Antibiotics... Do we need a change?

Antibiotics have been around for a long time. I dont think anyone can really remember a time without them.  Wealthy countries take for granted the antibiotics because they can use the most strong ones to fight off the bacteria. But does this really work now? Studies have shown that over 100,000 people have died from bacteria resistant to our antibiotics. Over the years we have grown an immunity to these antibiotics and even have found new and developing diseases that could potentially kill us. To prevent resistance from developing, doctors are encouraged to conserve the newest, most powerful antibiotics, using them only in the most necessary of circumstances. While this preserves the drug’s value as a treatment option, it also means that sales will be slowest when a compound is new, and will pick up only toward the end of its patent life, when it can easily be supplanted by cheaper generic brands.


I hope that they find more cures and antiobiotics for everyone. I dont think its fair that they keep it from people to only use in the most necessary situations. Every year over 100,000 people die from bacteria resistance? Well then what are our doctors doing? What about the scientists? Aren't they supposed to be figuring out new cures for everything especially ones that could potentially harm alot of people. I sure hope to see some new antibiotics come out to help all of the sick people!

Britney Spears's Boyfriend....Nice or Not so nice?

It has been announced that Britney Spears recent boyfriend Jason has hit her and not just on one occasion. There has been pictures where you can tell that she had a black eye. But the question still remains.. was it her new beau? Her former husband Jason Alexander has reported that it is not the first time. He is alerting the media, not for the "large check" he recieved, but for how concerned this is making him for Brit. STAR is being sued for Libel because Britney believes that what they said were both untrue and hurtful. Apparently Alexander has an audio with spears telling him about this. So what shall they do now?

   I'll tell yah what they should do. I think that the magazine STARR should stay out of Britneys personal life. If she doesnt want to let anyone know what is going on then let her be. Yes its bad to think she is getting hit, but really? If i was in her position I would get up and leave the man.

Bomb Threat at School?

     I was recently informed about a bomb threat that Western Technical College Had this morning. A person carved "Bomb Threat" into the smoke detector in the boys bathroom. Everybody got evacuated from the Colemann Center and went into the Kumm Center while they searched the Coleman Center for the bomb. This was at 9:00 am this morning and I was lucky to be sleeping in the residence hall while this happened so I didn't have to deal with all the chaos.
    I personally think that someone did it to get out of class. I don't understand how people can be so stupid, it is totally to get out of class. If something like this occurs I don't think that we should have classes because what if they actually weren't kidding and just wanted people to think that? Then plenty of people's lives would be in jeopardy. I hope that it doesnt happen again cause that is not something to joke about!

Prince William Engaged?

I just read an article about Prince William and his long term girlfriend Kate getting engaged. He spent the morning in meetings with his house to discuss the wedding plans. They have been together for the past 8 years and he proposed while they were on vacation in Kenya last month. Kate is wearing Princess Diana's wedding ring. He gave it to her to symbolize how much his mother meant to him and to show that even though she is gone, she is not missing out. How sweet :) They plan on having their wedding next year and will take place in spring or summer in London. The couple plans to live in North Wales also. They have not discussed whether they are going to have a big wedding or a little one, but I am sure they will have a huge one.

I think its great that he has found someone he can connect with so well and that he has been with this long. I was with someone for two years and i thought that was a lifetime, and 8 years? Whew thats a long time. I am sure they are also going to have a beautiful and extravagant wedding. I cant even imagine how big and beautiful it will be. I hope that they both work out and im sure they will live a long and happy life together.

Is Lil Wayne Out of Jail? Yes, but Wiz Khalifa's in Jail after being Arrested

According to the article I have read on the internet Lil Wayne has been released and has been since last week. He is under severe probation requirements and he can't drink alcohol for 3 years. During this Wiz Khalifa was arrested and is in jail. He was caught for drug possession and he is believed to have led cops to his stash. He claimed that he loved waking up in the morning and smoking on the bus. Ironically he was arrested while trying to board his tour bus in North Carolina. TI is back in prison to do his 11 month sentence for messing up on probation. Him and his wife were busted for drugs in Vegas.
  I dont know why all of these celebrities get wrapped up in the drug related world. I dont think it is fair that out of everyone they get better treatment. If it was a normal person who was caught with these drugs, then their sentence would be so much more intense. I think they deserve what they got because they did in turn break the law. 

