today’s ramblings
One reason is that men and their doctors may assume they are experiencing a common and benign condition called gynecomastia, or enlargement of the breasts, Giordano said. [rather than male breast cancer] (full story)
Um, if I’m experiencing an enlarging of the breasts, I’m sure as hell going to another doctor if mine says it’s ‘benign’. There is no benign enlargement of male breast tissue.
In other news,
[An] agreement [by the WTO] sets out recommendations such as the reduction of sugar, fat and salt in processed food; the control of food marketing to children and of health claims on packaging; and more comprehensive nutrition labeling and health education. (full story)
If a global body has to start telling other global bodies what to eat, it sort of says something — maybe Darwin wasn’t so wrong. This obesity thing has gotten out of hand, and it’s incumbent upon the Large to quit using up so many of the world’s resources.
Regardless of whether countries end up using the unprecedented plan, experts say the pace of obesity’s spread across the planet, the predictions of what it will cost to deal with the consequences, and the food industry’s lingering fears of a successful lawsuit by fat people are all forces certain to motivate changes. (Ibid.)
Well, first off, there will be no successful lawsuit by fat people, chiefly because the Constitution doesn’t really provide the right to sue someone for your own stupidity (but I thought this double bacon cheeseburger with mayo was just as healthy as a whole wheat bagel!) Come on, morons, quit suing the industry for stupid things. And I sincerely hope that the Supreme court refuses to listen to appeal claims from fat people suing fast food restaurants too. You know what a better way to beat the fast food places is? Open a healthier alternative right next door. With large seats. And low prices. Think about it .. if McDonalds can sell a hamburger (fairly complex) for 99 cents, how little would it cost to provide a decent salad, soup, piece of fruit, and healthy beverage? The only reason health food is expensive is because demand is low. So open a MacHealthy’s. This whole obesity thing sort of reminds me about an experience I had once in a Jack-in-the-Box. This massive man came in and ordered four bacon double cheeseburgers. And a medium drink. He filled it with Diet Coke. Sorry, buddy, but the Coke isn’t the problem.
When I read this headline, I thought it said ‘Families grieve for Kerry victims’. Read about the tragedy in Bangladesh, reflect on the grief of the victims, and then read on.
I’ll wait.
No, I’m serious.
OK.
I’m not quite sure what Kerry (and now I hear Bush) are planning to do by delaying their nominations from their parties. (OK, I do know, and it involves money-grubbing politics, but go with me here..) Let’s look at this from a moral perspective. They both lose moral credibility by delaying their acceptance (which shouldn’t be allowed anyway, I think there should be a 24-hour acceptance period, whereupon the party’s nomination falls to the next guy) the candidates are telling their parties ’screw you guys, I’m gonna go roll in my money some more’ (envision Cartman waddling off) and they’re telling the American people that television facetime and all of the other perks of well-funded campaigns are more important than little details like ‘following the rules’ and ‘having moral credibility’. How can you tell when a politician has no ideas and is all about glitz and facetime? He turns down an invitation from his own party to lead the most powerful nation on earth in favor of doing a few more commercials. Sure, Kerry will get kinda screwed if he accepts at the Convention, but there’s nobody to blame except the people that put the Convention on the calendar. Kerry complains that he has to go longer with the same amount of money (US$75M)… here’s a thought, mister JFK 2, invest some of it for that month. Put it in Google or something. Or quit paying for pizza for your supporters (make them get their own lunch… you are paying them, right?). And George… if it takes you so many more millions to run a campaign against Kerry (and you’re still not faring so well, are you?), maybe you need to change your tactics. Maybe you need to go after some borderline democrats with social issues. The parties are the same anyway, so not too many people (except the Lew Rockwell’s of the world) will go after you for slightly democratic reforms… like taking, say, $5M from the military (they won’t miss it) to do something about the nation’s abysmal schools. Maybe get rid of that piece of trash No Child Left Behind nonsense.
Michael Jackson’s prosecutor is opposing a move by the pop singer to reduce his $3 million bail, arguing the performer might choose to live the rest of his life as “a wealthy absconder” rather than face a life term in a California prison. (full story)
Well, guy, Jacko isn’t wealthy. Otherwise he wouldn’t be in the news. Get it? And if he fled the country, who would seriously care? They have harsher penalties for what he did (”didn’t”) do elsewhere in the world. And they don’t pander to celebrity trash either. So let him go to France or wherever poor ugly pedophiles go.
Also notable: A preservation group calls Wal-Mart a ‘threat’ to Vermont’s way of life … there’s not much I can do but type a smiley after that one, since I can’t add much to the logic. So here goes:
