Thursday, December 11, 2008

BS about the BCS

There are plenty of criticisms you can level at the Bowl Championship Series. One thing is for sure though: the BCS and any flaws it has are NOT the business of this clown.

Saying the BCS “consistently misfires,” Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, plans to introduce legislation Wednesday that would force college football to adopt a playoff system to determine the national champion.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

No Trans Fats Mean We Eat More Calories?

John Tierney has found that, despite increased attention to nutrition, Americans are still over eating partly due to what he calls the "health halo." He and a colleague conducted an experiment where people were shown a picture of a meal (Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad and a 20 ounce Pepsi if you're curious) and asked to estimate the calories. On average, the number of calories were overestimated. Another group of people were shown the same meal and two crackers labeled "Trans Fat Free." This meal had more calories than the original meal, but this group underestimated the calories in this meal due to the "Trans Fat Free" label.

So in effect, Americans are fooled into thinking anything that has "Fat Free" on it is healthier and therefore consume more calories! It is the classic case of "Coke Classic has too many calories; I'll have a Diet Coke. Oh yeah, and a brownie!"