Image credit mai05

In case you haven’t heard, the world is going to end in about 2 years and 10 months. No, I’m not psychic; I’ve simply bought into the Mayan calendar conspiracy scare-a-thon. Apparently, the Mayans had a long-term calendar that spanned thousands and thousands of years (remember, the Mayan civilization existed from 2000 BC to about 250 AD) which suddenly stops on December 21^st 2012. Many people believe that this indicates a prediction of the Mayan’s that the world will end on that date.

To be honest with you, I was pretty relieved to hear this because it means that my to-do list just got a ton shorter. After all, if I’m not going to be here in two years then there are a lot of things that I no longer need to do. Things like:

1. Save for Retirement: Pffft—retirement? Ha! No such thing. Unless you are retirement age this year or next you are not going to see your golden years so why set aside money for them?

2. Pay off Credit Cards: Yeah right, keep dreaming MasterCard. Why pay off your credit cards? Just turn the ringer off on your phone and avoid the collections calls for a couple short years and you are in the clear. You won’t be here to enjoy it, but still… in the clear.

Image credit Gastonmag

3. Lose Weight: Ugh, you probably didn’t want to put all that work into losing weight anyhow and now you have a convenient excuse not to. You’ve only got two more years to indulge in donuts, pizza, calzones, steak and Little Debbie snacks—don’t waste that time chomping on celery and counting calories.

4. Finish College: You might as well drop out of college now. Even if you finish your degree you aren’t going to have time to land a sweet job with it. Instead, just hang out near the frat houses and enjoy all the partying.

5. Call the Parents: Phone calls with your parents are probably filled with some of these traditional sound clips: “When are you going to settle down and get a real job?” “How come you never some to see me?” “I wish you were never born.” All that parent-induced drama might as well go ahead and stop because, really, do you want to spend the last years of your life feeling guilty and inadequate? Exactly—so stop calling them.

Image credit PocketAces

6. Take Life-Saving Medication: All prescription medications have side effects like drowsiness, low sexual desire, and blurred vision that will seriously ruin your last two years on Earth. If you’ve been taking medication to stave off heart disease, type 2 diabetes or some other illness then you might as well stop now. After all, don’t you want to live your life to its wide awake, sexually active fullest for the next two years?

7. Budget: Spend your money how you want over the next two years. You’ve got no one to leave it behind for since the world is going to end.

8. Start a Family: Why get married and have kids just to see your happy family unit torn asunder in December 2012? Instead, stay single and live it up!

Image credit kunisawa

9. Go to the Dentist: What’s a little plaque build-up when the world’s about to end? Puh-leeze. You could even ignore your cavities; Orajel ought to hold you over.

10. Change the Car’s Oil: Car maintenance is boring and it takes your money. Your car will make it a couple of years without any maintenance and if it doesn’t, just get a new one—it’s not like you’ll have to make payments for very long.

11. Update Your Resume: Yeah right, like you are going to start a new career now. The world is about to end, party on!

12. Buy an iPad: The iPad doesn’t do anything that an iPhone doesn’t so it’s really nothing more than one of those humongous calculators they give to the elderly. You don’t need this tool even if the world isn’t ending.

*Please note, this post is intended to be satirical. Chances are good that the world is NOT going to end in a couple of years so don’t be a dork and actually bump these things off your to-do lists.

Generally you probably think of a “sport” as something you do to burn off all of the calories in the food you’ve eaten. But can eating be a sport in and of itself? According to competitive eaters worldwide it can be!

Think about the last big meal you ate — maybe a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner when you stuffed yourself silly with more food in a meal than you might typically eat in a day. Think about how full you felt after that meal, when you weren’t even sure you could get dessert down, no matter how much you wanted that slice of pumpkin pie. Now picture yourself eating that meal ten times as fast. Imagine that one over-filled plate of food turning into a dozen, all eaten rapidly. Now how do you think you’d feel when someone offered you that pie?

Children's Pie Eating Contest - 1923 - Credit: FordMaddoxFraud (via Wikimedia)

That’s a simple way to think about competitive eating — people compete to see who can eat the most food the fastest.

I can’t say competitive eating sounds appealing to me, but it’s popular worldwide, so what do I know? There are even professional associations for the sport — the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) and the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE)!

Types of Foods Found in Eating Contests

Competitive eating isn’t limited to the old fashioned notion of a pie eating contest or even hot dog eating contest (like the popular Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, held annually at Coney Island for more than 90 years).

