Animal Testing and Henry David Thoreau

About 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for the purposes of scientific and commercial testing. Through this testing scientists develop medical treatments, determine the toxicity of different medications, and check the safety of products before they are used by humans. This is an immoral issue because it fails all three of Immanuel Kant’s tests. In terms of “Universalizability”, we could not test and treat all animals like this because under this extreme circumstance a harmful substance could eliminate entire species of animals. This would disrupt the delicate balance of the affected ecosystem. Essentially Earth could not exist under these circumstances. Animal testing also fails the test of “Human Dignity,” it is cruel to experiment on animals. Even though this method of testing has shown to advance science, there are other methods of testing that could substitute animal testing. Third it fails the test of “Reciprocity,” personally I would not want people to perform the same kind of testing on me that they perform on animals. Tests may involve withholding of food and water, burning skin, blinding, and other miscellaneous invasive procedures.

Thoreau would advocate not using the products that had animal trials. He would also support the actions of Jacqueline Traide who subjected herself to tests, typically performed on animals, in a window front so people could see how animal testing is cruel and unfair. For ten hours she was subjected to the same tests and treatments as animals, for example she was force fed and given injections. She was technically risking her life which is the most you could contribute to fight injustice according to Thoreau. Sometimes it is not enough to just stick out an “arm or a leg,” you have to fully and actively seek change. There are a good number of people who forgo buying products that were tested on animals, yet there is still a lot of animal testing which leads to the conclusion that this is not enough to enact change.

In regards to animal testing, Thoreau’s plan could be effective. It could result in the eradication of animal testing or at least decrease the number of animals that are used in scientific and commercial testing. I could imagine myself exercising civil disobedience to the extent of refusing to buy products that were tested on animals. However I don’t think I could exercise the amount of civil disobedience that Thoreau would deem necessary, such as the treatment that Jacqueline Traide was subjected to. This is due to the fact that I can’t even get a vaccination at my yearly physical because I am extremely uncomfortable around needles and often feel faint and sick after having to use them.

F-a-i-l-u-r-e, failure

Since we don’t have school before Easter, I spent the day playing Animal Crossing on GameCube. If you’ve ever played Animal Crossing, you may understand how you can spend a whole day in the game fishing, catching bugs, organizing your items, and socializing with your neighbors in order to obtain bells which is the currency in the game. You do a lot of these activities to pay off your house debt to the raccoon character Tom Nook. Each time you pay it off, he offers to upgrade your house which locks you into a cycle of debt. Since I had played most of the day, I had upgraded my house several times which was an impressive achievement in my 12 year old eyes.


At this time I had a bunk bed (which to my disappointment had a desk under the bed, instead of another bed, so does it really count as a bunk bed?) and my TV was across my bed, on top of a dresser, so that I could see it from a high altitude. I also had a shelf that ran parallel to my bed so that I could easily access books and other miscellaneous items without having to climb down the ladder every time I needed something. It was on this shelf that I kept my GameCube, which meant the wires ran across the room whenever I was playing.


I played until night, which was when my mom called my brother and I to come put out carrots for the Easter Bunny. When I went to get up, I accidentally got caught on the wire and the GameCube fell off the shelf which caused it to unplug. As a result I lost all of the progress in the game that I made that day. This disastrous failure can be attributed to me being impatient. Had I gotten up slowly and carefully, then the whole thing could have been avoided. It depends on the situation but for the most part, I’ve become more patient and tolerant of how long it takes for some things to happen. A lesson learned from this debacle is to save your game every now and then even if you intend on playing more after the save. Now I obsessively save my progress in any video game that I play.

Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 is a relatively new animated movie that was released on October 23, 2014 in the United States. This movie takes place in a fictional setting called “San Fransokyo” wherein Hiro Hamada forms a superhero team, consisting of his scientist friends, in order to fight a masked villain. His team includes characters, GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Baymax. Baymax is a robot created by Tadashi Hamada (Hiro’s brother) that was designed to give medical attention to those in distress.


Big Hero 6 has a diverse cast of characters. There are people of color in this movie. One of the heros, Wasabi, is an African American. He is super smart and strictly abides to rules in general. When they were being chased by the villain threatening their lives, he refused to go through the red light even though everyone else in the car was yelling at him to go through it. Another hero, Gogo Tomago, is Korean. She is an athlete, and has a tough personality. When Wasabi refused to go through the red light, she took over the steering wheel and skillfully drove the car, finding shortcuts which led to their successful escape.

