a reason to smile?" asked Ran.
"Usually." Said Al.

Smile 2
Hyde was over at Norm's house for the day. When they reached Norm's door, Hyde poked a finger at the paperflap in front of the keyhole, it went through the other side of the door, there was no barrier. Hyde observed this coolly. "Huh, the flap is movable that's cool." he said. A thought occured to him suddenly. "Wouldn't it be freaky if someone had a gun and held it to the eye hole, it could shoot someone in the eye." Hyde said this with a smile. Norm saw this, "You saying that so cheerfully and with a smile is freaky."
Hyde considered it for a moment. "I didn't know I was saying it cheerfully."
"Yeah" said Al, "Maybe 'cuz Hyde is freaky."
Hyde ignored the comment. He went through the door, "So, what are you guys up for?" he gave a little smile.


Characters
Al-1st story & second
St. Geran-1st story
Hyde-2nd story
Norm-2nd story

Side notes (thoughts) on the Short (Topic)
I didn't make the characters completely one dimensional, though maybe I should have, but I wasn't sure what constituted as emotionally stable and unstable. Maybe the short shows that, because Ran questions that in the first story and Hyde's emotional stability is borderline stable and unstable depending on the point of view of the person reaiding it. I thought emotionally stability was the ability to control your emotions. That way your emotions aren't in control of you, but not to the point where its so reigned in you don't show any. So its about the way people react to the way they're feeling and how they deal with their emotions. Like the gunman of the Virginia Tech Shooting, and the recent shooter at Bingmington who was very "stressed and depressed". They weren't emotionally stable because they let their emotions rule them. I don't think they were mentally stable either.
I also thought that its easy to identify if someone was emotionally unstable when its extreme and constant, but harder when viewing someone who seems to act relatively normal at times with short bursts of extremeness, because that's considered normal like after a death, even extreme grief, or wailing is understandable to an extent.
Depending to the circumstances, there's a certain period of time where its exceptable even emotionally healthy to act in an emotionally unstable way.

Side notes on the Names
St. Geran, is an Anagram.
Hyde, as in Jekyll and Hyde, from the book Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Did you find out about Al and Norm? I think that was probably an easy one to get.


[end]

Health Questions

Mental Health

-How does chronic stress affect your health?
"When faced with chronic stress and an over activated autonomic nervous system, people begin to see physical symptoms. The first symptoms are relatively mild, like chronic headaches and increased susceptibility to colds. With more exposure to chronic stress, however, more serious health problems may develop. These stress-influenced conditions include, but are not limited to:

* depression
* diabetes
* hair loss
* heart disease
* hyperthyroidism
* obesity
* obsessive-compulsive or anxiety disorder
* sexual dysfunction
* tooth and gum disease
* ulcers
* cancer (possibly)

In fact, most it’s been estimated that as many as 90% of doctor’s visits are for symptoms that are at least partially stress-related!"
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/stresshealth.htm

-What happens to your body when you are stressed?
Stress activates the autonomic nervous system which ups the body's adrenaline and the amount of cortisol being released, which speeds up the heart rate, slows digestion, and directs blood flow to major muscle groups. It gives a sudden burst of strength and energy preparing the body to fight or run. "Originally this response enabled us to fight or get away in dangerous situations, but now it is activated when neither response is appropriate, like in traffic or a stressful day of work."
http://stress.about.com/od/stressmanagementglossary/g/autonomicnfs.htm

-Why is it easier for young children to learn a new language?
"Babies and young infants can pick up new words and sounds effortlessly during the critical period of cortex development. After age one it gets more difficult, but it is still much easier for children to learn new words. Whether these words are all from one language or from two or more doesn’t matter. All of the words—English, French, Russian, etc.—are stored in the same brain map.
After age 10, learning new words becomes progressively harder until, as adults, it is exceedingly difficult. The older you get, the more you use your native language and the more it comes to dominate your linguistic map. You still have brain plasticity, but your mother tongue rules. Your brain trains itself to not pay attention to foreign sounds, and the space in your head dedicated to language gets rather crowded."

http://www.eldr.com/article/brain-power/why-it-easier-young-children-learn-new-language

General Health

-What is health?
"A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", used by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1948.

Noun 1.wellbeing - a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous; "the town was finally on the upbeat after our recent troubles"

Happy-adj., -pi·er, -pi·est.

