My friend Kevin Rains does collision repair in Cincinnati. Well, he doesn’t do it, but the guys at his Norwood body shop do. (Center City Collision) And they do a great job!

Notice resemblance to a particular state.

I’ve been remiss in giving a proper shout-out to them. Granted, if you don’t live in Cincy, you probably won’t need them. But if like me you occasionally find yourself in a rough neighborhood such as Liberty Township, then you need to know who to talk to when the local hoodlums have their way with your windshield.

Kevin’s boys (I don’t think they have any female techs) took good care of me, though I did have to spend a few extra hours in the ‘Nati. Unfortunately, no time for goetta. Maybe a future trip.

The windshield repair wasn’t the first time I’d gotten the treatment from CCC. They did a bit of work on the old blue van (some of you might remember that sweet ride). As a big guy I put a little extra strain on car seats. After many years of abuse my van seat couldn’t take anymore and the frame broke. These guys can handle a torch, so they fixed me right up. That van is now long gone, but wherever it might be that seat is firmly secured. I do miss that van.

I strongly encourage Cincy people to use Center City Collision. When it comes to any kind of vehicle work, it’s good to have someone you can trust. For my Indianapolis neighbors, I recommend Langfords Collision Repair. Tell Greg or Steve you heard it from me.

Keep up the good work, Kevin!

It might be fair to say that the results were a bit skewed, though their sample size was enormous (billions of searches), and the presence of Google+ is a bit suspect. Sorry, Facebook. Obviously, many who read this might not have cared (cared enough to search) about any one of these items. Must have been your coworkers.

We often wonder what a future alien race (join me in my presupposition) will think of us when they find artifacts from our civilization (eg a thigh master). This is one of those things. What will they think of us when they pull up our collective browser history?

Again, these were the fastest rising searches in 2011. This is not a list of the most often searched terms. That list would have to include things like weather, porn, poker, flights, etc…. Nevertheless, there are some remarkable things from 2011 missing from this particular list. If you visit the page, you’ll see other collections such as fastest falling and category specific lists of fastest rising searches. They also break it down geographically, so you can see the United States specific lists. Seems I should have been paying more attention. Who is Ryan Dunn?

Fascinating stuff. The numbers tell a story.

FYI: Google Zeitgeist 2010

Image Source: http://www.googlezeitgeist.com/

This shirt was deemed offensive and degrading to young girls.

Thankfully, the Village Voice was on top of things and has prevented the downfall of civilization. They successfully bullied JCP in to removing the item. (see story here)

Does anyone at the Village Voice even shop at J.C. Penny?

Does anyone at the Village Voice object to the Junior Miss Hooker attire available at most clothing stores targeting younger girls?

If the shirt had said, “Too Beefcake To Do Homework So My Sister Does It For Me”, would there have been a similar outcry?

Why not go to the root of the problem and have Justin Beiber removed?

Hopefully, this shirt will become a hot commodity on the “black market.” If my daughter had a brother, I’d buy it for her. Kudos to JCP for this edgy, potentially viral, marketing campaign.

Whitney Johnson had this to say in her post, Go Ahead Take That Break.

“When we do nothing (take a walk, a warm shower, slowly wake up), we defy the “always on” mindset, recognizing that we, like our muscles, become more productive by alternating work with rest. As leaders, we can encourage this healthy rebellion by example. We may think we’re being responsive, even impressive, when we send work-related e-mails at midnight, on the weekend, or vacation, but those who work for us will see us as establishing a norm. If you will take some real down-time without the constant tug of technology or a to-do list absorbing your thoughts, you will give your employees permission to do the same.”

Can you relate to the “constant tug of technology” or a constant pre-occupation with all that needs to get done?

In a past life I had a blog titled The Unnecessary Pastor. I “stole” the title from a book by Eugene Peterson of the same name. (I certainly recommend his books, especially Long Obedience in the Same Direction.) Ever since reading that book I’ve held on to this quote, which seems to go well with Whitney’s HBR post.

