more interactive BBC stuff

The BBC rocks.

After finding my Olympic Body Double, I poked around their page a little more.

Seems at my current weight, with a BMI (sigh) of 28, I have a lower BMI than 59% (!!) of 30-44 year olds in the US. I am fairly chubby, though not obese even by BMI standards, but I admit I am shocked by this.
Of course, my BMI is HIGHER than 77% of women in the same age bracket internationally, so I think it is safe to say Americans are just fat.
If I were at my goal (hah), I'd have a lower BMI - at 23 -  than 83% of my American peers and 54% internationally. So I guess my goal is pretty average for international weight for my height...


Also, I'm roughly 4,533,454,396th person born/currently living on Earth and 79,171,698,182nd person to have lived since history began.


Random scary BBC factiods:

Battle for resources: It is estimated that your group of the richest countries consumes double the resources used by the rest of the world. The UN estimates that if current population and consumption trends continue, by the 2030s we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us.
Did you know? By mid-century, the world's urban population is likely to be the same size as the global population was in 2004.


Yikes.

2010 Census

I'm a nerd. No big secret. I really enjoy the Census reports, seeing the population change, seeing the predictions as to where the country will go (or rather, what it will be) in 20, 30, even 50 years.  I'm currently doing a little project for my policy class that requires reviewing some Census data. Fun.

Andddd the 2010 Census is coming up!  Be sure to be counted! Its anonymous -- and for those of you of non-heterosexual persuasions/orientations/lifestyles/however you prefer to call it - be especially sure to be counted! The better the count of The Gays equals better chances in the pursuit of equality. And really, all I want is to not pay extra taxes none of my married coworkers pay on their health insurance for their families!

Here's a brief primer on being counted correctly, and the most pertinent info:

Same-sex couples can come out on the census form. If you consider yourself to be married, check the “husband or wife” box. Same-sex couples that consider themselves to be partners should check the “unmarried partner” box. In both cases, couples must also correctly identify their gender to be counted as part of a same-sex couple.

fun in the fake sun

Check out the new skin cancer article...
While I'd love to see the primary research, I'm glad this is making the front page of MSNBC. Since I wasn't one of those kids who was outside ALL the time and certainly didn't suffer numerous blistering sunburns as a child, there's a pretty good chance (besides the luck of genetics) my melanoma is related to the two or three periods of a couple of months in college and during my brief stint in IL (hey, there's not much to do in Peoria when you don't know a soul!) when I used tanning beds regularly.

(sidebar: That is embarrassing to admit. Really embarrassing.)

In a nutshell:

"A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30....Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which cause skin and eye cancer, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research....as use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30, doctors have seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin cancer. In Britain, melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their 20s. Normally, skin cancer rates are highest in people over 75."

I have a suspicious spot on my left shin that's my prime focus for my check up in September. Let's hope it doesn't turn into another 4 inch scar.

google reader

If google ever crashes, I might cry. Scratch that. Will cry.

Between gmail, gchat, picasa, google docs, and now google reader....A lot of my life is on their server, somewhere in the wild internet (where exactly DOES internet mail get hosted anyway? Do I WANT to look this up?). Google reader is amazing though. One glance, and I can see what new news there is, read about Katy's latest adventure, see new recipes. Amazing.

Are you kidding me?

Do people really base their dinner choices on their conception of what their date will think?

"red meat on a date has become such an effective statement of self-acceptance"

"Hamburgers, she added, say you are down-to-earth"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/fashion/09STEAK.html?em&ex=1186804800&en=f269f7a170e39f66&ei=5087%0A

I have never given my order thought beyond a) what do i want and b) will this make a mess and on occassion, c) will this reheat well...

Higher Ed makes GAWKER

History in the making. And a great read for higher ed dorks (And love to the write in vote for those of us who took "Administration of Student Life/Why XXX Thinks Everyone Should Go To A Small, Very Expensive Liberal Arts College").
For extra amusement, check out the original poll.

Also, the TIME article on Obesity and HE would be more interesting if it tied in socioeconomic status. For some reason, I think obesity rates increase as income drops. But, confirming that could blow the article, since we all know college going drops almost exponentially with income.

Ok, I'm done being a nerd for this afternoon.

Addendum:
There's a good discussion on this topic HERE, Thanks Em!!

need a laugh?

or a cry?
I don't have time to discuss this right now, but wow. (Also, some of the imbedded links are amazing...in a very...interesting defination of amazing).
http://crazytalk.typepad.com/bluegrassroots/2007/06/fun_at_the_crea.html

Pledging

your virginity to your father?

Right now the Today show is doing a segment on the Purity Ball. The claim is that its growing out of the "abstinence movement" and is to help reduce the 80% (!?!) of high schoolers who have sex by their 18th birthday. First, I find it pretty hard to believe that 12 yr olds (well, at least the 12 yr olds I grew up with, maybe "things are different now") REALLY understand what a vow of chastity means. Also, its unclear (to me at least) if this is a vow of purity till marriage or till their 18th birthday. And I don't think that this can be good for parent-child communication. What if they ARE "involved" in HS and thinking about sex and then don't feel comfortable talking to mom/dad about it because of this pledge from middle school?? Lastly, I really get the impression that part of this vow is having your father "protect" you till you have a husband to "protect" you. Ugh. What happened to empowerment?

However....My biggest issue....

There's no mention of the sons. The boys these daughters are (or are not) have sex with. Appearently noone cares about their purity.

I hate double standards.

on the road...

Things I've seen while on the road in the past few days:

1) The Toddler Spa. This is disturbing for so many reasons that I don't think its necessary to type out.
2) A lady that got hit by a car. I heard the screech while on 17th and rounded the corner onto Walnut in time to see people rushing to her. By the time I was close enough to see what was going on, it was obvious she was ok. She was sitting on the curb and people were retrieving her shopping bags and shoes (ballet flats) for her. The driver was in tears and calling someone (the insurance or police I'd guess). On a side note, she was not in a crosswalk. Us jaywalkers should probably keep this incident in mind.
3) A taxi driver that let someone (me) unparallel park....seriously, the driver waited for me to pull out of my space, despite that it made him miss the green light. I'm not sure if he was trying to run up the meter, or if Philly cabbies are just that much nicer than NYC cabbies.
4) 6 girls with beehives camping on the grass outside the library. I wish I had a camera with me this morning. I also am rather curious as to why they had beehives, and why they were camping out on Penn's campus (sleeping bags and all, assuming they didn't drag them out there for an 8:40 am study session).
5) The finish line. I finished my second half marathon (the first being in fall 04) on Sunday in 1:59:58, just shy of my two hour goal. Not bad considering that miles 4ish-9 were uphill and I lost about 20 seconds/mile on my pace for that segment. Luckily, what goes up must come down, so 9-12 were pretty nice....then the 1/4 mile uphill to the finish line! A masochist planned that.

tact

The federal government never ceases to amaze me, in both its effectiveness and ability to control the news media. For instance, I doubt this would ever make the news on any American held station, even the more "liberal" ones.

"The letters were sent to more than 5,100 Army officers listed as recently having left the military. But this figure included about 75 officers killed in action and about 200 wounded in action."

How appalling. How horrifying that must be for the families. It angers me that more money is spent on "defense" than education annually, and yet the military cannot even keep track of their personnel well enough to not try to reenlist the dead.

Update: Amusing video, good point. Thanks Val.