C Twiggs Run http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/ Keeping up with Christopher Twiggs, Professor of English at Florida State College en Copyright 2010 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:34:42 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Too Fat to Fly Last week, movie maker Kevin Smith was bumped off a Southwest Airlines flight allegedly for being too large. What rights do larger citizens have when it comes to flying? Please! If they can make us take off our shoes to get through security, you know they're not going to let us carry an extra 150lbs onto the plane - even if it is stuck to our thighs.

Excuse me, is this seat taken? Read More Here

@steve_vandergriff submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/too_fat_to_fly.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/too_fat_to_fly.html Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:34:42 -0500 Sea World Killer Much of what draws an audience to a trained animal show is our knowledge that this isn't what the animal is supposed to do. It is as impossible to guarantee good behavior from a trained tiger or whale as it is to guarantee obedience from a dog. Many are better at it than others, but they all still have their own abilities to make decisions, and sometimes the results are tragic.

Whale Kills Trainer Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/sea_world_killer.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/sea_world_killer.html Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:23:40 -0500 No Bo When we talk about extinctions, particularly within our own species, we think of long ago occurrences - the loss of the Aztecs or the Incas, for example. How mush sadder it is to learn that such a loss can happen in our own time.

Ancient Tribe Goes Extinct Read More Here

@TGwynRN submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/no_bo.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/no_bo.html Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:50:15 -0500 Gone too Soon It is impossible, I believe, to say anything about a child's death that doesn't sound ridiculous. I am certain everyone quoted in this article had the best intentions, but "She's had an early graduation" and "He sent for His angel" are comments that, if we really think about them, either praise death as preferable to life or convict God as an evil overlord. Perhaps the best thing to say at a time like this is nothing at all.

Hundreds crown funeral Read More Here

@seniorof2010 submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/gone_too_soon.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/gone_too_soon.html Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:38:35 -0500 I've been Broke, but never Poor Times are definitely tough. I can't pretend to understand what it would be like to go months without work. Unfortunately, many who now find themselves in that situation don't understand either.

The New Poor Read More Here

@mistymorningk submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/ive_been_broke_but_never_poor.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/ive_been_broke_but_never_poor.html Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:31:15 -0500 Does Anybody Remember Getting out of the Chair to Change the Channel? I remember my family's first remote control. It came with our first VCR and was attached with a cord. Yes, that makes me ancient!

Television Will Soon Watch You Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/does_anybody_remember_getting.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/does_anybody_remember_getting.html Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:22:47 -0500 Virtually Ridiculous I am all for social networks. I love Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc., but I don't have the money to buy the real things I want - much less virtual land!

The World's Most Expensive Island - Online Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/virtually_ridiculous.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/virtually_ridiculous.html Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:13:29 -0500 Loser not a Winner In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I'm hooked on The Biggest Loser. Nonetheless, I'll admit the show has its problems. For one, at least twice I've seen participants on the show run marathons, but they never do it the way they should, the safe and smart way. Apparently, though, the problems I notice are just the tip of the iceberg.

The Biggest Loser Has Big Problems Read More Here

@jotrekas submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/loser_not_a_winner.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/loser_not_a_winner.html Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:09:34 -0500 Global Warm . . er, I mean, Climate Change Checking back through the archives of this blog, I find pretty much every winter there's an article worth looking at that makes us all wonder where that global warming thing is supposed to be. Now that some of the research on which the global warming scare is based has been discredited and shown to have been downright made up, the term Climate Change has become more popular.

"Snowmageddon slams mid-Atlantic; utilities race to restore power Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/global_warm_er_i_mean_climate.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/global_warm_er_i_mean_climate.html Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:55:28 -0500 He Gave His lIfe for Tourism Research out today sheds new light on the death of Egypt's most famous boy king.

King Tut Was Disabled, Malarial, and Inbred, DNA ShowsRead More Here

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/he_gave_his_life_for_tourism.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/he_gave_his_life_for_tourism.html Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:10:31 -0500 Autism Link Retracted In a highly unusual move, The Lancet has issued a retraction of the 1998 study that caused mothers around the world much anxiety over whether to vaccinate their children. Parents of autistic children, including celebrities Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, must now look for something else to blame.

Journal Retracts Controversial Study Linking MMR Vaccine, Autism Read More Here

Carrey and McCarthy's indignant response can be found HERE

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/autism_link_retracted.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/autism_link_retracted.html Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:24:16 -0500 feileB dnoyeB deroB My favorite film is L.A. Story. Unlike my favorite color, there's no hesitation when I say that. One of the shots in that film that flies by the first time you see it has Harris K. Telemacher writing on his window: Bored Beyond Belief. Fortunately for our hero, a woman comes into his life to shake things up and make his life exciting again. If she had not, perhaps poor Harris would have died of boredom. It can happen, it seems.

Being bored to death is no joke: Chronic boredom is a killer, study finds Read More Here

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/feileb_dnoyeb_derob.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/feileb_dnoyeb_derob.html Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:10:14 -0500 Arming Taiwan The Obama administration has announced a major agreement to arm Taiwan with 60 Black Hawk helicopters, 114 Patriot missiles, and much more. Why is this news? Well, there's the little matter of China (and Washington!) not recognizing Taiwan as an independent state.

U.S. anounces $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/arming_taiwan.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/arming_taiwan.html Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:30:58 -0500 To Serve Mankind I never used to read labels.

"You can eat anything you want. You'll just run it off!" I hear this all the time, and for a good portion of my adult life I believed it. Then, right before Thanksgiving, it occurred to me to get on a scale. Was I fat? Not by anyone else's standards, but I wasn't running as fast as I wanted to. This is one of those things that happens with age: we slow down. I know that, but just like every other runner around, I'm not quick to accept it, so I looked for a different answer than "you're getting older."

What that scale told me was that I was at least 10lbs over my ideal body weight, which could translate into several minutes in a marathon, the distance I really wanted to focus on over those next six or eight weeks.

Fortunately for me, my wife also chose that time period to get a bit more fit, so together we started counting calories and carbs, and together we have made good progress. In fact, I've gotten to what I think is that ambiguous "ideal" weight. More importantly, I've learned to pay better attention to what goes in my body.

Two resources, I highly recommend are the Lose It! App for the iPhone and iPod Touch and the Eat This, Not That! series of books, which also have an App.

One Bowl = 2 Servings. F.D.A. May Fix That Read More Here

@MandySecrest submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/to_serve_mankind.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/to_serve_mankind.html Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:08:42 -0500 Blue. No, yel . . . Out of the blue, my mother asked me to pick my favorite color. The other day. This isn't something I had given a great deal of thought to as a grown-up, but I quickly said, "green." Green was the color of my room when I was a kid, and those many years ago I certainly thought about favorite colors and other such stuff - whatever other such stuff there was I have clearly forgotten.

"Green?" she asked, clearly surprised for some reason I still can't fathom. After all, it was she who had to paint my room that color, right?

Likewise taken aback, now by her reaction to what I thought was a simple, probably meaningless question, I was forced to think. "Pink," I finally said, giving it some thought. After all, I've dedicated a good portion of my life and energy to training people for 26.2 with Donna, the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer, so my lapse to the green of my childhood now made me feel guilty.

What does this say about me? Does a conscious decision to adopt a favorite color carry the same weight as a childhood attachment? Moreover, why did my mother want to know?

Well, perhaps she had read this article:

Favorite colors test shows CEOs are different; take the test Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

]]> http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/blue_no_yel.html http://blog.fscj.edu/christopher_twiggs/2010/02/blue_no_yel.html Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:54:16 -0500