RE: American's Problem: Obesity

I commented on http://transthought-apts.blogspot.com/

It was very surprising to hear about how we (America) are the fattest country in the world. I agree with the argument that people who are over weight want to blame other people for their actions. And as blunt as that sounds it is very true. I was doing some research and found that that most people who have a lot of weight are the ones who are mostly out of money or at a loss in their finances. We spend a lot of money on fast food. Everyone does it, I guess u can say it is apart of Americas tradition. Last year America spent 134 billion dollars on fast food. On average that is about 11.6 billion dollars a week. And that calculates to around 1.6 billion a week. That is a lot of money being spent on food. Especially fast food in which is not healthy for you. Many Americans have the state of mind as “if I am going to spend more money on food that’s healthy for me, why not save money and spend less money and eat fat”. Fast food corporations have been and are only getting more and more successful throughout the course of time. I think it is time we stop eating fatty food, and start consuming foods that will benefit our lives.

Money, money, money

It seems as if we are at a loss of money every single time we head over to the store to pump some gas. In some staes gas pricess are soaring well over $4.00 per gallon. On average we spend almost $100 per week on gas alone. And the funny thing is that america has not even the slightest intention to stop. Many are concluding that by memorial day or maybe just maybe at the end of may gas prices will be decreasing.

In american government right now we are seeing a really bad recssion going on. We are at a loss of money and unemployment is very high. But have u ever cane to think about what the government is doing to help us in our time of need? Well I can say that nothing or really most of what the governments budget doesn't concern us. The government is more concerned with what is going on over seas. The war we are in as of this moment is far more important than the average america say you or me. It is said that most of our government spending is getting spent or aircraft or some form of millitary personal. It might be tanks maybe bombs guns you name it. Or even just the pay of our troops. I think that we need to hurry up and end this war. We would see far more budget rise in the future.

What is also troubling me is that mostly all of our nations media coverage is about the "royal wedding". I mean I can see why is kind of a big deal but why does that affect anyone in america. Yes I would understand if you were family or in some form or fashion a very close friend of the family. But does he wedding really need to be our main priority as of right now? To me it doesn't make sense one bit. we should be more concentrated on the war or on government spending. Not some big royal wedding.

"Change is all i have left"

I commented on this page "Change is all i have left"

Government and Our money

Where do our tax dollars and other funds go when the government takes a hold on them? Well in my personal opinion the government is using our money in a poor way. Right now many people in the education business are losing jobs starting in June. So what are those people to do now? but government has "Bigger situations". Instead of being able to pay those teachers, the government is using our tax dollars on planes and other unnecessary equipment. Planes like the F-16 or the F-20 Tigershark are just two projects made by the U.S government. These are very powerful machines used for military purposes. The cost of a F-16 is around 18- 20 million dollars. The total program cost of the F -20 Tigershark is an estimated 1.2 billion dollars. Even with other aircrafts we see that a jet called the JF-17 Thunder cost the U.S 15 million dollars. The project alone cost over 500 dollars. The US produced 6 prototypes and over 14 real productions.  Now tell me could that money be put to better use? I think so, instead of all these teachers losing jobs I say we put that money to a better use and further the education of our youth. I do agree that we do as a country need the use of some of this planes and equipment, but at what point to we call quit, and say enough money on military and we put money into education or maybe it doesnt need to be education but maybe to health care, or something that can be of use of the American public.

Government Shutdown

Are we expecting another government shutdown? Ari Berman makes a very legitimate argument. Author Ari Berman writes that our national government is coming closer and closer to another government shutdown. A government shutdown occurs when a government discontinues providing services that are not considered "essential.”A shutdown can occur when a legislative body (including the legislative power of veto by the executive) cannot agree on a budget financing its government programs for a pending fiscal year. In the absence of appropriated funds, the government discontinues providing non-essential services at the beginning of the affected fiscal year. The first government shutdown occurred in Clinton’s time of presidency. It is said that he refused cuts to such subjects as Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment. Such action forced the government to shut down. Some problems that were associated with this shutdown were the closer of national parks, failure to process new Medicare claims and the suspension of many government services. In this time period we are very low in our nation’s budget. If President Barack Obama does not make such cuts we could see a government shutdown possible in 2011. Ari Berman also states that if this were to come about, both parties (Republicans and democrats) would be affected. I agree with Ari Berman argument. If we don’t act upon our nation’s government I am convinced that a shutdown is closer than we think. And in this time period we cannot afford it. In my opinion I think that the effects of this, (if any) shutdown will but much greater than the past.

My Political Standing

Upbeat. That is where I stand in the political ideology playing field. What is Upbeat? Well it is describe that I share common aspects with people of this ideology. Upbeats express positive views about the economy, government, and society. Although positive, in numbers we make up 11% of America, and only 13% of registered voters. Judging by the fact that the other 89% of the American public is opposed to our views and goals we believe in a strong nation. We hold dear our financial stand point, and also in the up coming success of ourselves.







This Semester

This up coming semester I hope to gain great knowledge of our nations government acts/reacts to situations. I have some knowledge of our government. It shows on my civics and current events quiz. On the civics quiz I scored higher than 66% of Americans who took the quiz. I hope on improving that number substantially. On the current events quiz the number closely relates to the civics quiz, I scored higher than 67% of Americans. By the end of this semester I have a goal to do better on those quiz's and also know as much as possible on government.