Monday, April 23, 2007

Child Fat: Obesity in America's Children

Evidence in today’s Boston Globe on how advertising affects our children’s health. It really just makes sense that kids at impressionable ages would be swayed by aggressive advertising during peak viewing hours (after school). Do corporations really have that much of a stranglehold on our society that we can’t limit their exposure to our youth and instead be replaced with spots promoting eating fruits and vegetables? When are we going to get the message that stockholder’s profits will never serve the common good, especially when it comes to basic health? When will the pandering to Big Money end?

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2007/04/23/ad_infinitum/

Monday, April 16, 2007

Virginia Tech Shooting

Obviously my heart goes to the victims and their friends and families of this sick and twisted incident. After watching some preliminary coverage on CNN, I watched as the president and chief of police at Virginia Tech were interviewed, deflecting and barraged by questions from every direction. I cringed when I started hearing the monday morning quarterback-types accusing the campus police of being anything but competent. It's amazing how reporters think they would have led the initial investigation and decision-making AFTER the initial cloud is cleared.

Then we are just getting started with the "If I were there, I would have..." line of reasoning. Only those who looked death in the face need to comment on what they would have done. I listened as some radio programs began immediately blaming the anti-gun lobby for not having enough concealed weapons on college campuses. If I had not been to college in the last 10 years I may have forgotten, but there were way too many knuckleheads on campus that I would be too frightened to be on campus knowing many of them were packing. Let's get more guns on the streets and that is likely to reduce gun violence. Wow. Even a moron would know better.

"Why was there not a campus emergency action plan?" or "Why wasnt there a lockdown on campus after the first event?" Yes, that is realistic when dealing with 27,000 or so independant individuals on a campus that covers many acres and contains many buildings. Real possible to cover. Most people don't immediately think after a crime happens in one building that the next logical step is to lockdown the entire campus (we arent dealing with an elementery school here folks). Anyone who does think so, is either entirely clairvoyant or has great hind sight.

What I can't stand is that there is a pot shot from every angle, from every political side before the smoke has even cleared about this incident on every outlet from CNN to local news and radio. The fact we live in an open society, where we aren't at "lockdown" at all times is exactly why this thing can and will happen again. So yes, I can believe that it happened and as we lament the loss of innocent life taken, let us not turn this issue into anything more than a lunatic on a killing spree. We can take as many conspiracy theories as we want, but in the end who cares what he was listening to when it was the victims that we should remember.

Friday, April 13, 2007

The Weekend Nightlife

AS another one of my 27 year old weekend comes and goes, I am trying to explore the psychological satisfaction of a wild Friday night trollop and the hang-over and sloth that consumes the rest of the weekend as a result. For months now, my Friday night has been a release…a exploration of the undefined, the opportunity and wild adventure of what American society can offer in the nightlife. It is a headlong escape from the realities of the once 40, now 45-50 hour work weeks that plague our work-heavy society. We struggle through each week, gathering enough strength and energy for our daily work regimens whether they be weight training, running or basketball. Meet for a night to watch college basketball or the Red Sox, whichever season the week dictates, and crawl through a Friday which usually consists of different ruses to keep either busy or awake; going to the bathroom, a coffee break, a walk to see if there any living creatures in the office building other than the robots you work with, and lunch. But for a surprise turn in internal biochemistry, a surge of energy smacks your face when 8p rolls around on a Friday evening and there is a fresh poof of natural red bull initiative to get the ball rolling on night activities. I am working for the weekend.
The night ends, usually for me, in the backseat of a friend’s car, dosing off into oblivion with nothing in tow, no significant changes in life, and a wasted Saturday morning to boot. This was completely acceptable, as I knew no other way to enter a Saturday then accommodating a mind-numbing headache sometimes interrupted by gut-inverting throw sessions. The razorblades in the stomach syndrome, also known as the turns, is the most common symptom of Friday night wanton self-abuse, unable to get out of bed, but also unable to lie still. What the alternative to this lifestyle was, I never knew. Until you have an important task or work that needs to be done in the AM on Saturday. Then the Friday night is replaced with the good night sleep and early morning convulsions are replaced with the same early morning despair as regular days of the week, but when you finish the two hours of work you had to accomplish by 10 am and experience a care-free mid-morning uninhibited by head-aches or turns, you can appreciate what is missing. Is a blissful Saturday morning worth the absence of the Friday night release? Maybe occasionally, but it can never replace the kind of alive you feel being with friends at pubs, bars and nightclubs without the restrictions and limitations that the day brings. And after a painful sleep session that never really energized you in the first place...Let's do it again on Saturday.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Iran HOSTAGE Crisis 2007 Over!

