ok so deadline is looming

time is running out for me to apply to the nursing program here in billings. and i have to say its not my fault for this procrastination.... my old job at KRMC in Kalispell is being a poopy head and not giving me documentation like i asked FIVE damn times... really guys you cant just give me a piece of paper saying i worked there on such and such dates and part time... i mean come on its not like im trying to get another job... though with our finances that might not be a bad thing.... ugh.... i just want 25 damn points towards the program... to top it all off the lady gave me the run around AGAIN and has yet to email me.... ugh damnit..... at least my current work is awsomes and has a copy for me to pick up after classes... ^.^

ahh helll time for class.... will post more later

ok sooooo.... um now what?

in two days a new Zelda will be out for the wii.. hopefully it lives up to the zelda quality we have seen in twilight princess. I, unfortunately am not going to purchase it until into the next year i think. ( partly because of lack of funds. and partly because lack of time in which to enjoy playing it.. i am tthoroughly involved in playing Skyrim and can see myself needing a week or two to finish the meat of the game. XD im horrible have blown off sleep to play it at times
There are two main reasons why i play video or computer games especially in these days and the tough economy. it takes my mind off of crap going on around us. it lets me relax and not think of school, work, or other stressors. One thing i also love about these games is that i am more inclined to work on my writing ( when i can squeeze that in... XD really only have done a page or two this semester... OMG that is soooooo lame *sniffles*) ahh hell i need to get to class... well ta ta for now... i guess

SKYRIM for the win!!!!

so as any real gamer knows Skyrim has been released on 11/11/11 at midnight... *squeeeeeees with delight* I have to say i looooove it! the graphics are so beautiful and life like, at least on my screen. It brought me back to playing its predessessors: morrowind and oblivion. I do love the story line as it deals with mythical dragons... hehehehehehehe.... and the nords gotta love the nords. I have only dipped my hallux, big toe, into this game, but soon im gonna plunge in and take a swim ^.^. i am currently a level 11 wood elf named Lhassa. Have visited almost half the holdings in skyrim and am on my way to being a good bard ^.^ *warms up her voice* can't wait for the expansions to come out so i can explore more as well as maybe buy the construction set so i can create my own mods and have some extra fun ^.^

well since my homework is done from that last post. i am off to the land of skyrim... mwahahahahahahahahahahahaha

third essay for college writing... hated writign it took sooo damn long

Abstract

As the increasing usage of neuroenhancers reaches our awareness, so does the rise in concerns about neuroenhancers. Should they be used only to treat illness or inadequacies, or should they be allowed to enhance our brain functions? Drawing on Richard Dee’s (2007) and Margret Talbot’s (2009) articles, this paper focuses on three main issues regarding how neuroenhancers are obtained, cheating, and coercion. These issues help play a role in determining why neuroenhancers should only be used to treat illness or inadequacies. This essay is intended to enlighten its readers about the increasing use of neuroenhancers and some complications of its use.

Literature Review

Richard Dees (2007) article, “Better Brains, Better Selves? The ethics of neuroenhancers” talks about whether the use of neuroenhancements is morally suspect, unethical, or if it is ethical. He uses our right to autonomy as a way of supporting the ethical use of neuroenhancers. He also uses the idea that coercion is not a contender against neuroenhancers because; we can create separate leagues or classes into a class that uses neuroenhancers and one that doesn’t allow the use of them. He also uses the idea that if we go into a field that primarily uses them that we should consider not going into that field unless we are going to use them. He gives us the example of a model needing to use plastic surgery to be deemed adequate in her field from this Dee’s (2007) says that essentially if she doesn’t want to have plastic surgery to alter her appearance to better suit the mainstream idea of beauty then she should not go into modeling. He claims that since we allow other inequalities in our society that we must also allow for any inequality that permitting the use of neuroenhancers may produce.

