Monday Miscellanea

I see the headline School Lunches a National Security Threat and I'm like "Yes! They totally are! Thank god someone's finally acknowledging this!" But then I find out it's just a case of obesity-hysteria rolled together with some generic Homeland Security hysteria. And based on all the aggressive pop-up ads I'm guessing it's sponsored by SlimFast. The thing is, I could run down the 101 ways that school lunches really are a threat to us as a nation. The high fructose corn syrup. The artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. The hydrogenated oil. The excessive packaging that all ends up in the landfill. The BPA in the packaging that leeches into the food when it's reheated. The hormones and antibiotics in the incredibly low-grade meat. All serious threats. If you'd like to see exactly what these threats look like on a daily basis, check out my new favorite: Fed Up With Lunch.

In Somalia, the pirates are now at war with "Islamist rebels" who are known to have links to al Qaeda. I believe this is a case where we cheer for the pirates, so that's kinda fun. It also brings to mind this fabulous tax day comic, which I neglected to post on tax day because I was too busy doing my taxes:

Sadly, Abby Sunderland has been forced to cancel her solo attempt to sail non-stop around the world due to mechanical problems. The thing is, she still kicks ass, so there's that. There's also the fact that there's another 16 y/o girl sailing solo around the world right now (Jessica Watson). This pretty much proves that there are smart, independent teenage girls out there who have higher aspirations than acting slutty on reality TV or having one meaningless, heartbreaking hook-up after another, so perhaps the alarmists among us can breath a little sigh of relief.

And finally, in Arizona racial profiling is now not only perfectly legal, but mandated. So, yay for all those law enforcement officers who enjoy racial profiling!

What did I miss?