9.30.2004: Ticking Off
It's been a while. It's been a long while... and it seems longer than it really was.
If you've visited here before you may have noticed that this page wasn't updated for a long time. Keener observers will realize that nothing has been updated in months.
I'm not here to make excuses; but over the last three months there has been a death in the family; we hosted an exchange student from Japan for a month; I started teaching two new classes at the local community college, and we are getting ready to have a new foster placement in our home. So hopefully you will forgive me for letting site maintenance slide to a low priority. There's a lot I would like to do, including taking this page from essay style to a true 'blog' now that my server supports dynamic content. But it's only one of a dozen things I would do if I had another 50 hours in a week...
With that preamble out of the way, let's move on to a more ordinary topic: things that have been bothering me.
There's a commercial out there right now for a credit card rewards program called "Thank You". If you watch any network TV, you've probably been unfortunate enough to see them. There are several different ones, but they all feature someone saying or doing something wrong, then getting out of the awkward situation by saying "Thank You." This has the unexplainable, completely bizarre effect of derailing the person who was about to be angry with them and even making the person feel grateful to the one who did them wrong.
So my question is this: If the commercial is teaching us that "Thank You" is a way to distract someone from something awful you've done; then what awful thing is in the agreement for this credit card that they need to call the rewards program "Thank You" to take your mind off of it?
Politics. That in itself is a topic that bugs me, but this year is worse than ever. John Kerry is not so much a candidate as an anti-candidate. If Kerry wins the election, he will win because the majority of his votes were cast against Bush instead of for Kerry (If such people exist, they'll probably be the ones voting for Nader!) On the other hand, if Bush wins; he will do so because people voted for him, I don't think anyone is so against Kerry that they would vote for Bush just to keep Kerry out. Deep down, could Kerry ever be proud of a win under those circumstances? It's amazing anyone wanted to run on the democratic ticket in this situation. Bush, on the other hand, could be quite proud of a win and legitimately consider it an endorsement.
My favorite political commentary lately came in the form of a political cartoon. Picture a man and wife sitting watching TV: the man states "I'm voting for Bush because I can't stand his disingenious, condescending opponent... Dan Rather." Amazing how true that is, and not just of CBS. Personally, I think a lot of the things Bush gets criticized for are beyond the control of the office of the President regardless of who is sitting beside the desk. And as for the attacks on his intelligence... well, I'd rather have someone who means what he says even if he has trouble saying it; than someone who talks a little too smoothly and hides their real meaning (And I really don't know if this statement applies to Kerry or not, though I think it might--I originally meant Clinton the first time I said that.) And can he help it if he grew up in Texas?
Now that I've completely alienated half of my audience plus the entire Lone Star state; it may be time for another topic switch...
I saw a news report the other day that the Atkins craze had peaked already. Couldn't come soon enough as far as I am concerned -- it was getting really silly there for a while. "Try our low carb burger"! Same as the regular burger, minus the bun. Like you couldn't do that yourself?
There is no one diet that will work for everyone. The phrase "individual results will vary" means that for some people it won't work at all. And most nutritionists will agree that any diet that cuts out any entire category of foods is not healthy.
The problem is not the diet. The problem is us and we have to live with it. The real issue is that we, as Americans, don't want to be told that our weight is our fault. We want to blame MickeyD's for putting the big fluffy bun around our double quarter-pounter with cheese instead of ordering the single-patty burger, hold the fries. We want to blame the ad men for telling us that life will be better if we drink their soft drink to give us 'energy for our day' instead of ourselves for not buring off that energy that we didn't really need in the first place. We would rather spend hundreds of dollars on pills, supplements and shakes that make the pounds melt away in days instead of spending 20 minutes exercising and making the pounds dissappear the way they appeared--slowly. Ask ye not for whom the scale rolls, it rolls for thee. And thee alone.
Gee, is there anyone else I could tick off today? I think all that is left are thin conservatives outside the US who don't work for credit card companies. And I really have nothing special to say about them, sorry.
Maybe next time... meanwhile here's a quote from a heavy European conservative:
Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains. -- Sir Winston Churchill
