How healthy is your everyday diet?

By: Emma C.

 

 

Candy. I bet your favorite candy popped into your head just now. The sweet and savory flavor of the candy is almost too good to be true. Yet the question is, do you even realize how bad it is for you? I’m sure you knew it was unhealthy, but how bad was it really? People every day consume an unhealthy amount of foods that are bad, some without even knowing. Do you know how much unhealthy delectables you ate today? My guess is that it was an unhealthy amount.

A study showed in 2017-2018 throughout the world around 42.4% of people are obese. Each day that percentage is probably rising, and that’s not a good thing. From 1999 to 2000 through 2017-2018, the amount of obese people increased from 30.5% to 42.4%, and the amount of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. Being obese can affect you in many ways, some leading to bad health issues. A study showed that the estimated annual medical cost for obesity in the US was a whopping $147 billion in 2008! The medical cost for obese people was $1,429 higher than average weight people. The health issues that you can get from being obese are diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, more of a likliness of death and more. I’m positive that you wouldn’t want any of those to happen to you. It’s even said that more than two in three adults are either overweight or obese, and about one in six kids are too! If you don’t want to become obese then I definetly recommend having a good diet.

In the end, how much does having an unhealthy diet really affect you? Having an unhealthy diet can lead to many health issues and many more bad things in the future. “In the United States, the top leading causes of death are related to chronic disease, which comes from having an unhealthy lifestyle,” says Alicia Galvin, a healthy diet promoter. Having an unhealthy intake of foods with trans fats, sugar-based products, refined carbs, vegetable oils, and processed low-fat products are poor for your health. Trans fats can be linked to serious diseases such as heart disease, and while processed low-fat products are often disguised as healthy food options, they usually contain too much sugar, which makes them taste much better. In 2016, researchers found that diets with a high glycemic (meaning that the glycemic index measures how fast and how much a food raises your blood glucose levels) load may trigger increased symptoms of depression. Also, a higher intake of red or processed meats can lead to an increased rate of death, which nobody wants to happen.

“Over time, when you make healthy decisions about food, you are at a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and even anxiety and depression. You will have more energy, feel better, and may even be in a better mood on a daily basis,” says Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health in New York City. Having a healthier and more nutritional diet will lead to you having a much better lifestyle and more benefits for you in the future. To improve your diet, the important vitamins and minerals that you should eat more of are magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, and just all vitamins in general. With diets rich in vitamins and minerals, they let you have a lower risk for mental health disorders. The AHA (American Heart Association) also states that dietary fiber helps improve blood cholesterol and lowers the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, and type 2 Diabetes. According to the National Cancer Institute, foods also high in antioxidants are said to reduce the risk of cancer. These types of foods include berries such as blueberries or raspberries, dark leafy greens, pumpkin, carrots, nuts, and seeds. All of these foods will help to improve your diet on a daily basis.

“What I promote to clients is a whole-foods diet, meaning, eat foods as close to their original form as possible,” says Alicia Galvin. Eating more whole-foods or natural, unprocessed foods containing around only one ingredient will help you to have a healthier diet. People should aim to consume whole-foods 80 to 90  percent of the time. The benefits of a whole food or a minimally processed diet include lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and type 2 Diabetes. According to a study by the Institute of Nutrition Sciences in Germany, the natural compounds of phytochemicals, which helps to get rid of bacterias and can be found in fruits and veggies, can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular and other diseases.

If you’re looking for better and more healthy options to eat, try eating more fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat and fish, nuts and seeds, eggs, dairy, healthy starches, herbs and spices, and drink water instead of sugary drinks. These types of foods will help to improve your diet by a milestone. Just look at all the health benefits too! There are also different diets you can go on like the DASH diet, MIND diet, Mediterrainian diet, going vegetarian, plus more. Eating healthy also improves your brain function and physical performance. Comparing data from the Nurses Health Study shows that women who followed a healthy lifestyle pattern were 80% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease over a 14-year period compared to all other women in the study. A study similar to this, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, showed that similar healthy choices were beneficial in men, even among those who were taking medications to lower blood pressure or cholesterol.

As a person, you don’t want any of these health risks, and “The foods we choose make a difference,” says Michael Greger. I’m sure by now we all have heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” If that were true I would want to be  something that wasn’t cheap, fake, nor unhealthy, and I’m sure you would too. The next time you see that candy that you love, try to resist the temptations and think about how healthy you really are eating.

