Monday, December 9, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
The Challenge of Aging
"Choose one of the following topics to write a post about...'
I chose to do:
"Do you have a Will?
Why is it important to make a will?
What is a living will?
What information is available online to help your classmates create a will?
Write this post to inform your readers why a Will is important and what resources are available to them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you have a Will?"
When my husband and I were first married we didn't have a Will. We didn't really see the immediate need for one. It was just the two of us, we had just moved from San Diego, CA to Bremerton, WA. We lived on a military base, drove safely, didn't drink a lot or do drugs, had no major health issues, and neither of us had really experienced any MAJOR event that would make us push to do a Will immediately. Sure, we talked about doing one. But it was casual conversation - "Is there anything that you'd like to have go to a certain person after you die?" That kind of thing.
We didn't get serious about making a Will until after our 2nd child was born and we bought a house. Then we knew it was time to make a plan. Not for us, but for our KIDS. We didn't want them to get "caught in the crossfire" of the aftermath of our passing. We had seen that happen before with other family members and friends. People don't think straight after losing a loved one. Greed, fear, grief - all of these things cloud a persons mind and then they aren't able to see what really needs to be done. We wanted to make sure that our children (or significant other) were taken care of.
"Why is it important to make a Will?"
It's important to make a will so that the people (and things) that you leave behind are taken care of. Everyone should have one but ESPECIALLY people who have children, property, investments, etc. Without a will how are the people you leave behind supposed to know what you wanted done with your assets?
"What is a Living Will?"
A "Living Will" or otherwise known as an "Advance Directive" is a specific Will that is put into place in the event that the person holding the Will can no longer make decisions for themselves.
It can contain information like: a medical directive that states that no extra measures are to be taken in saving said person's life once their heart stops beating (no CPR, no breathing machines, etc).
Another form of a Living Will is one that assigns a Health Proxy or Power of Attorney in the event that the holder can no longer make decisions.
"What information is available online to help your classmates create a Will?"
There are a lot of websites that offer services in helping you make a Will. When we decided to do our will we used a website online. http://www.uslegalforms.com We got BOTH of our Wills through this site. It was very informative and thorough. We paid a little more to have them go over it and draw it up through all the right legal laws and channels. They then send you either a digital copy (or mail you a printed if you want) and then you take it to a Notary and sign it. BAM! You now have a legal Will.
A lot of lawyers will also offer a free consultation in helping you decide which types of Wills and programs are best for you and/or your family.
I chose to do:
"Do you have a Will?
Why is it important to make a will?
What is a living will?
What information is available online to help your classmates create a will?
Write this post to inform your readers why a Will is important and what resources are available to them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you have a Will?"
When my husband and I were first married we didn't have a Will. We didn't really see the immediate need for one. It was just the two of us, we had just moved from San Diego, CA to Bremerton, WA. We lived on a military base, drove safely, didn't drink a lot or do drugs, had no major health issues, and neither of us had really experienced any MAJOR event that would make us push to do a Will immediately. Sure, we talked about doing one. But it was casual conversation - "Is there anything that you'd like to have go to a certain person after you die?" That kind of thing.
We didn't get serious about making a Will until after our 2nd child was born and we bought a house. Then we knew it was time to make a plan. Not for us, but for our KIDS. We didn't want them to get "caught in the crossfire" of the aftermath of our passing. We had seen that happen before with other family members and friends. People don't think straight after losing a loved one. Greed, fear, grief - all of these things cloud a persons mind and then they aren't able to see what really needs to be done. We wanted to make sure that our children (or significant other) were taken care of.
"Why is it important to make a Will?"
It's important to make a will so that the people (and things) that you leave behind are taken care of. Everyone should have one but ESPECIALLY people who have children, property, investments, etc. Without a will how are the people you leave behind supposed to know what you wanted done with your assets?
"What is a Living Will?"
A "Living Will" or otherwise known as an "Advance Directive" is a specific Will that is put into place in the event that the person holding the Will can no longer make decisions for themselves.
