Oh the Memories

I was going through CNN's website and came across an article that seemed really familiar to one of my previous blogs.

It's basically about a man named Brad Williams who can recall the smallest details of his life. His specialty is dates. Ask his what happened on a certain date and he will be able to tell you what he did. In fact, if you compare my last memory blog to the article you'll be able to see numerous similarities. They both mention A.J., a women whose memory competes with Williams and her experiences. However, she says that her memory is a burden, with memories flashing in and out like an unedited movie while Williams says that he "never really had reason to think I wasn't like everyone else." So the question remains: why is all this information there?

We know basically where memories are stored and how they are retrieved but we've never known why. Maybe its part of the way we've evolved. If everyone were like goldfish then every three seconds we would have to relearn our lives. I don't think that's possible. However, we have a glimpse of what could happen. Seeing people with Alzheimer's disease is an example of someone who is losing their memory but may physically still be okay. Although its not as instantaneous as a goldfish, we see that humans cannot function without some kind of memory. Is that why we remember? I guess the only way to find out is to learn about people like A.J. or Williams and continue to try to understand the brain and unlock some of its secrets.

If the link didn't work then here's the website:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/22/memory.man.ap/index.html

You've Come a Long Way Response

Responding to Bolos' blog on the Virginia Slim cigarette ads, I think its really interesting how the cigarette company linked smoking to women's rights. They're basically saying that women were not even allowed to, god forbid, smoke in front of men without being punished in some way. But now that women can vote and do what they please, they can smoke in front of "formally dominate men" and even smoke special cigarettes made just for women.  In my personal opinion I think smoking is not the smartest choice one could make but after seeing these ads I could see why women would jump on these in a heartbeat. We've all hear the saying "Stick it to the man" and that is exactly what these ads are asking women to do. Show those stupid men whose boss and smoke when you want to, where you want to, and with whom you want to. 

Also, Bolos also asked the question wondering if we remember cigarette billboards near schools or on T.V. My answer is yes. I remember driving down the highway with looking at all the smoking ads showing all-American cowboys looking glamorous while taking a puff from a cigarette. But one story that probably hit me the most was the one my dad told me. When he was young cigarette companies basically had no limits on advertising. When he was a young boy he used to go into a drug store and by his father's cigarettes without ever needing a parent with him. Besides that, a way to encourage kids to smoke was to sell a single cigarette for only a penny so that way they didn't have to spend a lot of money on an entire pack. If tobacco companies did not have the restrictions that they do today how do you think they would be advertising?

Does Anyone want to change their mind??

Today in class Mr. Bolos was talking about the World Question of 2008. This was "What have you changed your mind about? Why? (A link to the website if right here)
There are some of the answers:

"opposites do not attract"
-David G. Myers (Social psychologist)

"I Used To Think I Could Change My Mind"
-Antony Garrett Lisi (Independent Theoretical Physicist)

"I have changed my mind about technology [...] technology? Hey, it's not so bad"
-Seth Lloyd (Quantum Mechanical Engineer)

"The Death of the Dinosaurs"
-Scott Sampson (Chief Curator, Utah Museum of Natural History)

That's a lot of answers from a lot of different people. There were many others all giving their thoughts which were all completely different.



But the question remains to every single person. What did you change your mind about??


The first time Mr. Bolos asked that the thing that popped in my head was "I dunno." It's really hard to think about that kind of stuff. Most of the people who answered those questions did something related to the thing that they changed their mind about. But as a high school student learning tons of different subjects all at once its hard for me to pinpoint exactly what I want to think about. Sure, I've learned a lot of stuff, but out of all that material, what have I changed my mind about??

Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I've changed my mind about school. Before I thought that all the stuff we were learning was useless information that we just filed away to never use again. Instead, I've decided that everything we have ever learned can be taken out of that file and used to help us understand our lives better.

For example, I thought that knowing French was ridiculous. The only reason I took it was to impress my parents and have another thing to put on my college applications. But as I learned more and more I began to notice that my English class was becoming easier as well. I started to take the French grammar and use it to my advantage in English. That was extremely nice because I actually got grades in both those classes. Even today I catch myself thinking "Now how would I do this in French?"

But enough about me. Going back to the original question what have you changed your mind about???

