Do Wishes Really Come True?

I wrote my blog last week about Batkid, the kid diagnosed with leukemia that had his one wish granted. After writing it, I was still very interested in the topic of Make-A-Wish foundation. In past years, my gymnastics team would always go to a gymnastics meet in Gurnee that was called the "Make-A-Wish Meet". Every year, there was a representative from the Foundation that spoke to the crowd and the teams right before competition. They would tell stories of kids, and the teams competing would always raise money to give to the Foundation at that meet.

I decided to do a little bit more research after my last blog. Especially after reading the Batkid story, which is a great story, I started to wonder, What about all the other kids? What about the kids that are sick that don't get a wish granted? What about the kids that don't know about Make-A-Wish article that San Francisco spent $105,000 to grant his wish. While this is great for this one child, I think they could have maybe picked something a little bit smaller, and used split up that amount of money to affect more than one kid. It seemed unnecessary to me, to spend all that money on one kid and one wish.
foundation? I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of kids who don't get their wish granted. I read in an

I then went onto the Make-A-Wish website, and discovered how they determine which kids get wishes. First, they have to get a referral from a doctor for a kid who is between 2.5-18 years old. The child also has to have a life-threatening disease, in order to get a wish. The child then gets to pick a wish, and hopefully the grants that Make-A-Wish have make it happen.

It is crazy how specific the process is. It's almost like there is a checklist, and each kid has to go through and check off each requirement in order to be able to apply. I had no idea that the process was like this. I never thought about the process, and basically thought that this stuff just happened, out of nowhere. But, now knowing what I do, I wonder about all the other sick kids that don't get wishes granted or don't know about the wish system. Do they get their hopes up for something, and it doesn't happen? If so, do they see these other stories in the news and get jealous or sad that they don't get to experience that? As great as Make-A-Wish is, I think you can still find faults with it.

Batkid Saves The Day

When I got home from school on Friday, all my mom kept talking about was "Batkid". It was blowing up on social media. Basically, a kid named Miles Scott, who had leukemia, had wished to be Batman for a day. So, Make-A-Wish made that happen. They, with the help of pretty much the whole city of San Fransisco set up a series of events and obstacles for Miles, who was dressed as Batman. He went around town in his Batmobile (Lamborghini), saving different people and doing different challenges. He saved a woman who was trapped on the train tracks, stopped Riddler from robbing a bank, stopped a kidnapping at the zoo, and much more.

He even got Barack Obama to reach out to him from the white house. He sent a video message saying, "Way to go, Miles! Way to save Gotham!" Thousands of people came out to watch it all happen. Traffic was stopped, people flooded the streets. It's safe to say was a huge day in San
 Fransisco.

Some of the people that came to City Hall to see Batkid.

First of all, I think this is the cutest thing ever. This kid had battled cancer for almost all his life, and had finally beaten it. It is totally fair for him to be a child again for this one day, since his childhood probably was not any fun at all. This was this kid's one wish, and people made it happen. I think this shows America does have compassion and does some really great things. When people put their minds to it, they can make anything happen. I think that if America puts their mind to more topics/issues, maybe not in the same realm as this, they could really make a difference. Americans have this drive inside of them - when they want to do something, they do it. I think this day in San Fransisco is a testament to that.

Left: The special "Gotham City Chronicle" edition the San Fransisco Chronicle printed for the day with the story on the front page. Right: Miles Scott, Batkid.

Equality For All - Or Only Some?

Illinois has recently made it law for same sex couples to be allowed to get married. They became the 15th state to do so. This alone surprises me, because that is not even one third of the country that believes in equality for all. I believe that everyone is the same, it doesn't matter who they like or who they want to marry. This caused me do some research and digging, and I was surprised with some of the things I found.

I found an article that talks about how Texas, among a few other states is refusing to comply with an order from the Defense Secretary of the US that same sex military couples should be given the same federal marriage benefits as heterosexual military spouses. I found this to be astonishing. I believe this to be wrong on so many levels.

First of all, these people are supporting our country and fighting for our country. There is not really a stronger way to promote your patriotism and love for our country than to put your life on the line for it. But, why would they want to be in the military if by doing so it can negatively affect their family? If they have a family in need of marriage benefits, but they aren't getting them because their state isn't willing to provide them just based on the fact they are a same sex couple, why would they want to go support our country? Americans take a lot of pride in our country, and always have. But, if things like this are happening, I wonder if that sense of pride would start to fade for more and more people as time goes on.

The Defense Secretary has been quoted to say that the states not obeying this law are just "further[ing] prejudice". I couldn't agree more. By not encouraging equality, whether it be through marriage, marriage benefits or other means, it just causes a greater riff between groups of people. It would seem to be doing the opposite of what is being promoted in Washington, which is equality for everyone and legalizing gay marriage. I wonder if these few states will stay this way, or give in to legalizing gay marriage and allowing marriage benefits for military couples to all couples, and if so, how it will affect the residents of those states.

Effectiveness of Advertisements

It is pretty safe to say that Instagram is the latest social media app on the rise. It has tens of millions of users, and is still rapidly gaining popularity. I myself have an account, as well as all of my friends. I know very few people that don't have one, and that is usually because they don't have a phone that the app would work on. Instagram is the new "thing".

