Counterintuitive Spring 2023

Money seems to have a big role in our society; not much gets accomplished without it. Money is valuable in different ways, even when it is not physically present with its owner. In today’s society we must have faith in big corporations – the government, the banking system – that our money is being handled in the proper manner. If we knew otherwise we’d be hiding all of our money under the mattress, or around the house. Banking has always been a mystery; it’s hard to know exactly what goes on with our money. It always seemed quite simple; we either have money or we don’t, that’s it. However, by being introduced to this assignment and having it compare the Yap Fei with the US and France gold trade in 1933, and the Brazilian cruzeros, it all seemed somewhat similar. One actually sees his money being transferred. When we get paid, we don’t get a check or get paid even in cash, it’s all directly transferred to our bank accounts. A lot of trust is involved that we’ll get our money.

One thing many people ask about is what the NSA actually allowed to monitor. In the eyes of the general public, the NSA has become the omnipotent Big Brother figure listening to every conversation and looking at every email.

Before the NSA is allowed to start snooping around for whatever they feel like, they must first go through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA). Under the Section 215 of the Patriot Act, phone companies and other third parties are required to disclose information as long as it is relevant to international terrorism, counterespionage, or foreign intelligence investigation. Although those topics are important matters to the American public, their relevancy may seem subjective in some cases. There is nothing stopping them from just simply claiming that someone is suspicious and relevant to a foreign intelligence investigation. Their claims of relevance to international terrorism may be as relevant as random airport searches are “random”. FISA will then decide to approve of the application for surveillance but it’s like asking Dad to go play outside knowing that he’ll say yes before he even looks up from his coffee. 212 applications were made in 2012 with none denied. Thanks Dad!

Works Cited

Are They Allowed To Do That? A Breakdown of Selected Government Surveillance Programs

Dianne Feinstein, Saxby Chambliss explain, defend NSA phone records program

Is the idea of harm reduction really preventing any harm to heroine addict druggist. In Canada, patients are provided with heroine to treat their addiction through there insite facility.In 2013, 308 people died in British Columbia due to illicit drug overdoses, the majority of which were opioid related. People are given freedom to inject heroine in supervision of nurse. However according to analysis, there haven’t been any huge  change in heroine addict numbers dropping.

Insite is just an another place for heroine addicts to get high. Canada’s government is supporting the Isite program for general study. Therefore if more clinical research is provided by Canada Health than the government may also exempt Canada’s federal drug law. What about rehabilitation? Rehabilitation helps people recover from any drug addiction and reenter the society as better person. People will give up on traditional treatment method for drug addiction which is advantageous in all ways compared to Vancouver Insite program. The doctors are simply taking shortcut to treat these highly addicted with that same drug they are addicted to. The idea of injecting one of the purest  heroine doesn’t do any good but damages patients health further.

In  Insite treatment program, the patients are given certain dosage of heroine injected through needles into their blood stream. The needle syringe has risk of being reused again on another patient. This can give rise to HIV or Hepatitis C infection. Some of the patients may not even return to their health professional again after visiting the clinic to be aware that they may be affected with a infection.

workcited

“Donald MacPherson: Canada Is Ignoring Easy, Uncontroversial Ways to Prevent Overdose Deaths.” National Post Donald MacPherson Canada Is Ignoring Easy Uncontroversial Ways to Prevent Overdosedeaths Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Stueck, Wendy. “Vancouver Clinic Wants Federal Approval to Provide Drug-injection Services.” The Globe and Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

The history of Ukrainian 2014 revolution, more commonly known there as Euromaidan, showed that some people can be “bought” for doing inhumane things, while others give all their money, time and even lives for beliefs of thousands in better future. While most of the civilized Ukrainian community was looking forward to signing  the agreement with the European union, the corrupt president decided to fail negotiation regardless all the European politicians trying to over-persuade the Ukrainian leader.

The next morning pro-government political party gathered people on the European square in Kiev, to show the support to the president, and everyone was told that they will get paid 200 hryvnas for coming. This action was against moral principles of many Ukrainians, but an itch for money made many seekers for easy profits show up and actually support the real corruption. At the same day, young people , mostly students got connected via social media and decided to all meet at the Independence Square for peaceful protests. By the late night time, because of multiple reasons, like cold and studying, many of them left, promising to come the next day, and around 500 persistent students were still standing at 4 a.m. At 4.30 all the students with no prior warnings got beaten hard with batons to blood by police special forces called “Berkut”. At the same time, communal vehicles appeared and workers started cleaning the square and preparing foundation for the Christmas tree like nothing happened. Ukrainians woke up and found out what happened during the night, it changed  attitude of thousands and gave a life to new revolution. All those radically minded people gathered on Myhaylivskiy square and by night all the crowd moved back to the Independence square and increased to almost 100 thousand people that wanted Yanukovich to pay for his sins and give up the presidency.

On December 8th presidential party organized protests against the revolution by bringing people from mostly Eastern part of Ukraine, were president had most of proponents, and “buying” them by promising good money for a small favor – supporting president. On Sunday almost half of the million of people joined the national viche (gathering of community members to inform everybody of important events  and come up with a collective planning for the near future) on the Independence square to vote for what they believe in. Some people started blocking entrances to the government block, building barricades and setting up tents, in other words, people were preparing for the long winter and days of waiting.

Next two and a half months people spent waiting,  and fighting for every inch of the central streets with “Berkut” special forces. Many people from all over the country left their jobs, families and moved to live in tents in cold winter believing that they can make the difference. Revolutionists were supported by millions of Ukrainians, who were sending them food, clothes, medication and whatever else was needed in the “small town” of Ukrainian revolution in the heart of the capital. The structure of this town was well-organized: within a few days, there were medical tents, information and announcements desks, tents with food, etc.  Volunteers were guarding all the important entrances, cooking food, improving barricades, taking care of sick people, all depending on skills and preferences.

On the other side of barricades, after police and army refused following presidential orders, the only forces pro-government had left were very well-payed special units of “Berkut” and some people from Eastern Ukraine that were supporting “Russian direction”, therefore president Yanukovich as well.  Presidential party “Partiya Regioniv” organized transportation and provided tents, food, clothes in Mariyinskiy park for people that were willing to support their president for promised 200 hryvnas. However, this didn’t work well: people were fighting for food, cursing each other, were angry and disappointed because some of them got paid just 50 instead promised 200, others didn’t get anything.

Police forces tried multiple times to break the defense of “Praviy sector”, main self-organized forces of the revolution, find the weakest spots and attack in the least expected moments. All the assaults were supported by beating up everyone they could get, no matter what age or gender, but still people could successfully keep the main camp undefeated. Revolutionists were keeping the center of the city safe for everyone, anyone could walk around, eat a dinner for free and sit near the fire place. All the stores in the area were open and untouched, except public buildings that were occupied by people, mostly women and sick people, but kept clean and organized. On the other hand, when policemen were winning control over some buildings, they would violently break windows, doors, and book shelves with books that were organized by activists, destroy all the provision, medications and leave.

On December 31st hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were celebrating the coming of New Year by lighting up their phones while singing Ukrainian National anthem. During Christmas holidays which are in first two weeks of January, the revolution camp was half empty, but still many people with an incredible power of will were not going to give up half way. Meanwhile, government, was trying to make the revolution fade away by chasing important people, torturing and killing them one by one, breaking the cars of the people that were bringing provision to “Praviy Sector” and legalizing ridiculous dictatorial laws. Things got worse when president decided to resort to drastic actions – On February 18th, special forces were now allowed to use traumatic weapons against. Two following days people spent fighting hard against the police that was trying to do anything to break the defense, like water cannons and even armored personnel carries. On the third day police forces realized that they can’t win the fight against the huge amount of people, so they started running away to Hrushevskogo street, where they started shooting unarmed protesters and medics, including women and teenagers. The only thing people had to protect themselves from snipers were wooden shields. Some revolutionists would get shot, but others wouldn’t give up, or leave them dying, people kept walking forward with thin wooden shields that couldn’t protect them from bullets, but would give them hope and belief that the entire nation can’t be stopped. More than a hundred people were killed and lots were injured that day, but thanks to them, revolution succeeded – president ran away to Russia, and the country started restoring from his destructive presidency.