1. Characterized by good luck; fortunate.
2. Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.
3. Being especially well-adapted; felicitous: a happy turn of phrase.
4. Cheerful; willing: happy to help.
5.
1. Characterized by a spontaneous or obsessive inclination to use something. Often used in combination: trigger-happy.
2. Enthusiastic about or involved with to a disproportionate degree. Often used in combination: money-happy; clothes-happy."
http://www.answers.com/topic/happy

-What is a healthy diet?
"Eat enough calories but not too many. Maintain a balance between your calorie intake and calorie expenditure—that is, don't eat more food than your body uses. The average recommended daily allowance is 2,000 calories, but this depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity.

Eat a wide variety of foods. Healthy eating is an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don't normally eat.

Keep portions moderate, especially high-calorie foods. In recent years serving sizes have ballooned, particularly in restaurants. Choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.

Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol. Try to get fresh, local produce

Drink more water. Our bodies are about 75% water. It is a vital part of a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems, especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste products and toxins. A majority of Americans go through life dehydrated.

Don’t be the food police. You can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation, as long as they are an occasional part of your overall healthy diet. Food is a great source of pleasure, and pleasure is good for the heart – even if those French fries aren’t! "
http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm

-How much exercise should the average person get?
"According to the government, only 37 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women take enough exercise to get any benefit from it. To avoid obesity, heart disease and other life-limiting conditions, the chief medical officer (the government's top doctor) recommends the following:

* Adults should do a minimum of 30 minutes moderate-intensity physical activity, five days a week.
* You don't have to do the whole 30 minutes in one go. Your half-hour could be made up of three ten-minute bursts of activity spread through the day, if you prefer.
* The activity can be a 'lifestyle activity' (in other words, walking to the shops or taking the dog out) or structured exercise or sport, or a combination of these. But it does need to be of at least moderate intensity.
* People who are at specific risk from obesity, or who need to manage their weight because of a medical condition, need 45-60 minutes of exercise at least five times a week.
* For bone health, activities that produce high physical stresses on the bones are necessary."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/fitness/daily_howmuch.shtml

Animal Paper

Humans and Animals. That's how we often think of it. There's a us and them mentality, as if we were separate. But we really are the same aren't we? We breathe, we bleed, we eat, we mate, we love, we die. We do all that and more.

"No single essential difference separate human beings from other animals."

