In a story recently posted on CNN, Doctors drinking while on a mission trip may be in hot water for acting improperly. Pictures of doctors posing while treating patients were posted without written consent of the patients. Some of which also showed patients wearing little clothing over their private parts. Other photos showed the same group of doctors drinking various alcoholic beverages in their work attire, which was then compared to a police officer consuming alcohol while in uniform. And still yet, photos of the same group of well trained doctors were smiling as they held guns owned by soldiers. These were all posted on a very popular social networking site. An ethics committee is now deciding whether disciplinary actions will be pursued against the group, and some have already been fired.

The doctors deserve the benefit of the doubt in this situation. I felt like more information should have been provided as to what the doctors were doing when they were photographed.

My first reaction to the story was to wonder if the doctors were on duty at the time the photos were taken and whether or not they were to return to duty the next day. On one hand, if their shift was over and they were just relaxing after a hard day, I can understand why they might have felt the need for a friendly get together. On the other, I am appaled that they would pose with guns and big smiles. It is also bizarre that they would think to ever post a picture of a patient without securing permission. Doctors who are trained to save peoples lives should definitely have more respect for their patients privacy. Facebook can be a great way to show people what you are doing to help others, especially in a devastated country. By posting these kind of pictures, I feel like their purpose is cheapened in some way.

I still feel as though the doctors should be given a chance to tell their side of the story, but there is no excuse for them violating the rights of others by showing their pictures without permission.
When they took their oath to save lives and do right by their patients, I don't think they ever expected to end up in a situation like this. Hindsight is 20/20, but forethought is priceless!

I thought our economy was "broken?!?"

I just read an article from CNN entitled
Putting 'Avatar' in per$pective and it really struck a chord with me economically speaking. The article compared and contrasted the blockbuster "Avatar" with other big names such as "Gone With The Wind" and "Titanic". The number of theaters available to show movies, amount of people in the movie viewing pool, cost of ticket with inflation added, and number of tickets sold were all listed as reason why "Avatar" may not be the big dog after all. The fact that "Avatar" is shown via IMAX and 3-D is also a factor adding to the popularity of the film, as premium prices are added for these two viewing options.

I am very confused by the popularity of not only this movie, but of all the movie attractions. The last time I visited the Joplin movie theater, I paid $9 for one adult ticket. At a minimum wage job, it would take 1.24 hours to earn the pre tax money it would take to buy one ticket. So my initial shock is to wonder why there is so much drama in the news about our broken economy, when all it takes is one cinematic adventure for us to find the money to smash records in the box office. If it is that easy to find the money, why are there so many hungry people in America today? If it is that easy to find the money, why are the unemployment lines so long? And my least favorite, if it is that easy to find the money, why are there so many American's facing foreclosure of their homes?

Although the article does mention how some moviegoers returned to the theater ten or more times back in 1997 when "Titanic" splashed onto the scene, I still think the economical situation we are in should have made some sort of impact on the $558 million dollars "Avatar" has pulled in so far. I was saddened to hear that while there is so much hurt going on in other places in the world, even the writer of this article admits that ""Avatar" is making ridiculous amounts of money".

Ridiculous indeed.

Vacationing in Haiti

In an article I just read on cnn.com titled "Would you be comfortable on a cruise to Haiti" http://connecttheworld.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/would-you-be-comfortable-on-a-cruise-to-haiti/
I found that Royal Caribbean is coming under fire for continuing to take passengers to the island of Haiti. The Independence of the Seas is a ship that has already visited and dropped off supplies, but the real question is whether or not it is right to vacation there while there is so much hurt and devastation going on about 100 miles away. Royal Caribbean has built a resort that has a private beach and a pier, which currently employs hundreds of Haitians. The company has also pledged $1 million for aid to the island.

I agree with both points of the story, but I feel as though not taking people to the resort or to the island would be a mistake. As much as people want to tip toe around the issue right now, the truth of the matter is that Haiti is a poor country and any money they receive will benefit them. If that means that cruisers will still go to the resort, then by all means let them go. If Royal Caribbean were to stop taking passengers there, and the shops, restaurants, bars, and other ammenities didn't have customers to earn a profit from how would that be helping the employees who are struggling to make an income? I am not an uncompassionate person, and I do feel that it may be callous to have people enjoying a vacation 100 miles from Port-au-Prince, but the employees at all of those places are in need also. I think the vacationers would definitely be in a more giving mood if they were allowed to continue going to the resort and could give more money to the workers through tips or other funding that would go directly to the Haitians.