Focusing on obesity is wrong because obesity is only one symptom of what is often — but not always — a problematic lifestyle – What is important is to be fit and healthy, to eat nutritious foods and get regular exercise. Focusing solely on weight as a factor is silly because it does not solve the underlying problems. Not that a lot of people shouldn’t be losing weight, but it is more important for them to eat nutritiously and attempt physical activity, and any net weight change is just a bonus.
‘The early bird catches the worm,’ ‘a stitch in time saves nine,’ ‘He who hesitates is lost.’
We can’t pretend we haven’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time. Heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves.
We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore.
Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin meant. That knowing is better than wondering. That waking is better than sleeping.
And that even the biggest failure, even the worst most intractable mistake, beats the hell out of never trying.
p>. — “Grey’s Anatomy”:http://www.tv.com/if-tomorrow-never-comes/episode/416084/summary.html
Overmedicating
I have some nasal decongestant spray stuff that says to use 2-3 sprays per nostril no more than once every 12 hours, for not more than 3 days. It says if you use it too much it can just make things worse.
Well, I don’t know if it is making things worse or if things are just bad in general, but my constantly stuffy nose makes it difficult to breath during the day, while running, and especially at night. It makes it hard to fall asleep and makes my sleep unproductive. I’m starting to think that some of the problems I’ve had for years with sleep could be at lesat tenously related to this nose thing.
So I’ve been taking one spray per nostril for far more than the last 3 days…it makes it a lot easier for me to go to sleep. I don’t know how much its helping with the actual sleeping. There is probably a better solution to this problem. One day in the near future I’ll (hopefully) have my own job and my own health insurance and I’ll be able to read the information and login to the web site and learn about the network, and then I will finally be able to visit a doctor about this, and none too soon.
Obese people experience faster cellular aging, according to a new study – Which could help to explain why obese children are getting diseases that normally only affect adults.
A quick rundown, for those who aren’t aware, of what sort of things get poked into people in the ICU to keep them “alive” – His suggestion for improvement is sort of stupid, but the sentiment is sound — a disproportionate amount of medical care and money is given to those who benefit from it the least — those near death from incurable diseases. Society as a whole suffers.
Another show
Add _Grey’s Anatomy_ to the list of shows to watch. Which means I now have, in order of most-enjoyable to least, the following shows that are currently broadcasting:
# _Battlestar Galactica_
# _House_
# _Grey’s Anatomy_
# _Gilmore Girls_
# _The Simpsons_
# _Doctor Who_
# _Daily Show_
# _Stargate SG-1_
# _West Wing_
# _Stargate: Atlantis_
# _Family Guy_
# _American Dad_
I’m also watching _Deep Space 9_ on my computer, and the _Gilmore Girls_ inclusion is a bit misleading because I’m still on season 1. Oh, and occasionally I catch an _ER_, but that’s not really my fault.
And since I only get 13 channels of cable (and certainly don’t get the BBC, home of _Doctor Who_), watching most of these shows requires downloading them. If I could buy ’em on iTunes, I would. Damn MPAA(Motion Picture Association of America).
Its not whether or not you have a degree, its what you get out of it
Apple co-founder and all-around interesting guy Steve Jobs gave the Stanford commencement address this year, and in it he told stories from his life . The first was about how he dropped out of Reed College after six months. Steve told the graduates that he did not see the value of the education to his future, that the price of it was a strain on his working-class family. Specifically, he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, but he did know that he was not enjoying the classes he was required to take. Here is a transcript of his speech, if you’re interested.
Now, the Slashdot crowd was quick to seize on Steve’s message as a repudiation of the education system. Commenters began to divide into factions, those who believes degrees are stupid but you need to have them to advance in the business world, those who think degrees are valuable and you need knowledge to do well, and those who believe you can be just as good a person/employee/whatever without college, and dropping out is a perfectly acceptable course.
I agree with all of them, and none of them, because I think they are all dramatically oversimplifying.
Continue reading “Its not whether or not you have a degree, its what you get out of it”
Downing Street Memo, The Prequel – “One of the reasons the previous Downing Street Memo hasn’t gotten much traction with the press — and the reason these new memos will probably get limited attention as well — is that I don’t think anyone really finds any of this a surprise.” He’s got a point.
