Tuesday, 18. July 2006, 17:31:32
ethics, stem cell research, abortion, values
...
While reading the news online on BBC.com, I came across an article telling about how President Bush is planning to use his veto against the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which is awaiting the vote of the Senate (and has already been passed by the House of Representatives). The thing that most struck my interest (other than how the author chose to refer to Bush as "Mr. Bush" rather than "President") was that the article mentioned "prominent Republican Nancy Reagan" as a strong campaigner in favor of stem cell research, because her former president husband died recently of Alzheimer's Disease.
It makes me wonder if President (or Mr.) Bush would be reacting differently if he had a close family member or friend with such debilitating diseases as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.
It is very easy for me to say that I am completely in favor of stem cell research, but the problem with this issue is that, along with abortion, it creates a dilemma where one has to make a choice about whether or not that embryo (or fetus) is truly a human being. We discussed this at length in my Theater in Society class, and at the core is also deciding when that embryo or fetus becomes a human being, be it at conception, in the third trimester, or what have you.
The funny thing about these tough ethical issues is that they all come down to values. In the end, one must decide what they value, or how much value one places on certain things. With stem cell research, one must make a choice whether or not the potential life of that embryo has greater or lesser value than the scientific advances that could come from experimentation on it. The question that always begs to be asked is, "But what if that embryo would have turned out to be a great world leader?" More than likely, that may not come to pass (even moreso in abortion cases, where the life of the unwanted child would likely have not been very loving or supportive), and when one thinks about what stem cell research is aiming to achieve - that embryo may indeed be a "world leader" in helping to create a vaccine for the AIDS epidemic.
I commend President Bush for his integrity, for sticking up for what he believes in. However, I deplore the fact that it gives him tunnel vision when it comes to certain issues. Another that really upsets me is that the Bush administration refuses to give financial aid to build family planning clinics in places that have extreme over-population problems (like Africa or India), on the basis that the only form of protection he believes in is abstinence. Abstinence isn't something generally practiced between married couples in India who have up to 6 or 8 children so that they get at least one or two boys in the mix. Abstinence is not generally practiced in Africa where young girls whose parents have died of AIDS have no choice but to become prostitutes in order to put food into the mouths of their younger siblings.
But, to Bush, abstinence is something he apparently places higher value on than safer sex and smarter family planning in poorer countries.
Tuesday, 18. July 2006, 03:14:42
"I'm so Harry Potter ghetto right now..."
"There's no better profit than the one made from selling personalized stew thongs"
Yeah. No point to this post at all but to keep record of a couple crazy things that have come out of my mouth recently.
Sunday, 16. July 2006, 21:42:06
If anyone was noticing that I deleted a couple posts, it was because I want to firmly avoid writing about trivial emotional issues. After seeing it on a couple blogs - as well as seeing it deplored on several more - I made a decision to devote this blog to more intellectual pursuits. I sometimes have ideas swimming around my head that end up dissipating after awhile. After having taken a class in which I confronted a lot of these ideas head on and was forced to give them more than five minutes' contemplation, I discovered the satisfaction that comes from finding conviction in things through open discussion and thought. Thus, my decision to shift the focus of my blog.
Thanks to Lee in FL for his helpful comments on said deleted posts, as well as others!
Sunday, 16. July 2006, 15:19:09
I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, but I find it interesting how patriotism and support for the United States is often a typical "American" thing to do. However, what of citizens of Canada or Mexico? Or perhaps Paraguay or Brazil? All of these countries are, technically speaking, "American" as well. It is, after all, North, Central and South America. (i.e., the entire Western Hemisphere...) It is kind of ironic that people of the United States have adopted the term "American" to only refer to themselves....am I missing something here? I suppose it is rather difficult to fashion a different name to refer to people of the United States (United Statesians?)....but in light of the recent immigration issues, I just find it rather ironic. We are the United States of America, but we are also the United States OF America. Of North, Central and South America. Unfortunately, it seems that it would be more appropriate to be the United States and then America.
Saturday, 8. July 2006, 23:58:17
Thanks to the reply on my last couple of emotionally-charged posts; I am happy to note that I took your advice to heart (everything that was said, I did know deep down - I think I needed to hear someone else say it) and I have been feeling much better lately.