1. “History of Euromaidan” Insider. Web. 27 October 2015
2. “History of Euromaidan: from the peaceful protests to bloody shooting” iPress.ua.21 November 2014. Web. 27 October 2015

Drug rehabilitation is commonly seen as a process to relieve an individual of a particular drug they were addicted to. Challenging this societal norm is unheard of in society today, as it is simply widely accepted by all. Rehabilitation programs almost always seek to rid the drug from the addicts’ bodies as well as their cravings for it.  No attention is given to the idea that other tactics could possibly be employed, let alone the efforts to start them.

Some points of view, such as those held by websites offering rehab programs, suggest that drug rehab facilities simply, “help drug addicts prepare to re-enter society.” (Rehabs) Not only does this idea challenge the structured, accepted interpretation of rehab, but it opens the door to many new possibilities regarding treatment. This also causes the definition of a “drug problem” to be somewhat vague, as there are certainly different viewpoints of all individuals involved with the issue. While some may think it is perfectly acceptable to still participate in recreational drug use if it does not inhibit their work lives, others would argue an opposing position, one that states that drugs must be ridden entirely from oneself for rehabilitation to truly occur.

The issue, as it stands currently, is under complete lockdown. The government of the United States, as it regulates rehab and drug addiction treatment, remains sturdy in its idea that rehabilitation is synonymous with elimination.

Work Cited

• “What Is Drug Addiction Treatment?” What Is Drug Addiction Treatment?National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dec. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

•  “Drug Rehab Treatment Information.” Rehabs.com. Rehabs.com, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Money seems to have a big role in our society; poor people cant do much without it. Money is valuable in different forms varying from physical to non-physical money. In today’s society one must have faith in the government and in the banking system, that money is being handled with in the proper manner. If not then people would be hiding all money under mattresses or houses . Many people never have a clue what happens in the banks and how they handle money. People think money was quite simple; it’s either or its not. However, by being introduced to this assignment and having it compare the Yap Fei with the US and France gold trade in 1933, and the Brazilian cruzeros all seemed somewhat similar. No one actually sees their money being transferred. Today many workers get paid and the money is directly transferred to a bank account with an existing balance.

Mental illness is difficult to define. Even in today’s society with the advancements we have made in social awareness, mental illness still seems to be a subject of uncertainty and confusion in the eyes of the general public. This ignorance stems from the lack of concrete answers on how these diseases develop as well as, for the most part, the lack of physical symptoms presented in those with various mental illnesses and disorders. For now, doctors have gathered that these issues come from a combination of several biological, psychological, and physiological factors, including, but not limited to, genetics, psychological trauma, sudden change in location or status, social expectations, or familial complications. Any combination of these stressors can affect a person who is susceptible to mental illness and disorders, potentially causing them to develop from an early age, or through adulthood.

The main category of mental illness I will be focusing on is psychosis, and the underlying conditions that go along with it. Psychosis is a condition that involves a severe mental break with reality, usually involving hallucinations, delusions, and other sensory issues that come about through schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, or excessive drug use. Within this category, studies have shown that entertainers, such as singers, dancers, actors, and others of the like, scored higher than the general public for psychotic traits, comedians scoring the highest among all of them. The traits in question were as follows: unusual experiences (belief in telepathy and paranormal events), cognitive disorganization (difficulty focusing thoughts), introversive anhedonia (reduced ability to feel social/physical pleasure, including avoidance of intimacy), and impulsive non-conformity (tendency toward impulsive, antisocial behavior). These studies believe that the high scores for these characteristics are the reason these people are able to perform, which also leads the general public to believe that every performer has to be disturbed in some way to be good.

