Eideard

It started with the denial of a growing health crisis.

Nearly 40% of Georgia’s children are overweight or obese — the second-highest rate in the nation — yet 50% of Georgians don’t consider child obesity a problem, and 75% of parents of obese children don’t think they have a problem on their hands, according to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

In response, the state’s largest pediatric health care provider crafted an ad campaign intended to highlight the roles of parents and caregivers in the widening epidemic.

The posters and TV spots of obese children with doleful eyes were as stark as their accompanying messages: “Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid,” and “It’s hard to be a little girl if you’re not,” to name a few.

“We felt that because there was so much denial that we needed to make people aware that this is a medical crisis,” said Linda Matzigkeit, chief administrative officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta…

As far as Children’s Healthcare is concerned, the fact that the ads sparked debate means they achieved their goal, regardless of the reaction. “If parents continue to be in denial we’re not going to get past this crisis.”

It’s a crisis that has been fostered by a culture of convenience: fast food, calorie-dense meals and the car-centric cities slowly building up to national obesity rates of 33.8% among adults and 17% in children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

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The new head of Britain’s armed forces, Gen Sir David Richards, has warned that the West cannot defeat al-Qaeda and militant Islam.

He said defeating Islamist militancy was “unnecessary and would never be achieved”. However, he argued that it could be “contained” to allow Britons to lead secure lives.

Gen Richards, 58, said the threat posed by “al-Qaeda and its affiliates” meant Britain’s national security would be at risk for at least 30 years.

The general, who will tomorrow lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall in memory of Britain’s war dead, said the West’s war against what he described as a “pernicious ideology” had parallels with the fight against Nazi Germany in the Second World War…

He said the British military and the Government had been “guilty of not fully understanding what was at stake” in Afghanistan and admitted that the Afghan people were beginning to “tire” of Nato’s inability to deliver on its promises…

The general said: “In conventional war, defeat and victory is very clear cut and is symbolised by troops marching into another nation’s capital. First of all you have to ask: do we need to defeat it [Islamist militancy] in the sense of a clear cut victory? I would argue that it is unnecessary and would never be achieved.

“But can we contain it to the point that our lives and our children’s lives are led securely? I think we can.”

He also said the real weapon in the war against al-Qaeda was the use of “upstream prevention” as well as “education and democracy”. The problems that gave rise to militant Islamism were unlikely to be solved soon, he added.

On the issue of future wars, the general said he could see no case for military intervention in other countries “at the moment” but added that he would be “barmy to say that one day we wouldn’t be back in that position”.

I’d love to see discussion with the general more detailed than that contained within the short attention span of the Telegraph. Not a bad newspaper for conservatives; but, sorely lacking in thoroughness and detail providing information for truly thoughtful analysis.

Still, there’s more truth here than you could expect from what passes for popular conservative media in the United States.

The video speaks for itself. General McChrystal is confident the surge he has set into motion in Afghanistan is providing results. Click on the photo. Watch the video. Reflect upon what you know, what you see, where this is going.

Meanwhile:

U.S. forces have driven the Taliban from most towns and villages in the strategic Helmand province of Afghanistan, leaving incoming troops with the mission of holding key areas and rebuilding the economy, Marine commanders say.

“They’ve taken on the Taliban, the insurgency, right in the heartland and they’ve defeated them,” said Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills in an interview with USA TODAY.

Much of the Taliban’s leadership and support comes from the mostly Pashtun province and nearby Kandahar. Helmand, the country’s largest province, also produces most of the country’s poppy crop, which has helped fund the insurgency.

Recent attention has been focused on President Obama’s orders to send about 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan this year. But an influx of Marines to Helmand province last year has produced dramatic results, raising hopes that the gains can be consolidated and spread elsewhere, Mills said.

“I see us moving away from the clear phase and moving into the hold and build” phase, Mills said.

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US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson has made it clear that the trial of former President General Pervez Musharraf under Article-6 of the constitution was Pakistan’s internal matter.

‘We wanted a safe exit for Musharraf from the presidency for political stability in Pakistan and now he has become a relic of the past and we have no position on him’, she said in an exclusive interview with a private TV channel.

‘It is regrettable that the expansion of the US embassy in Pakistan and talks about the purchase of the PC hotel have become such a hyped issue without any reason’, she said, adding that houses had been rented in Islamabad keeping in view the needs of the diplomatic staff.

There are a total of eight marines in Pakistan while the media is reporting the arrival of 1,000 marines which is incorrect, she said…

Eight years after Washington and Islamabad agreed to fight the Taliban and al Qaida, Pakistan has ‘different priorities’ from the US, said the ambassador…

Nevertheless, Patterson said that Pakistan had ‘taken more action against some of these groups than most people are aware of.’

The article wanders through the political concerns of several factions within the Pakistan government – and is useful for that reason.

Of course, it’s especially interesting to hear an envoy from the U.S. government speaking so frankly about a leftover from the Bush-Cheney daze.

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

The Obama administration is looking hard at pushing through a health care reform bill without Republican backing, top Democrats close to the White House have told CNN.

Democratic success could depend on an obscure tactic called reconciliation, a type of budget maneuver that requires only a simple majority — 51 votes — to pass.

The tactic isn’t especially obscure. It’s frequently used when one of the TweedleDeeDum parties has a significant margin and – especially following an election like 2008 – an obvious mandate for change.

“The president has said countless times he will work with anybody and everybody who wants to work constructively on health care reform,” Robert Gibbs said.

“We continue to be hopeful that we can get bipartisan support, and we’ll continue to work with those that are interested in doing that.”

It should be clear by now that the Republicans have no interest in genuine healthcare reform. Today’s “bipartisanship” is as nonexistent as it was over the passage of Social Security or Medicare. No one remembers what tactics were used to get those through Congress. And the average American would suggest prison terms for anyone seriously trying to get rid of those mainstays of social legislation.

