No liveblog...

Unfortunately, they asked us to turn off all cell phones and blackberries once we got in the hall. I was going to try to do it anyway, but I got a scowling look from one of the coordinators right as the President was about to come on stage. However, Iw as able to grab this quick shot before I turned mine off. The University has also posted a video of the event that you can find a link to at the bottom of this post. It's about an hour long, but I highly recommend it to everyone.

Video of President Carter's Speech

Liveblog from Jimmy Carter Speech Tomorrow

Since I was lucky enough to get one of the 100 tickets to the Jimmy Carter speech tomorrow at AU,  I am going to attempt to liveblog the event. They're not allowing laptops, so I will be doing everything via my iPhone. My apologies in advance if things don't work out, but I'm not going to argue with the Secret Service if they tell me to put my phone away. Wish me luck!

When Americans think of Mexican food, they usually think of Taco Bell. When Mexicans think of Mexican food, they would probably never think of Taco Bell as a choice. But, in a bold move, Taco Bell is attempting to open a restaurant in Mexico.

They will be using the slogan “Es Otra Cosa” or “It’s Something Else.” This slogan epitomizes the strategic plan that Taco Bell is using to market the restaurant. Taco Bell will not be moving into the traditional Mexican food business, but rather into “something else,” its own sort of fast food niche.

The restaurant will offer its regular menu with a touch of American food in the form of ice cream and French fries. They will also change the impression of some of their Mexican food by changing some of the names of items like “taco” to “tostada;” obviously their taco wouldn’t fit in the typical Mexican taco definition.

The company has done a lot of consumer research and they expect that the restaurant will succeed. Taco Bell will be something new and different for Mexicans to consume. Consumers won’t go to the restaurant for Mexican food; they’ll go for the experience.

I think that Taco Bell is going about this campaign in the right way. Clearly they have done their consumer research, and they are wise enough to know that the Mexican population does not want more Mexican food; they want something new and different, and Taco Bell isn’t just Mexican food, “Es Otra Cosa” – It’s something else.

Source: http://consumerist.com/consumer/fast-food/taco-bell-returns-to-mexico-after-15-years-309405.php

Igorance and MRSA - a deadly team

If you watched the news at all in the last week, you will probably have seen the media frenzy resulting from the latest "outbreak" of the danger methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection, more commonly known as MRSA. An entire school district in Virginia is in mourning after a student died after contracting the infection and schools across the country, including my home state of Connecticut, are suddenly reporting cases. What struck me as profoundly upsetting about this crisis is the ignorance of the media regarding MRSA and how it is contracted. To me this incident just shows that a large-scale communications effort must be undertaken by the government to inform the public about contagious diseases and how to prevent their spread.

This crisis could literally be washed away with soap and water. The germs are passed by contact, and while it is tragic that a 17 year old high school student passed away from the disease, his death could have been prevented if there were more information about the problem and how to prevent it. If he had just washed his hands more often or at the right moment, his life could have been saved. Yet he was unaware of the dangers he faced by forgetting to wash his hands or cover a scratch, and it cost him his life. More effort needs to be made to inform students that they need to wash their hands multiple times during the school day.

The most alarming result of his death is that the media seems to be placing blame for the student's death on the school system. While CNN hosted health experts who stressed over and over again the importance of maintaining good hygiene and washing your hands, the broadcasters concentrated on what they considered to be inferior efforts of the school system in Virginia to clean up the schools in the wake of the student's tragic death.

Cleaning the schools was simply an effort to put the minds of the students and their parents to rest. It will not prevent the spread of germs in an environment that is probably one of the most highly contagious imaginable. All the students crammed in together, sharing food and lockers and books, it is a theme park for deadly, contagious diseases like MRSA. And yet instead of making an effort to inform students how to prevent the spread of such diseases that killed their fellow student, they pretend to clean up the environment and give them a false sense of security.

The CDC needs to step in and take control of this issue by creating and implementing communications campaigns that teach students the importance of washing their hands and how diseases spread. Interviews with students aired on CNN show that students in the effected Virginia school district have no idea that it was not the school's fault that their friend died. They want to blame the school to help them cope with their loss, but more than that they have no reason not to blame the school because nobody has told them the truth about MRSA. They need to be informed, before more students fall victim to their own ignorance.

Sources:http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-updated-superbug-1018,0,7903588.story?track=rss
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/18/mrsa.cases/index.html?iref=newssearch
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/10/16/staph.death.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

Chemical Levels and Your Body- What You Don't Know

A recent article from CNN.com discusses a new type of testing that reveals industrial chemicals in humans. One family took part in a cutting-edge study to measure industrial chemicals in their bodies and found the chemical exposure in children was seven times higher than the amount found in adults.

The technology used in this type of testing is only ten years old, and it is a hot topic among environmentalists, who call it “body burden,” and scientists, refer to it as biomonitoring.” Though it may have many names, most Americans have never heard of this testing.

A controversial topic, some suggests that industrial toxins could be leading to more childhood diseases and disorders. Rates of asthma, childhood cancers, birth defects and developmental disorders have increased exponentially, and it cannot be explained by the human genome. What has changed is the level and exposure of chemicals.

Other public advocacy groups disagree saying that trace levels of industrial chemicals in our bodies do not necessarily pose health risks. The fact remains that industrial chemicals have been found in the human body.

The chemicals found in the family tested were shown to cause neurological damage to lab rats. It leaves me to wonder what I can eliminate from my life to reduce my exposure to these chemicals.

An example of one class of chemicals known as phthalates was found in the family tested. These chemicals are plasticizers, the softening agent found in many plastic bottles, kitchenware, toys, medical devices, and personal care products and cosmetics. Phthalates have been associated with reproductive defects, obesity, and early puberty. The list goes on and on. The complicated words spell out even more complex health problems. From the non-stick surface of our frying pans causing liver toxicity to the foam used to stuff our couches causing thyroid damage, most products we use seem to be made up of toxic industrial chemicals.

The problem is that most Americans are unaware that seemingly harmless everyday products can contain these harmful chemicals. The EPA does not require chemical manufacturers to conduct human toxicity studies before approving their chemicals for use in the market. Perhaps this is the next step to make consumer products safer and increase awareness that this problem exists.

source: www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/22/body.burden/index.html

Oprah “The Mega Hub” Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey recently picked "Love in the Time of Cholera," the epic love story by Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as her next book club selection.

The novel by the Colombian-born Garcia Marquez was published in 1985. Set on the Caribbean coast of South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it tells the tale of a woman and two men, and an unrequited love that spans 50 years.

"If you love, this book is the best love story ever," according to Winfrey. With this endorsement, she created a national buzz around the novel. “Lover in the Time of Cholera” is currently # 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers List.

Why do I call Oprah a “mega hub”?

Network hubs are individuals who communicate with more people about a certain product then the average person does. Network hubs are often called influencers or opinion leaders according to author of bestseller “Anatomy of Buzz” Emanuel Rosen.

In this case, Oprah’s show reaches an estimated 48 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone and broadcast internationally in 126 countries. Over time she’s able to create millions of one way links with people who listen to her message via mass media, causing her to be labeled as a mega hub.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/10/05/people.garciamarquez.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

The Audacity of Homophobia

In an attempt to close the gap between himself and Hillary Clinton in South Carolina, Barack Obama has scheduled a 3 day tour with gospel singers to try to gain support among the conservative black Christians in that state.

One of those gospel singers is Pastor Donnie McClurkin, an “ex-gay” preacher who has publicly vowed to battle “the curse of homosexuality.”

The Grammy winning McClurkin is popular among blacks in South Carolina, especially black evangelicals, a demographic largely opposed to gay rights.

In 2004 Bush used McClurkin to tap into the homophobic sentiment to win votes and create anti-gay marriage initiatives in several states. Although black evangelicals still voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, they gave Bush the edge he needed to win the election.

To maneuver ahead of Clinton in the polls, Obama is reaching out to this same demographic.

Liberals, however, are up in arms about Obama’s choice. Obama has built his campaign on being the candidate of change that will challenge Bush and the Republican Party. By taking a page from Bush’s 2004 campaign strategy and pandering to an anti-gay sentiment, Obama is alienating the gay rights lobby--a major Democratic constituency, and the increasing number of Americans that support civil rights for gays.

By micro-targeting in South Carolina, Obama has failed to see the bigger picture and anticipate the potential repercussions of this tour. I am interested to see how Obama tries to justify—or rectify this decision.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/obama-should-repudiate-an_b_69244.html

Photo Source: http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews35_31/index.cfm