I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks. – Totie Fields
Let me first start by pointing out that I am still fat. But with a little hard work over the past six weeks, I am a little less fat and I am pretty happy with that.
My fitness club offered a six-week total body makeover class that met twice each week and offered training tips and nutritional information and meal suggestions. It was run by a woman named Jessica and, for the moment, I would like thank her for changing so many poor habits and giving me a much-needed nudge to better health. I use the “for the moment” part in the last sentence as a mere qualifier because anyone who knows me knows I have difficulty sustaining things. The proof is in my weight which has fluctuated wildly over the past 10-15 years.
Having made that qualifier, I should also tell you that I view the recent change in my eating and exercise regime as something that needs to be life-changing or I won’t have as much of a life to change later on. A number of my diet and exercise pushes have seemed easier than this one and I suspect the ravages of age and poor health has caught up to me and has made this last go-round, particularly the additional exercise, more difficult. In other words, I view this as something of a last stand to better my health and I really need to stick with it this time.
During the course we were given increasingly more difficult workouts and had our menu diaries reviewed by Jessica. Fortunately Mrs. Laz read Jessica’s menus so I just had to ask her what to eat. If only I could have gotten her to do the workouts for me I would be a lot less sore today.
The offshoot of the program is that I came in second place in my group with 14 pounds lost in the six weeks. My own scale had me losing more like 18 pounds but I’ll take an official 14 pounds in such a short time any day of the week. My body fat dropped from 25.7 percent to 21.3 percent and I lost a total of 16 inches off of various parts of my body (no, not there). The number of inches lost was the most in the group of about 20 participants and included four inches off my waist.
I think I could have lost more during the six weeks because I was in Latin America for one week and took two separate trips to Ohio so I missed five of the 12 meetings. I am continuing on with keeping a good log of my diet and exercising every day (or nearly every day). I am getting great encouragement from my family and from Sladed who even came to cheer me on for my final weigh-in; which was nice, but ultimately his cheering on was going to have no affect on the outcome. However I did get to "out" him while he was there. One thing is clear, it’s great to know so many people are pulling for me.
I would post the before and after photos except the after photo still has a little more of me than I am willing to share – especially if a certain Diane happens to take a look at this blog and learns a startling truth that could cause my chances with her to drop.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Hey!
This is my two-hundreth post. Of course it took much longer to reach my second 100 posts than it did my first 100 posts, but perhaps I can say the quality of the posts have improved (sans this one). Of course none of this matters because of my lack of respect for round numbers. But, for those who like zeros, maybe this is interesting...
Obama's Foreign Policy Naiveté
I took a good deal of grief from two intelligent people over President Bush’s comments about “appeasement” as a dig directed, some think, at Senator Obama’s rather naïve view of meeting with anti-American world leaders with no preconditions. Upon having the time I did my research so I could at least match their intellect with facts. So, to The Boy and Reid-Doh, eat my shorts!
While the Bush comment was likely directed at former President Carter, members of Congress and also Obama, it was Obama who squealed the loudest, likely as an opportunity to showcase his proposed “engagement” dance with any and all despots should he be elected president. By way of predicting the success of his policy, he answered President Bush’s challenge by saying President Kennedy had met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961 without preconditions.
Kennedy did indeed meet with Khrushchev and it directly led to the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban missile crisis, nearly causing World War III with nukes. Even Kennedy admitted he was out of his depth in the meeting and worried that he had performed so weakly that it gave the Soviets carte blanche to make mischief around the world. When the Wall went up a few months later, dividing Berlin for 27 years, Kennedy remarked that a “wall was better than a war.” Not exactly a Lincoln at Gettysburg moment.
At the meeting in Vienna, Khrushchev used the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to show case the growing strength of the Soviet Union for both domestic and international consumption and to serve as a warning to Kennedy that his country could not be intimidated. Khrushchev’s popularity at home soared and many unaligned countries took notice of a weaker appearing America. It ended up being a huge propaganda victory for Khrushchev and demonstrated that giving an equal stage to problematic world leaders is what concerns Bush as it had previous presidents. It should also concern Obama, but he has painted himself in a corner by his pledge that was made on the spur of the moment during a debate.
