Our genes determine who we are. When we see two identical twins, they look the same (they might not as they get older) and they act the same. There are many facts which bound identical twins together. Like running fast, facial expressions and laughing the same way. Because they come from the same egg and share the same genes, literally clones.
What if one of the twins has cancer, what is the other one supposed to do? Wait for symptoms? The video has an example of Anna Marie (twin) being cancer. And demonstrates that the question should be “how can two people so alike, be so unalike?” The answer is, (as we see in the mice example) there are exactly the same genes in identical twins body, however some genes might stay on all the time in one twins body, and the other twin might have methyl groups which turn (control –tighten or loosen them-) off those genes.
Epigenome: The overall epigenetic state of a cell. I really liked the example in the video. I think it is pretty good and simple. When we think genome as the hardware of a computer, the epigenome would be a software which tells the computer how to work, when to work and how much. It’s the epigenome which tells our cells what to be, like hair, skin etc. All cells have the same genes but their epigenome silents the unneeded ones make them different. However this situation is not permanent. For example in the experiment with mices, when we feed pregnant mother mice with rich methyl groups, we see it changes the color, and it’s an indicator that shows us the gene (sick one) has turned off.
Scientists made a research about the identical twins’ genes. As a result it shows us younger twins are almost like clones but the older ones are change epigenetically. And what we eat can affect the next generations (in a good or bad way). Cells can become abnormal and trigger diseases.
Few misplaced tags can kill a person. Cancer is a result of broken genes. And it’s a lot harder to fix damaged genes than to rearrange epigenetic tags. However we already have some drugs that we can use. Epigenetic Therapy; the idea of epigenetic therapy is to stay away from killing the cell. What scientists are trying to do is to change the instructions of cancer cells, reminding the cell that it shouldn’t be behaving that way by reactivating the genes. It seems like it is a good therapy, patients are happy. At the end of the video it indicates that we have a responsibility for our epigenome which can affect our children. We are not necessarily stuck with it, we can alter this.
The french fry was "almost sacrosanct for me," wrote Mc Donald’s founder Ray Kroc in his autobiography, "its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously"(pg 114). The fries are an integral part of Mc Donald’s. At first Mc Donald’s was just producing familiar traditional fries, which were delicious and healthier. But after a while the company started to expand and the bigger Mc Donald’s got, the more supplies it needed. This is the reason why the company began to sell Simplot’s frozen French fries (1966). Even if they were not as good as the traditional familiar fries, they were much cheaper and easier to serve. Most American people didn’t even notice the difference. The fries still tasted the same — maybe even better.
Why did Mc Donald’s fries taste so good? Schlosser argues that the reason was the cooking oil and I agree, because the other fast food chains were using the same potatoes and almost the same fryers in their kitchens. But their fries didn’t taste the same. For a long time Mc Donald’s cooked its french fries in a mixture of seven percent cottonseed oil and ninety-three percent beef tallow (pg 120). This is the reason why its flavor was unique. However it contained too much cholesterol. In 1990, Mc Donald’s changed their mixture and started to use pure vegetable oil. There was only one problem left: how to make fries taste the same without cooking them in tallow. So the answer was devised quickly. “Natural flavor” this unknown, mysterious ingredient is now commonly used by all fast food chains. It’s the reason why fast food is delicious.
Health experts have recently suggested that Mc Donald’s fries are the healthiest. But in my opinion fries are somewhat unhealthy and they contain too much fat. So I think the value is all it matters when buying fries. Think about the cost, ingredients and the amount of fries. I think Burger King’s fries are the best and the most valuable ones. They are cheap and they are suitable for vegetarians. Burger King has removed the meat flavor from its natural flavoring a while ago. Its fries contain less fat than most of the other fast food chains’ fries.
I decided to go three fast food chains’ local shops and compare their fries. In a day I went to Wendy’s, Mc Donald’s and Burger King. Before I left my apartment to go get some fries I’ve done a short research on the internet about these three companies’ fries and how many calories each of the fries have. When comparing the fries my criteria were the amount of fat (calories), saltiness, heath serve, speedy serve, cost and amount of fries.
