August 31st, 2010 - Homeschooled Online Advantage

http://ezinearticles.com/?Homeschooled-Online-Advantage&id=4959165 
Many opponents of the homeschooling option cite quality of education and socialization skills among students as arguments against the homeschooled. Today’s homeschooled students and teachers come from all walks of life and tend to be more mainstream than their predecessors. Many parents turn to homeschooling in frustration over what they perceive to be a collapsing public school education suffering from massive budget cuts, deteriorating infrastructure, and increasing violence among its students.

In a traditional school setting, teachers specialize in subjects from computer sciences to math to foreign languages. In the past, homeschooled parent instructors hired expensive tutors for courses that exceeded their capabilities or experience, but tutors are expensive and they tend to work on fixed schedules. There are literally hundreds of accredited online K-12 courses online that offer homeschooled parents an affordable and flexible alternative.

 Another concern of homeschooled opponents is the certification of instructors. While some parents are certified instructors the vast majority are not, but one has to consider the efficacy of a traditional teacher with 30 to 40 students as compared to a statistically well-educated parent with a deep investment in their child’s future. The addition of online courses can squelch those arguments by providing accredited certified instruction in areas of the greatest concern like English, math, and science. An additional feature of online course is transparency and accountability. While many of today’s universities and colleges consider standardized entrance exams to be a better barometer of a student’s academic prowess, the addition of online education transcripts can only help.

The second most common objection to the homeschooled option is the perception of stunted socialization. Homeschooled students, particularly online students, have more flexible schedules and can often meet with other homeschooled students of a wider variety in age than the public schooled for true quality time rather than sitting in a crowded classroom with limited opportunities to interact. Homeschooled students operating online have the advantage of organizing events and gatherings through homeschooled web and socialization sites.

The complexity of primary education has changed. Many students, including a growing number of traditional students, have grasped onto online instruction as a viable alternative or in addition to traditional classrooms. Do the addition of online instruction and the steady rise of the homeschooled spell the end of traditional schools? Of course not, but online course have certainly enriched the homeschooled and made them even more competitive against traditionally taught students.  

Milk - It does a Body Good?

We’ve all heard it; “drink milk; It does a Body Good.” From the Food Triangle to high school health sciences, milk is pushed without question. "Milk; it does a body good" is a highly orchestrated myth. While milk may have been considered a wholesome drink around the turn of the 20th century, draconian advances in hormones and the institutional mechanized dairy farms of today have mutated this perceived staple. With American cow’s milk consumption around 7 Billion gallons a year, can we afford to turn a blind eye to the dangers hidden under the white milky disguise?

In the early 1980's, the production of milk exceeded our demand due to competition from soda and bottled water, decreased consumption, and inflated government price support. In an attempt to correct the surplus, the U.S. Government passed the "Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983" that required milk producers to contribute to a national campaign to teach and promote milk consumption. In 1990, the U.S. Government passed "The Fluid Milk Act" which further increased the milk marketing campaign to around $200 million per year. The most successful generic milk ad campaign, and what is possibly the best ad campaign ever, is the "Got Milk?" campaign created by Jeff Manning from the Goodby, Silverstein & Partners ad agency in 1993. The campaign was originally targeted towards the California market, but it quickly went national, international, and even won the 1994 Cleo "Best in Show" award for advertising.

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, today's U.S. dairy market is estimated to be $70 billion dollars per year. In an attempt to protect that market, most commercial milk is pasteurized in order to kill off harmful bacteria like Campylobacter, E. Coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. The heating and cooling process of pasteurization, first developed by Louis Pasteur in 1864, should kill most of the harmful organisms responsible for such diseases as listeriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and brucellosis. Still, there is a strong potential for cross contamination from unsanitary production and packaging facilities.

Even with pasteurization, U.S. commercial milk still contains dangerous contaminants. In 1937, the bovine hormone was recognized as an agent to increase a cow's milk production. In 1993, the FDA approved the sale of the synthetic bovine growth hormone, rBST (aka. rBGH), to increase milk production by 10% to 15%. The U.S. Dairy Association and U.S. Government agencies argue that the cows that are injected with rBST still produce safe milk. While independent tests have been inconclusive, it is widely believed that rBST may increase the risk of mastitis and foot problems in cows and certain cancers in humans. Many insightful countries including Canada, the European Union, Australia as well as New Zealand have outlawed the sale of rBST.

In addition, Dean Foods, Kroger (parent of King Soopers), Kirkland (parent of Safeway), Lucerne, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, and even Starbucks have discontinued the sale of rBST milk. In an attempt to turn the tide on the resistance towards rBST, Monsanto, the producer of rBST and rBGH, has, up to this point, successfully lobbied and curtailed the labeling of dairy products containing the synthetic hormone, thus, making it impossible for consumers to distinguish between rBST dairy or non rBST dairy products.