Teen mom Maci and Ryan getting back together? Or not?

Maci and Ryan from teen mom have recently hinted getting back together on the reunion, but by reading an article and seeing Ryan with his new girlfriend, it does not look too likely. Last week Ryan and his girlfriend spent the evening at a local Chinese restaurant named Formosa. Apparently she is a very nice girl, gets good grades, and was even elected to homecoming court last year. They have been getting cozy at house parties all over town for the past few months so things seem to be going very well for Ryan. As for Maci, her and her boyfriend Kyle King were photographed kissing at a pumpkin patch in LA. They recently broke up at the end of season 2 on teen mom, but they have been getting back together on and off since.

I think its great that they both found great relationships. I watched Maci and Ryan on 16 and pregnant and their relationship deffinately would have tooken a toll on little Bentley. We watched as Ryan pretty much left poor Maci to take care of Bentley by herself. I believe that she did the right thing in leaving him completely.

Teen Mom star Amber not welcome in her own town?

I recently read an article on Amber from teen mom and how she has both verbally and physically abused ex fiance Gary Shirley very frequently over the period of the show. It's not just damaged her relationship with Gary, but also with her hometown too. Local residents and businesses are very fed up with her shenanigans.  A local store owner has banned Amber from filming scenes of the MTV reality show in their property. She has been caught on camera punching Gary several times which includes a hit to the face right before she kicked him in the back before he walked down a flight of stairs. The police department is investigating it as an assault.  Gary and Amber split not too long after that and not too long after that she started dating a guy named Chris. Gary and Amber have reconciled and are trying to work on a stable frienship for their daughter Leah.

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I think that she deserves everything that is coming to her. If you are able to be that terrible to your man and abuse them like she does both verbally then she does not deserve him anyways. Amber needs to learn to grow up and treat people how she wants to be treated, and if she does not, karma will punch her in the face for sure. I could never dream of hurting someone I love no matter how mad I was. I am sure Amber will realize what she has been doing after she sees it, but it still does not excuse her behavior. Although, it does seem like she has gotten alot better since her and Gary broke up, they will have to deal with eachother for the rest of their lives. 

Woman drove around with body for months?

I read an article titled "Woman drove around with body for months". The woman apparently befriended a homeless person and did not know what to do when the woman unexpectidley died while she was sleeping. She drove around for months with a box of baking soda to even hide the smell. The police found the unidentified body on Monday after receiving a call about a car partially blocking a driveway. They noticed a bad smell and saw a leg poking out from the blankets along with some clothes. The remains consisted of skin and bones and weighed roughly around 30 lbs. The woman told the police she met the homeless woman in a park near fountain valley and told her that she could sleep in her car. But when the woman unexpectidley died in her car 10 months ago the woman did not want to go to the cops because she was afraid. She thought she would be accused of something because of everything happening in her life. The dead woman is believed to be in her 50's to 60's and has the first name Signe.

I think it is so nasty that she did not even try to report it to the police and leave it in her car for 10 months. I could never dream of doing that ever. Personally it looks more suspicious that she wouldn't take the normal precautions and call the police, I know I would. 

April 5, 2006-A day ill never forget =[

  

     Have you ever taken someone you loved for granted? Did you feel like you could have had a better relationship with them or even could have listened to what they said to avoid a fight? Were you completely mind blown to know that you would never again have communication with that person, ever? I was stumped to know that I would never again see the face of the person I called my father. 


