Marshall Health Fitness Program: Fill & Download for Free

Germany under the NSDAP regime had by far the most effective public health and fitness program in history. Hitler in particular sold Germans on the idea that good health and fitness were not only patriotic duties, but it was something people could start to do, now, to help themselves and their country. By 1939–40, Germans really were almost “supermen” and women, as a result of their marked superiority in terms of general health and fitness. 2. German soldiers were the best trained by far. Until the dumbed-down Hitler Youth generation came of age, they were also the best educated. By the end of the war, Red Army training was on par with the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS. The US did not even begin to produce the same quality of training until the 1980s. The one Achilles heel of German military training was an emphasis on strict obedience, whereas Americans were encouraged to come up with and experiment with new ideas on the spot—for the simple reason that General Marshall knew all too well that their training was terribly inadequate. 3. The QUALITY and technical superiority of German war equipment was painfully felt on the battlefield. The Americans made up the difference not only in quantity, but an overwhelming superiority in supply. A Panther tank with no fuel and no ammunition was just a tin box. 4. In the 1930s, Germany was 20–25 years ahead of the rest of the world in science and technology. The US ranked about 4th or 5th. Then the Nazis literally threw away more than half of Germany’s own brains. Even so, they ended the war still 5–15 years ahead in unrealized designs. It wasn’t just military technology—German radio, cinema, even TV were far superior. Konrad Zuse had built the world’s first fully programmable digital (if electro-mechanical) computer and had designed a system nearly comparable to IBM’s System 350. It was slow, but much more sophisticated that ENIAC or any other Allied computer at the time. But the incredible incompetence that Nazi “administrators” brought to the running of their new pan-European empire—the biggest economy in the world, as of 1942—rendered most of their technical brilliance moot. 5. The Nazis got their previously not very united population 99 percent on the same rope, pulling in the same direction. Starting with a native population of 60 million, Germany came within a whisker of permanently establishing itself as the Number One superpower.

If you're asking specifically what mandate they are talking about in the Affordable Care Act, it's the mandate that Americans must have or purchase health insurance unless they meet a certain financial threshold (or fit into another exempted group). The so-called "individual mandate" was included in the law so as to balance the cost of care to insurers; if the only people who bought insurance were the folks who use a lot of health care services, insurers couldn't maintain enough revenue to stay in business--so they need young, healthy people to also sign up so as to subsidize the older, sicker folks. That legal requirement to buy insurance is contentious politically--even though it was a Republican idea to compromise with a mandate rather than the universal health care programs Democrats want(ed).The Supreme Court heard a case that challenged the law; the GOP claimed the mandate was illegal--that you can't require citizens to make a purchase--but the challenge failed.

