Tuesday Updates

Things got a little crazy lately, but I think they're returning to being blog-errific.

Because of her propensity for Googling herself, I gotta throw a few keywords out here:
Tammy Thomas, ESPN, BALCO, perjury, Barry Bonds, norbolethone, IRS

So if Tammy T. did happen to land here I'm just seriously asking you to plz not threaten legal action and make me take this page down. Tammy T., I just want you to know that it is never too late to do the right thing. If you're being honest with yourself then you should have a clear conscience. God loves you, regardless. You ever in Memphis and need someone to talk about what you're going through then bring your gloves and we'll hang-and-bang.

Speaking of lawsuits, I need a corporate sponsor for my site. Let's see how many attorneys from Alcon contact me after this one.

Today's Post Brought to You By Alcon Lab's Pataday
Irritated, itchy, allergy eyes? Pataday. So strong it'll take the red off a Tennessee fan's neck.
Ask your eye care professional about Pataday.

No offense to the 3 Tennessee grads I've met in my life. That comment was only for the other 10,000,000,000 fans who are as annoying as an anal fissure.

Remember that heartbreak, regret, etc.
Remember that time in 1st grade when your friend really hurt your feelings and you felt like you were gonna die from anguish? Well, I don't remember it that vividly either. But folks with photographic memories do and the emotions are just as intense now as they were 40 years ago. I always thought it would be cool have that kind of memory but some people with that "gift" say the mentally see a "movie" of their entire life every night when they lie awake in bed. I hope it's on fast forward.

The South Will Rise Again... But This Dude Won't Be There
Virginia man killed in Civil War cannonball blast

Ride Robbie Ride !!
Check out this dude, he's just screwing around riding his bike all over the world.

Depressing Riding News
I got a card in the mail informing me that Meritan's Lunar Festival is going to be postponed until 2009. For those not in the know, every June in Memphis 17 miles of city streets are blocked off so that nearly 1,500 cyclists can hit the road for a midnight ride. It's a blast and I hate to not be able to do it this year.

Damn, More Wasted Resources
I'm sure I've gone into my arguments with my undergrad mentor regarding finding a cure for AIDS. I was pro-research in efforts for a cure. Being a good behaviorist she argued that the cure for AIDS is completely behaviorally based-- stop the behavior that spreads the disease and you've wiped it out. And so what does it hurt if we did find a vaccine? Well, she replies, think of the billions of dollars spent on research when it could have been used for other means. She was right. And I view obesity the same way.

We need a change in individual's behavior to conquer this. I got so fired up at this Business Week article that I think I burst a blood vessel. Lemme pull some quotes that really got me going and I'll interject with my own dialog.

The first company to create the magic pill that helps people shed pounds without getting sick will reap an astronomical windfall. About a third of the people in the U.S. are obese, putting them at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

Diet and exercise will help one shed pounds without making one sick. Diet and exercise reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.

Another third are merely overweight, but still desperate for a drug that will return them to their former svelte selves.

Diet and exercise will help one return to their former "svelte" self. I find that ironic since I'm reckoning most people "desperate for a drug" to cure obesity were never really svelte to begin with.

To grasp the potential impact of just one really good weight-loss drug, consider all the medicines taken to treat conditions caused or exacerbated by obesity. Statins for high cholesterol rake in $25 billion in global sales each year. Demand for blood-pressure drugs comes to about $30 billion. Then there's the $12 billion-a-year market for drugs that treat Type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent form of the disease. Many patients who swallow such pills today might be persuaded to trade in their prescriptions if there were an alternate route to a healthier body weight. Add to that everyone's desire to look better, and you have the makings of a giant product.

Um, I think that "alternate route" could be diet and exercise.

Come on, I'm not completely cold-hearted. I do believe there is a tiny fraction of people who cannot lose weight and are in medically fragile conditions where weight loss could save their lives. And for this tiny fraction I think there interventions, such as surgery, that can provide solutions. But do we have to spend TENS OF BILLIONS of dollars on something that can be solved very easily for the overwhelming majority of people?

I Hope These Guys Know Their Market
I get this email from my local Toyota dealer. Apparently, they know I'm not a tree-hugging hippie.

In the email they're raving about the virtues of the new Sequoia; a hairy mammoth of a car that makes my Sequoia look like a Sweet Schild O' Mine's CRV.

The Sequoia's not gonnna win any fuel sipping contests so they need a different marketing angle.

...that's $4,000 toward your new Sequoia. If CASH is not your thing, Toyota is giving you the option of 0% Financing for up to 60 months.

How's that for incentive to laugh at all these people who are running to the small fuel economy cars. They'll also be running from your Sequoia as your barrel down the road. Not too mention they don't own a boat anyway, and you need that muscle to pull your baby to the lake this summer.

Toyota...Moving Forward...errr well it's a SEQUOIA so you better get the heck out of the way!!!

Man, I hope no Prius owners got that email. Whew.