I recently read an article that says that Instagram is about to start adding advertisements to the app. They said it was "only a matter of time" for ads to start appearing. Personally, I always loved the fact that Instagram didn't have any advertisements. Nowadays, everywhere you look there are ads. There is always someone trying to get your attention so you will go buy their product. Billboards, TV/radio commercials, Facebook/Twitter/Youtube, etc. The list goes on. They are everywhere.

Moneymaking has become such a big part of America today. It seems like people decide everything based on money. They decide which job to take because of which one pays better, not necessarily which one they would enjoy more. Money is an important aspect to society, and I think that is inevitable. But, the constant advertisements and ploys to attract consumers are crazy and overwhelming. It makes me wonder if putting an advertisement out actually works and gets people's attention, or if it just something that businesses feel the need to do to keep up with every other business. Personally, I don't remember most ads that are on TV. And if I do, it is because they are funny or clever, but they don't necessarily make me want to go out and buy that product. Now that many not be true for other people, but I wonder if it is.

Do you think advertisements are truly affective? Or is it an unspoken necessity for a business? Comment below.

Addictiveness of Sugar - More Serious Than We Thought?

This weekend, I was talking to the little kids I teach gymnastics to about Halloween, and all they kept saying was how excited they were to dress up and get tons of their favorite candy. I think the candy is what every kid loves about Halloween. It is one of the few days in the year where they can really stuff their faces with sugary sweets. It got me thinking, because I am older and don't really obsess over Halloween anymore, what the health effects of that much sugar are.

I did a little research, and I came across this article that talks about how addictive Oreo cookies can be. Although it is not exactly Halloween candy, it is still a very sugary snack. In the article, they talk about a study that was done that proved how addictive Oreos were. They say that Oreos "may be as addictive as cocaine". Research that has been done shows that the addictiveness of sugary snacks like Oreos can have affects on the brain, which, they claim, is part of the reason that fattening foods are so addictive and obesity is a problem.

I think that unhealthy snacks like Oreos are very addictive, and are a big factor of obesity in America. America has been known to have an obesity problem, and I think food is a big contributor to that, but lack of exercise, among other things are also factors. However, I don't know if it is right to compare Oreos to dangerous drugs like cocaine and morphine. They have serious mental affects, and I don't think cookies could cause the same kind of mental damage. I am not saying that the addictiveness level of both is high, but I don't think it is fair to compare drugs and cookies as a whole.

Do you think this is a fair comparison to make? Do you think this is the main cause for obesity in America today? Comment below.

League of Denial

I happened to catch a couple minutes of this movie over the weekend, called League of Denial. The movie was about the links between football and brain trauma/concussions. It was very eye-opening, to say the least. I have always known that football can be a very dangerous sport, and concussions were very common, but this movie definitely caught my attention. It focuses on a degenerative neurological disorder called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, otherwise known as CTE. It is a brain disorder that causes severe mental problems and often times leads to early death.

During the movie they talked about how the NFL tried to cover up all of the research being done by doctors about CTE. They didn't want people to freak out and have their kids stop playing; they wanted to keep the sport popular. However, the movie is told from the doctor's point of view. One of the doctors featured said that of the 46 brains of former football players she had studied, she diagnosed 45 of them with CTE. That is astonishing.

I think that the NFL had no right to try and cover up the head-injury problems. It should have been made public a lot sooner. They should have tried to find a way to alter the game, by adding more rules or changing rules, but they should not have just tried to ignore it. They should have taken responsibility. Since CTE was found in almost every football player examined, it makes me wonder if almost every football player that has ever played might have it too. This disorder causes mental problems, and often death. If the possibility that many NFL players have this, why should the NFL cover it up? Football is a big part of American culture, with kids all over the nation playing. America loves football. But, if football is causing such bad things to happen to players' brains, why should we keep playing the game the same way? They should at least alter the rules to help prevent bad tackles/hits.

Do you think the NFL should alter the rules? Do you think it is possible CTE has affected almost every player's brain? Or should we just continue the game the way it is and just expect the players to know the consequences of playing?

Article about movie: http://theweek.com/article/index/250743/frontline-how-the-nfl-covered-it-up-its-devastating-head-injury-problem

Readers Are Leaders

I am constantly reminded by my mom - "Read more! Readers are leaders!". And I try to get around to reading, but I don't read as often as I might like to. I find that to be a common trend among our generation - reading comes secondary to a lot of other things, which can be sad. Myself included, I think that our generation spends too much time on electronics (phone, TV, computer, etc.) and not enough time investing in a good book.

I came across an article in which the author talks about how he puts reading before almost everything else. He said that he is by no means a speed reader, but still can get through 3-5 books a week. That was shocking to me. I remember hearing that the average human spends approximately 7.5 hours in front of a screen. However, this guy seems to be the exception.

I think the amount of time Americans spend in front of a screen is unreal. We get so caught up in everything, whether it be the news or what's on TV tonight, and sometimes I think we need to give our eyes a break. We need to escape into a book, into a story. We need to give our eyes a rest. Technology has evolved so much over time that it seems to consume our life - we need to start reading more. Maybe not as much as the guy from the article, but it would definitely help give our minds a break to read.

Do you think that Americans should start reading more? Or does the evolution of technology mean we just need to keep up with the recent trends?

Article: http://theweek.com/article/index/250445/how-to-read-more