 

 

Animal Cruelty in Zoos

By: Ella Y.

 

 

            A study that looked at 1,241 zoos and aquariums in 78 countries found that 75% broke basic mistreatment rules. That means out of those 1,241 venues, about 930 broke basic guidelines. Ceaseless fear is all animals feel when they are trapped in those cages. Animals don’t deserve to be ripped from their families, be put in an unsuitable enclosure and be underfed so that somebody can forget about them as soon as they see a bigger animal.

            A Western Lowland gorilla named Harambe was living in the Cincinnati zoo in 2016. Western Lowland gorillas are currently considered critically endangered. Harambe was trapped all his life as a captive born gorilla. The Cincinnati Zoo was told their enclosure did not follow the guidelines it needed to, but still they did not fix it. On May 28th 2016, a toddler slipped into Harambe’s enclosure. This enclosure was Harambe’s home for many years. Even though it might not have been the most suitable enclosure, it was where he felt safe, and it was where his friends were. With an unknown person coming into his enclosure, he felt unprotected and vulnerable. There were two other female gorillas in the enclosure with him. Harambe, being an animal that cares deeply about his family and friends, picked up the boy. All he did was move the boy, without harm, but Haram was still killed. The zoo says that they did what they did for safety, but Harambe didn’t hurt the boy, and other gorillas might have. People were in outrage when they heard this story, but quickly people started turning Harambe into memes. Elon Musk even created song lyrics named RIP Harambe. The story of Harambe faded out, and more than 1.5 million people still visit the Cincinnati zoo each year. Even though there are so many stories and proven facts to show how traumatizing zoos are for animals, people still neglect all of that and visit zoos.

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, also known as WAZA, is an association that puts rules in place to make sure animals are not abused or mistreated in zoos or aquariums and also make sure that people are safe when they go to a zoo or aquarium. The problem is, 75% of zoos go against WAZA guidelines and do shows or interactive displays where animals do unnatural behavior. Ben Williamson, who is The World Animal Protection's campaign manager, also known as WAP, said, “We are asking WAZA to take responsibility for the activities of both its direct members and all other venues to which it is linked, WAZA is not enforcing its own rules and zoos are falling seriously short of their commitments to animal welfare.” Clearly they are not enforcing their rules because 43% of zoos go against guidelines and have petting experiences. 23% have direct feeding or feeding the animal right from your hand. There are beluga whales reenacting movie scenes and dolphins forced to beach themselves so that they can be used as a photographer's prop; dolphins beaching themselves can crush their internal organs due to land pressure.

            Many zoos say that they help educate the public about animals. Do you think of education when somebody says zoos? Do you read the information about the animal or do you just run by to watch beluga whales reenact your favorite movie scene? “Today, people get more from a TV nature documentary than they will ever get from seeing animals in zoos. In captivity, an elephant or a giraffe is out of its natural environment and probably in an unnatural social grouping. Television and the internet are much better resources for understanding animals than a zoo,” said Chris Draper of Born Free, the worldwide charity that campaigns against keeping wild animals in captivity. Zoos do teach the public some incorrect information though. They teach people to view animals as property. Zoos main exhibits are always exotic, well known animals that are at the top of the food chain, like lions and tigers. This creates simplistic views on biodiversity and ecosystems.

            One of the worst things about zoos and aquariums is the shows. These animals are supposed to perform unnatural behaviors all day, all year. Since 1995, zoos have relied on antidepressants, tranquilizers, and antipsychotic drugs to alleviate depression and aggression. Zoos don’t think of the serious health risks of these shows. For instance, dolphins are forced to beach themselves so that they can be a photographer’s prop. Dolphins are unmistakably not land animals, so this leads to scratches and serious crushing of internal organs due to gravity. “It is troubling that in 2019 we still have venues such as SeaWorld San Antonio inflicting this level of suffering on wild animals and calling it entertainment,” said World Animal Protection Director, Alesia Soltanpanah. “Seeing wild animals perform in shows as photo props is unnatural and leads to a lifetime of suffering.” Ben Williamson, the World Animal Protection campaign director, also said,“Circus-like shows and performances that force animals to exhibit unnatural behaviors on command typically involve harsh training methods, such as beatings and food deprivation.”