Even so, we are inclined to think otherwise. People seem to think that we are above animals, superior to animals because we are capable of thinking and are logical and are calm rational beings, rather than instinctual like them. I don't think that's true. I think they feel just as much as us. They can think as well. In class we were presented with a dilemma similar to this-- If we had the choice to save one of these animals, a baby, a bird, a monkey, a dolphin. Most people chose to save the baby. But I don't really think its right to place ourselves of greater importance than them, than the animals, trees, or flowers because they have just as much a right to life as we do. Being here in this world as we are, aren't we all in the same boat? Aren't we all headed to the same route? Aren't we all the same.
On the other hand it is understandable that its like this; that we aren't able to relate. Most of the time we don't even come in contact with other animals, around 95% of our time is spent with other people and what we are more familiar with, we can relate to more. Maybe that's why most people can't relate. We go to work for most of the day, in which we are surrounded by people, and then we go home and sleep. Interaction with other animals are far and few in between, so the only animals we can see are those like us. As kids, we also go to school, spending around 17 years of our lives there; 18 if you count preschool, 27 if you want to become a doctor (another four years of med school and 6 years in residency). The way we're taught emphasizes the mind rather than the body because that's "human" and it is yet another way for us to be separate from the animals. We are taught to think. We spend the day in school sitting on hard chairs listening and writing. Society tells us that we should prioritize thinking over being physical, and its little wonder people can forget their animal side.
Living in a somewhat religious society, people are inclined to think otherwise. According to Genesis, God said, "Let us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over fish of the ocean and over birds of the heavens, and over the cattle and over all the earth and over all the crawlers crawling on the earth." (Genesis chapter 1:26) when people believe something like that its no wonder that there's a chasm between humans and animals. It would seem like humans are "above" animals since it says in the bible that they were meant to reign over animals. We think the world revolves around us. So we think that's why the animals are there so we can rule over them. The myth perpetuates that everything was built so it would provide for us, the humans.
Maybe if we'd realize that we are animals as well, we'd be able to be more in touch with our physical side. Its something that we can forget being cooped inside all day. In class when we played Rabbit and Tiger, and tag, we got to run and chase and be reminded of that. Many people noted that they felt like they were kids again. We do seem more in touch with that side of us as kids, when we could just run and play. People had fun and seemed happier being able to run. We weren't worrying about anything, we were just doing and being. As we got older it seems that play and activity got replaced by books and lessons. Books and learning does have its place but I feel that it has to be balanced by this as being active seems just as beneficial to our health and mind as learning is.
Another reason we don't see ourselves as animals is because of the belief in duality. That the body and the mind are separate things when in fact they are very much connected. We'll often hear the phrase "Mind over body" or this famous quote by Rene Descartes, "I think therefore I am" meaning that your mind is what's in control of this vessel, your body. That the body was only a fleshly servant and when we perished the soul will go on. He believed that every human had something called a Homunculus, which was something that separated us from the animals. But it was only something that humans had. The reactions in other animals was just an impulse, like when the doctor hits your kneecap with a tool and it lifts up. That's why some scientists would do experiments on animals because they thought animals didn't have one of these Homunculus, "no one was home". Even when the animal cried it was just a "reaction". Descartes's belief that only humans had souls was able to continue the belief that humans and animals kept us separate since it thought that only humans were capable of thought.
Scientific Classification is a method used by scientists to classify animals into different categories, and this too contributes to the thought that humans and animals are apart. Its separated into Kingdom,Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species, What's funny is, that our scientific classification does classify Humans under the Kingdom, Amalia, and in a way accepts that, but at the same it separates Humans into their own separate species. So its saying that even though we are the same, we are apart. Also in this web, humans are called "homo sapiens sapiens", Latin for "wise wise humans or knowing humans"(Goodman). This and religion, creates the theological thought that evolution was leading up to us.

I think I used to think this way too, because that's what we have been taught in the stories by writers and by society up to this point. In poems or novels, we learn about reasons why man is separate from animals. So its easy to believe what you were brought up believing because that is what you know. But I guess that's what life is for, so we can experience and know more things. When we can see past these obstacles, we can live more good and meaningful lives because we'll know that its okay to be an animal. It's natural to play and be physical. We do not need to rely on all these pills and drugs to get by. Like when women give birth, they can do without the epidermal and the sometimes unnecessary Cesarean sections because birth is a natural process as well and animals have been able to do it for the past few centuries without drug interference. Another benefit to knowing we're animals is experiencing and just enjoying the moment. As animals we can just enjoy doing and being just like we were when we were at the park. When thinking of ourselves as only humans we can get caught up in physical time and getting overly worried about things we can't control. We are animals and knowing that can help us live a more good and meaningful life.

Goodman, M., Tagle, D., Fitch, D., Bailey, W., Czelusniak, J., Koop, B., Benson, P., Slightom, J. (1990). "Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids".

Popcorn

I made homemade popcorn for the first time today. It came out pretty good. I think the "recipe" is around 1 tblspn of olive oil (or any oil) at medium high heat, 1/4-1/2 cup of kernels, and 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. I'm eyeballing this lol.

I was very excited, and my mom ate it all, she was complaining before, but once it was made she beasted! I liked it alot too, the sugar carmelized alittle and I added it while the popcorn was popping, which may or may not have been a good idea because some of it popped out of the pan. But I really liked the end result, so I guess the clean up was worth it.

The simplest things seem to give me the most joy.

Living Funeral

When I was writing the list, thoughts of people close to me came first because they would be the first ones that I would want with me for such a time. I think they would want to be there too. They're the ones who have been through everything with me in life and there being there for this too would comfort me. It would also make having a living funeral more fun, morbid though it may be. With them there will be more laughter and really that's all I really want. The people who'd invite me would think the same way. They'd be friends or family, maybe some people I haven't seen in awhile. They'd want to have people around them who want to be there and not have to go through it all by themselves. It'd make the whole process a little less scary.
Writing the list, I thought about how death is an often scary topic, but its something that has its place. I realize that many people are sad, when things like this happen, and I would be too because it seems like an end. It seems so permanant. But when I thought more about it, I rerealized that death may be inevitable, but the point is to live. That's kind of what Morrie had decided to do, to live. So, at my living funeral, I'd invite people who do just that. Because at the living funeral I wouldn't want a solemn atmosphere, I would want the kind people bring when they are just enjoying a good conversation or story and just enjoy the time I have with everyone.

