baby, it's cold in here.

the center for science in the public interest [cspi] has filed a lawsuit against the coca-cola company [ccc]. cspi states that ccc misled consumers & manipulated them into purchasing vitaminwater under the guise of providing for their health while in reality, ccc was pushing a hfcs-laden beverage on an unsuspecting public. one consumer said -- I was attracted by the prospect of getting extra vitamins. But I had no idea that I was actually getting almost a Coke's worth of sugar and calories. There's no way I would have spent money on that, had I known. apparently, this consumer is illiterate, since all the nutrition information is printed on the freakin' bottle & all people have to do is freakin' read it. jeezumpete, people! have we lost all possible semblance of reality? can we not even take responsibility for determining what we put in our bodies?

speaking of taking responsibility - here in my local town, there is an "english only" proposal before the city council. the proposal states something to the effect that all govt business with some exception for health & emergencies should be conducted in english only. there's a big bruhaha brewing over the proposal b/c the civil rights groups say it's discriminatory, and i agree - to a certain extent. english only does discriminate. the proposal should be english first, and it should allow anyone who has business with the government to conduct their business through a certified independent interpreter paid for by the person needing the interpreting. if you don't understand what the govt is doing or saying, the burden's on you to figure it out. so, i do not agree that all business should be conducted only in english. that's too extreme. but, i do agree that the govt should have the right to decide in what language the govt is going to do business, and that the govt should accommodate, but not have to provide, interpreters. b/c - remember kids... who is the govt? that's right, you & i. so, we should be able to decide in what language we wish to conduct our business, but we should not be so presumptuous & rude as to turn away folks who wish to do business w/ us and have brought an interpreter. presumptuous, rude, and self-destructive - turning away business is just shooting ourselves in the collective foot.

speaking of foots - mine are currently encased in wool socks and fuzzy slippers, and they are still cold. so, today it was like 14º here, and in case you weren't really for-sure, that is cold. wait, let me correct that - 14º is damn cold. yes, it is. went for a run at noontime. wore socks over my gloves and shorts over my tights, and i didn't really care how funky i looked. can you please tell me who broke the temperature?!