The HPV Vaccine: What's Being Hidden From You

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/HPV_vaccine.pdf

The breakthrough GARDASIL HPV vaccine has been touted as a wide success... but what do we really know about this expensive vaccine?

It claims to prevent cervical cancer by preventing infections known to be linked. Of course, there are already moral concerns: such infectious diseases are spread through sexual activity; why are we vaccinating 11 year old girls against this, when the vaccine has no proven long-term effects?

Also, there are more than 90 known strains of HPV; can this one vaccine really combat all of them? As it turns out, it only prevents four. These other strains can also cause cervical cancer; so really, how effective can it be against cervical cancer? The testing process used only tested for immune response; not cervical cancer. They are making claims they cannot back up.

What I find most concerning is that school boards are declining to provide parents with this sort of pertinent information. The link at the top of this entry is a warning pamphlet that was not allowed to be distributed in schools without given reason. All pamphlets I personally have seen appear to be biased in favour of the vaccine; I had questions about its long-term effects and side effects that were not addressed.

Did you know that there have been 21 deaths linked to this very vaccine? And countless other reports of adverse side effects and hospitalizations?

In this case and in any other areas, I urge you to ensure that you are informed on ALL aspects of an issue. This is scary; we are not being voluntarily informed of what they want to put into our bodies. Please read the article that alterted me on this issue:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121208.html

The list at the bottom of the article gives a thorough overview of the main concerns.

Bus Strike

All of Ottawa's OC Transpo workers just went on strike.

Let me give you some context:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in the winter, in the snow and ice, when traffic is already the stuff of nightmares. Christmas shopping season.

Oh. Joy.

The main issue in this strike is scheduling. Under the planned budget, the city believes it can save a lot of money if it controls driver's scheduling. Previously, the drivers have been allowed the priviledge of scheduling themselves, but there were two main issues with this system.

The first is that it was possible for a driver to work for less than eight hours a day while still recieving the full day's pay. I don't understand how this happened, so I'm not going to go on and pretend I do. However, this was a fairly common situation.

The second issue is that some drivers were scheduled shifts with as little as four hours in between. This is problematic if the first shift ended at two in the morning, and they were back behind the wheel by six. In fact, this becomes a safety concern; how alert can a driver in this circumstance be? Again, I'm not understanding how this happened...

Whatever the case, there does not appear to be any ending in sight. I don't know the figure of how many people relied on OC Transpo, but I can guarantee that it was high.

I am not a regular bus traveler, but now I don't even have the option, and it has affected me. traffic is terrible. Yesterday it took me three and a half hours to get to school; usually I can get there in 45 minutes.

I don't know the guy, but from radio clips I can't say I'm terribly impressed with Alain Mercier, the union representative. Things are at a standstill and everyone is getting frustrated.

Can't any sort of management be carried out effectively in this country?

The Governor General: More Than We Thought

I have been considering taking Journalism in university next year, and I must say, in light of recent political events, it doesn't seem like a bad idea. If Michaëlle Jean can work her way up to being the sole person with the most power in Canada, why not me?

We often make fun of the position of Governor General for having no other purpose than that of a figurehead. Michaëlle Jean was probably pleased with her career; getting to host expensive parties and take trips around the world. Now, this former journalist and anchor for Radio-Canada and CBC Newsworld has to decide the fate of our country.

Thus far, she has prorogued Parliament until January 26th of 2009, but really, this has probably only put off the coalition issue. Now that the Liberals+Bloc+NDP have thrown themselves in this far, I doubt they'll just back off. I respect her choice, however; hasty decisions are rarely solid, and this way the people have more chance to make our views known.

And I stress once again that it is important to make our opinions heard. How to contact the governor General:

You can write her. No postage necessary; the salutation is Excellency.

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
Governor General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A1

And for more information on Her Excellency the Right Honorable Michaëlle Jean and her background, check out http://www.gg.ca/gg/bio/index_e.asp

Canadian Politics Finally Get Interesting

To everyone who watched the exciting unfolding of the American election and considered the laughable tameness of our own system of government... Your drama has arrived.

Less than two months ago, we elected a Conservative minority government with Stephen Harper as Prime Minister. Under a global recession (and by the way, Canada is suffering much less than many other countries so far), our chosen Prime Minister decided to cut tax funding to political parties. Seems like a good plan to me. I don't want to pay for their annoying signs.