Clarke’s three laws – Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Aaron gets a “real” blog – Good luck buddy. A bit of advice: don’t get too worried about trying to be “deep” and “meaningful” all the time — just write what you feel, or what you think is interesting, and some of it will be meaningful, and some of it won’t, but it’ll all be *you*.
John Bolton helped get a weapons inspector fired because the inspector’s diplomatic approach to inspections in Baghdad undermined the case for war – On the second page of this article about the Downing Street memo.
If you’re not a blogger you probably have heard only vague hints about the Downing Street Memorandum, a secret document circulated to top British officials summarizing a meeting in which they discussed how to legally justify an Iraq war that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair had already agreed to undertake – back in July 2002. As you are no doubt aware, the White House claimed that taking the case for war to the United Nations was an attempt to avert the conflict by allowing Saddam Hussein a chance to comply with new resolutions reiterating calls for inspections. Many at the time argued that the new demands on Saddam were impossible to carry out, and this document confirms the intention by the governments to craft demands to which Saddam could not possibly accede, thus allowing the war a legal basis.
Many have claimed for a long time that the American peple were lied to. This memo is perhaps the most damning claim yet to surface that, not only is this true, but there was an effort at the highest levels of government to subvert international law and move forward with a policy-driven war that was not supported by facts.
No major United States media outlet has reported on the DSM. Many in America, including 89 members of Congress and over half a million citizens who signed an online petition, wonder just what is going on here.
Greg Packer is a “man on the street” – He has given reaction quotes and background footage to over a hundred reporters…it’s his own little hobby. (via Kevin)
When Marine recruiters go way beyond the call – Holy crap! (via Kevin)
Anti-poverty wristbands produced in sweatshops – Come on. I mean, how else are you gonna get plastic bracelets for $1 each?
Making people happy: an object lesson with transportation
I spend a lot of time, possibly too much, trying to make sure that people I know, like, and care about are happy. Sometimes, this leads to inadvertent conflict and upset, which is the opposite of my intent and thus perplexing. The specific incident category I’m thinking of now has to do with rides to the airport, and I bring it up because a similar thing has happened now with me and a few different people, which would imply that I’m doing something wrong, and thus should change my behavior.
Sometimes people call me and ask for rides places. This is generally sort of awkward because if you don’t want to take the time and effort to give someone a ride, its hard to just say no, you have to come up with a plausible excuse. So when I ask people for rides, I give them lots of opportunities to opt-out. So if someone says, “hey, do you still need that ride from the airport tomorrow?” I will respond with something along the lines of, “I would love to have a ride if it isn’t inconvenient for you, but otherwise I can take a cab.”
My intention here is to balance the relative energy — since I’m at the airport anyway, I have to get home, and my only limitation is money, and a bit of effort and hassle. But for someone else to go out of their way to get me, I’m making them use a valuable commodity, namely 2x the time it takes me to get home (once to get there, once to get back) not to mention the use of their car, the requirement of navigating crappy Boston traffic, the cost of tolls, etc. So I see it as, I really appreciate your offer, and I accept it, but I don’t require it, and if you want to back out because this is going to eat up a lot of your time and make you miserable, please do so, because I want to keep you happy, and that is more important than me getting home easily.
And then they get upset and say, “do you want the ride or not?” and get offended and start raising their voice.
So what am I doing wrong here, and how can I say what I want to say without accidentally saying something else entirely? Because I just don’t understand what is being misinterpreted, and why I’m upsetting people. I feel like my way is more considerate than flat out accepting a ride that I’ve asked for (and thus put someone on the spot for), but clearly my way is not the ideal way.
Mossberg: cell carriers are holding back innovation by not allowing people to buy cell phones directly– Absolutely true, and he didn’t make the obvious comparison — to Europe, where they’ve let you get whatever phone you want for years.
Zoo to feature creationism display – “I see this as a big victory,” said Dan Hicks, the Tulsa resident who approached the zoo with the idea. “It’s a matter of fairness. To not include the creationist view would be discrimination.” Oh, how we have fallen.