Osama Mc Laden?
Which is more dangerous? Wrong. (according to experts)…
I hate Mondays.
No, seriously. I am almost unfailingly in a bad mood whenever Monday morning rolls around.
So, I would really appreciate it if everyone could just chip in and try to hold stupid news stories until later in the week when I’m less likely to fly off the handle.
That didn’t happen this week. I hadn’t even finished my first cup of coffee when I came across this headline:
Obesity more dangerous than terrorism: experts
Aw, crap. Really?!
So, given the choice between spending an afternoon at Taco Bell or downtown Baghdad, some expert is actually suggesting that Iraq is less dangerous?
I guess I must be confused. It probably wasn’t a bomb that killed 40 people at a rest stop outside of Karbala, it must have been all the trans-fats from the local Burger King Crusader Mullah franchise.
Still that doesn’t stop “experts” like law professor Lawrence Gostin who, according to the article, stated that “global terrorism was a real threat but posed far less risk than obesity, type two diabetes and smoking-related illnesses.”
You think quitting smoking is tough? Take it from the Israelis, trying to quit getting blown up by fanatical suicide bombers is darn near impossible. I don’t even think there’s a patch for that.
It’ll probably take a class action lawsuit to slow down terrorism because even those warning labels they have now on the sides of buses (Quitting Public Transportation Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health) don’t seem to be preventing a whole new generation of Jews (or any number of other people around the world) from getting blown up.
The Oxford Health Alliance conference, where experts are unable to tell the difference between an IED and bucket of KFC, was co-founded by Oxford University.
It seems to me Oxford used to symbolize academic excellence but apparently the university turned into a community college when no one was looking since they seem to be fine with putting their imprimatur on this kind of drivel.
Stig Pramming, the Oxford group’s executive director said, “It is true that new and re-emerging health threats such as SARS, avian flu, HIV/AIDS, terrorism, bioterrorism and climate change are dramatic and emotive. However, it is preventable chronic disease that will send health systems and economies to the wall.”
If this guy wasn’t wearing a beanie when he made that statement, I’ll eat a double Whopper with cheese.
How do you lump avian flu and terrorism in the same group of “new and re-emerging” health threats? Is there some kind of chicken jihad going on that I don’t know about?
And I guess if your kid goes to school and sneezes on one of his classmates, we should send him to get water-boarded at Guantanamo because, spreading the flu is pretty much just like bombing a train station.
Somebody should also point out to Stig it’s not preventable chronic diseases that are going to “send economies and health systems to the wall,” it’s politicians and “experts” who want to give everyone free coverage that’s going to do that.
Goddammit. Tuesday can’t get here fast enough….
February 25th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
You know what’s even worse than obesity? Old age. Of course, old age doesn’t strike without warning and fly planes into buildings. But still.