Atomic Bomb, WWII

The atomic bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unnecessary and wrong.  The United states should not have dropped Fat Man and Little Boy for they have cause crippling effects to both places.  The US has caused a new wave of warfare, allowing countries to attack innocent civilians when trying to get a leg up in a war or political struggle between two or more countries.
The attack on Pearl Harbor left the US and its Navy in grave turmoil.  Although this attack came from the Japanese and was intended to kill many innocent lives, the idea of dropping a bomb that could potential wipe out all civilization on that land is unethical and morally wrong.  The US, at this point in the war, had Japan on the ropes.  After defeating the Japanese in island hoping, naval and airborne battles, the United States had Japan right where they wanted.  The next battle would have been invading Japan.
There are many reasons way and way not to invade Japan.  First off, Japan was fighting to the death at this point and and it would have caused many deaths on the American side. Also, with that said, the US did not want to be in this war for much longer.  Another reason was to intimidate the USSR, although just being in the war should have been enough to prove that because of the major rebound the US had after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Reasons not too, however, out weigh the other side.  At first when Germany had attempted to create the atomic bomb, they weren't doing a very good job.  They were caught trying to develop it and their project was officially over.  The Manhattan Project, the US's attempt to create the atomic bomb continued far after Germany's was finished.   Now there are pluses to the Project, 180,000 people were employed and it did put the US in the lead of the arms race, but was it really worth it. 
When the German scientists were caught, one went on the record of saying:

"I am thankful we didn't succeed in making the uranium bomb.  I thank God on my bended knees we didn't." 

That was said right after the US dropped Fat Man on Hiroshima.  The Germans were thankful they didn't come up with this type of weapon? The US has no company now with the atomic bomb, almost everyone was against it after seeing the damage it cause for the the citizens and for the Japanese in general. 
The biggest problem is that this brought a whole new warfare into play.  Terrorism.  This is a method of targeting civilians during war to achieve political goals.  With out the bomb this may never have been created, but who knows?  The bombing was not a simple bombing.  It required a lot of time and though for, as it was predicted, it changed the world. 
To sum things up; the bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were wrong and bad decisions.  The German scientists who tried to make the bomb were thankful they didn't, ex-presidents disagreed (Teddy Roosevelt was one example.), and also it helped create the very method of war that was used on the US during 9/11.  The bombing was not justified and should never had happened.

Is there a place for religion in schools?

The world today is full of religions. There are so many to chose from: Christianity, Buddhism, Islamic, Atheism, Scientology, Hinduism, Agnostic, Unitarian-Universalism and so on.  It would only make sense that citizens around the world understood the basics of each religion. Not necessarily the complexities, but just a general background on most.  There needs to be attention brought to all forms of belief on how man was made.  Whether it is from the book of Geneses or Darwin's Theory of Evolution, people need to understand all theories.  There is a place for both theory and religion in schools.  Religion and Evolution should be taught in schools only to open the minds of students and to educate the uninformed on these ideas.

There have been crusades, reformations, genocides, troubles in Northern Ireland, the Middle East all due to religion.  Hundreds of millions of people have died due to religious attacks.  The thought of not knowing way these things are going on is scary.  Students should be taught about why genocides go on and why the conflict in the Middle East is continuing.  But in order to truly understand , religion must be taught in a broad perspective.  Meaning that, religious education should be implemented in the curriculum of schools. Schools should teach a small overview on each religion and tie it into current events.  This will inform students and allow them to understand more.

Ignorance is the worst quality to develop as a human being.  For example, in the film Inherit the Wind Matthew Harrison Brady, an authority on the Bible, says that he has never read the book of Evolution and he never will. He states clearly that he believes in the Bible and only the Bible.  Well how does that make sense?  For someone to be so narrow minded and focused on one belief and one belief only, its ignorance.  Since Brady had never heard the story of Evolution he can't say its wrong or right because he doesn't know about it.  If a debate team were to go to a meet and argue the defense and never read the other side of the argument then that team would surely loose because they are uniformed on the issue.  Schools should teach students, regardless of the students beliefs, of all religions that way they can practice their own while still respecting the others.
  