My first destination was Wendy’s. I ordered small fries. Wendy’s fries had a natural baked potato taste. They tasted just liked the ones I used to make at home. The fries were not really salty but it was okay. Serving was fast enough. It took a little more than two minutes to get my fries and they were hot. So Wendy’s serves fast and its fries are tasty, hot and somewhat salty. When it comes to the question of “Should Wendy’s be our first choice when buying fries?” most of us will readily agree that yes we should, the fries taste good and nothing is wrong with them. However after taking a close look at the ingredients and how many calories the fries have. One must say Wendy’s fries are not a good choice. Wendy’s small french fries have 440 calories. This is 80 calories more than Burger King’s medium french fries have. And there were around fifteen fries which cost $1.29. The cost per fry is more expensive than Burger King. On the other hand since Wendy’s use vegetable oil, most vegetarians tend to believe that the fries don’t contain any meat product and eatable for vegetarians. But Wendy’s fries are fried in the same fryer where chickens are fried. Regular fries become non vegetarian due to cross contamination.
My next destination was Mc Donald’s. There was a line when I got there. My order of small french fries were ready in about two to three minutes (except extra couple minutes on the line). The fries were pretty hot. I think there are only couple facts that explain why people like Mc Donald’s fries. The fries are hot and usually Mc Donald’s serves fast. Also Mc Donald’s small french fries have 230 calories which is not bad. But I have more reasons to dislike Mc Donald’s fries. First of all they are too salty and even the fries don’t contain too much fat; they always taste like straight oil. The fries cost only a $1.00, but since Mc Donald’s never serves its customers more than ten or twelve fries per serving (small).So the cost per one fry is almost the same as Wendy’s. Mc Donald’s fries are more expensive than Burger King’s. Many people contend that Mc Donald’s has been using pure vegetable oil to fry their potatoes. I agree it does use vegetable oil, but the natural flavor in Mc Donald’s french fries is form an animal source. So Mc Donald’s fries are not a good choice for vegetarians and for those who want to stay healthy.
My last stop was Burger King. I walked in and ordered my small french fries. Then I was holding my hot french fries in two minutes. The saltiness was really good and the fries were delicious. Burger King’s small french fries contain only 230 calories. Also, not like most of the other fast food chains’ fries, Burger King’s fries don’t have natural flavoring derived from meat product and Burger King uses only vegetable oil to fry its potatoes. Therefore the fries are completely suitable for vegetarians. An order of small french fries cost $1.00. It comes with 14-17 fries. The cost per fry is much cheaper than Mc Donald’s and Wendy’s. These are some of my reasons to like Burger King’s french fries.
Wendy’s french fries are unhealthy and they have too much fat. Mc Donald’s fries are too salty. Therefore it’s hard to eat them and they don’t even taste good. At the end of the day, I believe that Burger King’s fries won the competition. Burger King’s fries are the best ones. They taste really good. They don’t contain too much fat. And they are cheap. “The rise and fall of corporate empires — of soft drink companies, snack food companies, and fast food chains — is frequently determined by how their products taste,” says Schlosser (pg 123). And I totally agree. I don’t know about Mc Donald’s or Wendy’s but I think during the next few decades we will be seeing lots of Burger King Stores around.
“I grew up to study the brain,” says Dr.Jill Bolte Taylor. “Because I have a brother who has been diagnosed with a brain disorder schizophrenia.” This is the reason why she dedicated her career to research severe mental illnesses. And she moved to Boston from Indiana, started to work in Harvard, Department of Psychiatry. At that time they were researching the biological differences between the brains of individuals. She was one of the researchers but on the other hand she used to travel on weekends as an advocate of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
December 10, 1996 she woke up to discover that she had a brain disorder of her own. A blood vessel exploded in the left half of her brain. Then Dr. Jill talks about the different characteristics in the left and right hemispheres. Like she states that our right hemisphere is all about present moment. It thinks and learns Information, in the form of energy, streams simultaneously through all of our sensor systems. However our left hemisphere is a very different place. It thinks linearly and methodically. It thinks in language and also it’s that ongoing brain chatter that connects us and our internal world to our external world.
Dr.Jill woke up with a pain behind her left eye. She didn’t care about it; at first she thought it will get better. Then she started her daily exercise, and realizes that she is losing her consciousness. She tried to go to the shower but she lost her balance. She wasn’t able to identify the boundaries of her body, she felt enormous and expansive. Then her left hemisphere came back online so she realized that something was wrong. Her right hand got paralyzed. She figured that she was having a stroke. Somehow she found her business card and called the office. Even the guy on the phone was not able to understand her (also she wasn’t able to understand him), he figured that something was wrong with Dr.Jill.
