Tag: Culture

We’re Number One — In Fatties

Buck Banks

Tubbo nation: According to an American Demographics analysis of census information, the United States leads the world in overweight and obese people, with nearly 23 percent of the world’s obese population aged 15 or older.

The U.S. share of the merely overweight (about 7 percent) isn’t that far out of line with its share of world population (less than 5 percent). But the problem is obesity, as determined by body mass index, which measures weight in relation to height. “Overweight” means a BMI of 25 up to 30; “obese” is 30 or above.

BMI is not a perfect measure. For example, a 200-pound, 5-foot 10-inch body builder has a BMI of 29, or borderline obese, despite having more muscle than fat. However, such cases are the exceptions to the rule, and BMI, which dates to the 1800s, remains the standard for governments.

U.S. males aged 15 or older last year had a mean BMI of 28.4, according to World Health Organization. Women’s average was 28.8. For adults of average height in the U.S., a man is considered obese at 196 pounds; a woman at 174 pounds.

The nation is getting fatter. U.S. government surveys show the average U.S. adult man aged 20-74 weighs 191 pounds and the average woman weighs 164, both up about 24 pounds (or 96 McDonald’s Quarter Pounders) from the early 1960s. About three-fourths of Americans aged 15-plus in the U.S. were overweight or obese in 2005, with about four in 10 obese, according to WHO.

With 22.6 percent of the world’s fattest residents age 15+, the U.S. is far above the 5.3 percent share of runner-up Mexico, according to American Demographics. The analysis found 1.6 billion overweight people age 15-plus worldwide last year (34.5 percent of that population), including 400 million clinically obese.

Across 192 nations, WHO’s mean BMI 2005 projection for males 15-plus was 24.4; for females, it was 25.3 — past the tipping point for overweight.

Celebrate TV-Turnoff Week

Trish

Who could forget the scene in Network when Howard Beale urges us all to grab a T.V., go over to the window, yell, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” and hurl? The T.V., that is. Since 1976 when the movie was released, television has gotten relentlessly worse (not to mention heavier and bigger), more violent, dumber, and more negative.

“The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.” — David Brinkley

It’s time to turn off the T.V. Literally. April 24 — 30 is TV Turnoff Week 2006. Visit the web site devoted to this movement for great quotes and alarming facts, including:

“We have reconstructed the Tower of Babel, and it is a television antenna: a thousand voices producing a daily parody of democracy, in which everyone’s opinion is afforded equal weight regardless of substance or merit.” — Ted Koppel

“The remarkable thing about television is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely.” — T.S. Eliot

“Sometimes boys and girls would rather watch TV than read. When your teachers say read, they are giving you pretty damn good advice.” — President George W. Bush to a group of school children

  • Number of violent acts on TV absorbed by the average American child before age 18: 200,000
  • “If it bleeds it leads” news coverage of homicides increased 721% between 1993 and 1996. During that same time period, the actual homicide rate fell by 20%
  • 59% of Americans can name all of the Three Stooges while only 17% can name any three Supreme Court justices
  • 30% of local news broadcast time is devoted to advertising

What will you give up if you turn off the T.V.? You won’t know nearly as much about the Duke Lacrosse team. You’ll have to ask people who Natalee Holloway is, because the name won’t be implanted on your brain. And best of all, by both turning off the T.V. and sticking with liberal blogs online, you will know absolutely nothing about Rep. Cynthia McKinney, (D-Ga.) unless you live in her district. In which case, you have my sympathies.

The human brain was never equipped to process as much death and destruction as we feed ours. Give the T.V. a rest this week. And after that, consider making it permanent.

If You’re Gay, BMW Wants Your Money. But Forget About Those Employee Benefits

Trish

It takes more than targeting ads to gays to make a company gay-friendly. Ad Age is reporting that gaywheels.com is calling BMW out for soliciting gay sales but failing to provide benefits for partners of gay employees.

In an article called, “What is the German Word for Hypocrisy?” Joe LaMuraglia says both BMW and publications like “Out” and “The Advocate” that accepted the ad money, are at fault.

Our goal is not to incite a boycott of BMW’s cars, but rather to arm you, our readers, with awareness of the company’s actions as well as of those of the media outlets that published the ad. Speaking of which, one would hope that the publishers of GLBT-owned magazines and web sites would have higher standards than to accept advertising from a major, multinational corporation whose policies discriminate against the very audience that those publications were created to serve.

According to Ad Age, BMW claimed that since it is headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, it is just following Garden State laws.

The site goes on to list companies which are — and which are not — gay-friendly.

Gay-friendly:
DaimlerChrysler’s Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and Maybach
Ford MotorCo.’s Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin and majority-controlled Mazda
Toyota Motor Sales USA’s Toyota, Lexus and Scion
General Motors Corp.’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn
Volkswagen of America’s Audi, VW and Bentley
Subaru of America
Isuzu Motors America
Mitsubishi Motors North America

Non-gay-friendly:
American Honda Motor Co.’s Acura and Honda
BMW’s Mini and BMW
Hyundai Motor America and affiliate Kia Motor America
Nissan North America’s Nissan and Infiniti
American Suzuki Motor Corp.

Nashville Didn’t Kick the Chicks — Can You Say “Texas?”

Trish

Fellow PR editor Jon posted today on the three-year anniversary of the defamation of the Dixie Chicks. Jon wonders, “if the Bush worshippers in the Nashville music establishment treat the unofficial king and queen of country the same way they treated the Dixie Chicks.”

Jon asks an excellent question, but there’s one problem: you go have to a lot further south than Nashville to find the guys who dropkicked the Chicks.

For one thing, the Dixie Chicks are all women, not one of America’s favorite straight couples.

Leading the charge was Atlanta-based Cumulus Media — the second largest owner of radio stations in the country — which banned the Chicks, then held the first of many rallies across the country in Shreveport, La. (just across the Texas state line) in which bulldozers smashed Chicks CDs, posters, etc.

Jumping on the bandwagon and riding it from sea to sea was Clear Channel, mega mega owner of the airwaves, which held onto the issue — and the Dixie Chicks — with a death grip.

Clear Channel is also not based in Nashville, but in sunny San Antonio, which I should mention, is in Texas. SourceWatch.org has the 4-1-1 on Clear Channel.

“The vice chairman of Clear Channel is Tom Hicks… When Mr. Bush was governor of Texas, Mr. Hicks was chairman of the University of Texas Investment Management Company, called Utimco, and Clear Channel’s chairman, Lowry Mays, was on its board. Under Mr. Hicks, Utimco placed much of the university’s endowment under the management of companies with strong Republican Party or Bush family ties. In 1998 Mr. Hicks purchased the Texas Rangers in a deal that made Mr. Bush a multimillionaire.”

“In addition, Hicks steered a controversial scheme to use the University of Texas’ $13 billion endowment for private investment. Among the beneficiaries were the Carlyle Group, the arms investment firm tied to both George Bush Snr and the bin Laden family, and George W Bush’s controversial Harken Oil drilling project in Bahrain.”

[…]

At Last: What Total Lack of Separation of Church and State in America Looks Like

Trish

A bizarre town is taking shape in Southwest Florida, built by Domino’s Pizza C.E.Nutcase Thomas S. Monaghan. Monaghan will rule his town according to Tali-Catholic-ban guidelines.

Jesus will be hanging just overhead at all times, in case anyone starts thinking about doing anything that might lead to a need to prevent pregnancy

The pizza magnate, raised by wolves nuns in orphanages, is bankrolling the town called Ave Maria with millions of dollars, calling its construction “God’s will.”

Stores won’t sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies won’t carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will carry no X-rated channels, he said in a speech last year to the Boston Catholic Men’s Conference…

The town is being built around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in four decades, which Monaghan also founded.

The community…will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center. It will encircle a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, standing nearly 65 feet tall.

So Jesus will be hanging just overhead at all times, in case anyone starts thinking about doing anything that might lead to a need to prevent pregnancy. Of course, some people are wondering if it’s constitutional to do all this banning of perfectly legal activities.

“This is country club Christianity,” said Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, which opposes the church’s bans on abortion and birth control.

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, agreed.

While Simon notes there are religiously homogenous communities across the country, none can “wield governmental power along the lines of religious principle.”

The folks in charge of Florida are currently punting.

“The community has the right to provide a wholesome environment,” [Florida Attorney General and candidate for governor Charlie] Crist said Tuesday. “If someone disagrees, they have the right to go to court and present facts before a judge.”

Gov. Jeb Bush, at the university’s recent groundbreaking, lauded the development as a new kind of town, where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens.

And I just love it when that happens. Meanwhile Monaghan has no qualms, but all the self-assurance of a true religious fanatic and extremist.

“I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don’t want to be on the sidelines,” Monaghan said in a recent Newsweek interview.

No worries there, Tommy. You bought a seat in the front row.

John Edwards: Americans Need Hope and Inspiration

Trish

Say what you will, but I think John Edwards has it right.

America needs leaders who understand that the country needs to be inspired again, former Sen. John Edwards said Friday.

Edwards gets that Americans like you and me are…better than snarky rich idiots who act like assholes because they know deep down inside no amount of money or external success makes up for the fact they are small, nasty people

Edwards said that after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Americans reached out to volunteer and take families into their homes.

“It says something about the heart and character of our country,” said Edwards, a Democrat. “What we need is we need leaders who tap into that.”

Ain’t it the truth? Full disclosure: I voted for Edwards in the Florida primary in 2004, even though the press and my party had already given the state to Kerry. I see something in him that I saw in Carter and in Clinton, and it’s not just the Southern thing, although “not for nothin’,” as we say down here.

Edwards now heads the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina law school and has previously said he has not decided whether he will run for president in 2008…

“The people I’ve met, they violate every stereotype that exists about people who are struggling,” Edwards said.

He said the great moral issue in the country today is that 37 million people live in poverty.