This movie features strong, capable female characters as well as completely lacking humor that is gender-based. Main characters, Honey Lemon and Gogo Tomago are both female and scientists. In American society, subjects such as math and science are known as “boy subjects” and until recent years the careers in these fields were completely dominated by men. During the movie Gogo uses the phrase “woman up” to encourage one of her teammates to do better. As opposed to “man up” which is commonly used in America. Aunt Cass, the single guardian of Hiro and Tadashi, is also female. She never complains and she is depicted as a happy business owner and caretaker. Also Abigail, the villain’s daughter, is the test pilot who braved teleporting into another dimension.

(Violent) Video Games

Regardless of the cause, we've all had a bad day before. In attempts to make ourselves feel better, we all have something we do, somewhere we go, or maybe someone to talk to to make us feel better. There’s nothing like treating yourself to something fun, or going somewhere where you aren’t going to be judged. You may like to go on a long walk through the quiet woods to ditch your personal dark cloud. For some of us, video games allow us to have an outlet to do what we want. We can relieve stress and other emotions by taking out our emotions in a virtual environment. A common means of doing so may involve a gun and targets, such as people.


Sometimes you may be so angry that you just want to punch a wall, or maybe even someone’s face. You can feel your face heat up, and your fists clench at your side. If you punch a wall the outcome will likely be you hurt your hand, or you’ll damage the wall and have to get it fixed. If you punch someone else, you may get a detention in school and if it escalates you could be charged with assault. By turning on your gaming system and booting a first person shooter (fps) you can go on a killing spree without suffering the aforementioned negative consequences.

Call of Duty is a common fps video game series. These games require strategy and comradery. You’re only going to win domination if your teammates help you capture the flags. These kind of games require you to work together and as a result you’ll likely make a lot of friends. With a good team, you’ll easily get a lot of wins, kills, unlocks, and achievements. The basis of the game allows players to share an enjoyable, unique experience.

Independent Reading Video Project: Luna by Julie Anne Peters

Luna by Julie Anne Peters

***SPOILER ALERT***

The plot is arguably the best aspect of Luna by Julie Anne Peters. Although the book is fiction, the plot is very realistic. Luna is a teenage transgender girl, which means she was born with the biological features of a male but transitioned. Through transitioning she took steps to align her inner sense of gender and her physical appearance. Her parents had suspected that Luna was gay as she was growing up, so they had forced her to play sports and participate in typically masculine activities. They tried to change her because they didn’t want a gay child. The plot spans Luna’s life pre-transition to her coming out as transgender. Growing up and trying to fit in as male in society was a struggle for Luna. She is made fun of, bullied, and harassed in school and while she is out in public. Eventually Luna decided to first "come out" (expose her true identity) to her sister Regan, who didn’t understand what it meant to be transgender, but gave Luna her full support. Eventually when Luna came out to her parents, she is told by her father that she couldn’t live with her kind of lifestyle in his house and as a result she was kicked out. This is a reality for members of the LGBT+ community, especially those who identify as transgender.

The book is centered around Luna, whom the book is named after, however we get rarely get to see what Luna is thinking and feeling since the book is told from her sister Regan’s perspective. However from this perspective more people are able to connect and relate to the book, since there are more people involved with those who identify as transgender, as opposed to transgender people themselves. Regan’s initial confusion along with her revelations are bound to resonate with people who are in similar situations.

The intended audience of this book is the LGBT+ community and those who are related to/ or have friendships with them. Therefore I am included in the intended audience. The book is written through Luna’s sister’s perspective, so readers understand what Reagan is thinking and feeling throughout the book. Again, readers who may have a transgender sibling or friend are more likely able to relate to Regan. There are not many books about transgender teens, and even fewer that accurately portray them. Julie Anne Peters managed to write a book that accomplished just that. Luna was even a national book award finalist. Therefore I would rate this book 9.5/10 (10 being the best).

Shakespearean Sticker Soliloquy

I can’t decide if I should take the backing off the sticker, or if I should save it for later: once you peel the back of the sticker off you can’t really put it back on, the back will just keeping falling off; trying to keep it sticky side up would seem like a solution, but that won’t work either, it will still lose its stickiness, so you can’t do that either. The sticker would collect all sorts of particles; they will not come off, which, being stuck to the sticker, would render it useless: it would not adhere to any surface no matter how much you wanted it to. Therefore when the back is peeled off it should be immediately be stuck wherever you want; first, you should have in mind where you want it to go, you should plan on keeping the sticker there forever; then, peel the back off, and place it in that very spot, and apply force. Yes, because you don’t want it to accidentally fall off, however if you did want it to come off it won’t be easy, and likely won’t turn out well, especially if you want to reuse it, the sticker won’t be the same; it might rip, or it may lose its adhesiveness, but lets not forget the possibility it may not come off, you’ll have to use a chisel, or even some mayonnaise, which is a real thing, try it if you don’t mind risking the life of your sticker. It’s hard to decide what to do with a sticker, imagine peeling off the back and having it stay in one place forever, it’s just too big of a commitment to live with.