dianec42

http://www.kansas.com/news/updates/story/533768.html
Man successfully sues for the right to navigate his Segway inside a mall."This is about enforcing a civil right."

So there seems to be some sort of "obesity epidemic" going on, or so the news outlets shriek at us daily. I've seen recent articles on the Beeb and in the LA Times about how it's not our fault: the nasty-bad corporations and "food manufacturers" and so forth are saturating our environment with cues to overeat. This one in the LA Times (Cue the gluttony) goes so far as to say that we need to change the environment of our daily lives; apparently this means LAWS "regulating portion size, labeling or the places where food can be sold or eaten."

First and foremost: Good god, spare me. If you criminalise bacon, I'm on the next plane to New Zealand and not coming back.

Second, spare a thought to wonder what the hell ever happened to personal responsibility. How on earth they'd ever enforce such BS comes in at a distant third.

Here's the thing I don't get though. Why is everyone so certain that overeating is the problem, as opposed to (say) lack of exercise? Or the shift to manufactured, chemicalized foods? Or the increased stress and reduced sleep of modern life? Or some combination of the above?

There is more going on here than too many trips to Dunkin' Donuts, people. We've had Dunkin' Donuts for 60 years, and we've had ice cream a hell of a lot longer than that. Is this just a media plot to distract us from world events, or is there something sinister happening?

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything

None of this fourteen-dimensional shenanigans needed, either...

edited to add: And come on, how many "respectable" physicists use the phrase "Holy crap" in interviews?

Fark claims, "Town realizes the only thing sillier than drooping pants is an ordinance prohibiting drooping pants" but the actual headline is even funnier:
Town Council drops pants ordinance

With the obligatory references to being the "butt" of jokes, etc.

Couple try to name son '4real'

Apparently "But when the parents tried to file the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules."

Does this mean numbers in the middle of the name are okay? What is the world coming to...

Bible heads for Hong Kong's top shelf - Residents demand X-rating for 'indecent' tome
Sadly, this already seems to have failed. So much for setting a good example.

Tony Blair claims you can't get a good cup of tea in London any more
Sorry Tony, that's just you. They're trying to get rid of you in the most polite way they know how.

Microsoft buys ad firm for $6bn
blah blah blah "The all-cash takeover will allow Microsoft to expand into the highly lucrative internet advertising market, that Google and Yahoo have targeted."
At last, they're no longer even PRETENDING it's about the technology. How... refreshing, I think.

Okay, I don't normally rant about UK politics. I'm not from there, and I'm not even living there at the moment. But FFS, Tony Blair can be so thick sometimes!

From Ananova we get the excellently summed up news item:
Blair: Anti-yob measures no gimmick
"Council leaders in 40 new "Respect" areas have been warned they no longer have any excuse for failing to take action against yobs."

Yeah, RIGHT! Because the whole problem is that the COUNCILS aren't taking action. Of course! Silly us. Why didn't we think of that?! Gosh Mister Blair, we'll get on that right away.

Here's my modest proposal: I think politicians who say such idiotic things should be sentenced to live in the problem areas themselves, for up to 6 months per stupid thing said. This has the potential to make the world a better place in such a variety of ways!

Eating bread 'raises cancer risk'

"People who eat a lot of bread are at greater risk of kidney cancer, Italian research has suggested.

The study of more than 2,300 people also claimed pasta and rice could moderately raise the risk, while vegetables and poultry reduced it. ..."

(Ms Low-Carb Know-it-all sez, So there! Nyeah.)

From a Beeb story Enron's Lay and Skilling guilty:

'A spokesman for President George W Bush said the verdict should be seen as a warning to other corporate criminals.

"The administration has been pretty clear there is no tolerance for corporate corruption," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. '

Yeah. Some jobs *are* best left for the government to do...

Elsewhere on the Beeb: Plan for cloaking device unveiled. Where? I don't see it...!

From Ananova: Hand grenade mistaken for spud

'According to The Sun a company spokesman said: "It is something that we will be looking into with our suppliers. It is obviously not an efficient use of our staff's time if we have to keep evacuating the premises."'

Oh, and they found out how the piano got on top of Ben Nevis. Hurrah for follow-up!