Friday, September 19, 2008
Runner's Heights: Prop. 8 Licence to Hate
Cumulative mileage: 205 miles
So, we have some answers about the tingling feet, pins and needles, or numbness in the foot during running. I checked several runner's forums and some of the observations seem to be:
* Tight shoes (solution: wear thinner socks; get a larger shoe-size; loosen the laces; be sure that your heel is right against the heel-cup of your running shoe by kicking a wall with the back of your shoe)
* Tightness in the calves -- this was the case during my last run (Solution: stretch your calves midway through your run; try stretching exercise with emphasis on the muscles around the calves)
* Tightness in the veins/arteries around your ankles (Solution: please talk to a qualified sports therapist or an orthopedist)
There might have been a few other recommended solutions but the bottom line is this. If it happens a lot during your runs, please see a doctor or a specialist. Today, I got some Nike, moisture-wicking, thin socks and I will try these on a run because I am really not keen on buying another pair of running shoes.
In this election year in California, one of the hot potatoes is probably going to be Prop 8. In effect, it is a Same-Sex Marriage Ban and implies that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Once again, it is an effort by religious bigots to decide what the morality and meaning of marriage is. It is not enough that these religious fanatics and sheep are content with following some ancient scripture in deciding what to do with their scripted lives, but they have to define it for others who don't subscribe to their canned-life-out-of-a-holy-book lifestyle. If the Same-Sex-Marriage opponents are so fired up about saving marriage as an institution why don't they use their energies to fuel a California Proposition that makes divorces illegal? For every issue that they raise, the Religious Right conjures up a passage from the scriptures to convince the people that they in morally right. Not too long ago, many sections of the Christian church justified and condoned slavery by conjuring up a relevance between the institution of slavery and biblical morality. Today, they are doing the same, using morality to deny the joy of two same-sex couples who want nothing more than to enjoy the benefits of marital bliss, a right and a choice that should be guaranteed to all citizens of a certain age who wish to enter into matrimony. Talk about dogs in the manger!
To see what happens when theocrats decide on matters of state, just look to Iran and Saudi Arabia. The founding fathers of this nation were right in separating the church from the state. Religious ideologies and dogma have no place in social governance of an egalitarian society composed of believers and non-believers, straight and gay.
Say no to Prop 8!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Runner's Heights: A Moose in the Crosshairs is Worth Two in the Bush
Cumulative Mileage: 202 miles
I am still trying to find out whether it is more effective to take electrolytes (Gatorade, Zym, etc.) before my run or after it. I am not sure that I will ever find out the answer unless I am in a laboratory with a hundred sensors strapped to my body as I try to keep my 10-minute-a-mile pace. I have discovered that, after a run, I crave the sugar and the tangy taste that over-the-counter electrolytes. But like I said, I am never sure whether I need the magnesium, potassium, and sodium before, or after, the run. My guess is that I might need it before the run to minimize cramps and stitches but then, I am only guessing.
So, how about that? It's been some weeks that a bible-thumping, backwoods politician who calls herself a "feminist" has charmed the U.S. media. Sarah Palin is such a study in contrasts that the media cannot stay away from her from the time being. She is pro-life and yet she engages in hunting and guns, which cause loss of life. She professes that she is a feminist and yet she is against a woman's right to choose. She claims to be distant from Washington outsider and yet she parrots the same right-wing, Republican Christian hard line that Creationism should be taught in schools. She exhorts the armed forces to fight an illegal war that has caused hundreds of human casualties because she is yet to realize that there was no established connection between 9/11 and Iraq. All this makes her sound like an ignorant bigot and a religious zealot, quiet like the religious clerics that resent and oppose the egalitarian society of the U.S. In times like these, when the U.S. is hit by a serious economic and political downturn, we need a pragmatic leaders, not religious ideologues and fanatics like Sarah Palin. She and her supporters need to understand that the separation of church and state is entombed in the U.S. Constitution and the people of America will resist her vision of turning America into and evangelical Bible belt.
I tried these potato chips the other day and they were the blandest potato chips that I have ever had. Baked potato chips are a compromise in taste but this item is freeze-dried. It may be low in calories but it is rock-bottom in taste. In fact, it doesn't taste like a potato chip at all. The freeze-drying must have sucked out the last drop of flavour from these potatoes. But try it yourself...and here's a picture of it. They call it new and revolutionary -- I think it is a new low-point in taste!
I am still trying to find out whether it is more effective to take electrolytes (Gatorade, Zym, etc.) before my run or after it. I am not sure that I will ever find out the answer unless I am in a laboratory with a hundred sensors strapped to my body as I try to keep my 10-minute-a-mile pace. I have discovered that, after a run, I crave the sugar and the tangy taste that over-the-counter electrolytes. But like I said, I am never sure whether I need the magnesium, potassium, and sodium before, or after, the run. My guess is that I might need it before the run to minimize cramps and stitches but then, I am only guessing.
So, how about that? It's been some weeks that a bible-thumping, backwoods politician who calls herself a "feminist" has charmed the U.S. media. Sarah Palin is such a study in contrasts that the media cannot stay away from her from the time being. She is pro-life and yet she engages in hunting and guns, which cause loss of life. She professes that she is a feminist and yet she is against a woman's right to choose. She claims to be distant from Washington outsider and yet she parrots the same right-wing, Republican Christian hard line that Creationism should be taught in schools. She exhorts the armed forces to fight an illegal war that has caused hundreds of human casualties because she is yet to realize that there was no established connection between 9/11 and Iraq. All this makes her sound like an ignorant bigot and a religious zealot, quiet like the religious clerics that resent and oppose the egalitarian society of the U.S. In times like these, when the U.S. is hit by a serious economic and political downturn, we need a pragmatic leaders, not religious ideologues and fanatics like Sarah Palin. She and her supporters need to understand that the separation of church and state is entombed in the U.S. Constitution and the people of America will resist her vision of turning America into and evangelical Bible belt.
I tried these potato chips the other day and they were the blandest potato chips that I have ever had. Baked potato chips are a compromise in taste but this item is freeze-dried. It may be low in calories but it is rock-bottom in taste. In fact, it doesn't taste like a potato chip at all. The freeze-drying must have sucked out the last drop of flavour from these potatoes. But try it yourself...and here's a picture of it. They call it new and revolutionary -- I think it is a new low-point in taste!
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