Comedians in general are an interestingly peculiar niche of people, as they are both introverted and extroverted. They are willing to present themselves on stage in front of hundreds, perhaps even thousand of people, yet have trouble socializing and are more often than not withdrawn, interacting only with those they know. While psychosis is a severe disorder, and there is a big difference between having the disorder and showing traits for it, it is proposed that this is what helps comedians form new and interesting material, all the while providing an outlet for the more extroverted side as type of self-medication.

Mental illness can effect anyone, and more often than not can be a scary situation, especially since there is so little information on it as compared to physical illness; but in terms of entertainment, psychotic disorders may be the exact momentum needed to create a great performer. While not everyone suffers, most that do have certainly found ways to transform their problems to their benefit.

Works Cited

“Causes of Mental Illness”. WebMD. February 2014. Web. 26 October 2015.

Stang, Debra. “What Is Psychosis?” WiseGEEK. Ed. J.T. Gale. N.p., 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

“Comedians Have ‘high Levels of Psychotic Traits’.” <i>BBC News</i>. N.p., 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

Are Zoo trips really educational?

The idea of holding animals in captivity is a thought that has come and gone in society. Often, observing animals up close and personal is believed to be an educational experience while for many people that is not the case. Without zoos having an educational aspect there is no reason to exist.

An educational experience would be when a person learns new information from the act or place they are at. A piece of information that one takes from the zoo and uses it in the long run can be deemed educational. In the article “Zoos:An idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone” PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)  explains that zoos are exploitation to the animals it holds not education. Peta states that ” most zoo visitors simply wander around the grounds, pause briefly in front of some displays, and spend their time on snacks and bathroom breaks”. There is no educational value to a zoo trip if there is only a very small time spent where the animals are. The organization also explains “visitors spent less than eight seconds per snake exhibit and only one minute with the lions. Only spending such a small amount of time per animal exhibit is not a convincing argument about learning.  People should be spending minutes or even more time such as hours learning about the animals they are examining.

The other side to determining whether or not trips to see wildlife exhibits can be deemed educational is the fact that the observers are not seeing the animals in their natural habitat.  If the people are actually paying attention to how the animals are acting, the person is not getting accurate information on how the animal functions. According to PETA “numerous studies have shown that exhibiting animals in unnatural settings may undermine conservation by leaving the public with the idea that a species must not be in jeopardy if the government is allowing it to be used for display and entertainment”. Using animals for pure enjoyment rather than helping them is not educational. Animals that reside in zoos are usually not extinct, but the more the animals are brought into zoos the closer that species is to extinction because many animals die in captivity and  are not let back into the wild.  Unnatural behaviors and inaccurate information along with lack of observing can be deemed not educational. A trip being educational would mean that the person observing is learning information that is accurate, however the information is not.

According to studies by CAPS (Captive Animals’ Protection Society) in “Zoos neither educate nor empower children, newly published research suggests” the organization states that “Only 38% of children were able to demonstrate positive learning outcomes”. CAPS study also concluded that “Majority of children (62%) were deemed to show no change in learning or, worse, experienced negative learning during their trip to the zoo” It can be concluded that kids don’t really enjoy time at the zoo for the animals. Most children would rather go get souvenirs and food then see the wildlife.There are too many distractions in and around the zoo for their to be a focus on the animals, there are more food and other entertainment related aspects of a zoo on its pamphlet . Children with the desire to learn my have  an educational experience about safety of animals at a zoo leading to the realization that the animals do not belong there and need to be in their natural habitats. Furthermore children should be learning about endangered species while at zoos, in order to learn about how to protect those animals.

Works Cited

“Zoos: An Idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone.” People For the Ethical Treatment Of Animals. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/zoos/&gt;.

