what is the biggest loser doing to their viewers

The T.V. show,” The Biggest Loser,” has a great success rate for most of the contestants on its show.  But how is it making the American people feel about themselves? The shows’ following is huge, with seven million viewers in its fourth year.  With 250,000 Americans sending in audition tapes, to try to be apart of this show, you would think that it’s a great motivational show for obese people that watch. The thing that many people don’t understand is they are working out for up to five hours a day, placed on special diets and have some of the best trainers that money can by. The contestants don’t have to run to the store to get groceries, clean house, go to work, or any of the other “live chores” required by the normal obese person.   The contestants don’t have anything else to do then to work on losing weight.  Most people who decide they want to lose weight might go to the gym three days a week for maybe an hour and a half tops. They will continue to eat the same crap they always have, and when nothing happened they get mad that there wasn’t an over night change. The American people really don’t have the time to spend five hours in the gym seven days a week.  The show “The Biggest Loser,” however is still a wonderful show in my eyes. They take 18 obese people who want to make a change in there lives to better themselves and to live longer. That is great for those 18 people. I think they need to do more than try and just inspire people to lose weight.  The general public must know the “reality” of trying to do a weight loss program, such as the one on T.V., is close to impossible.  Putting into place a program that would be affordable, around the country, for those that really want to lose, would be a great addition to the program.  Some of Hollywood’s creative spirit could set up centers that mimic the shows techniques and strategies keeping the cost at a minimum.  The way our country is heading with Obesity on the rise, centers for weight control should be free or operate on a sliding scale. On the positive side the show has helped people who are over weight to understand the health risks they have placed upon themselves. We really need more of the helpful reality shows with people who want to make a difference in others. I think overall this is a wonderful show and I hope it stays on the air for many years to come.

Getting feedback from other drivers as you drive

 

  Now with technology growing and in car Global Positioning System (G.P.S.) becoming the new thing in all cars, Mike Farmwald, thought why shouldn’t these devises be able to talk to one another? Why can’t other cars tell me about slowdowns on the freeways so that I don’t have to hit the same slow down? With the questions raised, he decided to do something about it. Mike is a computer technician with a PhD from Stanford. He came up with a new in-car, on dash, G.P.S. unite. This unit has most of the same features as the rest of them do. It can give driving directions and find any of you favorite places to eat. He took however took it one step further. When you type in your desired destination, it gives you a variety of ways to get to your location. It also gives you an approximant time of arrival. It figures this out by taking into account several different forms of information such as, if it has taken that path before.  It looks at information from the G.P.S. satellite as well as up to the minuet radio broadcasts. The coolest thing that I think it does, is it talks to other cars. If there is another car up ahead that is in traffic, then it sends out a warning to other cars with the on dash G.P.S. unit regarding a traffic jam. Something like this could help many people from getting stuck in traffic, as well as preventing car accidents on the road. With people in a rush to get to work or school they get impatient and more dangerous on the road.  This only results in slowing people down even further because of the increase in fender benders. This new G.P.S. unit is a great idea for people to have installed into their cars. With technology improving, it will be interesting to see what will come in the future to assist our driving safety.        

The coast guard in arctic sea

 

  The U.S. Coast Guard is going to open a base at Alaska’s northern most point, just out side the Bering Strait. In past years this area in the Bering Strait was covered in ice sheets, preventing ships from passing through it. Now that global warming has changed the geographic make up of the Strait, it is starting to look like a good place to try to send ships through. The U.S. Coast Guard can see the potential of ships in distress to come of this. The thought that they could send shipments of goods from Scandinavia to Asia through the strait, would cut of approximately 5000 miles of their journey saving a great deal of time. Is this something we should be happy about this? I personally don’t think so.  Now, instead of looking for reasons to fix the problems that have resulted in global warming, they are looking at how they (shipping companies) can make more money by using global warming to their advantage. With greed in the eyes of the shippers, which also includes cruise ships, the Coast Guard is thinking ahead to combat a potential problem with the increase of vessels that will soon use the ice free waters. Instead of trying to capitalize on the Artic Warming, we need to look at this as a world disaster, and realize if we do nothing about it, it well only get worse. The Coast Guard is looking at a potential problem with the increase of water traffic and is attempting to prepare for it. However there does not need to be an issue if these shipping companies would just stick to what they have been doing, using routes that are safe and well traveled.  The possible loss of lives is not worth the time that will be saved or the extra money in their pockets.

Are Schools Failing Our Students?

