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         My favorite essay was How to Pull an All -Nighter.  It was very interesting to read and the way it was laid out made me feel as though as I wasn't reading an essay.  I loved that it was funny without intending to be. The person who presented the essay also used humor when she described different aspects of the essay and that was fun also.  Now, if I ever have to "pull an all-nighter" I have some really good strategies to use.  I probably will not try standing on my head if I am tired though.  Getting caught doing jumping jacks or skipping rope at 3 am would be bad enough, but being found hurt or unconscious from attempting a head stand I'd rather not have happen.

State Government Shutdown

I suppose if Georgia's government shut down it would be extremely hard on my family, due to the fact that my husband, who is the bread winner in our family, works for the state.  I'm honestly not sure how it would affect his job, because he is a correctional officer, so I don't know if the state has some type of emergency personnel in place to handle situatuions like this.  If not I suppose it would be catastrophic for everyone if the correctional officers did not work due to government shut down.  I understand police officers would still work because they operate from county and city levels.  However, the budget crisis is already affecting our safety.  Due to over crowding and not enough money to adequately secure these buildings, prisoners are being released early from institutions in Georgia.  Hopefully, things will get better soon (2012:)) and we as a nation can begin a recovery.  We'll see.

CT Scans for Early Signs of Lung Cancer

If a person has private healthcare I would say yes, they should definitely be screened annually by being given a CT Scan.  Considering the waste in the healthcare community on people who don't have health insurance , I think its only fair.  Also, reserch suggests that providing these scans for high risk patients, such as smokers reduced deaths from lung cancer by 20%.  Furthermore, with new healthcare laws being implemented and no way to pay for them, keeping smokers alive, who have their OWN insurance,  means they can continue paying the astronomical taxes on cigarettes to offset the costs associated with healtcare reform...I'm being facetious.  In all seriousness, yes they should definitely be screened, they are paying for it. CT scans are very expensive.  If in the future we can find a cheaper, EFFECTIVE, way to screen for lung cancer(which kills more men and women every year than any other cancer) then the issue could come up again for debate.  If we as taxpayers can pay for HIV/AIDS clinics, which most of the time results from poor lifestyle choices, then yes insurance companies can pay for CT scans for their members, regardless of the reasons that the patient might be considered "high risk".

I think the internet is a wonderful tool for gathering information and ideas.  However, you need the ability to THINK to apply the information and ideas otherwise they are useless.  I have to agree with Nicholas Carr.  The internet is a good example of quantity vs. quality.  If one is able to differentiate this shouldn't be an issue.  When individuals just  pick up small blocks of information necessary for a report or paper or just normal curiousity they aren't seeing the entire picture, this could lead to misinformation and it seems very little actual learning would occur.  Reading a Wikipedia article on WWII does give near the in-depth knowledge that they would gain from checking out a few books from the library. The internet typically gives us enough information to reword and tap out a paper, wehereas by reading a couple of books on whatever subject, one is able to immerse their mind in that subject for a little while and hopefully kick off some thought processes that will allow you to retain some of the information. The internet is a very useful though, if I wanted to learn how to make Apple Pie, I wouldn't want to have to buy a thirty dollar cookbook, drive to the store and buy it, bring it back home, go get my ingredients, bring them back home, and finally set about making my pie.  Being able to simply "google" apple pie recipe is ridiculously easier.  But I haven't lost anything, I've actually saved time and money. 

The Wal-Mart Case

Even though I personally HATE Wal Mart, I would have to agree with the ruling in the recent lawsuit regarding sex discrimination bias.  I believe the article I read said that the class action suit would involve 1.6 million women who would recieve billions of dollars in damages.  That just seems ridiculous, I don't understand law, but how would anyone have time to prove that each one of those individuals was discriminated against in some way?  I did note that several of the women are considering individual lawsuits.  I would definitely support this.  Frivolous lawsuits are a huge problem in this country and I believe that a ruling in favor of these women would just fuel that fire.  Were all 1.6 million of them supposed to be promoted to manager?  That is just a ridiculous assumption.  One of the reasons Ido not shop at Wal Mart are the slow, rude and mostly female cashiers that work there.  Personally, if I were Wal Mart i would clean house and start over.  There are so many aspects of this that I just do not have time to get into.  I've been told  that when you are hired on at Wal Mart that you have to watch a video that threatens your termination for even mentioning the word "union".  I don't know if this is true or not, I've never worked there, but it is definitely believable.  So, with that in mind I do believe that the judges decision probably made the corporate giant just a little bit more untouchable.  If there are women who were truely discriminated against by Wal-Mart, I hope they do persue this, and I hope they win.

I'm Tired!

I can't seem to gather my thoughts enough to write on any particular topic this morning because I'm tired.  My husband is taking night classes, and I stay up until he gets home which is usually around 10:30.  After he eats dinner and we catch up on the news it's usually around 11:30.  This makes getting up for a 7:30 am class difficult and I guess it caught up with me today.  He also has to be at work at 6:00 am, so he gets up around 4:00.  He tries to be quiet, but he still wakes me up.  It seems like I'm just dozing back off when my alarm clock goes off and it is time to get up and start my day.  I also made the mistake of taking a class that doesn't end until 7:50 at night.  This makes for super long Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm much better in this class than that one.  I am really glad the summer semester is only eight weeks.  Suffice it to say I will definitely be taking a nap today!

Class Topic 14 June

My education prior to college was adequate or more than adequate to prepare me for the academic demands of my classes.  DISAGREE!  I actually dropped out of school when I was in ninth grade...the third time I was in ninth grade.  I was failing all my classes and though I tried, I could not catch up.  I spent the next few years thinking I was a moron.  I got married and had kids and spent the next few years at home taking care of them.  When my husband got out of the Navy I decided to join the Army and this required me to get my GED.  Without studying or practicing I passed the GED with outstanding marks, I think I even got a letter in the mail stating that if I wanted to atttend graduation ceremonies my attire would be paid for and I would receive a special braid or rope to wear.  After getteing my GED I had to take the ASVAB, this a test the military uses to decide if one may enter the military and if one can what jobs their elligible, I again scored in the 90th percentile.  I did absolutely nothing between high school and taking these tests.  So, I would lay the blame on the teachers I had.  I DID try in high school.  I wanted to graduate with my class.  Unfortunately, where I went to school the focus of students and faculty alike was not on academics, but on sports.  I can also say that I personally sat in classes in high school where the teachers gave football players A's in the class for sitting and grading papers for the teacher throughout the period.  This was done so that no low marks could hurt their chances of getting a football scholarship.  Now I'm in college, obviously, where I'm supposed to kind of float around on my own with little guidance.  However, the professors here make themselves available and are very approachable.  So if I did need help I would not be afraid to ask for guidance.  Three semesters in and I've still got my 4.0.  *fingers crossed*