Freedom in Burma

Men kind has an ingrained seed of liberty in their nature. Through history this liberty has been tampered with by the ones that use their liberty to put another in bondage. All men across every corner of the earth have made an endeavor to bring freedom to their communities. The birth of the US is and it was an inspiration for many in their endeavors for freedom and democracy, in The Revolution of the Spirit, San Suu Kyi’s son recognizes the example of those nations that have revolted against the yoke of oppression. Burma has decided to proceed in their march for freedom, it is not a fight left only to those in positions of authority, but as Kyi’s son stated the Nobel peace price was also dedicated ‘to all those men, women and children who, even as I speak, continue o sacrifice their well being, their freedom and their lives in pursuit of a democratic Burma. Theirs is the price and their will be the eventual victory in Burma’s long struggle for peace, freedom and democracy’. A truly democratic nation lies within the principle of guarantee freedom of every individual regardless of circumstances. American’s are among the few privilege people to obtain what was rightfully theirs: freedom. Today let’s support those who are perusing for what is rightfully theirs as well. Today we can at least pray for the cause of true freedom to be established among those places where they are seeking for the natural rights that we so cherish today.

On Washing Hands

Hospitals are the dirtiest place in America. A powerful theme in this essay is that doctors don’t take the time to cleanse themselves and to stay clean. They will go from patient to patient and shake hands and rub their nose, wipe their hands on their clothing or coat. They are in such a rush that they don’t (or wont?) take the time to wash their hands to rid themselves of bacteria to keep patients from getting infected with new diseases where it could possibly cost them their life. If not death it will make them sicker and they will be hospitalized even longer, putting them at further risk for infections and diseases. Semmelweis realized that simply by not washing ones hands well enough or even consistently that the doctors were to blame for childbed fever. At the time the death rate from this disease was an astonishing 20 percent! Realizing that they were to blame and that the doctors were spreading the disease; Semmelweis decided to order everyone in his ward to wash their hands with chlorine and a brush.
After they were instructed to wash their hands in this manner the rate fell immediately to 1 percent; therefore proving that doctors were the ones to blame for the disease because of their un-cleanliness. It was undeniable proof that he was right and that things needed to change in order for them to save their patients’ lives. Yet doctors ignored his theory and the proof and continued in the manner in which they had been. Instead of being saluted for his discovery and the solution to the problem he was insulted and eventually dismissed from the hospital. At that time there were many and seemingly powerful theories for childbed fever. One belief was that it was the air in the hospitals, that the bacteria in the air was what was killing people. Unfortunately because he was very stubborn and unwilling to acknowledge that anyone else could be right he was outcast. He harangued people about washing their hands; he stood by the sink and made people wash. “Semmelweis was a genius, be he was also a lunatic, and that made him a failed genius (208).”
Another theme in the essay the way we are trying to overcome this spreading of disease. There has been a proper hand washing procedure, we have introduced alcohol rinses and gels to make it easier because they take less time and allow doctors to keep to their busy schedule. These are more effective than hand washing because they are more effective when the concentration goes above 50 percent. But surprisingly enough pure alcohol isn’t more effective than 50 percent. Water is still needed to remove the micro bacterial proteins. There have been protests against this from unwarranted fears of creating noxious air, it doesn’t.

But one major theme would be in the operating rooms, where nothing less than 100 percent compliance with scrubbing is acceptable. This is where infections can be developed the easiest. This setting needs to applied everywhere in the hospital, not just the operating room. The problem with this is not ignorance, people are aware of this and how to prevent further spread of diseases. It’s the fact that people aren’t complying. It has been shown that those who comply within the operating room are the very ones who don’t comply outside of those big double doors. This is a problem that needs fixed all over America. Hospitals are the dirtiest place in America

On Washing Hands

The most powerful and unsettling statement in the essay, “On Washing Hands”, written by Atul Gawande is the sentence “no part of the human skin is spared from bacteria”. It is startling to know that so many bacterial counts can show up on your skin, especially on your hands and in hair on parts of your body. Bacterial counts on the hands vary from “five thousand to five million colony forming units per square meter”. It makes sense though since we use our hands for many different purposes throughout the day.
Alcohol rinses and gels have been recently introduced to help cut down on the amount of hand washing. If you wash your hands to much it can cause your hands to dry out and harbor bacteria on them. This defeats the whole purpose of washing your hands. Alcohol rinses and gels are much quicker than washing your hands with soap and water as well. This helps to cut down on the amount of time that company’s staff needs to go and actually wash their hands with soap and water. If people take the time to use the different methods to clean their hands, we can cut down on the bacterial counts. The statement, “no part of the human skin is spared from bacteria” can also not sound so negative.

