a fatter America



From US News and World Report

"There's no doubt about it: Americans are getting heavier and heavier. But new U.S. estimates may still come as a shock -- since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the average American has put on 15 or more additional pounds without getting any taller.

Even 11-year-old kids aren't immune from this weight plague, the study found. Girls are more than seven pounds heavier even though their height is the same. Boys gained an inch in height, but also packed on an additional 13.5 pounds compared to two decades ago.

The new statistics were released Aug. 3 in a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.



In the past 20+ years in the U.S. average body weight has increased by 15 or more pounds. And, according to other credible studies, the average IQ has fallen and the average attention span has decreased by 25%.


That's the new America? Where we are getting fatter and dumber, with the attention span of a goldfish? And that's good, how?

C'mon people, we're better than that. We can DO better than that! Have some pride in yourself - and get your sh-t together!




death penalty for robocalls



I got another unwanted robocall asking if I wanted my carpet cleaned. It was a lengthy message explaining all the wonderful benefits of having my carpet cleaned by said company. AND, if I made an appointment right now they would clean my hallway carpet - FREE. Such a deal. Except that I don't need, or want, my carpet cleaned. And I do not want unwanted robocalls bothering me while I am working on my blog. I pressed "1" and spoke to an appointment/sales person. She introduced herself and was very pleasant. I told her, "My phone number is registered with the Do Not Call Registry, with the federal government in Washington, D.C. Take me off your robocall list." I hung up.

I have been registered with the federal Do Not Call Registry since 2003. I get illegal solicitation phone calls every day. Obviously, the annoying unwanted illegal callers are not paying attention to the Do Not Call Registry or the federal law.

To get their attention, I propose that all illegal callers, robotic and otherwise, and the owners of the illegal calling company, who call phones listed on the Do Not Call Registry, if they are caught and convicted, automatically get the death penalty.

If a state does not have the death penalty, the illegal callers get life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole.

THAT ought to make them stop calling me. And you.

UPDATE: from theverge.com, August 19, 2016
"Apple and Google have joined a coalition of more than 30 tech companies and telecoms focused on combating automated phone calls, according to Reuters. Called the "Robocall Strike Force," the group is led by the Federal Communications Commission, which held its first hearing on the subject today in Washington, DC."

Hmm. I wrote Death Penalty For Robocalls on August 1 and two weeks later Apple and Google join the fight against robocalls. Coincidence? Or do influential people at Apple and Google read my blog?