Speech...

Did you know that over 30% of adults and 17% of adolescents are obese? If yes, then congratulations you already know the nations largest but least cared about problem of the modern day. Obesity increases the chance of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and much more; in 2007 just those three combined caused 823,401 recorded deaths, which is approximately 34% of the fatalities in that year. The solution to this devastating problem is simple; however, neither the people of the United States, the government, or the food industry will venture to solve it.

The first and most simple answer starts in the public schools, where students eat government approved food and take barely educational Health and Physical Education classes. During lunch period hundreds of thousands of students a day eat food that is prepared and has been approved by the government as “healthy.” But in no way are hamburgers and fries that have been mass produced and provide little nutritional value, good for a growing young adult. One easy solution would be to get rid of deserts at school lunches, they aren't needed and are just pointless calories in the already terrible diets of kids today. The government would only have to change their food plans slightly to create a healthier diet that would help the students to a great extent.

Today, Health and P.E classes have been transformed to be a class in which the students do not participate or pay attention in the slightest. Health classes are known by students as a class where they can sleep and pass the final test because it is common knowledge; this is because the class has become so generalized and useless that students are not even taught how to create a basic diet and how their current food consumption is hurting them. If Health class would focus more time on how to create a nutritional diet, then young adults would think twice before they go out and eat three big macs and drink a monster.

PE classes have become similar in that instead of learning the basics of sports and doing physical activity, it has become acceptable to walk around the gym for an hour. Just doing physical activity for that hour a day would greatly increase the health of the students during that time, and for most would instill a healthier standard of living composed of more athletics and less time sitting on the couch watching TV.

Another key influence to the waistbands of Americans is the food industry, mainly, the fast food industry, which has grown steadily as Americans have become more lazy. In Food Matters they said “We are poisoning ourselves with highly processed and poor nutritional foods.” The food at these “restaurants” are detrimental to the health of the people eating it, but because of the low prices and easy access the general public couldn't care less. One example of cheap food is Taco Bell using grade D meat, if you didn’t know grade F meat is used as dog food, this was done because it was a cheap alternative and gave them the largest profit as possible. The serving sizes at fast food restaurants is ridiculous, no single person a meal needs a one pound burger, large fries, and a large coke; but since the prices are so low, people think that it is worth it to spend the 50 cents more to get a massive amount of food and gorge themselves until they cannot eat anymore. Just that change of serving size would have a nation wide positive effect on the public, but cash is king and the food industry will not change unless they can make more money off of it. The Food and Drug Association (FDA) and the government need to strengthen and create a more solid laws against companies creating poor nutritional products.

Some restaurants are attempting to change society, Subway with their Jared and Professional Sports Players campaigns has focused on making good decisions on eating and food consumption while at the same time the company makes money. If fast food restaurants would put more time into making healthier food than cheap food then they could make the money that they want and help the people at the same time.

On the other hand, the people have to take a large blame for the rising obesity rate in the US. People can no longer blame genetics for their bad health, a study appropriately called “It's Not Just Genetics” from Time Magazine has shown that actually the environment and the lifestyle of the person at hand has a much greater effect on their health than anything else. This may seem obvious at first, but most people quit before they start because they do not think their body can physically change. They are the ones making the decisions to eat bad food and not exercise on a weekly bases. Children are growing up in environments that teach that the best tasting food is what to eat, not the best food nutritionally. Every child needs to have a healthy diet and all parents should strive to prepare their children for the future by teaching them how to eat right.

It is a simple two hours a week walking, running, or doing an athletic activity that can change a persons life from being a French fry away from a heart attack to living till they are 98 years old. A basic change in a persons diet will work wonders and they will feel better and look better in just a few days. People need to learn that they can become fit, its no longer a dream to, it is determination and a simple diet change to become to be the best person possible. Thank You.

Bibliography:

· Arnst, Cathy. "Blaming The Food Industry For Obesity - BusinessWeek." Businessweek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. Bloomberg Businessweek, 16 May 2009. Web. 09 Aug. 2011. .

· Food Matters. Dir. James Colquhoun and Carlo Ledesma. By James Colquhoun. Permacology Productions, 2008. DVD.