Kennedy too should have known better to meet with Khrushchev since his Harvard thesis was entitled “Appeasement at Munich,” a reference to Neville Chamberlain’s ill-advised meeting with Hitler and his declaration of “peace in our time.” Kennedy was warned by old diplomatic hands George Keenan and Dean Rusk that it was a mistake to meet with the Soviet leader without pre-arranged accommodations and a clear strategy of what such a summit would achieve. Ignoring the advice, Kennedy believed his personal charm, on a par with Obama, was enough to win the day. But he was sadly mistaken and spent his remaining presidency trying to show latent strength to the Soviets just to break even following the Wall and missile threat in Cuba.
If Obama wants to challenge the approach of all past presidents – except Kennedy – in how to deal with those who wish us ill, he’ll have to rely on more than his charisma. As good as it sounds to solve all of our problems with nice talk, the purpose of such a meeting would be to negotiate in advance and have each party hope to get something out of such a meeting. It’s not as if Bush and other world leaders haven’t offered plenty of incentives to Iran and North Korea to stop their advanced weapons planning. But if Obama traveled to Tehran or Pyongyang offering nothing more than has been offered and expecting nothing more than talk talk, what would be the point? We’d likely just end up giving a huge propaganda victory to our adversaries who, despite Obama’s rhetorical oratory ability, will still be our adversaries when he steps back on Air Force One and heads home.
If Barack Obama wants to follow in Kennedy's footsteps, he should heed the lesson that Kennedy learned in his first year in office: sometimes there is good reason to show strength in a hostile world.
While the Bush comment was likely directed at former President Carter, members of Congress and also Obama, it was Obama who squealed the loudest, likely as an opportunity to showcase his proposed “engagement” dance with any and all despots should he be elected president. By way of predicting the success of his policy, he answered President Bush’s challenge by saying President Kennedy had met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961 without preconditions.
Kennedy did indeed meet with Khrushchev and it directly led to the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban missile crisis, nearly causing World War III with nukes. Even Kennedy admitted he was out of his depth in the meeting and worried that he had performed so weakly that it gave the Soviets carte blanche to make mischief around the world. When the Wall went up a few months later, dividing Berlin for 27 years, Kennedy remarked that a “wall was better than a war.” Not exactly a Lincoln at Gettysburg moment.
At the meeting in Vienna, Khrushchev used the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to show case the growing strength of the Soviet Union for both domestic and international consumption and to serve as a warning to Kennedy that his country could not be intimidated. Khrushchev’s popularity at home soared and many unaligned countries took notice of a weaker appearing America. It ended up being a huge propaganda victory for Khrushchev and demonstrated that giving an equal stage to problematic world leaders is what concerns Bush as it had previous presidents. It should also concern Obama, but he has painted himself in a corner by his pledge that was made on the spur of the moment during a debate.
Kennedy too should have known better to meet with Khrushchev since his Harvard thesis was entitled “Appeasement at Munich,” a reference to Neville Chamberlain’s ill-advised meeting with Hitler and his declaration of “peace in our time.” Kennedy was warned by old diplomatic hands George Keenan and Dean Rusk that it was a mistake to meet with the Soviet leader without pre-arranged accommodations and a clear strategy of what such a summit would achieve. Ignoring the advice, Kennedy believed his personal charm, on a par with Obama, was enough to win the day. But he was sadly mistaken and spent his remaining presidency trying to show latent strength to the Soviets just to break even following the Wall and missile threat in Cuba.
If Obama wants to challenge the approach of all past presidents – except Kennedy – in how to deal with those who wish us ill, he’ll have to rely on more than his charisma. As good as it sounds to solve all of our problems with nice talk, the purpose of such a meeting would be to negotiate in advance and have each party hope to get something out of such a meeting. It’s not as if Bush and other world leaders haven’t offered plenty of incentives to Iran and North Korea to stop their advanced weapons planning. But if Obama traveled to Tehran or Pyongyang offering nothing more than has been offered and expecting nothing more than talk talk, what would be the point? We’d likely just end up giving a huge propaganda victory to our adversaries who, despite Obama’s rhetorical oratory ability, will still be our adversaries when he steps back on Air Force One and heads home.
If Barack Obama wants to follow in Kennedy's footsteps, he should heed the lesson that Kennedy learned in his first year in office: sometimes there is good reason to show strength in a hostile world.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Panama As a Birthday Present
Well, I know there is much to write about, but I thought I would first write about my recent trip to Panama and Colombia. The Boy and I left on my birthday and a number of people seemed to feel badly for me that I had to travel on my birthday. Since I have had a lot of birthdays, my taste in what constitutes a good day is relative. Taking a journey to a new experience – my son with me – was a great birthday present. Besides, I still got all the loot I wanted, including a Body Bugg™ from the Mrs. that has been very helpful in tracking my exercise and giving me important data on my nutrition. It was, in fact, a great birthday, so no need for concern.
