BIG Problem in America

Two out of three Americans are overweight and that’s expected to rise to 3 out of 4 by 2020.  I am sure many of you knew that America was an overweight country.  You may not have known the problem to be as great as the statistic shows, but what I am sure many of you do not know is that 1 out of 3 Americans are expected to have diabetes by 2050.  This is a growing problem that is so hard to fix.  You may be wondering why I am talking about this and tossing these statistics out there.   Well I found this show on youtube.com and found it very interesting, no it’s not a “food show” per say, but it is a show about food and a lifestyle that is very unhealthy.  Some of you may think to yourself “well I am not overweight, or this doesn’t affect me.”  Let me tell you that as much as this show mostly targets the extreme obesity problem we have.  Many of you may not think you are overweight, but you just might be.  Since I was in the Army I know this all too well, since we had height and weight checks all the time.  The military has a scale that has a range of weights for each height, and if you weigh more than what it says you should for your height then you have to get a body fat test done.  This will ultimately tell you if you are overweight or not since muscle weighs more than fat.  You may not look at me as being overweight but I am here to tell you that I am.  I am not an extreme case, but what hit home to me was the fact that I am going to be a daddy to a little boy come February.  The U.S. government says that the current generation could have a shorter life span than their parents.  As many of you I do not want to die, I would love to live forever if as long as I was able to still live a meaningful life, but there is no way I should out live my kids barring any type of tragedy.  One in eight Americans rely on food stamps, but the stocks of many fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell are at an all-time  high.  This is a problem that is very complex and difficult to fix, since there are so many different hands in everything now a days to make money.  With the economy the way it is today it is very hard to stretch your dollar to buy healthy food for you and your family, but you can go and get $5 pizzas from Little Caesars or hit up the dollar menu at virtually any fast food joint.  Now with the serving sizes easily doubled from what they used to be years ago, it just seems to make more sense to get more for your money, but when you do this you risk your health as well as the health of you family over time.  When you eat food that is not healthy for you, your body processes it a lot faster because there are significantly less nutrients in the food which in turn you become hungry a lot quicker.  With that being said when you become hungry you eat, and if you become hungry faster you will eat more, which gives more money to these companies but you are slowly killing yourself in a way that you many never know.  Minorities have been hit the hardest by this epidemic with Blacks having a 50% higher prevalence of obesity and Hispanics and Native Americans at 25% compared to Whites.  This is shown is so what of a smaller isolated scale in the 8^th Ward in southeast D.C. being the most obese place in the country.  This is an issue that will take time to overcome as well as education on the problem and how to eat more healthy, but when the economy is the way it is we may not see this problem in America get any better or “skinnier” for that matter.

Media Advertising

On January 26, 1996 Under Armor was founded by Kevin Plank a former University of Maryland special teams captain for the universities football team.  Ever since then Under Armor has grown and expanded their sporting goods.  I have been a faithful, loyal and very happy customer.  Under Armor is a bit more expensive, than some other brands, but it’s a quality product that keeps it customers coming back year after year.  Did the media have any hand in my decision to become a customer?  No, I decided to become a customer because I wanted to try this brand new product from a brand new company.  Does Under Armor have great commercials, yes.  Do their commercials try to make you believe that their product will make you a better athlete, sure.  When they have commercials of professional athletes doing what seems to be the impossible, it could make people buy their product to try and achieve “The Impossible,” to become that professional athlete as well.  Under Armor got its first break in 1999 when “Steamin” Willie Beaman, played by Jamie Foxx wore an Under Armor jockstrap in the movie Any Given Sunday.  This carries a lot of weight in my opinion on people noticing the brand name, which would entice people to go out and buy their products.  People see things in movies or on professional athletes and they want to be the best so why not wear what the best wears.  Even though the media did not play a major factor in my decision to become a customer, I know that the media help this great company become the “Sporting Goods Beast” it is today.  Now “Protect this House” with Under Armor.

