Hot Zone Post 6

I read pages 400-411.  Richard Preston does a wonderful job closing the novel with remarks very similar to a science fiction movie or book.  It ends with the statement that Ebola continues to hide in the forests and will come out of hiding again someday.  This is a cool cut-off statement that forces you to think into the future and the events that might occur there.  Before the ending of the story, there is another segment about Kitum Cave.  There is another journey to Kitum Cave seemingly separate from the main part of the novel.  Space suits are used, but not to the extent of a full operation.  The goal is to discover possible virus sources, not find the exact sources of the  virus.  They never exactly figure out the source of the virus, but they do find many potential sources.  Just like in the movie Sahara, there is a large outbreak of virus.  All the countries and organizations strive to contain it.  In the novel, the organizations are  USAMRIID and the US army.  In the movie, the main organization is WHO or World Heath Organization.  As a prevailing theme, viruses are hard to kill and wipe off the planet.  In essence, it is virtually impossible with today's laboratory sciences.  If the US would get rid of all Polio particles, they would be left with nothing for vaccines in the case of a biological war.  When viruses do poke their heads out of the closet, most nations work together to contain them for the good of humanity.                                                                    

Hot Zone Post 5

  I read pages 273-400.  This portion of the novel goes further into the nuking of the monkey facility in Reston, VA.  The monkey situation becomes a little dicey.  The operation in full is to put the monkeys to sleep with Ketamine, and then to kill them with concentrated doses of sedative.  The monkeys of course do not want to be trapped and killed, so many of them put up a fight.  Some of the monkeys awaken after being injected with Ketamine, and others simply resist being dominated.  Many of the monkeys are too sick to fight back however.  They would have ended up dying anyways.  One monkey even escapes from his cage and leads a chase on for about an hour.  It is hard for the scientists to catch him because they are in literally space suits.  This book actually makes me think of PETA a bunch, because of the caged animals.  PETA is always advocating animal freedom, and is criticizing capturing them.  Several years back, a group of activists actually broke into a mink farm designed to create mink coats.  They released hundreds and hundreds of minks in an effort to save them from their misery.  Unfortunately, most of the minks died or were killed soon after the incident, because they had no survival skills in winter.  Some of the workers in the monkey facility facility had desires to save the monkeys as well.  Unfortunately, not all good ideas in theory are good ideas in practice.  If the disease would have escaped the Reston facility, millions of civilians would have been at risk for the worst death known to the human race.

Hot Zone Post 4

I read pages 257-273.  I didn't read a ton this week because I was busy studying all week long.  These 20 or so pages go into Dan Dalgard's experiences in Africa dealing with the ebola virus.  Dan almost gets the virus from a dirty needle, but the patient actually has West Nile instead.  He gets lucky on this account.  We are lucky in this day and age that there has not been a major outbreak of flu.  This kind of relates to the novel in the sense of luck.  The human race is overdue for a flu outbreak.  On average, we have an outbreak every twenty years.  Although we had the swine flu recently, that can hardly be called an "outbreak".  With the swine flu, it was only moderately dangerous in rural areas of Mexico where there was minimal or poor health care.  In America, people have amazingly good health care compared to the rest of the world even though they don't like to admit it.  By setting up such good health care, we are essentially dooming ourselves for the next big "plague" or "flu".  We are upsetting the natural order of things by unnaturally keeping population from checking itself with disease.  Unfortunately, there is no way of ultimately no way of stopping the inevitable, but we should be warned first.  Epidemics usually originate in third world countries, and begin to work their ways around the world via airplanes, ships, and potentially even through animals.  Everything will be shut down: schools, jobs, airports, etc.  Hospitals may even be limited in their access to patients.  Sometime dire measures will be taken in the future.

