![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Apr. 20th, 2005 08:28 pmGo ahead, eat that pie. A few extra pounds aren't going to kill you.
Now that the researchers have done their analysis, Dr. Williamson said, the message, as he sees it, is that perhaps people should take other factors into consideration when deciding whether to worry about the health risks of their weight.
Dr. Williamson, who is overweight, said that "if I had a family history - a father who had a heart attack at 52 or a brother who developed diabetes - I would actively lose weight."
But "if my father died at 94 and my mother at 97 and I had no family history of chronic disease," he said, "maybe I wouldn't be as concerned."
Dr. Barry Glassner, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, had another perspective.
"The take-home message from this study, it seems to me, is unambiguous," Dr. Glassner said. "What is officially deemed overweight these days is actually the optimal weight."
***
So Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner hae written Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Slate has a couple of exerpts from the book about California baby names.
1. A Roshanda By Any Other Name: looks at the effects of 'superblack' names.
Today, more than 40 percent of the black girls born in California in a given year receive a name that not one of the roughly 100,000 baby white girls received that year. Even more remarkably, nearly 30 percent of the black girls are given a name that is unique among every baby, white and black, born that year in California.
2. Trading Up: looks at where names come from - namely, the rich.
There is a clear pattern at play: Once a name catches on among high-income, highly educated parents, it starts working its way down the socioeconomic ladder. Amber, Heather, and Stephanie started out as high-end names. For every high-end baby given those names, however, another five lower-income girls received those names within 10 years.
***
Sin City, randomly -
Interesting that in a film that's been branded misogynist, the only crime of one of the principle villains is the mistreatment of women and that he is the face of both the Mob and (well, one of two faces) of the corruption of the police. Jackie Boy treats women like crap and when he dies, we all feel that he deserves it.
( Read more... )
***
The Amityville Horror, in brief –
Spoiler warning for those who care. I can’t imagine you are, but hey, I respect your desire to remain spoiler-free for one of the dumbest movies OF THE YEAR. ( Read more... )
Now that the researchers have done their analysis, Dr. Williamson said, the message, as he sees it, is that perhaps people should take other factors into consideration when deciding whether to worry about the health risks of their weight.
Dr. Williamson, who is overweight, said that "if I had a family history - a father who had a heart attack at 52 or a brother who developed diabetes - I would actively lose weight."
But "if my father died at 94 and my mother at 97 and I had no family history of chronic disease," he said, "maybe I wouldn't be as concerned."
Dr. Barry Glassner, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, had another perspective.
"The take-home message from this study, it seems to me, is unambiguous," Dr. Glassner said. "What is officially deemed overweight these days is actually the optimal weight."
***
So Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner hae written Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Slate has a couple of exerpts from the book about California baby names.
1. A Roshanda By Any Other Name: looks at the effects of 'superblack' names.
Today, more than 40 percent of the black girls born in California in a given year receive a name that not one of the roughly 100,000 baby white girls received that year. Even more remarkably, nearly 30 percent of the black girls are given a name that is unique among every baby, white and black, born that year in California.
2. Trading Up: looks at where names come from - namely, the rich.
There is a clear pattern at play: Once a name catches on among high-income, highly educated parents, it starts working its way down the socioeconomic ladder. Amber, Heather, and Stephanie started out as high-end names. For every high-end baby given those names, however, another five lower-income girls received those names within 10 years.
***
Sin City, randomly -
Interesting that in a film that's been branded misogynist, the only crime of one of the principle villains is the mistreatment of women and that he is the face of both the Mob and (well, one of two faces) of the corruption of the police. Jackie Boy treats women like crap and when he dies, we all feel that he deserves it.
( Read more... )
***
The Amityville Horror, in brief –
Spoiler warning for those who care. I can’t imagine you are, but hey, I respect your desire to remain spoiler-free for one of the dumbest movies OF THE YEAR. ( Read more... )