It can contain information like: a medical directive that states that no extra measures are to be taken in saving said person's life once their heart stops beating (no CPR, no breathing machines, etc).
Another form of a Living Will is one that assigns a Health Proxy or Power of Attorney in the event that the holder can no longer make decisions.
"What information is available online to help your classmates create a Will?"
There are a lot of websites that offer services in helping you make a Will. When we decided to do our will we used a website online. http://www.uslegalforms.com We got BOTH of our Wills through this site. It was very informative and thorough. We paid a little more to have them go over it and draw it up through all the right legal laws and channels. They then send you either a digital copy (or mail you a printed if you want) and then you take it to a Notary and sign it. BAM! You now have a legal Will.
A lot of lawyers will also offer a free consultation in helping you decide which types of Wills and programs are best for you and/or your family.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The science of sex appeal or the miracle of life...
I watched the videos from:
In a photo test: 8 out of 10 people found the ones with more symmetrical faces to be more attractive.
The human body can recognize the scent of a relative. Evolutionary tactic to avoid mating with a relative.
Women are more choosier about their mate than men.
Women prefer more masculine looking men when they are ovulating and more feminine looking men when they are not. Women are more likely to be prone to promiscuity because of the biological need to find a good mate.
There are certain body shapes that are more attractive to the various sexes. Pictures of different people and body types, are shown to various participants and their eye movements are tracked to see where on the bodies they linger the most.
Do humans mate for life? When your body is designed to "stray", is mating for life a real thing? Humans are special because we form long-term bonds. A "monogamy hormone" called Vasopressin is produced in monogamous animals/people.
A woman's monthly cycle changes the sound of her voice and therefore changes her attractiveness to males.
Men were given a low dose (gas) of 'copulance' while being asked to rate photos of women, the results were pretty interesting - they found almost all the photos, even the notedly unattractive ones to be highly rated.
While searching for your desired partner, you may have to "settle" for someone "in your league".
Men tend to choose women with higher, sweeter voice and Women tend to chose men who have a deeper, stronger voice.
Bodies that have more movement (hip sway) in women and broader shoulders in men tend to be more attractive to the opposite sex.
There are different brain systems for love and for lust. You can lust after someone and not be in love with them and you can be in love with someone and never have had sex with them before.
Testosterone and Dopamine affect the way we go after a mate and how we act when we are with a mate.
Women tend to change their flirtation techniques (subconsciously) when they are in their ovulation cycle. Women who are ovulating and have a steady partner tend to flirt the most and show the most skin.
When a woman is ovulating certain male scents are more attractive than others.
Why do we choose the partner that we do? We tend to de-value ourselves and shoot "too high" in trying to find a mate. We end up settling to someone that is closer to what/who we are.
We walk differently when we know that we are being watched. We tend to "perform" more when we know that someone of the opposite sex is watching us.
Facial recognition software shows us that we tend to not be attracted to people that we are related to. Our brains use both smell and sight to help us avoid mating with people that might give us unhealthy offspring (incest awareness).
Environmental Health Videos
After going to the website listed above there were MORE than "8 short videos" that were posted. So, I just picked the 8 that appealed the most to me:
#1 - "Global Warming 101" talks about how the global temperature has risen over the last century by 1.2-1.4 degrees farenheit. We produce more toxic gasses and use more resources which all traps in the 'greenhouse gasses', which warms the Earth.
#2 - "Garbage Island" talks about an "island" that is in the Pacific ocean that is made up completely of TRASH. The estimate the size of this island to be double the size of Texas. This trash makes it way to this certain area of the ocean by the current patterns that are pulled from ALL over the world. The video talks about how "we are eating our own garbage" - plastic doesn't biodegrade (it only photodegrades, and not completely), smaller animals eat the tiny bits of plastic, larger animals eat those animals and then we eat the larger animals.
#3 - "Story of Stuff" talks about how "stuff moves through a system" - Extraction -> Production -> Distribution -> Consumption -> Disposal - All together these things are called "Materials Economy". It talks about how corporations have basically brainwashed society into believing that we NEED stuff. That, without STUFF we are worthless.
