- If I didn’t know better, I would suspect that the good people of Massachusetts are not cool with their state’s senior senator. Before we rush to any conclusions, however, let’s give Sen. John Kerry the benefit of the doubt. He visited the town of Northampton in western Massachusetts on Saturday to hold a town hall-style meeting to provide a forum for his constituents to discuss some of the key issues affecting their region and state. Giving the common man a voice and at least making him think that those in power give a damn about his opinion is a key part of any good democracy and you would think that the good folks of Massachusetts would take this chance and use it as the true democratic forum it was intended to be. So we go to the meeting and…….chaos? That’s right, instead of a friendly crowd ready and willing to debate the issues and explore new ideas, Sen. Kerry was confronted by an angry mob that eschewed the chance to talk about the issues and instead focused on excoriating him for his stances on issues like the war in Afghanistan, the government's response to the recession, health care and other important matters. Supporting the war in Afghanistan was a major bone of contention with citizens attending the meeting and a large part of the reason things devolved into a mess of shouting, angry allegations and menacing remarks. Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but any intention Kerry had of running for president at any point the next, say 20 years or so, he might want to shelve those plans. Perhaps after President Obama represents the Democratic Party in next year’s election and four more years pass, the anger that was so prominently on display Saturday will have subsided a bit. When the yelling finally died down at the town hall meeting, those who spoke also expressed strong concern about the need for continuing social programs, such as affordable housing, in western Massachusetts. That’s all well and good, but the only thing people will remember the meeting for in the days ahead will be the verbal beating issued to a sitting United States senator………
- Much like me, Eminem knows that awards shows aren’t where it’s at. Some academy or panel of uptight tools giving you another gold statue for your mantle may help sell a few more albums and get you more photo ops, but the real measure of success for a recording artist cannot be found in how many Grammys, MTV awards or other trophies he or she wins. A much better measure of an artist’s impact is…..page views. That’s right, page views, as in YouTube page views. And in that category, Eminem stands alone, head and shoulders above any other rapper in the game. While he may not have won a Grammy this year, the Detroit native has become the first rapper to have his videos reach a billion views on YouTube. That’s right, billion with a “b.” Now, the pride taken from this honor is dampened somewhat by the fact that Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were the first two artists to reach the 1 billion mark for YouTube views, but let’s face it: People who use YouTube are morons. You cannot take numbers they generate with anything more than a grain of salt. Think about the sort of person who would spend hours and hours on YouTube watching music videos and you likely come up with a mental picture that, well, doesn’t exactly represent society’s elite or smartest. Considering that Rihanna will soon become the fourth member of the YouTube 1 billion club, any doubts you have about the worth of that number should be gone. Much like 500 home runs no longer has the same meaning in Major League Baseball because so many steroid-aided sluggers have reached that mark, 1 billion YouTube views was significant right up to the point when Bieber, the first to reach it, actually hit the mark……….
- Could this end badly? Is the son of a dictator in an impoverished African nation threatening “rivers of blood” in his country’s ongoing civil strife a harbinger of bad things to come? I’m choosing to maintain optimism, but I can see where Muammar Qaddafi’s son threatening those rivers of blood and deploying security forces on protesters could be viewed in a negative light. The fact that Libya erupted into violence last night after the younger Qaddafi’s comments could just be one big coincidence, right? Probably not. Check that, especially not, not when at least 250 people died in Tripoli alone after troops attacked “terror” hideouts and urged citizens to fight back the “organized gangs that are destroying Libya.” Those lies came directly from state television and came even amidst signs that some officials and troops were deserting. While the world looks anxiously on as the holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves threatens to implode, Libya’s leadership seems poised to use as much excess force as possible to quell the violence. Following in the heels of Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt, Libya is finding out that an angry citizenry is a dangerous citizenry. The difference in Libya may be a regime that is as bitterly entrenched as it can possibly be and one with no intention of stepping down or fading quietly into that good night. In other words, there will be blood and plenty of it. Qaddafi does not care that diplomats in several cities were reported to have abandoned his regime to protest against the violence or that two Libyan warplanes crossed to Malta and requested asylum after refusing to bomb protesters. That’s right, the rivers of blood must come from somewhere and apparently bombing its own citizens is how the government plans to create them. One of the loudest dissenting voices against the regime’s actions is none other than Libya’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi. “We find it impossible to stay silent,” Dabbashi proclaimed. “The Libyan mission will be in the service of the Libyan people rather than in the service of the regime.” He went on to accuse the regime of “genocide.” With all of this going on, oil prices surged to their highest levels in months and Dubai’s benchmark index dropped to a six-month low. The conflict seems legitimately on its way to escalating to a civil war, something that did not happen in Tunisia, Egypt or Yemen. This one…..well, it’s going to be irrigated by rivers of blood…………
