Gee...Ya Think?

Something makes me think that there's a bigger story here.

Election Insanity

Hi my friends, I'm sorry it's been ridiculously long since I've put anything up here. The start of school is always disastrous for my free time.

Well, if you have any free time, check out these two sites...Put Your Party on Your Face and 7-Election.com Both are EXTREMELY unscientific polls about the upcoming presidential election. Watch out for the posts on the first site. There are some wacky folks out there. Don't get too caught up. It's probably better to do something more productive than read that nonsense.

Let me know what you think.

Well, it's happened again...

I've run out of time in all of my classes. I can't fit nearly anything of what I need to do into the ridiculously short amount of time that I have. 40 minutes??? Are they crazy??

I didn't get a chance to show my gov students the electoral college website, electoral-vote.com. And, I didn't get to review the Week In Pictures from the MSNBC site. Go, check em out.... don't worry... I'll be here when you get back.

Also (!!!!), I never got a chance to discuss with my little cherubs the Vanity Fair New Establishment List. I'd love to hear your observations about the list. Do you think they picked the correct person for #1? I wonder how it compares to earlier years.

OH!!! I almost forgot!!! The Rubin Museum of Art of the Himalayas is having a series of public performances of Bhutanese dancing. The last day of the performances is Sunday, September 21st. GO!!! It's going to be so cool. (And, if it isn't, at least you tried!!!)

Enjoy!!!

Mongolian Field Hockey

Enough said.

There's too much to say about the Olympics. WAY too much. So... here's a brief review...

1. Michael Phelps for President.

2. China has an approved list of cheers for spectators. Try to imagine what might happen if the US government tried to impose an approved list of cheers on Jets fans. (Having been a season ticket holder, I can speak from proud, grueling, foul-mouthed experience.) It wouldn't be pretty.

3. Iceland may win a gold medal in Handball. They've never won a gold medal before. Eric Weiner's book The Geography of Bliss argues that part of the reason why Icelanders are so happy is because everyone is mediocre. You can try anything and not have to worry about being bad at it. While Americans have to be the best(!), Icelanders can simply be. I wonder if this gold medal will mess that all up by raising the bar for them and making all the mediocre people feel bad.

4. Oh, I forgot, Michael Phelps isn't old enough. Dara Torres for President.

So Cool!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to Emily Dixon, a volunteer at Kiva. WOW!!!!! Kiva is developing a curriculum for high school students, and they want some of my ideas. Yeah!! I don't know if they'll use any of them, but if I can help in any way, I will be over the moon. So, I'm off to do that, then we McCabes will be at the beach for about two weeks. So, I may not post for a while. Sorry!!! (Yippee!!! Kiva!!! Yeah!!!)

More Top Tens

Top 10 Calorie Consumers

1. USA 3,744.1
2. Portugal 3,740.9
3. Greece 3,721.1
4. Austria 3,673.3
5. Italy 3,670.6
6. Israel 3,666.1
7. Ireland 3,656.4
8. France 3,653.9
9. Canada 3,589.3
10. Malta 3,586.9

World Average 2,804.4

This, again, comes from Russell Ash's The Top 10 of Everything 2007. He added this comment, one of very few commentaries posted in the book:

"The Calorie requirement of the average man is 2,700 and of a woman 2,500. Inactive people need less, while those engaged in heavy labor require more. The countries in the top 10, as well as many others, are consuming over 30 percent more than they need -- hence the rise of obesity and related medical problems. However, the Calorie consumption of over 10 of the poorest African nations falls below 2,000, with Eritrea's average of 1,512.8 standing at just 40 percent of the figure for the USA."

More to follow...

Scary Business

This next series of posts is inspired by what I saw in the stands at the Mets game.

We'll start with this series of Top 10 lists found in The Top 10 of Everything 2007 by Russell Ash:

Top 10 Countries for Global Sales of Fast Food

1. USA 148,612,900,000
2. Japan 13,875,100,000
3. Canada 12,709,900,000
4. UK 12,062,400,000
5. China 9,765,000,000
6. South Korea 9,249,100,000
7. Germany 7,367,900,000
8. Australia 5,685,300,000
9. Brazil 4,967,300,000
10. India 4,914,700,000

Top 10 Fast Food Companies for Global Sales

1. McDonalds $45,933,000,000
2. Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) 24,418,000,000
3. Burger King 11,100,000,000
4. Wendy's International 10,200,000,000
5. Doctor's Associates (Subway) 6,523,000,000
6. Darden Restaurants 4,655,000,000
7. Domino's Pizza 4,193,000,000
8. Brinker International 3,807,000,000
9. Applebee's International 3,593,000,000
10. Starbucks 3,450,000,000

My Mistake

Small World.

Dan Koeppel, the author of Banana; The Fate of the Fruit That Shaped the World contacted me to say, "I'm not sketchy! Really!"

