'Fast food and diet/low fat' foods are killing us!

‘What a ridiculous statement!’ you say. Well, report after report is coming out about the fast food wave that IS SWEEPING THE WOLRD. Any country that embraces it (for example the Gulf States in the Middle East) rapidly sees the waistlines of its population increasing along with the accompanying issues of heart diseases and Diabetes. The medical bills for the nations so afflicted will increase along with the weight of their people. If you take the time to search out some of the excellent material online you will easily find evidence that we have a huge problem on our hands.

‘That’s OK’, you chortle in disbelief. ‘I shall just buy the non-fat and low fat options.’ Go ahead and watch your weight balloon as you consume the copious amount of sugar hidden in these products. Hell, some of them will even have the ‘Heart Foundation tick on them. We are all being fooled into dieting and consuming products that are killing us. What can we do?

If you are a fat bugger like me, over 60, (or to be more precise—over 40) throw away the diets and the yo yo affect that inevitably happens, and go back to the portion control and various other methods, but in the end, it may be that Bariatric surgery may be the only option. Go look it up and find out about the pros and cons and make your own decision.

Do you know many people who go on diets and manage to keep the weight off? I have seen numerous reports that about only 5-10% of people are ‘lucky’ enough to achieve this. So, stuff ‘dieting.’

‘OK, its lifestyle,’ you say. Well yes it is, but once again, old habits and your own body are fighting against you. Many studies say that increased exercise will not anywhere near alone make much difference. I always found it made me hungrier and you know the rest! Yes, exercise is good for a whole range of reasons, those gym bunnies that spend half their lives in the gym are often lucky enough to have a make-up that suits their approach. For the vast majority of us, it’s the Yo Yo and exclusion that can go along with being fat.

Right, if my little diatribe doesn’t get a few comments, then I will just assume that I am speaking the absolute truth!

The Russian people deserve so much better than the violence their police show!

The BBC showed a chilling report about police violence in Russia. The example of Kazan, a city about 400kls for Moscow, seems to illustrate what is becoming endemic in the new Russia. The world had thought that the bad old days of the USSR were well and truly gone. Not so, if these reports are to be believed.

 I am waiting to see the RT (Russian TV) is free enough to be able to show the same reports. This will be a test to see if ‘freedom of expression’ actually exists in Russia. I have given RT some pretty fine plaudits for some of the reports they have shown, but I am not so sure that they will be able to openly challenge the alleged actions of the police.

I wonder if my diminishing number of Russian readers is able to respond to my fears, or have they too slipped back into the days when people feared that midnight knock on the door, or more likely loud bashing, when people were taken from their homes, never to be seen again.

RT is only too happy to present an alternate or open view of issues in the West or in Palestine, but can they take the same ‘balanced’ view of events in their own country?

The Government showed some spine!

When the Minister for Foreign Affairs announced that New Zealand had supported the vote for Palestinians to achieve ‘Observer Member status,’ I was a little surprised. Usually NZ lines up with the Americans on UN votes. This time, even the Australians, our coussies across the ditch abstained rather than make a positive decision to help the Palestinian people. That says something about where they stand on resolving this issue. I am glad that we ‘thought for ourselves’ and came to the only decision that will move the situation in the Middle-East forward. Unless there is a basis for the two parties to talk then the area is doomed to further death and destruction.

 I am not anti-Israel. I fully support their right to exist as a nation and to be free from missiles and bomb attacks and the constant rhetoric that is thrown at them from hostile extremist governments. By saying that, I include the Hamas organization. They too have to pull back from the violence and continue to work through the UN to achieve their aim of attaining a ‘homeland for their people.’ That will not happen as long as they send their missiles Israel’s way.

Israel is angry about the vote. Yet, while the debate raged (along with the violence) they continued to build illegal housing in the occupied areas of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. That in itself sends a message to the Palestinians that Israel has no intention of giving up any land for the establishment of a new state. Until Israel comes to the table with a willingness to compromise on this issue then the tension will remain, breaking out into all-out war from time to time.

Both people have the right to exists. One must give some land and the other must stop the language of hate and stop the ‘jihadist’ actions that can only ever be the basis for war and yet more death. The USD has the ability to ‘lean on Israel’ in order to bring the two parties to the negotiation table. Other powerful nations need to stop using the area for their own political aspirations and support any move that end the terror suffered by the ordinary people on both sides of the debate.