tv Today NBC September 28, 2010 9:00am-10:00am EDT
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we're back now on a tuesday morning, the 28th of september, 2010. rains have stopped temporarily out on the plaza. good news for all these nice people who have joined us on this tuesday morning. we thank them. inside the studio, i'm matt lauer along with al roker. she'll share the secrets of a healthy diet plan that may actually reduce your risk of colon cancer, that's coming up. now stress can mess with your head, sometimes can it
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cloud your thinking, but other times it can actually give you the sharpness you need. and would you believe gender makes a difference. we're going to check out the latest research and give you some tips on improving your memory. and as part of our education initiative, we're going to be teaming parents with our experts about handling your children's problems in school. what you can do differently from advocating for your child to understanding what guidance counselors can and can't do for your children. you also have the headlines of the morning. >> i do, and in the news this morning, today emergency workers are keeping a close watch on a l levee in wisconsin. officials say it will be at least one more day until the record water level drops. in los angeles, the problem is record heat. 113 degrees on monday. the hottest temperatures since
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recordkeeping began in 1877. the demand for electricity also hit a new high there. triple digits are expected in some parts of the city again "today." iran for the first time is suggesting that oman is playing a role in trying to secure the release of american hikers shane bauer and josh fattal held prisoner for more than a year now. one report says the delegation plans to visit iran and hopes to win their freedom. oman helped to secure the release of american sarah shourd two weeks ago. the government is now calling -- george lewis has more now. >> reporter: the ads make pomegranate juice sound almost miraculous, that it can prevent or reverse anything from erectile dysfunction to heart problems. linda resnik who owns the company with her husband on martha stewart's tv show a
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couple of years ago. >> it was the magic elixir of our age and of all ages and we know that it helps circulation, it helps alzheimer's and if you know a man that you care about or you are a man, make him drink eight ounces of pomegranate juice a day because what it does for men is amazing. >> reporter: the claims are false and unsubstantiated. palm wonderful headquartersed here in hoonks declined our request for an on camera interview to talk about the fcc complaint. it says pom wonderful fundamentally disagrees with the ftc and blaebs that the allegations against pom are completely unwarranted.
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>> bomb pomegranate juice is good for you, but it's not medicine. >> i feel like once again i was duped by some marketing campaign. >> i'm glad to see that the ftc is indeed pursuing something like that. they should check all that kind of stuff. >> reporter: so pom wonderful, not so wonderful, in the eyes of the federal agency that serves as a watch dog over advertising. for "today," george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. and it's not often that you see firefighters dressed in pink. on monday, pink fire trucks rolled through saratoga, florida in honor of breast cancer -- sarasota, florida in honor of breast cancer awareness. it is now four minutes past the
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hour. now let's take a look at show you what's happening weatherwise, we have got this area in the tropics, could become tropical depression or nicole. it's going to be bringing a lot of moisture up the atlantic coastline. we have got a lot of strong storms "today," but then with this system, you can see all this moisture coming up the coast. that's just the beginning, here's what we're looking for, from today into tomorrow, from california, make that florida all the way up into the mid-atlantic states, we're talking about one to six inches of rain. by thursday into early friday, interior sections of the northeast could be looking at anywhere from three to six inches of rain before this is all over. so we are talking about a flooding event up and down the eastern seaboard that's already seen quite a bit of rain and out west, they have had record setting heat with temperatures yesterday 113 in downtown l.a., hottest reported since 1877. "today," not quite as hot, but
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more. joining us live via skype, what's your question? >> hi, joe, i heard that bagels are loaded with calories, like over 500, but i love bagels and i can't give them up plus my friend owns a bagel store and she gives me free bagels. so how can i cut calories and still enjoy bagels. >> bagels, delicious but dangerous, and absolutely doable. first see if there's a whole grain variety and typically it will go under the name of either whole wheat or oat brand and that's going to be much better than the refined white varieties. and if you're eating it at the shop, ask your friend if they'll scoop the bagel for you, that means they scoop out the inside, you're going to save yourself about 100 calories of unnecessary dough and when it comes to the topping, you want to request a thin smear, so whatever you want, whether it's
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butter or jam or cream cheese or peanut butter. nutritionally speaking, peanut butter is your best topping, but if they have low calorie cream cheese, that's a good option. and that's a got option for home. >> now our next question comes from anita who's on the phone from dpe de-. >> caller: i just finished treatment for stage three colorectal cancer. i have read about cancer deterrents, but i'm not sure what to believe. >> it's a great question, the two best thing you can do in terms of reducing the recurrence risk, is to maintain a healthy weight and exercise. those two things are linked with reducing the risk of many cancers, colon cancer included.