She says when I woke up I was shocked to discover that I was still alive. And she also says she found nirvana, she thought there was no way to get back inside of her tiny little body. I was really amazed during the whole video. The way she describes her feelings is perfect and makes you feel, imagine her whole experience. This quote took my attention “But then I realized, but I’m still alive! I’m still alive, and I have found Nirvana. And if I have found Nirvana and I’m still alive, then everyone who is alive can find nirvana.” It took her eight years to fully recover. But now she is on stages and telling people her breath-taking story from a scientist’s perspective.
We have power to choose who and how we want to be in the world (right hemisphere: force power of the universe, left hemisphere: an individual, a solid).At the end of the video she asks which one do you choose? I choose to be a force power of the universe. I know that I’m a part of those huge flooding energy particles. And it makes me feel good when I think about it. I’m not alone; I’m a part of this whole cosmic universe. However there are billions of fools out there who choose to be an individual (all the time). In my opinion those are the ones who got trapped within this capitalist world. Their numbers are getting greater every single day. They are helpless. Those are the ones who forget the reason of life. We are a fluke of the universe we are here because our ancestors tried really hard and they survived. And the reason of why we live is “to be happy”. (I mean to live, love, laugh, get drunk, have sex, get married, procreate etc.) Not to own this whole world or get as rich as we can by working for hours and taking benefit of this capitalist system. I think they are all meaningless if we really think about what Dr.Jill Bolte Taylor has lived and what she is telling us. “I believe that more time we spend choosing to run deep inner-peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world, and more peaceful our planet will be” Dr.Jill Bolte Taylor.
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The Story of stuff is a great video. It tells public about extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal which is called materials economy. The main purpose of the video is to prove and show people that the system is not right. It is interacting with environment, economy, societies and cultures. As it says in the video some things are just missing, like people, government, corporation. Also there is a question in my mind, why does government work for corporation instead of people (public)?
Since the first item of materials economy is extraction I’ll start with extraction. We are using too much stuff that we don’t even need. Yes indeed, because most of the people who live on earth are stupid or ignorant. Also it freaked me out when I heard that in the last three decades along 1/3 of the world’s natural resources has been consumed. 1/3 is a large amount, I’m thinking of if we keep consuming like this probably my grandchild won’t be able to live long to have his/her own kid.(1/3 natural resources in last three decades, so we have 2/3 now, which means we have 60 years left)
Production means, mix of bunch of toxics with our resources and produce more toxic, chemical products. We use those products in our homes, works places and schools. We also take those toxics in our bodies too. On the other hand during the extraction process people who live in those agricultural areas have to move to a city after their homeland gets messed up. Once they are in a city they have to work to survive. These are the people who are in danger of toxics, because most of them work in factories which produce chemical products. So it’s not just resources that are wasted along the system, people are too.
Distribution; selling all the toxic junky products as quickly as possible. Yes this is true, and these stuffs are all over the markets, they are everywhere. Plus, they are so cheap, maybe more than they are supposed to be. Because of externalized costs. Externalized costs mean a negative effect if production or consumption the cost of which is not paid for by the producer but is imposed on others. I really liked her example about this, $4.99 Radio Shack example; she clearly states that she didn’t pay for the radio. People paid with their natural resources, clean air. Kids in Congo paid with their future.
The golden process (as she calls it) consumption. American people become consumers during past decades. They shop a lot, and keep materials flowing. I think there is an important point, if we consume a lot and keep materials flowing, this will have an effect on extraction, production and distribution too. Which means more and more people will lose their homes, future and the faster we consume the faster our natural resources run out. On the other hand government and corporation work together to make people produce and consume more. They say the ultimate purpose of American economy is to produce more consumer goods. There are two facts that she states in her video. Planned Obsolescence; basically designed for the dump and Perceived Obsolescence; convents us to throw away our useful stuff. Her ideas and examples are good and they make sense. However I don’t agree with her example about computer monitor. Because the fact that CRT monitors (big, fat screen) are heavier, takes more space on desk, has a poor resolution and performance. Also most importantly a CRT uses more energy and damage your eyes more than a flat screen monitor. In my opinion except this example her thoughts are almost perfect. It’s scary to know that we each see more advertisements in a year than people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime. As a result, United States has more stuff than ever before, but the national happiness is declining. So there is no success, if we think about why we live? I think almost everyone lives to be happy.
