Soundtrack to my Life

"My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw
This song describes me because I have always been a daddy's girl. My dad and I have always had a close relationship so reading this blog assignment I knew right away what song to use. Not only does this song summarize my relationship with my dad but I also love country music. I'm not a hick so no I do not like the traditional country music but instead the more upbeat country.

ANY Christmas song
I live for Christmas. After Thanksgiving it's all I listen to and it drives my family crazy. My roommate and I set up a Christmas tree the Sunday we came back from break. How can't you be in a good mood when you listen to Christmas music?

"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel
This was my soccer team's song. We listened to it on the way to our games to pump ourselves up. It's a crazy song with a very fast tempo which is why I love it. It makes me think about all the great times I had with my soccer team of several years.

"Her Diamonds" by Rob Thomas
Only because I used to always sing this in the shower.

Research Practice

"Stem cell research is among the newest and arguably most promising technological developments of the past three decades" (Duroy, 2009, p.831).


Duroy, Q. (2009). Assessing the legitimacy of stem cell research: An instrumental valuation principle approach. Journal of Economic Issues, 43(4), 831-842. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/208775788?accountid=465


I found this academic article using the UW library online system. From reading the abstract and also the beginning of the online PDF version, it seems to discuss some of the main topics of my paper like ethics and the promising future stem cell research proposes. It is a fairly recent article so the information is most likely reliable and up to date. The quote a chose is a perfect example of this authors opinion of stem cell research and the remaining information provided in his article are there to support that thesis. I think this article could be very helpful and will provide me with a lot of information about the topic.


"Cardiac studies on stem cell repair are now more advanced than for any other organ, and this work has led to “a veritable revolution”1 in cardiac biology" (Brown, 2006, p. F61).


Brown, H. (2006). A positive future for stem cell research?. Circulation, 113(16), F61-F62.


This source is an article taken from a periodical. I also found this article using the madcat search from the UW library system. The article contains information from a cardiologist, John Martin. This article could be useful because it shows the potential of stem cell research from only one specific part of the health field. If stem cell research is benefiting this field so much, maybe it could benefit others. Heart disease is a common problem for many people and this article shows the benefits that stem cell research can have. This article is an excellent example to use within my paper. 

Final Chapters

In chapter 19 of the Psychopath Test, Ronson discusses the consequences of misjudging abnormality and diagnosing it as a mental disorder. He provides several cases to support his claim. Like 13 year old Rebecca Riley. One night Riley had trouble sleeping due to a cold so she walked into her mother's room where her mom simply gave her some of her bipolar medication and cold medicine. The next morning the mother found her daughter dead on the floor next to her. The autopsy revealed that her parents had overdosed her on her bipolar medication, which had no yet been approved for the use of children. Her parents gave her these pills so they wouldn't have to deal with her behavior. Both parents were convicted of Riley's murder and when Katie Couric interviewed Riley's mother she admitted to thinking that Riley most likely did not have bipolar disorder but was instead hyper for her age. This is the exact point that Ronson is trying to make. Just because someone doesn't fit the definition of "normal behavior" it is assumed that they have a disorder. Ronson also recognizes that being diagnosed with a disorder gives that person a feeling of relief because now they can start a treatment plan and work on getting better.

I thought that last chapter of the book made Ronson seem sort of hypocritical. The whole story consisted of him meeting with potential psychopaths, matching their characteristics with Hare's checklist, and diagnosing them as psychopaths. But then in the last chapter he addressed the issue of misjudging people and the idea of labeling someone because they don't fit the definition of "normal". But yet he was doing that to these people during the story? So I guess I was sort of confused by that. He also admits to maybe getting caught up in the power of having the Hare checklist which could be part of the reason why he was constantly judging people. But I do agree with Ronson when talks about doctors diagnosing people just to give them a "term". I know I would rather be diagnosed with something instead of being told they don't know what is wrong with me.

Chapters 8 and 9

In chapter 8 Ronson recalls the story of Rachel North and the potential psychopath who argued against her story. In 2002 North was the victim of a violent attack. Three years later, in 2005, North was in the carriage of a train that had been the scene of a terrorist attack. After witnessing the devestating loses, North could not seem to get over the tragedy and it began to take over her life. She decided to start a blog for those who survived the attack as a way to get their feelings out in the open and support each other. Soon after the blog was created, unknown people started to make comments arguing her story. The unknown writer claimed that it was not a terrorist attack and instead an attempt by the British government to cover up their corporate manslaughter. North was outraged and could not seem to let the issue go. She found out inside information on these unknown writers and attended one of their "club meetings." The man who seemed to run this group was named David Shayler. Shayler was a former spy who ratted out the rest of his mission for money because he did not want to be a part of an agency that involved itself in assassinations. Of course, Ronson wanted to meet up with Shayler and discuss Rachel North. When they met for the first time Shayler claimed that he did not remember who North was and Ronson tried to argue North's viewpoint. Shayler responded that North was mentally ill. Shayler's ideas began to appear everywhere.After a second meeting and a few other events, Ronson realized Shayler's spiral of madness.

Personally I found chapter 8 to be very frustrating. I do not really understand how someone can just ignore clear evidence and try to convince people that their evidence is false and their idea is actually the right one. I would be so upset if I were a victim of a tragic event and then be told that it never actually happened. Even for the families of those who died in the event. Shayler clearly had some sort of madness. I was also slightly confused in chapter nine how someone can criminal profile someone exactly.