            This year in time everything is going modern, so isn’t it time for zoos to modernize, too? Germany’s Circus Roncalli impressed its audience by replacing real animals with 3D holograms. Does five hundred thousand dollars for this sound like a good deal? Well, it is a feasible solution to live interaction with animals that doesn’t detriment or demean animals. Using these holograms means zoos can continue to teach people about animals without teaching them the wrong things. For instance, if zoos use holograms instead of real animals it will stop people from thinking animals are property, and they will be able to show more animals. Yes, half a million dollars seems like a lot of money, but it actually costs less. Zoos spend millions of dollars a year on animal food alone, so getting these holograms is definitely a budget-friendly choice. Still, zoos continue to abuse animals and use their outdated ways.

            Zoos demean and harm animals and don’t stop even when given the choice, forcing animals to live an agonizing life of perpetual fear. If you really want to learn about animals, you can watch an animal documentary; you don’t need to go to a zoo just to walk by unread plaques. Animals don’t deserve to live a detrimental life of terror.

 

 

Animal Abuse

By: Dominick M.

 

            Imagine Sarah McLachlan’s song On the Wings of an Angel is playing. When you see super skinny dogs and you see that they look sad, and when you see dogs that are chained up outside with no one else around them, and they have scars all over their body, how do you feel? Just because we are humans and they are dogs does not mean we can just let them suffer and starve to death outside. Dogs help us, so we have to do the same for them. Hundreds of dogs are suffering right this second. We can help by not beating and leaving them changed up outside to let them rot. Would you want to be chained up outside without any warmth, food, or water?

 In an article, there is a rottweiler puppy named Lucy, and his owner is a man.   His neighbors had audio of the man yelling and threatening the puppy, and then they heard a thud and then a yelp from Lucy.

            The most common animals that get abused are dogs, cats, horses, and livestock. Hoarding animals is an indicator that the person needs mental and social health services. According to the Humane Society, when asked why people abuse animals, they state, ¨There can be many reasons. Animal cruelty, like any other form of violence, is often committed by a person who feels powerless, unnoticed or under the control of others. The motive may be to shock, threaten, intimidate or offend others or to demonstrate rejection of society's rules.¨  To get more information and answers to other animal abuse questions you may have, visit www.humanesociety.org.

The highest percentage ( 45%) of animal abuse is under the category of Neglect/Abandonment.   The smallest percentage of abuse is beating, which happens 10% of the time. Fighting occurs  12% of the time and shooting 16%. The last type of animal abuse involves hoarding, and it occurs 17%.

People have always cared about animals in trouble, but in 1966, a law called The Animal Welfare Act was passed. The law is a federal animal protection law. Did you know that dogfighting is covered by the act? Chickens and turkeys are the most farmed animals in the United States. Transportation trucks have to stop every 28 hours so the animals can get exercise and get food and water. But if the trucks have food and water, and the animals can get to it, the truckers do not have to stop. A human slaughter act was passed in 1958 and then amended in 1978. The law states that farmers have to stun the animals before they slaughter them so the animals are in less pain when they get slaughtered.  Did you know that chickens are not covered in this law?

People have to stop abusing animals. Other people, who don’t abuse animals, can help in many different ways.  Some people can buy dog food or animal food and make donations to a shelter.   They can also report instances of animal abuse when they see it.  Think about the sad and scared animals; don’t they deserve to be helped?

 

            Right Wing Ruination              

By Callum A.

 

The fight for our nation is raging on. Lately, the ideologically extreme Republican Party is standing in front of progress.  Whether it’s their conspiracy ridden rhetoric or their lack of cooperation with their opposition, the Republican Party is a huge problem for our country.

            The Republican Party was not always like this. While not everyone agreed with them, they were less radical and were willing to cooperate with other parties. Richard Nixon, a Republican, created the Environmental Protection Agency. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. But today’s Republican Party has become radical and is causing lots of problems for our country.

 America has seen what blind ignorance encouraged by a major political institution can do in the last four years. When the Covid pandemic began to wreak havoc in our country, the Republican President, Donald Trump, was quoted saying, “I intended to always play it down.” This virus later went on to kill 500,000 Americans and counting. He played a major part in this when he said, “The C.D.C. is advising the use of nonmedical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure. So it’s voluntary. You don’t have to do it. They suggested for a period of time, but this is voluntary. I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.”       