But of course, the Liberals felt this much more than the Conservatives (who mainly rely on other sources for funding). Upset, they threw a fit. Stephan Dion (wait a second... I thought he was supposed to be gone by now?) is making plans to form a coalition government... with the Bloc and the NDP. There are rumours of granting the Bloc veto power; in my opinion, a BAD PLAN.

I have so many issues with this it's hard to organize them all. Firstly, regardless of who the coalition consists of, this is Canada. Last I checked, I was fairly confident that we were a democracy. We get to vote and pick our own leaders. A coalition government really just sounds like a bunch of people who did not earn enough votes to get power ganging up and taking over.

People who voted for the Liberals did not know they were also voting for separatists and our lovely orange friends. This was not what we voted for. Canada made itself clear, and this seems extremely underhanded to me.

The Liberals are airing commercials saying that the Conservatives have "blown it." What? How did I miss that? It must have been bad, it takes talent to "blow it" for an entire country in less than two months. (Yes, I realize Mr. Harper has been in power for longer than that, however, in my reasoning, the "blowing" of "it" must have happened since the last election, since I trust Canadians would not re-elect him if he had, in fact, "blown it" before then.)

We are in a global recession. Some even fear it could get as bad as the Great Depression. Now is not the time for petty power struggles, which are not being played for the good of the people (the entire purpose of government!). We already picked our government. To the proposed coalition I say this:

You lost. Deal with it. It's a minority government, so you still get some say, which is more consolation prize than you'd get if this were the US. Respect the choice Canada made in an open and democratic election. Frankly, you are behaving like children. Stupid ones, too.

This is not going to help the economy any. If you want your government to represent you, make your views known! Email the Governor General! Plague your MP! Go to the protests!

This is OUR country.

Me, Myself, and I

What do "iPod," "MySpace," and "YouTube" all have in common?
I mean, besides that they are all modern obsessions. Look at the words themselves.

Here, let me help you out:
iPod
MySpace
YouTube

Hopefully you caught it that time.

So here's my concern: Why is our culture so self-centered? Why is it all about us? Am I the only one who sees danger in this way of thinking?

I'm not saying that there are any moral issues with those products themselves. I adore my iPod. They're just exemplary of how deeply ingrained this way of thinking is.

What I do worry about is how this mindset will affect us. First off, I think it's a false mentality. The world does not revolve around you. Sorry to burst your bubble. The are billions of other people who are just as important as you. And know what? You couldn't live without them.

Our culture promotes independence and self-sufficiency like it's going out of style. Frankly, I wish it would. People are dependant on each other. And it's a good thing!

Think of everything that goes into keeping up just your house. Electricity, heating, plumbing, the building itself. I highly doubt you could have even built it all on your own, forget fixing everything.

Even if you did build your house, where'd you get all the materials? Other people!

We need to start treating others with the mindset that they are important to us. The media will always play on our selfishness, because it will trigger our greed. We need to fight it with our attitudes.

So thank you. I need you.

Meh.

Collins dictionaries has officially given the expression "meh" status as a word. In case you've been under a rock, "meh" is used to express indifference, it qualifies a topic as "boring," "mediocre," or "uneventful." It is fairly flexible and most commonly used by youth.

This is just one example of the evolution of the English language; new words and expressions are added, older ones fade away. In the age of the internet, all kinds of new terms are being coined. The popular search engine, Google, has its own verb: "googling." From MSN, many acronyms have been birthed, such as "omg," "lol," or "rofl."

Is this a deterioration of the language, or is it just adaptation? You be the judge. I'm not sure, personally. I am a Shakespeare nut. I do believe in preserving the quality of our language, but some amount of change is inevitable. And fine to an extent.

"Meh" in the news:

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=f216bac2-8f0b-4202-a1ae-8f7ed4de2bd7

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/11/17/quot-meh-quot-is-the-new-quot-whatever-quot-will-quot-teh-quot-be-the-new-quot-the-quot.aspx

LOVE IS THE MOVEMENT

121 million (people suffering from depression worldwide)

18 million (people with depression in America alone)

#3 (cause of death among teenagers: suicide)

#1 (cause of suicide: depression)

2/3 (of those with depression never seek help)

4% (of the population struggle with self-mutilation,

equal occurrence between males and females)

FEBRUARY 13th (the day before Valentines Day) is the day with the highest suicide rate in America.