In east L.A. the answer to this question is, yes. The law that came out, “no child left behind” implemented by the Bush administration a few years back, are having schools across Californian and around the country sweating. With the test scores so low in certain cities around the country, what are we to do to bring them up? In L.A. over the last few years, only one in five students were able to do grade level English and math. This year only 7 in 100 students could preform at grade level. How have we been so blind to allow  students to fail so miserably? Is there really nothing we could of done years ago to turn this problem around? With the failing test scores, schools will be losing their Federal money and grants. There is  even talk of over 6000 schools in Californian having to close there doors for good. What then?  With schools closing, is this going to help our kids succeed in life? The only thing this is going to do is increase kids to drop out of school and resort to crime. With all these young men and woman running the streets, with out some type of education, crime will go up in these districts dramatically.  It makes you wonder what will  become of our country in 20 years? When all these kids grow up with no training, what are they going to do? Where are they going to turn? In the inner cities like L.A., the easiest solution, is to join up with the local gang. In almost every instance kids who join their local gangs are more likely to go to jail, do drugs and or kills someone. Is this really the path we want our our country to go down? The question should answer it self.  So what are we going to do with are under achieving schools? We need to figure out a way to motivate our students, teach them how to read,  and give them vocational training.  College is great but it is not for every one.  So many of these kids that are not making it are second language learners.  Why don’t we give these kids a year of just language school, and forget the academics until they can use the English language.  Giving them a half an hour a day of English language development and than expecting them to sit though school ,all day in a language they can’t understand, is a joke.  For others that are just having trouble reading, they need intensive one on one help.  According to Juvenile Hall, 80% of kids held can’t read.  We have really messed up our educational process, it’s time we take a hard look and turn things around .

Senaters in Gobal Warming

The fact is that our world is warming up and we need to take a stand to fix it. In the Senate, Senators are discussing methods in which we can get away from are dependence on foreign oil . They are also talking about  how to cut down on emissions put out by the United States and the rest of the world. With the United States having more coal reserves then Saudi Arabia, why are we still so dependent on other country’s natural resources such as oil. We need to find a way to use what we have and use it in such as way as to keep the environment safe. One senator pledged to try and come up with a car battery that will last up to 150-200 miles with out having to be recharged (I have read we already have such a battery).  These are some of the kinds of idea’s we need to come up with instead of depending on foreign countries oil markets. Everyone needs to stop thinking about the immediate financial challenge, think out side the box, and make an effort in trying to make the planet a safer and healthier place to live. It seems the different Senators are tip toeing around the topics, talking about it but not making any kind of effort to make a difference. It almost seems like they are waiting for someone to make the first move and no one will do it. We all need to step up and make changes of our world, especially the younger generations.  Looking at and trying to accept alternative means of transportation would go a long way.  The technology is already available, the public needs to put pressure on the government to allow the general public to have access to it.  Such as the electric car.  Do a little research and see what is already available.  Just moving in that one direction would be an alternative to using foreign oil and help clean up the air we try to breath, making a significant change on green house gases.

Running Planned Parenthood Adds

Adds being run on public radio are done to let the public know about issues in the world. The article about, “public radio stations, halts planned parenthood spot,” tells about how a station stopped running an add because they felt it was not aligned with, “our Catholic identity.” This statement is a form of a Euphemisim through side steeping their true feelings and using different words to make their statement sound better. Saying they don’t beleive in the things the organization does are preventing many people from not seeking and receiving help. The radio station even went as far as to returning the donation that planned parenthood gave them of $5000 dollars. Now why would you not want young men and woman to know about this organization? There is no harm bought to anyone to know were to receive help when you need answers about sex. All this is doing is

Incouraging Teachers to Teach

In New York they are incouraging teachers to work harder. With their new contract, the district is prompting teachers to work harder, by giving them incentives. Their contract states, for teachers in low income districts working in schools that have low test scores, they are eligible for bonuses.  To receive these bonuses, the teachers must find new ways to teach and new ways to raise test scores.  This could, at the end of the year, enable them to get a bonus.  This new plan to encourage teachers to care more and work harder is kind of sad. There seem to be so many teachers who  just don’t care anymore. However by offering more money maybe it will be enough to make teachers think out side of the box and come up with idea’s that will make a difference. This could be a good thing, with the amount of students not preforming at the grade level.  If someone could research the poor performance on test scores, maybe one of the things it would find would be the past teachers and their style of teaching. All students do not learn the same way along with teachers getting discouraged, not caring anymore, and just giving up. Fed up with teaching kids who don’t seem to care and already think they are not going to make it in school, the student and the teacher stop trying.  Teachers may be one reason for the low test scores but hey can’t be held responsible for all of it.  With bringing this new approach to the table maybe it will generate some creativity. If we can spark some new interest into those teachers, then maybe they’ll share some of that spark with there students.  For a struggling student, a teacher can set them up for a successful or disastrous outcome.