Thank you Whitney, Eugene, and Mike.

But not only the system needs to change. Our concept of health and care also needs changing.

Politicians and pundits, for the most part, are not helping. The kind of fundamental change that is needed isn’t going to come from the government, and it isn’t going to come quickly or easily. Until we want to be well, and until we take responsibility for that wellness, and, to some degree, the wellness of others, it ain’t gettin’ any better.

A change in the delivery system, from private to government, isn’t going to improve America’s health. Even a successful attempt at making our current approach to health care available to everyone, will not result in our nation being healthier. Most likely, it will only mean a more complicated, more expensive, and more ineffective healthcare system.

Caveat: I’m not an expert on healthcare, health, medicine, wellness, doctors, politics, economics, or America.

A recent article got me stirred up, though it really didn’t have anything in it that hasn’t been said by someone already. David H. Freedman’s The Triumph of new-Age Medicine (a provocative title) is the featured article in this month’s The Atlantic.

I think what he’s saying, if I understand him, is that we have to want a preventative approach to health care and that our physicians have to be incentivized (and trained) appropriately to deliver it. (the Government can’t do this). Our system is predicated on an infectious disease model (ie treatment after the fact) and not on prevention or wellness. The article’s title refers to the almost equally positive results New Age or homeopathic techniques demonstrate in comparison to standard treatment models (ie drugs and surgery). He’s not attempting to prove whether or not alternative approaches are legitimate, only making an interesting observation about their comparatively successful outcomes.

Anyone can find a study that backs up their position, and quotes taken out of context can imply entirely different meanings than were intended by their author, but I’m sharing and doing anyway. Here are some snippets from the article I found to be quite convincing:

Heart disease, prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases now account for three-quarters of our health-care spending.

America spends vastly more on health as a percentage of gross domestic product than every other country—40 percent more than France, the fourth-biggest payer.

Aside from getting people to stop smoking, the three most effective ways, according to almost any doctor you’d care to speak with, are the promotion of a healthy diet, encouragement of more exercise, and measures to reduce stress.

diet, exercise, and stress reduction can do a better job of preventing, slowing, and even reversing heart disease than most drugs and surgical procedures.

A major 2004 study that followed 30,000 people concluded that lifestyle change could prevent 90 percent or more of all cases of heart disease.

Medicine has long known what gets patients to make the lifestyle changes that appear to be so crucial for lowering the risk of serious disease: lavishing attention on them. That means longer, more frequent visits; more focus on what’s going on in their lives; more effort spent easing anxieties, instilling healthy attitudes, and getting patients to take responsibility for their well-being; and concerted attempts to provide hope. Studies have shown that when a doctor speaks to a patient about quitting smoking or losing weight, the patient is more likely to do it.

“Doctors don’t tell you the drug they’re giving you is barely better than a placebo. They all spin.” [Ted Kaptchuk, a Harvard researcher] To be approved by the FDA, a drug has to do better than a placebo in studies—but most approved drugs do only a little better, and for many drugs the evidence is mixed. A number of studies have indicated, for example, that most antidepressants don’t do better than placebos, but patients filled more than 250 million prescriptions for them in 2010. The vast majority of drugs don’t work in as many as 70 percent of patients, according to an estimate from within the pharmaceutical industry. One recent study concluded that 85 percent of new prescription drugs hitting the market are of little or no benefit to patients.

A medical system that successfully guided patients toward healthier lifestyles would almost certainly see its cash flow diminish dramatically. “Last year, 75 percent of the $2.6 trillion the U.S. spent on health care was for treating chronic diseases that, to a large degree, can be prevented or reversed through lifestyle change,” says Dean Ornish of UCSF. Who (besides patients) has an incentive to make changes that would remove that money from the system?

Clearly, if we all started demanding a model of health care that would help us change our lifestyles, it would take some time before the economics of that demand resulted in a change to the system, but it would come. As long as money and elections drive this conversation, we’re going to keep getting the same thing. And in that case, we probably deserve it.