I had one other memorable gift from Sladed: an 8 X 10 glossy of Diane Lane! I think it’s a good idea to mention this gift just in case she or her lawyers are monitoring my site.
Panama was completely unexpected. I have been to other cities in Latin America before (far less than the Boy) and was shocked by the difference in how quickly and how impressive Panama City has developed in such a sh
ort time. There are hundreds of buildings taller than 20 stories and hundreds more planned including a 107-story building being built by The Donald.
None of this is to say that there isn’t the kind of poverty in the country that exists in much of Latin America. We were told that within the city, in the shadows of these tall buildings, lives 250,000 Panamanians without water. It must be especially dispiriting to these people that Panama is one of the few countries with hundreds of reservoirs filled with an abundant source of clean drinking water (even we weak-stomached Americans can drink out of the tap) and hydro-electric power. So, like much of Latin America, there is a huge disparity between the Haves and the Have Nots. We mostly met with the Haves.
Taking into consideration our limited sample of Panamanians, we found them to be highly sophisticated and seemingly more European than traditional Latin Americans. Many of the people we met had Ivy League educations and spoke perfect English. We met a number of locals who had more money then we could imagine, including a new friend who just sent his son to Portsmouth Priory School, the same Rhode Island prep school attended by Robert Kennedy. To be able to have a place to stay when visiting his son, our friend purchased a Manhattan penthouse – something I am sure we would all do.
Where does all this money come from? There is huge investment in Panama because of the Panama Canal and a free trade zone that has made Panama so,ething like a Latin American Hong Kong. The Canal takes in transport fees at the rate of $3.5 million per day, about half of which goes to various government officials, so we are told, and the balance to the people of Panama.
The Boy and I watched a ship go through the Canal and it was quite an amazing thing to see. A huge container ship, nearly 1,000 feet long and 40 feet wide, went through the Canal with 24 inches to spare on either side. The ship was lowered through two docks that each dropped 27 feet to take it from the Pacific to the Atlantic. All in all, it’s an incredible feat of engineering and a huge savings in time and money for the tons and tons of products that are delivered all over the world.
We heard one interesting story with some historical significance. We were invited to the shop of a highly-respected French fashion designer. The shop was clearly the place where one of our hosts had her clothing made by well-treated and talented Cuna Indians who stitched together the French woman’s designs. As a quick aside, our host usually wore three very fashionable and unique outfits each day, explaining that the humidity and heat in Panama required her to make the changes to stay fresh. I can only confirm that my undershorts got a bit uncomfortable after too much walking around in the weather.
I was instantly bored in the shop because not only was the designer's taste not of my liking, I liked even less the price tags – blouses, though pretty, for $400. I can’t imagine that Mrs. Laz would have wanted me to spend so lavishly on her. The Boy and I followed our host and the designer into her office so she could show us an old photo of Rosalyn Carter who had purchased items at her shop, no doubt when her husband was signing over the pink slip to the Canal.
She showed other photos of her long career and one in particular struck my curiosity. It was a photo of a pretty young runway model having a wardrobe malfunction. Of course there is a better story to it than just a glimpse of something you can see on HBO any night of the week. The photo was shot at a fashion show at the height of rebellion against military strongman Manuel Noriega. Protests were common at the time and the protestors wore only white, I suspect to make the blood following the beatings show up better.
Because white clothing became synonymous with opposition to Noriega, most intelligent people wore other colors. Now I heard her say that Noriega had outlawed wearing white but the Boy heard it that wearing white clothes only cast suspicion on the wearer and was like a sign asking for a beating. Whatever the reason, the French designer was holding a high-brow fashion show one evening and had flown in a famous French model. While she never told us the background behind her design for the finale that night, we all guessed she was not a huge fan of General Noriega.
