A call to editors

Just saw this article on the Japanese living so long.  It says, first, that it isn't about the diet, but there's a lot of stress, which would make such long life less likely.

Or maybe it is the diet, but that's unproven.

Then we delve into the diet a little bit (it's a short article), and then we hear that that can't possibly be all of the explanation.

And then there's a whole lot of nothing; kind of a mental "throwing things at the wall".

Of course, they don't even mention one other likely contributor: the fact that all elderly Japanese have access to healthcare.

I really don't know what the answer is; I suspect that both food and healthcare are significant contributors, and I suspect that there's some workplace stress-related contributors.  To whit, there's a lot of emphasis put on showing up for work in Japan, even when sick, but little to no emphasis on getting things done.  There's also mention of how many hours Japanese work, but no recognition that Americans work the most hours in the world.  But this article is just an incoherent mess without any central message.

I'm a little surprised at this...

Just ran across this article about taking a young child to Hooters... And it surprises me, because I've taken my young daughter (actually, mine is two and a half right now) to Hooters twice. Both times with a bunch of friends, which might have mattered. Both times at lunch time on a weekend, which also might. The Hooters we went to was also not centered on the bar, which almost certainly matters. (In fact, I don't think that Hooters (Fairfax, VA) has a bar.)

We did it because some friends have a tradition about going to Hooters on the same day that other friends are getting married. So, once last year and this (in this case, three days ago), we joined them. We were very surprised with how kid-friendly Hooters was. Need a high chair? Check. Kid's menu? Check. Crayons and something to color on? Check. Balloon? Check. Waitresses giving her extra attention? Check. Plastic cups? Check. The first time we went, we were shocked that we were far from the only people bringing kids there.

Really, from the perspective of bringing my daughter, it was great. I mean, Saturday was only my fourth time ever in a Hooters, and the experiences weren't so great as to persuade me to go back regularly, but we had a good time.

Complete Lack of Balance

Two really good pieces about how unbalanced taxes have gotten between the rich and middle class. The first is by Robert Reich, and can be found at Salon. The second is by Joseph Stiglitz, and can be found at Vanity Fair (in one page).

Both are must-reads, if you're concerned about where this nation is heading. The second one is particularly important, I think, as it ties in a couple of factors I hadn't previously considered. In particular, why we can't seem to get out of any of the wars in which we're currently involved.