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also limit those saturated fats. the marbled read meat, full fat dare. salami, bologna, hot dogs. have some sardines or salmon twice a week and talk about supplementing with a fish oil supplement. there's mixed studies on fiber, but it's always worth your why would to include a fiber rich food with each and every meal. when it comes to capsasin. work them into recipes only if you enjoy them. but really get out there and exercise, and practice healthy eating habits and you'll really be taking charge of your health in this situation and good luck with everything. >> okay, good luck, anita. >> caller: thanks so much for
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your help, joy. >> finally a viewer e-mail. this one is from duncan in tampa, florida. your recipe for sweet potato fries came out soggy not crispy. >> you want to make sure that you slice those potatoes thin. don't crowd that pan, spread them out. they have to be single layer, be generous with that oil spray, pop them into the oven for about 20 minutes, flip them halfway through and then finish them often in the boiler. they will be crispy. in fact check them when they're under that boiler. whip some up, nice and crispy. >> our food for the stars, bianca. >> and up next, do you know where your car keys from in the relationship between stress and memory and buy it affects women and men differently. . from 3w4r
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that advertise flights for 25,000 miles? but when you call... let me check. oh fudge, nothing without a big miles upcharge. it's either pay their miles upcharges or connect through mooseneck! [ freezing ] i can't feel my feet. we switched to the venture card from capital one -- so no more games. let's go see those grandkids. [ male announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games. get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. [ loving it ] help! what's in your wallet? with the venture card at capitalone.com. mmmmmm. mmmmmm. wow! you have got to be kidding me. 80 calories? light & fit has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. light & fit. irresistible taste. fewer calories.
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i love light & fit. this morning on "today's" health, how stress can impact your memory. it's a good news, bad news sometimes when it comes to giving that presentation you have been losing sleep over for a few weeks, you might just hit it out of the park. she's here to help us figure out why. so first of all, show us exactly how the brain remembers things. >> think of the brain like a switch board, so you have your telephone, which is like the cells of the brain, the neurons, connecting all these wires to a telephone. and when we try to remember something, these wires communicate with each other and if we want to try to retain it, they get thicker and stronger.
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>> so we're looking at the graphic now and you're seeing those little explosions and the little pieces then are becoming bigger and stronger. >> those little stars are the cells of the brains and the little things that look like strings are the dendrites of the brain. where it's stored in the brain, it sort of lights up and then we remember it. >> with a little bit of stress, we're trying to recall a memory, it's amazing how much we can suddenly remember because of a little stress, there's actually a sweet spot? >> there is, which is kind of neat. >> but moving beyond the sweet spot, things start to fall apart. >> as the stress increases, and our adrenaline is released, our memory gets more contribute p, we continue to get sharp. then we have all experienced this, you get to this point where you get frazzled, overwhelmed and your memory takes a nose dive. so for each person there's this sort of sweet spot where your alertness goes up to a point and
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then it goes down. >> you have three kinds of stress you want to talk about. one is acute stress and that's when someone give you some bad news suddenly. >> it's sudden in on set. for example if your boss calls you into the office and you get fired. >> how does it affect the brain? >> it enhances your memory initially, but this is only for men. with women, it's a little different. it depends where you are in your mention central cycle. during that period of time, stress does not give you the memory boost that it does for men, then once you. >> you can't remember anything, now we suddenly understand why we couldn't remember anything when we got pregnant. >> now moving on to the second
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category, that's chronic stress, that's the kind of stress that you're having to endure for several weeks at a time. >> exactly. >> what would be the impact on the brain? >> men do not do as well as women. so with men when they are under conditions of continual stress, continual bathing of the brain with stress hormones, their neurons -- they can't recall memories, whereas for women, when we are faced with chronic stress, we do very well on memory tests. and it actually kind of makes sense. because as men and women adapted in ancient times, men were the hunters, they had to go out there and kill the animals, worry about getting killed. so that's the acute stress they learned to adopt to. and with women, we stayed home and took care of the children. >> traumatic stress is a third category, that's just not good, you actually see shrinkage in