According to the USDA, today's dairy farms have to use antibiotics to protect their herds from mastitis and lameness. The USDA's list of various antibiotics used to treat dairy cows include Aminocyclitol, Aminoglycoside, Noncephalosporin beta-lactam, Cephalosporin, Florfenical, Lincosamide, Macrolide, Sulfanamide, and Tetracycline. Regardless of a dairy cow's health, it is fed antibiotics through the cow feed. While the FDA claims that the antibiotic traces in milk are at acceptable levels, opponents fear that this practice may also increase human resistance to antibiotics and result in increased allergic reactions. In regards to dioxins, a 2003 USDA research project concerning polychlorinated dioxins, furans, and biphenynls, reported that these toxic contaminants are concentrated in animal products and ultimately consumed by humans. The study determined that dairy cows fed contaminated feed excreted 30% of the digested dioxins in their milk.

Milk can be contaminated with a variety of environmental infectious microbes including Bacillus cereus, Brucella, Campylobacter jejuni, Coxiella burnetii, E.Col 0157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Samonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Yersinia enterocolitica. While pasteurization kills most of these microbes, cross contamination, process packaging, confined and horrid dairy cow living conditions can contaminate the general milk supply.

Clearly, our idealistic visions of happy fat cows grazing in rolling hills of tall grass, has been shattered by the horrendous living and sanitation conditions on the vast majority of dairy farms. Much like meat or poultry products, we prefer to purchase these nicely packaged foods without thinking about their origins. The contaminated dairy milk is the basis for many foods like dry milk, butter, ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and many manufactured baking goods. One important point that people tend to overlook is the fact humans are the only species to drink another species' milk and we are the only species that consumes milk beyond infancy. Our delusional desire for milk is not only un-natural, it's dangerous.

Sunday is the Most Segregated Day of the Week

If you were to drop into an American Mosque, Synagogue, church, or any other place of worship you would likely see a sea of like minds and ethnicities. Theology is the logical separatist element, but it’s the ethnic separation that has many concerned.  Is it good for a “melting pot” society to be so separated on Sunday? Of course there are pockets of exceptions and many worship leaders proclaiming to welcome all and, for the most part, that is true, however, it doesn’t change the complexion of the congregation. Ultimately, we have to ask why our places of worship are segregated and then consider if this is acceptable in a society that is trying desperately to “have a dream.”

At least for the moment let’s agree that Jews will go to Synagogues, Muslims will go to the Mosque, and so on. The theological debate is moot. Aside from adventurous students of religion or the occasional event at a foreign place of worship, the vast majority of believers stick to their sect; for example, a Christian visiting a Mosque or vice versa. However, the theological differences are not reserved to the different religions, but also to the variables within those religions.

Each religion has elements on the far right and the far left with everything in between. Amongst Islam the major divider is between Sunni and Shi’a. And then there are the different forms of worship between nation states and communities. Islam, as practiced in Iraq, is different than Islam in the United States. The World Almanac estimates that there are over one billion Muslims in the world that span ethnicities from African to Arab to Southeast Asian. For the most part, thirteen million Jews are ethnoreligious meaning that they are either born of the Jewish ethnicity or converted into the religion.

The largest religion is Christianity with an estimated two billion followers. It may also be the most divided religion. There are the Catholics, the Mormons, the Jehovah Witness, the multitude of protestant sects, Orthodox just to name a few. The movements within Christianity range from Pietism and Methodism, Evangelicalism, Adventism, Modernism and Liberalism, Pentecostalism, Fundamentalism, Neo- orthodoxy, New Evangelicalism, Paleo-Orthodoxy, Ecumenism, and many others. It’s almost impossible to keep track of all of the Christian movement because the sect on the outer fringes of the religion appear and disappear as fast as political action committees (PAC).

Christianity is the largest religion with the greatest variance of theologies that make it a perfect case study of separatist Sunday. The difference in ethnic complexion varies between the movements, the sects, and the communities. In suburban Denver Colorado one may attend a “community” Christian church with almost all white European congregants and then drive around the corner to visit a Catholic church primarily filled with Hispanics. The truth is that Vietnamese believers worship with other Vietnamese and African Americans worship with other African Americans. Again, religious worship is a very personal thing so why wouldn’t you feel more comfortable with like minds and like ethnicities. Indeed, Sunday’s are the most segregated day of the week.

The real question is whether this is a good thing or a bad thing? Let’s say for a moment that there was no separation between church and state and we could force religious segregation. Would a “melting pot” of worshipers improve worship or society as a whole? The Mormon Church or The Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) addresses the dilemma of congregational “clichés” by assigning worshipers to a particular parish which may be reassigned many times thus integrating the congregants, but does that strengthen the church? That brings about the question of free will. If the Mormons could pick and stick would the separation return?

