Because the world needs more couch potatoes…

I have to say, I think this is a brilliant invention. Particularly for people like me who do really like to exercise, but don’t like the pain and suffering of getting into shape. It’s also wonderful for people with diabetes, who need exercise, but often haven’t been exercising their whole lives, thus making it significantly more difficult for them to ever get healthy.

Unfortunately, not everyone has such pure intentions as the diabetics and I. I would rant against the psychotic athletes who want to dope up, but, really, I’m starting to think Matthew Goode had the right idea. No, the real issue here is that while I am out there suffering through cramps and lack of breath while trying to whip my ass into shape, millions of people can just take these pills and just keep watching Days of Our Lives and playing XBox, and we’ll all be in equally good shape. I feel so cheated.

[ed - Some interesting counterpoints to the NYTimes article can be found here and here]

Know Your Status

The new HIV study by the CDC saddens me. Apparently the HIV rate in the US is 40% higher than was estimated.

Practice safe sex, people. And know your status. A test takes less than 20 minutes and only needs a pinprick of blood (OraQuick tests only require a mouth swab, but sometimes they give false-positives, so it’s best to use a pinprick with the test). And many clinics will perform the test for free. Yes, it’s a scary 20 minutes, even if you are 99.99% sure you don’t have HIV. Take a friend to get tested with you, it helps, trust me. But you need to know. And once again, practice safe sex!

And if you really want to be a considerate sexual partner, have an entire sexual health test done. Some STD/Is don’t show outward symptoms for years.

Again, SAFE SEX.  It keeps us all happy and healthy.

Counterterrorism: Duh!

I have a very nerdy family.  Yesterday my brother sent me an email with a link to Wired’s defense blog (what?  I said we were nerdy.).  And he had the courtesy to basically write this entry for me:

“Seriously?!  Somebody finally figured out how to properly “win” in a counterterrorism scenario.  What’s scary is that they actually had to research and study this data – it’s common knowledge for anyone who looks at political/military history that military might cannot, and has not, been an effective tool in destroying terrorist organizations!”

Um, yeah.  The RAND Corporation is generally acknowledged to be the very first ‘think tank’.  As such, I would expect more from them.  Having read the research brief for this study, I can say that I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know just by being a history nerd.  I mean, I did go to the “Future Dictators of the World School” as Willa likes to call it, but I knew this crap going into college. My favorite line is the opening one: