May 2006

05.31.2006 Comment...
A Quiet, Normal Life
According to his official website, Pat Robertson, the religious broadcaster and host of The 700 Club, is able to leg press 2,000 pounds! The elderly evangelist attributes his Herculean ability to working with a strength trainer and drinking "Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Protein Shakes". According to the Associated Press, "The posting does not say when the lift occurred, but a Christian Broadcasting Network spokeswoman released photos to The Associated Press that she said showed Robertson lifting 2,000 pounds in 2003, when Robertson was 73. He is now 76."

According to CBN spokeswoman Angell Vasko, "Pat is so healthy. This is something he trained for over an extended period of time. He lives a very healthy, regimented life." One of the photos Vasko released had a digital date stamp of 1994, although she said Robertson performed the leg press in 2003. Vasko said that perhaps the date was not set properly on the camera.

Obviously, Pat Robertson, who was also prominently in the news in August, 2005 when he called for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, has generated some skepticism with his claim. CBS sports columnist Clay Travis said last week, "I would like to accompany Pat on his workout where I could help him stack on the 44 different 45-pound plates he would need to attach to leg press 2,000 pounds. By my calculations, his leg press of 2,000 pounds requires 22 forty-fives and one ten-pounder on each side.

"There is no way on earth Robertson leg presses 2,000 pounds. That would mean a 76-year-old man broke the all-time Florida State University leg press record by 665 pounds over Dan Kendra. 665 pounds. Further, when he set the record, they had to modify the leg press machine to fit 1,335 pounds of weight. Plus, Kendra's capillaries in his eyes burst. Burst. Where in the world did Robertson even find a machine that could hold 2,000 pounds at one time?"

Anyway, here are some pictures of Pat Robertson being a truly incredible eagle and leg pressing a full ton:

05.22.2006 Comment...
Lucy's Hips Don't Lie

05.18.2006 Comment...
For Better Or For Worse
As you may know, I have a big problem with comics. The nature of this problem lies in that they are seldom, if ever, actually comical. This is especially true since the only comics that I ever really liked ("The Far Side" and "Calvin and Hobbes") have been retired. Some strips are funny, and some are sometimes funny, but overall I think the "Marmaduke", "Family Circus", "Ziggy", "For Better Or For Worse", and "Mary Worth" landscape just sucks. So, I have a new hobby of changing the words in their speech bubbles so that I can enjoy them...

05.05.2006 Comment...
Young Americans
War is no longer God's way of teaching Americans geography. According to a poll conducted for the National Geographic Society of hundreds of people aged 18 to 24, young Americans cannot find many locations prominently featured in the news. Many also showed little interest in critical geographic knowledge and relationships about global politics, economics, and language.

The survey follows a similar National Geographic poll in 2002 in which Americans scored second to last in overall geographic knowledge, behind Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden. The results raised fresh questions about prospects for young Americans to prosper and be secure in a shrinking world, National Geographic officials said. And they underscored the challenges facing the United States if its citizens do not understand the forces shaping global activity, such as trade, natural disasters and armed conflict. Among the findings:

• One-third of respondents couldn't pinpoint Louisiana on a map and half were unable to locate Mississippi.
  
  
• Fewer than three in 10 think it's important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent think speaking another language is a necessary skill.
  
  
• Nearly two-thirds of young adults surveyed cannot find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, even after three years of war and more than 2,400 U.S. deaths.
  
  
• While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
  
  
• Two-thirds didn't know that an earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
  
  
• Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for their entire lives but 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
  
  
• Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
  
  
• Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world.
  
  
• Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.
  
  
• 71 percent surveyed do not know that the United States is the world's largest exporter of goods and services.
  
  
• One third of respondents had no understanding of map features and could not use one to navigate.