19. June 2009 by Mr. Andoscia.

I will be doing a final reading of posts tomorrow morning.  Time is quickly running out.

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19. June 2009 by student.

How much longer can a society cope with abuse and corruption of regime that is supposedly democratic and elected by its own people? The year of 1979, people of IRAN under the Shah’s Kingdome got united and stormed the street Tehran and many other cities seeking the overthrowing of the shah. They were under impression that this act of revolution will give them the independence, freedom and also the notion of having presidency system instead of monarchy to be called Islamic Republic of IRAN.      

 Iranian got what they were hoping for expect the most important issue Freedom. The society of  IRAN is suppressed under the name of religion and often the leaders are interpreting the religious laws for controlling the public more and more.IRAN’S society got fed up with their nonsense laws and now is hoping for a reform. Change within the system, not another regime.

Friday 19, 2009, the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei who has the final say on any matter inIRAN’S government had a Friday praying ceremony and a speech in regard to the election. People were hoping that he would express a better view and position toward all the scandal and unfairness of ballet result, but instead he directly ignored peoples concern and denied any wrong doing. Now situation is uglier than before since there is no compromise over the election dispute.

He is blaming the people’s movement for freedom on foreign countries, for the fact that people were rallying with English written banners and message boards. He blames the foreign media for influencing the unity of people by covering their demonstration for reform against the result of the election.IRAN’S media would not show the actual rally and government resistance toward the crowd because they are government controlled media and it would interfere with their own ideology of suppressing and isolating the nation.      

In my opinion with everything that is happening inIRAN, unless the reform takes place, there will never be hope for the freedom that people deserved. Despite Ayatollahs disliking of international comminutes input in this very serious matter, Iranian people are eager to let the whole word know their desire to become free from dictatorship behavior of the regime.                                                                                         

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19. June 2009 by student.

What’s wrong with SUV’s? SUVs represent a paradox to consumers, television advertisements present them as a way to return to nature, yet they actually accelerate existing environmental problems. Commercials often depict happy families driving on mountain roads, avoiding falling rocks and enjoying the flowered wilderness in leather-seated comfort. The sad truth is that these vehicles are contributing to the destruction of our natural resources. In reality, only 5 percent of SUVs are ever taken off-road, and the vast majority of these vehicles are used for everyday driving. And there are a lot of them on the roads. In 1985, SUVs accounted for only 2 percent of new vehicle sales. SUVs now account for one in four new vehicles sold, and sales continue to climb. So far the only deterrent to this increase in sales seems to be the inflated gas prices. Global warming is a real danger that cannot be ignored. However, automakers continue to build fuel-inefficient vehicles. The vehicles we drive are contributing to this problem, but automakers don’t seem particularly concerned. SUV’s have a significant environmental impact even beyond the problem of global warming. Federal law gives heavy sport utility vehicles permission to emit higher levels of toxic and noxious pollution - carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. Sport utility vehicles can spew 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars. These combustion pollutants contribute to eye and throat irritation, coughing, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, confusion and headaches. Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are precursors to ground level ozone, which causes asthma and lung damage. Finally, it is important to note that SUVs are contributing to our dependence on imported oil. The more gasoline we use, the more oil we have to import from other countries. Currently, more than half of the oil we use is imported. This level of dependence on imports is the highest in our history, and will only increase unless we do a better job with conservation and alternative fuels.

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19. June 2009 by student.

There are many different reasons and advantages of recycling old materials to turn into new, similar products. Recycling benefits relate to many different areas, some of which could greatly improve the air we breathe, and the environment. Recycling is important because then we don’t need to cut down as much of the forest as we are doing now, because right now we are cutting too many trees down. Pollution is too high, the earth is vulnerable and we need to keep our earth’s oxygen and the environment clean. All man-made products incorporate raw materials to create the finished product. This involves harvesting the earth’s natural resources (e.g. wood, metal) in order to acquire the raw materials. Deforestation is a prime example of how harvesting natural resources is harming the environment. This could be reduced if we recycle more paper and old wooden products. Tied in with energy saving, is the reduction of pollution as a result of manufacturing processes becoming more efficient. Any reduction in CO2 or other harmful gases is not only a key ingredient for the fight against climate change, but a key ingredient for cleaning the air we breathe. If we can reduce pollution levels from the manufacturing industry by a significant level, this could have a positive impact on our health. The more we recycle, the more we can help to reduce the burden on local and national landfill sites. As population levels increase, we will need to find more landfill sites, which will harm the surrounding environment and wildlife. This is another important reason why we should recycle more, in order to reduce the impact landfills have on the surrounding environment.