In other news, a friend of mine is a gun enthusiast. Don't get the wrong impression, he knows all the rules that go along with handling firearms and follows them step-by-step, he just thinks they're cool. He's taken a lot of friends out shooting in the past, just shooting targets and stuff (no animals - he's a vegeterian), and after being asked multiple times, I finally gave in and said I would try many things once. (not anything, but most things). So, we went out yesterday to a state park about an hour away where it is apparently legal to use guns as long as you're just shooting things like close-range targets and no animals or people. So we park the car, load up the gear we will be needing, and in a last-minute decision I grab my nalgene and sunglasses.
We walk for about a quarter mile and decide that where we stopped was as good as any, so we set up a few targets and he teaches me the basics of shooting a .22 revolver. That was simple enough, it's not as powerful as I was expecting and had the noise intensity of a firecracker. Then he brings out the big guns (literally...well, gun). It's this huge thing, a single shot pistol that's bigger than a normal-sized handgun. Like, between a revolver and a shotgun or something. Anyways, really powerful. He fires first, showing me how to stand correctly and hold it correctly. Then it's my turn. So I shoot it, and the force is way more powerful than I was expecting - and with the kick back, i hit myself in the head. I turn to him, and ask if I scraped myself at all. He's like..."Um, yeah, blood is dripping down your face" Apparently I had split my forehead open a little. It was a good thing I had brought my nalgene with me, since I would have had absolutely nothing which with to clean my face off with. So there I was, out in the middle of the woods with a brand new cut on my forehead and nothing to clean it with except the water in my nalgene and the paper targets that my friend had brought along.
We make our way back to the car to find some paper towels or something, but all he had in his car were his girlfriend's sanitary napkins. So, that's what I used to blot my forehead. (That's what they're actually for, in a way...so why not? And it's sanitary) So there I am, sitting there with blood all over my face and blotting it with a pad. This sort of thing would only happen to me.
Here's a picture of the damage, artistically shot by my roommate....
Friday, 30. June 2006, 17:56:00
Det er endelig fredag, og jeg drar hjem i dag! Vi har nettopp solgte huset vårt, og det er den første gang jeg skal hjem uten å bli i barndomshjemmet mitt. Vi bodde der i over 18 år! Det er litt trist å tenke på at jeg ikke skal gå gjennom den døra igjen, men det er også spennende å bo i et nytt sted! Det har ikke skjedd siden jeg var mindre enn 3 år gammel. Jeg gleder meg til å slappe av og sole meg og gå på tur i skogen som ikke er langt borte fra vårt nytt hus.
Jeg fant dette bildet på nettet i dag, og det gjorde meg veldig glad. Jeg håper dere som egentlig leser alt jeg skriver (som er sikkert ikke så interessant...med kanskje mange grammatiske feil...) finner bildet like gøy som meg.
Det minner meg at det fremdeles er ting i verden som er gode og enkle. I det siste har jeg diskutert så mange store ideer og problemer i verden, og noen ganger gjør det meg litt stresset. Men det er alltid sant at det er de enkle tingene som gjør livet søt, hvorvidt det er å leke med kattunger eller se på fuglene spise og hoppe rundt sammen, eller se på småbarn gjør alle de søte tingene småbarn gjør.
Har ingen av dere lest "Naiv Super" av Erlend Loe? Jeg tror jeg nettopp ble hovedpersonen, i et øyeblikk.
Wednesday, 28. June 2006, 04:22:19
Siden jeg begynte denne bloggen (dette blogget?? Jeg vet ikke om hvilken artikkel å bruke) for å bedre me når det gjelder å skrive (og, på en måte, å snakke) norsk, det skulle være bra å egentlig skrive noe ned på språket da. Forhåpentligvis kan noen som egentlig er norsk fortelle meg om alt går bra eller ikke med skrivningen min. Første, her er en liten historie om norsk og meg: jeg er student på St. Olaf College i Minnesota - en skole som identifisere seg med Norge og norsk kultur siden begynnelsen i 1800-tallet. Jeg ville ha tatt fransk, men det var altfor mange studenter i den klassen allerede. Jeg tenkte.."St. Olaf er norsk...ok...da tar jeg norsk." Og det var det. Siden den tiden har jeg bestemt meg å ta norsk som hovedfag (sammen med kunst) og tre år etter, her er jeg. Jeg har absolutt ingen ide hvordan jeg skal bruke språket etter at skolen er ferdig; jeg hadde tenkt meg å ta mastergrad i Norge (men i hva, vet jeg ikke), men ingenting er bestemt ennå. Som det står på hovedsiden min, har jeg 333 dager å bestemme hva jeg skal gjøre med livet mitt.