Margaret Talbot’s (2009) article, “From brain gain: the underground world of "neuroenhancing" drugs” says that there is a competitive environment in school and jobs and that using neuroenhancers is more of a survival situation. She also states that students have many different areas of focus: school, work, home, social, etc. Neuroenhancers help them to focus and be more productive (Talbot, 2009.) She, like Dees (2007), also brings up the idea of autonomy. Talbot (2009) says that she even used NoDoz tablets, caffeine pills, to write papers in college and likens them to taking neuroenhancers. She couples this with her example of Seltzer, a transhumanist, who sees no wrong in trying to push back the upper limitations on out intelligence. Talbot(2009) says that cheating is also an issue because according to the Nature Poll, a survey, parents were shown to approve of giving their kids neuroenhancers in order to give them an advantage in school. The fairness of this advantage can be questioned. She also refers to work as “slave drivers”, trying to get the most out of their employees as they can. She uses the following quote to connect the lagging economy of the time and the competitive environment at work to the increasing pressure on employees or prospective employees to use neuroenhancers to gain an edge over those who don’t. “Neuroenhancers are perfectly suited to the white-collar competition in a floundering economy.”(Talbot, 2009, p707 in textbook) In saying this Talbot (2009) refers to the culture of work which wants us to be more productive and efficient and in turn promotes the use of neuroenhancers because of their ability to promote focus and productivity. Talbot (2009) also gives us an example of Alex, a student, who took neuroenhancers in order to succeed in school. He learned from his brother who also took neuroenhancers, what typical symptoms would lead to a doctor prescribing this medicine. Alex described these symptoms, which he did not have, to a doctor in order to obtain a prescription of Adderall, a neuroenhancer.

Reading these two articles brings many questions to mind when trying to determine a stance on neuroenhancers. Since most of these neuroenhancements seem to need a doctor’s approval are they being given out to wrongfully treat some fake inadequacy or illness as we have seen in Talbot’s example of Alex? If so this would give rise to cheating because they are not available to all the public without doctor’s approval and it would give unfair advantage over the average person. If more and more people started taking these drugs to get ahead of the game wouldn’t it also cause more pressure on the average person who doesn’t use neuroenhancers to take them because they would seem inadequate without them? I will try to answer these issues in my essay.

Neuroenhancers Brain Gain or Fairness Drain?

Neuroenhancers should only be used to treat an illness or deficit in a person because they were originally prescribed as such and if not used in this way it gives rise to cheating as well as coercion, pressure to take them.

Neuroenhancers were originally prescribed for many treatments in our society. You can’t just go to the store and get them. You have to have a prescription or the recommendation of a doctor. The doctor must determine that there is a certain mental or psychological deficit or illness that requires the use of a neuroenhancer to bring you up to par with the rest of the populace in order for them to give a recommendation or prescription for neuroenhancers. Lying to the doctor in order to get a prescription is morally wrong, unethical. Talbot’s (2009) example of Alex, a college student, shows us one of many ways possible to unethically obtain neuroenhancers. “His brother had received a diagnosis of A.D.H.D, and in his freshman year Alex obtained an Adderall prescription for himself by describing to a doctor symptoms that he knew were typical of [ADHD, attention deficit hyperactive disorder].”(Talbot, 2009, p. 700 in textbook) the way he obtained Adderall is unethical because, it bypasses the system our society has put in place to determine the right and wrong usages of drugs and thus skews the normal or average playing field which determines adequacies and inadequacies in different areas like school, work, life, or health. It also promotes falsehoods. It enables one essentially to cheat at these fields by unethically gaining an advantage.

