Amelia- Movie Review

A good movie can make us feel a number of things. It can take us places and make us wish we were back home simultaneously. Mira Nair's ambitious portrait of the mysterious Amelia Earhart is a daring attempt to show us the high price of our dreams and the courage it takes to get us there.

Although the Earhart story has been and told again, Nair has found insightful ways to probe the Kansas bumpkin who captured America's heart in the trying thirties. Played eerily well by Hillary Swank, Amelia is passionate and uncompromising. Her speech is plain, but infused with an enlightened adoration for the view from a cockpit and the feeling of tangible freedom. The film is sweeping, profound and colorful, offering not only Amelia's love/hate relationship with the spotlight, the essence of celebrity. No to mention swelling strings in almost every scene.

At the heart of this feature is the love that rages between Earhart and her husband and PR guru George Putnam. Richard Gere is more than qualified to deliver as the dutiful and tested spouse of the aviation legend. This picture will be loved and hated. It offers a tight script full of flawed characters who don't always say and do what we'd like, because while this portrait romanticizes the legend of the pilot, it demands the viewer realize that every dream has it's silver lining.

Early last May, Michael Mann presented a similar depiction of fame during this depression era with "Public Enemies." The two films offer almost inverse versions of the same story. The point being that public fascination with modern celebrity is much like man's ambition, it can easily alter those we hold most dear. I feel Nair's imagining of Amelia is faithful to the tragic and powerful story of a woman who lived exactly how she wanted. Even as her determination cost her her life, it inspired a nation, which is the very definition of a legacy.

Facebook Crime 101

Beware of what you post on Facebook. Criminals could be using that information to target you for theft! Think about it. How many of your Facebook friends talk about their new flat screen TV or post pictures of the Jamaican vacation they’re on? A new report says criminals are using this information to find their next targets. Michael Fraser is a former burglar who helped put the report together. He says it works like this: The bad guys will send out hundreds of friend requests on Facebook and Twitter, and see who bites, which is a lot of people. 13% of people on Facebook and 92% of people on Twitter will accept a request, no questions asked. Once they have access to your personal profile, Fraser says they’ll follow you closely and wait for you to post something about a new gadget you bought or an upcoming vacation. Then they make their move.

Some Facebookers make it really easy for crooks. They post party pictures that clearly show the interior of their homes. Fraser says this gives criminals a leg-up when they’re breaking in. Almost 10% of men actually post their HOME ADDRESS on their profile! Women are a little smarter, only 4% of women post addresses. Think about this: There are just over 15-million women on Facebook in North America. That means over 600,000 women are posting their personal home addresses for anyone to find!

So, who’s the worst offender when it comes to posting personal details online? Teens and young adults. According to the study almost two thirds of people between the ages of 16 and 24 are posting where they’ll be and when, on their Facebook page. This same age group is also more likely to accept a friend request from a total stranger. Not a good combo. So don’t let yourself become a target. Don’t ever accept a stranger’s friend request and keep private information private. If you want to catch friends and family up on a vacation you’re taking or a new entertainment system you just bought, send out an email from your personal account. That way you’ll know exactly who has access to the information.

Is a "Fat Tax" The Answer to Our Healthcare Crisis?

Is it time to get tough on the overweight population? The obesity epidemic in America is out of control! Two out of every three people are obese, and that one guy who isn’t? Well he’s still on the hook for his two buddies' medical costs in the form of higher healthcare premiums and increased taxes. According to Forbes.com, the problem is that the cost of treating obesity related illnesses has skyrocketed. We're now spending a whopping $147 BILLION a year on treatment for overweight Americans. That's more than every single kind of cancer treatment combined.
There's a radical new solution being talked about - a “fat tax.” Basically, adding an extra tax on unhealthy foods, like chips, cookies and soda. The thinking is that if people are going to make bad food choices, they should pay the extra costs. Then that extra tax money would go to fund health care. Policy makers are also hoping that making bad foods more expensive will make people think twice about buying them. It’s the same idea the government used to curb smoking - by taxing cigarettes more.
Now the question is: How do you define unhealthy foods? An avocado has about the same amount of fat as a hamburger. Do they both go on the list? Well, the plan is to use a numerical scale to see whether a food’s bad content outweighs the good. However, many people believe that processed foods are cheaper than fresh foods – and may argue that that’s why they eat more junk food. According to our friend Dr. David Katz of the Yale School of Public Health, that’s just not true. He studied this recently and found that the average cost of a grocery cart full of healthy products was slightly less than a cart full of fattening, processed foods.

Do You Know What's In That Hot Dog You're Eating?

You get them at ball games, roller rinks, and at most backyard barbecues. Let’s face it - they’re a summer staple. I’m talking about hot dogs. Sure, they taste good, but do you really know what’s in that dog you’re eating? Here are the gruesome facts, courtesy of Prevention magazine.

• Beef and pork. Yes, both are high in protein, but they’re also loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. The meat can come from pig and cow skeletal muscle, and by-products.


• Mechanically separated turkey – yes, even in your beef frank. It’s a paste-like substance that’s produced when tissue is removed from bones. This substance is cheap and helps hot dogs stay in their hot dog shape.


• Sodium nitrite. This helps preserve the red tint of the cured meat. Studies have shown that consuming sodium nitrite may trigger migraines and increase your risk of cancer.


