Friday, December 18, 2009

Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

Evolution, the theory that life was changed through slight changes over long periods of time, also known as natural selection. This theory is the major life theory that is accepted in the world of science today. If you were to go into any high school biology class, evolution is what you would hear. This is because no other theory has been proven scientifically equal. This is despite the fact that there are many errors in evolution. There is a theory that addresses many of the issues that evolution cannot. The theory I am talking about is Intelligent Design.

While there are many different examples of where intelligent design can explain something evolution cant I am going to mention only my favorite one. When we look at information today: newspapers, magazines, and books, we know that something intelligent was behind it. You can't just look at a book and say it happened by random chance. Then why is it we can say it was random chance when we look at DNA which is our bodies personal information and is millions of times more complicated then a newspaper. I think that it would take far more faith for me to believe that DNA was random, then for me to believe in a creator.

If you feel this way as well it is time that we did something about it. We need to make changes to the education systems of America to allow both evolution and intelligent design taught in schools. We need to contact our senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold to make this happen. Write to them and tell them about how you feel it is unfair for you to learn only one side of theory in school.

Cheeri

The blog post I chose to read was on product health claims by Josh Pep. The blog post talked about Honey Nut Cheerios and its claim to lower the risk of heart disease. These claims of lowering the risk of heart disease has made the FDA upset. According to the laws of the FDA, food companies are not allowed to make claims like this. The only product that can be advertised as having such claims needs to be a certified FDA drug, not food. The blog post also addresses the claim of Honey Nut Cheerios lowering cholesterol. The FDA also deputes this as false advertising as Cheerios alone will not help you lower your cholesterol.

I agree with Josh on his blog post. Honey Nut Cheerios really is in violation of FDA guidelines. The definition of what is deemed as a drug is any product used intended to be used for a use in prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease. Cheerios is advertising its self as being able to prevent and reduce the risk of Heart Disease. FDA guidelines state that only FDA approved drugs can advertise them self with such benefits.

While I do have to agree that Cheerios is in violation of FDA's guidelines I disagree with the FDA. I disagree because, is this really that big of a deal? Cheerios really do help lower cholesterol with healthy diet and exercise. What Cheerios does is it becomes a very healthy part of your diet, and when you exercise and eat healthy you will lower your cholesterol. To me it seems like the FDA had nothing better to due then to go after cheerios. I mean Cheerios have been around since 1941 so we know that there safe, and have been advertising heart disease prevention since 1999. So why wait until now to do something about it? All in all I agree that Cheerios is violating the FDA, but in this case its really not that big of a deal.

Cheeri UH-O

The blog post I chose to read was on product health claims by Josh Pep. The blog post talked about Honey Nut Cheerios and its claim to lower the risk of heart disease. These claims of lowering the risk of heart disease has made the FDA upset. According to the laws of the FDA, food companies are not allowed to make claims like this. The only product that can be advertised as having such claims needs to be a certified FDA drug, not food. The blog post also addresses the claim of Honey Nut Cheerios lowering cholesterol. The FDA also deputes this as false advertising as Cheerios alone will not help you lower your cholesterol.
I agree with Josh on his blog post. Honey Nut Cheerios really is in violation of FDA guidelines. The definition of what is deemed as a drug is any product used intended to be used for a use in prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease. Cheerios is advertising its self as being able to prevent and reduce the risk of Heart Disease. FDA guidelines state that only FDA approved drugs can advertise them self with such benefits.
While I do have to agree that Cheerios is in violation of FDA's guidelines I disagree with the FDA. I disagree because, is this really that big of a deal? Cheerios really do help lower cholesterol with healthy diet and exercise. What Cheerios does is it becomes a very healthy part of your diet, and when you exercise and eat healthy you will lower your cholesterol. To me it seems like the FDA had nothing better to due then to go after cheerios. I mean Cheerios have been around since 1941 so we know that there safe, and have been advertising heart disease prevention since 1999. So why wait until now to do something about it? All in all I agree that Cheerios is violating the FDA, but in this case its really not that big of a deal.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Blog Post 6: Compairing Two Articles

The topic I choose to write about was lowering the drinking age. I myself do not think we should lower the drinking age, but this is not something I am over zealous about and am open to views on either side.

The first article is for lowering the drinking age to eighteen and starts out by stating that the current drinking age is counter productive. The United States has the strictest drinking laws and regulations compared to other countries but yet still has the most drinking related problems. This is because youth will always drink, even if it's illegal, they will just go to undesirable locations without parental supervision. In other countries do not even have drinking ages or if they do their drinking ages are considerably lower, around 16 years of age. In these societies, such as France where the drinking age is 16, they have considerable less drinking related problems. That is because by being introduced to alcohol at a younger age with parental supervision they learn how to drink in moderation and control themselves. In contrast to America where kids will binge drink every chance they get because of the difficulty involve with acquiring alcohol.

The second article is against lower the drinking age to eighteen. The biggest argument here is that it will greatly increase drunk driving, because at that age kids, in the governments eyes, become adults and are allowed to make there own decisions. For the most part 18-years-olds do not always make the best decisions including drunk driving.