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parts of the brain. so the question then is, the last question is, what's your best advise on relieving stress so that we don't have these negative impacts? >> the best thing that you can do really is to exercise regularly. exercise reduces the stress hormones and increasing endoor endorphins. >> all of them help you breathe deeper. coming up, can you feel it coming in the air? we have got phil collins, the eight-time grammy winner is out with a new today, he's going to tell us all about it. [ quinn ] my name is quinn,
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and this is my eggo. on fridays i have hockey before school, so i take two eggo homestyle waffles and put peanut butter inside. [ whispering ] i add a couple chocolate chips when dad's starting the car. [ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ quinn ] l'eggo my eggo. [ louise ] my name is louise
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and this is my eggo. on tuesday i go in even earlier than usual. thank goodness for eggo, a nutri-grain waffle with a quick smoodge of cream cheese... at least that part's easy. [ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ louise ] l'eggo my eggo. [ speaking spanish ] ♪ [ male announcer ] old el paso stand 'n stuff taco shells. old el paso. feed your fiesta. no menu needed. have you heard about our never ending pasta bowl? wait a minute... announcer: the never ending pasta bowl! with new sauces like our creamy parmesan portobello. choose all the sauce and pasta combinations you want for just $8.95. at olive garden.
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mmmmmm. mmmmmm. wow! you have got to be kidding me. 80 calories? light & fit has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. light & fit. irresistible taste. fewer calories. i love light & fit. if you're using other moisturizing body washes, you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin, almost as if you're wearing it. only dove deep moisture has nutriummoisture a breakthrough formula with natural moisturizers that can nourish deep down. it's the most effective natural nourishment ever. dove deep moisture with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. this morning on education nation, in child left behind.
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>> now the obama administration's proposing an overhaul. california senator george miller is -- >> you're going to be able to give us an idea of what this new take on the no child left behind act will look like. because the obama administration is now making some changes. how will it change? >> it will change -- no child left behind really was bringing visibility to what was happening to the bottom half of our students in the nation and establishing some accountability in the school districts and that was fine. but it doesn't take us to the future. and what we really want to do now is we want to work as we have been with the governors, the state superintendents of schools to develop this system of national goals and then to develop a system -- >> goals like? >> goals like college and career ready curriculum, so that students when they leave high school, they're ready to take whatever path they want and they'll probably take both paths
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sometime during their lives, that's not true for a good number of students right now. and we think that to do that, we have got to get the federal government out of the way a little bit, but we also then have to have that space filled by teachers who are buying into the system, parents who are buying into the system. what you really see, where successful schools are, those communities realize that this school is the most important economic and cultural aspect that they have. >> what's the accountability in something like this? >> the accountability is in the standards, and president obama and secretary duncan said to the states if you come up with core standards, we'll help you develop the assessment for those standards. the multiple choice fill in the bubble doesn't help us know the depth of the learning of the students. and in this new worldwide competitive economy, competitive society, if students aren't learning more than they're
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learnilearn ing today, america is not going to thrive in that world. >> we have got much more coming up. >> after your local news and weather. ♪ hi, a number two please? would you like that to hurt now, or later? uh, what? sir, it's a simple question, do you want heartburn pain now or later? [ male announcer ] these heartburn medicines make you choose between hurting now, or later. pepcid® complete doesn't. it starts to neutralize acid in seconds and keeps it under control all day or all night. sometimes you gotta make compromises, man. [ male announcer ] no you don't, man. pepcid® complete works now and works later. and eating well means getting enough whole grain and calcium. and general mills big g kid cereals can help. did you know it's the only leading line of kid cereals with at least 8 grams of whole grain and a good source of calcium? cereals they already love, like lucky charms and cinnamon toast crunch. give your kids more of what they need to be their best.