   Father's are a very important thing in a girl’s life, and the basis of all of their relationships comes from who her father was/is. Did you know that the majority of girl’s, who get married, marry someone who is almost identical to their father at that age? Weird, huh? I never knew any man quite as unique as my dad. He was funny, compassionate, and even a good listener. No matter what time of the night it was, or even where you were, he was always willing to help, because that was the type of person he was. My family is notorious for their sense of humor. We tend to take the worst out of life and turn it into a funny or legitimate situation. My father was very known his sarcasm (which he used frequently) and his jokes. He was always making a joke out of life, even if you were in a terrible mood, there was not one time that I recall him not trying to make me laugh, and as usual he would succeed. 


    I grew up in the small town of Genoa, WI with a population of about 230 people. It is not very diverse, and everyone knows everyone and their business. Genoa’s filled with lots of scenery, wildlife, and even a nice view of the river. At times I would go up to what we called the Genoa Vista, and go look at how beautiful my home town actually was. Over time of living in such a small community, I was taught to embrace the beauty in life, so that is what I try to do most of the time. My father was very passionate about many things but his main passions were Music, Basketball, and his family. Basketball was what he completely 100% enjoyed on his free time. He was one of the starters in high school for his basketball team (actually the same high school I went to) and the passion and love for it never left him. He moved back from Madison when my mom got pregnant with me,and  the school offered him a coaching job, which he was absolutely happy about! From time to time while growing up he would try and teach me pointers, and he actually got me very big into basketball for about 10 years of my life, that is until I felt so un motivated to do it (because I had been pushed to do it my whole life.. IMAGINE THAT). He coached basketball for 16 years, and everyone knew and loved him as a coach, because everyone knew exactly who he was. They all loved him for his giddy attitude and very funny sense of humor, but even though he was such a goofball sometimes, he knew when to be serious and when not to be.  My dad was the insurance agent at a company called “Gillespie Insurance,” which happened to be founded by my grandpa Patrick back in the 1960’s and passed down ever since. My father was one of those people whom was always looking for a way to make you more successful than you already were. My family is very big into being the best you can be and he definitely took pride in that his entire life.


     In every person’s life they know that people come and go in their lives daily and we know that you can’t have all the time in the world with someone. But in a sad but true sense, I never thought it could happen to me.  I had always envisioned my father being there for everything; my graduation, when I got married, when my kids were born, etc; but life being the unfair thing it is, that’s surely not the case. Before I knew it I would have one of the most emotional, heartbreaking next few days for me, and I didn’t even know it was coming. April 4th, 2006 was like any ordinary day for me. It was an average day for me filled with seeing friends, getting homework, and coming home to a family that I didn’t get along so good with. My best friend at the time, Dana, had wanted me to come to her house, so I went home and decided to talk to my mom about it. “Mom, can I go to Dana’s house?”  “No,” she replied. Honestly that did not stop me though, like every girl when the mother says no, she goes right to the dad. “Dad can I go to Dana’s?”  He was unsure at first but decided that No would be a good answer too. Finally after hours of begging them to, they finally gave up and let me. I was so happy that I got to go see my best friend! I packed my stuff, got in the car and was there in about fifteen minutes. My mom dropped me off there and told me to have fun. I replied “Yes I will Mom.” Dana and I did our usual routine, played with her cat George (pretty much my cat too), watched that 70’s show, talked about our lives, etc. “What would you do if you ever lost a parent?” Dana asked.  “I am not sure dude, but I would be so upset, I replied”


