Odessa

Now there might be an explanation for why folks go kinky:

An analysis of four studies by Murray Straus, co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, found that children who suffer physical punishment in the form of spanking, hitting or slapping are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior as adults, it is reported by USA Today.

The study, presented Thursday to the American Psychological Association, suggests that spanked children also are more likely to be "physically or verbally coercing" to a sexual partner and engage in masochistic sex, including arousal by spanking, later in life.

Elizabeth Gershoff, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, who reviewed 80 years of spanking research in 2002 in the APA's Psychological Bulletin, said Straus' work appears to be the first to link spanking to sexual problems, USA Today reported.

Gershoff said that even though many children are spanked by their parents, future problems often depend on how the children process the experience and whether they ultimately equate love with physical pain.

Does that mean that we might be limiting our children's bedroom antics if we save the rod and spoil the child?

Two women have complained about treatment they received on Southwest Airlines. Airline staff said they were loud and rude and used vulgar language. However, Nisreen Swedberg and her friend Sarah Williams say the flight attendants "were like older ladies" that were probably "jealous". Oh, I'm fur sure. . . .

While running errands, I stop at a red light. While waiting, I notice the car in front of me has a bumper sticker, it says: "This car is a status symbol, Its a symbol that I am broke." I look at the car, about a late 80's Toyota with the rust expected of a 20+ yr old car and a bumper that is coming on hinged from the sides of the car. Then my eyes nearly complete their journey and I eye the plate. Not your run of the mill plate that you might expect of a broke bloke - no, his license plate says: IMBROKE2. In my state a "vanity" plate costs $43 up front, the $25/yr after that. I don't want to spend $25 on a vanity plate every year and I'm not "broke", and I could come up with some winners.

Just a thought - maybe, just maybe, he might not be so broke if he hadn't spent his last $43 bucks on that license plate. Hmmmm . . .

In Mississippi a law banning restaurants from serving obese people is being proposed:

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2008 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Human Services; Judiciary B

By: Representative Mayhall, Read, Shows
House Bill 282

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FROM SERVING FOOD TO ANY PERSON WHO IS OBESE, BASED ON CRITERIA PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO PREPARE WRITTEN MATERIALS THAT DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN THE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON IS OBESE AND TO PROVIDE THOSE MATERIALS TO THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.

1) What if I am traveling through Mississippi? Do I have to bring snacks to make it from state line to state line? What a way to treat a guest!
2) What if I am getting a salad with a twist of lemon as a dressing? Will that be against the law? I mean, that is diet food and shows I'm trying to change my piggish ways.
3) Are restaurants going to be forced to have a back room with a special knock to get in like a speak easy for their best customers?

Representative Mayhall, shame on you! Try encouraging exercise and proper eating. Maybe you should take a long hard look at your culinary "culture". When I think down home southern cookin', it ain't no steamed broccoli and baked chicken breast without the skin. NO! We are talkin' some fried catfish or bar-b-que, collard greens cooked with ham hocks or salt pork, and maybe some cheese grits or macaroni and cheese. What can we top that off with? A piece of Mississippi mud pie perhaps? Get a grip! Hey, while you're at it and pass the hot sauce . . .

On Fox New's website today there are two articles that show how crazy our western culture and all its parts has become.

A Virgina store manager who was given a summons for obscenity. The Abercrombie & Fitch Posters showed bare chested men with the top of one's buttocks showing and a woman, whose arm covered her breasts. As Abercrombie & Fitch pointed out, there was less flesh showing than you might find on your average plumber or American beach. And it was far less than you might find on a French or Brazilian beach.

A jump across the pond finds us a bunch of Muslim women refusing to roll-up their sleeves. These are not women running errands about town, these are medical professionals refusing to adhere to basic sanitary guidelines. They would rather expose their patients to whatever might get on their sleeves than expose their lower arms.

I've been to the supermarket on the days going up to major holidays and such, but going today was a bit surreal. It was crowded, heck, it is always crowded on Saturday. The make up of the crowd and where they were accumulated was different. The deli was stacked three deep. I felt sorry for the poor girl attempting to stock the case with wings - she may as well have tossed them into the crowd like beads at a Mardi Grads parade. Produce was relatively empty. The jumbo sized packages of meat were going like hot cakes. Then I looked around. Where did these guys come from? These were not your ordinary guys - these were guys I could imagine painting their chests on frosty days in a football stadium. Furthermore, they, not their lady companions, were the ones leading the charge to grab every artery clogging tidbit they could find. These were MEN, damn it, and they were not going to have any part of raw broccoli or cucumber sandwiches. Celery and carrots need only apply if they are going to sit next to wings. Superbowl Sunday is a strange holiday.