Ya Look Skinny, But Your Still Fat

A recent study shows that size really doesn't matter. Ever see one of those fat people on the streets and think, "There's a heart attack waiting to happen?" Well, chances are, your wrong. Actually to be exact, 51 percent of the time your wrong. The study shows that 51 percent of fat people actually have normal cholestorol, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc. What's even MORE surprising is that even though you look skinny, your health may in fact represent that of a fat person. The study also shows that even if you look great in a bikini or you have that perfect 21 year old bod, you can still be a heart attack waiting to happen. This study is the first of its kind, finally giving proof that even though you may look bad, it doesn't mean your unhealthy.

The fine line between overweight and just right is actually very vague and unclear. Scientists use a Body-mass index, which uses a weight to height ratio. However, the main problem with this is that the system does not distinguish between muscle and fat. This problem was brought to the attention of the world when the NBA classified nearly half of its players as overweight. Other experts tend to go by waist size, saying it's a more effective way of measuring. Within the study, those in the overweight and obese category but WERE healthy usually had skinnier waists than those that WEREN'T healthy. Just goes to show. Size really DOESN'T matter. (Unless you wanna look good in today's materialistic society)

Run For Your Life!

A new study shows that people who run daily tend to live longer than those who don't. Of course, who didn't know that? Everyone in the world knows that people who excercise will live longer than people who didn't. BUT! Did you know that there's more to it than that? Statistics show that people who run tend to have a smaller chance of getting heart disease, cancer, and neurological diseases (brain diseases) such as Alzheimer's. The study was conducted by the University of Stanford. Also noted was that the runners had less risk of injuries, including the knees.

This study comes weeks after another study was seen saying Japanese woman have the longest life expectancy in the world. So it just makes one wonder. What is the life expectancy of a Japanese woman who runs most or her life? Well, let's hope they do a study on that too.

Medal Update - Day 4

The following is a list of the medals won on day 4 of the games, the country the athletes represent, and the names of the athletes:

Men's 200-Meter Freestyle
Gold - Michael Phelps - United States
Silver - Taehwan Park - South Korea
Bronze - Peter Vanderkaay - United States

Women's 100-Meter Backstroke
Gold - Natalie Coughlin - United States
Silver - Kirsty Coventry - Zimbabwe
Bronze - Margaret Hoelzar - United States

Men's 100-Meter Backstroke
Gold - Aaron Peirsol - United States
Silver - Matt Grevers - United States
Bronze - Arkady Vyatchanin - Russia
Bronze - Hayden Stoeckel - Australia

Women's 100-Meter Breaststroke
Gold - Leisel Jones - Australia
Silver - Rebecca Soni - United States
Bronze - Mirna Jukic - Austria

Men's 50-Meter Free Pistol (60 shots)
Gold - Jongoh Jin - South Korea
Silver - Jong Su Kim - North Korea
Bronze - Zongliang Tan - China

"Babylon A.D." Trailer & Review

This movie features action star Vin Diesel in another one of his dramatic action packed movies. "Babylon A.D." is set in a seemingly futuristic and imperialistic city. Vin Diesel is mercenary hired to accompany a "package" from Russia to Canada. Later, Vin Diesel learns that the "package" has been manipulated with a synthetic virus, and could very well mean the end of the human race. If you liked the "Chronicles of Riddick" you'll love "Babylon A.D."

Opening Date : August 29th, 2008
Rating : PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some sexuality
Director : Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring : Vin Diesel, Vincent Cassel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Gerard Depardieu
Trailer : http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809805797/video

"Tropic Thunder" Trailer & Review

This movie featuring comedians Jack Black and Ben Stiller is probably one of the funniest comedy/action movies of the summer, though it's in a tight race against "Pineapple Express." The plot involves a movie-in-a-movie type of scene, where the characters are dropped into the middle of a war unknowingly, and are clueless as they survive endless encounters. A classic quote from the movie? "I know who I am. I'm the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude." The characters are just a few actors with possibly the weirdest personalities in the world. How will the movie do? We'll just have to wait and see.

Opening Date : August 13th, 2008
Rating : R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material
Director : Ben Stiller
Starring : Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte
Trailer : http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809912814/video/9194979

A Sign Of The Apocalypse?

It's no secret that the Russian military is strong enough to conquer most countries in Eastern Europe. As if words weren't enough, Russia declared war against U.S. ally Georgia the opening day of the Beijing Olympics. The United States has constantly urged Russia to reconsider the declaration and call a truce. Georgia retaliated with its own sizeable army, though not as huge as world superpower Russia's. The Russians attack with full force, with, only about a few days into the battle, having conquered half of Georgia already. The war was declared over breakaway nation South Osscentia, located in some place most people have no clue about. Russia's Putin left the Beijing Olympics right after the opening ceremony. At the ceremony, United States President George Bush was seen talking to Putin, and the conversation seemed to be on good terms. Most Russian athletes attending the games had no clue that their country was at war when they paraded through the National Stadium, AKA the Bird's Nest. A few hours ago, Georgia president Mikhail Saakashvil claimed that Russia has "effectively cut the country in half by seizing the city of Gori," located 60 miles west of the capital. A top official at the Georgian Embassy says that the Russians seemed to be moving towars the capital and would not stop until Georgia was completely conquered. The Russian Defense Ministry say that the seizure is not true.

With the declaration of war by Russia, many countries in Eastern Europe seem to be very nervous. They take this display as a showing that Russia has the power to conquer a nation and that they are seemingly very willingly to take that risk. They claim that Russia would have no problem conquering the newly democratic nation. Soon after war broke out, Poland and other breakaway nations of Russia declared the following statement: "We, the leaders of once-captive nations of Eastern Europe, and now EU and NATO members — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — express a deep concern over the Russian Federation's actions toward Georgia."

The European Union has been trying to use oil and resources that don't come from Moscow. However, with the new conflict emergining and gaining momentum, and the war with Georgia, the European Union seem unlikely to be able to accomplish this task. The way they had planned was for the resources to come through a series of energy routes running through Georgia. Currently, the European Union gets a quarter of its oil and resources from Moscow. In one of the many air strikes on Georgia during the war, a major oil line was nearly hit, though no damages have been reported. Russia has already bombed two airports in Georgia as well.

Is There Enough?

Recently there have been reports of a 7 year case opened by the FBI involing anthrax mailings and a NCI scientist named Bruce Ivins. If you don't know what anthrax is, it's a type of virus that is highly lethal and used in biomilitary warfare. The largest supply of anthrax is located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, which, coincidentally, is also where the National Cancer Institute is stationed. Bruce Ivins was a military scientist who worked on the cures of Anthrax and studied the effects Anthrax has on people and animals.

The case started in 2001, when letters containing Anthrax was sent to colleges and other government buildings. The result was a complete quarintine of the White House. The mailings killed at least 10 innocent people, causing the FBI to open up a case. At the beggining, the FBI suspected Ivin's colleague of the mailings and had him interrogated and under suspicion for 2 years. However, Ivin's colleague was later set free after there was no clear evidence against him and payed $5 million in repercusions. Later, the FBI turned their investigation to Ivin.

Ivin had given the FBI a false sample of Anthrax to use in their case, and he was one of the only authorized personnel to obtain the anthrax. Before that, he had complained as to the limited number of test units, claiming that they would not know how anthrax effected humans unless they tested it on humans. The military, naturally denied this request, claiming that monkeys would be enough. When Ivin learned that the FBI was hot on his trail, he committed suicide, causing the FBI to close the case. The FBI claimed that Bruce Ivin was the only person in the scheme.

However, many people are skeptical as to if Bruce Ivin really was the mailer. Some people believe that the FBI is just using Ivin's death as an excuse to close the 7 year old case, and claim that there is not enough evidence to go against him. Ivin's lawyer claims that if Bruce was still alive, there would be no doubt that he would've been proved innocent. So now, with the facts all lain out, it's up to the reader to make the decision. Did the FBI have enough evidence to back its theory, or is it just a cover-up to the poor investigation of this crime? We'll never know.

Medal Update - Day 3 11:30PM (Cont'd)

The following is a list of the medals won overnight, the country the athletes represent, and the names of the athletes:

Women's Lightweight (52-58 kg)
Gold - Giulia Quintavalle - Italy
Silver - Deborah van der Veken-Gravenstijn - Netherlands
Bronze - Yan Xu - China
Bronze - Ketleyn Quadros - Brazil

Men's Lightweight (66-73 kg)
Gold - Elnur Mammadli - Azerbaijan
Silver - Kichun Wang - South Korea
Bronze - Rasul Boqiev - Tajikistan
Bronze - Leandro Guilheiro - Brazil

Men's 56-62 kg
Gold - Xiangxiang Zhang - China
Silver - Diego Salazar - Colombia
Bronze - Triyatno - Indonesia

Women's Individual Foil
Gold - Maria Valentina Vezzali - Italy
Silver - Hyunhee Nam - South Korea
Bronze - Margherita Granbassi - Italy

Medal Update - Day 3 11:30 PM

The following is a list of the medals won overnight, the country the athletes represent, and the names of the athletes:

Men's 10-Meter Air Rilfe (10 Shots)
Gold - Abhinav Bindra - India
Silver - Qinan Zhu - China
Bronze - Henri Hakkinen - Finland

Men's Synchronized 10-Meter Platform
Gold - Yue Lin, Liang Huo - China
Silver - Pawel Brendler, Patrick Hausding, Sascha Klein - Germany
Bronze - Dmitriy Dobroskok, Gleb Galperin - Russia

Women's Trap (75 Targets)
Gold - Satu Makella-Nummela - Finland
Silver - Zuzana Stefecekova - Slovakia
Bronze - Corey Codgell - USA

Women's 53-58 kg
Gold - Yanqing Chen - China
Silver - Marina Shainova - Russia
Bronze - Jong Ae O - North Korea

Men's Team (Archery)
Gold - Donghyun Im, Changhwan Lee, Kyungmo Park - South Korea
Silver - Ilario di Buo', Marco Galiazzo, Mauro Nespoli - Italy
Bronze - Haifeng Xue, Wenquan Li, Lin Jiang - China