"HEY! We LOVE you!"
It is horrifying how many people feel alone and isolated in our world. Our culture is very centered around "ME" and what I want, I need. People often live as though there aren't billions of others struggling in the same broken world. We forget the value of life, how vital love is.

NOT TODAY.
No longer will we shove issues under the carpet. We renounce our apathy. People need each other, and it is extremely dangerous to forget that. TODAY, we are physically writing "LOVE" on our arms to symbolize our universal fight for life and to explain our commitment to communicate hope to others stuck in this place with us.

It's just the START.
LOVE IS OUR REVOLUTION.
We start now, fighting the lies people live with everyday about their worth. We care, and we will not sit back and let despair take over. We are reaching out with love to offer ourselves to people in desperate places of their lives.

You're Invited to SPREAD THE LOVE:
This entry is based on the series of "To Write Love On Her Arms" days that have been going around high schools. Please, check out www.twloha.com to find out more about this cause. It is a very easy and simplistic message, but it can not be forgotten. Search them out on Facebook to keep updated on different events and stay aware.

Low Expectations

There is a new rule being imposed by the Board on high school teachers: they are no longer allowed to penalize for late assignments. Students can now ignore deadlines and not lose marks for it.

Why this was decided, I have no idea. Of course we can all understand that there are extenuating circumstances that can sometimes make it difficult for deadlines to be met. Personal matters, outside obligations, too much homework from various classes can all be causes for stress in a student's life.

I have always known teachers to be very understanding and forgiving in such situations. If you are typically an honest student who makes the most of your education (note: I don't put any emphasis on academic excellence), teachers are willing to cut you some slack when you need it. If you ask beforehand, most will give extensions or find alternate options. Everybody is human. We have limits.

I believe that beyond just skill and regular curriculum, high school is a place to learn about ethic and accountability. It can be the four years of your life that shape who you will be the most. If you are going to grow into a person of integrity, your habits will begin to be developed now.

Under this new rule, there is no accountability for laziness. I have already seen its effects in the classroom. The whole class can be held back because of too many late assignments. The teachers are not able to get assignments graded as quickly, so they will hold off on the next project so as not to get too backed up on marking.

This mind frame being built is going to hold students back later in life, whether in post-secondary education or in the workforce. In the real world, deadlines are not to be taken lightly. I recently had a teacher exclaim to the class, "If you were employees, I'd have fired most of you by now!" She would have had reason, too.

I should also mention the flip side of this rule: teachers are, however, allowed to tell a student that they do not have time to mark their late work, which will result in a zero. I hope they use this when appropriate... I fear them too compassionate.


And to those who were wondering, yes, the title is a reference to Great Expectations.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty... RIGHT.

When I first heard of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, I thought it was a great idea. Why should we let the media control our standards for beauty? Sure, models are great. I have friends who are models. Photoshop is pretty cool. I wish I could use it better.

But these things aren't an accurate representation of real people. Last I checked, there is another approximately 99.99% of people who aren't models. And girls are heavily targeted by this kind of advertising. So Dove decided to use regular women in their marketing. Way to go, Dove, lead the moral way in advertising.

But wait just a second. Look at your bottle of Dove lotion/deodorant/shampoo/anti-cellulite cream or what have you. I'd like you to notice the little Unilever logo on it. Unilever is the company that owns Dove.

Now go find a can of Axe.
What can you find?

That's right. Axe is also owned by Unilever. I'm certain you've seen at least one Axe commercial. You know, the ones where some guy sprays the product liberally and skinny, scantily clad young women flock to him.

These ads are nothing but degrading. Towards both women and men, actually. Women are portrayed as objects, and the men are controlled by their hormones. What happened to Real Beauty? What happened to the noble cause?

Well, sadly, I think the hypocrisy of Unilever was there all along. Even looking solely at Dove; they sell BEAUTY PRODUCTS. As in, things you use to be more beautiful. How is this promoting the idea of being happy with your body?

Add in to all this that Unilever is also responsible for giving the world Slimfast... It's always about the money, isn't it?


For more on the topic, visit this site as a starting point:
http://www.cbc.ca/streetcents/guide/2005/02/s07_01.html

Back to the Beginning: Bill C-484

I had originally meant to do an in-depth, piece-by piece study on Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act. However, in my research of the Bill, I have decided I would much rather let you read the information first-hand. I wouldn't want to inadvertently misinform on the issue.

http://www.kenepp.com/issues/insidepage.asp?ID=92

This is Ken Epp's personal response to a letter he recieved concerning his Bill. I find it addresses all of the issues surrounding it in a complete and methodic manner.