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19. June 2009 by student.

The United States has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually. Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20, about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens. Along with the pregnancy come many consequences such as decreased likelihood to finish high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma), teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare) and sadly the children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect. One of the main reasons that teenage girls, who have never had sex, give is that it is against their religious or moral values. Some other reasons include the fear of contracting STD’s or pregnancy itself. This is where the importance of sex education in our schools takes place. Sex education that works starts early, before young people reach puberty, and before they have developed established patterns of behavior. Providing basic information provides the foundation on which more complex knowledge is built up over time. I would assume that the starting age would depend on the physical, emotional and intellectual development of the young people as well as their level of understanding. I agree that they need to have information about the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty and sexual reproduction, including fertilization and conception and about sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Even though I favor abstinence, just as the majority of people do, teens should still have access to contraception and this type of education, granted the alarming numbers of pregnancies among these youngsters. Effective sex education also provides young people with an opportunity to explore the reasons why people have sex, and to think about how it involves emotions, respect for one self and other people and their feelings, as well as their decisions.

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19. June 2009 by student.

I read an article about Africa that states two-thirds of all people living with HIV are found in sub-Saharan Africa, although this region contains little more than 10% of the world’s population. Lack of education and unrespossible gouvernment greatly affect that continent. AIDS has caused immense human suffering in almost every factor/sector in Africa.

During 2007 alone, an estimated 1.5 million people, including children died as a result of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. And since the biginning of the epidemic, more than 15 million Africans have died of AIDS. This impact will remain severe for years to come if they don’t stand against it and do something to reduce the risk.

Education has a lot to do with that. I read in an article on CNN.com, Africa in Peril, it was sad to read about a common belief that men have. They believe if they affect by the disease, and they have sex with a virgin they will be cured. Lack of education is killing these people.They don’t know how to protect themselves and others from getting the disease. Millions affected children left orphans. They need help and attention, but it seems like noone is around to do so because the president says that they don’t have money to spend on people that are going to die. Even health care professionals are being directly affected by the epidemic. For example, Botswana lost 17% of its health care workforce due to AIDS between 1999 and 2005. In sub-Saharan Africa, people with AIDS occupy more than half of all hospital beds and the gouvernment-funded research in south Africa has suggested that, on average, HIV-positive patients stay in the hospital four time longer than other patients.

Help for Africa. AIDS is a big social problem that needs to be resolved

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19. June 2009 by student.

A while ago I was taking care of a 70 year old woman in the hospital. She was suffering from a GI Bleed (a life-threatening gastrointestinal hemorrhage).  The massive bleeding had left her unconscious and in the ICU. For the last many years, she had been demented and bed-bound.  So when we started thinking about all the possible things that could be done and trying to decide if she would have wanted us to do so, it became crucially important to know who would be speaking for the patient. Luckily, there were two daughters who knew her extremely well and were  intimately involved in her life.  Both helped care for her and loved her deeply.  Both had talked with her primary care physician and with her about decisions that she might make in such a situation. So we talked with the daughters. Would she want to be in the ICU?  Would she want to have endoscopies (a scoping of her stomach and of her colon)?  Would she want to be put on a breathing machine if necessary?  If her heart stopped, would she want us to try to shock her with electricity to restart it? How nice to have not one but two loving daughters. But, of course, they totally disagreed about everything.  Over the years, they talked to the same woman about the same topics, but somehow came away with totally different impressions. So… this is a reminder for all of us to follow the four rules of choosing someone to stand and speak on our behalf.
1.  Choose a DPOA now (Durable Power of Attorney for health care, a surrogate decision-maker to make medical decisions if we ourselves become unable to do so).  Choose one person.
2.  Tell your DPOA what you want, what you value, how you go about making difficult decisions.
3.  Have them repeat it back to you so you know they’ve actually heard you.
4.  Don’t forget rule #3.

