A World of Stupidity

While I don't consider myself an overly pessimistic person, while watching the news today I was struck by two stories that just show how stupid people can be. Now they aren't quite as dumb as the kids who threw a dead cat in the drive thru window of a McDonald's, or any of those stupid people who rob banks without covering their faces. Instead what made them even worse is that the people in these stories think they are being intelligent. So here they are.
Story number 1 has to do with Boston. Now for full disclosure I should mention that I hate the Boston accent. It drives me crazy and makes me want to send them to a speech pathologist. But anyways, yesterday there was a big bomb scare in Boston. They found these packages all over the city, and when it was initially reported, they thought it was a bomb scare hoax. Well that turned out to be completely wrong and stupid! The things that were thought to be bombs in fact looked like a skinny version of a Lite Bright (I had one as a kid), and had one of the cartoon characters from Adult Swim on it. If you want to see a photo, right now there is one up on CNN.com. Now it could just be me, but if I were a bomb maker I can't imagine I would put a cartoon character on my bombs. Afterall, if they are supposed to blow up, who is going to see it? And if you saw something that looked like a Lite Bright (and I really hope you know what that is. But if not it was a toy for kids back in the 80s), would you really think, "OMG, it's a bomb!!" The LED screens were in fact a unique advertising ploy by Adult Swim to advertise their show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. If you have ever watched Adult Swim, they kind of go for the inside joke, slightly edgy look all the time, so this is hardly surprising from them. But essentially these two guys (who have now been arrested) went around and put up these screens all over the city that had one of the cartoon characters on them. That way if you watched Adult Swim it would be like an inside joke everywhere you went. I obviously do watch Adult Swim (when I have access to the Cartoon Network), and so I instantly recognized the character they were using. Interesting to note that these LED screens were put up in like 9 other major cities including Seattle, Austin, LA, and New York. Yet none of those cities, New York most notably, thought that they were bombs. That's because people must have a little common sense there and realize that an LED screen with a cartoon character...is not a bomb. A little paranoid in Boston are we?
Story number 2 is a little different. Instead of being outright stupidity like Boston showed, it instead involved a misconception that exists in most of America, including with the National Institute of Health. So I can't really blame the people who were at issue in the story, but I wish someone would educate America. For the like 4 or 5 of you who read this, if you didn't already know I am going to enlighten you on what everyone should know. The BMI is crap!!! The BMI is the body mass index and they use it to determine if people are overweight and obese, and it involves a ratio between your height and your weight. The story was about school districts that are now sending letters home to parents if their child's BMI indicates they are overweight or obese or in danger of it. Well first off, the little girl I saw on the story didnt look the least bit like she was going to be overweight anytime soon. And second, the BMI is a horribly inaccurate and false way of measuring. We use it because its easy, but it is incredibly misleading. That's because it takes into account only height and weight. The problem is that all weight isn't the same. Especially since muscle weighs more than fat, and your weight varies throughout the day based upon how much water you retain, among other things. As someone who lifts weights, I will never own a scale because they are fairly stupid for me. Because when I want to lose fat, but gain muscle, the net effect will be that I am going to gain weight. But a scale can't tell me whether that pound I gained was muscle or fat, so it doesn't really help. Getting your body fat percentage is a much better method than the BMI, although it is not without its flaws either. I consider it telling that my BMI says that I am overweight. But I have 10% body fat, which if you don't know is very low for a man. I almost have a 6 pack, something Im very excited about. And I am not by any means super buff, although I am working on it, so I am not one of those people out on the fringe that throws off the stats. The news story dismayed me because the former Arkansas governor, who is now running for president, was speaking in favor of states passing laws requiring them to do BMIs of their students. With all the technology we have today, I think we can find a better and more accurate way to measure the health of an individual. While it may take a little longer, even doing a body fat measurement would be a better option. Death to the BMI!!!! (please don't confuse this with the airline. I am not a terrorist)