I first heard Noriega called “Pineapple Face” on Rush Limbaugh’s show but it is possible he got the name elsewhere. Wherever it started, the nickname stuck to Noriega back home and he was none too pleased, banning the use of his infamous nickname and frowning on anything that looked like a pineapple. Of course at the night of the fashion show the designer had made the finale dress all in white except for a large pineapple in the center of the dress and two pineapple leafs on the shoulders of the dress, looking quite a bit like military garb. The people attending the fashion show were at first holding their breath when they saw the model walking quickly down the runway until she turned and the wardrobe malfunction caused her dress and the attached pineapple to fall. The crowd stood up and cheered the Spanish version of “The Pineapple has fallen, the pineapple has fallen.”
The designer went home that night assuming the police would be at her door the next morning to arrest and beat her. To her surprise the U.S. marines had arrived in Panama at dawn and taken Noriega, without habeas corpus I might add, and Pineapple Face’s regime had come to an inglorious conclusion. So, the designer added with simplicity, she was responsible for the coup.
Speaking of the marines and the coup, the Boy and I were given a great tour of the city by a young man named Sirhan who completely understood his rather unfortunate name when he was hanging out with Americans. Name aside he was a great and knowledgeable guy who shuttled us through the old center of Panama, which had a decidedly different look and feel to the multiple high rises in the distance. Much of the colonial architecture was still prevalent in the old town and the life there seemed more vibrant. On the day the U.S. Marines landed they came ashore in the center of the old town, fought their way to Noriega and left shortly thereafter.
At the time, President Bush’s Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney, was pleased with the ease of the operation and relative small loss of life; a mere 19 Panamanian civilians by his count. Sirhan had a different figure, telling us without trying to cause us discomfort that the number was probably closer to 2,000 Panamanians killed during the liberation and many more from what he explained were chemical weapons fired into the city as the marines came ashore.
Not sure where the truth lies, but I did ask Sirhan why he and most Panamanians like Americans. After all we had not been invited to nab Noriega, we fought hard and with little mercy to keep the Canal and likely had our CIA murder President Torrijos (the father of the current Panamanian president who approaches Americans a bit more warily) over the fact that that he wasn’t as compliant on giving us the Canal back as we wanted. Sirhan told us that Americans were always liked in Panama because we are always happy and we helped them win their independence from Colombia in 1903. So goofy-looking Americans in cheap Panama hats with a dumb smile and the fact Panamanians don’t have a “yeah, what have you done for me lately” attitude keep us welcome down there. And, I guess, that’s a good thing.
Next, I will write about our travels up above the clouds in Bogotá. Assuming something doesn’t strike my fancy first.
I had one other memorable gift from Sladed: an 8 X 10 glossy of Diane Lane! I think it’s a good idea to mention this gift just in case she or her lawyers are monitoring my site.
Panama was completely unexpected. I have been to other cities in Latin America before (far less than the Boy) and was shocked by the difference in how quickly and how impressive Panama City has developed in such a sh
ort time. There are hundreds of buildings taller than 20 stories and hundreds more planned including a 107-story building being built by The Donald.None of this is to say that there isn’t the kind of poverty in the country that exists in much of Latin America. We were told that within the city, in the shadows of these tall buildings, lives 250,000 Panamanians without water. It must be especially dispiriting to these people that Panama is one of the few countries with hundreds of reservoirs filled with an abundant source of clean drinking water (even we weak-stomached Americans can drink out of the tap) and hydro-electric power. So, like much of Latin America, there is a huge disparity between the Haves and the Have Nots. We mostly met with the Haves.
Taking into consideration our limited sample of Panamanians, we found them to be highly sophisticated and seemingly more European than traditional Latin Americans. Many of the people we met had Ivy League educations and spoke perfect English. We met a number of locals who had more money then we could imagine, including a new friend who just sent his son to Portsmouth Priory School, the same Rhode Island prep school attended by Robert Kennedy. To be able to have a place to stay when visiting his son, our friend purchased a Manhattan penthouse – something I am sure we would all do.
Where does all this money come from? There is huge investment in Panama because of the Panama Canal and a free trade zone that has made Panama so,ething like a Latin American Hong Kong. The Canal takes in transport fees at the rate of $3.5 million per day, about half of which goes to various government officials, so we are told, and the balance to the people of Panama.
The Boy and I watched a ship go through the Canal and it was quite an amazing thing to see. A huge container ship, nearly 1,000 feet long and 40 feet wide, went through the Canal with 24 inches to spare on either side. The ship was lowered through two docks that each dropped 27 feet to take it from the Pacific to the Atlantic. All in all, it’s an incredible feat of engineering and a huge savings in time and money for the tons and tons of products that are delivered all over the world.