While eating contests usually are focused on a single type of food, that food can be seemingly anything. Here are ten examples of foods from eating contests sanctioned by the IFOCE to give you a better idea:

At the Nathans Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest - Credit: buzz.bishop (via Flickr)

1. Chili
2. Corn Dogs
3. Pumpkin Pies
4. Watermelon
5. Pizza
6. Tacos
7. Butter
8. Baked Beans
9. Oysters
10. Birthday Cake

I have to say, I really did a double-take when I saw butter on the list. Yuck. Can you even imagine putting down 1.75 lbs of salted butter in five minutes like record holder, Don Lerman? I sure can’t!

While most of the foods seem to be relatively “bad” foods to begin with, you can find some competitive eating events specialized in healthier options like the watermelon included above, peas, and asparagus (okay, so the asparagus doesn’t really count since it was deep-fried, but it sure sounds better than a pigs’ feet and knuckles eating contest if you ask me — and yes, there’s really a record holder in that!).

How is Competitive Eating Considered a Sport?

Pat Bertoletti and Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2008 - Credit: dietrich (via Flickr)

“It’s just eating. It’s not a sport!” you might be thinking. Then again, you might be surprised by the amount of preparation and training that can go into safely participating in eating contests. Just like an athlete might train for months before running a marathon, professional competitive eaters can spend months preparing for eating contests (and given that prizes can amount to thousands of dollars, it’s no wonder they train that long!).

How exactly does someone “train” for a competitive eating event anyway? Why, they stretch their stomach of course! Think about it. Your stomach isn’t naturally designed to hold quantities of food like some of these records:

1. 47 slices of pizza (in 10 minutes by Patrick Bertoletti)
2. 8 lbs, 2 oz of chili cheese fries (in 10 minutes by Sonia Thomas)
3. 42 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (in 10 minutes, also by Patrick Bertoletti)

To win eating contests competitive eaters have to increase their stomach’s capacity. It naturally stretches as needed, but takes time to build the organ’s elasticity enough for it to expand to hold these amounts of foods in such short periods of time.

In order to get that needed elasticity, the competitive eaters “train” by consuming large amounts prior to the contest (for months in some cases). Sometimes they’ll do it by eating the contest food, allowing them to test their times and try to beat their own records to improve (probably not the healthiest option, if any of it can be considered truly “healthy” — healthy as in would someone ever say “eat competitively, it’s good for you!”). In other cases, they’ll fill up on bulky but low calorie vegetables, or drink large amounts of water (sometimes gallons) to get their stomachs ready for their next eating contest.

You can see the stretched / distended belly on the competitor on the left - Credit: dietrich (via Flickr)

Competitive eating isn’t only like other sports because there’s training involved. There are also rules and judges to make sure competitive eaters abide by them. For example, some IFOCE competitors use a technique called “dunking” (literally dunking their food in water or another liquid first) to make the food easier to put down (although I’m baffled by the fact the fluid weight wouldn’t fill you up faster!). The AICE, on the other hand, doesn’t allow it. If eaters leave too much food on the plate (excessive “crumbs” for example, so they actually ate less food) the judges might dock them points in their final count. And there are even rules about vomiting — yes, vomiting (as in what counts as vomiting, and what doesn’t in respect to judging those final counts). Yum.

Winning a taco eating contest - Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Now I’m a fan of Nathan’s hot dogs, and since they run probably the biggest eating contest around (it’s actually televised on ESPN, so take that those of you who still don’t think it’s a sport!), I’ll pick on them for a moment. Watch the video below and tell me if it makes you want to run to your nearest Nathan’s for a good ol’ dog.

Hmmmm. Not me. One is enough thank you — maybe two if I feel like gorging. But after watching that, not only do I not find Nathans as appetizing, but I may lose a pound or two this week shunning food altogether. My stomach’s almost churning just watching.

Anybody hungry for wings? - Credit: stephenjjohnson (via Flickr)

Why Wednesday? Job stress! But wasn’t it supposed to be Monday blues?

If you go by popular songs, it is Monday that is the most depressing.  The lyricists got it all wrong, says a recent study.  It is Wednesday that is the darkest day!

People are most likely to kill themselves in the middle of the week, not the beginning and not the end.  The study reveals that about 25% of suicides occur on Wednesdays, which is the highest, and 14% on Mondays or Saturdays, which is the second highest suicide rate. If you make it through Wednesday, good news!  You have a better chance of survival, as Thursdays have the least number of suicides with the rate being only 11%, and you may not want to go through with the suicide.

According to professor of sociology at the University of California, Riverside, Augustine Kposowa, until now we have always pointed a finger at Mondays.  He says, “Everyone talks about the Monday blues.  But if you look at more recent data, it looks like things have shifted and now it’s the middle of the week that’s the problem.”

Researchers are not sure why it is Wednesdays. But they do indicate that the spike of suicides in the middle of the week may suggest job stress. Kposowa said, “People may be fed up and stressed by their jobs by the middle of the week.  By Wednesday, the traffic has gotten to be too much, their co-workers are getting on their nerves and they can’t figure out how they’re going to make it to the end of the week.”