Hot Zone Post 3

I read pages 207-257 this week.  There is a monkey house in VA where monkeys are dying of an unknown agent.  The agent is determined to be Ebola and is secluded and kept secret from the rest of the world.  The CDC and the army have a meeting on how to go about handling the situation.  The army wants to take over the operation while the CDC wants to ensure the thing gets taken care of carefully.  This is like the X-Files when the government tries to keep the aliens secret from the general populous. The information could cause a panic so it is just better that people know nothing of the situation.  The scary situation here is that everything is real and is fully possible of a global outbreak.  The virus turns the human victim into a host similarly to the prospects in the X-Files.  The human walks around for a couple of days passing the virus on without even knowing about it.  Then the person usually goes to a hospital or to their bed where they become very sick and where they require close medical attention.  At a certain point either the person gets better or they bleed out.  If they are becoming better, they will be affected by great anger surges.  If the later possibility occurs, the person will collapse mentally and physically.  They will go into spasms spattering blood on everything and everyone nearby.  Within hours of collapsing, the virus liquifies the host's organs making it difficult to examine for medical research and making it even harder to develop vaccines.  Just like the X-Files, the virus covers its tracks while continuing to survive in hosts.  Its natural host is still alive somewhere in the tropics of Africa unaware of what lives within it.  It is an animal, plant, or even possibly an insect.

The Hot Zone Blog 2

I continued reading The Hot Zone This week pages 112-207.  Richard Preston does an amazing job at captivating the reader because the stories within the novel are genuinely non-fiction.  The novel goes into more detail about the strains of filoviruses and the various ways to distinguish them from certain bacterium look-alikes.  While the story remains frightening, it begins to explore more into political and economical reasons to consider when dealing with a level 4 hot agent.  It reminds me of a fiction book such as Harry Potter very much because of the subject matter.  At this point in the novel scientists inspect monkeys infected with ebola not knowing it which brings dramatic irony into context making the reading all the more exciting.  Cells are cut open and examined under an electron microscope with blades so sharp that they would not see resistance going through one's finger.  This is also an exciting book for me because I plan on going into the science field or at least use science in medicine as my career.  Something about being able to predict a reaction is interesting to me and I am always curious about things which I cannot explain.  Anyway, scientists in the novel try to pinpoint the source of ebola, but are unable to do so.  This may be because there are multiple sources, or because the virus is hard to uncover in its natural habitat.  For the virus to ultimately be effective, it doesn't have to win, it only has to not lose.  It is good at hiding in places it is comfortable with.

Blog 1 on The Hot Zone

For my outside reading for quarter four, I will be reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston.  This is a nonfiction novel about the ebola viruses and its appearances in the history of the human race.  The novel as a whole is 411 pages long, but I only read pages 1-111 for this post.  So far, the novel has explored the origins of the filoviruses.  Filoviruses are a rare type of viruses that look like strings, instead of like spheres.  These viruses were discovered in the tropics and contain many diseases including strains of ebola and marburg disease.  The only reason a large epidemic has not occurred is that the outbreaks kill themselves out.  The real danger for humanity is if the filoviruses somehow turn airborne on a large scale.  This novel is one of the best pieces of writing that I have ever read.  It is the kind of book in which you don't want to stop reading.  The Hot Zone is also the most horrifying thing I have ever read.  It somehow brings reality to the utmost suffering and weakness to humanity.  That is one of the reasons that makes this book so great.  It is unnaturally, and yet realistically gruesome.  Humans naturally want to know more than they should be exposed to.  This book seems to bring up topics that are not for the weak minded.  I currently believe that I want to pursue a field in medicine for my career, which only seems to make the book more interesting.  Before I began reading this book, I did not have an appreciation for the power of nature.  Now I respect nature, but I also have a desire to work with it and to uncover its secrets.  For instance, all of the proteins in the ebola virus are not even known to man.

Post on Overcoming Odds

I read this article on overcoming odds.  It is about a climber who was guided to the summit of the tallest mountain in the world.  This man's name was Lincoln Hall.  When descending from the mountain, he was overcome by the low oxygen levels, and collapsed.  His guides tried to rescue him, but he was too heavy, and they almost killed themselves in the effort.  He was eventually found by an American climber.  He eventually completely recovered.  This is an example of the complex kindness of humanity.  This guy should have died, but he lived.  This is opposite to the case of Natasha Richardson.  She should have lived, but died of a fairly simple epidural hematoma.  She could have easily been saved.  Everyone wants national healthcare, but it will skip details.  The Americans will not accept the inability to sue for every mishap either.  I agree we do need healthcare improvements, but first of all we can't have a debt.  This is why I believe the glory days of the US of A are over.  McNamera, Melissa.  "Everest Survivor In 'Amazing Shape'."  CBS News.  30 May 2006.  22 March 2009.  < http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/30/world/main1665336.shtml?source=RSS&attr=World_1665336 >.