Third, students and people all around the world can practice whatever religion they want.  Everybody has the right to do so.  All sorts of religions are allow to be practiced here in the USA.  The US will never hold religion up to "standards of reasonableness." Because if we did, what religion could pass?  All religions have a higher being to look up to, to pray to, to give thanks and praise to but to impose him on others is wrong.  As long as the teaching of other religions is done in a more neutral, unbiased way then it should be allowed.  In a world history class, if the teacher was to start a unit on ancient Egyptians, then he or she should teach about the religion they practiced as well.  When students start learning about the history of other countries, religion should be included.  The United States of America was created for many reasons but one was because people wanted to escape religious persecution.
  
Freedom of religion is the most basic of individual liberties.  The right to learn about other beliefs is mandatory.  In society today, one must have a general understanding of religion.  This area is imperative when learning about crusades, reformations and genocides all because there is a religious background.  Students need to comprehend this information.  International business has become a big field to go into after college, but business people will be traveling around the world and they will need to know the customs and traditions of the people the work with.  This includes religion because other countries may do something someone from the US might not do or know about.  Ignorance would defiantly taint a relationship with possible client if their customs are not respected. Students should be taught religion and be able to believe in their own.  This will not only make the students well rounded because they will understand more, but also because it will catch a wave that will spared around the world and hopefully end religious arguments.

Random Drug Testing.

In order to fully enforce a drug free society, action must be took at a younger age. Professional athletics today have certain standards and tests athletes must pass in order to continue participating. If the Illinois High School Association wanted to incorporate drug testing, they should be able to.

High school athletics is a very competitive field. There is almost every sport imaginable at high school all over the country. In every sport student-athletes want to excel and be seen. This is all due to the one thing every student-athlete would love to have: a scholarship. Scholarships are so rare and big that most athletes would do anything for one, that includes enhancing their game illegally.

Students-athletes must be aware of these drugs as well. Along with this new law should be a proposal to further educate student-athletes on these drugs so they know what to watch out for. It would not be wrong for them to take vitamins or make protein shakes, but using the incorrect products would be. Through this education, the program could talk about what side effects are and how in the long run it will hurt you not help you. This seems repetitive but not all student-athletes know the side effects of steroids. This could also come off as a little pointless but it will be money well spent because not only would this law implement the new code but also educate student-athletes as to what is a safer alternative or what to stay away from.

Although this my seem a bit intrusive and wrong, it is the best way ensure that athletes are drug free. This may cost money and this may be tedious but it can and will be effective. There are no downsides to this idea. One may argue “this is a waste of money”, well its really not. If we want a drug free America, especially in the youth department, then this is money well spent. One could say “shouldn’t we let the parents decide”, unless the parents are promoting the drug use then sure because their decision will be in agreement with this new law, what parent can stand up and say “I don’t mind my son cheating by taking drugs”?  

It is quite unfortunate that we can not have a society where everyone tries to do there best. In all the past years of great players, what would they say about this? What would some of the greatest athletes, who put their bodies on the line for a game or for just a play, say about youth doping in athletics? It needs to be enforced that drug testing is a form of cheating and with this new law, this idea will definitely be enforced.  

"Why has obesity reached an epidemic proportion in the United States of America?"

Obesity is the fastest growing cause of disease and death, and the sad fact is that: obesity is preventable.  65% of all adults deal with obesity.  Obesity has reached epidemic proportion in the USA due to the lack of proper nutrition, the new standards set by society and the peoples lose of self dignity.  The US now is full of fast food restaurants that don't properly provide nutrition that we need to live healthy lives.  Society has set higher standards that now say "its okay to be overweight" and people consider it discrimination when employees are criticized in the work place or when students are teased at schools.  Americans allow this to happen because most of them refuse to take care of their bodies.  Most Americans tend to be too self-confident when maybe they should be a little more self-conscience.  In order to understand this obesity epidemic, one needs to understand the way societies principles work in the US today.