Remembering 9/11 and the U.S. Military

On a day of remembrance which is so widely covered by the media as well and professional sports, we remember those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks.  The media had great and vast coverage of the ceremonies that took place at Ground Zero and Shanksville, PA where Flight 93 had crashed 10 years ago to the day.  Both places have extraordinary memorials, but the memorial at Ground Zero is breathtaking to say the least.  This is all wonderful and well deserved, but what about the military and all the lives lost as an aftermath to 9/11.  To the right is a picture of my platoon and I in Baghdad, Iraq with the famous cross swords.  This is the old parade grounds where Saddam would march his army.  As I have first hand knowledge of being there and seeing what really happens and what it is really like, I am sorry to inform all of you that what the media portrays of the war and what they show you is wrong.  All the media seems to talk about are all the American lives lost.  Granted this is a tragedy of war.  All the protesters of the war in a way are spitting on the soldiers for doing what they signed up to do, which  is fight for our country and defend the freedom and the people of the greatest country the United State of America.  If we did not step in and do something about the attacks, then we would have unconsciously shown that the lives lost is what very well could be the nations worst tragedy to ever take place.  Not only that but we would have shown not only terrorists but the world that anyone can do anything to us because we will not fight back.  In this small blog seen by not to many people I am here to tell you to not get caught up in what the media portrays because it is not always 100% true.  There is a lot of good being done in this war, and that is only because of the bravery of the military.  "The American flag does not fly because the wind moves past it.  The American flag flies from the last breath of each military member who have died protecting it.  American soldiers don't fight because they hate what's in front of them, they fight because they love what's behind them" (Unknown).

Paparazzi, Legal Voyeurism?

Let’s look back on class and that wonderful “POP” quiz we were so lucky to receive.  This quiz made me look quite like the “pop idiot.”  Normally I wouldn’t have done so bad on a quiz like this.  If he would have asked questions like, who was involved in the fight on the Jersey Shore? Or who leads the MLB in homeruns?  I would have known.  But see right now I am living with my pops, until the 17^th of September when I move into my own place, and as crazy as it sounds he does not have cable TV right now.  Kind of hard to stay up to date on who is getting divorced in Hollywood (since it happens every other week).  Yes I do have the internet but I am sorry to inform any of you who seem to care about those things, that I could care less about these people’s private lives.  If they can go through a divorce and still happen to make a quality movie that is worth watching, that’s all I care about.  I keep up to date on my sports, since that is mainly what I am into.  Those of you that care about others private lives and really not into sports, that’s fine because it is your life.  Which leads me to my next point, we should not be so involved in these actors or actresses lives or any famous person’s life as much as the media is.  Is it sad that Will and Jada are getting a divorce? Sure.  Did they seem like their marriage was one of the very few that would last?  Absolutely, they seemed perfect for each other, but the lives they lead are very rough on marriages.  Could you imagine being away from your spouse or future spouse for days, weeks, or months at a time and only seeing them maybe for a day here and there throughout that time?  If any of you say yes, I believe you are lying to yourselves.  How much privacy do actors and actresses really have?  I don’t believe it is as much as many of you may think.  Half the time they can’t even step out on a balcony to their hotel room while they are on vacation without getting their picture taken.  On top of that most of the actresses if not all the actresses have had many “up skirt” pictures taken.  Isn’t this voyeurism and isn't this illegal? 

What about those random very few times that an actress has her nipples slip out for a breath of fresh air?  They didn’t get a contract with Playboy or Hustler, but they have pictures of their bare breasts out for everyone to see.  Is this right or wrong?  I know I sure don’t want my picture taken while I am on vacation, or random “up skirt” pictures of my wife, girlfriend, sister or daughter floating around on the web.  What is vacation to you? What does vacation mean to you?  Well in my opinion vacation is a get-a-way from your everyday life.  If these people get their picture taken just about all the time, even if they are shopping or on a lovely jog, should they be able to have their “get-a-way” from their everyday life?  The media doesn’t allow this to happen because the paparazzi are everywhere.  This is the way our society has become now-a-days.  Is this right?