· Walsh, Bryan. "It's Not Just Genetics - TIME." Time 12 June 2008. Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time. Web. 09 Aug. 2011. .

Separation of Church and State

In 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter. This letter was written to the Danbury Baptist Association, and in it the phrase “Separation of Church and State” was used. This phrase has since become an invaluable part of our Government, necessary in protecting our freedoms and our lives. However, Religion and State are not fully separate, as Jefferson would have wished. Instead, we live in a society where many of the important decisions our government makes are determined via religious bias or based on religious knowledge, rather than what is truly factual or good for the people.

I’m sure you’ve all heard Rick Perry’s recent ad. He wants to make the country stronger. Through Faith. He’s not alone. There are many fundamentalist politicians out there who can make decisions that hugely impact your life, and those decisions are based on religion instead of reality. Take for example, John Shimkus. He is the chair of a US Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. He is creating policy that will have a huge impact on how we react to an important phenomenon… based off of Noah’s Ark. “The earth will end only when god declares it’s time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth, this earth will not be destroyed by a flood.”

Now, those are high-reaching policies. This lack of separation is much more severe than just that, and changes our everyday life in catastrophic ways. Let me tell you the story of a little 2-year-old girl, Amiyah White. Amiyah was a beautiful young girl in Alabama who attended a religious child-care service. On September 20, 2005 she died. She was left unattended, forgotten and alone in a van on a hot Alabama summer day and died. Her little heart gave out. She’s not so rare a case either. Just 7 years earlier, DeMyreon Lindley was left in a church van for 10 hours. TEN HOURS. The church day-care leaders were never held responsible for their gross negligence that directly killed these children. Had they been secular, they would have gone straight to jail. But by being affiliated with a church, they were not. This is because Alabama state legislature does not require the food regulations, staff training, staff-to-child ratios or unannounced state inspections of religious childcares that it requires of secular ones. Many organizations affiliate themselves with a religion just to avoid following the law. And that is just wrong. Alabama is not the only state by any means, 13 states total have some sort of exemption for religious childcare. And these church-based groups are funded, thanks to subsidies, from your tax dollars. Thanks to this biased legislature, the American People are funding negligence and death, brought to you by religion.

Now, let’s move on to another horrid occurrence that is allowed thanks to the bias we have in our government system towards Religion. Let’s talk about Alex Morris, a 4 year old who had a fever and congestion. Instead of getting him the simple antibiotics that would have saved his life, his parents instead brought him to church, where he was covered in oil by the congregation and prayed for for a duration of 46 days. He died. Or how about

Madeline Neumann, who had a treatable and minor form of Diabetes, and rather than receive treatment she died because her parents would rather pray. There’s also the horrible case of Jessica Crank. She had a rare form of bone cancer, but it was easily treatable. Rather than take Jessica to an emergency room like a clinic told her, Jessica’s mother instead took her home to pray. Her treatable cancer turned in to a tumor on her shoulder. A tumor that was literally, and I cannot stress this enough, not figuratively but in all reality the size of a basketball. Can you imagine the agonizing pain she must have felt? The daily torture? All of this was because of “Faith Healing”, a faulty practice that has resulted in over 350,000 deaths, 300,000 injuries and more than 3 Billion in economic damages. And more than 38 states have legislature that allows it, including lenient legislature in regards to medical neglect for children, as was the case for Jessica, And Madeline, and Alex. Parents have the right to do whatever it is they want with their own bodies, but the instant their beliefs directly harm another, ESPECIALLY A CHILD, their beliefs should not also protect them from the law. They should be prosecuted within the full extent of criminal neglect.

Now, I’ve made the problem fairly clear. Religious bias and the lack of Separation of Church and State harms us in immense ways. From environmental policy to the deaths of innocent children, to potential presidential candidates like Rick Perry who say to “just hand [everything] over to god and say, ‘god, you’re going to have to fix this’”. So, let me tell you what a world where the crumbled Wall of Separation is repaired would look like; A world where any organization or group can purchase land without being bullied out by megachurches. A world where there will be no bias in the legal definition of marriage, regardless of the religious one. A world where there will be one consistent standard for health, education and all policies, no matter the religious aspects. A world where religious concerns will not impede scientific progress, where countless lives could be saved and bettered thanks to the effects of stem cell research and other innovations.