Post on Love

I read this article on the web.  The article discusses the death of a young soldier, Matthew Pollini, who died on his first tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed riding in a humvee.  He was in love with a woman before going to war, and actually married her four days before going to Iraq for his first term of service.  He had been planning on buying a house for his new wife soon after returning from Iraq.  Even as he boarded the plane, he was apparently still cracking jokes.  The article pertains particularly to me because my aunt's nephew died last week when his humvee hit a buried roadside bomb.  He had recently been married as well and had a one year old baby.  I think sometimes people get married before going to war so that they feel they have something to come back to.  Everything pertaining to war is very sad, but it is a dishonor to the deceased to speak out against their cause.  Soldiers are definitely heroes, and that can be said without advocating war.  Nierstedt, Jenna.  "Town mourns death of soldier."  boston.  24 January 2009.  The Boston Globe.  17 March 2009.  < http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/24/town_mourns_death_of_soldier/ >. 

2nd Research Source on Trail of Tears

The place where the 15, 000 Cherokee moved to is current day Oklahoma.  This occurred in 1838.  Originally, the Indians were given the right to stay in Georgia due to the treaty in 1791.  This treaty went out the window however when President Andrew Jackson was elected President of the US.  Jackson was a longtime supporter of Indian Removal.  The Indian republic and economy in Georgia was toppled and destroyed.  The Cherokees were forced to leave their land, livestock, burial grounds, and most of their belongings.

Foner, Eric.  "Trail of Tears."  SIRS Knowledge Source.  1 December 1991.  The Reader's Companion To American History.  15 March 2009.  < http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-16&artno=0000259924&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=trail%20of%20tears&title=Trail%20of%20Tears&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y >.

1 Research Source on Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears mainly refers to the time when the Cherokee Indians were forced off their native lands in Georgia and told to move west of the Mississippi River.  Upon arrival, they were promised $5,000,000.00.  The US Government never granted them this money however.  Nearly 15,000 Cherokees were detained in concentration camps and sent West.  By the time they crossed the Mississippi, 8,000 of them had perished.  Years before, the US government had forced other Indians West with the Indian Removal Act of 1830.  Nearly 100,000 Indians from the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes were forced West as well.

Rolo, Mark.  "Trail of Tears Was Trail of Betrayal."  SIRS Knowledge Source.  23 May 2008.   McClatchy Newspapers.  15 March 2009.  < http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-16&artno=0000277514&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=trail%20of%20tears&title=Trail%20of%20Tears%20Was%20Trail%20of%20Betrayal&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y >.

Post on War

I read this article about war on the internet.  This article actually takes place in the Russian civil towards the end of World War I.  Lenin was shipped to Russia to create disturbances in effect helping his own country's war efforts.  Lenin eventually took control of the capital Petrograd, and had wanted to destroy the Romonov family headed by Nicholas II.  After the moderates had been rooted out, Lenin sent the order to have the royal family executed.  The bolsheviks burned the bodies, tried to dissolve them in acid, and threw them down a flooded mine shaft.  This was an awful incident, and a thing of this kind should never happen again.  This is what happens in revolutions when people get out of control.  People rise to power who would other whys be common losers in a healthy society.  Revolution hardly ever accomplishes something good without a great price.  Besides, the new boss... same as the old boss saying always seems to hold true.  "Romonov's family Assasination in Ekaterinberg."  Ekaterinberg Travel.  2008.  12 March 2009.  < http://www.ekaterinburg.tv/Romanovs.htm >.