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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> the rain showers will be tapering off, and thunderstorms as we head of the late morning and afternoon hours. we might get a peek at some later on today. high temperatures in the upper 70's to 80 degrees. rain is back in the picture wednesday night and thursday.
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that's in andy harris' unfair tax plan. 23% sales tax. a 23% sales tax will cut my business in half. would be devastating. andy harris' 23% sales tax absolutely makes no sense. 23% sales tax would really make things unaffordable. that's too high for the average american out here. i don't know how we would manage it really. don't like that idea. we can't afford andy harris' idea. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message.
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i'm really glad to say hi and to hear this newscast which i thought was really finely done and i'm really exciteded about the story we're going to do about your school. >> that was ann heading back to middle school. not only is it the easiest time for kids. a school in maryland the making it work for the kids and the families. this has been an eye opening series. matt went to a pre-k. i checked out on elementary school earlier this morning. back in your day they called it junior high. >> what's really fascinating is that this school has been able to despite the fact that so many
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more of their kids are falling into poverty with the recession, have in the last seven years caused math and reading skills to go up 30%. >> wow. >> and the reason why will just melt your heart. so we'll tell you all about that. in the meantime coming up this morning, here on education nation, which we're continuing, we're going to have an interview with a panel of experts and they include a teacher and a principal and a psychologist and they're going to be answering parents questions, what to do when something goes wrong with their kids in school. >> and we'll also take a look at an innovative new tool, one that gives you information about specific schools, which would be really handy to have. and if you're in the market for a t-shirt and also opens your beer, talk about fun gifts for the hard to please person, check out some great new products including jerry did not come with the shirt. >> that's great. and maybe that's a good thing.
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but first let's get a check of the weather. >> let's see what's happening at least as far as today is concerned, we have got a risk of strong storms along the mid-atlantic coast. heat continues, sunny california into the central plains, then for tomorrow, a lot of atlantic moisture from florida all the way to the lower southeastern atlantic coast, but the western 2/3 of the country, sunny to hot, warm conditions, cool with a few scattered owowers in the central great >> off and on rainshowers with us through the morning and into early this afternoon. i think it will clear up late in the day. we will get sunshine late >> and that's your latest
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weather. now one of the things we always love having, kids we love having here, the scholatic kids press core. they do what we do hered a "today," cover news, entertainment and sports in their hometown. they have covered everything from obama, and nbc's brian williams. >> and two of these sclasic kids. >> what did you learn about education? >> you know what? brian, he's so nice. he moderated the teacher town hall and i learned a lot about what's going on with too muchers when i went there. some of the hot topics were like teachers getting laid off and teacher tenure and so i learned a lot about that and how
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students in america were doing less than other countries and that kind of worried me. >> and andrew, you got to talk to the principal and some teachers and students at a middle school in georgia. >> in atlanta, georgia. >> what did you find out from them? >> i found out that even though a lot of america has been affected by budget cuts affecting schools and the recent economic downturn, the school i went to, the middle school, he had a great pta and that school was not affected as much and the teachers were also passionate about their jobs and about letting the students be lifelong learners. >> there's some key points there, teachers being involved and the parent teachers association. is this true from your own experience? >> yeah. >> you guys are very passionate and great at what you do. >> keep reporting, take our jobs.
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without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, for all day relief without pills. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. [ man ] thermacare, more effective for back pain than the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the medicine in tylenol. go to thermacare.com today for a $3 off coupon. thermacare. no pills. no pain. just relief. colace capsules stool softener helps ease straining to make going easier. try colace capsules for effective comfortable relief from occasional constipation. find the relief that's right for you and get a $10 rebate at getconstipationrelief.com. this morning on education nation, a workshop for parents, what to do when things go wrong at school. we have gathered a panel of
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experts. the principal of west port academy in baltimore and also joining us, david woo a chemistry teacher at dorsey high school. we're going to start with kathleen in illinois. she writes i wish i had known that one bad teacher can turn your child off from learning. i would have homeschooled my kids. if i had known our education system couan make children feel bad about themselves and quell their natural drive to learning. >> i think the parent should contact the school and the teacher to set up a time where they can come in and view the teacher. a lot of times teachers don't get any feedback from other teachers. i feel that if the parent is involved and make an appointment to see the classroom, give their suggestions it would help.