But instead, we live in a world where the Creationist Museum can plan a new expansion and receive a $40 MILLION DOLLAR Tax Cut from it, taken DIRECTLY FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS. It’s by far past the point of being a question of whether you believe in god or not. It is now a moral question with a definite answer. Religious bias in law is morally and objectively wrong, and it’s our part to fix this disaster. Thank you.

Works Cited 

"Child Hyperthermia Death in Vehicle." Golden Gate Weather Services. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://ggweather.com/heat/36_2005.htm>. 

Jefferson Died For Our Sins. Dir. Jim Lawrence. Perf. Karen Kearns. DVD. 

"What's the Harm in Believing in Faith Healing?" What's The Harm? Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://whatstheharm.net/faithhealing.html>. 

The Universal Language

Drugs, violence, and obesity face the youth of this country everyday and without exposure to different outlets; students may never realize their true passions and be trapped in this self-destructive cycle. What if schools could do something about this? What if schools could open the eyes to students to the world of possibilities that await them? First, you must realize that schools do push students to explore different outlets through sports, extracurriculars, and volunteer opportunities. These outlets all being voluntary do supply students with a way to seek their passions; however, the most effective and universal is often overlooked, music. Implementing music programs and classes as a mandatory aspect of students’ curriculums will have a severe impact on students. In elementary and middle schools, this is easy with the rotating nine weeks system; however, with high school schedules this is not. By placing students who are not already involved in the arts (orchestra, band, or chorus), in a music class at younger ages will compel them to continue their passions into high school, whether through school sanctioned organizations or off campus lessons or classes. Music positively influences several aspects of students’ lives, including academics, creativity, and life skills. Music, both classic and modern, is the universal language and opens a new world to students.
As ridiculous, as it may sound I found my passion at four. Every week I took my piano books to school and had a piano lesson. From that young age, I knew I loved music. My parents did not push me into it, it was a part of my school’s curriculum and I continued taking lessons until third grade. That was when I finally was able to join the orchestra. I was so excited. I believe that due to my exposure to piano and playing music at such a young age, I was inspired and compelled to continue to immerse myself with music as I got older.
Beginning in kindergarten students go to school everyday and learn math and reading, some social studies and science, all important aspects of education; however, the one aspect that leads to the development of brain areas involved with language and reasoning, greater spatial intelligence, and ultimately becoming successful on standardized tests and obtaining higher grades is again left out of the schedule. As stated by Vince DiFiore’s in his CNN article The Importance of Music Education in Schools, music “students who learn to play an instrument develop a greater language capacity and a greater ability to learn a new language”. Additionally, spatial intelligence (according to the children’s music workshop as the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures) is useful in solving advanced mathematics problems and other puzzles. The link between music and other areas of education has already been discovered, let’s implement it. Give students the opportunity to experience music without the nagging act of parents or the stereotyping by other students. If music is a part of everyone’s at least weekly schedule through middle school then the differences can be monumental in the following years.
My music experience continued in middle school. Through out the year my classes changed ever nine weeks. Nevertheless, the one class that never changed was orchestra. The highlight of my day. Then before high school, I was faced with a decision. Do I continue or not? Well, I confess, I am in the orchestra. As nerdy or whatever the stereotypes may say as that is, I love it. It is my creative outlet and source of self-expression. I have learned some many things through music, persistence, teamwork, discipline, probably some spatial intelligence and hopefully some extra brain development. Music not only helps so mechanically but also very expressively.
Music can further influence students by fostering creativity through learning craftsmanship and feeding off self-expression. As a high school student, I know how important creativity is, when constructing projects or writing papers. Music possesses the ability to force students to think outside the box. Questions in music never have just one right answer. The possibilities and solutions stretch the imaginations and creativity when solving problems. Music also demands new levels of excellence through repetition, and exploiting inner resources. Without this method of self-expression, many students would never find their creative outlet. Their passion. “Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his life with his core, with what he is and what he feels” (Children’s music workshop).
With music also comes a set of skills utilized greatly throughout life, including skills needed in the workplace, teamwork, discipline, perseverance, and conquering fears. Music instills teamwork and discipline whether in the practice room or in an orchestral or group setting. Musicians work together, harmoniously towards a common goal. Without the dedication or perseverance in the practice room, the ensemble would not reach its common goal. Instilling these life skills at a young age allows them to be a part of students’ common actions and routine. Thus ultimately preparing students for the understated aspects of life in the workplace. A place where focus is necessary and where employers are looking for more dimensional worker, which is created by a music education. Additionally with music comes performing and with performing often comes a little anxiety. As said in the article Twelve Benefits of Music Education, “a little anxiety is a good thing and something that will occur often in life”. Dealing with it early on often makes it easier to deal with later on in life. Practice makes perfect. That can be said for all of the life lessons music teaches its students.
Music, the universal language, never really spoken but can be heard everywhere. Overlooked as it may be, causes many positive influences on the people it touches. Implementing music programs around students at young ages promotes music as an aspect in their later lives. As elementary and middle school students music poses to develop areas of the brain otherwise untouched and weave habits and skills useful for other aspects of life. As high school students, music helps with the all-important standardized tests, such as the ACT and the SAT. Music only builds upon the foundation already laid by the “core classes”. As stated in Ben Niles documentary, Some Kind of Spark, “music is everywhere” there’s no avoiding it. So why not teach it? How about strum a guitar, tickle the ivories, play some Bach, whatever it is immerse yourself, because you never know, you could learn something new.

