No, Really - You Are What You Eat

I remember, when I was very young, an ageing relative slicing a big fatty hunk off the Sunday roast beef and with a conspiratorial grin, whispering to me "this is the very best part" before popping it into his mouth and chomping it down. Back then and in the centuries prior, that would have been the most commonly-held attitude - nothing better for one than a big hunk of fatty red meat.

Fast-forward to the current day. Anyone paying attention to modern nutrion facts knows that big fatty hunk off the Sunday roast beef is near #1 on the scale of 'food that'll kill ya'. Funny, too, how over the years a certain fast-food standard is described coloquially as 'heart-attack-in-a-box'. Of course fast-foods are everywhere - some are designed & constructed with low-fat, low-sodium, low-sugar objectives, while many pile in the tempting (addicting?) ingredients with the predictable destruction-of-your-health result. And its not only fast foods, is it? Most folks know what's bad for them, but sometimes the urge for fats & salts & sugars is overwhelming, we cave in and feel the guilt after the fact, the damage done.

Food designers employed by mass-market food companies with profit objectives repeatedly push our culinary hot buttons with the same combinations - fat, sugar, salt - it's ingrained in us to crave these things. To be sure, in the distant past those built-in cravings were probably a good thing, providing incentive to hunt & gather more effectively and satisfy the cravings. The meager amounts of fats, salt & sugars ingested were probably exactly right, taking into account the remainder of the nuts & berries diet and rigorous lifestyle.

Modern healthcare struggles to combat many after-the-fact diseases in the population. Some - like obesity leading to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, colon cancer - are practically epidemic and contribute to huge morbidity and mortality numbers. The drain on every part of society is gigantic, not forgetting the sorrow and heartache in families where health problems take centre stage.


When George H. Bush (the first one, remember him?) said on network TV that he hated broccoli and would never eat it, by far preferring to crunch away on a bag of deep-fried pork rinds, I thought his comment sealed the fate of thousands of future-but-unnecessary sufferers of colon cancer across America. Jeez, talk about blowing a leadership opportunity!

In my opinion, pro-active measures need to be taken on every front to slow the growth of, indeed, to roll back the tide of an unhealthy population at large. Of course there are some things that have been recommended since the beginning of time (well, since Health class in Grade One at an rate) like the Canada Food Guide's dietary recommendations - well nigh impossible for a kid to comply with. Fitness levels too. One problem with best-practices is diet & exercise regimens still don't reach a substantial portion of the population - a majority even, I am guessing, and nothing changes those predictabe morbidity / mortality results.

What do we need? Like with most things, intervention is required to effect real change. Yes - I'm talking government here, the approach we love to hate. Here's how it goes, with a sliding scale of either taxes levied or credited based on what the food business at all levels contributes positively or negatively, to the relative healthfulness (is that a word?) of the food products that reach the consuming public.

Products that would attract more taxes would be any 'serving' of food that includes statistically disproportionate amounts of daily fat, salt or sugar intake as part of a typical daily menu. Like when one hamburger patty makes for 44% of daily fat intake. Or when a kid's boxed drink has 35% of daily sugar intake. Or when a restaurant menu is regularly inordinately heavily-salted to induce purchase of more beverages. Businesses selling the product would be required to collect & remit a health incentive tax on each qualifying product.

Products that would attract tax credits could include increased undetectable fibre in 'white bread' burger buns, reduced sugars & salts in sauces, grilling or broiling instead of frying, moving to 'no-salt' alternatives or promoting healthy fresh foods as part of a fast-food meal. Imagine receiving a shiny crisp MacIntosh apple or a ripe juicy Niagara peach or pear with every drive-thru meal? And there's no one better at handling & distribution of such foods than the fast-food folks. Sure would put a smile on the Ontario fruit-growers' faces. And with lower costs via tax credits, I have no doubt the consuming public would respond positively to such initiatives.

Our governments tax liquor, tobacco and a host of other 'bad' stuff. It's time to tax bad food stuff - and to offer tax credits for 'good' food stuff. Call it the healthcare surtax and send the revenues directly to the publicly-funded healthcare providers and researchers. Let's make it easy for the public-at-large to make good nutrition decisions at all levels and as a society we can reap the rewards that accompany a healthier population. A healthy win-win for all.

Season's Greetings - eat your vegetables!

To Those Who Think Obama's Bank 'Stress Tests' are Stupid...

‘Stress Test’ is new-speak for Risk Analysis, right?

Now, to be fair, Risk Analysis performed by the banks & others on themselves hasn’t yielded the best results in recent quarters - kind of like having bad cops investigate themselves isn’t it?

Maybe the folks (the Obama team, primarily) trying to keep the world afloat and fix the problems aren’t so sanguine about the veracity of the banks’ own Risk Analysis so they think it prudent to do their own - on behalf of those pesky taxpayers…?

And - if you think the finance & economic problems are all behind us - Ha!! - just wait 'til the stress test results are announced!

What US President Hasn't Used a Teleprompter?

What the heck is up with this teleprompter bulls***t? Hasn't every president in recent years used a teleprompter? If a guy is to give a speech, is it somehow un-presidential to not have it memorized, word for word? Would you rather Obama spend several hours memorizing & rehearsing a speech in front of a mirror, or is his time better spent continuing to meet and interact with his cabinet and others to get the business of the day done?

Jeez, next it'll be a scandal all about why the president's shoelaces aren't washed daily.

Isn't it enough all the bad actors outside the US are sniping away - do Obama's fellow-citizens have to talk s**t all the time too?

Pathetic.

Canadian Foreign Staffers Need to Speak the Host Country Language.

IMHO it doesn't matter what country our staffers are appointed to - they should always have a better-then-working knowledge of the host-country language for a number of good reasons.

No sensible national government sends diplomats to a foreign-language country without proper language training. To send untrained staff (and it doesn't matter which Canadian government does it) cripples their efforts on our behalf, is an unnecessary insult to the host country and is just plain bad form all 'round. Shows us as a country that 'muddles through'. Not good.

Mercenaries: the Only Effective Solution to the Somali Pirate Scourge

Keeping elements of the world's navys on-call to fight pirates is ludicrously expensive and an overkill approach that misses the heart of the matter. Rather than trying to cover hundreds of thousands of square miles of open ocean, this is a real business opportunity for mercenaries (read 'private security organizations like Blackwater').

Mercenary teams, armed to the teeth (including nicely-sized bangers like shoulder-launched missiles in addition to their 'regular' armament) can be dropped onto cargo ship decks by helicopter to defend the ships as they enter the problem area. Then, 1-3 days later when the cargo ships have passed out of harm's way, the mercenaries are removed by helicopter and taken to their next cargo ship assignment. Simple. Cost-effective. And a great gig for contract tough-guys - maybe the ones getting a little long-in-the-tooth and want to survive their careers to be with families they care for back home.

If mercenary teams established by the likes of Blackwater are good enough to 'supplement' the US Army in Baghdad and elsewhere, they'd be the perfect force to warn away or fight off pirate aggression in the gulf. And having mercenaries riding shotgun temporarily focuses the resources where & when they're needed. No need then to arm the freighters or expect innocent crew members to periodically become professional soldiers to save someone else's cargos and/or their own lives.