Friday 10/11/2013 - Eureka

Today at work, one of our regulars and I engaged in a conversation about zombies.  He reminded me of the Planet Earth episode which involved a fungus that mind controlled ants to complete it's life cycle.  From there it moved into other similar bizarre behaviors of the biological and ecological world.  Needless to say, I was fascinated.  Zombies had always been an excuse to indiscriminately mow down human like creatures without actually killing people... and in so many ways it could become a reality.  Not saying I have a strong urge chainsaw through people (well... most people) though if they were zombified....  I had my topic and a lot of strong leads.  It was off to the races

Someone posting on my account? Did i leave my computer logged in?

I'm sorry. I don't know much of what is going on with your blog, but maybe you can look into some of these "zombie" cases and see what they have in common- whether it be how they act or the symptoms prior to their zombie acts. Maybe you can look into the zombie incident thing that happened around last year. See if it has occurred in certain parts of the globe and see how the location can play a role in it with cultural reasons and influences.
If you already know the drug or whatever the cause that is involved with it, maybe you can look into how frequently the zombie stuff actually happens, if it happens almost every time or if it is a rare case- and from there see if you can find what might be the actual specific cause of it. Maybe you can see if certain people have some genetic factors that causes them to react to certain drugs a certain way.


EDIT:  I have no idea who wrote this and how they wrote it under my name... lmao but thank you

Wednesday 10/09/2013 - ...And the battle begun

Today in class we picked our topics.  At my work, I overheard from several of my patients that a man named Rick Simpson had been producing a special type of hash oil that had been wildly successful in curing various types of cancer.  So often had marijuana been accused of causing cancer, that upon hearing that there had been several thousand cases of cancer treated with Phoenix Tears going into remission, I had to find out more.  However, upon searching through the academic channels, I found little current information.  Most of the information I did find was biased, had a negative view, or was dated and contained erroneous or skewed data.  With little other than first hand testimonials and pop culture articles to go off of, I retired my search and set out to divine a new research question on a topic that piqued my fascination.

Possible Research Topics

1. NFL, Sports and their role in history and modern society OR performance enhancing drugs and their prominence in the modern game
2. The US's bipartisan government and comparisons to other democratic systems and voting structure.
3. Does the outsourcing of jobs negatively impact our economy?
4. Is it realistic to find new habitable planets to colonize or are the currently understood limits of physics an impassable obstacle blocking our dreams of interplanetary travel?
5. Could a zombie epidemic manifest given what we know about possible real life sources that closely mimic the symptoms of zombification?
6. What are the main causes of addiction and how can addiction best be avoided?
7. Rick Simpson's Phoenix Tears hash oil has been reported by several thousand patients to have cured their cancer via the medicine's high THC and CBD content.  Is medical cannabis the solution to the cancer problem?
8. Is time travel possible?

Kyle...

Hello Kyle,

       When researching a topic, are peer reviewed sources only considered peer reviewed if reviewed by scholars/professionals in academia?  With Darren's topic about the best player in NFL history, for example, would peer reviewed sources and groups with authority on the subject include sports analysts and testimonials from players, coaches, and the games' historians?  It occurs to me that the best information would come from these authorities on the subject.  And on the topic of non-peer reviewed sources, should we exclude them altogether, or is it acceptable to reference such material in certain situations?

                                                                                             Thanks K-Dawg,
                                                                                                                Ian Kane

First hand experience with Hamilton Pharmacopeia- hope you enjoy watching. Vice is amazing and I believe one  of most credible sources online as far as controversy journalism . If I remember this video right it is a lot about drugs and its connection to zombies in Haiti-really funny and a new perspective  on this issue.

http://www.vice.com/hamiltons-pharmacopeia/nzambi-episode-1

Zombies Research Help

Zomies - A Pop Culture Resource for Public Health Awareness
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=87494203

Psychological manipulation (Braiker)

• Positive reinforcement: includes praise, superficial charm, superficial sympathy (crocodile tears), excessive apologizing, money, approval, gifts, attention, facial expressions such as a forced laugh or smile, and public recognition.

• Negative reinforcement: involves removing one from a negative situation as a reward, e.g. "You won't have to do your homework if you allow me to do this to you."

• Intermittent or partial reinforcement: Partial or intermittent negative reinforcement can create an effective climate of fear and doubt. Partial or intermittent positive reinforcement can encourage the victim to persist - for example in most forms of gambling, the gambler is likely to win now and again but still lose money overall.

• Punishment: includes nagging, yelling, the silent treatment, intimidation, threats, swearing, emotional blackmail, the guilt trip, sulking, crying, and playing the victim.

• Traumatic one-trial learning: using verbal abuse, explosive anger, or other intimidating behavior to establish dominance or superiority; even one incident of such behavior can condition or train victims to avoid upsetting, confronting or contradicting the manipulator.

Braiker, Harriet B. (2004). Whos Pulling Your Strings ? How to Break The Cycle of Manipulation. ISBN 0-07-144672-9.