speech

Wars occur because there is evil in the world. And we, with our fallibility and finite wisdom, choose war when we see it as the last or the best option when an aggressor sets the price for their version of peace or the price for their evil-ridden goals too high.

We then, inevitably, find ourselves grappling with the deaths of those who commit themselves to standing between the barbarians and ourselves. But we also, as General George Patton pointed out, "Thank God that such men lived."

America is hated by many people, societies, and countries. I watched a documentary one afternoon that was about the ideologies against America in a group of Middle Eastern communities. In some societies, children as early as the age of 6 are presented with guns and taught not math and science, but the simple idea that their life goal is to destroy America. Soldiers know what they are sacrificing when they enlist in the Armed Forces. Those who regret what they have done in the proud name of America should never have served in the first place. War is not a time for the weak hearted. It is only a time for the strongest, the bravest, and the selfless.

I am not "pro-war" nor am I "anti-war," both titles of which are full of ignorant implications. I believe war can be necessary; actually I believe that anything is necessary when it comes to defending the United States of America, her citizens, and what she stands for all over the world. I believe that it is necessary for us to defend ourselves at all costs. We don't go around looking for trouble, who's the most vulnerable, who might be fun to bully. We act back. If something is done to us, we make it known that we aren't going to let it slide…well that's what it used to be. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather prefer that no wars be going on at all. I do believe, however, that as long as evil is out there that is sworn to destroying our country, there must be a certain level of sacrifice needed to prevent evil’s goal from being reached.

America is one of the youngest countries on earth. Yet, it is in many ways, the most powerful and influential. We are the economic, the political, and the industrial powerhouse of the world, just to name some examples. We have won almost every single war that we have been a part of, including before we were even a country, fighting against the most powerful military of the time in Great Britain. Today we are too worried about how others feel and how people view us. Things "aren't fair" and we are "too mean." Suck it up. With ideologies like that, all that powerhouse stuff will go down the drain. America must strive to do the best in everything. We don’t manufacture things anymore. The Chinese do. We don’t need the Chinese to create our things. People nowadays feel sorry because America is so great. It's not fair to other countries that don't have what we have. I agree, but life isn't fair. It doesn't mean we have to dumb down our society, bring down our standards, and bring down our production levels. We have been given so much that it is all taken for granted. What we don't realize is that it can all be taken away if we do not continue to strive to being the best in everything we do, including defending ourselves against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