This uniquely Republican trend of ignoring science and spouting nonsense to supporters continues with the issue of climate change. According to Forbes, only 22 percent of Republicans believe humans are causing climate change, despite 97 percent of scientists saying the opposite. The Trump administration pulled out of the Paris agreement, an agreement which had a main goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

            One of the causes of Republican brand blind ignorance is their media echo chamber. The right wing media echo chamber is the perfect misinformation spreader. Studies show Republicans cluster around hard right wing media sources.  A study from Harvard Law School showed that Trump voters stuck to Breitbart, Fox News and the regularly conspiracy ridden show InfoWars.  The authors of the study, Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts of Berkman and Ethan Zuckerman of MIT, write, “It is a mistake to dismiss these stories as ‘fake news;’ their power stems from a potent mix of verifiable facts (the leaked Podesta emails), familiar repeated falsehoods, paranoid logic, and consistent political orientation within a mutually-reinforcing network of like-minded sites.”  This is most likely why you heard a mix and match of conspiracy theories when you talked to a Trump supporter.

One of the biggest conspiracy theories that was spread and promoted by Republican media is the election fraud theories from the latest election. The voter fraud conspiracy theories originated from social media groups on Facebook and other social media sites, but what drew many to the conspiracy promoting social media groups was the constant barrage of attacks on the election process by conservative outlets like NewsMax, OAN, and various conservative radio shows.

            Another disturbing trend in the Republican Party is rising anti-democratic sentiment among their voters and government officials. In a survey conducted by The Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 50.7 percent of Republican respondents agreed that the traditional way of life is dying, and that force must be used to save it. Another 36 percent agreed a military coup was justified if there was corruption. This is disturbing because 41 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners agreed Qanon was good or very good for the country.  For those who don’t know, Qanon is a now infamous collection of online conspiracy theories posted by a user named Q; these conspiracy theories often claim Democrats are devil worshipping pedophiles.  These conspiracy theories and a copious amount of misinformation culminated in the January 6th insurrection.  Trump supporters stormed the capital, killing and injuring police and breaking into government buildings. The reason the pro Trump supporters attacked the capital was because they thought that the election had been stolen and that there was rampant voter fraud. Most of the Trump supporters were members of social media groups where Quanon theories were constantly regurgitated. This took advantage of the doubt newer members had about the election and radicalized them.           

             This all happened due to misinformation, proving, once again, words can be weaponized.   Poisonous and deceitful words have caused this party and their supporters to go from a respected political institution to a ticking time bomb, which if not defused will destroy America. For the sake of American democracy, the Republican Party must become more cooperative and less radical so everyone can work together for a better future.

 

Reselling Kicks

By: Brady Stryker

 

 Have you ever tried to resell something for something better? If so, then what platform did you use, Facebook or Craigslist? The process involves either mailing or meeting up with someone in person. I have done both; I prefer to mail sneakers because people in person sometimes don't show up to the meeting.  What about sneakers?

Have you ever had a pair of Jordans? If so, have you ever wanted to sell them to buy a different pair of shoes? The prices are skyrocketing on these shoes. Now you can get two times the money for them online. A sneakerhead said, “Personally, I wish less sneakers were instantly snatched up by those looking to make a quick profit, but I understand the argument isn’t that simple, and I urge you to think for yourself what you feel about the matter.” According to ShamelessKicks, “GOAT currently has more than 11 million users, up from 2.5 million a year ago.” Goat is an online only site to pay for sneakers. I think it is a good site to buy hype (high value) sneakers from.

            According to Aiobot, “It's easy to see who benefits from this: the reselling platforms like StockX, Goat, and Flight Club, which specialize in authenticating and selling these goods for the buyers who lust after them.” A current employee at Goat says, ‘spent two years here at GOAT, never got a raise. Management will always have some kind of excuse. Company CEO obviously plays favorites on whose management; you will obviously know what I'm talking about once you get there. The job is simple labor with no kind of culture. I felt like I wasted my time here.”  Goat Funded $100M for Foot Locker and Matrix Partners. 

 According to dictionary.com, revenue is a company's annual income. The three major sneaker websites have earned major amounts of revenue. Flight Club Revenue is currently $32.2 million per year. GOAT's estimated annual revenue is currently $57 million per year. StockX Revenue is $400 million per year. They should pay the workers more money. They can invest in more stocks. The Sneaker companies should spend more money on their sites to make it a better customer experience.

People on Goat can put their shoes on Goat. People can put fakes on there or Real Shoes. People get scam for Fakes everyday on Goat or any online sites that sell shoes. You can tell it's fake, but for example, on the Jordan ones the material they use is patent leather. If it is fake it is made of plastic-like material. The experts are called sneakerheads. They are hired by sneaker companies, so they can make sure the sneakers are real. 