      “Yeah me too I don’t know what I would do without my mom, she said.” The conversation continued and ended up resulting in even some jokes about my dad and his love for basketball. Dana and I always got a kick out of it. We ended up talked until about 12:00 am and decided that we should probably get some sleep since we had to get up at 5:30 am the next morning to get ready for school. 
The following morning was April 5th, 2006; a day that would stay in my memories forever. I started out having a fantastic morning, Dana and I drank 2 cups of coffee before school and were pretty wired on caffeine. We almost missed our bus because our bus driver Jean Lamey liked to hot rod on the back roads and did not like to wait a couple minutes for us to get out of the door. This kid named Tori Collette was on the bus and he would often say random things to Dana and I which we thought were hilarious! We ended up yelling his name really loud for no reason, knowing he disliked it, and he ended up freaking out about it. She and I thought it was so funny. When we arrived in the Genoa trailer park to pick up all of the kids our bus driver ended up backing up, and hitting 6 mailboxes. Troubled by this act, he just drove away and continued the bus route. Dana and I could not contain ourselves about what just happened, let alone everyone on the bus. We arrived at school and had pretzels and cheese for breakfast, something that Dana and I were obsessed with at the time (Favorite breakfast).  We sat at our table of girls, talked about what happened, laughed a lot, and before we knew it, it was time for class. I happened to have been in the 8th grade but was taking a high school level math class called “Core 1.” I arrived there and sat in my seat. We had work time in class so we ended up getting in groups and my friend Mc Kenzie was in there. “I didn’t know popcorn popped in a microwave,” she stated. Being the ridiculous person I am I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that time, and my entire group picked on her about it (jokingly) for the entire class period.  Following math class was my Gym class with my entire grade. We had to start out running laps and my teacher Ms. Silvis would often name off things and we would have to run for them. As soon as that got done I got called to the office. My class being the young and immature 8th graders we were, asked me what I did wrong. Some even did the classic “OHHHHHHHHH burn.” I replied that I had no idea and my best friend Lucas told me good luck. I smiled at him and walked to the office.  Was I in trouble? What did I do? That was all I kept thinking. When I got there I saw my uncle Mike and aunt Corina, and immediately the only thought that ran through my mind was that my Grandfather had passed away.  “Maggie, do you have any other clothes to change into,” my aunt asked. Confused, I replied “Yes.” They told me to go change and to come back up to the office but did not give me any more information. I made my way to the locker room and changed and then told my class goodbye. When I got into my principal’s office I saw my cousin Ashley crying. Then I was sure it was my grandpa, but boy was I wrong! “Your dad was in an accident…and he’s not doing too well,’ she said with a worried look in her face.  Thinking that he was just in the hospital I replied “Okay is he all right?”  I had never seen such a guilty and not knowing what to say look on her face; “No, “she replied, “He’s gone Mags.” I had never felt such a rush of sadness, and madness at the same time. It didn’t feel real to me, in my mind so many things were going on. Not this I thought, but sadly it was true. I was so flabbergasted and inside I broke down instantly, but for my family I contained how I felt. They would not let me stay at school so we left and they decided to take home a different way than the usual 15 minute drive. I was very furious at them because I wanted to see what happened, I figured I could handle it, but they saw it differently. 


      I got home about 45 minutes later since they took a different way, and instantly hugged my mother who was torn to pieces. The hardest thing was having to tell my two siblings Alec (9) and Cassidy (6). Cassidy immediately understood, but Alec (has a learning disability) didn’t understand that he wasn’t coming back. I could not take the sadness and aloneness my house had now so Ashley and went to my grandpa’s house and talked about all of the old and fun times with my father, and even laughed a little bit. We talked all day and waited for my friends to get off school, and even sat by the bus stop for them to get off the bus. When they got to Genoa they had cards and were giving me hugs, and hanging out with them actually eased my pain a lot. Later on we found out that the wake was April 9th, 2006, which happened to be three days from my 14th birthday, I honestly didn’t think it could get any worse. 


     On April 9th, 2006 we had the wake at Vossteig Larson Funeral home in Viroqua, WI. It started at about 1:30 but ended up going until about 8:00 pm. I was very nervous and did not know what to expect not only for myself, but my family too. I had never felt so empty inside and it didn’t feel real to me still, but this was going to prove to me that it was.  My father was a very well known and liked man, and people lined up down the block to be there for my family and say their own goodbyes. It started getting to the point that I had said so many thank you’s for being here that I forgot who had came. Not to mention it was 7 hours long, instead of 4! I didn’t like feeling sad because I knew deep down that it was not what my father had wanted. I went up to him in his casket and examined his makeup. I thought that they had put way too much makeup on him and in the process of this I touched his nose not thinking about it. It smeared of course and Ashley and I could not help but giggle about the situation. The wake went on for a long time and I knew that even though I was laughing I still had to be strong for my family.