I should warn you, I am about to share my opinion of the Bill. I hope that you will make your own conclusions and seek out true facts regardless of what I think. If there is one thing I have learned through looking into this issue, it is that we must always guard ourselves against misinformation to avoid ignorance.

I think that Bill C-484 is what it says it is: an effort to protect pregnant women. Although I am srongly ProLife, I understand that abortion is not what this Bill is dealing with. It is worded clearly and with careful precision so that there can be no mistaking this.

Personally, I had no idea that there was no sort of legal protection for pregnant women under canadian law. I think this should be repaired, especially considering there have been precedent cases where a law such as that proposed by the Bill could have been applied. This would also perhaps serve to deter potential offenders.

But read up on it for yourself!

Explanation

I would just like to take this opportunity to apologize for my last post. I completely recognize how boring it probably is for the vast majority of people. It was an assignment. We should be back up to normal entries in no time!

Hooking and Keeping Readers

A chapter summary

Intro

• the online age has made it difficult to get noticed among many
• online readers are fickle and have short attention spans

So what?

• the main question to ask when writing a lead
• web readers are quick to abandon any page they find boring
• the lead (first paragraph) amd the nut graph (the second paragraph) must be informative and INTERESTING
• to increase interest, include strange or unusual facts; what would interest the target audience?
• summary leads: who, what, when, where (often in that order) good place to start
• inverted pyramid: presenting facts in order of most to least important
• this is not a rule; there are instances where it is not very effective
• feature lead: unusual or interesting nature of event, then facts
• newsworthy: traditionally, timelines, proximity, prominence or impact made a story newsworthy; today, wierdness qualifies too
• there are entire websites devoted to offbeat stories

Headlines and Link Text

• battle for reader's attention on the internet
• magazines, newspapers must be paged through; hardly anyone flips through every news story on the site
• be aware of space limitations for link text
• techniques for emphasis: coloured headlines, pictures, video links, first paragraph in bold (ex. MSNBC)
• you won't have the final say in headline, that's the editor's job

A Square Lead in a Round Web

• a good lead is one that works online, takes format, aim and audience into consideration
• aquaint yourself with your publication's standards and formats
• write tightly: lots of information in little space
• online audience is reading the news to find out what's going on, not for literature
• goal is to grab readers and inform them long enough to make them want to keep reading

Getting Your Facts Organized

• after a good lead, good writing with flow must follow
• understand the aspects of the information you want to share
• convey in an engaging and logical manner
• inverted pyramid is a good starting point
• quotes can put faces on events: hows and whys
• less important information is traditionally put at end incase it must be cut to fit a news hole; not a problem online
• hard-news stories have facts first
• soft-news stories can begin with descriptions or anecdotes
• features generally use more quotes than hard-news
• placing contrasting emotions in the beginning is a good way to hook readers
• hard-news stories don't require strong endings, but features need wrap-up

Teaching Kids to Read and Write

For three years I was an International Baccalaureate, or IB, student. The students accepted in this program are typically very high achievers, and the program itself imposes very high standards. This year I decided to leave IB, and so have been able to observe the difference between a regular academic setting with that of an IB classroom. Last year in IB English, we studied world literature and focused mainly on analytical skills; it was assumed, and fairly accurately, that the previous two years of the program would have made us into decent readers and writers. This year in academic English, we have already had more lessons regarding common technical errors than we had in total in IB last year. Sadly enough, it appeared that these lessons were necessary.

But it is not only secondary education that is failing to teach basic reading and writing in an effective manner, in fact, this responsibility largely belongs to elementary schools. I babysat two girls this summer, a six year old and a nine year old, and part of my responsibility was to make them practice their writing, one handwritten page each per day. Through them, I witnessed not only extremely substandard writing levels, but also a dislike of writing. They argued with me every day for half an hour before I could get them to write anything. They were also much more interested in watching movies than having me read to them. This leads me to believe that elementary schools instil neither a love of language, nor proper reading and writing skill.

It appears that reading and writing are being taught poorly in public schools. Personally, I find this phenomenon disheartening, especially when we consider that written language is one of the early marks of more advanced civilizations. Are we going backwards?

Homelessness

In my city, as in probably all cities, there is a reality of homelessness.

