Some things always seem to bring me back to posting on my blog. Messing fruitlessly with data for too many hours. Staring at a computer screen with little human contact for several hours. You get the idea.
Sometimes I wish my blog would just write itself out of the thoughts in my head. So many thoughts and ideas, but so little transition onto the blog. Once I sit here, it's like it all flees my mind.
Current events are a never ending source of inspiration. My musings on a few...
A reputable statistician reported in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association that American life expectancy will decrease for the first time in two centuries, due to obesity and the many health problems surrounding it. Some critics came out right away and said the guy was overblowing the situation; I'm tempted to trust him, because as I said, he's a very reputable statistician. Anyways, I find this interesting and a bit ironic... Continued development has sped America ahead in life expectancy for two centuries. Now, finally something is coming back to bite us. Having an abundant supply of food improved human health for millenium. Now we have reached the peak, and finally we have an overabundance of food, making us less healthy. Perhaps this is just one foreshadowing of other things to come. For instance, technology has pushed us ahead, but will it eventually lead to our demise? Capitalism made the US the the richest country in the world, but will it eventually lead to the destruction of our (or the world's) economy? Use of natural resources for millenium sustained humanity; are we nearing a point where we will have overconsumed natural resources and see ramifications in human life/society? These are questions we must consider.
Terry Schiavo's feeding tube was pulled. For those who don't keep up on current events, she has been in a vegetative state since 1990. Her husband has been fighting to take out her feeding tube, arguing she wouldn't want to live that way. Her parents have been fighting to keep her alive. A Florida judge ordered the tube be taken out. Congress today tried to stop it from being pulled by subpoena-ing Terry for a Congressional hearing. The judge got pissed Congress was meddling, and the tube was taken out. Now, sure, there are big life and death moral issues in this case, but did Congress miss the civics lesson on the balance of power? They can't overrule judges unless they pass laws. Not to mention that I feel they should be focusing their time and energy on important (large) issues. And we wonder why so little good legislation gets made...
Lastly, in his first day on death row Scott Peterson got two marriage proposals. Prison officials said it's not uncommon for death row inmates to get married. I wonder why? Also, for the unmarried folks looking to get married, it's quite a blow to know that you get on death row and suddenly your stock goes up. What gives?
4 comments:
I've been a bit out of the loop lately, so I hadn't heard about Congress trying to subpoena Terry Schiavo. That's hilarious and sad.
I had. Sad, yes...hilarious? I doubt her parents thought so. They have been trying to keep her "alive" for so long. Please pull my plug asap, so that it never comes to that. I know people give her husband a bad rap, but as far as he is concerned, she has been dead for years and he should be able to morn and move on with his life. My heart goes out to the poor parents, but c'mon! They got Congress involved, from what I heard.
Speaking of the fattest nation in the world, I've lost between 7 and 12 pounds (depending on which scale you trust) I'm saying 9, why not split the difference?
I told my school kids on Friday about the marriage proposals. They wanted to know what was wrong with those women. I didn't know what to tell them!
Power to the People!
(start angry voice)
I've got an idea. Let's save the life of someone who has been dead about 15 years and kill thousands of children in Iraq who havn't lived as long as this person in Florida has been dead. Congress operates on some twisted logic. From your quote, it looks like Kennedy is the only one in Congress with a clue about the rest of the world. How many people has Jeb killed in the name of criminal justice while this woman was stuck on life support. That's a statistic I want published in the paper and on FOX news. Congress needs to stop wasting my money killing people in other countries and calling dead people to testify before them and give me some fucking health care.
(end angry voice)
Sorry, I have not heard the news in a while so I had to vent here.
your entries have been pretty interesting lately - i mean, they always are, but more so :)
Yah, I don't know how I feel about this Florida woman. More specifically, I don't know how I feel about Congress' tactic - seems really inhumane and bizarre
Steve
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