After examining data on people over 18 years of age for a period of five years, between 2000 and 2004 from all the 50 states, it was seen that there were about 30,000 suicides per year.  An interesting fact that caught their attention was a change in suicide data.  Previous studies showed that there usually is an increase in suicide rate in winter and spring, but the new data shows that there is no seasonal affect on suicides.  In summer it showed 26% and in winter it is 23.8%, and the difference is not really significant.

Researchers feel the reason for the lack of seasonal influence on suicides these days could be due to the higher connectedness that people feel today.  With the advent of the internet and cellphones, loneliness is a thing of the past.  People are able to interact with friends and family at any time of the day or night and feel less isolated.  If they are depressed, they can just go ahead and talk to someone online and feel better.  Earlier, before these advances in technology took place, winters were considered to be depressing and lonely.

A psychiatrist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Alan Manevitz feels, “It goes against a lot of what we take as lore.  We think about the classic problems people have on Sunday nights thinking about going back to school or work, and the winter blues, especially in people with Seasonal Affective Disorder.”

The reason this study is being given a lot of weight by researchers and related experts is because it studied the whole country over five years.  However, researchers do caution against reading too much into the “Wednesday affect.”  According to a research assistant professor, “While it’s tempting to conclude that people choose Wednesday because it’s the most stressful day, you have to remember that many suicides are premeditated and they don’t necessarily occur as a result of the events on the day.”  However, it is possible that a stressful day can push someone to go through with their already planned suicide.

Whatever the reason for Wednesday being considered the darkest day of the week, the new studies reveal facts as they happened over those five years.  Just remember, life is not for throwing it away on a Wednesday, it is all about watching a thousand Wednesdays pass you by.

If it is really the stress of the job that is getting to you, take heart and believe that things are going to fall into place sooner or later, but only if you do not give up.

May has been a bad month for the United States Army, with the number of suicides by the soldiers reaching a crescendo.  Out of the 17 suicides, one is confirmed and the others are suspected suicide cases and under investigation.

Army statistics reveal an upward trend for the second year in a row and the figures show an increase from the month of April.  The total number of suicides since January of this year is at 82.  In 2008, 133 army suicides have been recorded, which is the highest ever.

The Army does not call it a “confirmed suicide” unless it has been proved and labels it as “potential suicide” until the investigation over a death is complete and reported.

Of all the Army divisions, the 101^st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell recorded the highest number of suicides.  Several units from this division have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, and thousands of troops are currently in Afghanistan.  Soldiers, as expected, have been under a lot of pressure and stress associated with these deployments.  In spite of training the troops to identify signs of distress and getting help, the suicide rates continue to rise.

The 101^st division has sent out a plea to the soldiers asking them not to commit suicide.  “If you don’t remember anything else I say in the next five or 10 minutes, remember this – suicidal behavior in the 101^st on Fort Campbell is bad.  It’s bad for soldiers, it’s bad for families, bad for your units, bad for this division and our army and our country and it’s got to stop now,”  told Brig. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend. He said, “Suicide is a permanent solution to what is only a temporary problem.  Screaming Eagles don’t quit.  No matter how bad your problem seems today, trust me, it’s not the end of the world.  It will be better tomorrow.  Don’t take away your tomorrow.”  He also urged soldiers to “tell somebody” if they are feeling suicidal.

Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army Vice Chief of Staff reveals his understanding of the gravity of the situation by saying, “We have got to do better.  It’s clear we have not found full solutions to this yet.  But we are trying every remedy and seeking help from outside agencies that are experts in suicide prevention.  There isn’t a reasonable suicide prevention tool out there the Army won’t potentially employ.”

The U.S. Army identifies the cause of these suicides as the long hours of work the soldiers have to put in without getting to spend any time with family between deployments.  With no recreation and support of the family and loved ones, the stress levels continue to rise and reach a peak at some point, where the soldiers feel they can no longer handle it.  These soldiers need help and more than help, the focus has to be on family time.

According to a professor of community health at Portland State University in Oregon, the plea by the 101^st division, not to commit suicides, may not work, as it sounds almost like an order.  There is a stigma to mental illness in the military and soldiers who acknowledge their problems and admit to having suicidal feelings can end up not being considered for promotions, not given access to firearms or losing other opportunities.  Under these circumstances, it is understandable that they are not going to come out with their feelings.

The professor said that if the Army really wants to address this problem, it needs to dig out the roots of the problem – the stressors that cause suicidal tendencies in otherwise normal soldiers.  Soldiers have to face several issues, such as frequent deployments without any family time in between, long deployments, deployments to hostile places, marital problems, financial problems, injuries and stress of war. He said many of these soldiers shoot themselves when under the influence of alcohol and this primary concern should be addressed.