Post on Colonization

This is the article I read about colonization.  During the reign of King Leopold II, Belgium acquired the resource rich colony of the Belgian Congo.  King Leopold II made it seem as if he wanted to help the population escape from torture and discrimination.  He also emphasized his will to carry out the "White Man's Burden."  This meant he wanted to change native customs to those of Western Europe.  Although his initial intents may have somewhat contained truth, his actions changed direly when he saw the potential for wealth and expansion.  During the Belgian Congo years, slavery saw some of the most brutal treatment and exploitation in all of history.  Compare that to what people complain about now.  People say on average certain races make more than other races.  While this is true, complete fairness is not a practical factor of life.  We should be thankful for how far we've come in peope treatment and humanitarian efforts.  "King Leopold II and the Belgian Congo."  h2g2.  9 August 2009.  9 March 2009.  < http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4429064 >.

Post on Global Issue

 I read this article about Darfur on the web.  There is a genocide occurring there right now and it has been occurring there for  long time.  400,000 people have died and millions have been relocated and fled.  This is occurring in a region of Sudan and it is a crisis affecting the will of nations on a global scale.  The UN and other international organizations have considered arresting the president of Sudan, but the backlash and war consequences have been so great that no one has stepped up to significantly do anything.  This is a sad reality and something needs to be done.  I'm glad that Ashis Brahma came in and talked to Edina High School about the genocide because at least people know what is happening there right now.  I understand the US cannot be the policeman for the world and that only makes since.  It is time for the UN and other countries to try to make something happen.  It is not acceptable to have regular people fearing death every day.  It is unfortunate this came at a time when most economies are struggling.  Lederer, Edith.  "The Genocide in Darfur."  Save Darfur.  June 2008.  8 March 2009.  < http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/background >.

Post on Holidays

I read this article about Christmas on the web.  The information describes why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th at the end of the year.  The main reason for this is because people had to slaughter their cattle before the winter because they were unable to care for them during winter.  This was because they never had enough to feed the animals.  They hence were forced to eat the meat over the winter.  Because this would be a good time for feasts and meat, people had their celebrations during this time.  This transformed into Christmas and people celebrated Jesus' birth on December 25th.  We do not know exactly when Jesus was actually born though.  This is kind of like the fourth of July.  Many people celebrate it with fireworks even though they do not fully appreciate what they are celebrating.  For the 4th of july, that is not exactly when we achieved our independence  either.  "An Ancient Holiday."  History.  2008.  3 March 2009.  < http://www.history.com/content/christmas/the-real-story-of-christmas/an-ancient-holiday >.

Post on Bollywood

I read this article on the web about Bollywood.  The article is a review from the New York Times for a Bollywood film called Koi Mil... Gaya.  The film is about a special needs guy who is helped to become cool and smart by a blue alien.  The blue alien has special powers, and is looking for a way back to his mother-ship.  The special needs guy is helped by the alien, and then helps the alien find his ship.  It is basically an exact copy of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, except it is set in a musical with random song and dance.  Although Bride and Prejudice is not a Bollywood film, Koi Mil... Gaya is very similar to it in many different ways.  Both films are very much like musicals and both of them also involve love stories.  They both involve villains(bad guys) and there are many struggles in both films.  I actually saw Koi Mil... Gaya at one point in my life and I thought it was extremely cheesy mainly because it copied all the main ideas from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Secondly, I'm not one who is really into musicals.  I'm sure I would have different opinions if I grew up in India though.  Gates, Anita.  "FILM IN REVIEW; 'Koi . . . Mil Gaya'".  The New York Times.  28 February 2009.  28 February 2009.  < http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE4D81431F93BA3575BC0A9659C8B63 >.