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>> but i've got to be honest, because some parents, a lot of parents are afraid to take on a bad teacher. because they're afraid if they do, that their child will be punished. michelle? >> exactly, so what you're really looking for is legitimate concerns that's lasting, but if it could jeopardize your child's education, that's the first step, when you walk into the classroom, you use the word we, what can we do, but you'll also discover if you listen to the teacher and you wait about a week and you don't get help, then you go to the principal and then the superintendent and then the trustees, because you cannot wait a year for your child's learning. >> the question on skype from wendy. wendy, what's your question? >> i have sent a comment in about what i wish i had known and i wish i had known how to better advocate for my child.
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prior to being diagnosed with adhd, he spent a lot of time in the principal's office, in a special time out room, and having to miss a school trip. however since then his teachers have learned to address those emotional delays with empathy and patience and i'm so grateful that she's doing great now. i just wish we had figured this out sooner. >> wendy, hang tight, we have got felicia who is a principal, what is your best advise because there are a lot of spectacular children who've got learning issues and are not caught early and are disregarded by the system, not really taking care of by the system. what can a parent do? >> the first step is to communicate with the school. as a principal, i am really happy to be the liaison between the teacher and the parents because it is our responsibility to build that partnership and when we find that we have a relationship with parents and
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with the teacher, and the principal is involved in that process and it is an organic process, we figure out how we can best educate the child. and we know that kids learn differently and we want to do our jobs and that means that we have to build our capacity. >> right, so you're saying being a strong advocate is key. it's also i think the school's responsibility to advocate for those kids as well. >> right. >> but you do that as principal by being a liaison, so you're saying that people should speak up as much as possible. >> we need that feedback. >> we have lynne on the telephone from raleigh, north carolina and she's got a question. >> caller: well, it's a statement also in response to what i wish i had done and i wish that i had listened to my son. i thought he was capable of doing very well in a very difficult high school in our area. and it was really a bad experience. he wasn't happy, he didn't enjoy the work. now he's in the high school that he wanted to go to all along and he's happy, he's doing well, he loves school, he's a different kid.
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i really wish i had listened to him. >> listening to your child, sometimes you don't know when to do it and when not to. >> number one is, you gauge the trust worthy factor of the child. if he's got a electric mat concern, key in and believe him. two, you look at and you really think about the former teacher, where's the recommendation there? is it that he can handle this or he can't? and finally you're looking at really the ability factor. what's the grade, what's the achievement score, you put all those together and you look at your own expectations and say are you pushing too much, not pushing enough, and put them all together. >> your child is a really good gauge about how things a going and we want to thank lynne for that question. we have also got angela on the telephone. she's from spovirginia. >> caller: i had a comment also, i have a daughter in college and my son is a senior at a public school.
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i was told along with the other parents that guidance counselors would guide our children through high school to reach their goal. i wish i had known that you need to do that as a parent. you know, not worry about being overinvolved, you are your child's advocate. >> david, do you want to take this one on? >> just to know that many high schools are very overburdened with children, a guidance counselor can have anywhere from 250 to 350 high school students in their load and to say that both parties should be an active participant in your child's graduation, scholarships and college. >> well you keep teaching that chemistry, you keep making these young people understand the importance of science, you keep taking care of those kids and michelle, you as well helping us understand it all and hopefully people will find, america will find a better education system. and we want to say this, coming up next, we have got some gift ideas for friends, or maybe just a way to treat yourself. that's coming up right after this.
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ancr: on september 2nd we took over a restaurant just for a day. then we made lunch for the neighbors. thousands of turkey burgers on us. to show people there's a burger that's as lean as it is delicious. it's really good. he loves the turkey burgers. if i can give her something that's good for her and lean, i'd totally make this for her. ancr: make the switch. look for jennie-o at a store near you. is the exposed dentin, the tissue beneath the enamel. the dentin contains these channels that lead directly to the nerve center. cold and heat travel through these channels and stimulate the nerve. that's when you get this ouch.