I think that there are good and bad things about sneaker reselling. The horrible thing is that people can just buy from the store, but people buy them from people who resell at a higher cost. The good thing is that people can make more money for shoes. People can buy more with the money they received from reselling. Imagine if you buy a pair of Travis Scott Jordan ones for one thousand, you can resell them for more money. I think they should limit people to how many shoes they take. I think people should buy ten shoes every six months. That will make it harder for resellers to sell shoes for more money because the main reason resellers do this is to buy ten or more pairs of the same shoe. Do you think this would make the life of a sneakerhead easier?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playstation Plus: Scam?

By: Brady F.

 

 

Have you ever bought a bag of chips and realized that you are paying for half a bag of air? Or what about when you buy candy and the box is only half full? That's what Playstation Plus feels like; you only get half of the amount of what you pay for.  Playstation Plus is too much money and an overall scam. Playstation Plus is just another one of Sony’s attempts to milk every last dollar out of our bank accounts.

 Sony created Playstation Plus because they know users will pay, because  who doesn't love playing online games with friends or family?  Playstation Plus isn't required to play all games, just the online ones. However, with the market receiving more and more games, it feels like a requirement. In 2016, 73% of people played offline, but now 1.2  billion people play online. Online games are the main way people play now. With games like Battle Royales (where it is a free for all where the last person standing wins) only having online play, everyone wants to play online. Solo playing is a thing of the past. In today's day and age. You will very rarely see games that have offline features. But most of the time you need to have Playstation Plus to access games even if the game has offline and online play.

What is Playstation Plus?  Author Chris Hoffman says, “Playstation Plus is required to play multiplayer games online.” It also allows you to  get free games and upload to the cloud (with a catch). Playstation Plus varies in price; you can pay 10.99 for one month, 24.99 for three months, and 59.99 for a year. It's super pricey, and not all users have the money to get the “benefits” that you get from the scam that is Playstation Plus.

Sony scares their users with the Playstation Plus service. One of the reasons is that you can’t play online if you are not a Playstation Plus member. And that is scary to most users, buying an online game to play with your friends and then realizing that you have to pay even more money to get the full benefits of the game.

With Playstation Plus you get free games, and that sounds like a deal to most users, but there is a huge catch. The catch is if you lose Playstation Plus you no longer have access to the game. With Playstation Plus you get the ability to access and upload your game data to the cloud. But once you lose Playstation Plus you lose all of that data until you renew your subscription; that can put a huge step on someone's gaming experience if your save files are locked. Another thing is that you lose access to all online games even if they have an offline experience like a campaign.

Overall Playstation Plus is a huge cash grabbing scam. Hide your wallets and hide your valuables because there is a storm coming that is Sony’s cash grabbing Playstation monopoly.

 

 

Coronavirus! Stay in touch!

By: Andrea M.

 

 

Do you miss your friends and family that you haven’t been able to see during the pandemic? It is hard to keep up with people that you don’t see every day.  It is even more important to stay connected now because of how stressful the pandemic has been.  The pandemic is no joke, and we shouldn't break the social distancing rules, but there are many ways we can stay emotionally close while being physically distant. It is important that we keep safe and keep in touch throughout this pandemic. We cannot go back to normal until this pandemic is under control; until then, we should stay in touch with our family and friends and stay safe at the same time.

According to Worldometers.com, as of March 29, 2021, 2.79 million people have suffered and died through the virus spreading from place to place.  It will only get better if we stay safe.  This is the world's big issue in the new year. While we need to be safe and protect everyone from this virus, there are some good ways to stay connected.

Mental health America[mhanational.org] did many studies and found benefits to social connections. One of their studies proved that people with good relationships were happier in their everyday life.   They also discovered that good social connections lead to better health. Loneliness has been found to cause higher blood pressure in a study of older people. In an interesting study, they found out that people with strong communities even had longer lives. 

There are ways you can help people around you during this time. Giving time out to connect with friends and family is important. It can be phone calls, google meets, or socially distanced hanging out.

Be present by going to school and other places that are safe. This means really paying attention to the other people in your life and trying not to be distracted by your phone, your work, or other interests. Another thing we can do is really listen to what others are saying and try to understand it and focus on their needs at that moment.

If we stay connected with our friends and family and pay attention to what they need we will see that it makes us feel better too.  That is why we should all stay connected through this pandemic. We should all be connected with friends and family, and we can keep safe at the same time.