Wednesday, 28. June 2006, 04:13:06
As myself and the rest of my friends are on the brink of beginning our final year at COLLEGE, a lot of us are having momentary breakdowns relating to what our plans are after graduation. I know I have had one every so often since I declared my major, and even before. It's just so interesting that there is such a heavy emphasis on finding a job once our undergraduate studies are over. It's even more interesting that a lot of us who are looking into graduate school have a substantial amount of student loans already, and graduate school would more than likely double that amount.
When I was speaking with a new friend recently about this dilemma, what to do after graduation, he said (like others have definitely said to me before) that this is absolutely the time of my life to be doing whatever the heck I want, to live for the experiences. That I should pursue a master's degree in Norway. That I should move out to California with my boyfriend for a year. (That's a whole other dilemma in itself...and what I'd prefer to do right now, as much of our 2 1/2 year relationship has been spent long distance and graduate school in Norway without him isn't as appealing to me as it should be)
The unfortunate thing with my major is that it is so broad that if I want to do anything remotely academic in one field of the arts or another, graduate school is almost imperative for me - having taken only introductory courses in art, music, theater and dance. I see this as a negative thing right now, but more experienced adults are telling me that it's a good thing since I have so many choices. A secret part of me, that rational part that doesn't like to show itself more often than it has to, really agrees with them and knows that it's the right thing for me. And I have this feeling that it is all going to eventually fall into place and it'll make sense to me exactly why I am doing what I am doing right now...hopefully that feeling is right.
Monday, 26. June 2006, 23:52:26
It seems like this summer I am plagued by the "unfinished book" syndrome. I think I have set a record (at least for myself) for the number of books that I have begun but have yet to finish. I have thus far begun these books: Amtmannens Døtre, Gulliver's Travels, House of Leaves, I De Dage, The Yellow Wallpaper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Alice in Wonderland, "Goedel, Escher and Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid". That makes EIGHT books. Now, I don't intend to finish the last one - it is over 700 pages and includes a lot about mathematical theory that's way over my head. But the rest are certainly not beyond my reach...I feel as though I am cheating on each and every one by only nibbling a few pages at a time.
Monday, 26. June 2006, 20:25:21
So, here I am....finally joining this blog thing. Despite the fact that I am in the age bracket that supposedly knows more about technology than your average 50-year-old, it is nut until now that I have broken onto the blog scene that all the kids seem to be into these days. I always wondered what the deal was, posting your personal musings online for everyone to see - sort of the antithesis of what a diary should be - so I never really bought into it. However, maybe it would be good for me to write down my thoughts now and then to sort them out, and why not do it somewhere that everyone can read them and tell me whether or not I'm a psychopath?
At any rate, like a good college student, I am sitting in the library typing this out rather than reading my packet for my Theater in Society class on arts sponsorship. I can already see the rest of the summer unfolding before my eyes: hours spent writing my personal thoughts on a public forum that I could be spending doing something more enriching. At the very least I hope I'll be writing something enriching for whatever readers stumble up on this blog.
Speaking of enriching - and random - I spent last night at a party with a bunch of Kierkegaard scholars. I have never had that much intellectual stimulation at a bbq before. I came away from the experience believing that I need to watch more obscure art movies and film noir. It was quite random how it happened, actually: I was eating dinner in the cafeteria with a good book by myself, when these rather jovial Europeans sat in the booth next to me. After apologizing for laughing too much (is there ever really such a thing?), we began to chat - an hour and a half later, I was invited to the going-away party of one of them. So here I am.
WIDGETIZE