Daily Archives: July 14, 2007

Open thread 7/15

July 14, 20071:05 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (72)

Grit and bear Bush

July 14, 20071:04 a.m.

“Americans can’t fire the president right now, so they’re waiting it out. They can tell a pollster how they feel, and they do, and they can tell friends, and they do that, too. They also watch the news conference, and grit their teeth a bit.” –Wall Street Journal contributing editor and former Reagan and Bush I speechwriter Peggy Noonan.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under President Bush | Comments (130)

Chinese execute corrupt bureaucrats

July 14, 20071:02 a.m.

The Chinese don’t mess around when it comes to official corruption. The former head of China’s food and drug safety (in photo) was executed this week after being found guilty of accepting bribes from drug companies to approve ineffective medicines.
China has pledged to toughen oversight of its food and drug products, which have been tainted by reports of lax standards.
A high-profile execution won’t satisfy China’s trading partners, though, that real reform is taking place — the proof is in the product.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Foreign affairs | Comments (22)

Still on kid menus: soda and chips

July 14, 20071:01 a.m.

It’s discouraging but not surprising to hear that the $1 billion or more in federal money spent each year on nutrition education isn’t changing kids’ junky eating habits — that’s according to a recent review of school nutrition programs that found mostly failure.
One major program that gave away fruits and vegetables to fifth-graders ended up with a net increase of kids saying they hated fruits and vegetables. Not good.
The national obesity epidemic is more complicated than school programs alone can address — parents, for example, often undo the nutrition lessons learned at school.
Maybe we should be targeting the parents, not the kids. Philip Zeitler of the Children’s Hospital in Denver says children lose weight when “their families get religion about this and figure out what needs to happen.”
We can’t expect kids to be more virtuous in their eating habits than their parents or society at large.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Health and safety | Comments (30)

Community thread

July 14, 20071:00 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (75)