     April 10th, 2006 was the day of the funeral. My family had asked me to think of something that related to my father and read it during mass, so I agreed. I had never been so sad in my entire life, and being myself, tried to keep the composure I had left for my family.  The mass was not very long and I read a poem in front of everyone, and ended up starting to cry. After this followed the burial, which I could not help but bawl my eyes out at.  It was a very sunny yet cold day, the wind was blowing, and it was definitely sweatshirt weather.  I am Irish so it is traditional at a funeral to have a bagpipe playing, so we had that playing while we walked up to my father’s grave site.  When we got up there the priest said a few things, and my uncles all said very nice things about my dad and their goodbyes. My dad being notorious for drinking, they did a shot in honor of him. They closed the burial session with us being able to say goodbye to him and this followed a lunch. At the lunch everyone shared stories and talked about all of the good times. 


     In conclusion, you should never take your loved ones for granted. You never know when you might not have them in your life, and embrace the time you do have with them.  Do what makes you happy and them also. Even though I don’t have my dad in my life anymore, I couldn’t possibly forget him or how much he influenced the person I am today. A void like that could never get filled no matter what and even as the years pass he will still be my pop. He left me with some very good advice and I still use it today. “Take everybody’s advice and then do as you please.” This means that you should take peoples opinions and use them towards your own. I will never forget what he meant by that.

Drunken Driving

I decided to read an article on drinking and driving called "Our view: Safe Ride program a bright spot in our drinking culture." Our state has been documenting all the drunken driving and last year 238 people were killed in alcohol related crashes, 400 injured, and over 44,000 were caught drunken driving. Wisconsin has the highest rate of drunken driving in the nation and over 26% of adults can admidt to have driven under the influence at least once. Wisconsin may just may get a thing called the "tavern league." They believe that by being on foot may be dangerous so why not include a ride home in the mix? Perfect. In 2009-10 they reported to have gaven over 62,358 free rides home and have had a 16% increase from the previous year. 

I personally think that it's a fantastic thing they are doing here. They are keeping many people out of danger by giving them rides home. Regardless or not if they were going to drive it is still helping them out extremely!! By looking at all of these stats it makes me realize how bad the drunken driving is in Wisconsin and how much more we should be doing to change that. One state should not have the highest drunken driving rate compared to the nation, that is not right. I understand Wisconsin is full of big drinkers but I just don’t understand how people would not want to consider others and think about their safety. These people are doing wonderful things by helping out these intoxicated people because it not only keeps them off the road, but encourages them to not drive  because they know they have a safe way home.

Learning

"Learning to love and accept ourselves is basic to human education. So is learning to language emotion in a positive way. Ultimately when we learn to truly love and accept ourselves, we'll be able to live well and love each other and every thing we encounter."

