Vanilla Windex

The wolf came in, I got my cards,
We sat down for a game
I cut my deck to the Queen of Spades,
But the cards were all the same
- Robert Hunter, "Dire Wolf"

Only the dead have seen the end of war.
-George Santayana

I had taken a week off from my normal workout schedule, which proved both relaxing and irritating. There's really not a hell of a lot going on in Lawton and/or Fort Sill- good thing there's plenty of books, and a gym! Getting back into the swing of working out, I stopped off today for a protein shake. Called Muscle Milk, it actually contains no milk. So says the label, anyway. I'd recommend these for people who really aren't that concerned about how it tastes, but need to heal up quickly after a workout, as it works wonders in that area. Today was vanilla (it comes in several flavors, most all based around milkshakes- strawberry, malted, chocolate). It tastes rather like vanilla ice cream blended with Windex, however.
Speaking of books, I just started an interesting one called Merchants of Doubt, dealing with scientific cover-ups (lacking a better term). There have been studies, as you probably know, that set out to refute things like the dangers of tobacco products (mostly cigarettes, I think), global warming and the like. Though some people who smoke do not in fact develop cancer, emphysema or other health problems, some people do. I once heard of a man who lived here in Lawton, who lived to be 100. This man was a poster child for alcoholism- every night found him at the bar, pounding it down with friends and neighbors. And even at his advanced age, could drink most of them under the table. But he still lived to be 100. The question is, would he have lived longer if he wasn't drinking so much? Who can say? Sounds like he had a long happy life. I'm not going to proselytize on the dangers of smoking, or any such thing- if you're old enough to read this, and old enough to purchase tobacco, you're a big boy/girl and can make your own decisions. I actually find those "truth" commercials a little self-righteous and annoying. They tell of how terrible tobacco is, how it kills millions of people, and how evil the tobacco companies are. Well, evil aside, these things are true, and are pretty much common knowledge. However, it belabors the question- what about the lack of clean water? This kills a hell of a lot more people worldwide than smoking ever could. What about people starving to death? Again, this number blows tobacco out of the water.
Now, I'm all for increasing public awareness of the dangers we face- the key to responsible decisions is information, and this information may not be readily available. So keep people abreast of new scientific findings- like say, sushi can cause your brain to swell, driving you insane, as a for example. This would be useful to know, so we can change our behaviors. Once that knowledge becomes public, however, and a person still decides to eat sushi (it is pretty darn good), it's on their own heads. They know the risk, and say what the hey, I'm a gambler. I'll take the risk. Same thing with tobacco- everyone and their dog knows it's not good for you. Neither is a Texas Double Whopper and an order of onion rings, but that never stops me!
Now I go into the realm of opinion, and if you don't agree or like it, well, you're entitled to your opinion too! It's easy to hate tobacco companies, with their archetypal suited executives, and general selling of tobacco-type activities. Does this smack a little bit of self-congratulatory righteousness? "I did something good today, I was involved in a tobacco protest", kind of thinking. But did you do anything about the things that kill a lot more people than tobacco? Did you change your lifestyle in any way to make things just a little bit easier for your fellow man? Did you make a sacrifice for the common good? Hey, don't get me wrong. I completely accept my karmic inheritances in all this. But again, just my opinions.
So at any rate, there's a lot wrong in this world, but at the same time, do what you can. Not everyone can do great things, but everyone can do small things with greatness.