It seems I made a mistake in last post about Bananas. Koeppel's book was published before Chapman's book, and the two apparently cover different ground. As I've said before, Koeppel's book looks great, and his website is delicious. Check it out.

Let's go Mets!!!

I've only been to Shea once this year, but what a day to go!! Holy cow! What a great game!!!

IT WAS AWESOME.

It may have been the best game ever. One to one through most of the game, complete pitcher's duel, Ryan Howard struck out twice, Aaron Heilman NOT losing the game for Perez, Reyes stealing, Delgado getting a hit in the bottom of the 8th, Billy Wagner closing it out with just a little drama, perfect weather, no drunk fans, a thousand kids in identical t-shirts from their day camps, quick game, BOTH of my kids scoring the game through 9 innings!!!!! WOW.

Oh, and I forgot... The Mets and the Phillies are vying for first place in the division! Bliss. Pure bliss. Great fielding, great pitching, perfect clutch hitting. What a day.

Bananas

Dan Koeppel may have written a great book about bananas, but he's a little late. Earlier in the year, Peter Chapman wrote "Bananas; How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World." (Koeppel seems to have swiped Chapman's title, and that makes Koeppel look a bit sketchy, but it may not have been his decision. Publishers sometimes determine the titles of books.)

I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's phenomenal. It tells the history of the United Fruit Company, and, trust me, it's not pretty. There's a ton of intrigue -- the coup in Guatemala, nasty business in Honduras, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, right-wing Colombian death squads -- and so much fun. The writing is brilliant and clear and you will want to drop everything to continue reading. (My children have learned how to cook dinner for themselves...just kidding.)

The one down side is that Chapman is so brilliant that he assumes that his readers know a great deal about American history. I do, so that's not a problem, but most Americans don't. If John Foster Dulles doesn't immediately ring a bell, you may miss a great deal of the import of this work. Read it anyway. You'll learn something.

Bored?

Then, check this out: Gigapan

"Why Didn't We Think of That?"

Today's New York Times has a great article about Kung Fu Panda, the animated movie 'starring' Jack Black. (Have you seen that? I liked it more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed the cognitive dissonance created by hearing Dustin Hoffman in the role of an animated Kung Fu master. He's come so far since The Graduate.)

Apparently, people in China were trying to boycott the movie since the American movie industry had co-opted and commercialized the panda, a Chinese national symbol.

The boycott failed. The movie is a hit.

In light of that success, people in China are now wondering why the Americans made a panda movie before the Chinese did. The lesson they are drawing from the movie is that "a movie like 'Kung Fu Panda' could have been produced only in an atmosphere of cultural and artistic freedom that China doesn't enjoy." If the government doesn't like your work, it doesn't get made. In addition, the government gives extremely specific instructions on what should be produced and how it should look.

Ugh.

For the millionth time, I will tell you... Be extremely thankful that you live here. Even our worst critics prefer to stay.

Whoops.

Apparently, we could be doing a much better job taking care of ourselves. The American Human Development report ranks the United States as the 12th wealthiest country in the world, but we only rank 42nd (!!!) in the world for life expectancy, despite spending more on health care per person than any other country.

The good news is that our life expectancy has increased four times since 1960, but the bad news is that we could be living a lot longer. The report cited obesity and the lack of health insurance for 47 million Americans as the "most significant factors in premature death." If we had the infant mortality rate of Sweden (figures Sweden would be in first-place), 20,000 fewer infants would die every year.

The report also tracked the differences between regions in the United States, and, sadly, Mississippi ranked at the bottom of the list of states. The people in the worst districts in the United States are 30 years behind the living standards achieved by people in the wealthiest regions. The good news is that the best region in the United States is the Northeast. We have more money, more education, and longer life-expectancy than people in any other region. (Whew!! At least, there's a silver lining!)

Why not go to both?

The new Batman movie is out today, so, after you see it, why not follow it up with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan? They have a special exhibit on superheroes, paying close attention to the (er) fashion (?) associated with them.

After you stroll through that exhibit, have lunch on the roof among the Jeff Koons sculptures,and then check out the rooms dedicated to "Krishna: Mythology and Worship." But, you better hurry, the Krishna exhibit closes on July 28th.

There's also a special exhibit (open until August 10th) on Pop Art, featuring works by Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Joe Brainard, Jim Dine, Richard Lindner, and Wayne Thiebaud.

Taj Mahal and the Skatalites are playing a free concert at Central Park Summerstage on the 27th. The Met in the morning, the Park all afternoon, stopping at the many different ice cream stands which abound in the park... Sounds like the perfect day, doesn't it? (Watch, it'll rain!)

National Aquatics Center

Have you seen this? How cool is that!!