There are some bases that have set good examples and stand out with very less suicide rates compared to the others.

According to Base commander Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, he has made it a point to ensure every soldier leaves work by 6 p.m., in time for dinner, if they are working day shift.  Thursdays, they leave by 3 p.m. and they don’t work weekends, unless Lynch requires them to.  He says this system seems to be working.  Although, his base has also seen a couple of suicides this year, the number is far below most other major Army bases.

Fort Hood in Texas is singled out, as the general focused more on relieving stress of the 30,000 soldiers and not just the suicide issue.   There has been just one suicide here, which is commendable.  The general said that tackling the overall stress levels has proved to be more effective than trying to stop the suicides, since soldiers face stress not only in war but also in other aspects of their lives.

Experts are of the opinion that screening techniques to identify people at risk for suicide are available and will prove to be extremely helpful.  The United States Army is working toward increasing the number of counselors to help more soldiers and to ensure everyone gets screened by a qualified and professional mental health counselor.

It is a sad that the soldier fighting for the country ends up feeling that he has nothing to live for.  He deserves to live more than anyone else.  It becomes the duty of the U.S. Army to safeguard the interests of the soldiers and do whatever it takes to keep them happy.

While parents wonder how to go about making their teenagers understand human sexuality, whether it should be done at home or at school, teens are taking it into their own hands and learning much more than needed from a totally different source – the Internet.

It is a known fact that minors and teenagers spend hours online. What is it that most of them do online? Statistics show that about 40 percent of them visit x-rated sites that show explicit content, either accidentally coming across the sites or being led to those sites.

Teenagers today are targeted with salacious junk, from MTV, to video games to the internet. There is simply no way they can escape all the trashy pictures literally thrown at them, and it is as simple as typing the word “sex” on the Internet to be lead to hundreds of hard-core porn sites. It is estimated that more than 40 million Americans visit an estimated one million porn websites each year. As disconcerting as this may sound, this is not the main cause of worry. The concerning factor is the impact this ease of access has on kids and teenagers, for whom porn has become just part of the culture now.

Researchers have found that there is a typical pattern to teens entering these cyber-porn villages. It usually starts on a day when the parents are away and teenagers being inquisitive in nature search for a little porn. Searching for one, they find thousands of sites that can gratify their curiosity. Then they end up registering at some of the sites. This is how it starts and then they are hooked for life.

Sometimes, what starts off as innocent chatting in a chat room also takes these unsuspecting and innocent teens to the sugar-coated chat of pedophilics. Shockingly, to make things scarier, there are said to be several pedophilics hanging around on the internet, that trap teenagers into cyber sex. These child trappers even go to the extent of asking for nude pictures of the children. In fact, they entice children into doing what they want by rewarding them with on-line cartoon CDs or some such things that they know kids and teenagers find irresistible.

Almost all clinical psychologists agree that this could mess up teenagers’ attitudes about sexuality and any relationships they enter into in the future. Teenage years are very impressionable and teens may learn to view women without respect and only as sex objects, and kinky and extreme sex will seem normal, which is detrimental to their emotional health.

There is a real-life example that shows how porn can destroy lives. For Charlie, who was imprisoned for 12 years for sexual assault, it all started as a teenager, when he was hooked to porn. A person on his paper route showed him pornographic material and he found that totally interesting and went back to see more. After a while, the pictures did not satisfy this teenager and the need to act on what he was seeing became impossible to control. That urge is what led him to the sexual assault that nearly destroyed his life. However, he is one in a million who understands what went wrong with him and now speaks against porn and states that it is no coincidence that about 90% of the sex offenders who are in prison used pornography extensively as teens or young adults.

Cyber sex is known to be a psychosocial hazard, and once addicted; it is extremely difficult to escape this porn racket. With the accessibility and quantity of porn available online, the likelihood of porn-addiction is very high. Experts believe that this subject should be looked into seriously, because once it becomes an addiction for a teen, it is for life.

There are several help centers online, where parents are told to teach religious and moral values to their children and the consequences of an immoral life should be explained to the teenagers. Without these moral guidelines, experts believe that these kids are just sitting ducks for the enemy. When they get unsolicited sexual innuendo in email, they should be able to say “That’s wrong and I shouldn’t do that,” because they have a sense of right and wrong. This should be done before the world totally infects their minds and pillages them of any kind of moral values. This is the only way to help teens ignore the glitter that draws them to cyber porn.

This may sound scary and many parents may not even imagine that all this goes on online, and blindly choose to believe their innocent children can do no wrong. Experts say that this innocence of children is taken advantage of by the unscrupulous elements online. Since it is almost an impossible task to stop those monsters that are after children, parents have a much bigger role to play in keeping the children safe.