Well folks, it looks as if my April 2nd Blog entry really stirred the diplomatic kettle and boiled off an agreement or burst a magnanimous bubble from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Either way, what is certain is it was my entry yesterday that shaped the event, so much so that Tony Blair was quoted thanking Mr Blog Riotus for getting the parties to conclude their postering and flexing.

Actually, I am relieved today. I am certainly giddy for the released Brits, but more so for the thousands of innocent Iranians in Iran that would have certainly been killed resulting from an attack by British (and/or American) forces. The Iranian government needs a reality check, but I am banking on a different method than blunt force to achieve this. I just can't wait until some Russians get killed or kidnapped by Fundamentalists and the reactions of Bloody Putin! No sir, but Russia needs to be brought to the diplomatic table to quell the Iranian nuclear quest. Without Russia, Iran will certainly join the nuclear club and diplomacy will take on a greater meaning.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Iran HOSTAGE Crisis 2007

As I move through two work weeks, the mention of our closest ally's servicemen in Iranian captivity has been scant to nil. As the more liberal member of the Anglo-American military partnership, the Iranians have seized sailors and soldiers who did not fire back in respect for the flimsy peace between Britain and Iran. The soldiers did not fire because they have faith in international law and in British leaders’ resolve to extradite their release. The Iranians seized Anglo-American allies under the Union Jack for this very reason. Had they attempted to take Americans under gun point, they would not have been greeted by uncertainty and surrender, but a hail of bullets, grenades and missiles.

Everywhere on the radio I hear foolish wanna-be world leaders spouting about their macho “diplomacy” involving anywhere from DELTA and SEAL teams to the “bomb”. Officially, the world has forgotten the destruction and ultimate horror that civilians would experience if another nuclear weapon is utilized. It does not shock me any longer to hear comments such as “strategic” or “precision” nuclear attack. It is shocking to hear a suggestion that nuclear attack is a possibility in a fifteen-man hostage situation. However, there is no real outrage on the street, not even an opinion from those asked. This is very disappointing from a democratic standpoint. [The expectation that the demos inform itself to make informed elective decisions.

Regardless of our allied strategy to get the soldiers released, the rhetoric and posturing from the Iranian side has been even more reprehensible. I looked into Iranian reactions posted on the BBC website and was first shocked to see so many posts from Tehran (I thought they would not have access), then even more shocked to read of the disparity of the responses. Many pleaded for cooler heads to prevail, but significant numbers were as hardened as Tehran’s position. On the cooler heads side, one proclaimed the protester’s throwing of rocks and firecrackers at the British embassy were done by “government school” students, different than the majority of students who take an anti-government position.

It was rapidly apparent that the real people suffering right now are those fifteen British servicemen being held captive, and the millions of Iranians fretting their impending doom. After taunting the British government with aired admissions of guilt from four of the fifteen captives, the Iranian government still has not released the female captive as promised last week. While the intention of the tapes was assumingly to embarrass Britain, they have exceedingly embarrassed themselves with forced admissions of guilt and parading their captives on state-controlled television as if they were marching through the streets of Tehran with their war prizes.

Whether or not British ships were in enemy territory is not really the question that is important anymore. The real issue is Iran’s desperation to force diplomacy, earn concessions and take pressure away from their nuclear transgressions. The world community, Iranians and Americans alike, should all be happy that the two boats boarded by Iran were not flying American flags. With Bush at the helm, that would not be a stretch to see our troops in a third front in the “war on terror”. It would probably take two to tango, and with a combination of Bush and Ahmadinjinebad (sp.whatever), I doubt either could restrain their egos or sense of self-importance to allow a rational conclusion. I just hope that if this escalates (which it probably will) that Russia and China stop sucking out only the fruits of their new capitalistic roots and start dealing with the pits (?). That is, working with the international community to resolve these issues, rather than ignoring them and benefiting from their instability.