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dentists recommend sensodyne because the product works. the active ingredient within sensodyne travels into the nerve center. when it reaches the nerve, it forms a barrier blocking the sensation of pain and providing a soothing relief. sensodyne is a product most dentists rely on for sensitivity. sensodyne is a product so sure i already knew the salad and breadsticks were endless. but the other night even the pasta was endless. announcer: the never ending pasta bowl with new sauces like our hearty chianti three meat. choose all the sauce and pasta combinations you want for just $8.95. at olive garden. this morning, a little something for everyone, whether you're looking for the latest trend in technology, "today" and u.s. weekly contributor. you're going to go with a t-shirt that you can open up a bottle of beer with? >> well, last week.
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>> we have tape of last week's extravagan extravaganza. >> we did the remote with the built in bottle opener. and i couldn't pull it off. so this time, that guitar t-shirt was such a hit, this is think geek.com for $19, it's a built in bottle opener. >> how does that work, jerry? >> let's give it a shot. >> wow. >> amazing. >> so, ultimate couch potato for $19. >> and now jerry will also have the biggest belch going. >> you're on a plane and you run out of power. >> you're a big gadget guy and i thought of you for this. it's a what ch and your wear it and it has all the different adapt fors and it's two times your body. so if you're on a plane or you're going on a trip or you're going camping, this is great. >> sometimes you want to see something you want to scan, but you don't have a scanner with you. >> people want to scan your book
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all the time because they want to see it digitally into your computer. you scan the page, plug it into your computer and in two to three seconds it will show up. >> boom. >> boom. >> this is great. >> this is random, this is the updated version of the lava lamp. and you see these are for kids and you play music or you talk to them, right here, and they have a face that changes. they come with stickers, this is just the updated version of it for four kids. >> these are some cool flash drives. >> this is a time to say a star wars line. >> these are not the droids you're looking for. >> these are just for your kids star wars, two giga bytes.
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>> $139.50. a great gift for your baseball fan. you hire this company and they put something like that on you, like a costume, they take six seconds of video, and then they put it into a 60-page book and i believe we have video of me doing this. the 60-page book is from the affair. >> what the heck is going on there. >> they're having a very good time. >> six seconds of video, they dress it up and it's a way to remember the affair. >> or whatever went on. >> or whatever went on. >> now flip this.com. >> this is the world's biggest marsh mellow. >> i would tell you to take a bite, but i just wanted to show you how big it is. they ship and this is a great fun gift. and it's an alternative to a cake. >> i had a dream that i ate the
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we got stuck with a 72% rate hike. but martin o'malley got tough on bge, forcing them to pay back $2 billion to consumers. and what's bob ehrlich been doing the past four years? he got paid $2.5 million at a lobbying firm, a firm representing special interests and casinos right here in maryland. that's bob ehrlich-- a 72% increase for us and $2.5 million from special interests for himself. nice work, bob. more now on nbc's special week long education nation. there's a revolutionary tool that can tell you whether your child's school makes the grade or falls short. this tool helps parents at home listening right now free find out how well their school is doing. it's a ranking system, how does it work? >> essentially you and obviously
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family engagement is critically important, so getting parents to understand the data. so as you go into the score card, you type in the school and the area that you live in. what we need parents to understand is how can they have a qualified conversation with their educator and their school administrators to know how their child is doing. >> you type in the name of your own child's school or any other school that you're interested in. which we have done here and it will then pull-up the school and it will give us information on how well the school's doing on standardized tests, well how the school is doing compared to other schools and districts in the area. and as we scroll down, give a range of other information, how does that district compare to others in the state. how does it compare in the country? and what can parents actually do to help their child? what questions should they be asking in the school? one of the things we know is parents have high expectations
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for their kids, but they don't always get the information they need to help their students be successful, this begins to give them that in one easily click. >> so you don't have to get information about how good the school district is from your realtor, you can actually go to a site for free and get that information right at your fingertips and if you discover that a school is not doing well, you can actually use that as evidence, as an argument with the school -- >> and one of the great features of the tool is that you can find a list of guiding questions, if you're not sure what that means, you can go to your educator and say i see where my child is ranking, i see where the school is. what can we do to advance the curriculum to help our school go up. >> thank you so much. >> we want to tell you people should go to education nation.com and look for
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