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19. June 2009 by student.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5 to 14 year olds. Can you believe the age starts at 5 years old, that just makes me think what can go through their young minds and how they know what to do or take. In any school is no different but the pressure on juniors and seniors is intense. They feel that they must succeed academically, socially and athletically. They feel that they absolutely have to get into the right college. They push themselves to the limit and sometimes over that limit. All you have to do is add other factors like sexuality and family issues such as divorce or finances and you have a recipe for disaster. 60% of high school students recently surveyed indicated that they had thought about suicide. Children in boarding school can really feel cut off from their basic support group which is family and friends back home. The work load can be intensive. The pressure to get accepted at a good college is enormous. The warning signs of suicide include:

• Change in eating and sleeping habits.
• Drug and alcohol abuse.
• Noticeable personality change.
• Violent reactions, rebellious behavior, running away.
• Persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating, falling grades

            The majority of suicidal children and adolescents have clinical depression alone or in conjunction with another depressive illness like anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar illness (manic depression), or child-onset schizophrenia. Studies consistently show that a high percentage of gay and lesbian youth (25-30%) attempt suicide. The simple truth is that most young people end up killing themselves because they don’t know where else to turn. They are in pain which seems unbearable and they want the pain to stop. They choose death because they didn’t know what else to do. Since 1960, there has been a 368% increase in the suicide rate in this group.

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19. June 2009 by student.

Imagine driving home one night and getting hit by a drunk driver causing many innocent people to loose their life or having permanent damages because of someone else’s mistake. Thousands of Americans drive while intoxicated every year, not imagining that this could be theirs or someone else’s last day alive. Drinking and driving causes many car accidents and deaths every year. Alcohol impairs skills used for many things that are part of our daily routine, especially driving. Even one drink can affect a driver’s reflexes and judgment. Abilities such as braking quickly, steering, changing lanes safely, and/or dealing with changing road conditions may be impaired. As blood alcohol rises, driving ability continues to decline. The legal limit for blood alcohol level (BAC) is the equivalent of about one drink per hour for women, or two drinks per hour for men, but everyone processes alcohol differently. Some people will be above the level sooner than others. For many people, a BAC below the legal limit is already dangerous.

Statistics on Drinking and Driving

Next time you consume alcohol and think about driving, reconsider all of damages you could be causing. Not only are you putting your life at danger, but you might be ending or putting at risk someone else’s life. Always plan ahead by having a designated driver; in other words do not drink and drive!

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/spotlite/3d.htm

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19. June 2009 by student.

How far would you go if you were in terrible pain? What if your doctor misdiagnosed your illness? Assisted suicide is done legally in the state of Oregon and Washington. Oregon, since 1997, has allowed people who are terminally ill and in intractable pain to obtain a lethal prescription from their physician and end their chronic suffering. Legal arguments against assisted suicide include concerns about civil suits resulting from premature or unnecessary termination of life following a diagnostic error or incorrect prognosis. There are also concerns about enforcement of legal procedures devised to prevent against misuse, abuse, and improper application or coercion in assisted suicide. Dying should be a natural process. Whether it is you killing yourself, or if it’s a doctor, I believe it is still suicide. Doctor are supposed to heal and make you feel better, not help you end your life.

People have many different reasons for wanting to end their life by committing suicide:

	Some are severely depressed over a long interval. To them, suicide may be a “permanent solution to a temporary problem.” There is a consensus that a better solution for most clinically depressed people is treatment, using counseling and/or medication. Such treatment can give to the person decades of enjoyable life which would have been lost if they committed suicide.
	They live in excessive, chronic pain. Some, due to poverty or lack of health-care coverage cannot afford pain killing medication. Others are denied adequate pain killers because of their physician’s lack of knowledge, inadequate training, or specific beliefs. Most physicians feel that suicide in such cases is not a preferred solution either; a better approach is proper management of pain through medication. There appears to be a lack of collective will to make this happen. Many, perhaps most, people die in excessive, though treatable, pain.
	They have a terminal illness and do not want to diminish their assets by incurring large medical costs as their death approaches. As an act of generosity, they would rather die sooner, and pass on their assets to their beneficiaries.
	A serious disorder or disease has adversely effected their quality of life to the point where they no longer wish to continue living.
	They have been diagnosed with a degenerative, progressive illness like ALS, Huntington’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS, Alzheimer’s etc. They fear a gradual loss of the quality of life in the future as the disease or disorder progresses.
	They have lost their independence and must be cared for continually. Some feel that this causes an unacceptable loss of personal dignity.
	They realize that they will be dying in the near future and simply want to have total control over the process.
	Some are concerned about the future and want to have suicide available as an option.

What ever the reason is, suicide is wrong. Life is a gift from God, and only he is able to take it away. It is sad that some states here in the United States have allowed this act. Having assisted suicide may encourage people to want to end their lives when there are other options. We need to think positive and believe that there may be miracle cures or recovery.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/euthanas.htm

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