Daily Dose of Common Sense

I know it’s not very PC to say this right now, but I’m one of those parents that occasionally let my kids eat fast food. We eat the majority of our meals at home where I can watch fat, salt, and sugar intake. But, as a fun outing, we take the two little ones to eat at McDonalds and then play on the indoor playground.

And, sometimes my kids get a toy with the meal that they are mildly interested in. For a minute.

Well, Santa Clara, California wants to take those toys away. They have passed an ordinance where meals sold to children have to meet certain nutritional guidelines in order to include a toy.

Any meal that has more than more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium, more than 35 percent of total calories from fat or more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar, or any individual food item more than 200 calories cannot include a toy under the ordinance. Violations would be punishable by fines of as much as $1,000 for each meal sold with a toy.

Now, I know there is a childhood obesity epidemic in this country. No one can deny that U.S. kids need to eat better. I have watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution in West Virginia with interest, and I’m encouraged by the idea of National Salt Reduction Initiative. It seems like a ball is rolling that will improve the quality and quantity of our kids’ food. But…the toys? Really? Talk about taking your eye off the big picture.

Should we take away the crayons and color books at the sit-down chains? Their food isn’t much healthier for kids:

For example, popular choices on the Kid’s Menu at Chili’s Grill & Bar might get your child anywhere from 210 to 890 calories just for the entree and a side dish, even before you add on a drink, dressing (like a side of ranch dressing for the Chicken Crispers – 240 calories), and dessert.

Do you really think that our kids are fat because of the Avatar figurines included in a Happy Meal? The toys aren’t the lure; it’s the FOOD. Deep-fried and salty, the food is what most kids really want. And, that’s not the end of the world every now and again.

Even when served with a toy.

This post originally appeared on RationalMoms on Monday, May 3, 2010.

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Not all claims of environmental friendliness are created equal. In fact, some are outright lies. That’s where Greenwash comes in. Greenwash is a blog in The Guardian that seeks to expose, “the exaggeration, absurd claims or downright lies that big business makes about its green credentials.”

For a sample of what the author, Fred Pearce, takes on, here’s a bit from a post, Green advertising rules are made to be broken:

Big companies can always drive a coach and horses through the rules, greening their corporate image by mixing a couple of heavily marketed green products into a range of many more thoroughly un-green products.

Again, oil companies are notorious. This column has returned several times to the greenwash strategies of BP and Shell, plastering the country with posters and double-page adverts extolling their involvement in green energy, which in truth makes up a tiny (and recently diminishing) part of their investment.

Yea! We love it when anyone exposes lies and untruths, whether it’s big business, small business, or no one’s business. A lot of Greenwash’s content relates more to Europe, but the environment is a huge topic worldwide right now. It’s great that someone is sifting through the green spin to find the truth.

We shouldn’t speed, drive drunk, or be aggressive/reckless behind the road. We know it, but sometimes it helps to be reminded–especially in a clever way. Australia has decided to use some off-beat humor in a viral campaign to get a safe driving message across to younger drivers. The tag line: “Don’t be a dickhead.” I must admit that some of these are amusing. You would almost think they’re Saturday Night Live skits.

The ads discuss the possible–yet completely crazy–consequences of unsafe driving. These include: red-headed angels will get their wings, you will live the rest of your life with a giant pole coming out of your stomach, Twitter and Facebook will be turned off, and more.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcIy8-EKW00

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCsPaW3Ghz0

And…wait for it…my favorite:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CBJr0GReI

It’s great to see a company (in this case, the Victoria, Australia government) doing something out of the ordinary to reach a new audience. Think of how great it would be if someone would roll out the “Don’t litter or you’re a douche bag” campaign. It would make you think twice about littering, wouldn’t it?

All of the ads can be seen here.

[Via AdFreak]

Yesterday was World Water Day. Did you celebrate? No, we didn’t either. But, water is a huge issue globally. Did you know that dirty water kills more people than violence? It’s true, according to the U.N.

We’re not a fan of bottled water, so it was great to find this. “The Story of Bottled Water” is by The Story of Stuff Project, and it should make you think twice about buying that next bottle of water.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

We’ve talked about water more than a few times here on DDOCS. (See “Water, Water Everywhere” and “The Great Water Debate: Bottled vs. Tap“.) But this video, while slightly on the hippie side, makes it plain and simple: you’re a rube if you buy bottled water. Unless your community has proven unsafe tap water, purchasing water in plastic bottles is absurd.