• There’s corn syrup in there – which is used as a thickener and a sweetener. It contains no nutrients and adds extra calories. Corn syrup gets added to nearly every processed food we eat these days, like cakes, cookies, and soda. Corn syrup also turns up in breads, crackers, hot dogs, pasta sauce, frozen dinners, and even dog food. It trains our taste buds to crave even more sweetness, and some experts say it’s partly responsible for the rapid rise of obesity in America.


• Extract of paprika. As a spice, paprika is a good source of fiber, and vitamins A and E, but as an “extract” - it doesn’t offer much more than color.

If you simply can’t live without hot dogs, buy those made with USDA-certified organic beef. They don’t have nitrites or corn syrup, and are lower in saturated fat, calories and sodium than the typical supermarket types.

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Why Handsome Men Make Bad Husbands

You may have recently heard or seen the news coverage (in the New York Daily News or CBS news online, among others; you may have even seen the lead author, James K. McNulty of the University of Tennessee, discuss it on the Today show) of a study, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, that showed that couples in which the woman is physically more attractive than the man are happier than couples in which the man is physically more attractive than the woman. Why is this? Why is it better for the couple if the woman is physically more attractive than the man?
If you have been keeping score at home, the findings of this study should have come as no surprise to you. There are two different reasons why couples in which the woman is more attractive than the man are more successful and happier than couples in which the man is more attractive than the woman.
First, as we elaborate in Chapter 4 of our book Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters (“Go Together Like a Horse and Carriage? The Evolutionary Psychology of Marriage”), handsome men on average make bad husbands. Men can maximize their reproductive success by pursuing one of two different strategies: Seek a long-term mate, stay with her, and invest in their joint offspring (the “dad” strategy); or seek a large number of short-term mates without investing in any of the resulting offspring (the “cad” strategy).
All men may want to pursue the cad strategy; however, their choice of the mating strategy is constrained by female choice. Men do not get to decide with whom to have sex; women do. And women disproportionately seek out handsome men for their short-term mates for their good genes. Even women who are already married benefit from short-term mating with handsome men if they could successfully fool their husbands into investing in the resulting offspring. The women then get the best of both worlds: Their children carry the high-quality genes of their handsome lover and receive the parental investment of their unknowingly cuckolded but resourceful husband. (In order to help the women accomplish this, evolution has designed women to be more likely to have sex with their lovers when they are ovulating and therefore fertile, and have sex with their husbands when they are not.)
Thus, handsome men get a disproportionate number of opportunities for short-term mating and are therefore able to engage in the cad strategy. Ugly men have no choice. Since women do not choose them as short-term mates, their only option for achieving any reproductive success is to find one long-term mate and invest heavily in their children -- the dad strategy.
Consistent with this logic, studies show that more attractive men have a larger number of extra-pair sex partners (sex partners other than their long-term mates). Interestingly, more attractive men have more short-term mates than long-term mates, whereas more attractive women have more long-term mates than short-term mates. Most importantly for our current purposes, handsome men invest less in their exclusive relationships than ugly men do. They are less honest with and less attentive to their partners. McNulty’s new study of newlyweds confirms this. Their data show that the more physically attractive the husbands are, the less supportive they are of their wives in their interactions.
I hasten to add that “good” and “bad” (as in the title of this post “Why handsome men make bad husbands”) are value judgments that scientists do not make. However, empirical data do demonstrate clearly that handsome men have more extra-marital affairs and are not as committed to their marriages, which many wives would undoubtedly consider undesirable. In this sense, handsome men make better lovers than husbands.

Facebook Addiction

With more than 200 million people now signed up on Facebook, it was only a matter of time before we heard about the latest twist in online social networking: Facebook addiction! According to CNN, therapists across North America are reporting a rise in the number of people who’ve crossed the line from social networking to social dysfunction! These are people who spend so much time using Facebook that they neglect their work and family, as well as their own health.

For example, one mother interviewed by CNN realized she had a problem when her daughter started emailing her through Facebook – just to ask for help doing homework! This woman estimates she was spending more than 20 hours per week on the site – checking email, connecting with friends, posting new photos, and updating her online “status.” Psychologists emphasize that there’s nothing wrong with using Facebook itself. In fact, the vast majority of users go on for a few minutes, log off, and are fine. The trouble starts when the thought of going a full day without Facebook makes you feel anxious or stressed. Or if you start losing sleep, or missing work, because you’re up all night surfing Facebook. It’s also a problem if you find yourself “Facebook stalking” old loves.

Dr. Joanna Lipari is a clinical psychologist who says Facebook addiction is especially dangerous for people with “compulsive personalities.” That’s the name she gives for people who think the online world of Facebook is a better place to spend time than the real world. For them, social networking sites represent some sort of Happyland – where you can connect with friends, relive the good ol' days, sneak a peek at other people’s lives, and escape your everyday problems. Unfortunately, Dr. Lipari says Facebook is not a good representation of real life. The fact is, most people only present “the crème de la crème” of their lives online. Very rarely will you find people talking about daily hassles like morning breath, paying bills or arguments over who’s going to go change the baby’s diapers.

If you’re spending more than an hour each day waiting for someone to comment on your latest Wall posting, Dr. Lipari believes you really need to log off and possibly get some help.