We recently had an assignment to watch a video about a persons approach towards learning. I thought Gever Tully did a fantastic job demonstrating his way of learning. He was more of the “hands on” type of person. His approach was quite interesting though he gave the kids tools, materials, and guidance and let the kids run wild with their imaginations. He started his own school to let kids express their creativity but yet still learn. I don’t think that there has really been that many changes to education in our society other than it being more hands on stuff than it used to be. He states that “time” is in short supply in a Childs daily like, and he has the generalization that you can figure things out by fooling around, or in other words, letting your creative juices flow. He also states that nothing ever goes as planned, which is very true in society. Kids learn that every step in a project is one step closer to success or failure, but they could always try again! As a student in school my learning has always been mostly on paper or in a structured classroom, although I am very good at hands on things. Usually at a small school there is not enough kids to constantly do hands on things, vs. a large school where there is way more opportunities and choices. Outside of school I have learned things hands on a lot more. At my old job at Dairy Queen I had to learn things hands on all of the time. For example: You can’t just tell someone how to make a cone, they have to do it a few times to get the concept. Recently, I just got a job at Dominos Pizza Franchise, and it is 100% hands on for that job. You have to learn how to top pizzas, make pizzas, answer phones, do ovens, stock, etc but you can’t just be told how to do it, it takes practice! I learned how to play guitar In a beginning guitar class that my school offered as a independent study. It was a task at first because its very frustrating when you can’t get your fingers to lay the same way, or even get the guitar to sound the right way. It is all hands on when it comes to instruments, although there is some book knowledge that you have to have. Reading notes, chords, beats, measures, or in other words, reading music in general is a big step and can completely confuse a person learning it. Guitar was one of the most complicating and hands on things I have ever done, but once I got through the hard part, it was not too bad at all. I personally would love to go to a school that approached learning the way Gever Tully does. Like I stated previously, I am very good at hands on things, and I like that he gives them the opportunity to be creative and show him what they can do to the best of their abilities. There have been plenty of times in my life when I had to approach many new and unfamiliar things, drawing was one of the newest things. I couldn’t quite grasp the concept of drawing a person, because there are a lot of things that contribute to it. The eyes, nose, and mouth have to be in certain spots, and if you draw them off, it looks dumb. I would normally get really frustrated because in my mind I could see exactly how I would want it to look, but it would never turn out that way. I am not going to lie though, I didn’t succeed my first time, but I had enough positive attitude and determination to try it again. Society has been pretty good at accepting that everybody fails at least once in their lives at something. It’s just we all know that with failure comes success if you at least try again. I don’t know a single person in my life that has ever just given up, but maybe that’s because they have enough motivation and want to see themselves succeed.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_action.html

Labor Day Weekend

I had a very interesting Labor Day weekend. Not like most I've had ill deffinatley tell you that! It started off fairly well, just a fun filled weekend with my best friends.. what more could I ask for? Friday and Saturday were both involving either work or hanging out with my friends, but that was okay with me.

On Sunday, I went to my cousin Linnea's wedding reception. It was in La Crosse at the Best Western Hotel and it was a very nice place. Being a nice cousin and all, I decided to be the DD for my cousin Sara who doesn't get out much (being a mom and all).  I had a great time seeing all of my family, and even some people I haven't seen for a very long time. But of course with every good thing in life there comes a bad thing also. That night during the wedding reception my cousin Tom let me in on some bad news. He told me that my Grandmother Shirley was not doing too well and that I should go see her because she might have only had a few days to live. I was shocked when I heard this, and he told me that he would take me to the nursing home. I was so nervous to go by myself, that in so many ways i couldn't have thanked him enough for going with me. It was a very hard thing for me to do ( to see someone you love dieing right in front of your eyes) but I knew deep down that if I did not go and see her, I would regret it for the rest of my life. She turned out to be okay that night so we went back to the reception and have a good time. I was never so relieved in my life..

My Monday was pretty boring filled with lots and lots of homework. The wonderful life of a college student :) 

But the following morning was not the greatest :( My grandmother passed away, and even though we knew it was coming and am very sad to not have her in my life,  I couldn't help but feel at ease that she is not suffering anymore. Especially when you know that they would want you to feel this way. 

Overall, I had a very random weekend filled with lots of different things, emotions, places, people, etc. Even after everything I have been through, I cant help but think positive and know that in the end everything will be okay. Just have to keep my chin up and hope for the best!

Intro about myself

My friend Amara and I

Well to start off my name is Maggie Gillespie. I was born in La Crosse, WI on April 12 to Michelle and Daniel Gillespie. I have one brother Alec and one sister Cassidy. I lived in a small town called Genoa, WI and graduated knowing most of the people in my class on a very personal level. I work at Domino’s Pizza Franchise, and Dairy Queen and live with my mom for the time being. Right now I am taking my Generals at Western Technical College and eventually plan to major in Early Childhood Education, and eventually own my own daycare. I also plan to get certified in the Cosmetology field. My favorite kind of music is rock music, although I do like rap and country, and my favorite band is Sublime. My favorite color is lime green and I am a big fan of summertime.

"May the wind always be at your back.. and the sun upon your face.. and May the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars."

"Take everybodys advice...and then do as you please" - Pop