Post on Culture

  I read this article from the internet.  The article pertains to Indian Culture and what it inspires its members to accomplish in life.  Being born into Indian culture is not better nor worse than American culture.  American culture just happens to be more technologically advanced.  In Indian culture, a girl is a liability and a boy is an asset.  Boys are able to help work in the fields, where daughters will require dowries to marry off.  Elders are a huge part of Indian culture, along with treating guests as deities.  Elders are respected not only out of culture tradition, but also out of pure love.  This is because the elders make the villages work.  The culture respects guests because they feel it is always their duty.  This can be seen through Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya.  Whenever Kenny comes to Ruku's village, Ruku always praises him and worships him.  Sometimes Kenny even tells Ruku to stop because he does not feel he deserves it.  Kenny feels he has done minimal to help the village in their times of suffering.  Although the American and Indian cultures are very different, the Indian culture seems much more loving and caring than the other one.  " India Culture."  Indian Child.  2008.  22 February 2009.  < http://www.indianchild.com/culture%20_1.htm >.

Post on Change

I recently read this article about change on the web.  I decided to pertain the change theme to an Obama related event.  When Obama won the presidential race for the United States of America, he left a vacant senate seat open in Illinois.  Governor Rod Blagojevich had the opportunity to appoint a person to fill Obama's place in the Senate.  Then shady business began happening.  As everyone knows, Blagojevich tried to take offers for the senate seat which Obama left empty.  Then he appointed Roland Burris, a fellow liberal, to the seat.  Burris was then found to have been planning on raising money and lying under oath.  Fellow democrats want him to resign because it is polluting their image.  I want to relate this to Nectar in a Sieve when all of the people with the tannery come in.  It seems good at first because wages rise for workers, but then prices also go up with pollution.  People think Obama is able to fix everything.  Even if he would have had a perfect transition, he could never have fixed everything.  The moral of the story is that change is not always good.  Brown, Mark.  "Transcript has Burris dancing around the truth."  17 February 2009.  21 February 2009.  < http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1434129,CST-NWS-brown17.article >.

Post on Hope

  I read this article recently.  It is about the effects of Hurricane Katrina.  It is estimated that hurricane Katrina caused $25,000,000,000 in damages in Louisiana alone.  Although many victims from Louisiana had insurance, many were also without it.  The victims without insurance have many expenses because most are not able to live in their homes.  Although the government gives some money to these people, it is not nearly enough for some.  Many are hoping that the government will come through and bail them out of their bills.  This relates to the book Nectar In A Sieve.  Nathan and Rukmani both wait for the rains to fill their fields.  Everything is out of their control and they must rely totally on hope to keep them sane.  The Katrina victims were more fortunate than Nathan and Rukmani however.  In America, the government steps in and helps those who are unfortunate.  In India, you die if you are not fortunate.  Kuti ended up dying because of starvation, and Rukmani almost died herself.  People definitely cry out for help more in America than in India.  Powell, Eileen.  "Katrina Victims Hope for Emergency Grants."  Firehouse.  14 June 2007.  17 February 2009.  < http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/Photo-Stories/Katrina-Victims-Hope-for-Emergency-Grants/45$44384 >.

Post On Religion

I read this article about religion.  The article is about the Spanish Inquisition.  The Spanish Inquisition was created in Spain in the 15th century to keep the population of Spain devoutly Roman Catholic.  The rulers at the time were Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, whom were embraced by the Pope and the church for their loyalty.  They took dire measures to enforce Catholicism.  Many people were burned, drawn and quartered, and beheaded for simply not being Catholic.  This makes you think about the freedom you have in America, on many levels.  We seem to complain about discrimination in the US, when in reality we have come a very long way.  For instance, we complain about the word God being mentioned in school.  Just compare that to being burned at the stake.  We take more for granted than we could ever comprehend.  In America, people complain about everything because they cannot compare their life to something worse.  This ignorance has gone as far as cutting funding for disease nonprofit organizations because certain diseases pertain mainly to certain racial groups.  We should be thankful we live in such an uncensored country and not constantly badger about how women should get more government money if they have more kids than they can support.  Kamen, Henry.  "Spanish Inquisition."  Wikipedia.  11 February 2009.  14 February 2009.  < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition>.