The last part is disposal; an average person in United States makes 4.5 lbs of garbage a day. This garbage is dumped in a land field or burned and dumped in a land field. Either way this pollutes the water, land and it changes the climate, also produces new and worse toxics.
In the past too many societies has collapsed. In the past decade or two, archeologists have shown us that there were some environmental problems behind many of these collapses. Jared Diamond says that there are some societies which have no sign of collapsing and they have been developing for thousands of years. (Such as Japan, Java, Tonga etc.) So there are other societies(which has already collapsed or close to collapse) at one point they are more fragile than the other societies. The question is how can we understand which ones are more fragile and what makes them more fragile.
In my opinion Diamond’s topic is how and what we can learn from the past so we can avoid collapsing in the way that so many societies have. It is a really complex question as we can see there are multiple factors behind this. He says if anyone tells you there is one fact behind this subject, you can tell that they are an idiot, which is so true; it is really idiotic to think about just one factor. There is a 5 point frame work as an answer which Diamond has come up with. I think these answers are more likely to answer the question of why those societies have collapsed.
He gives an example of Vikings going to Greenland (AD 984) and its collapse (1450) for looking for human impacts on environment, people destroy resources. This is his first point. Another one is the climate change, which can be a treat but it’s not fatal. Than relations with friendly societies comes next. It is possible that the society can collapse if a friendly support gets pulled away. Relations with hostile societies are really important; if you have bad relations it’s for sure that it will affect the society somehow. The last point is cultural, political and economical problems. These factors can make it more difficult for societies to solve their problems.
Today’s society is not different than the pasts. Today’s societies are facing the same problems (as an example Montana). The main problems are the same and Diamond’s 5 point frame fits them well. There are some differences which are dependable on time and zone facts and they just change the minor factors which cause the same problems.
Also there are two general factors that we can see during many of collapses. One is rapidity of collapse and the other one is these ones are mostly the fragile societies for subtle environmental reasons. But why the societies failed to succeed solving the problems? The answers are actually clear; Decisions made in those societies were good for the elites in the short-term but bad for the society in long-term (for example: Greenland Norse, Today’s America).Which can be called as conflict of interests. Also it was difficult to make food decisions when there is a conflict involving some values that are good in many circumstances but are poor in other circumstances. Diamond uses Australia being under the British identity for a long time and how it was hard to change after their commitment to British identity.
Finally he says there are 12 problems such as water, soil, toxics, population etc. And we need to solve all of them. If we even solve 11 of them and don’t solve just one of them, we are in trouble. I think with this Diamond shows us how important every each one of those problems are. In his opinion there is going to be a resolution within few decades for sure. There is going to be two forms: pleasant way, we realize and resolve these non-sustainable time fuses, unpleasant way, a war, disease or starvation might put an end to this. I believe that if we made the problems we can solve them, if we see it in time we can prevent it.
Golf is a really popular worldwide game. Today’s world’s richest athlete is a golf player. Tiger Woods makes nearly $112 million per year. When I was a child, I used to think that golf is all about hitting a white little ball with a stick and trying to make it into a hole. I would never thought about someone could make millions by just putting those balls in holes. I have no idea, what are those unemployed 10 million people doing these days. I think they should try to play golf. As it seems it’s not hard to make millions of dollars by poking a little ball with a stick in this country. Maybe one of them can become the next world’s richest athlete if he or she rolls the ball hard enough.
Everyone has a budget it doesn’t matter if it is low or high. Nobody wants to waste money. I don’t mean saving money; my topic is not to waste money. The good way to start checking your budget and money you spend is to find the best cell phone and the best plan for you. The decision is not all about money it’s about finding the right phone and plan which will meet your satisfaction. People want more than just talking on the phone at the present day and this is why communication companies keep developing more phones and applications.