There are currently in the US today 47,000 McDonalds restaurants.  An estimated 2,000 new ones come up every year.  That means by 2036 we will have over 1,000,000 McDonalds restaurants in the US alone.  That, along with the thousands of other fast food stops (Wendy's, Burger King, White Castle, KFC, Taco Bell, and many more) will be on almost every street.  These companies are adding to a fire that Americans cant control.  The food served at these restaurants are inadequately supplying Americans with healthy nutrition.  The food is adulterated with chemicals that can be extremely harmful to the body.  These chemicals also preserve the food to make it last longer and possibly make it harder to digest.  These companies blitz the public with so many commercials that show people having a good time while eating this food.  The companies don't read off the the negative effects their products have, instead the fun atmosphere and celebrity endorsements get all the bells and whistles in the commercials for these companies.  These commercials can have a profound effect on choices made by children and adults.  If you think about; they make millions of dollars selling this product, so why stop?  They won't entirely change the way they make their products, they will do it just enough to make lawsuits go away or try to keep a activist group quiet.  But the best idea to stop this problem would be to stop blaming these companies and get back on track.  It's time to show some restraint and start eating healthy foods rather than this fast food.

Society today is setting very low standards on health.  There are times were it may seem like a the US wants to become a healthy nation but then it continues to be lowered back into a obese nation.  We have many programs on TV  that promote healthy life styles and healthy choices.  But when Americans try to emulate these new ways of life, they fail or they become tired of it and slump back into a bad cycle.  Sometimes, there are serious health issues causing obesity.  Whether its a disability or a disease that's cause harm to the body and creating access fat.  There have been proven studies that show that there are actual human genes that cause obesity.  Other times, and this is the case for most people, its eating too much and moving less.  The Surgeon General, TV networks, health experts and many more have all suggested that Americans should have about 60 minutes of physical activity.  Children and young adults get this through recess and extra curricular activities, and adults can get this from simply moving around and walking to their place of employment.  In order to stop this epidemic, an increase in physical activity is required.  Also, a key way to stop this epidemic would be to turn of the TV for a few hours or simply closing the cookie jar.  Obese Americans can also adapt the "healthy foods at healthy proportions" rule.  Society needs to stress this because a majority of Americans are followers and if people start following an active life style trend then more people will do the same. 

Compared to other countries, the US is the best.  Americans have advanced technologies most countries don't and we have rights that other people around the world only dream about.  The US has one of the best literacy percentages and has a small percent of people below the poverty threshold. So America is the top country in the World.  But one thing the US is that no one else is: the fattest country in the world.  Americans are the largest people, but they are ashamed of it.  Americans are ridiculed for their lack of concern for their bodies.  It is terrible that Americans have all these positives but they all are canceled as soon as the obesity numbers come in.  Americans consider it offensive to gibe at someone cause they're fat.  In all fairness, they should but where do we draw the line?  Studies show that show that people who spend majority of their lives around obese people become obese themselves.  It truly is a disease and needs to be controlled.  Americans can control this, first they need accommodate a bit more of "tough love".  By telling a loved one that they are fat, in a nice way, may scare them on to a diet plan or a life style change.   Of course with this there needs to be some patrol over what they try to do.  They cannot and should not try to starve themselves to death because that will cause even more health problems.  Secondly health literacy needs to be put into play.  By showing someone what they're eating is bad for them, that might shock them as well.  Most Americans see the nutrition labels but don't fully understand how to read them.  Healthy literacy must be improved to stop this epidemic.  Tough love seems like a bad idea but its unfortunate that some employers look for perception over substance when it comes to employees.  That is wrong, and it does violate discrimination laws, but in order to ensure the safety of Americans when it comes to health we need to be more strict on obesity.

This epidemic is hurting Americans all over.  It is the fastest cause of disease and death.  Children are just as vulnerable as adults to this terrible disease.  Americans need to strongly encourage prevention over treatment.  The US spent roughly 117 billion dollars on obesity treatment.  Americans have the resources to prevent this epidemic from continuing but they are not using them.  Instead society finds a scapegoat and puts all the blame on the scapegoat.  We need to stop blaming and start helping ourselves get back on track.  For the future generation, its not too late to start prevention.  Limiting junk food to children, ensuring all students in all schools have a healthy lunch and using portion control can help prevent this epidemic from further continuing.  Benjamin Franklin once said: "an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure".  That's what America needs: prevention, not cure.