#4 - "The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See" - The man in this video shows us a 'chart' using a Punnett Square. Using this technique he shows us how our actions vs. various circumstances will affect our future.
#5 - "Population Growth" - talks about how quickly the world's human population grows and the affect it will have on the environment.
#6 - "The Story of Bottled Water" - talks about the cost involved in bottling water: the waste, the cost, the production, etc. 1/3 of all bottled water that's manufactured in the US is TAP water.
#7 - "The girl who silenced the world in 5 minutes" - is about a 12 year old girl who flys 5,000 miles to speak at a convention. She talks about how we need to help save the planet and conserve our resources to preserve the future for our children and our children's children.
#8 - "Saving Valentina" - is a video about a group of people that were out on a boat doing research on whales when they came across a humpback whale that had been almost fully entangled in a fisherman's net. The great whale was SO entangled (and had been for a long time) that she was exhausted and near death. The crew spent all day cutting the netting away from her and freeing her back into the ocean.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Reflection on "Bully" the movie
Last week in my Health 100 class we watched "Bully" the movie.
'Bully' is a documentary on the bullying in our schools. A film crew followed around a handful of school age students for an entire school year, documenting their experiences with bullying and interviewing their parents and school faulty on the subject.
This film was incredibly hard to watch. But it is one that I wish they would show to all 6th grade and up classes. Every parent and educator should see this film as well. It is truly an eye-opener!
You can view the film on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other sites.
"No but he has done other things since then..." -Alex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ja'meya: Was bullied and one day she snapped & brought her mom's gun on the school bus. She was charged with 22 counts of kidnappings and 22 counts of aggravated assault. 44 counts against her. 2 years in Psych ward, charges were dropped.
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Ty Field, Oklahoma: shot himself.
On the way to funeral service you hear his father tell his mother, "You can do it. I don't want to, either. You're right here, you're in my arms. We'll tuck him in one more time. Put him to bed. Tuck the baby in one more time..." Heart-wrenching.
One of Ty's best friends was a pal bearer.
"We're just a couple of simple people. You know, we're nobodies. I guarantee you if some politicians kid did this because he was getting picked on in a public school, you know, there'd would be a law tomorrow. There'd be changes made tomorrow. You know? We're nobody. But we love each other and we loved our son." Ty's dad.
Stand For The Silent - Tyler's family started this movement. They go and speak at events/schools about the effects of bullying and how to stop it.
"I will fight bullying forever because my son will be 11 years old FOREVER." Tyler's dad.
'Bully' is a documentary on the bullying in our schools. A film crew followed around a handful of school age students for an entire school year, documenting their experiences with bullying and interviewing their parents and school faulty on the subject.
This film was incredibly hard to watch. But it is one that I wish they would show to all 6th grade and up classes. Every parent and educator should see this film as well. It is truly an eye-opener!
You can view the film on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other sites.
There is also a website dedicated to the desire to end bullying. http://www.thebullyproject.com/
You can sign up for free and pledge to help end bullying! I did!
Here's the trailer for the movie:
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My reaction to the film - I took notes throughout it. A lot of these might not make sense unless you have seen the movie...
Oklahoma - Kelby. She was a cutter, and attempted suicide 3 times due to bullying because she is gay. I bet (hope) this school has changed a lot since this movie.
Kelby has a philosophy about the rain: "You know what my philosophy about rain is? You know when people can’t hold it anymore, they cry? The world is taking so much in, it can’t hold anymore. That’s why it rains. Because it’s letting go.”
Kelby wanted to stand up, not run and be the one that made the change. When she returned the next year to school everyone shunned her. She and her family decided then that it was time to move.
"It took me a while to realize that you can't change it all at once. It's going to take multiple people, at separate stage's of people's lives, talking and making a difference. It's not just gonna take me." - Kelby.
Kelby went on to petition to have the rating of the movie changed from R to PG-13 so that it could be shown at schools across the nation.
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Murray High School - Ty Long. He hung himself after being constantly bullied.