F.D.A. Pushing Around Our Smaller Drug Companys

An article in the New York Times this week reads, “a headache for small drug makers.” The F.D.A. is trying to make it harder for small drug manufactures to produce drugs. For every new drug that they want reviewed by the F.D.A., they have to spend up to $5,000 dollars to get there drug looked at. With these high prices for the amount of drugs needed to be looked at, as compared to the number of drugs OKed by the F.D.A. , small drug company’s will not be able to afford this. The F.D.A. is trying to push out these smaller companies to be able to make more money for themselves. Other problems where raised also with drugs being used without the F.D.A. approval, such as drugs like Guaifenesin, a drug used by Native Americans that can be dated back to the 1500’s. Drugs such as these are being targeted by the F.D.A.  Why should the F.D.A. be able to charge such extreme amounts to have a drug looked at that is not claiming to cure anything, but just addressing symptoms of a cold and has been used for hundreds of years? Plus with drugs that have been around since the 1500’s and used successfully on millions of people, should they even have a say on if we should use it or not? Should they be able to make money off of it? I think the F.D.A. is robbing us of good company’s that are trying to make a difference in this world. They also should never get a dime of money off the sales of drugs that have been in use for hundreds of years. With the advances in technology growing so fast I think that F.D.A. is frightened by smaller company’s and they want to do anything they can to stay on top of the financial pyramid.   With the current system of government we have, money seems to be everything. It seems as if someone has to push out smaller company’s to make more money, they well.  Someone needs to step in and do something about this. If nothing is done then we will be left with one company running all of are drugs and advancement’s will start to slow down along with the price of drugs out of anyone but the very rich.

Credit Card Marketing to College Students

Being a college student, I see first hand how aggressively the credit card companies try to suck students into their easy payment plans.  Frequently offered “free-bees” make most of us take a second look. I personally feel it is a crime for credit card companies to be allowed to prowl on vulnerable students.  Most are in a tight spot financially and spent years barely making ends meet.  With the high cost of living, it is seemingly impossible to met rent, along with paying school costs without trying to hold down a full time job.  Students get overwhelmed trying to pay their bills and find a credit card looks like a great way to relieve some of the stress.  In some instances parents are able bail their kids out of their financial difficulties, but too often kids are having to file bankruptcy.  I personally have two cousins who have had to file bankruptcy due to the miss use of credit cards.   I think legislation should be passed to restrict the marketing of credit cards to students.

  

An Internet Jihad

Video taping car side bombings? Really? How some people get their entertainment out of their days. The thought of a suicide bombing to me is unthinkable, and then to sit by and video tape it, is so far from my mind, I can’t even comprehend it. The popularity of YouTube grows through out the world, but don’t you think there should be some kind of screening process before they are posted on the web? Watching Americans die on the streets due to people blowing up cars or placing things in the streets to kill makes for good TV? I would hope this is not something Americans would like to watch. The jihad support now seems to be growing in popularity due to the growing use of the Internet.  Shouldn’t this be something the government needs to keep there eyes on?  Should some type of regulatory department be created to try and band these things from being played in America?  We should worry about this growth in jihad activity.  With all the hatred in the world, all this is promoting is more violence for our youth to latch on to, giving them more negative roll modals to look up to. With the spread of YouTube, we might wonder if videos of this kind will result in American youths placing bombs in cars to see what well happen.  Freedom of speech is a great thing however where should the line be drawn?  Should we allow classes in bomb making, best forms of torture 101, and how to kill a million to be aired?  I don’t think this falls under a reasonable solution to encourage world peace.

REALITY T.V

There are so many different reality T.V shows aired today, finding one to get interested in is hard.  Many of the reality shows seem to have good intentions and then there are the ones that are just look for ratings. With all the trash on T.V., reality shows have to be close to the top of the list of the worst. The New York Times came out with, “when reality T.V. gets to real” by Jeremy W. Peters, telling of a woman who is trying to get over her drinking problems.  The T.V. crew that was assigned to follow her, watched her take a hit of vodka, then proceeded to get into her car to take care of things for the day. They then tell that they followed her, and watched, as she had a hard time staying within the lines of the road. I think instead of showing the public on their “Reality Show”, her problems, they needed to step up and help the lady kick her addiction.  Hopefully leading her to a better life.  Shows like, ”The Biggest Loser,” is set up to help people in crisis. They take people with a major life problem and give them tools to get through it. Knowing of the vast problems our culture has, we need to step it up and take charge to help people. Not show a helpless women make an ass of herself on T.V.

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