False flaggers appear once again

When something like this week’s terror-bombing in Boston happens it can cause you to seriously question any faith you might have had in the basic goodness of humanity.  Then the comments that some people make in the aftermath of such a tragedy can make you wonder why you ever gave us the benefit of a doubt in the first place.

Yes, the “false flaggers” are out in force once again.  These are the people who see every terrorist act as a secret government plot to sway public opinion to support whatever their agenda happens to be. 

False flag is a term that originated in naval warfare when a ship would fly the flag of its enemy to confuse them into thinking they were friendly, thus supplying them with a tactical advantage.  It has over the years come to mean any military act perpetrated by those in power disguised to look like an act by an enemy force, usually for the purpose of fooling the public into supporting some political agenda.

We heard from the false flaggers on 9/11 when left-wingers like Cynthia McKinney suggested that the Bush administration knew the attacks were coming but gave them tacit approval so they would have an excuse to wage war in the Middle East.  More recently some on the right claimed the Sandy Hook massacre was orchestrated by Obama operatives as a pretext for swaying the public to support his gun control initiatives.

And now the lunatic fringe is suggesting that Obama is up to his old tricks, terror-bombing his own citizens so that he can – what?  I don’t think even the conspiracy theorists have come up with a semi-coherent explanation about what blowing up runners and spectators at the Boston Marathon is supposed to have accomplished for our “Dr. Evil” President.  But I’m sure they’ll let us know once they piece it together.

I see this as an extreme example of a trap many of us fall into.  We want life to be simple and straightforward.  We want the world to be made up of good guys and bad guys, with the good guys being made up of ourselves and the people who look, act, and think like us.  The bad guys are made up of everyone else, and they are constantly working on tearing down all that is good and righteous in the world.

Some people approach politics that way, and we are more polarized than ever.  There is a troublingly large group of people on both the left and right who see the other side as not just wrong in their beliefs about the best kind of government, but as bad people who do nothing but bad things, all the time.

If you are seeing things through that filter, then it’s going to seem like the most obvious thing in the world that Bush allowed the Twin Towers to be destroyed or that Obama somehow was behind Sandy Hook and the Boston bombing.  And you won’t require a great deal of proof to be offered to convince you that the smug so-and-so in the White House is at it again.

As it turns out though, the world is not that simple.  The human race is made up of left-wingers, right-wingers, moderates, libertarians, fascists, socialists, anarchists, and even a large group of people who don’t care a lot about politics and are motivated by completely different things altogether.

The President of the United States is a powerful man, but he’s just one guy.  Everyone who has ever sat in that office has had his good points and bad points, and I don’t think any of them have been the embodiment of evil or had “destroy America” as the top item on his agenda. 

Their opponents should stop conferring these near-omnipotent powers of evil on them.  It’s both silly and counter-productive to their cause.

A very simple exercise plan

Exercise.  A lot of us hate to hear that word.  We know we need to do it, but most of us don’t do it nearly as often as we should.  And the main reason for that in many cases is a lack of motivation.

It’s just a whole lot easier to sit on the couch or in our easy chair and watch television, surf the Internet, or chatter away on the phone.  Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.  Often until they are unconscious.

Well, my friends, I am here today to tell you that I have discovered a way to get and stay motivated to exercise.  For the past year and a half I have walked a mile every almost single day, regardless of what the weather is like outside or how energetic I feel that day. 

Let me assure you that I do not just love walking that much and that I’m not some kind of fitness freak.  I stumbled on a way to ensure that I was walking everyday completely by accident.  The best part is it’s a very simple plan that anyone should be able to follow.  It consists of only three steps and I’m going to share them with you right now.  Ready?  You might want to write this down.

Step 1: Get a dog.

Step 2: Decide on a time during the day when you will have 30 minutes or so to devote to exercise.  For me it’s right before or after dinner in the evenings.

Step 3: Leash up the dog and take him for a walk.  Do this for a few days in a row.

That’s it.  From that point on, the dog will take over and motivation will never be a problem again.

Dogs are creatures of habit and for whatever reason they love to take walks.  They love it more than anything in the world.  When it is “walk time” my dog will do whatever he has to do to get my attention and he will not leave me alone until he is in his harness and headed for the door.

He will not take “no” for an answer.  It is never too cold, too hot, too windy, or too wet to walk.  If I am lying on the couch, he will climb on top of me and stare at me until I haul myself up and put on my shoes.  You will never have a better “exercise buddy” than a dog, that’s for sure.

You don’t have to take my word for it either – scientific surveys back me up.  A study published in the “Journal of Physical Activity” showed that dog owners are 34% more likely than non-owners to get the federal government’s recommended amount of exercise.  Another health survey I found showed that 60% of dog owners who took their pets for regular walks met the recommended standards for regular exercise while less than a third of non-owners did.

Of course getting a pet is a big commitment and it’s not for everyone.  I hate to see people adopt animals and then not give them the care and love that they deserve to have.  It’s a big decision and one that should be carefully considered.

But if you do adopt a dog, or if you already have one, I strongly encourage you to use their innate walk-loving nature to help you get into better shape.  You will never have a better (or more reasonably priced) fitness coach than your four-legged buddy.

One word of caution however for any novice dog-walker – watch out for squirrels.  That’s especially true if you have one of those big, more powerful breeds.  A casual walk can turn into an unexpected sprint very quickly when a wayward squirrel crosses one’s path.