A reform on the U.S. McHealth system

As a quintessentially English person, my knowledge on the U.S. health reform is sketchy to say the least.

From what I’ve been able to ascertain by in depth research on Wikipedia, America is the only wealthy, industrialised nation on the planet that doesn’t have a general health care system, although the country spends more on health care than any other. The debate over the health care reform seems to centre around people’s right to be given such care, ease of access to it, fairness, sustainability, and quality.

Well I’ll put my European perspective on it and suggest that the debate should be centred around the most likely root cause of health issues in the States. McDonalds.

We all know that Americans like their burgers. This is evident by the horizontal dimensional aspect of the average person. So what I propose is that, instead of a health care reform, they should have a McDonalds reform. I recommend reducing the Big Mac to a low-carb Little Mac, a McFlurry with a McFruit Salad and the Egg McMuffin with a low-fat McYoghurt. French Fries (or chips to the rest of the world) will be replaced by sticks of celery and the traditional Coca-Cola will be replaced by spring water or freshly squeezed orange juice. The drive-thru will of course be banned so people will have to walk into the restaurant to order their food.

I estimate this will reduce obesity by 56% and heart disease by a further 48%. This will mean less need for a health care system altogether because people will be generally healthier. Of course, we all know that going into a McDonalds and ordering a salad would be like walking into a brothel and asking for a hug so this idea may need more input before being implemented.

What do you think? Log into Dadooda, get on your soapbox and voice your opinion!

Voicing an opinion on these useless bankers

If I, in my role as supreme technical overlord for a web development company, broke all of our web servers and caused our customers to go out of business, would I be rewarded? No I would probably be escorted out of the office head first and told I would never work again. Likewise if, in my role as legendary racing driver, I turned up and crashed into a wall at every race, would I get a pat on the back? No I'd get a punch in the face and then get sacked by the team.

These startling revelations bring me swiftly onto the subject of bankers bonuses. These greedy excuses for human beings are largely responsible for the financial mess we are in today. Their irresponsible lending of money that didn't exist is just one of many failures that have helped push us into this recession.

Now, a bonus should only be possible if the money is there to do it. If the banks have no money, how can they give bonuses? Also, surely bonuses should be given to those who deserve it – like people who have done a good job. The bankers obviously haven't done a good job have they? So how about a proper performance related pay scheme, whereby the bankers have to take a pay cut until we are out of this mess?

Now I could go on for hours but I'm limited to a few hundred words in these blogs so I'll leave you with this interesting thought: if I, in my role of racing journalist and satirical blogger, wrote an article that offended all and sundry, would I be praised and given a bonus? Well yes I probably would but that is a different matter altogether!

So there you have it; double standards! What do you think? Log into Dadooda, get on your soapbox and voice your opinion!

Being burnt alive by our wonderful Summer weather

A subject that shows no sign of abating is that of Global Warming. Every day some doomsayer tells us that the world is going to end unless we start driving around in cars powered by chicken poo.

It’s a subject that everyone is an expert on and we all have an opinion. Personally I think it’s all tripe. I cannot deny global warming is happening (although I’m sure it’s colder than it used to be) but can we really blame mankind? I mean we’ve only been monitoring climate change for a relatively short period of time and there his evidence of huge climate shift that took place millennia ago so what’s to say it isn’t part of some natural planetary cycle? The polar ice caps are still melting and have probably been doing so since the last ice age. Once they have completely melted, the result will no doubt be a temperate imbalance that pushes us back into another one.

The percentages of Co2 emissions we produce are tiny and it is a little known fact that cow flatulence produces more methane than automobiles so there is definitely a flaw in these eco-warriors’ argument somewhere.

Anyway, that is just my opinion. What do you think? If you have an opinion, get on your soapbox and vote!

Get on your soapbox

Now far be it from me to point out the irony of me promoting a tool that allows people to get on their soapbox and rant about world issues, it is my duty to report the release of yet another members feature from the boffins at Dadooda.

The Soapbox, which is available from the left hand column of all pages, allows members to log in and cast their vote on world issues and post their comments on the hot topic of the moment.

Now if, like me, you find you can be quite opinionated on matters pertaining to the world we live in, this is a nice little feature to get your views seen and heard. It is also a great way to communicate with fellow members, which of course is keeping with the craze of this social networking malarkey that is so big at the moment.

Just become a member of Dadooda and submit your rant. Oh don’t worry, it’s free and there is no catch!

It's My Face You Twit!

I recently wrote a column in which I gave my views on the youth of today and how, despite not even being 30 yet, they confuse me. Their language no longer makes sense and their insistence on wearing their trousers round their knees just baffles me.

Whilst I still consider myself young and hip enough to be able to use Facebook and Twitter, I find I’m far too mature to update my status with idiotic things like what colour pants I’m wearing or the fact that my neighbour is sleeping with my sister’s best friend’s son’s babysitter. No I’d rather read something more intellectual and informative.

This is what makes Dadooda so special. One of the site’s claims is that it appeals to the more senior social networker. As if to emphasize the point, the founder, Neil Stapley, is currently trekking around the rainforest of Kauai, where they filmed Jurassic Park.

With the ability to publish articles and books, upload video and audio files and create photo albums as well as communicate with other members through the PAL area, Dadooda pretty much combines the likes of Flickr, Youtube, MySpace and Facebook and rolls it up all in one nice little website.

The best thing to do is check it out yourself by visiting the Dadooda website but I’ll leave you with this interesting thought: If you combine MySpace, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter you could get a site called MyFaceYouTwit… or you could get a better site called Dadooda!