Nelson Mandel, The End of Apartheid

The most powerful idea in Nelson Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize speech is “the normal condition for human existence is democracy, justice, peace, non-racism, non-sexism, prosperity for everybody, a healthy environment and equality and solidarity among the peoples.”
Nelson Mandela’s speech is very powerful, explaining the wrongs of racism, the problems that arise with it, and all the things that could be so much better if it wasn’t there in the first place. It tells of the people that would be so much better off and able to live up to their potential, because they would no longer be bound to being called “the wretched of the earth.”
His speech also tells of the people that have made sacrifices for the effort, risking their very lives to help people in need, people who they did not even know, but felt compelled to take a responsibility for. Mandela makes sure that he does not take full credit for the accomplishment on his own, and he mentions everyone, be it singular people or groups of people that contributed toward his cause and success.
Once again, the most powerful idea in Mandela’s speech is that humankind should devote themselves to living with democracy, justice, peace, non-racism, non-sexism, prosperity for everybody, a healthy environment and equality and solidarity among the peoples.

A tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people

To have the courage to stand up and call the King of England who was one of the most powerful men in the world at that time, a tyrant, took serious audacity and bravery on the part of the founding fathers. Not only standing up to the king, but also including the entire nation in a decision to absolve its ties with English put the lives of all Americans at that time in danger. The best line of the passage is, “a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people” because it best summarizes the purpose of this piece. Today, I think that we have forgotten the risk the new country took to do what was right. As a result, our society may in fact be more hesitant and scared of change than our founders. Some themes that should be learned from this declaration of independence are that doing what is right takes strength, unity and heroism on the part of all citizens for the good of one another. It should be remembered that this short statement by the leaders of the new world sparked a revolution and gave birth to this great nation today.

The Boldest Writing of All Time

The Declaration of Independence is one of the boldest writings of all time. Written to the King of Great Britain, this letter makes a firm stance on the beliefs of America’s fore fathers. In this declaration to the most powerful country of the 18th century, there are a few themes and points the writer, as well as the signers, give.
The first theme this essay gives is their right. Not just their right as countrymen, but their right as a human being. “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of People to alter or to abolish it.” Their RIGHT to abolish and break from an oppressive government is the first stance this essay takes.
The second point these fore fathers bring up is the abuse they have suffered with the King. Notice here how they singled out the king, not the government as a whole. I could only imagine the look on his face when he read this letter! Sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph, they continue to list all the offenses he has made toward them.
Both final and critical is this last theme in this declaration. Here they officially declare themselves apart from Britain and now the “Representatives of the United States of America.” The men knew the grave danger and trouble they would be in for such a position as this by declaring that they would pledge each others’ lives for one another. This is one of the boldest if not they boldest writing of all time.

On Washing Hands

In the essay, On Washing hands, this essay makes it clear how vital it is for anyone, and especially so with doctors, to wash their hands. The idea that washing one’s hands significantly decreases ones chance of contracting a disease is certainly no mystery. In fact, as it says in the essay, “This is, embarrassingly, nothing new. In 1847, at the age of twenty-eight, the Viennese obstetrician Ignac Semmelweis famously deduced that, by not washing their hands consistently or well enough, doctors themselves were to blame for childbed fever.” During this time, childbed fever was the leading cause of maternal death in childbirth which also, as the essay states, was responsible for at least twenty percent of maternal deaths at hospitals. Shockingly, only one percent of mothers who delivered their children at home died at all. This was so because doctors transferred germs between patients, whereas at home no such thing could take place. One would think that this would lead to change in doctor’s practices however no such change took place for a very long time. As it says in this essay the patient who died from the MRSA and VRE infection after an operation, got said infection in the first place because the doctors failed to wash their hands after they had been around all the other patients with MRSA and VRE. It is important for everyone to wash their hands, but it is critical for doctors to do so.

Kofi Annan

One essay that caught my attention is The United Nations in the 21st Century (2001) by Kofi Annan. The most powerful theme in this essay is peace and how leaders and people of different cultutres, religion, and wealth status could all come together for the greater community and pursue peace in the world. In the essay, paragraph fourteen, Annan talked about how in every scripture or all of the faiths that people have encouraged peace and tolerance among each other. One qoute that stood out the most to me in this essay is, “people of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping indentities which uniteus with every different group.” “We can love what we are, without hating what and who were are not.”Another theme that is very important in this essay is the arrogance and thirst for power in certain nations that leads up to the deaths of millions of people which

Listen to Dr. Atul Gawande and Wash Your Hands!

The most powerful and unsettling idea in Atul Gawande’s essay “On Washing Hands” is “…when I stood there looking at the sign on his door, it occurred to me that I might have given him that infection” (212), because this sentence prove the whole essays theme and issue that doctors and hospitals, even though they are meant to be a clean and sanitary environment, do not follow the rules of keeping themselves always sanitary before coming in contact with patients. This essay describe the problem that medical physicians, nurses, even doctors fail to accommodate the rule that is to wash their hands. Even the author of the essay, Gawande, informs the reader that he has been careless himself as a doctor and forgotten to clean his hands while dealing with patients. “…and I completely forget to about getting a squirt of that gel into my palms, no matter how many laminated reminder signs have been hung on the walls” (211).
This is incredibly hard to think about since I volunteer at a hospital every Friday. I know that I am just a volunteer, but I cannot even count the number of times I put my hands under a gel dispenser, not only for the patient’s sake, but also mine! A hospital is meant to be a safe place to get well, but this essay informs the public otherwise explaining how infections due to unsanitary objects, tools, and hands are in contact with these patients. Some infected that are spread are most likely Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, MRSA, and VRE. There are many other bacterial infections that can be spread but these are rather serious do the fact that they are resistant to any type of treatment making it harder to get rid of the devastating effects.
Another scary thing to think about, are the numbers of deaths caused by these infections back when doctors did not even realize that cleanliness mattered. “Out of 3,000 mothers who delivered babies…600 or more died…” (207). this happened back in 1847 when Childbed Fever was a huge cause of birth fatalities. Even though the obstetrician Ignac Semmelweis seemed slightly crazy, without his theory about keeping clean while dealing with patients, the number of deaths in hospitals never would have decreased. Unsanitary business would still continue today. Although doctors and those who work in hospitals today do keep much cleaner than 100 years ago, they still forget that simple rule that is so incredibly important yet so easy to forget: washing hands.
Another important thing to remember is that doctors are just human. It is not easy to believe that they would put their patients in harm’s way, or that the one place where a person can actually get well after surviving surgery or an illness, is actually at risk for getting an infection. But it is easy to remember that they try, and they now actually do keep clean, and that sometimes, people are just unlucky.
Dr. Atul Gawande finished his essay with a very important sentence to inform those to remember it is necessary to wash our hands especially in a hospital—it is their job. “…when I stood there looking at the sign on his door, it occurred to me that I might have given him that infection” (212).

Dr. Atul Gawande

The Declaration of Independence

As far as a piece of writing that defines Freedom goes, The Declaration of Independence is by far the best example out there. As many of us know, the Declaration of Independence was a point in history in which The United States finally broke away from England’s rule and became known as independent. The entire essay boasts the necessity for freedom and how important it is in making a step forward in history. Jefferson constantly attacks his readers by starting sentences with words such as, “He.” A line however, that I feel describes the entire piece is, “They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.” This I found to be a very powerful statement as it describes how we have been crying out to England to release us, and now that the time has finally come, we will indeed make our separation by any means necessary. We realize that we will still be enemies in many issues to come, but we will never be anything other than humans who all seek the same justice. As far as a piece of writing that defines Freedom goes, The Declaration of Independence is by far the best example out there.

Frederik Willem de Klerk, Reformation and Reconciliation in South Africa

The most powerful and unsetting idea in de Klerk’s speech about the Noble Peace Prize is the struggle that de Klerk and Mr. Mandela will go through to help bring peace and stability to South Africa. In this speech de Klerk is accepting the Noble Peace Prize award with Nelson Mandela. He talks about how him and Mandela will fight in the election campaign against one another. He talks about his goals to change South Africa. “It will not be about apartheid or armed struggle. It will be about future peace and stability, about progress and prosperity, about nation building.” This shows how strong of a person that de Klerk is and how he will stop at nothing until his nation of South Africa is changed for the better. The most powerful and unsetting idea in de Klerk’s speech on the Noble Peace Prize is the struggle that de Klerk and Mr. Mandela will go through to help bring peace and stability to South Africa.

The Decleration of Independence

While reading “The Decleration of Independence” the most powerful themes are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This reason being is because they are the right of every human being and it is the governments job to secure these rights for the people. It’s a powerful peace because when this was written it included every human not just the ones writing it. They wanted to make every one happy and wanted everyone to be equal which is stated in the first few paragraphs. In paragraph 2 it states, “That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.” The great thing about America is everyone can have a dream and live it, there is no one that can hold you back from accomplishing it. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the 3 greatest things a person can have in America, and with those things you are able to achieve anything.