Found some interesting info on the back-story of Ty here: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/bulle/2012/03/bully_documentary_lee_hirsch_s_film_dangerously_oversimplifies_the_connection_between_bullying_and_suicide_.html
Vickie Reed, the school superintendent was giving a statement on "if the school was a 'haven' for bullies", her response "...is it a major overarching concern in our high school? No, it is not." I found this interesting because when she said "no, it is not" she was actually nodding her head up and down! Body language tells a LOT.
At a town hall meeting, Jeff Johnson asks, "If bartenders are responsible for a drunk that goes out and kills an innocent person, how come the bullies are not responsible for the death of this precious child?"
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Alex:
"How was your day?" -Alex's mom.
"Good, no one did anything to me today..." - Alex
"This high schooler was strangling me, but I think he was just messing around." -Alex
Alex's sister picks on him a LOT and his parents do nothing. They place a lot on his shoulders but don't seem to really help him.
After seeing some really bad things happen on Alex's bus ride home one day, the film crew decided to intervene and show the footage to Alex's parents and school staff.
One thing I didn't understand was why the bus driver just let it continue. The footage shows her looking up and seeing it all happen and she does nothing! Say something! Pull over! Call some parents! Be the Adult! It was SOOO frustrating!!
Alex's parents go into the school to talk to the principal. The Principal's solution was to move Alex to another bus.
"I've been on that route... They are just good as gold..." - Principal. (Of COURSE they are! The darn principal is on the bus! Duh, they are going to behave with that kind of authority figure on there!) At this point the principal pulls out photos of her own grand kids and starts to make it about HER.
"It seems to me that if it's a few kids the, you take away the few kids." - Alex's mom.
"You'll just have to trust me that we'll take care of that other child... I'm sorry about this, but we will take care of it." - Principal
"What did she say when we were leaving, 'we'll take care of it'? I'm pretty sure that's what she said in the fall. She politicianed us! She's not going to do anything." - Alex's mom.
Alex is brought into the assistant Principal's office after his parents came to see the school:
"How do you know that I haven't done anything? Did he do that again after I talked to him? I did talk to him, and he didn't do that again, did he?" -assistant principal."No but he has done other things since then..." -Alex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ja'meya: Was bullied and one day she snapped & brought her mom's gun on the school bus. She was charged with 22 counts of kidnappings and 22 counts of aggravated assault. 44 counts against her. 2 years in Psych ward, charges were dropped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ty Field, Oklahoma: shot himself.
On the way to funeral service you hear his father tell his mother, "You can do it. I don't want to, either. You're right here, you're in my arms. We'll tuck him in one more time. Put him to bed. Tuck the baby in one more time..." Heart-wrenching.
One of Ty's best friends was a pal bearer.
"We're just a couple of simple people. You know, we're nobodies. I guarantee you if some politicians kid did this because he was getting picked on in a public school, you know, there'd would be a law tomorrow. There'd be changes made tomorrow. You know? We're nobody. But we love each other and we loved our son." Ty's dad.
Stand For The Silent - Tyler's family started this movement. They go and speak at events/schools about the effects of bullying and how to stop it.
"I will fight bullying forever because my son will be 11 years old FOREVER." Tyler's dad.
A short documentary for Ty Smalley and the Stand for the Silent organization:
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I was bullied as a kid. I was called names and made fun of a LOT because I was heavier than them and poorer than them and just plain "different".
I was bullied by my PSYCHOLOGIST. I was 9, 10, 11, 12 years old. I was made to clean her office, bathroom, dog and whatever else she wanted me to when she didn't feel like 'counseling' me. My parents were divorced and she made my dad feel like it was "ok to do" because of financial/payment issues. It went on for a few years before I finally told my dad I didn't want to go there anymore.
Bullying need not be the 'epidemic' that it has become. I talk to my kids on a regular basis to find out how they are doing/ being treated in school and how they are treating others. My oldest son is special needs and I know how cruel kids can be.
Parents need to talk to their children so that their children know that they can talk to them and other adults. Educators and the like need to be educated in the signs and symptoms of depression and bullying.
Be aware of your surroundings and stand-up for the people around you!
Be the difference!
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