“They have never had a champion,” Edwards said. “They can’t even imagine someone actually being willing to speak up for them.”

Contrast Edwards’ remarks with those of former First Lady Barbara Bush, who in the wake of the most devastating natural disaster of our times looked on her idea of the bright side for the evacuees:

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them. They are faring far better than before Katrina.

Edwards gets that Americans like you and me are better than that, better than snarky rich idiots who act like assholes because they know deep down inside no amount of money or external success makes up for the fact they are small, nasty people.

During his travels, Edwards said he has learned that there is a hunger in the United States for something big and important that people can be involved in and inspired by…

“We need hope,” Edwards said. “We need the belief inside us that we are good, strong, honorable people and we can do great things together.”

Somebody say “Amen!”

How Much Do They Hate Us? Pretty Damn Much

Trish

For all the people who asked how we would like to be on the receiving end of an objectionable Hollywood-esque portrayal, we have an answer: Not so much.

CNN reports on a film that opened today in Turkey starring Gary Busey and Billy Zane as a couple of people we would just as soon not share a nationality with.

In the movie, American troops kill dozens of innocent people with random machine-gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison — where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv

In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.

They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine-gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison — where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.

Whoa. Why would they make a movie like that?

One recent opinion poll revealed the depth of the hostility in Turkey toward Americans: 53 percent of Turks who responded to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes survey associated Americans with the word “rude”; 70 percent with “violent”; 68 percent with “greedy”; and 57 percent with “immoral.”

I won’t bother saying we brought part of this on ourselves. O.K., I just did.

“Valley of the Wolves Iraq” opens with a true story: On July 4, 2003, in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, troops from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade raided and ransacked a Turkish special forces office, threw hoods over the heads of 11 Turkish special forces officers and held them in custody for more than two days…the incident damaged Turkish-U.S. relations and hurt Turkish national pride. Turks traditionally idolize their soldiers; many enthusiastically send their sons off for mandatory military service.

In the movie, one of the Turkish special forces officers commits suicide to save his honor.

I’m already feeling sick. No popcorn, thanks.

Looking on the bright side, it’s just a movie, right?

“There isn’t going to be a war over this,” said Nefise Karatay, a Turkish model lounging on a sofa after the premiere. “Everyone knows that Americans have a good side. That’s not what this is about.”

So what is it about? And I wonder how they would have portrayed us if they didn’t know about our “good side.”

Who’s Burning Churches?

Trish

The fires at six churches in Alabama last night are pretty intriguing. Racism is not a factor in the suspected arsons, since the churches are organized by people of different races. CNN:

Is there really a war on Christianity? Have Satanist teens taken over Alabama?

The five Bibb County churches are “lined up very near U.S. 82 near Centreville,” about 45 miles southwest of Birmingham, said Ingram. Ashby Baptist Church, Pleasant Sabine Church and Rehobeth Baptist Church were destroyed, and Old Union Baptist Church and Antioch Baptist were damaged, he said.

Pleasant Sabine Church has a predominantly black congregation, and the other five are predominantly white, officials said.

The sixth “church” was actually a construction site in the next county, and the fire started in a storage building that held old clothes and other donated items. Investigators don’t think this fire is related to the others.

So who’s doing this? Who’s the target? Is there really a war on Christianity? Have Satanist teens taken over Alabama? I’ll be very curious to see who gets arrested for this, although three of the church fires in 1995 — the last time there was an epidemic of burnings — were never solved.

Playing Bush’s Get Out of Jail Free Card

Trish

Leonard Pitts can just quit writing now because I don’t think he will surpass this essay.

Remain true to the ideals that have guided us for 230 years or surrender them on the altar of expedience because we were too scared to live up to them

Karl Rove said in a speech last week that this year’s midterm election will be about security. So you know it will be about fear…

Hurricane Katrina has shown that the government could not effectively manage a catastrophe whose place and time it knew in advance…So yes, a national conversation about security could hardly be more timely. But it would be naive to think that’s what Rove meant.

…Experience tells us that with this crew, ”security” is just a code word for fear. So this election will hinge on making people think terrorists are going to get ’em if they don’t vote Republican.

A ruinous war fought under false pretenses? Sept. 11.

Indefinite detention of alleged terrorists? Sept. 11.

Torture? Sept. 11.

The right of the people to dissent? Sept. 11.

Spying on Americans in violation of federal law? Sept. 11.

A growing record of incompetence and lies? Sept. 11.

Fear is the president’s Get Out Of Jail Free card.

…what is at stake this year is not the fortunes of a party but the character of a nation. The choice is simple: remain true to the ideals that have guided us for 230 years or surrender them on the altar of expedience because we were too scared to live up to them.

Make no mistake: America is not for wimps. It takes guts to be an American, to believe in the rule of law, the freedom of dissent, the dignity of woman and man even when — especially when — it is more expedient not to. To be an American is to commit a daily act of faith.

The Dream of Martin Luther King

Jon Ponder

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

— Rev. Martin Luther King, on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.