From what I've read, the National Aquatics Center in Beijing is not only incredibly cool looking, it's also environmentally prudent. The bubbles are made of an extremely light material, reducing the need for steel in the frame. It's much less expensive than glass. Plus, it's probably easier to keep cool. The roof can collect rainwater and pool water and the venue can save 140,000 tons of recycled water every year.

Check it out from the inside: I hope NBC spends some time describing the building in between races. What is it, three weeks until the Olympics?

Eight Intriguing Burial Sites and Traditions

1. Burial of the Sardine; Spain. This comes at the end of Spain's Carnival celebration. One of the lighter burial ceremonies.

2. Bone House; Hallstatt, Austria. Due to a lack of space, the Austrians remove the skulls of the buried, paint them, and put them on show.

3. Hanging Coffins; Sagada, Luzon Island, Philippines. Also found in China and Indonesia, this practice entails putting the deceased in coffins and "burying" them in caves high in the cliffs.

4. Lemo Burial Site; Tana Toraja, Indonesia. Again, the dead are buried in cliffs, but the mouths of the cliffs are decorated with hundreds of dolls. (Creepy...)

5. Sky Burial; Tibet. For the Tibetan people, a sky burial was common practice. The deceased was left out in the open for hovering vultures as a gesture of charity. (Gee, thanks.)

6. Sunken Cemetery; Camiguin, Philippines. The city of Camiguin and its cemetery sits under the sea, after volcanic activity pushed it offshore. Its location underwater is marked by an enormous cross. This for the scuba-diving set.

7. Nazca Mummies; Nazca, Peru. Nazca mummies can be seen in the Atacama desert. "Propped up as if welcoming their visitors, they wear their hair long, thought to have once been a significant status symbol."

8. Rock Tombs; Myra, Turkey. 2,000 years old, the sides of mountains have dozens of tombs cut into them, making the rock wall look like the side of a castle.

I found this list on msnbc.com, although the article was produced by Reuters and it credits VirtualTourist.com as the true source. Reuters said that it does not "endorse" this list. What does that mean? Do they think there's a better list of burial tourism sites? Is there going to be an election in November to pick the best list?

But, my real question is, who would make their vacation plans revolve around burial sites??

Holy Cow!

Did you see this?????

Josh Hamilton hit a record 28 home runs during last night's Home Run Derby. Each one was more spectacular than the last. But what I loved was the story of the guy doing the pitching.

Clay Council is 71 years old, and first pitched batting practice to Hamilton during Little League. Every pitch was right down the middle, a little high, and fast enough to get out of the ballpark in a hurry.

According to WRAL.com, a radio station out of western North Carolina:

"Three weeks ago, Council got a call from the Texas Ranger with an invitation to pitch to Josh in Monday night's Home Run Derby in Yankee Stadium. "I want you to throw," Hamilton stated.

Council's reply, "I'm available!"

But first he wanted Josh to clear it with the Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball.

"At my age I didn't think the teams or major league would let you. I might have a stroke out there, a heart attack, fall dead," Council joked."

Everything turned out fine. Hamilton set a record with 28 home-runs in the first round. Council didn't die. And, more importantly, Hamilton spent another day sober.

My favorite moment might have been when that little kid asked for Hamilton's autograph in the middle of the first round. What a hoot.

Lessons in Love

In The New York Times, Ben Stein has a piece about the Economics of Love.

One highlight:

"Have a dog or many dogs or cats in your life. These are your anchors to windward and your unfailing source of love. Ben Franklin summed it up well. In times of stress, the three best things to have are an old dog, an old wife and ready money. How right he was."

This Can't Be Real, Can It?

There I am, reading the news, and I find a headline that looks interesting. It reads, "Microwave Ray Gun Controls Crowds with Noise." Not being a fan of excessive noise, I think, this sounds like an interesting concept -- make an environment inhospitable by blasting unpleasant sounds. Okay. This goes along with the time the American government tried to get Manuel Noriega out of his house by blasting rock music.

I start reading.

I immediately become horrified.

The article does not describe a sound outside that makes people unhappy and interested in running away. It's a sound inside their heads. The article begins, "A US company claims it is ready to build a microwave ray gun able to beam sounds directly into people's heads."

It continues, "The device – dubbed MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) – exploits the microwave audio effect, in which short microwave pulses rapidly heat tissue, causing a shockwave inside the skull that can be detected by the ears. A series of pulses can be transmitted to produce recognisable sounds."

Apparently, "The device is aimed for military or crowd-control applications, but may have other uses."

Gee, ya think?

Also, if a microwave pulse can "rapidly heat tissue" and cause a shockwave inside the skull, can't it also cause serious damage? James Lin of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois in Chicago says, "You might see neural damage."

Huh.

This can't be real, can it?

Buzkashi

The national sport of Afghanistan.