Drink tap water and save the money. If you don’t like the taste of your city water, buy a filter.

[Source: BoingBoing]

Talk about a genius invention! The PeePoo bag allows someone to pee and/or poop in it and then bury the bag to use as fertilizer. Now, you might not need this in your suburban town with fancy city-run sewage. But, think about third-world countries who struggle with the human waste issue every day.

For slums in the developing world where human waste is an unregulated nightmare and flying toilets are common practice, the bag provides a means of waterless sewage disposal and organic fertilizer all in one easy, biodegradable step.

The bag has special lining that breaks down the waste and it even kills any bacteria or pathogens inside. Completely brilliant! If only every invention could be this useful. Sort of makes the Flowbee all that more embarrassing….

[Thanks to Denise R. for the link!]

This pillow freaks me out. It’s called the Hug Me, and it’s a pillow in the shape of a man’s clothed arm.

I understand loneliness and the need for human contact. But, this pillow seems hardly the answer. It just comes off as creepy. And sad.

Please, buy a cat, fish, parrot, guinea pig…anything, instead.

Thanks to Sara B. for the link!

Tiger Woods held a press conference today (that was streamed live on the Web, no less) to apologize to us.

In case you’ve been living under a rock with no TV, Woods has had some extramarital affairs. So, why do we need an apology in such a private matter? I’m not sure. Was it a PR move for his remaining sponsors? His wife’s idea? A dare? I would believe any of those reasons over just his need for the world’s forgiveness to get on with his life. Think about it… If a friend, co-worker, relative, or total (non-famous) stranger cheated on his or her spouse, would you get an apology? Absolutely not.

Tiger, go away and play golf. We don’t care about what you do in your free time. Really, we don’t.

Sometimes I envy the days when the media would look the other way on the transgressions of famous people (Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, FDR, etc.). There are things that are just none of anyone else’s business. Think of how many tabloids would be out of business!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc02ZEPJuF8

If it’s between this and flowers for Valentine’s Day… FLOWERS! Dear god, let it be flowers.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPoDIhTRo1k

[Via MomLogic]

Remember the Ouija Board? It’s a staple of the middle school sleepover, to fill up the minutes when you aren’t playing “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.” Well, Hasbro has released a pink version of the game and some folks are really…well…freaked out.

Meet Stephen Phelan, communications director for Human Life International, who believes that using a Ouija Board, “will leave a person’s soul vulnerable to attack.”

“It’s not Monopoly. It really is a dangerous spiritual game and for [Hasbro] to treat it as just another game is quite dishonest.”

Some comments on the product’s Amazon page chastise Hasbro for marketing Ouija Boards to young girls. Reviewers say Hasbro should be ashamed, and one person advises to buy this only if you hate your child:

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, right? Why doesn’t Amazon.com sell automatic weapons or child porn? Because it is understood that these are very dangerous.

Um, what? Child porn and guns are the same as Ouija Boards?! That seems a bit ridiculous. And, actually, it’s not understood that these are dangerous. Has there ever, EVER, been an incident reported where something bad happened (legitimately) because of a Ouija Board? They have been debunked many times. How does a Ouija Board work?

What makes the pointer move? An effect similar to that which occurs in dowsing, known as the ideomotor effect. This is a fancy name for involuntary/unconscious movement, such as a dowser’s hand flicking enough to move his stick when he passes over an area he knows has water.

Sorry to get all “science-y” on you, but this should explain that a Ouija Board is nothing to be afraid of. It’s a game, and just a game. So, paint it pink, blue, purple, or yellow–it still won’t conjure up anything more than harmless fun. Don’t believe the experts? Then take Skeptic.com’s advice and debunk it yourself:

To prove this, simply try it blindfolded some time. Have an unbiased bystander take notes on what words or letters are selected. Usually, the results will be unintelligible.

I actually think it’s pretty smart of Hasbro to create a pink version and market it to tween girls. They know *exactly* who their audience is!

[Via BoingBoing]

With stomach flu taking over our house this week, we didn’t have much time for the news. But, of the little we saw, here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• Heinz has redesigned the ketchup packet. No longer do we need to fool with torn packets and ketchup everywhere. Behold the new packet that lets you either dunk or squeeze.

And, some did not.

• A man at a sledding party in Michigan wanted a boost of power. So, he filled a car muffler with gasoline and gunpowder, strapped it to his back, and ignited it for what he hoped would be a rocket-launch effect. He was burned over 20% of his body. No word on why NO ONE at the sledding party warned him what a bad idea this was.