I would have to say that after reading both articles my view on lowering the drinking age has changed. However, I don't think the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, instead I think it should be lowered to 16. I agree with the article in not lowering the age to eighteen because 18-year-olds do not make the smartest decisions especially when introduced to something new. At the age of 16 however they would still be kids so parents would be able to give them supervision and make sure they do not do anything stupid, like drunk driving.

Blog Post 7: I'm a Night Elf MoHawk Fool!

My favorite endorsement involving a celebratory has Mr. T endorsing a video game called World of Warcraft. There are two commercials but they both incorporate each other. The first commercial has Mr. T doing his stereotypical tough guy routine and talking about how great World of Warcraft is. Mr. T talks about the character he plays as in World of Warcraft. Mr. T keeps saying he plays as a Night Elf Mohawk, and no such thing exists in the game, and when someone corrects them he goes all tough guy on that person so they shut up.

The second commercial starts out with Mr. T talking about how people claimed there is no Night Elf Mohawks and if so how do you explain this footage. It then goes on to show clips of the new Night Elf Mohawk that had been added to World of Warcraft.

Having Mr. T for the endorsement was an excellent idea of Blizzard, the company that made World of Warcraft. This is because it really helps get rid of the stereotype of people who play World of Warcraft, which is that they are small nerdy teens.This commercial appeals a lot to guys who are like me. I like video games and ever since the movie “Rocky 3” Mr. T has been mine idol when it comes to being a tough guy. I have never played World of Warcraft because I have always looked at it as the “nerds” game. I know this commercial was very effective and will have the desired outcome. I know first actually, because it worked on me and two my friends.We downloaded a free trial last week so that we too could be Night Elf Mohawks just like the tough-as-nails man-mountain that is Mr. T.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Acia Berry (Blog 4)

Acia extract pills claims to be miracle pills made from the super food called acia berries. These pills have been claimed to help you have drastic weight lose, burn fat while you sleep, rid your body of toxins, dramatic increase to energy, regulate your metabolism, help with your cardio vascular health, and some even claim they well help you build muscle. All of these claims sound too good to come from something natural.

A journalist named Julia Rivers wanted to see if all of these claims worked. She performed a four week study on herself because of her lack of belief for this product and what she found out amazed her. http://www.tophealthnews.org/?acai=Acai%20Pure&acai_link=acai-pure
She went with Acia Pure for her study because it was the highest rated acia extract pill. She also took another product called Natural Colon Detox, because it was recommended for best results. She started out not believed any of it but four weeks later she had lost 23 lbs she changed her mind.

Another review of this product from http://ezinearticles.com/?Step-by-Step-Review-of-Acai-Pure-Detox&id=3098789 found similar results. This person lost twelve pounds in his thirty day trial. All the while having increased energy and felt all around better. I have continued to research this topic on the web and have yet to find a credible source refuting what Acia pills do.

I can say from personal experience that these pills really do work. I started taking these pills two months ago and within the first 3 weeks I had dramatic weight lost 13lbs. I kept taking them until my supply ran out about three weeks ago. Once I was off of them I noticed that I had less energy and hit a wall in my weight loss. I started taking them again last week Saturday and have since then lost another 4 lbs and have increased energy again. I am a wrestler and have always been watching and managing my weight. These pills, along with exercise and diet, have had a dramatic effect in my weight loss, I have taken them for two months and have lost 26 lbs. Also I have felt a drastic increase in my cardio vascular health. It is a lot easier for me to breathe now when running and training. I would highly recommend these pills to anyone.

What is Natural (Blog Post 5)

The articlei choose to write about was titled "Food Labeling Confuses Many People."
Major organic dairy producer Dean Foods announced that it was going to start producing a line of “Natural” yogurt. This instead of being met with cheers was met with much anger instead. A lot of people believe that this is just a case Dean Food manipulating the population by adding the word “Natural” to the label. The reason for this being the word “Natural” is only applied by the U.S department of agriculture to meat.

Meat is the only food that has to pass an inspection or any kind of regulations to deem the title natural in label. With dairy products and other foods “Natural” is whatever the producers want it to be. This is misleading as natural is associated with organic food. So when people by something other than meat deemed natural they do so believing it is organic. This would mean that natural meat is just as misleading right? Wrong! Natural meat is required to provide a definition of what natural is on its label so not to mislead people. So what is natural? Natural meats contain no artificial coloring, flavoring, or other artificial products, also natural meat must be minimally processed.

Sara Loveday the communication manager of the natural yogurt says "To us, it means it's produced without added hormones, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup."

I believe that this is just an attempt to take advantage of people who are uneducated on this topic and are looking organic food sources. Another example of this exploitation was done by 7UP. For awhile 7UP claimed that its soda was natural, and made that its main marketing campaign with pictures of 7UP cans being grown on trees. There were many complaints on the high fructose corn syrup still found in their natural soda. In 2007, ironically, 7UP changed its label to avoid confusing customers. http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Industry/7UP-changes-label-to-avoid-misleading-natural-claims