There is a company called “MetroPCS”. They offer you the best phones and plans. Actually MetroPCS offers more than you want, to make sure that you are satisfied with your phone. The good thing about MetroPCS is it is a local company, which means you won’t be making a contribution to globalization. Another good thing is that MetroPCS does not require contracts, so you don’t need to worry about signing anything. This is really important for people who don’t have social security number, for example: international students. I am an international student and I know people who don’t have social security number always have to deal with certain problems when signing contracts, so no contracts no worries.
MetroPCS has many options for different types of people. The price range is between $29.00-$349.00.My topic is not to waste money as I mentioned before. $349.00 sounds like a waste of money and for $29.00 I don’t think you can get something good. My choice is Samsung Freeform. It costs $79.00 and it is the best phone for texting, talking, checking e-mails and web browsing. It has a built-in camera which you can use to take pictures and send it to your friends by using multimedia messaging. It has a full QWERTY keyboard which allows you to type really fast. It is really useful when you go online via phone and text your friends. With your Samsung Freeform you can also transfer files via Bluetooth and use your Bluetooth for headsets. Also you can listen to your favorite songs. Samsung Freeform can play mp3 songs and it lets you use them as your ringtone too. So you don’t have to pay to get a new ringtone if you have it as an mp3 file on your computer. Samsung Freeform comes with a USB cable, this way it is so easy to connect it to computer and transfer the songs you want to listen or make your new ring tone.
MetroPCS has 4 different plan choices .They are all unlimited plans, they cost between $40.00 -$60.00 a month. The $40.00 plan is the best for your budget. With this $40.00 you get unlimited texting, unlimited talk and unlimited web access. Unlimited texting is necessary for me, everyone texts these days and you never know how many texts you will get or how many texts you will send during a month, with this package you don’t need to worry about it. When you get the $40.00 package from MeroPCS you won’t have limits at all. Unlimited talk is nationwide and you can talk all day long if you want. Unlimited web access is another great deal which also comes with $40.00 package. Since we are living in 21st century, everybody needs to go online.
There are some other companies too. Let’s take a look at AT&T and Verizon. They are well-known companies also they are experienced in communication sector. AT&T and Verizon Wireless offer month to month plans which don’t make you sign a contract. At first this may seem like they can be even better than MetroPCS. However they make you waste your money and time. Verizon charges you more than $80.00 for unlimited texting and talking plan which is two times more expensive than MetroPCS. Actually they charge you even more when you pick a month to month plan. They always keep their phones list up to date but the cheapest phone is more than $120.00 which means in my opinion they are totally a waste of money. Last year when I was in Chicago, I used AT&T. They are better than Verizon they offer you exact the same services for less money. When I bought my pre-paid phone from AT&T (this is the only way to do it, if you don’t have a Social Security Number) it cost me $80.00-$90.00 which is a good price. And my phone had almost the same features with my MetroPCS Samsung Freeform. I thought it was a good deal until I came here in Los Angeles and learned about MetroPCS. I used to pay $60.00 a month for the same features (unlimited texting and unlimited talking) when I was using AT&T and they didn’t even have unlimited web. So since I spent lots of money for my AT&T service and I also spent quite a few months with them, I think it was a waste of time and money.
Samsung Freeform with $40.00 package gives you everything you want. The cost of the phone is $79.00(+tax) and the plan costs $40.00. So it is $119.00 for a new start and to chose the best. To start a new plan and stop wasting your money, I think it is a good deal. Since there is no contract after first month you will pay the $40.00 whenever. It is just like pay as you go, therefore no late fees or charges. Also $40.00 is $40.00 there is no hidden charge or tax; everything is included in the plan. Another good part of your plan is that you don’t need to change your plan to get more service and use more MetroPCS provided applications on your Samsung Freeform. The only thing you need to do is to put some more money in your account, for example; your parents are living outside of the United States if you put $5.00 more in your account you can get unlimited international texting and the next month if you don’t want it just put $40.00 again and keep it this way.
A good combination of your phone and plan gives you good results. Good results can save you from wasting your money; for example if you buy a MetroPCS phone and get one of their plans you will get good results which is better than wasting your money on other companies. But for the best result you need a Samsung Freeform and $40.00 unlimited plan. The best phone and the best plan will make you stop wasting money; on the other hand you will be saving a lot of money. Samsung Freeform and $40.00 unlimited plan is an opportunity to increase budget and the best way to stop wasting and start saving your money. Stay with local and pay less for the quality, as long as you are with MetroPCS you will be one step in front of the others.