The unethical use of neuroenhancers gives rise to the problem of cheating or gaining an unfair advantage over others. The user is no longer trying to compensate for a mental or psychological deficit or illness and is trying to get a leg up or advantage. Originally Adderall, as in Talbot’s (2009) example of Alex’s brother, was used as medication to treat attention deficits like ADD and ADHD, attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The person ethically prescribed these medications, Alex’s brother, is unable to focus their attention. Alex who did not have the deficits like his brother chose to fake his symptoms in order to obtain the drug and thus gain the advantage over other students. The average person is able to focus their attention on the task at hand and is therefore not in need of these medications in order to perform that particular function. When people without a diagnosis are given these neuroenhancers, which does not treat an issue, but makes it easier for them to focus on their tasks, it gives them an advantage over others. Sometimes, as Talbot (2009) explains, to their detriment. Alex had trouble with speaking too quickly and thoroughly on some subjects coupled with being oddly silent on others. He told Talbot (2009) that he had a decrease in appetite while on the drug. Alex told Talbot (2009) that he spent more time researching a project than writing it which was a problem for other students on neuroenhancers. The problem with using neuroenhancers to enhance or cheat is that it puts pressure, in the competitive environment, on the average person to use them in order to survive or succeed.

The unethical use of neuroenhancers causes the acceptable or adequate norm to be skewed higher. This means that it increases the requirements needed in a field be it work school, life, or other. Dees (2007) uses the example of a model needing to use cosmetic surgery to be accepted into her field of work because of the increase in other models doing so. He goes on to tell us that if we are aware of the requirement for using neuroenhancers in a field then we should not be entering that field. This is a problem with the academic field because students do not have the choice of learning, especially grade school students. The law requires a certain number of years in school and you have to have adequate grades to pass on to the next year or graduate out of the legal educational requirements. Essentially the unethical use of neurenhancers puts peer pressure, a form of forcing someone to do something they normally would not do, on a person to use neuroenhancers to get by or survive. Dees (2007) also says that society can just create a separate category, in just about anything, for people to be able to use neuroenhancers if they choose to do so. However, he did not take into account what happens when the user stops taking it. Take a doctor, for example, who is going to do surgery on your loved one. Let us say he is working in a hospital which has told you that they employ doctors who use neuroenhancers and that this doctor is one of them. He’s used neuroenhancers from day one of his education as a doctor to just about a week ago, has no longer taken them, and has seen their effects wear off. His mental functions are not at peak performance like they were while he was taking neuroenhancers. This might increase the complications of surgery as well as increase the risk of harm to your loved one. I for one am not willing to take this risk. I want to know that the doctor working on my loved one has passed their exams on pure ability alone as well as they are not dependent on a drug to function at peak performance. Another problem is that as the number of people using neuroenhancers increases so does the average expected outcome in a field since they are either getting good grades, producing more product at work, getting more chores done around the house, or being more focused in a different area/setting. This means that with the expected outcome raised the average person must work harder to achieve the norm in these areas and is more pressured to take the easy way out like more and more of their comrades are doing just to maintain the expected outcome and prove adequate in these areas. Eventually, this peer pressure will bully or force a non- user into using neuroenhancements. It also negates a person’s right of autonomy by saying that they might have the right to do what they want while it doesn’t hurt others, but they don’t have the choice to refuse altering themselves for the benefit of others. . Increasing pressure on one to take neuroenhancers to get by in a field because others do is essentially forcing them to take neuroenhancers. If we accept this type of bullying we must also accept others such as teasing on a play-ground, forcing someone to give up their lunch money, or forcing their way to the front of the line.

As a society we condemn acts of bullying on the playground or peer pressure to do drugs. Neuroenhancers if used unethically, cause users to bully others into taking them because they raise the average expected outcome in an area like life, work, or school. Neuroenhancers can allow one to gain an unfair advantage over the average person, because they are being used to enhance or get a hand up instead of a hand out or assistance in the proper functions of the mind. Neuroenhancers usually require to recommendation of a doctor or a prescription from a doctor in order to obtain. Currently, a doctor is not going to recommend using neuroenhancers to enhance someone’s mental abilities unless there is a deficit or illness that causes the person to be below average. They use prescriptions as treatments not enhancers. Therefore neuroenhancers if used ethically, according to society’s current standards, would not give rise to cheating or gaining an advantage over the average person. It would also not give rise to coercion or forcing the average person to take these drugs unethically and thus antagonize others into doing so in order to succeed or survive in various situations such as school, life, work, or others. These are the reasons why I think neuroenhancers need to be used only if prescribed for a medical necessity.