My father served 39 years and 7 months in the military. In Hawaii, he served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Pacific Command. This means that he was third in command of the largest military command in the entire world (ranging from China to Nevada. When living in Hawaii, I was surrounded by the military. The military is one of the things that makes Hawaii such a great place. The feeling of patriotism that is everywhere you go is powerful. Living in a military family, surrounded by other military families, being friends with other military family children, and my overall experiences throughout the world have shaped my beliefs and myself. I am fortunate to have had these experiences, many of which no one that I know who live here has never and may never have. Because of my father's position, I experienced things that even people there would not experience, thus allowing me more to base my beliefs off of. I believe that if everyone here experienced what my family did, their view on war; their view on our country and what it stands for; and their view on the proud, brave, and selfless men and women who serve us would change drastically. Looking back on everything that our family has been through, everything that my father has sacrificed, and the fact that he has no regrets about spending most of his life committed to this nation, I have gained tremendous respect for him and member of the military in general.

I personally and respectfully believe that those who have not experienced the life of our military servicemen and women or have had anyone close to them in the military will never truly understand what and how much they sacrifice for us. People who worry about what other countries think of us, whether they like us or not, are wasting their time and energy. Some people will hate America for simply what it stands for. It is like that student who tries to please everyone they hang out with...It just won't happen. That worry should be at the very bottom of the list, maybe even non-existent. They will never understand the true reason why we get up every morning in a free nation; the greatest country on earth, the land of the free and the home of the brave. It all can be taken away so easily, and should never be taken for granted or disrespected. It is important that we keep responding to those who harm us in hope of destroying what the United States of America stands for… what WE stand for.

Corruption in Consumerism

While walking in your local supermarket, a silent attacker is lurking. While driving in your car to work or school, the attacker is everywhere. While surfing the internet, the attacker is watching every move you make. Now before you all pull out your cell phones to call the police about this creepy attacker, consider that this attacker gets paid a large lump of money, employed by companies who have you as their target audience. Who is this creepy, but well-paid attacker, you wonder? Not who, rather what. Billboards, advertisements, media messages, basically all forms of persuasion, advertising, and media are violently attacking society. You might not even realize the ways it influences your daily choices. That is what makes it so frightening.

When an intellectual bank robber carefully plans out his tactics for robbing a bank, he knows everything about it. He knows where the security cameras are placed, he knows the easiest escape routes, and he knows how to blend in with the crowd. Marketing agents are like bank robbers. They know everything about the demographic they are trying to target. They explore the websites that consumers visit, they analyze their credit card purchases, and they understand the basic lifestyle of the consumer. By doing this and listening to customer complaints, researchers learn exactly what their audience wants from a company. Researchers emphasize that the customer is always right and the sole purpose of the company aims to accommodate the wants and needs of the customer at any cost. While this sounds very appealing, it also causes destruction. Over time, companies lose the capability to continually please consumers; therefore they must deceive customers into wanting things that exceed their necessities or wildest dreams.

Don’t believe me? Song Airlines, a branch of Delta Airlines, attempted to add luxury to travelling. Their target group? Trendy middle to upper class mothers. Song market researchers pulled in Andy Spade, co-founder of Kate Spade, to get his opinions on how to market to people similar to his clients. His vision included the production of an advertising campaign that did not mention the airline at all. He envisioned the creation of a social persona that brought the fun into travelling. The company’s vision from their own research included having organic meals, leather seats, personalized entertainment for each seat, and free beverages, all at an extremely low price. Both of these ideals were implemented within the airline. As demonstrated by the little success of Song (they closed after 3 short years), the billions of dollars spent in marketing research to create the “ideal” airline failed. In the PBS documentary The Persuaders, researchers admitted that the creation of commercials alone consumed almost a third of the entire budget for the airline. Billions of dollars down the toilet. Isn’t that what every consumer loves to hear in our fiscally struggling country?

Sadly, the negative influence of advertisement does not solely affect the economic well-being of the country. It also strongly affects the political aspects. Mass media including television, social networks, computers, and cell phones allow information to spread rapidly, and sometimes, that information widely diverges from the truth. A majority of political campaigns utilize this mass media to their advantage to stir up controversy about their opponents. Also, narrowcasting (or spreading specific information to a small target audience) plays a large role in elections these days. Mailings, phone calls, online surveys, you name it; political campaigners attempt to utilize it to manipulate public opinion. Researchers have found efficiency in targeting small groups because they are more likely to be influenced. The clutter of political advertisement also strongly affects the opinions of uninformed votes and lackluster candidates can build great reputations with people who are uninformed about the issues for which they stand.

