Judge DeSalvo

I agree with Judge DeSalvo's ruling in the case. If I were him, I would have also ruled in favor of Anna and granted her medical emancipation. I feel this way because I believe that nobody has the right to make someone give up a part of their body for someone else no matter what the results will be. It should be up to the donor (in this case Anna) and the donor alone. Nobody else should really have a say. Also, it couldn't have been easy for Anna knowing that her sister was going to die in the aftermath of her decision and the fact that she still went through with the case speaks volumes about how much she wanted that emancipation. I would definitely rule in her favor. As far as Campbell and Sara are concerned, I feel as though they both thought they were doing the right thing and I think that they both did well in their own respect. Sara was doing what she felt was her duty as a mother to Kate, but I feel as though she was wrong here because she was Anna's mother as well and she was trying to force something extremely serious and potentially dangerous on Anna that she clearly felt very strongly against doing. Campbell Alexander did a good job and I think he dealt with the case very well. He kept Anna on the right track and he tried his hardest to reach the right and just verdict for Anna which he eventually achieved. I believe that he was fighting on the right side of this battle and he did a great job at it.

Baby Reflection

I don't necessarily agree with the parents going in and altering the baby to make sure it can't have the disease, but I don't exactly disagree with it either. It has a lot of pros and cons. This baby could save the other child, and if nothing goes wrong then its beneficial to the new child as well because it can never get the disease either. On the other hand, if something goes wrong while the parents are trying to "design" the new child, this child could have many problems down the line or maybe even die in the process of being altered so he/she is immune  to the disease. My stance on it completely depends on how well the baby can actually be changed without causing any harm. This could either save two lives, or destroy two.

Holocaust Denial

If someone was talking to me and at some point they decided to tell me that the Holocaust was all a big lie, I would be astonished. First of all I would be thinking "Wow. Could this person be more of an idiot?" But if they gave me some little screwed up excuse for facts in order to cover up the fact that they're just hateful jerk, I'd be happy to engage in a "friendly" debate with them. They might say some things about the Jews doing it for attention or to attract the world's sympathy so that they could take over. I would simply show them the actual statistics of how many deaths there were (not limited to only Jews by the way), point them to some nice little youtube videos with footage inside the camps and piles upon piles of dead bodies strewn all over the ground. Hitler was obviously an evil and psycho dude. Just listen to some of the things he said in his speeches. He made it clear that he hated Jews and wanted to create a pure German race, I think that speaks volumes about the fact that the Nazi's designed a sadistic, well thought out plan to exterminate the Jewish race. I would show them some books and videos on the Holocaust survivors as well. But in all honesty, no facts would change their mind. If a person is truly that narrow, and that blinded by his or her hatred of Judaism, no amount of facts or heart wrenching images is going to make them change their minds. If someone is that stupid,  they're doomed to stay in their own little world of denial and idiocy forever.

Holocaust Reflection

The Holocaust is definitely one of if not the worst, events that the world has ever gone through. One can't help but wonder "what made Hitler so dead set against the Jewish people?" More likely than not, nobody will ever know. The only thing we know for sure is that he was a power hungry racist who blamed everyone else for the problems that his country had encountered. Also, why did nobody in Germany step up and say something? The citizens just stood by in silence and allowed a countless number of people to die. Innocent people that were no worse than you or I. How could they live with themselves for doing that? I know that a lot of them played innocent and claimed that they had no idea what was going on and for a very small amount, that may have been true but for the vast majority? I guarantee you that its a load of BS. What happened to the Jews and the other innocent minorities that were put into the camps or had their families slaughtered for no reason is horrible. It's almost like some really bad nightmare that the world will never be able to wake up from because it happened, and it's left a stain on the true morals of the world, at least in my opinion. It really makes me wonder how people could be so prejudiced and so tyrannical that they would go so far as to join, support, or ignore the Nazi party. I guess it's not surprising considering how much discrimination and hatred there is in the world today and the people now are far more open minded and accepting than they were during that time. Honestly, as much as I sincerely and completely hope that it doesn't, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened still today. I don't think any group of people deserves to be treated that way, but who knows, they could be and maybe the people are just keeping quiet again. Silence was just as much of a killer during the Holocaust as the Nazis were.

To Kill A Mockingbird parent experience

One time my mom and I were driving home from school and there were these two kids fighting off to the side of the road in someones back yard. One of the boys had to be 12 or 13 years old and the other was only around 7 or 8, so obviously that was not a fair fight in the least. The older kid was pretty much beating the snot out of the younger kid, so my mom pulled over and broke up the fight. She took the kids up to the door and told the parents what the older kid was doing. This showed me that my mom is a firm believer in not letting people get taken advantage of and that she has a real compassion for people and sticking up for them.

How do Scout's adventures relate to your neighborhood?

I would say that Scout's adventures could transfer to my neighborhood in the way that I'm quite sure there are little kids around me that do many of the same things and are just as curious to explore as Scout is. I was that way when I was little as well. Well for one it wouldn't be nearly as rural and country as it is in the book because   I live in a more suburban to urbanish type neighborhood and obviously it's a lot more modernized than the way it was when this book was written. The enthusiasm for adventure and the mischief that the kid's get into would remain the same. I probably would be friends with Scout when I was a kid because she loves to play around and have fun and explore mysterious places, but shes also got enough sense to not be too reckless and get into really serious trouble. I would probably friends with Jem and Dill as well because I like to be around people who are crazy and careless sometimes even though I probably wouldn't go along with all their crazy schemes. I'm sure we would do a lot of exploring, a lot of acting out scenes, and a lot of getting in trouble.

Instructions For Living a Life

"Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." -Mary Oliver


I think that if her intention with this quote is to give people an idea of how to live and appreciate life, these are some pretty good steps. Paying attention could mean stopping to smell the roses and taking the time to appreciate little things in life that would otherwise go unnoticed. If you pay careful attention to detail and to the things around you, you can find so many small, seemingly insignificant things to take pleasure in that it will, in turn, astonish you. Maybe you go on a hike for exercise in the woods behind your house and you pay more attention than usual and you notice a small, half covered path that you never saw there before. You take the path and discover a beautiful clearing with a nice little stream and a gorgeous, unobstructed view of the shimmering blue sky with its puffy white clouds floating along. If you hadn't paid close attention during your walk, you never would have found this astonishing place to which you can return again and again. Basically its saying that if you pay attention to all aspects of life and don't let yourself get all caught up in one or two things that stress you, you can find many things both big and small that can delight you and astonish you because they will leave you wondering how you never noticed such a wonderful thing before. This can go for people who come into your life as well. You can choose to turn a blind eye and see a persons appearance and assume things, or you can make an effort and pay attention and discover that that person is a really cool person and you could become super close friends. Pretty astonishing how paying attention can make a much more positive impact than waltzing around all willy nilly. So what are you waiting for? Go tell people about your new knowledge. Once you know such things, you need to tell about it. Tell the world! :D