Wearing Red On Friday Can Be Helpful...
...If you are, say, wandering into traffic while staring into your electronic binkie, it may help drivers stop soon enough as to only maim you instead of killing you.
But, I spotted this silly tweet from @MensHealthMag:
@MensHealthMag This Friday is National Wear Red Day. Sport the color to show support for the American Heart Association & eliminate heart disease for good!
My initial response:
@amyalkon Better advice: Wear whatever color suits your fancy & eat according to sci evidence (carbs cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat).
My subsequent response:
@amyalkon Go naked on Friday to support anti-asshat-think. Wearing pink doesn't stop breast cancer, wearing red doesn't eliminate heart disease.
If you want to stop heart disease, read this post by cardiologist William Davis, take his advice, and e-mail it to everybody in your address book who listens to the recommendations of the government and most doctors on what to eat.
Comments
Thanks for the link.
I will contemplate wearing a pink or red slip on friday, because with this weather, i cannot go commando :)
Posted by: nico@HOU at February 2, 2011 1:18 PM
I was just informed that March is zombie awareness month (gray ribbons!).
Posted by: Amy Alkon at February 2, 2011 1:26 PM
must.. eat.... brains...
Posted by: Eric at February 2, 2011 1:47 PM
I view these campaigns as a form of low-grade manipulation. No, I will not do whatever it is you want me to do today.
Posted by: carol at February 2, 2011 2:19 PM
I work across the street from the state Capitol in Austin. Today's protest group was "Women in Black for Peace," because wearing black is obviously going to promote awareness of the need for World Peace and bring all war to an end.
Yesterday I had TWO people- one as I approached the east part of the intersection and the second as I passed through the west side- step out in front of my car on Congress Avenue as they texted. These people should be very thankful for anti-lock brakes. (I wasn't even CLOSE to speeding.)
Posted by: ahw at February 2, 2011 2:28 PM
Well, in Kansas City, this is not a problem during football season, since every Friday is Red Friday!
Posted by: Jim Armstrong at February 2, 2011 3:38 PM
Brains are fucking tasty, and that's all I have to say about that.
When people asked about sending flowers to my father's funeral, I asked them to donate to the Alzheimer's Association instead. Not many listened, but concrete help beats empty gestures.
Posted by: MonicaP at February 2, 2011 6:22 PM
The one that always gets me is the Yoplait - Susan G. Komen for the Cure campaign.
They will cough up to $1.7M for sending in lids at 10¢ a pop. So you pay an extra 30¢-45¢ over the store brand. Then add in the mailing costs. Where if the person just bought the store brand and wrote a direct Paypal donation for the difference to the Komen foundation -- it would be so much more money and "greener".
I had to explain this to an accountant -- twice -- before she got it.
Posted by: Jim P. at February 2, 2011 6:27 PM
Raising awareness....the feel-good alternative to actually achieving something. Earth Hour springs to mind. For those who haven't heard of it, it's a symbolic turning off of all lighting for an hour on a Saturday night. Of course people use torches and candles so it doesn't do anything. And the next day their lights are back on.
One politician here in Australia had a lovely candlelit dinner for his partner, of course publicised so that everyone knew about his commitment to fixing climate change - which was ruined slightly when the candles set fire to their cat :)
Posted by: Ltw at February 2, 2011 6:56 PM
Sorry it was the Canadian Environment Minister I was thinking of.
Posted by: Ltw at February 2, 2011 7:01 PM
Amy, keep posting links and giving good advice. Because of you, I read Taubes and since late November, I've lost 14% of my body weight and 27% of my total desired loss. It may take me 5 months to match that loss but even at that rate, I'm spitting distance from my goal by year's end.
And Taubes is right - I'm *not* hungry and I'm eating so much less than I was before. If I hadn't read the science, I'd say this is magic.
Posted by: BlogDog at February 2, 2011 7:01 PM
Looks like May is Zombie Awareness month.
http://www.zombieresearch.org/zombieawarenessmonth.html
Posted by: Ray at February 3, 2011 9:17 AM
My sister had breast cancer. (She's fine now). She hates all this stuff, especially the term "survivor" and the cults -- I mean "support groups".
I had a 4-way heart bypass in 2008. (I'm doing fine too.) I refuse to let my life be defined by that, which is what these awareness drives and support groups end up doing.
Posted by: ray_g at February 3, 2011 10:35 AM
*****I was just informed that March is zombie awareness month (gray ribbons!).*****
Yes, and I asked. They WILL be selling ribbons. Ray has the link 2 posts up.
I am so getting one. :D
Posted by: Daghain at February 3, 2011 10:59 AM
I thought it was wear red to fight heart disease in women this week.
I am not playing.
Not because I hate women or don't think heart disease is an issue. Men die from it, too. I am done with being used in these battles of political rectitude. Aids research is vastly overfunded, compared to its incidence in life. Prostate cancer, not so.
Out of naked self interest, I refuse to go along with disease du jour.
Posted by: MarkD at February 3, 2011 10:59 AM
This kind of 'activism' drives me nuts....it accomplishes nothing, but makes people think they have, so they don't do anything else for a cause. How many of these people in workplaces that goad others into wearing pink,red, or purple, do anything besides that? Do they actually donate?
Posted by: crella at February 3, 2011 5:31 PM
