The Sentinel

Guest Commentary |
Cars, hamburgers, schools, and ice cream: Competition and the freedom to choose

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

In 1975, I bought a four-cylinder Chevrolet Monza. In my opinion in was a terrible buy and a lousy car. There was one episode after another of maintenance issues and the four-cylinder engine was just a piece of junk.

I survived that car long enough to trade it in on a Toyota Celica. I felt like I had gone from the bottom to the top in the world of driving. The ride was so smooth and the acceleration was sweet in comparison to what I had been driving. I drove that car about eight years and never had an issue.

That was way back then. Today is different in America. Overall, our cars are better, safer, more powerful, and more efficient than ever before. We have come a long way in our auto industry and we can be thankful for one thing – competition. Germany, Japan and China have put us on our toes the last 50 years and the competition has simply made us work harder to deliver a competitive product. We do have a choice and choices are good.

Don’t get upset if someone starts a private school in your county. When I was a child, we had one choice for elementary and high school.

I grew up in Appalachia. We only had one doctor in our county seat town. I can remember my mother and I sitting for two hours waiting to see Dr. Ford in Inez, Kentucky. We desperately needed a couple more doctors for the sake of the community and for the sake of Dr. Ford. A second doctor down the street would have helped. Today, the town has more access to doctors which is good for everyone.

Can you imagine if McDonalds was the only fast-food hamburger chain? In some communities, it may be. However, in many communities there is a McDonalds, a Burger King, and a Hardees often all within a block or two. Seems to me like they all do well even though there is competition.

What if you only had one gasoline station in town? Or, what if one gasoline distributor owns all the local gasoline stations? Then the price of gas would be very high. In some communities, people are struggling with this exact scenario. Gas is outrageous partly because there isn’t enough competition. Don’t knock those who are trying out electric cars as it brings another level of competition to the playing field.

Don’t get upset if someone starts a private school in your county. When I was a child, we had one choice for elementary and high school. In 1964, our county (Martin county Kentucky) was said to be the poorest county in the United States. President Lyndon Johnson even began his campaign on poverty there. We didn’t know we were poor but we were either very poor or marginally poor. My dad had a coal mining job. We always had food to eat but there was no way he could have paid tuition for a private elementary or high school. It wouldn’t have mattered because there wasn’t a choice.

I loved my schools and loved my friends from those days, but we didn’t have much. The public school made it possible for us to receive an education. I can remember having two terrible teachers in those days who slept through many of our classes. They should have been retired or fired many years prior. They were good people, and they were loved, but their days of teaching and handling a class had long passed. Obviously, this can happen in many places. Children rarely recuperate from what was supposed to be taught during that formative period.

A private school in town could take money from the public school if the tax money follows the student to the private school or even to another district. It might even be home school. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have at least one private school choice program.

This aggravates and terrifies some school boards and administrators. Why be afraid of competition? I don’t think very many people want to pay extra money to send their kids to a private elementary or high school. There is almost always extra tuition and fees to pay even if the tax money follows the student.

There will always be a few who choose the private school. Let them do it and don’t worry about it. Just be a great public school with zero tolerance for bullying. Expect respect and work from the students. Support the teachers and expect them to do their jobs. Give the students all the support and love they deserve. Thus, you won’t have to worry much about local competitors.

Most every town has the Baptist, Methodist, Catholic churches, and more. You can be one of these or nothing at all. You have a choice.

I recently went into an ice cream shop that had over 100 flavors. The decision was tough but black cherry won over all the other flavors. The competition was fierce, but I’m so glad I had a choice.

He is the author of 13 books including Uncommom Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

Diet program showed remarkable weight loss success

SNS - University of Illinois researchers found that flexible, personalized diet plans were crucial for weight loss in a regimen high in protein and fiber. Participants in a 25-month study within a self-directed dietary education program achieved the most success when they devised their own plans.

An ideal addition to your diet if you are trying to lose weight is raw pears because they are high in fiber. An average, medium-sized piece usually contains about 5.5 grams of dietary fiber.

Photo: David Trinks/Unsplash

At the one-year mark, successful dieters — 41% of participants — had shed 12.9% of their body weight, compared with the remainder of the study sample, which lost slightly more than 2% of their starting weight, according to a paper published in Obesity Science and Practice.

The dieters were enrolled in the Individualized Diet Improvement Program (iDip), which employs data visualization tools and intensive dietary education sessions to enhance participants' understanding of essential nutrients. This approach allows them to create personalized, safe, and effective weight-loss plans, said Manabu T. Nakamura, a professor in Nutrition Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the study's leader.

The main goal of the iDip program is centered around boosting protein and fiber intake while consuming 1,500 calories or less daily.

The iDip team created a one-of-a-kind, two-dimensional quantitative data visualization tool that plots foods’ protein and fiber densities per calorie and provides a target range for each meal. Starting with foods they usually ate, the dieters created an individualized plan, increasing their protein intake to as much as 80 grams and their fiber intake to close to 20 grams daily.

A total of 22 people finished the program, including nine men and 13 women. Most of them were between 30 and 64 years old. They said they had tried to lose weight at least twice before. Many of the participants had other health problems—54% had high cholesterol, 50% had bone or joint issues, and 36% had high blood pressure or sleep problems. Some of them also had suffered from diabetes, liver disease, cancer, or depression.

Throughout the program, participants experienced significant body transformations. They reduced their fat mass from an average of 42.6 kilograms to 35.7 kilograms after 15 months. Additionally, their waistlines shrank by about 7 centimeters after six months and a total of 9 centimeters after 15 months.

Tracking participants' protein and fiber intake, the team identified a strong link between higher consumption of these nutrients and weight loss at three and 12 months.

"Flexibility and personalization are key in creating programs that optimize dieters’ success at losing weight and keeping it off," Nakamura said. "Sustainable dietary change, which varies from person to person, must be achieved to maintain a healthy weight. The iDip approach allows participants to experiment with various dietary iterations, and the knowledge and skills they develop while losing weight serve as the foundation for sustainable maintenance."