Tuesday, September 21, 2004

The Morning's Potpourri You might as well know that I have a little bit of a warped sense of humor - I enjoy The Monte Python Flying Circus, The Three Stooges (does that "date" me?), Mel Brooks movies and other assorted silliness. I also grumble and cuss when I find myself in my car being followed by one of the latest breed of jacked-up mega-S.U.V., with it's  super-bright headlights dazzling and blinding me in my mirrors. So it was with a great deal of satisfied amusement that I saw this last Sunday's Doonesbury cartoon with it's comment on the ongoing urban battle to see who has the biggest, baddest S.U.V. on the block. Now, imagine my delight to come across the following headline this morning: New Pickup Makes Hummer Look Rather Puny . It seems that the ante has been upped in the urban arms race - this nine-foot-tall, eight-foot-wide, 21-and-a-half-foot long, seven-mile-per-gallon diesel behemoth is supposedly being marketed to "image-conscious contractors, roofers, landscapers and other small-business owners who ... also want to draw attention to themselves" - but whaddaya bet it won't be very long before these things start showing up everywhere that we are seeing all those ho-hum Hummer H2's now... The shopping mall, fancy restaurants, the golf club, anywhere that folks go to "be seen"... And, on a somewhat related note, another headline that should fall into the "well, duh," category: Study Reports Air Worse in Smoky Bars tells us that the air in bars and casinos that allow smoking is worse than the air on busy streets. How do people manage to get these cushy research jobs, telling us things what our good sense and powers of observation have made abundantly clear already? Then again, maybe this one wasn't such a good job, if it meant going into smoke-filled bars... Then, and still tangentially related, this note: U.S. Says Drinking Water on Some Planes Contaminated. It seems that in addition to the recycled air, (which the airlines claim is pure and couldn't possibly lead to your being exposed to whatever is the nasty bug that has the passenger two rows back and three seats over coughing and sneezing and snuffling so much) you now should consider avoiding the water - it is probably just as well that the airlines no longer feed us... Finally, the embarrassment of the media continues: Duped CBS Regrets Airing Disputed Bush Memos  . What does that have to do with anything medical you ask? Just this: it appears that the mainstream media is quite content to promote whatever suits it's current agenda, whether that agenda is political, or medical. Hence, we see glowing reports of the latest "wonder drugs" that are touted as the cure for almost everything (see: "statin drugs"!) and articles containing dire warnings that we must all be vaccinated with the latest and greatest concoction (and veiled threats that we'll be considered "unfit parents" if we don't rush our children in to be subjected too...) and "scientific reports" that "prove" that vitamins are bad for you or that high-carb, low-fat diets are good for you... all these articles and reports based upon information received from groups and organizations with "an axe to grind" - an agenda to promote. The old "caveat emptor" applies more than ever when reading the news... Whether you like Bush, or Kerry, or Nader, or none-of-those-scoundrels, it is sad when the news media can allow itself to be led on in this way. And yep, you are right, we have "an agenda" here at the Wellness Club - it's your good health. We will keep pushing and promoting your good health every way we can. And that's just good business for us! Cheers, Nurse mark New Pickup Makes Hummer Look Rather Puny Doonesbury Duped CBS Regrets Airing Disputed Bush Memos U.S. Says Drinking Water on Some Planes Contaminated Study Reports Air Worse in Smoky Bars Wellness Club website: www.DrMyattsWellnessClub.com 9:46:21 AM

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