I’m a cynical guy. I’m aware of this and attempt to keep it in check. But my cynicism got a good tweaking from a short article in Business Week. Seems some pollyannic thinking had seeped in to my social media subconscious.

Celebs, of varying types of celebrity, are getting paid for Tweets. Some of these are ghost Tweets (insert Etrade baby feigned shocked face here), actually written for the celeb by someone else. Is there no shame?

Examples (from the article):

“Want to know how Old Navy makes your butt look scary good? Ask a Kardashian ” ~Khloe Kardashian

“They say boys will be boys, some longer than others. This weekend, see Grown Ups, now playing! Get tix here” ~ Michael Ian Black

“Hey ladies, who might be PMSing like I am, or just hungry dudes, I heard @Arbys you get a free JR Deluxe TODAY!!!” ~ Jenny McCArthy

“these homies know the deal” ~Snoop Dog for Sienna minivans

“looks like I need to invest in a fleet of Sienna minivans” ~Mark Cuban also for Toyota

According to the article, Kim Kardashian collects somewhere in the vicinity of 10K per Tweet. If Khloe gets anywhere near the same fee, she could buy a lifetime supply of Old Navy apparel. Heck, I’d settle for $100.

For some reason I was a little surprised at how blatant and contrived this is, assuming the examples are typical. However, I’m more surprised that I was, at any level, surprised. I let my cynical guard down for a moment. What was I thinking?

I don’t hold it against these people. This sort of sales & marketing is woven in to the fabric of our daily life. If someone buys a pair of Old Navy jeans because they believe Khloe Kardashian thinks it’s its cool, or buys a Sienna minivan because Snoop says so, then more congratulations to those companies. Silly or not, it ain’t breakin’ no laws. (though I am disappointed in Cuban)

The service profiled in this particular article is advertising agency Ad.ly. And in case you were wondering, this is where Punky Brewster ended up.

Because it is some times interesting or funny, I do follow some celebs on Twitter. I will continue to do so (try William Shatner). I am going to increase the level of cynicism and move them all to a special column in Tweetdeck.

I FOUND IT!

Donate a book to the Richmond Book Drive via Amazon and get the album. This is such a fantastic idea. I’ve already donated my book. The process was easy and only took a couple of minutes. You should do it.

If you’re one of those people who haven’t heard of Pomplamoose…tsk, tsk. How does it feel being left out? Do something about it. Go listen.

Image from the school's website.

Driscoll Middle School football team’s trick play has been all the rage on YouTube as of late. Even if you aren’t a YouTube junkie, you’ve probably seen the video clip on TV. (here it is for those who haven’t seen it)

Like most people, I got a good laugh out of it. I’m a fan of the occasional trickeration and gadget play on the sports field. However, my mind has been changed about this one.

On the drive in to work I heard Frank Deford’s (It’s Only A Game) take on the play. He offered a different perspective that caused me some chagrin.

I recommend reading his short post but I’ll summarize for those of you who wouldn’t be caught dead on the NPR website.

Being entertained by the embarrassment of an adult is run-of-the-mill TV fare these days. We can even enjoy when a young bully is made to look weak and foolish, but in this instance it was an adult coach taking advantage of a naive youth football team. He exploited the other team’s ignorance of the finer points of football rules. As Deford illustrates in his article (you should read it), it’s one thing when adult athletes attempt to pull one over on an adult opponent or official. This situation is something different. The Driscoll coach, even though he might be a straight-up guy most of the time, belittled and shamed a bunch of kids. And that shouldn’t be acceptable.

I don’t want to see him removed as the coach. No, I think it would be much better if he would apologize to the other team, to his team, and to the community. It’s an opportunity for him to do some real coaching.

P.S. Can you image if there had been one kid on the opposing team who knew he had the right to hit the quarterback in that situation? There would have been some serious poo hitting the fan (and the coach), if that had happened.
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