The Truth About Beauty

In Virginia Postrel’s essay, “The Truth About Beauty,” the most important theme is the understanding that beauty should be accepted for what it is as opposed to how it is perceived, with some people having more of it than others. Postrel speaks of the Dove beauty commercials and how they are working to make every woman feel beautiful just the way she is, but understands that some people are just more appeasing to look at than others. The author says it must be understood that there is nothing wrong with how, “our eyes and our brains pretty consistently like some human forms better than others. She instead says people should understand their own shortcomings and strengths rather than being so worried about making everyone feel beautiful. The idea of beauty is purely physiological and, “features we see as beautiful…have been rewarded through countless generations of competition for mates.”

If beauty is simply what human instincts dictate will help continue the human race, then Postrel is correct in saying that not everyone has to worry about being beautiful. It would be impossible to do for some people, because some of the features that define beauty are unable to be fixed, such as symmetry and age. Postrel understands that, “like the rest of the genetic lottery, beauty is unfair. Everyone falls short of perfection, but some are luckier than others”. With a push toward understanding strengths and weaknesses, humans can better understand beauty and perhaps not place as much importance in it. The most important theme is accepting beauty as it is, not as the media portrays it.

- The Declaration of Independence -

The most powerful and meaningful statement in the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, is “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This remains as one of the most power quotes to our nation’s history in the sense that it lists the rights that are given to everyone, those being, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Life meaning that everyone has the chance to live and make something for themselves. Liberty meaning that everyone would be granted freedom. The pursuit of happiness meaning that everyone has the chances, opportunities, to make things better and always strive for the best.

To show how important they are, notice how certain words are capitalized, showing its’ distinct importance. We should always remember that these remain as our God-given rights, and are different as opposed to “privileges” that can be promised.

Its context has been interpreted throughout history, and sometimes its full meaning called into question. Considering the historical context, it remains questionable as to who exactly these rights have applied to. Its’ meaning is still important today, and it remains as a powerful message to American history.

To reiterate, the most powerful and meaningful statement in the Declaration of Independence is where the civil liberties are directly stated, those being Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

"The End of Apartheid": Nelson Mandela Nobel Prize Speech

In the essay, "Nelson Mandela, the End of Apartheid", the main theme seems to be rebirth. Mandela is describing a new Africa, and a 'new dawn' in for its people. Its most powerful and gratifing idea is in his closing statement when he says, "Let the Efforts of us all prove that he was not a mere dreamer when he spoke of the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace being more precoius than diamonds or silver or gold. Let a new age dawn!"(P.36-37 Pg.-633). This speech was after a groundbreaking politcal agreement between South African Deputy President F.W. de Klerk and Mandela, and this excerpt helps shed light onto how hopeful Africa and its leaders are for its future. Prevoiusly the country had endured a unique and painful experience that lacked democracy, peace, justice, prosperity, and good health care all while facing prejudice racial and sexually. These two leaders tackled the issues of Africa together rather than on different fronts, in order to preserve the inalienable rights that each group was infringing on. "Because of their courage and persistance for many years, we can, today, even set the dates when all humanity will join together to celebrate one of the outstanding human victories of our century" (IP-1, Pg. 630). This is a powerful step forward in African history,

beauty is NOT in the eye of the beholder

Though not everyone has an exact likeness in their perception of beauty, there is beautiful and there is ugly; this truth is affirmed throughout Virgina Postrel's The Truth About Beauty. This piece considers cosmetic companies selling "hope in a jar" as opposed to the new campaign from Dove that promotes "real beauty".

Dove's aspiration with this campaign is that women will see that beauty is the child of media and that they will ignore their imperfections, instead finding the beauty in who they are as individuals. The satire in this is that this campaign is coupled with the selling of creams, self-tanners, hair conditioners, and other Dove products. A line can be found on Dove's campaignforrealbeauty.com web site that suggests girls feel beautiful just the way they are, but Postrel explains, "Every girl certainly wants to, which explains the popularity of Dove's campaign. There's only one problem: Beauty exists, and it's unevenly distributed."

We, as human beings, have a preconceived notion of what beauty is, regardless of media or other influence. Certain shapes and features are simply more asthetically pleasing to us. We are biologically programmed to perceive things like good skin and symmetry as beautiful and beneficial in such things as finding a mate. Again Postrel says of beauty: "We know beauty when we see it, and our reactions are remarkably consistent. Beauty is not just a social construct, and not every girl is beautiful just they way she is." If this was true, there would be no need for Dove's "real beauty" campaign and there would most certainly be no reason for Dove's products.