Works Cited

Greene, S. & Lidinsky, A. (2012). From inquiry to academic writing, (2 ed.), Boston, New York: Bedford St. Martins.

Talbot, M. (2009). "From brain gain: the underground world of "neuroenhancing" drugs." The New Yorker, (from pages 699-707 in textbook above)

Dees, R. (2007).” Better brains, better selves? The ethics of neuroenhancers” Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 17(4), 371-395.

random post cause i have time before nutrition class ^.^

Ok so to give people who dont know me or havent talket to me in years an update on me lets seeeeeee...... * chews on pen cap* hmmmmm...

currently school wise i am finishing up my prerequisites * cant say it to save my life* and applying for the nursing program this semester... which i better hurry up and get my application in... procrastination is my middle name... not really but, i definitely need to get started on it.
I am taking ten credits right now and working pretty much full time... ugh total brain drainer there. but i am succeeding with mostly all As wooot go me!!!

work wise. i am working for billings clinic in billings montana at one of theri nursing homes. I totally love it.. my co workers are a blast and so are my residents. its getting closer to holiday time and things are going to get crazy what with all teh activities and families and stuff. I am going to try and get into med aide cert classes if i am unable to get into the nursing program this semester and then increase my salary lol... its tough in this economy... blegh

home wise i am married have been for two years and some odd months.. love the hubby, but am frustrated that he hasnt gotten a job to help out with the money situation... lol cant blame him though because many good people are out there trying to get work after more than a year of being out of work. anyhooo i rant on that too much. hes a good guy and i love him thats why i married him. trying to keep weight off and lose more weight has been almost futile.. lol its hard to make time to cook and clean and exercise when all you want to do,after going to school and working for like 20 hours in the day, is go to sleep. I have managed to squeeze out a day her or there where i can take the time to go to the gym. i regret not going mroe because its good for me and i like to run. making time to clean the house and car is nonexistant right now what with finals coming up and exams popping up here and there. the laundry piles up ... our room looks like a toronado came through it... and the dishes are piling up... though we usually go disposable and theres only a tote full right o=now.

on what im into reading right now.. basically textbooks for my classes, but i squeeze some time in for national geographic mags and a few books here and there. I just finished reading Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier. she is one of my favorite fiction authors. As well as finished reading a few romance novels... >.> *coughs* somehow they get thrown in my read pile lol....

I basicaly dont watch tv anymore except for when im sitting with the hubby studying or surfing the web on my laptop, wich i love to death lol. though i do enjoy a few shows namely educational tv and the occasional cooking show or history channel series. most of the reality shows on tv are utter crap.


ugh time to get to nutrition so i shall leave you with that for now... hopefully i can tell yall more laters and maybe even get to some writing... ack got to RUN!!!!!! eeeP!!!!

some more recent work that yes i will try and keep up on...

Blood Blade

Chapter 1

The old wise woman opened the shop at the usual time this morning. The wood and glass counters were sparkling clean and brimming with all sorts of cures and enhancements. They had spent the night before preparing for the huge crowds that usually came on market days. While the old woman cooked up potions and powders Lhassa had been scrubbing and reorganizing the cabinets that displayed their wares.

Two things were different about this market day though. No one had shown up right at opening. Usually there were one or two people waiting for the doors to unlock and the advice and help to flow. The other one Mirksa, the wise woman seemed different, as if something were terribly wrong. For as long as Lhassa had known the woman she never had an ache or even the hint of a sniffle. Today the wise woman was hunched over the counter staring out the open windows, her white brows sagged with pain.

