Thursday, July 25, 2002
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New explanation for obesity: It's your fault I'm fat.
Interesting that one of the lead stories on BBC online today was about obese Americans (more than half of all Americans are overweight) suing the major fast food chains, a story nowhere to be found on CNN's page. The BBC article features a photo (from the rear) captioned "An American Family"; the three family members fill a wide sidewalk. US widesters will consume vast amounts of court time accusing the fast food chains of unrelentingly forcing greasy salty sugary fast food down their throats all these years. This in the land of the industrial-sized Oreos bag, the bucket of Coke, the live-in refrigerator, supermarket junk food aisles longer than bowling alleys, the land where where ice cream cone scoops are bigger than a baby's head and the baby finishes the whole thing, the land of diner breakfasts built for two. One widester, who is about two bodies overweight and diabetic, with two heart attacks under his belt, says of the fast-food items comprising cholesterol, grease, oils, fats, and other lipids stirred together and congealed into burger or drumstick shape: "I always thought it was good for you. I never thought there was anything wrong with it." The inoperative term here is "thought."
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Sunday, July 21, 2002
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Although they are both clearly marionettes of their respective nations' power structures, the difference between Koizumi and Bush is that Koizumi says what he wants and does what he's told, whereas Dubya says what he's told and does what he's told. The Japanese power shadows know that Koizumi will say what the public wants to hear, and make all the promises the public wants, none of which will ever come to pass. This will in time be sufficient to bring on the chaos, when the fogeys in the background ("e-mail? What's e-mail?" Asked Japan's Minister of Posts and Telecommunications not so long ago) can position an old man as figurehead again to rescue the nation from Koizumi's clearly fruitless youthful rashness. Dubya, in contrast, was abruptly forbidden to say anything off the cuff, not only because his masters could never be quite sure what would emerge, but also because his command of substance was an embarrassment. So Dubya never speaks spontaneously anymore, you can see him trying to remember the words he memorized just before he came out to say a few words... these short bursts are always just right for the moment, which is utterly unlike the man himself, but no one comments on this because by now the public has been thoroughly conditioned by media programming, such that the bon mot from even the lowliest character actor is no surprise...
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