Post On Gender Roles

I read this article about gender roles recently.  The article is about the sport rugby.  Rugby is conventionally thought of as being a very manly sport.  A group of women have started playing rugby for San Jose State University.  They say that it is a sport equally fit for women and that they have plenty of fun playing it.  They always go home respecting the other team, and even men sometimes come to watch their games.  Even though this is in America where women have more rights than most countries, it still reminded me of Codi in Animal Dreams.  The stories are kind of opposite tales.  Codi, being a woman, could not find it in her to pass the boards and finally become a doctor.  The women on the Rugby however, found a way to rise above gender expectations and make their own sports team.  I think men would not make such a big deal of feminism if women would undertake more and complain less.  DeBolt, Daniel.  "Rugby women not afraid to get dirty." Spartan Daily.  29 April 2004.  10 February 2009< http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2004/04/29/Sports/Rugby.Women.Not.Afraid.To.Get.Dirty-1498903.shtml>.

I read this article about Mexican Discrimination in American education.  The struggle goes way back to when the US annexed Texas from Mexico in 1848.  Many Mexicans immigrated to the US when a call for a large sum of cheap labor was heard.  In 1930, almost all schools were still segregated.  Short education and cheap instructing separated Mexican students from American students.  Not until the 1960's did Mexicans achieve equality in education to Americans.  This reminded me of the book Nectar in a Sieve.  It kind of works backwards in my example.  The English saw demand for cheap labor in India.  Therefore they went and built a Tannery there so they could pay their workers very little money.  Even though the Indians helped the English, the English still saw themselves as superior.  One of Rukmani's sons was trying to steal a calfskin and the English ended up killing him because of it.  They did not give him any rights at all before they punished him.  "Fighting Discrimination in Mexican American Education." History Matters.  02 December 2000.  08 February 2009.  <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6584/>

Post on Overcoming Obstacle

I recently read this article online of a person overcoming a struggle.  British army captain Bernie Bambury bravely served six months in Iraq.  When he returned to Britain, he shattered his leg below the knee while sledding 80 km/hr on a tobogganing course.  Although his leg was still connected, he instructed the surgeon to amputate his leg in hopes that he might recover faster.  This reminded me of The Diving Bell And The Butterfly with Jean Dominique Bauby.  He had an incident which left him with locked-in syndrome.  Although his syndrome was very depressing, he learned to live with it.  He even started writing a book with his eyes.  He eventually even started to improve and make sounds.  Unfortunately, he came down with a case of pneumonia  and died soon after partial recovery looked possible.  Both of these stories tell us that anyone can overcome obstacles if they work at it.  "Army captain loses his leg on Cresta Run." Telegraph.  06 March 2008.  02 February 2009.  <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580733/Army-captain-loses-his-leg-on-Cresta-Run.html>

Natural Disaster Post

  I recently read this article on the web about Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.  The government gave 16.7 billion dollars to housing for some 800,00 citizens forced to live outside of their homes.  This is kind of like the monsoons in the India with the book we are currently reading.  The monsoons have the ability to destroy homes just as hurricanes do.  Hurricane Katrina also forced people to leave their homes and completely change their way of life.  In India, an entire year's crop could be destroyed solely by nature and force people to possibly go without food for days on end.  Both hurricanes in America and monsoons in India can have grave effects on the populations.  The problems with both of these disasters is that it is hard for people to prepare for them.  That is one of the main reasons that makes them both dangerous.  In America, people are at least warned about a hurricane before it strikes.  Many casualties come from warned citizens who refuse to flee their homes.  It is always hard to leave your life when you may not even be hurt.  "The First Year After Hurricane Katrina: What The Federal Government Did."  Homeland Security.  16 Oct. 2008.  FEMA.  30 Jan. 2009.  <http://www.dhs.gov/xfoia/archives/gc_1157649340100.shtm>

Class Activity

This post is about the class activity today. The activity was interesting, but not necessarily surprising. The card I held on to for the longest time was the outdoors card. I know that I would dislike to give up anything, but it would be awful to live inside your whole life. I think that boys got rid of their male cards faster than girls got rid of their female cards. The minority adjectives also were harder for people to give up than the majority adjectives. When you are the majority, you do not feel like the card describes you as much as if you were the minority. In conclusion, I think the activity is a good one for the classroom because it forces kids to think about other cultures and the effects they can have on each other.