"106 Science Claims and a Truck Full of Baloney"

  In regard to the article "106 Science Claims and a Truck Full of Baloney"  I must say that I found the article to be very amusing and very truthful.  I am sure that we can all agree that we all have heard several of these same claims before in our daily routine.  There were two things that I really found interesting:  1. That Cheerios really has done scientific testing to show that their cereal really does reduce cholesterol. 2.  That the majority of scientific claims are made by advertising companies.

I found the Cheerios testing interesting because I actually eat Cheerios, and the claim that it reduces cholesterol is the main reason why I eat them.  To actually know that they have and are testing their product to validate their claims really is nice!!!  Yay for Proctor and Gambill!!!  Someone actually might care about their advertising!

The idea that most scientific claims come from advertising companies interested me because  I had never really thought about it before.   If you actually do stop to think about that idea it really does make sense.  You hear the ads all the time, and I actually will pick one product over another if I feel it has scientific benefits for me.

The two questions that I had were: 1.  Why do their appear to be different FDA standards for homeopathic products from prescriptive pharmaceutical medicines?
 And 2. Why doesn't the FDA go after some of these companies for false advertising?

There appears to be a double standard.  Why aren't the regulations the same for both homeopathic medicines and pharmacuticals?  Both are used by humans and both can do harm. 

Also, if the federal government can go after people for fraud why doesn't the FDA go after some of these people for false advertising?  To me, when it involves things that people will ingest, false advertising is fraud because someone could be seriously injured by it,  even fatally harmed.  Why is there a double standard? 

My Goals

     My goals for the future are very important to me.  They also have a lot of things in common.  My goal for English 1023 is to be learn to be able to explain myself clearly in the things that I write, especially scientific papers.  This will be very important in accomplishing my main goal of getting my Masters degree in Physics and Teaching.
     I find that I have a very hard time explaining myself to other people.  This is a very important part of teaching.  You can understand a subject very well.  However, if you can't explain that subject to someone else to their understanding you probably would not be a very good teacher.  This is my main goal in taking English 1023.  I believe that it will help me to learn to write papers so that others will clearly be able to understand what I am saying.
     Physics is a very hard subject for most people to understand.  Many times I believe it is because physicists tend to use terminology that most normal people do not understand.  It is my goal to teach physics to young people so that maybe more people will go into that field of science.  I believe that it is very important for the future of this country.  However, I also know that most high school kids do not want to sit in a class and feel like the teacher is talking "over their heads".  I think if you could explain it to them in a manner that they understand and find interesting, they would be more likely to pursue physics as a career later in life.  My goal is to get my Masters degree in Physics and Education and teach young people in a clearly understandable and enjoyable method.  English 1023 is one of the methods I hope to use to accomplish this goal.