It is my contention that the separation would return because people simply feel more comfortable worshiping with likeminded people generally from the same economic level. People like familiarity. The church becomes ones family. In this case, you can pick your family, but, in almost all cases, people pick congregations that reflect their socio-economic class. Even if we could force segregation should we? It would be great if Sundays reflected the dynamics of our mixed society, but the truth is that Sunday segregation exists and will continue to exist as long as we have religious freedom. In this case, a segregated Sunday is perhaps our greatest reflection of religious freedom.       

Dangers of Diet Pills - ezine article

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dangers-of-Diet-Pills&id=2571489
Dangers of Diet Pills
By Christopher Sharits

American's spend more than 6 Billion dollars a year on diet pills. There are literally hundreds of diet pills. At any given time there are dozens of "lose weight quick" schemes in the media. They usually involve some "miracle" drug or supplement foods. Whether the pills or ingredients are over the counter or prescription, they can be very dangerous to your long term health.


Remember fen/phen or Ephedra. Both caused heart trouble and were banned by the FDA. That's two out of hundreds of pills, many of them unregulated. Most diet pills contain caffeine (a stimulant added for that "burst of energy"). While almost everyone drinks or takes caffeine, it can be dangerous in large quantities. Caffeine stimulates adrenaline which increases blood sugar and begins to emit cortisol which destroys the nervous system. Imagine a person who drinks coffee all the time and takes diet pills. They would have greatly increased their risk for cushings disease. Other common ingredients are Xenical (which can cause unexpected fecal discharge), Adipex, Phentermine, and Merdia. The side effects from these drugs can be chest pain, racing heartbeat, depression, heart problems (even failure), high blood pressure, dizziness, tremors, diarrhea, and nervousness. Even "organic" diet pills are dangerous and, for the most part, unregulated.


If you still believe in these "short cuts" you should consult your doctor (especially if you are taking prescription drugs). If you insist on taking diet pills you will probably need to stay on them for a long time to maintain the desired results. Like any conventional diet, once you stop, the weight may return. Long term use of diet pills greatly increases your risk of permanent bodily damage. There is simply no substitute for a moderate balanced diet and exercise. Forget about the ingredients in foods and watch your calories. As I continue to argue, morbidly obese people need to have a balanced diet, exercise, and strongly consider bariatric surgery.


Bariatric surgery is for the morbidly obese. It is not the solution or a quick fix for weight loss. Rather, it is a powerful tool for the morbidly obese to finally obtain an ideal weight. Like any tool, it requires a balanced diet and exercise. There are two basic types of bariatric surgery performed today. There is the traditional Roux-en-y gastric bypass for the super morbidly obese that actually redirects food around the stomach. It is an invasive surgery. The more popular weight loss surgery is the "Lap-Band" or "Realize Band" that simply reduces the size of the stomach through an adjustable ring. It is performed laparoscopically and is much less invasive. Both of these bariatric surgeries have proven to be very successful for permanent weight-loss. There are pros and cons to both surgeries. You should find an experienced surgeon to find out if bariatric surgery is for you. If you do chose bariatric surgery, you will avoid nearly all of the organ damaging effects of diet pills. As with any successful weight-loss program, the common variable is lifelong balanced diet and a regular exercise program.

Sunday August 22nd 2010 - Freelance

I signed up with freelance.com and I'm overwhelmed with bids on jobs. I get like 100 jobs to bid on each day, but most of them are unrealistic or way to cheap. Many of them offer $1 for 500 words. I can't make a living doing that. I think I must be competing against people from other countries that have a much lower cost of living than I do. I'll keep on biding, but only on the jobs I really want and the ones that really need my expertise.

Many of the jobs are for writing freelance articles including Ezine. I already have expert status with Ezine so I'll just be submitting my own articles. The articles only have to be 500 words so I can knock them out one a day or five a week. I also need to be submitting posts daily to this blog and my obesity blog [http://lose250.blogspot.com] . In addition, I need to make progress on the book. I need to write between 3,000 to 5,000 words a day. 500 on the weekends.

I also need to complete more paintings. I can sell those for $300 to $500 each unless I go through my gallery and then they double, but I get paid 50%. Unfortunately that's the normal split in NYC. I've posted some of my new paintings on paulsharits.com/about_chris.htm . I also have about 200 photos to sort through to make a new portfolio. Gee. I have a lot to do. I need to go. Later.

August 17th, 2010 - Online writing samples

While I try to beef up my portfolio, some of my work can already be found online. In July of 2009, I started writing free-lance articles for Ezine Articles mostly about health and fitness, one of which was The Dangers of Diet Pills which can be found at http://ezinearticles.com/?Dangers-of-Diet-Pills&id=2571489 . 

Of course most of my online presence and writing is the paulsharits.com site. In another post I will share some of the "Positano" book.

August 16th, 2010 - First Post

Well, I have some work to do, but this is my first official post, thus, indicating my intended use which will be to present my writing from my fiction novel and my technical / professional writing samples. I will try to make a "Positano" post this evening.

(PS. Visit my sponsors and browse my Amazon books. They pay me)