No Trans Fats?

Walking through a grocery store (something I admittedly don't do very often), I'm struck by the number of products that proudly proclaim "no trans fats!" on the label. Entire cities have banned trans fats from restaurants. People, speaking with their wallet, have begun to demand these nasty little trans fats things don't enter their body anymore.

Why all the hoopla? Because, according to bantransfats.com,"top nutritionists at Harvard have stated...replacement of partially hydrogenated fat in the U.S. diet ... would prevent approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year". Jinkies. No wonder people took up arms and fought to get them removed.

Wait a sec. 30,000 per year? More people than that die from smoking per month in the USA.

Am I arguing in favor of trans fats? Hell no. Get rid of 'em. But, folks, if we're that concerned about our health, then why in the hell do cigarettes still exist?

We know cigarettes kill people. We know you don't even have to be the one smoking them to die from the smoke. (I don't think you can die from being near someone who eats french fries every day.)

I live in Dallas, where nearly everyone seems to smoke. Ok, maybe the rate isn't that high, but I see a lot of otherwise intelligent-looking people with a cigarette dangling from their mouth. Come on. How dumb do you have to be? If you're under the age of 30, and you smoke, I have to assume your IQ is a good 15 points lower than it might appear. Because you know what you're putting in your mouth, and you knew before you did it that a) it would kill you, and b) everyone older than you who smokes wants to quit and can't because it's so addictive. Yet, you started.

I would love it if colleges everywhere denied admission to smokers. "Yes, your application looks impressive, but you're obviously too dumb for this institution" would ROCK!

I have friends that are smokers, and I'm sure I've pissed them off by now. Sorry, dudes, you're dumb. You're killing yourselves, you're killing those around you, you make your clothes/hair/hands stink, you know it, and you still do it. And, if you're under 30, you knew it when you started. Dumb. Really dumb.

Let's take some of this energy we're putting into removing trans fats from our lives, and put it up against a real killer: smoking. Please.

Somewhat Human

I'm finally feeling somewhat -- but not entirely -- human again, after a bout with some sort of intestinal thing. It knocked me down for a full 2 days, but now I'm feeling decent enough to spend some time in the living room instead of just the bathroom or bedroom. The sad part is I missed out on playing in a tournament in Tulsa that I had already registered for. So, I'm out $230. Dammit.