On my mind in FA today

Fencing Fatty? You'd better believe it!

I’ve been reading a lot in the sphere and elsewhere lately and since I am still blustering through my last semester of classes (and Fencing, which I get to do again tonight for the 3rd time!) I thought I’d pull up a few topics that have been mulling around in my head that others have been covering fabulously. No TCA again today but I have more pictures now at least 🙂

Michelle Obama and the Anti-Obesity Crusade

Over at Live Once, Juicy, the important question of whether or not Michelle Obama is listening to us at this point is posed.  Is she caught in a  snowball effect at this point in her efforts to squash Childhood Obesity, such that even if she CAN see the troubled light of future bullying at the end of the tunnel, it is too late to stop Progress for Progress’ Sake?

I think that’s a very good question (and even ponied up to take a moment to write my senator to add height & weight to the list of protected classes in the Anti-Bullying bill)  and while Paul Campos and others have done wonderful work to examine Mrs. Obama’s current crusade. In fact Mr. Campos brings forth this fabulous quote on the case:

“Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity is exactly the sort of crusade that liberals who don’t want to give ammunition to conservative critiques of government activism should oppose. It is a deeply misguided attempt to solve an imaginary health crisis by employing unnecessary cures that in any case don’t work.”

Still, I find myself wondering as Live Once, Juicy does, “Is this all just spiraling out of even Michelle Obama’s control?”

What does “Perfect” Look Like?

Sociological Images recently had a really eye-opening and picture-filled post on the illustrated line up of the well-oiled and primed bodies of Olympic Athletes.  It is worth checking out all of the images (which you can now see here since the post was removed at Sociological Images per request of the photographers) but here is my favorite as a teaser:

As the author over at Intergalactic Messages reminds us: “strong bodies come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and muscles show up in different ways. It also helps us keep in mind that not everyone who is fit is also lean”

Fattest Countries

Living ~400lbs had a fantastic post about the reality of which country really qualifies as the “fattest nation”. Just as a brief teaser on the data she dug up? The fattest isn’t the US, UK or Australia (though all three are so eager to claim that to be the case). None of those 3 even make it into the top 10 unless you do a specific bit of number sorting.  Check it out to see what she found.

New Looks for a Sunny Perspective

As the cold lingers and keeps coming in waves here in the Northeast of the USA I found myself happily viewing Diva In Deep Thought’s recent DOTD post.  The bright yellow shirt and those great skinny cargos just make me think of warmth and being fashionably out there and it made me smile.

Japan: our sympathies, monies and prayers go out to you

The last I’ve heard in the saga of Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Radiation is that an emergency water drop was attempted at Fukushima.  So much tragedy in one place just ravages my spirit.

I’ve used Americares.org for both the Haiti relief effort and again now for this event.  If you’ve heard of great places to donate to assist the area please let us know in comments.

Oh, and if you think that such huge levels of human despair and suffering is somehow Nature or God acting in retribution for ANY reason against the populace of Japan?  Fuck you.  Seriously.

On a Happy Cute Note: Science – Now with more Kitties!

“Two African Black-Footed kittens, members of an endangered species rarely seen in captivity, are the first of their kind to be born from a frozen embryo via in-vitro fertilization.”