This year’s best Christmas present
December 21st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
This year, give the gift of life by telling your loved ones they’re fat. The UK’s National Obesity Forum and International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk have urged people to have frank discussions with their relatives this holiday season. I agree with those scientists that it’s a good thing to bring up as people are busy stuffing their faces around a communal table.
It’s not about discriminating against fat people, or the attractiveness of body types, but the serious health issues that are related to obesity -heart disease, diabetes, stroke. It amazes me that obesity has become a third-rail issue while smoking has become so vilified that people don’t hesitate to call out their friends or family for doing it. And it needn’t be too harsh of a message.
As Dr. Jean Pierre Despres, scientific director of the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk, put it:
“Start by encouraging someone close to you to make simple lifestyle changes such as becoming more active, making small alterations to their eating habits and replacing sugary drinks with water.”
Death to Pennies
November 7th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
This video from YouTube’s expert explainer C. G. P. Grey lays out exactly why we need to get rid of this scourge to society.
A tale of two occupied cities
October 26th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Yesterday, Oakland police forcibly removed hundreds of protestors who had been camped in Frank Ogawa Square as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The protestors, who had been engaged in a peaceful, though not necessarily legal, demonstration, were encircled and fired upon with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.
You can watch a video here on the police onslaught.
Mayor Jean Quan cited sanitation and safety issues for the her decision to crack down so severely on the Occupy Oakland camp. One protester, interviewed on the California Report this morning, said he understood those concerns, but hoped they could have worked out a mutually agreeable way of dealing with them.
Is there another way to deal with the complications of demonstrators camping out on public property?
Absolutely. In Los Angeles, the city government has accommodated and even supported the OWS protesters. They have ensured that the camps are kept clean and safe while allowing the occupants to exercise their rights to assembly and free speech. And the city, which has a City Council supportive of OWS, has come off looking better for it. L.A. seems like a tolerant place that recognizes and respects a diversity of perspectives. Isn’t that what the cities of the Bay Area are supposed to be the paragons of?
Instead of being a haven for democracy, diversity and non-violent free speech, we have a city increasingly known for using the brute force of the police to keep folks in line. It’s bad news for the OWS protesters, but worse news for the city of Oakland.
A powerful video about Occupy Wall Street
October 13th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
It makes some striking parallels, however far-fetched they may seem.
Via MoveOn
Mongolia + Polaroids = Joy
September 20th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
A duo of photographers on a motorcycle trip across Mongolia brought along a Polaroid camera to take pictures of the locals. This video is the Mongolians reactions to the pictures that they got to keep.
