Food For Thought

What if the law said you had to go on a diet? You might have to if you live in Japan. The New York Times reports the country has a program where citizens between 40 and 74 years old have their waistlines measured during annual physicals. If they’re too big, they must go on a diet. Japanese health officials hope the program will reduce strokes and diabetes in older citizens. Is this a good idea?

What Happened

In the week since Barack Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and the three days since Hillary Clinton conceded the nomination, there has been a lot of analysis about how she lost it. The New York Times has assembled these opinions which range from lack of money and her voting for the authorization to go into Iraq, to sexism and “a sense of entitlement and hubris.”

The Economist breaks down how Clinton lost the nomination focusing on the problems inside her campaign saying, “given the scale of her advantages a year ago there is no doubt that the Clinton campaign comprehensively blew it.”

For a look at who won in counties across the country, Time has these great maps.

Realizing this questions implies that the nomination was Clinton’s to lose..

A Shiny New Green Car

You already have nutritional information on food boxes, and disclaimers on drug advertisements. What about emission information on auto ads? The Guardian reports that a European Union proposal could force car advertisements there to indicate how much pollution a car creates. The committee, “is believed to be considering a ‘traffic lights’ system whereby red dots or stars would mark out high-emission cars, and green ones low-pollution ones. An alternative may be an alphabetical system of A-G grades for pollution levels.”

Newspaper and magazine publishers and television producers aren’t happy with the plan. What about you?

Changing Plans?

In light of the shooting at the mall in Omaha and the report that airplanes face a high risk of runway collisions at U.S. airports, what will that mean for holiday activity this year?

When Will It End?

New York theater producers and stagehands have reached an agreement ending a 19-day strike. But the television and movie writers (WGA) strike continues. Since there are fewer and fewer new episodes on TV, you have time to answer a question:

Not Working At Work

Lots of people in Britain are getting disciplined by their employers for wasting time online while on the job. Nicole Martin from the Telegraph reports:

“..more than 1,700 people working for 65 public institutions have been dismissed or disciplined for internet or email misuse in the past three years.”

“Of the public employees who were disciplined over three years, 132 were sacked, 41 resigned, 868 got formal warnings and 686 faced other forms of punishment such as a fine or a demotion.”

Which leads us to a question:

Can They Hate?

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas protest funerals of fallen U.S. soldiers with signs that say, “Thank God for dead soldiers,” and “God hates fags.” They believe God is punishing the U.S. for being tolerant about homosexuality.

Hateful and twisted, huh? Well, the haters from Westboro Baptist Church owe $11 million in damages after losing a lawsuit. From Time magazine: “Albert Snyder sued the Topeka, Kan., church after a protest last year at the funeral of his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. He claimed the protests intruded upon what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory of the event.”

No doubt that the “protests” are very disrespectful and un-Christ-like things to do for self-proclaimed Christians, but do they have a right to do it? Or does it go beyond the boundaries of the First Amendment as Albert Snyder claims?

Which leads us to our first poll on The Morning Joe: