Saturday, February 23, 2008

Weird Food Cravings

Do you ever have weird food cravings and think that it's because you're missing something in your diet? Apparently, that's not the case:

MSNBC.com recently posted some of the weird food cravings their readers have. Apparently craving peanut butter burgers or banana bacon sandwiches doesn't mean you're missing something from your diet. "Scientists haven't been able to link cravings in humans to specific nutritional deficiencies, says Joy Bauer, TODAY's nutrition expert and author of Food Cures: Treat Common Health Concerns, Look Younger & Live Longer.


When I was pregnant, I ate the Korean dish Bibimbap everyday which is a dish of rice, vegetables and in my case, seaweed, which I loved. I thought I craved the dish because I needed postassium or some other mineral but maybe I was just weird.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Naomi Campbell--Political Candidate?

David Harsanyi states in his Denver Post column entitled, "The Truth About Castro":

Supermodel Naomi Campbell claims that Fidel Castro is "a source of inspiration to the world." Actually, in South Beach, dingbat stick-figures can pocket millions strutting down runways, but in Cuba, young women are destined to toil in a socialist economy with little hope. They aren't inspired by Castro. Suicide rates are estimated to have tripled since El Caballo began running things.


Maybe Campbell should stick with modeling, sounds like she has a better career there than in politics; on the other hand, the way that some of our politicians appease and admire dictators, maybe not.
Obama and guns: "In 1999, Obama proposed to make it a felony for the gun owner if a firearm stolen from his residence and used in a crime was not “securely stored” — effectively negating the homeowner’s right to self-defense."

Scary stuff.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Ask Dr. Helen: Is Male Bashing Curable?

My PJM column is up:

“We’re tired of the way the media portrays us as either abusive, career-driven, slovenly, or one of the myriad of other male stereotypes,” one married man complains to Dr. Helen Smith. She sympathizes.


Okay, that is the PJM editor's interpretation. I don't sympathize, I say, mobilize and do something constructive. Others may disagree and just ignore negative male stereotypes. Go read the column and tell me what you think.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Podcast: How to Raise a Future Millionaire

troydunncov.jpgDo you ever wonder if you are teaching your kids the right lessons about money and how to use it wisely? Author Troy Dunn has seven kids and has taught them how to start businesses of their own. He talks with us today about his new book, Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire.

He explains what five word phrase parents should never say to their kids when it comes to money, why college is not that important in becoming a millionaire, what businesses are good for kids, and why you should not give your kid an allowance (uh- oh).

You can listen directly -- no downloading needed -- by going right here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here. A lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. is here. And you can always subscribe via iTunes -- and why wouldn't you, since it's free?

Music is by Mobius Dick. Show archives are at GlennandHelenShow.com.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Rules for Radicals 101

I read with amusement this little piece over at CBS News on Hillary Clinton's hunting history:

At a campaign stop this afternoon, Hillary Clinton’s focus was on the economy and health care but some in the crowd had other things on their minds. Clinton was asked to discuss gun control which prompted Clinton to talk about her days holding a rifle in the cold, shallow waters in backwoods Arkansas.


So instead of talking directly about her policy on gun control and her crappy second amendment record (an F rating on gun rights, Clinton was one of 16 Senators who voted against the 2006 Vitter Amendment), Hillary instead tells a little story about being with some men in a swamp and how she shot a duck--to show how aligned she is with gun owners. Then she takes a pot shot at Dick Cheney to promote her "sensible" gun control legislation:

Clinton continued, “Once he (Cheney) is out of office, the Secret Service is not around to protect people from him. We better be careful about where he goes hunting. Safety protocol would be useful, don’t’ you think?”


Her responses to questions about gun control indicate that perhaps she has just fallen back on the old tired techniques of Saul Alinsky, author of Rules for Radicals, on whom she wrote her senior thesis.

In Rules for Radicals, Alinsky opens with a Prologue in which he describes some elementary techniques for those who want to change the world. Communication is key, and one should communicate with the experiences of the audience, and "give full respect to the others value." By telling a story about herself hunting, Clinton has aligned herself with the nearly two-thirds of Americans who say they believe the Constitution guarantees each person the right to own a gun. Next, by making fun of Cheney, Clinton uses another level of communication described by Alinsky:

...humor is essential, for through humor much is accepted that would have been rejected if presented seriously.


By poking fun at Cheney, Clinton could laugh with the audience, but notice the twist, "Safety protocol would be useful, don't you think?" She is now shifting to Alinsky's chapter on "Communication." Here is one of Alinksy's maxims:

Another maxim in effective communication is that peple have to make their own decisions. It isn't just that Moses couldn't tell God what God should do; no organizer can tell a community, either, what to do. Much of the time, though, the organizer will have a pretty good idea of what the communtity should be doing, and he will want to suggest, maneuver, and persuade the community toward that action. He will not ever seem to tell the community what to do; instead, he will use loaded questions. For example, in a meeting on tactics where the organizer is convinced that tactic Z is the thing to do:

Organizer: What do you think we should do now?

Okay, so this interchange goes on until everyone has decided that tactic Z, as the organizer suggested is the thing to do. This is generally reached through manipulation on the part of the organizer but the community feels that they have made the decision themselves. But they didn't. They were manipulated.

Will Americans fall for Clinton's manipulative tactics, especially in the area of gun control? It's possible, but then again, many Americans know when they are being fed a big pile of bull. Or at least, I hope they do.

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Monday, February 18, 2008

PJM has an interesting article on Desperate (Green) Housewives:

The New York Times has turned environmentally conscious mothers into their latest target of derision. Unfair, says Laura McKenna. If you’re going to mock, why not make fun of the whole green movement?


Read the whole thing.