Midriff Crisis

Recently Walt Disney has decided to ban ads for junk food on its television channels, radio stations and websites, hoping to stop kids from eating badly and become obese. The reason?  ... more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. I guess they are not too concerned about the person having obesity-related conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes as much as the costs associated with obesity which is expected to run over $344 billion. Non health-related changes include replacing wall-mounted toilets with floor models to better support obese patients. better buses for heavier riders, more gasoline consumption etc. Its all about money finally. 


May be they should learn a few things from the Japanese. Thanks to an Anti-obesity law passed in 2008, the middle aged Japanese across the nation are pulling up their shirts to have their midriff measured. A male with a waistline of more than 33.5 inches is considered fat. For a female, the limit is 35.4 inches. Those with excessive junk in the trunk are forced to undergo counseling with a doctor. The country simply said, “Heyy buddy, you look fat in that outfit. In fact you look fat in every outfit because ..get this,  YOU ARE FAT.  You need to see someone about that, man.” That's not it. For every grotesquely fat employee, the company gets hit by a fine. 


On one hand, this seems absolutely crazy and sounds like the kind of horrible eugenic policy that Hitler would admire. But when you think about it, it seems that only the truly crazy ones can get this thing done. The goal of all this is to prevent Japan from experiencing an obesity epidemic like other industrialized nations (read US)  Less the overweight people, lower the health care costs. It's time America institutes some of its own bizarre laws to have slimmer people. 


India is not far behind. The overall obesity average is 12%. Punjab is almost in par with America - 30% males and 37% females !!!  States like Bihar, MP and Bengal have the lowest rate 5-6%. Is India doing anything at all?  The answer is No. We did nothing for educating people on Diabetes and today we proudly have the title of being the Diabetic capital of the world. 

Obesity is not a personal problem. Individual choices would help though. But any intelligent government with reasonable long sightedness (not ours definitely) would consider it as a public health problems and tackle it accordingly. I have often wondered why many people are comfortable in their plus sized clothes. Their logic probably is 

"When we lose twenty pounds…we may be losing the best twenty pounds we have!

 We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty.”

- Woody Allen

But Life still goes on

June continues to be the dullest month in the year. Was reading my last year blog 'June the Monday of the month' ( http://sandwichandpeanuts.blogspot.in/2011/06/june-monday-of-months.html). I  could as well repeat the same. Not much has changed. IPL got over. Ramdev is back in the news. He has got his timing right since this is only time when he can make it to the  headlines. Shahrukh is back on chat shows. Jagan is still having problems. And poor Mamata was in  the limelight for having done a jig at Eden garden. Heat continues ... monsoons delayed ... power cuts.. water problem .. petrol hike...gold crossed Rs 30,000 .. rupee falls further...one odd bandh. But life still goes on.


We are living in uncertain times and there seems to be no early end in sight. We create opportunities to be happy. America celebrated June 1 as the National Donut Day!!  Dunkin Donuts gave away one free donut with the purchase of every beverage.  


The rest of the European countries meanwhile have increased the level of security threat in the wake of recent events in Central Europe. I am quoting below the complete article by John Cleese on  ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2012 EUROPE.since it is the funniest I have read in the recent times. 


The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.


The Scots have raised their threat level from "angry Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.


The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."


The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .


The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.


Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.


-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person 


A final thought Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.