- We know that getting rid of those dozens of excess pounds is a great way to improving or eliminating type 2 diabetes (and improve your overall health, fatty), but if you can't muster the discipline to exercise and eat better, then gastric bypass surgery may be better than other surgical weight-loss procedures, according to two new studies. Dr. Guilherme M. Campos, lead author of one of two papers appearing in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery, is quick to admit the effectiveness of gastric bypass surgery but cautions overweight people to be careful in selecting their surgeon before embarking upon the process. That shouldn’t be too difficult, considering how common gastric bypass and lap-banding have become and thus, how many surgeons routinely perform the procedures. Campos and his team compared weight loss and diabetes outcomes in 100 patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery with 100 patients who underwent lap-banding and found that in the gastric bypass group, patients lost an average of 64 percent of their excess weight, versus 36 percent for those in the lap-banding group. That seems like a fair outcome, as gastric bypass is considered riskier and more technically demanding than the lap band procedure and those taking a bigger risk should receive a bigger reward. In Campos’ study, all patients were morbidly obese (with a body-mass index higher than 40), and 34 in each group had type 2 diabetes. Nearly 75 percent of study subjects undergoing gastric bypass surgery saw their diabetes improve or resolve, compared to just over 50 percent for the lap band group. As for complications, roughly equal numbers of patients in each study group experienced complications after one year, 12 percent in the gastric bypass group compared to 15 percent in the lap-banding group. A second study, conducted in Taiwan and led by Dr. Wei-Jei Lee of the Min-Sheng General Hospital, focused on a smaller group of 60 obese patients with type 2 diabetes who received gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy, a third type of weight-loss procedure. Among the 60 participants, 93 percent of those undergoing gastric bypass surgery had their diabetes resolved, as opposed to 50 percent in the other group. After one year, those numbers fell to 57 percent and 0 percent. As in the first study, those in the gastric bypass group also lost more weight. Theories abound as to why gastric bypass is more effective than the lap band procedure, but these two studies were more focused on their respective impacts on diabetes than comparing their overall effectiveness. Ultimately, putting down the beef burrito supreme and 44 oz. Mountain Dew, backing away from the cherry cheesecake and going outside to get some exercise are the most productive route for FAT people……….
- Bitterness dies last in the Bronx. Not winning the World Series in a given year isn’t the end of the world for most franchises in Major League Baseball because the expectation of a championship on an annual basis does not exist in any city outside of New York and perhaps Boston. But for the men in pinstripes who call Yankee Stadium home, finishing in any place other than first place just won't do. That philosophy was true under the late George Steinbrenner and even after the bombastic owner passed away, it remained true with his sons Hank and Hal running the team. Any doubt about that fact was erased Monday when Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner lit up his team for not winning last year’s championship by suggesting that their celebration of their 2009 World Series championship may have lasted too long. "I think, maybe, they celebrated too much last year," Steinbrenner said. "Some of the players, too busy building mansions and doing other things and not concentrating on winning. I have no problem saying that." When he was reminded that Yankees captain Derek Jeter was building a large multimillion-dollar home in Tampa last year, Steinbrenner immediately tried to double back and avoid pointing the finger at the man typically known as the Captain in the Yankees locker room. "I was just saying, maybe they were riding the wave of '09 a little too much, and it happens sometimes," Steinbrenner said. "This year in spring so far, from what I've seen and what I've been told, they've come in with a real, new drive and determination -- the kind they had in '09." Oh, so you aren’t blaming this year’s team, just last year’s bunch of lackluster losers that was comprised of nearly the same group of players that make up this year’s roster. Either way, it’s reassuring to know that losing to a better Texas team in last year’s American League Championship Series on the heels of a massive fade in the second half of the season and winding up with the AL wild card hasn’t turned Steinbrenner even more bitter than ever. Also, I’m sure that Yankees players don’t at all mind having the boss question their focus, effort and intensity after they busted their butts all season long and came up short against a superior team. Lastly, I’m sure that it was just one giant coincidence that your critique referred to the exact same situation that one of your star players with whom you had contentious negotiations over a contract extension. Gotta love the Yankees and their drama…………
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