Advertising overwhelms us. It clutters our world. When every company attempts to stand out and beat out other companies, consumers are left more confused than ever. As an analyst from The Persuaders said, “When culture becomes completely advertising friendly, it ceases to be a culture at all:” Due to persuasion and advertising, Americans are losing their culture. We no longer think independent thoughts; but rather we consume the personalized “positive” information fed to us by marketing researchers. If we continue on this destructive path, allowing ourselves to be completely influenced by media and advertising, we will surely lose our uniqueness, personal beliefs, and economic well-being.

Bibliography

Hosford, Christopher. "Ad Networks Raise Profile with Targeting." B to B 14 Mar. 2011: 1.MasterFILE Premier (EBSCO). Web. 10 Aug. 2011. .

Sadler, Russell. "Democracy in the Age of Narrowcasting." Web log post. Blue Oregon. 10 June 2007. Web. 6 Aug. 2011. .

The Persuaders | FRONTLINE | PBS. Dir. Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin. Prod. Muriel Soenens, Rachel Dretzin, and Barak Goodman. Frontline, 2003. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. 09 Nov. 2004. Web. 01 Aug. 2011. .

Death by Fast Food

Just by a show of hands, who eats fast food at least once a week?

Well that’s nice, because you’re killing yourselves.

That’s right. Every day, millions of dollars are funneled into the fast food industry in exchange for sub-par food that barely meets FDA requirements. That isn’t even made up; I’m pretty sure that you all remember the lawsuit against Taco Bell – even though the suit lost, Taco Bell stated that their taco meat consists of “88% meat and 12% signature recipe.” I don’t know about you, but even at that, it doesn’t sound appealing or healthy. Fast food is like a tick – it sucks on our finances, and will ruin us when we least expect it to happen.

The question is, “Why?” Why do so many of us eat fast food, even though we’re aware that it’s unhealthy? What causes us to want more of it? More importantly, how can we stop this?

Sure, fast food can make you gain a few pounds, but what many of the general populace doesn’t understand is that fast food is directly linked to an array of health risks and conditions. The increased oil and fat content might taste great, but these are just some of the ingredients that add to the myriad of health issues. Different studies in Sweden showed that one month of increased fast food consumption lead to the inflammation and permanent scarring in some of the test subjects’ livers, and diets similar to fast foods increased the presence of chemicals known to cause Alzheimer’s. And if that isn’t enough, other studies, including one by The American Heart Association, have shown a doubling of the risk of abnormal glucose control – factors in type-2 diabetes and heart disease. With all of this overwhelming data, it’s hard to understand why people don’t stop eating fast food; my guess is that it’s due to the familiarity we feel from fast food.

Fast food is ingrained into modern society, like a parasite attaches itself to a host. Each chain has its own style of radiantly lit signs, attracting customers like flies to a lamp. Their logos appear ubiquitously – everywhere from the newspaper to enormous billboards on the highway. It’s no wonder that they spend almost 10 billion dollars per year just for their ad campaigns. I have to give them credit - they are effective at brainwashing Americans by the thousands, convincing them to keep on buying fast food. Morgan Spurlock, the creator of Supersize Me, proved this by quizzing young children on pictures of well-known figures. Nearly all of them recognized Ronald McDonald, but less than half recognized our President. This kind of familiarity will undoubtedly lead to them to have a higher preference for fast food. It’s sad really, how much of a grip these companies have on our way of life.

We also buy fast food because it’s cheap - cheap and easy to get. There are literally dozens of fast food chains in every city throughout the United States. Didn’t bring your lunch to work? Don’t have anything left in the fridge? Not a problem. There’s probably a McDonald’s within a five-minute drive from you, and your meal will cost you less than ten dollars. It’s this availability – the idea that you’re always in close proximity of this kind of food – that causes the problem. Why would I prepare myself a nice meal in thirty minutes when I could go to the local Burger King and be done eating in thirty minutes? This is the American mentality. This is what we must fight – the inherent laziness that causes Americans to take the easy way out – to choose fast food over a balanced, healthy meal.