We heard one interesting story with some historical significance. We were invited to the shop of a highly-respected French fashion designer. The shop was clearly the place where one of our hosts had her clothing made by well-treated and talented Cuna Indians who stitched together the French woman’s designs. As a quick aside, our host usually wore three very fashionable and unique outfits each day, explaining that the humidity and heat in Panama required her to make the changes to stay fresh. I can only confirm that my undershorts got a bit uncomfortable after too much walking around in the weather.
I was instantly bored in the shop because not only was the designer's taste not of my liking, I liked even less the price tags – blouses, though pretty, for $400. I can’t imagine that Mrs. Laz would have wanted me to spend so lavishly on her. The Boy and I followed our host and the designer into her office so she could show us an old photo of Rosalyn Carter who had purchased items at her shop, no doubt when her husband was signing over the pink slip to the Canal.
She showed other photos of her long career and one in particular struck my curiosity. It was a photo of a pretty young runway model having a wardrobe malfunction. Of course there is a better story to it than just a glimpse of something you can see on HBO any night of the week. The photo was shot at a fashion show at the height of rebellion against military strongman Manuel Noriega. Protests were common at the time and the protestors wore only white, I suspect to make the blood following the beatings show up better.
Because white clothing became synonymous with opposition to Noriega, most intelligent people wore other colors. Now I heard her say that Noriega had outlawed wearing white but the Boy heard it that wearing white clothes only cast suspicion on the wearer and was like a sign asking for a beating. Whatever the reason, the French designer was holding a high-brow fashion show one evening and had flown in a famous French model. While she never told us the background behind her design for the finale that night, we all guessed she was not a huge fan of General Noriega.
I first heard Noriega called “Pineapple Face” on Rush Limbaugh’s show but it is possible he got the name elsewhere. Wherever it started, the nickname stuck to Noriega back home and he was none too pleased, banning the use of his infamous nickname and frowning on anything that looked like a pineapple. Of course at the night of the fashion show the designer had made the finale dress all in white except for a large pineapple in the center of the dress and two pineapple leafs on the shoulders of the dress, looking quite a bit like military garb. The people attending the fashion show were at first holding their breath when they saw the model walking quickly down the runway until she turned and the wardrobe malfunction caused her dress and the attached pineapple to fall. The crowd stood up and cheered the Spanish version of “The Pineapple has fallen, the pineapple has fallen.”
The designer went home that night assuming the police would be at her door the next morning to arrest and beat her. To her surprise the U.S. marines had arrived in Panama at dawn and taken Noriega, without habeas corpus I might add, and Pineapple Face’s regime had come to an inglorious conclusion. So, the designer added with simplicity, she was responsible for the coup.
Speaking of the marines and the coup, the Boy and I were given a great tour of the city by a young man named Sirhan who completely understood his rather unfortunate name when he was hanging out with Americans. Name aside he was a great and knowledgeable guy who shuttled us through the old center of Panama, which had a decidedly different look and feel to the multiple high rises in the distance. Much of the colonial architecture was still prevalent in the old town and the life there seemed more vibrant. On the day the U.S. Marines landed they came ashore in the center of the old town, fought their way to Noriega and left shortly thereafter.
At the time, President Bush’s Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney, was pleased with the ease of the operation and relative small loss of life; a mere 19 Panamanian civilians by his count. Sirhan had a different figure, telling us without trying to cause us discomfort that the number was probably closer to 2,000 Panamanians killed during the liberation and many more from what he explained were chemical weapons fired into the city as the marines came ashore.
Not sure where the truth lies, but I did ask Sirhan why he and most Panamanians like Americans. After all we had not been invited to nab Noriega, we fought hard and with little mercy to keep the Canal and likely had our CIA murder President Torrijos (the father of the current Panamanian president who approaches Americans a bit more warily) over the fact that that he wasn’t as compliant on giving us the Canal back as we wanted. Sirhan told us that Americans were always liked in Panama because we are always happy and we helped them win their independence from Colombia in 1903. So goofy-looking Americans in cheap Panama hats with a dumb smile and the fact Panamanians don’t have a “yeah, what have you done for me lately” attitude keep us welcome down there. And, I guess, that’s a good thing.
Next, I will write about our travels up above the clouds in Bogotá. Assuming something doesn’t strike my fancy first.
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