A lot of people are a little bit freaked out by it, and avoid the issue completely. It is frightening, the juxtaposition of those who have nothing with those who have warm homes, just streets away.

But it's there.
They are there.
So the question is, now what?

Who are these people? How did they find themselves in their situations? Should we really be afraid of them?

I took some time during the summer to walk around downtown with some friends. We handed out about eighty sandwiches, and found just as many stories.

As it turns out, there are a multitude of ways to become homeless. Buisnesses falling apart, the death of a spouse, sickness, abuse, and yes, substance addictions. Sometimes there are combinations of reasons. It depends on the individual you talk to.

Because they are individuals, each with talents and dreams and pasts and futures and relationships and fears and needs and opinions and quirks... you get it. They are all different.

And I don't think it's fair to put them all under one label. They are not all drunks or stoners or lazy. Many of whom I met are more hardworking than the teens I interact with at school.

For example, take Crazzy Dave, the homeless poet. He has been on the streets for years, and he's made an art out of it. He collects old pieces of cardboard and writes amazing poems on them. He sells them, and from what he tells me, a single one can make anywhere from two dollars to forty dollars. He'll even write you an original on the spot, given a topic. With the help of more fortunate friends, Crazzy Dave now has his own book of poetry published. He's the kind of guy I'd love to spend a whole day with, just to learn.

It's great that there are a lot of organizations trying to address the very real issue of poverty and homelessness, but many of these people have been burned by institutions before, and I belive it is a need that will best be met through the average citizen. People taking time to help each other.

More than that, to understand one another.

The Future of Journalism

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=71&aid=93527

I just finished reading Steve Klein's piece, My Take. As a journalism student, I think he has something really important to say.

We do our journalism for an audience, not simply for the fun of it. Because of this, we must always concern ourselves with whatever it is that audience wants. It's a fact, I'm realizing more and more every day, that we are the generation of on-demand everything. We are a generation that wants everything at our convenience. And we have the technology to accomplish this.

Print journalism is becoming less and less appreciated. No one wants to wait to get the paper in the morning and have to read through it in hopes of finding an interesting story when they can simply search online and find a host of brief stories on any topic imaginable.

Sad as some may find it, this is what our audience wants.

The newspapers that are still successful today have realized it. They have branched out and run websites with podcasts and videos. This is just the way our world is changing. It doesn't have to be bad. I believe that there will always be a need for journalists, but that the form our work takes must change with our audience.

Two Charges of Homicide

As I previously stated, there are many concerns regarding Bill C-484. Just one on the list is the worry of charging someone who has killed a pregnant woman with two homicides. The argument behind this is that it implicitly gives personhood status to the unborn, which is not applied currently under Canadian law.

As it turns out, this, at least, is a misconception. For the killing of the mother, the murderer would be charged as is normal under law presently, but there would not be a second charge of homicide for the unborn. The second charge would be a lesser charge, applied in the case where the killer knew (or should have known due to the obvious shape of the woman) that the victim was pregnant. Ken Epp, the creator of the Bill, also says that his Bill should only apply in the case of a wanted child, one whom the mother has decided against aborting(http://www.kenepp.com/issues/insidepage.asp?ID=92).

Bill C-484: What is it REALLY about?

The first issue I'd like to follow is the proposed Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this Bill because of the abortion debate, and many on the Pro-Choice side of the issue feel it is a back-door way of criminalizing abortion in Canada. Is this a real threat?

Bill C-484 was introduced by Kenn Epp. The summary states that "This enactment amends the Criminal Code by making it an offence to injure, cause the death of or attempt to cause the death of a child before or during its birth while committing or attempting to commit an offence against the mother." (from http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=3127600&file=4 , I would encourage you to read the Bill in its entirety)

I can see why those for abortion take issue. At first glance, this Bill seems to be implying that the unborn child is a person, which would most certainly be problematic in the case of the termination of a pregnancy.

Through the course of the following couple of weeks, I hope to investigate this further and explore the real intentions of Bill C-484 with you.

The Who Who Says The What

Just a little intro to who I am...

I am a grade 12 student in a Journalism course, the reason for which I am currently typing this. I've given my blog the title "I Want You To Know" because my writing is going to centre around issues that I find important, and information I want to make known.

As I hope you'll learn, I hold many opinions. I do not mean to offend anyone, ever. However, this is my blog, and I will be posting my own views. They are for your consideration or interest; I respect any differing ideas you may have.