“Zoos Neither Educate nor Empower Children, Newly Published Research Suggest.” Captive Animals’ Protection Society. N.p., 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. <http://www.captiveanimals.org/news/2014/09/zoos-neither-educate-empower-children-newly-published-research-suggests&gt;.

We can imagine how busy life is working in a hospital with numerous tasks and patients to keep up with. These doctors spent years training and learning to be thoroughly equipped enough to help whatever problem is thrown at their way; though, these doctors may have a sincere heart, they may not always care for their patients to the best of their ability and undoubtedly hospitals have health disparities.

According to the National institution of Health, health disparities is ” inequalities that exist when members of certain population groups do not benefit from the same health status as other groups.” Meaning different groups of people may not be getting treated as well as the other. In fact, the greek word for disparity is “anisóti̱s” which mean unevenness or inequality. If the purpose of these physicians is to help all the patients care for people, then why does this inequality exist?

As a way to check up on physician’s work, surveys are occasionally given to patients for them to rate their care. The data observed by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and they shockingly found that physicians perform poorly when helping families with low-income. Some assumptions arise claiming perhaps physicians care better for the rich for the money but in reality, the doctors are unable to tell or have time to look through the income of families; they just help as many people they can.

However, one of the key factors that contribute to the inequality is how well patients communicate to physicians. Communication between the physicians and the patience play a huge part because with that communications, it helps the doctors make decisions on figuring out how to help the patience. According to American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the benefits of effective communication is that “the patient and physician have developed a “partnership” and the patient has been fully educated in the nature of his or her condition and the different methods to address the problem.” In addition, the patient will have a say in things, which will satisfy the patient more.

Though there are many other factors on why patients are not satisfied with their care, the main source of the health disparity is the lack of communication skills some individuals have, especially with low-income.

“Information Statement.” Importance of Good Communication in the Physician-Patient Relationship. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons., Dec. 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2015

What does culture mean to a person? Is it a good thing to experience other cultures? Does culture have the ability to actually destroy another culture? Citizens of any nations are alays constantly trying to indulge in other cultures. Americans are spending thousands of dollars every year flying to a vast number of countries to spend time in other countries and citizens in other countries are flying to the United States, which this is no problem, this is experiencing culture at free will. The problem nowadays is that the fast food chains of America are destroying cultures worldwide.

Culture has a uniquw characteristic about it. In that is is different from area to area of the world. Each place has a certain kind of food that they eat, drink, and their way of life. Most countries, before Fast Food companies took over, ate natural things and lived over all healthy lives. A recent health survey has stated that over 31.8% of US adults in the United States alone are clinically obese. Fast food chains have started to make other countries fat. Mexico now has a 31.8% of obesity. Fast Food chains have started to negatively influence the food that the world is consuming.

Not only is culture the type of food one consumes, but it is their way of life, like their daily routine and exercise. With the introduction of fast food in these nations, their way of life is being affected. With the rise of obesity rates in other nations, health is on the Adeline and health care is on the incline. A study shows that diabetes is on the rise and that in 2030, China is projected to grow from 90 million to 130 million. India is projected to have their number, 61 million, jump to 101 million. With the increase of people diagnosed with diabetes it means that the demand for the medication will only sky rocket. In the United States it costs anywhere from $8-$200 and some do not even have health insurance, so their costs would be even more. In other nations, such as Mexico, it costs the user 50% of the total cost.

America needs to realize how much damage their fast food chains are bringing to other nations and their culture. They are being a over bearing with their chains and need to understand that their “culture” is not natural and the damage will be done and nothing can be done in order to remove it.

Works Cited

“‘Globesity’: US Junk Food Industry Tips Global Scales.” RT English. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Pan, An, Vasanti Malik, and Frank B. Hu. “Exporting Diabetes to Asia: The Impact of Western-Style Fast Food.” Circulation. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.