Yesterday the Pennsylvania State Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to ban smoking in almost all public places and most work site throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Governor Rendell is expected to soon sign the bill that will go into effect 90 days later.
I live not far from Pennsylvania and had the pleasure of visiting it not too long ago. Having lived in areas where smoking has been banned for quite a while I was shocked to go into a restaurant that allowed smoking. It was like a little bit of nostalgia from a time now past - remember the stench of old smoke, the smoke in your face while you’re trying to eat? It sounds terrible, and indeed it is terrible but having grown up in a smoking household I’m sure that second hand smoke still holds some charm for me.
Now many people believe that there will be negative effects on businesses once the ban goes into effect, and for a while there will be interviews with business owners complaining of decreases in revenue - but overwhelmingly other states have shown that people soon get used to the smoking ban and go on with life as usual. Read the rest of this entry »
Edgar S. Cahn is a leader in the “slow movement” campaign that urges people to slow down for the sake of our health and well being. The Slow Movement is comprised of activists promoting the idea of intentional laziness.
Edgar Cahn created TimeBanks USA, a non profit group that treats time as money in a modern day barter system. For example one member may buy groceries for a stranger in exchange for someone else walking their dog.
I’m all for slowing down. I want to enjoy my life and prefer to keep things as simple as possible. There’s just one problem with the idea of an actual “Slow Movement”, well there’s actually more than one problem but I’ll stick to one right now, trying to coordinate with someone to walk my dog while I do their grocery shopping is not really keeping things simple. Read the rest of this entry »
Kettlenetics Slim and Tone Program was developed by Michelle Khai and looks like another ridiculous contender in the already crowded ‘new workout’ infomercial category.
I love the way an already fit individual can come up with some ridiculous workout and claim that if you follow along you too can look as good as them.
The problem is that often times the best workouts are ridiculous sounding or looking and seem to go against traditional exercise wisdom. So because some ridiculous routines actually work it opens the door to every hard body with some spunk, money, and marketing skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Rachael Ray Making a Political Statement?
It seems that there are a lot of people confused with Dunkin’ Donuts decision to yank an ad featuring Rachel Ray wearing what ‘appears’ to be a kaffiyeh. Dunkin’ Donuts explained that in the ad Rachel Ray is wearing a black and white scarf with a paisley design. It seems to me that what it appears to be, is exactly what it looks like - a kaffiyeh.
Sporting a traditional Arab head scarf as a fashion statement is ordinary and acceptable in some parts of our country - but I would guess for the majority of Americans it would seem out of place if not outright distasteful.
I know personally I don’t like the images that scarf conjures up. It doesn’t say hip and urban to me; more like insensitive, arrogant, and misinformed. I hate that actually know what I’m talking about here. I like Rachel Ray but whenever I see that type of political statement disguised as a fashion choice I feel insulted and put off. Read the rest of this entry »