I was valedictorian of my high school last year (class of 2017), but to be honest, I never really set my goal on being valedictorian. I did not go out of my way to becoming valedictorian because I did not feel that centering my academic focus in high school on being valedictorian was worth it. Fortunately, due to some of the changes on how GPA was calculated at my school, I was pretty lucky that I was valedictorian.In my answer, I am assuming that your school awards valedictorian based on GPA and/or cumulative average grades.In my view, here are some of the pros and cons I would consider:Pros:1. In general, the title “valedictorian” proves to colleges, peers, teachers, etc. that one took a challenging course load relative to one’s school (but not necessarily the most challenging, which will be addressed later).2. In many schools, valedictorians are invited to speak in front of their class at graduation. For me, it was a once in a lifetime experience speaking in front of my graduating class, their families, and my community. It gave me a platform for me to speak my wisdom (if I had any) and crack jokes in front of an audience. In all seriousness, this may have been the only time or one of the only times in my life that i will have a public platform like that.3. The title of valedictorian makes one memorable even after graduation. Especially in present-day society, a uniquely exclusive title is looked upon very highly.4. Being valedictorian or in the top percentile at one’s school may qualify one for scholarships, programs, and other opportunities. Some colleges especially public universities look highly upon class rank.Cons:1. Setting the goal of becoming valedictorian will likely require sacrifices especially if the school is competitive with multiple people having the same goal. For example, one may need to sacrifice their social life due to the possible necessity of taking more classes in order to improve one’s GPA.2. In addition, especially if one’s school uses weighted GPA to determine valedictorian, one may not be able to take classes that they are actually interested in due to the fear of it not being weighted enough, which inherently could lower GPA regardless of what grade is obtained.3. In some instances, schools award valedictorian based one’s cumulative average numerical grades, which means that every percent or fraction of one percent matters. However, in the long run, these few points are meaningless. Furthermore, certain teachers/professors may both teach better and grade harder, which is not ideal for one’s GPA and average grade. Attempting to become valedictorian could mean sacrificing knowledge.4. Especially in a competitive school or if one is falling behind, one may also have to take summer courses to boost their GPA. In high school, I found summer time to be incredibly valuable for self-development. If I had taken classes all summer, this would have prevented me from attending potentially more beneficial summer programs. Most of the summer programs that I have attended taught me more practical information and skills in 3–6 weeks than my courses did in one semester or even in one year. Moreover, as a badminton player, I attended various summer training programs in China to improve my physical fitness and fundamentals, and I also traveled to many exotic places, which greatly broadened my horizon.5. Finally, the GPA systems at many schools are not perfect in terms of gauging the amount of credit deserved based on the difficulty of the courses. For example, in my high school, the standard GPA calculations, which fortunately changed at some point during my high school years, awarded more credit for AP classes than college classes even though one could have theoretically taken third-year, fourth-year, and even graduate level university classes and be rewarded less than an AP class, which generally only covers material up to the end of first-year university classes. Based on what I have heard from my friends, I am aware that this is true at other schools.Overall, I would say that being valedictorian means that one is the best student in the eyes of the school. However, as seen by the massive flaws in the American education system, the best student in the eyes of the school is not necessarily truly the best student or the most successful one. The American education system often does not teach important skills that require one to be successful in college, industry, and/or academia. Colleges especially top colleges know this, and there are many other interesting activities and awards that could easily compensate for or exceed the status of being valedictorian.In hindsight, I wish I had spent even less time on school and more time developing my technical skills especially in computer science, participating in more extracurricular activities, and trying out new hobbies. I would even go as far to say that if I had gotten into an excellent college during the early round of admissions, and the university did not require a high school diploma for enrollment (like MIT and Stanford), I would have seriously considered dropping out before my final semester of high school in order to work an internship allowing me to develop technical and employment skills that were not taught at my high school. This would have disqualified me from not only being valedictorian, but also obtaining a high school diploma. However, after being in college and having multiple internships, I wish that dropping out of high school to work had been an option for me. For most people though, I do not recommend this unless you have a clear vision or long-term goal.My advice to you is to look at your long-term goals if possible and try to determine the process it would take to become valedictorian. Knowing the process, see how much going for valedictorian aligns with your long-term goals. Is it worth it to you?EDIT: I also want to mention another con that was vaguely already implied, but I feel like I should elaborate on it more. I will call this my 6th point.6. In relation to the 4th point, focusing intensely on becoming valedictorian could also result in sacrificing time on extracurriculars. I personally spent more time on extracurriculars in high school especially following my freshman year. During my freshman year, I cared a lot about and focused primarily on grades, and I got the highest grade award in almost every single class I took. After freshman year, I had only gotten that award one more time high school, which was only due to the fact I had already self-studied and applied much of the material for that class during an internship. I felt the marginal benefit for those few extra points and the award were not worth me sacrificing not just my social life and health, but especially my extracurricular activities. Through my extracurricular activities, I had developed many skills that would not be taught through the normal school curriculum such as teamwork, leadership, effective presenting, negotiating, and networking. In addition, these activities gave me the opportunity to meet, befriend, and even somewhat still keep in touch with so many amazing people, who have gone to do amazing things (Ex: Marshall Scholar, Forbes 30 Under 30, etc.) To this day, I value those experiences and skills far more than those few points. College and job interviewers have often been familiar with many of my extracurricular activities and asked me about those experiences (not if I got the highest grades in my classes).