For as far as Lhassa could see out the same window Mirksa was looking out nothing was amiss. Potential customers peered in through the store’s front from time to time perhaps too nervous to seek the help they needed. The sky seemed calm, only one or two clouds drifted by. However, she still couldn’t help but feel something was wrong.

“ is something bothering you, wise one?” Lhassa finally worked up the courage to ask, leaning over the pristine counter.

Mirksa shivered as if an icy hand rested itself upon her neck. The wise woman shook out her long, leaf green, skirts and returned her focus to the window for a few more seconds. Her expression took on a more wistfull appearance making her look younger than her numerous years.

Lhassa was about to pick up a broom and sweep when the wise woman stopped her with a gesture. “ There are times my girl, that we are not certain in a great many things. In this however, I am certain… a darkness approaches.”

Lhassa had a mind to ask what exactly Mirksa was talking about when a customer came in. Dressed all in a dusty brown, features hidden within the darkness of a hooded cloak, they sauntered in. Something inside Lhassa’s stomach turned, but she kept a calm façade as the stranger approached Mirksa. His boots thudded upon their clean floorboards.

The wise woman didn’t so much as grin, but bared her teeth to the stranger. Her stance became less relaxed and her arms came to cross over her chest in a defensive pose. The stranger in turn stood as tall as the small room would allow. He turned his head towards the door and it began to close without aid it seemed. A Chill crept up Lhassa’s spine.

“ it’s been a long time, Mirksa.” The softness of the stranger’s voice began to melt the tension in the room.

Instantly Mirksa’s face lit up in a smile. Instantly she became less like the wise old woman lhassa had come to know her as and more like a happy parent glad to see their offspring come to visit. Lhassa knew that Mirksa had had no children and instantly became more interested in the stranger. He was much taller than the wise woman and had a heavy build unlike MIrksa’s small twig like form. Whatever he was to her Lhassa suspected he was not related, at least not closely.

“ Yes it has, Cam-“ Mirksa began

“no,” the stranger held up his hand. “None is to know I was here. I doubt your assistant would talk, but one can’t be too sure. I’ve seen mothers sell out their own when certain pressures are applied.”

He looked at her then. The breath caught in her throat at the blueness of his gaze hidden within the hood. It was almost as if his eyes were not just reflecting the little light that touched them, but glowing of their own accord. Inside her chest her heart thundered in alarm. It was then she decided to make her way outside to sweep like she had planned, giving the two their privacy. With broom in hand she headed for the door, but when she turned the worn brass knob it would not budge. She turned to look at the stranger and Mirksa. Both of them seemed to stare at each other communicating in something other than words.

“she stays.” Mirksa’s raspy voice ordered.

The stranger’s hands went to his hood, pulling it down around his shoulders. His midnight hair slid down from being gathered in the hood to fall well past his shoulders and close to his knees. No man Lhassa had ever met before had hair that long. A few spellcasters might have had hair to their shoulders, only because they never took the time to get it cut at proper intervals, too busy discovering the abilities the gods had granted them to notice. Noticing her perusal of his long hair the man tied it back with a piece of black string.

Lhassa’s hand went to her own hair. It wasn’t that she was self- conscious, just aware that she looked a little odd herself. Her hair once was a beautiful chestnut and fell down to her hips. That was before the fire had ravaged her parent’s farm taking not only her family but forever changing her appearance. Now her hair was white as snow and fell just to her shoulders.

Her stomach turned at the thought of that dreaded night when everything changed. The ghost smell of smoke filled her nostrils once again. She could almost see the flames flickering on the edge of her vision. The screams of her family echoed in the dark recesses of her hearing.

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well lets get this blog off the ground....

ok so i havent posted anything in like five years lol.... lots has happened in my life and i dont have time to explain it all.... sooo i wont. but if you have questions or just anna taste of what has happened i do have myspace... which i dont use anymore really.. or facebook which im on every day lol...