Curiousity-
"dying is what the living do, dying is what the loving do, dying is what, to live, each has to do."

(Alastair Reid, b. 1926)

Questions of Old People

Questions
1.What percent of older Americans are healthy?
Older Americans are healthier, with 19.7% suffering from a disability in 1999, versus 26.2% in 1982. About 80% of seniors have at least one chronic health condition, and 50% have at least two. The percentage of obese elderly Americans continues to expand, with about 33 percent of men and 39 percent of women considered obese in 1999-2000, up from 24 percent and 27 percent, respectively, in 1988-94.

2.At what age are you considered old? 65 according to most surveys relating to the older population

3.What percent live in poverty?
The proportion of Americans 65 and older living in poverty declined from 35 percent in 1959 to 10 percent in 2003, largely because of the safety net of Social Security.

4.What percent are divorced?
Changes in family structure, specifically more divorce, fewer children and more stepchildren, may mean less family support for this older segment of the population. In 1960, 1.6 percent of older men and 1.5 percent of older women were divorced. By 2003, 7 percent of older men and 8.6 percent of older women were divorced and had stayed single.

5.What percent of old people are disabled?
In Census 2000, some 14 million people 65 and older reported some level of disability, most of it related to chronic conditions such as heart disease, hypertension, arthritis or respiratory disorders.

6.What percent of older americans live in nursing homes?
Despite the graying of the nation, the percentage of elderly living in nursing homes has declined, according to Census data released today. About 7.4% of Americans aged 75 and older lived in nursing homes in 2006, compared with 8.1% in 2000 and 10.2% in 1990. More than 1.8 million people live in nursing homes.

SOURCES: Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York City; March 9, 2006, U.S. National Institute on Aging report, 65+ in the United States: 2005, Mia Oberlink, project director, AdvantAge Initiative,

7.How long does the average person live?
According to the report, average life expectancy for U.S. residents in 2003 increased by nearly four months from an average of 77.3 years in 2002 (Mestel, Los Angeles Times, 3/1).

8.What are the leading causes of death for old people?
The report found that the age-adjusted mortality rate for the United States in 2003 was about 831.2 deaths per 100,000 residents (Bowman, Scripps Howard/Detroit News, 3/1).

Increases for Some Conditions
Relative to 2002, the report also found increased mortality rates for some conditions, including:

* A 5.9% increase for Alzheimer's disease;
* A 5.7% increase for hypertension;
* A 2.1% increase for kidney disease; and
* A 3.4% increase for Parkinson's disease.


As a result of the increased mortality rate for Parkinson's disease, the condition replaced murder as one of the top 15 causes of death in the United States (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 2/28).

9.What is declining causes of death for old people?
The report found that from 2002 to 2003, mortality rates for:

* Heart disease declined by 3.6%;
* Cancer declined by 2.2%;
* Stroke decreased by 4.6% (Washington Times, 3/1);
* HIV-related deaths declined by 4.1% (Los Angeles Times, 3/1);
* Chronic respiratory disease declined by 0.7%;
* Flu and pneumonia declined by 3.1%;
* Accidents decreased by 2.2%;
* Suicide declined by 3.7% (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 2/28);
* Alcohol-related illnesses declined by 4.3%;
* Drug-related causes decreased by 3.3%; and
* Work-related injuries decreased by 13%.

10.How many older Americans are there?
There were some 33.5 million people 65 years of age or older in 1995, representing
The older population will continue to grow. The growth will slow during the 1990s because of the relatively small number of babies born during the Depression, and will increase most rapidly between 2010 and 2030, when the "baby boom" generation reaches age 65. There will be about 70 million older Americans in 2030, more than twice as many as in 1990. They are expected to represent about 20 percent of the population at that time.

12. What percentage of old people die in care homes?
Old people who died in care homes increased from 1989 (5.7%) to 2001 (16.2)

More Sources; The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, published for kaisernetwork.org,http://www.dcba.org/public/elderpoints.htm