Citizen Soldier

After discussing the video Citizen
Soldier in class today I replayed it several times. To
respond to Mr.O'Connor's blog I think that the target audience of the
video was people ages 17-25. These are people who are young, fit, and
probably have an education. Unlike the army, which is basically a full
time thing, the National Guard is only a once-a-weekend commitment
which gives you more time to focus on your studies. The "hero's" in the
video are young, white men that are portrayed in the revolutionary war,
World War II, and 9/11. There is one African-American woman and the
only man over the age of 40 is the higher ranking officer giving the woman a medal.

Besides the actual people in the video who knew that war was so glorious? Not
one person is showed dying and even when the British soldiers are being
shot at you don't see one person falling down. Isn't that beating
around the bush? Even during the D-Day scene, where in reality hundreds
of Americans lost their lives, not one person is killed. The National
Guard, in my opinion, do a very good job at hiding the bad things about
war and only showing the positive heroic sides of it. If war really
looked like what I saw in that video then I would defiantly sign up. No
blood, no dying, lots of people loving year, earning a medal or two,
then why not? However, you have to look at both sides of what the
National Guard is trying to show. Even if that means having to face the
fact that there is a war going on and that people are dying every
single day from it. I think that people have to really look at these
types of music videos and realize that not everything you see on screen
will really come true.

Jolly Holiday?

Are the holiday seasons all they're cracked up to be??



The whole point of the holidays is to send quality loving time with your family and friends but as far as I'm concerned the only thing I'm doing is worrying about school and, of course, what the heck I'm going to get each person for Chistmahanukwanzica. Seriously, the holidays have become so focused on material goods that we sometimes forget why we really celebrate them. Sure, presents are nice and its always fun seeing your sister open the 100 page princess coloring book you gave her, but whats the point of them?? I have no idea how Santa and Christianity fit in and don't get me started about Hanukkah. I know people who do not celebrate religious holidays in December but still find the time to hang up stockings or give each other presents. What gives? Is this what the holidays have come to? What about peace on earth and good will to men? How about we stop, look at ourselves, and slow down for once to actually spend time with our family and friends and enjoy each others company. That is what I think the holidays are about.

secret messages...PART 2

One of the themes in our AIS class is to look at things beyond the obvious. Well today I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 and they had this little segment about "secret messages". It goes as follows:
So basically this republican presidental candidate hopeful, Mike Huckabee, recently ran a Holiday themed campaign ad. As he was talking about whatever people talk about in those commercials you couldn't help but notice the bookshelf in the backround. Heres an example of whats in the ad:




Notice anything??? Doesn't it seem that the lighting on the bookshelf makes it resemble pretty close to...lets say....a cross?? Now, Huckabee defended himself be saying that the bookself is just a bookself and nothing else. Of course anyone whose has been in a library could say that because there is literally a bookself in behind this guy. However, if you were to look further into it you could determine the following. Since we are getting extremely close to Christmas (7 days for those keeping track) and its a Christian holiday don't you think that Huckabee could be trying to catch the attention of those Christian voters. I mean, the majority of voters (approximentally 82%) in American are Christian. In my opinion its just simple math: Christian voters+huge majority+cross=votes for Huckabee. Do you think this is just a "fluke" or did this guy running for president really ment to connect with all those potential voters in only thirty short, sweet seconds?




If you want to see the complete ad you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xn7uSHtkuA


Oh, and Happy Holidays.

Mitchell Report

As almost everyone has heard from the news about Senator George Mitchell's investagation into the use of steriods in Major League Baseball. Among the 89 or so accused in the report were some players who broke home run records and won World Series. However, what exactly is the punishment for all these players?





Take Marion Jones for an example.



She has been considered to be one of the fastest women on the planet and one of the best track and field female participants ever. Howver, in October of 2007 Marion admitted to taking steriods before the 2000 summer olympics where she won 5 medals. As a punishment, she had to forfeit all her medals, results, points and prizes that she won after September 1, 2000. That included those five Olympic medals. Besides having to pay back her prize money she also had to retire from track and field. The worst punishment was that besides Jones giving back her medals, her teammates who competed with her in the Olympic relays had to forfeit their medals as well.

What does this have to do with baseball??


Well, if Marion's punishment seemed harsh then I think all those who took steriods during their baseball careers should have to go through the exact same embarassing process as she did. That means that those people who won the World Series and had teammates taking steriods should have to give up their titles as well. Its not far that one person should have to pay back so much while others get away with nothing.