Dove claims to use "normal" and "real" women in their ads, an almost Average Joanna, but while they do not find size 00 supermodels, they find younger women, with feminine features, great skin, and not too undesirable figures. Just because they are choosing women who may not be a typical model in an ad, they are using women who would still be considered pretty and have many attractive traits. Not only were they not ugly girls, but they had been made up with many of the very beauty products renderred unnecessary by Dove's own campaign. Though not everyone has an exact likeness in their perception of beauty, there is beautiful and there is ugly; this is affirmed throughout Virginia Postrel's The Truth About Beauty.

The United Nations in the 21st Century

The most powerful and unsetting idea in Kofi Annan Nobel Peace Prize speech is in the beginning when he talks about the United Nations forum being created and what it is. His whole speech is powerful and he backs up every argument.

In paragraph 6 he discusses his beliefs and the mission of the United Nations, but one part stuck out the most to me, " We must focus, as never before, on improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness character" I think it is powerful and gets to the point. He compares this century to the last century, which helps his arguments and shows us we need to make a change.

on washing hands

The most disturbing and gross statement in Atul Gawande's essay is that"we doctors and nurses wash our hands one-third to one-half as often as we are supposed to" because it shows you that germs are being spread more easily due to someone's laziness and/or unwillingness to wash their hands. While I was reading this essay I was really grossed out by this. I was thinking about it and imagine all of the things and people they touch and what kind of germs and virusus are lerking on them, it is now possible that you could have it because the hospital staff isnt washing their hands like they ought to be. My major is nursing and this essay really makes me want to be rigorous about washing my hands when i get into the hospital setting because I dont want to be the one to give someone who has a low immune system a virus or something like that and get them very ill. I think they all need to think about the consequences of not washing thier hands because they probably have gotten a few people ill that way and it could have been avoided. One other thing that this essay made me think of (little off track)is people who work in fast food establishments or restuarants and the washing of their hands. They probably lack in washing more than the hospital staff and are spreading germs and virus just as bad. It is gross to think of but how are you going to know that they actually washed thier hands before visiting you. Thankfully though the use of hand sanitizer is higher despite all of the controversies they had with it in the beginning (worries of fertility reduction for example. "We have gone so far as to add an extra person to the team, known as the circulating nurse, who central jos is, essentailly, to keep the team of antisepsis." This makes me feel better that they are working towards better cleanliness.

Exploration 9

The most powerful theme or idea in Nelson Mandela's speech is happiness. In his speech Mandela's says, "This reward will not be measured in money. Nor can it be reckoned in the collective price of the rare metals and precious stones that rest in the bowels of the African soil we tread in the footsteps of our ancestors. It will and must be measured in the happiness and welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures." I feel that this is the most powerful theme of the speech because his entire speech was based on the happiness and welfare of the citizens in Africa. He wanted everyone to live in peace with no burdens of their past, and he felt that the only way this reward could be measured was by the happiness and welfare of the citizens.

On Washing Hands

The most influencial sentence in the essay "On Washing Hands' would be ,"Each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, two million Americans acquire an infection while they are in the hospital. Ninety thousand die of that infection". Being a main theme of "Washing your hands". The quote provided clearly shows that not enough people are washing there hands. It is not something that takes long to do, and if done properly then we would be able to wipe out a few diseases or lessen the amount of others as well. Washing hands is something they teach you to do in elemtary school, where they require kids to fallow specific rules as to how to wash them and signs on the walls with step by step directions. As people get older, they feel that they do not need to wash them as often or that they are not the "people" who spread the diseases from coming in contact with others. I think this essay is accurate as to why a lot of diseases are spread, becauase I personally always watch as people leave the restroom without washing their hands, or sneeze and cough in their own hands too. It disgusts me when people have the time to wash their hands, they just don't. It is becomming more and more important these days, because of the statistics of airborne and contact diseases. If anything, people need to use sanitation gels or other hand products because after thinking of every thing we would touch in one single day, it's a nightmare as to what you catch daily. People just need to start washing their hands more and taking more hygiene procautions to become healthier and keep the world around them healthy as well. 2 million Americans could be cut in half or even eliminated, and ninety thousand deaths could be prevented because of a simple 2 minute routine squeezed in to your busy schedule. It is important to remember and could help save peoples lives, so just do it already.