Burning Ones

This article over there at the BBC is pretty encouraging.  I did think it was a mistake by the US and the Iraqis when the Baathists were removed from power and immediately repressed.  It just followed the old Stages of Revolution where the Moderates seize power, then the extremists take over and become worse than the former oppressors, and then the extremely repressed people rise up and throw down the new repressors.  Without a break in this cycle, revolution and war are endless.  So, it’s good to see them attempting offer some sort of an olive branch.

I’m all for this raise in the gas tax.  Anything that will make the cost of transportation via gas powered vehicles too hard to bear in this country is a good thing.  It will force our country to reassess how it faces life.  If we can’t even afford to all drive our SUVs and Minivans and cars alone, how could we remain so ruggedly individualistic.  The country needs this.

Well, maybe that’s extreme…  Oh well :)

As much as I hate to admit it, there are advantages to running a totalitarian government (like being able to enforce efforts to curb pollution just because you said so)…

This article from the BBC documents a possible new source of biofuel.  I was definitely against the use of corn based ethanol because corn is such a staple in the diets of so many third-world countries and would thus adversely affect their food supply.  However, switchgrass?  That’s not so bad.  After all, who eats switchgrass?

However, you still run into the same problems of using fertile land to grow fuel instead of food in third world countries.  As I was reading the article I had a bizarre picture pop up into my head of a time in the future when there will be no more natural land.  Instead, every square acre will be tuned for the support of mankind.  One acre for food production, another for fuel production, another for housing, another for “environmental support” (trees to eat CO2 and produce oygen, etc. etc.).  Anyway, thought that was somewhat interesting.

New Jersey officially apologizes for slavery - CNN.com

Good job! :)

Commentary: Obama changes the game - CNN.com

After reading this little editorial on Obama, I got to thinking that I don’t know what Obama’s stance on life is.  Anyone out there know?

This article is a really fantastic discussion of heat in the kitchen.  I’m already imagining what I’m going to try grilling next…  Bleu Cheese Steak with asparagus, maybe?  mmm….

This article documents what makes us all nervous about trusting computers with our transportation.  First I’ve ever heard of such a thing happening.  The article is written semi-hazily, it doesn’t say whether or not it was the right time to cross onto the tracks (the barriers not being down would indicate that) and then he just got stuck (as could happen to anyone, even without a GPS), but they certainly seem to try to make it sound as though he barreled through the barrier without even thinking and then got stuck…

Craziness.

Merlin Mann has commented on this recent article by Reason Magazine’s Jacob Sullum about two recent books that have just come out, both relating to weight loss and the so-called obesity epidemic. Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata and Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink both sound really interesting, and are priced very reasonably on Amazon.com. So reasonably, in fact, that I’m considering picking them up just to finally get some real research under my belt about the whole weight issue.

For years I’ve had a bone to pick with the whole industry of weight loss because I’ve always been “morbidly obese” according to the BMI (the government’s standard health indicator based on dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared) and yet, as far as I can tell, relatively healthy in that I can do physical things with ease. I bike 3 to 4 times a week around 20 miles a day and don’t really have that hard of a time doing it. And yet, according to my health classes in school at least, I should just about be on the verge of death and I must loose mass poundage immediately or risk impending destruction via pulmonary rupture and melt-down. In fact, calculating my current BMI here I have just discovered that in order to reach my healthy weight, I would have to loose over 100 pounds (I currently weigh 280 pounds at 5′11″ which gives me a BMI of 39.0.  Yeah, that’s “morbidly” obese).

So, my question is that with the current emphasis on obesity equaling death and unhappiness, how can I participate in normal activities and even slightly abnormal activities (like biking to work) without too much of a problem. I would expect that given my morbidly obese status, I should almost be bedridden with a weak heart and atrophied limbs. But I’m not. I lead a fairly normal lifestyle and I feel pretty well. Ok, all of this is not to say that I wouldn’t like to feel even healthier. I’m definitely not saying that I don’t have room to grow in this area. But really, I’ve always thought that the standard teachings on health in this country just don’t add up, especially for people like me.

Enter these two books. When I get the chance, I’ll definitely be picking them up, if for nothing else than a more in depth introduction to the area of health studies than my 11th grade health class could afford to give me. I’ll try to let everyone know how they are when I do. Until then, read the article, it was pretty informative in and of itself.

Any of you guys have thoughts on the weight subject?

BBC NEWS | Americas | California sues US over emissions

This is interesting.  I can’t imagine what would have prompted all of this.  Has anyone heard more about what’s going on?

For some reason, I always find it funny that a state can sue the States.