We can still fight the battle against fast food – maybe not completely clean our system of the companies, but force them to healthier standards for all Americans. We’ve already taken steps towards this in recent years – by forcing them to show the nutrition facts of their menu, more citizens are able to think among the lines of, “Hey, this isn’t good for me. I don’t think I should be eating this,” and refrain from eating the less-than-healthy items. The problem is that many people don’t read the nutrition facts. However, researchers from Texas State University have a good idea – simply marking healthier items with a heart symbol caused consumers to pick healthier items, more so than items with their nutrition information added. One little heart symbol - that’s all that we need to save our own hearts in years to come.

Fast food companies are the tapeworm of America – willingly, we eat fast food, only to crave even more – it’s a vicious cycle that will repeat itself indefinitely until all of us, as Americans, rise up and stop it. We can’t just protest fast foods, we have to physically stop purchasing all forms of it – only then will the money stop flowing to the companies. Only then will they realize that they have to change, or die. Remember, every little act counts.

Bibliography:

Karolinska Institutet. "Fast Food A Potential Risk Factor For Alzheimer’s." ScienceDaily, 28 Nov. 2008. Web.

Schlosser, Eric. Americans Are Obsessed with Fast Food: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. CBS HealthWatch. Broadcast. 11 Feb. 2009

Crosta, Peter M. “Liver Damaged By Too Much Fast Food And Too Little Exercise.” Medical News Today, 15 Feb. 2008. Web. .

American Heart Association. "Fast Food And 'The Tube': A Combo For Heart Disease Risk." ScienceDaily, 10 Mar. 2003. Web. .

Stutts, Mary Ann, Gail M. Zank, Karen H. Smith, and Sally A. Williams. “Nutrition Information and Children’s Fast Food Menu Choices.” The Journal of Consumer Affairs Spring 2011: 52-86

Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock, Daryl Isaacs, and Lisa Ganjhu. Kathbur Pictures, 2004. DVD.

"McDonald's Posts Sizzling 80% Profit Rise in 2008." Breitbart.com. 26 Jan. 2009. Web. .

"Taco Bell Meat: 88 Percent Beef, 12 Percent "Signature Recipe" | Fox News." Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. NewsCore, 28 Feb. 2011. Web.

My amazing speech

Throughout history we have seen the discrimination between the different races, genders, and now species. Those who have the power, use it dominate over the less powerful, and allow the interests of their own race, gender, or specie to override those of another race, gender, or specie. Animals, although they aren't the same as humans in all aspects, are still just as much alive. They have the desires for food and water, just as we do, shelter and companionship, freedom of movement, just like us humans, and lastly the avoidance of pain. Animals are just as aware of the Earth as we are, and they stand alike human beings, but yet the principal of equality continues to be violated.
There are three categories in which animals give their freedom, and in most cases their lives, to better the lives of humans. This is the breeding of animals for pets, and the torturing of animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. However these sacrifices continue to go unacknowledged.
For centuries, dogs have proved to be man's best friend. Local animal shelters, pet stores, and breeders never fail to provide us with our loyal companions, but have you ever thought about where these millions of puppies and kittens are coming from? Many of the animals sold in the pet stores, and even those from legitimate looking breeder websites, come from puppy mills.
Puppy mills breed millions of puppies a year in filthy, overcrowded, wire cages, crammed inside dark, dirty structures, with little to no fresh air. These constrained structure infect these new born puppies with behavioral problems, musculoskeletal disorders, mange, fleas, ticks, and more seriously heart and kidney diseases, epilepsy, and deafness.This cycle continues until the mother becomes too weak to labor anymore puppies, and what happens to these weak, now useless, animals? Well, they are killed of course because after all, it's all about the profit. Therefore, most of these animals are given the most inhumane deaths. For example, there are the gas chambers. Tossed and crammed into small metal confinements, only to suffer and writhe through a long twenty minutes to their death. The more puppies and dogs fit into these chambers each time reduces the money spent, which leads to mass amounts of dogs dying of suffocation before even being affected by the gas. Puppy mill owners see the lives of these animals as nothing but a profit. These animals sacrifice their lives, so that we can have timid and infected puppies. Does that sound ethical to you?
And the process doesn't stop at puppy mills. Where do the millions of dogs turned into these animal shelters come from? Well, 25 million animals are left homeless each year, wandering the streets looking for food, water, and shelter. The luckiest of these animals find their to way to local animal shelters, where they are given veterinarian attention, food, and water, but a devastating 9 million die as strays on the street, whether the cause be disease, starvation, injury, or exposure to the intense heat or cold. Even those lucky enough to make it to these shelters, have a slim chance of survival. 16 million animals are euthanized each year, due to the lack of space or food. Although euthanasia is the most humane way to kill, it is not the most affordable and therefore many turn to the use of gas chambers. Millions of dogs are giving their lives to be our loyal companions, and yet we put them through countless labors, only to gas the over looked puppies at the shelter. These numbers would be drastically reduced if more people spayed and neutered their pets, but many breeding, pet owning males find that it is emasculating. So.. it is more masculine knowing that because of you, many animals a year are dying on the streets, euthanized, or even gassed? Do we humans really feel more powerful and dominating knowing that we are hurting something that can't even defend itself? Is that even power? Animals only want the same as we do, food, water, companions, and shelter. Is that too much to ask considering we are the ones causing the problem?
We humans also take advantage of our dominance over animals when it comes to the production of our food. The thought of how our food makes it to our table is completely overlooked. Just as Thomas Gray wrote, ignorance is bliss. It is no surprise that most Americans would want to remain in the dark, due to the fact that these animals are shot numerous times in the head with bolt guns, have their throats slit, teeth cut, ears clipped, and ultimately result to cannibalism. Cows and pigs arrive in mass amounts, in crammed, disease filled, trucks to the slaughter houses. To end all brain functions, and put the animals out of his or her misery, a bolt is shot through their brain with a bolt gun. Not so surprisingly, most of the time, the bolts miss the brain completely, only inflicting unnecessary pain on these poor malnutrition animals. Why even spend another few seconds to carelessly try a second time? Don't worry, they don't. Next, these animals are hung from their hind legs, their throats are slit, and their blood gushes to the floor. Still, some still are not dead as they squirm to free themselves as the approach the broiler. We wouldn't want any hair on our hamburgers would we? Yes, there are those lucky few that happen to die of a disease before being put through this torture, but well, they will be a part of that so called meat in a hamburger from the nearest McDonald's. That sounds healthy. So why is it that these animals deserve a cruel inhumane death, just so we can eat their tainted meat? They should be given an actual burial considering they are what keeps us alive. We humans feels as though we are entitled to this cruel torture because we are stronger, and the animals don't fight back, but without these animals, we wouldn't be here. We owe them equality and end to this torture.
Although the torturous killing for food is okay in the eyes of some people, why should the tortuous killing for entertainment be okay? Inflicting pain for a sport is a sign, and furthermore taking enjoyment in watching, is a sign of psychological issues, but yet we can all say we have taken a part in this. Have we not all been to the circus or a zoo? Or even watched a bull fight or bull riders at rodeos at least on TV? Some of us might have ever heard of the sport that involves killing baby seals by repeatedly hitting them over the head with a bat. A circus, or the zoo, you might think are humane organizations that don't harm animals, but these wild animals are being removed from their habitats and forced to live in relatively small cages. They should have the freedom of movement just as we do. Yes, circus' claim to not physically harm their animals, but what would compel these animals to want to jump through fire? Fear. Elephants are beat with metal rods until they understand what is being yelled at them, but animals aren't humans. It is the equivalent of Americans being beat and yelled at in a foreign language to jump through a flaming hoop, and yet this sounds differently, wouldn't you agree? Thinking of a tiger, being taken from the wild, to perform in the circus seems perfectly normal because that is what we have become accustomed to. The equality between humans and animals means nothing to us. Entertainment and pleasure have a strong hold over us, and cause us to over look the rights of animals for our own benefits.
Now that light has been shone on the horrific torture and pain we put animals through, we can not blame our ignorance on our decisions to remain as bystanders to this cruelty. I ask you to join me in putting an end to this torture. We both are alive, and after all, whether it's a human or animal, pain is pain, and animals do suffer.