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The family of Ian Tomlinson face a three-year wait for an inquest into his death, according to legal experts, who say that pressures on the coroners’ system are “frustrating the grieving process” for victims’ relatives.

The claim is likely to dismay critics of the police, who have expressed concerns about how Tomlinson’s death is being investigated. According to the first post-mortem examination, Tomlinson, a 47-year-old homeless newspaper vendor with a drink problem, died after suffering a heart attack while caught up in last week’s G20 protests.

Video footage appears to show a riot policeman hitting Tomlinson with a baton and shoving him to the ground. There are also claims that Tomlinson may have been bitten by a police dog, and that he came into contact with the police on several occasions before the alleged assault was captured on video. There are concerns that the alleged assault – which took place as Tomlinson was trying to get back to his hostel – may have contributed to his heart attack. A second post-mortem was carried out on Thursday.

The footage has raised questions about police tactics for dealing with protesters, and in particular the strategy called “kettling”, which involves herding protesters behind cordons…

Legal experts said last night that a full independent inquest is unlikely to take place for years. “From our experience of deaths involving police contact, delays of two to three years are not uncommon,” said Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, the organisation that represents the families of people who die in custody.

I am never hopeful that any government body can be moved beyond political motives to accomplish a damned thing. That doesn’t mean they can’t be pushed into doing the just and honorable thing. Just that pushing is required.

Stalling and stonewalling is as common this side of the pond; so, it’s nothing new to our American and Canadian readers. Doesn’t make it any less contemptible.

Banker chic can be described in so many ways: conservative, unimaginative, boring and, next week, downright dangerous. On Tuesday, the mere act of wearing a plain grey suit – be it from Savile Row or Reiss – anywhere within the confines of the London EC1-EC4 postcodes, will apparently be as provocative as donning a flamboyant matador’s costume in a bullring, at least in the eyes of a G20 protester. So think the Metropolitan police, who have advised City workers to dress down on Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid being identified as bankers.

This is likely to present a sartorial challenge to those whose wardrobe skills usually involve deciding which Sketchley’s plastic wrapping to remove. And it is a conundrum that the police seem to be grossly unqualified in giving advice on. So far, City workers have simply been told to avoid suits and dress down in chinos and loafers. That’s it. No word on what to do about the top half, complete silence on accessories, no styling diktats whatsoever.

Not only is the advice incomplete, it is, as anyone who has ever given the glossy pages of Tatler a cursory flick knows, possibly the worst wardrobe advice ever. Chinos and loafers simply reek of money and poshness. Bankers who choose this option might as well wear a T-shirt with a slogan that reads “I spent my bonus on a yacht”. Consider the poster boy for this look: Prince Harry, regularly spotted leaving any given Kensington nightclub wearing beige chinos and brown Sebago loafers – hardly the best disguise with which to fool those anti-capitalist protesters, is it?

Even though I have no personal acquaintance with most of the brands Imogen references, I get the point. RTFA for her suggestions for women bankers, as well.

All of it humorous, though the premise that G20 protestors will all behave like football hooligans is a bit of a stretch. Even dull-normal anarchists who may come from the same gene pool cul-de-sac as, say, the dolts who occasionally embarrass Swansea supporters – generally haven’t the courage to attack much of anything much more likely to retaliate than a shop window.

Daylife/Reuters Pictures

When climate camp protesters descended on the site of the Kingsnorth power station for a week-long summer demonstration, the scale of the police operation to cope with them was enormous.

Police were accused of using aggressive tactics, confiscating everything from toilet rolls and board games to generators and hammers. But ministers justified what they called the “proportionate” £5.9 million cost of the operation, pointing out that 70 officers had been injured in the course of their duties.

But data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act puts a rather different slant on the nature of those injuries, disclosing that not one was sustained in clashes with demonstrators.

Papers acquired by the Liberal Democrats via Freedom of Information requests show that the 1,500 officers policing the Kingsnorth climate camp near the Medway estuary in Kent, suffered only 12 reportable injuries during the protest during August.

Injuries reported included “stung on finger by possible wasp”; “officer injured sitting in car”; and “officer succumbed to sun and heat”. One officer cut his arm on a fence when climbing over it, another cut his finger while mending a car, and one “used leg to open door and next day had pain in lower back”.

A separate breakdown of the 33 patients treated by the police tactical medicine unit at the climate camp shows that three officers had succumbed to heat exhaustion, three had toothache, six were bitten by insects, and others had diarrhoea, had cut their finger or had headaches.

Sounds like British coppers are daisies and their political bosses are liars. So, what’s new?

Charlie Black, chief strategist for John McCain, made some surprisingly frank comments in an interview with Fortune Magazine, surprising only in the fact that someone in the McCain campaign would openly say what they are thinking.

Mr. Black referred to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as an “unfortunate event” but acknowledged that “it helped us” referring to the timing of the assassination coinciding with the New Hampshire primary. He also said of a future terrorist attack; “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him (McCain).”

McCain denounced Black’s comments saying, “its not true.” Black also apologized for his remarks, saying he “deeply regrets the comments” and calling them “inappropriate.”

Sounds like a big dose of CYA to me. The only thing “inappropriate” to Mr. Black and Sen. McCain is that Black actually said these things out loud. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that McCain’s campaign is built on one theme and one theme only–national security. It is to scare the American people into thinking that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to deal with what might happen, and that McCain would be the steady hand at the wheel.

This wasn’t an impulsive sound bite. It was part of a reasoned, reviewed and edited magazine article.

Let’s face it, he didn’t say anything outside our already existing concerns about the politics of fear that have become the hallmark of neocon politics.

Thanks, K B