Moral Conflicts in the Party of Family and Moral Values

I know I've taken a recent hiatus from blogging, mostly due to getting complacent after losing internet in my house for over a week. But I feel like recent events deserve some more attention. Not to mention, is there a better way to spend the last couple of minutes of my internship writing a post that no one will read?

In less than two weeks, John Ensign, a G.O.P. senator, and Mark Sanford, a G.O.P republican, have admitted to committing adultery. Has Social Conservatism hit rock bottom, and if so, what does that mean for a political party that has largely tied its successes to that very idea? Infidelity transcends the divides of political parties but Republicans should expect more criticism because they portray themselves as the party protecting family values and marriage.

Lucky for Mr. Sanford, the death of Michael Jackson has taken up all the space of every major network and with the recess of Congress for July 4th next weekend, will the recent affairs lose the limelight that they should be getting?

The Asian Fro?

I was looking up some hair conditioners this morning as I woke up at 6 in the morning and I had nothing better to do. While reading some posts in a forum I came across this little gold mine. Apparently the "Afro Perm" (please click on this link as it brings you to a salon that performs this treatment and shows a lot a lot of pictures of Asians with goofy-ass afros, the other hair styles are good too) is a popular hair style among Asian people in which Asian men and women chemically process their hair so that they can have a hair texture similar to those with curly, kinky, nappy hair, generally those of African descent.

This blog post I found shows a bunch of pictures of men and women with their new hair and there are a lot of comments, particularly on the huge presence of Chinese and Taiwanese people in the Caribbean (something I discovered when my dad came back with Chinese take out on a trip to Jamaica). Here is a post on a forum where African Americans discuss this phenomenon.

I won't lie. I got excited when I read this thinking, "I won't be the only one in China with a fro." But apparently while the "Afro Perm" is hugely popular in Japan and Korea, this is one disease that has not spread to China. So I guess I'll just have a lot of Chinese people putting their hands into my hair asking me "how do you get your hair like this?" while all the Japanese and Korean exchange students saying "well I can make my hair do that too..." What is this world coming to?

Asian Poses

One of my friends found this website that outlines the most definitive of the Asian poses. (still too lazy to make a real post.)

The Internet Crisis Ends

I have internet again. But I'm too lazy to do a real post. Here are some links I've been perusing for the last hour if any of you are interested or just bored.

Adam Lambert is Gay (?)

Luis Castillo, the "Amazin' Disgrace" - Dropped Ball Loses the Game

A Study on The Perfect Running Pace for Men and Women

Common Myths about the Female Body

Top-10 Sex Statistics

Fittest Cities in America (D.C. is #1! Twin Cities are #2!)

Different Brain Types Determine How Social You Are

Oh and apparently 1 in 5 Americans admitted to peeing in a swimming pool. Have a nice summer.

Internet Crisis Continues

Hey all, I know it's been a while since my last post. While the Recession is rearing it's ugly head all over the place (look at the unemployment numbers for May) we're experiencing the Great Depression in my household. OK, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic but if you had NO INTERNET for a week I think you would be pretty upset as well. So to all my faithful readers (I know there are a couple out there), just hold tight. I'll be sure to do a blog post every time I'm at work, Dunkin Donuts or Atlanta Bread Company as those are the only places right now that I can get internet access for free.

In other news, I've started running again. Sophomore year of high school I got really into running with my friend, Fan, but after a change of priorities I never got to build on what I had started. Currently, I've been doing 2-3 miles a day, 3 days a week. This week I'm planning on up-ing that number to 4 days a week and hopefully be doing 5-6 runs by the end of the month and maybe doing a longer run, 4+ miles, and some interval training (something I enjoyed from conditioning in other sports) once a week. My summer has been pretty boring rather unstimulating, so rather than sulk I figured I would take up running as a way to stay in shape and destress a little bit. I'm hoping to find a race to do toward the end of the summer (preferably a 5K but I'd be up to a longer distance), just so I could feel more like I'm working toward something tangible. But even more than that I think it's just another thing in my life that I can feel in control about as I try to figure everything else out.

BTW: It's 10:05 AM and I'm still the only one in the office...

20 Years Ago Today...

Democracy and Communism at a crossroads in the People's Republic

Pictures in Slate Magazine from the Tiananmen Square Protest and Massacre

Overview of the Tiananmen Square Protests

China's Growing Cage: The Legacy of Tiananmen

Thoughts on the First Week of June, Twenty Years Ago...

What Freedom in a Chinese City Looks Like...

A 6/4 Reader

It's National Running Day...and what?

Today, June 3, 2009, is National Running Day. So what does that mean to you? It means that the second you finish reading this post you should get outside and get the exercise your body is craving (yes, your body is craving exercise and it is wrong to deny it).

The goal of this joyous, and sweaty, occasion is to encourage people to give up a rather sedentary lifestyle that characterizes the lives of most Americans and promote running as a healthy, easy and accessible form of exercise.
Here are the seven reasons to run according to the National Running Day website.

Because of changes in diet and lifestyle, Americans are increasingly at risk for diseases that can significantly diminish the quality, productivity, and length of their lives. The time to act is now.

1. Nationwide, the annual medical expense for juvenile obesity is more than $127 million annually.

2. Health-care expenses and productivity losses related to obesity problems cost Americans more than $100 billion annually.

3. Currently, obesity-related illnesses cause some 300,000 deaths a year. Inactivity and poor diet will soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

4. Overweight youth ages 10 to 15 have an 80% chance of becoming obese adults by age 25.

5. Only one in four kids gets at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Kids and teens obesity rates have doubled in the past 20 years.

6. According to the American Sports Data 2007 Superstudy of Sports Participation, 39.5 million people in the United States ran or jogged at least once, and 11.7 million ran more than 100 days/year.

7. In 2008, according to Running USA, there were 9.2 million finishers in road races (ranging in distance from the 5K to the Marathon), a 4 percent increase from the 8.8 million finishers in 2007.

It's not necessary to register at the website or join any running clubs for a run today. It might even be better if you go out on your own and try out running. Even if you can't go out and run for 30 minutes straight, try breaking up the run by walking for a minute or two then running anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes, depending on your level of fitness. The point is to motivate people to start running and initiate an active and healthier lifestyle.

By the way, if anyone wants to run a 5K in August, I believe Jonathan Jacobs would be interested in throwing goo on us at the halfway point. Any takers?

Obama's Challenge for Us All

While doing my research on US, UK, Nigerian and Jamaican trade mark processes and conventions I stumbled across The President's Challenge website. I'm sure you all remember the presidential fitness tests that were given to us in physical education classes in grade school. Well it looks like the Obama adminstration has remixed that and created the Presidential Challenge, a way to promote activity in the daily lives of Americans. The National President's Challenge began on May 1st and continues until July 24 and I think it is a great way to provide some motivation for people who are looking to begin a healthier lifestyle by providing support at the federal level as well as connecting people at the grassroots with local groups and communities.
According to the standings right now New Jersey is in 49th place (not out of 50 as the list includes D.C., The U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Is. and Guam). So I'll be registering just to ensure that we place ahead of Connecticut, currently in 38th place.