I didn’t think things could get much more weirder than they already are, but I am consistently and constantly proven wrong.

The latest, if you haven’t already heard, is the campaign to brand food with labels warning against children choking.

The whole thing sort of reminds me of that person who spilled hot coffee on themselves and sued McDonald’s because they got burned even though there was a warning right on the cup stating, Caution: HOT!

Which is to say, we are a nation who has lost their common sense.

The group [The American Academy of Pediatrics] is issuing a new policy statement calling on the government and manufacturers to implement a food labeling system warning parents of these risks.

“This is a call to action,” said Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatrician and immediate past chairman of the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“For many years, the U.S. has protected children from choking on toys. We have legislation. We have regulation. We have voluntary standards. We have labeling. We have recall programs,” said Smith, also director of the Center for Injury, Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

They want to go so far as to recall foods that pose a risk of choking if necessary.

The American Academy of Pediatrics lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids. Grapes, raw carrots, apples and peanuts are also dangerous.

So…..common sense should tell you to cut these foods up in smaller pieces. Seems logical. Or, don’t give these foods to your child.

This article sites this fact:

Choking kills more than 100 U.S. children 14 years or younger each year and thousands more — 15,000 in 2001 — are treated in emergency rooms.

While this fact is disheartening, AAP shouldn’t have to go so far as mandating choking warning labels for food. It seems overkill to me. There should be awareness, but not legislation.

…the American Academy of Pediatrics lists a few tips on its Web site to help parents with problem foods. It suggests parents:

• Cut hot dogs lengthwise and grapes in quarters. This changes the dangerous shape of the food, which can block throats of young children and even teenagers.

• Avoid giving toddlers other high-risk foods such as hard candy, nuts, seeds and raw carrots.

• Never let small children run, play or lie down while eating.

Okay. The above-it’s common sense. Why is it necessary for them to post this on their site? Are Americans really that incompetent? Or are companies making us think we are?

I’m only going to say my piece here, then leave it alone.

Something is unbalanced when Tiger Woods’ apology gets natural disaster/Presidential coverage in the news.

I mean, did a hurricane happen? Crazy devastating earthquake (oh yeah, Haiti-remember that?). Did the President say something? Tiger’s apology was Breaking News on some news outlets, if not all. That isn’t breaking news.

It seems as if there are more important things we should be worrying about than some high-profile sportsman’s infidelity. Who cares that he has to go to rehab? All good celebs have to at some point. What he really should be apologizing for, in addition to apologizing to his wife and family, is sucking up time on all the news circuits.

Earlier in the month, Governor Schwarzenegger ordered an investigation into what is causing an over abundance of birth defects such as facial deformations and cleft palates in Kettleman City, California.

“This is a tremendous victory for the people of Kettleman City, whose pleas for help have fallen on deaf ears, including the state’s for the past 15 months, said Bradley Angel, executive director of the environmental justice group Greenaction. “We just wish he would have done this a year ago.”

Kettleman City is home to one of the most toxic waste plants in the state of California. But, it also sits off I-5, a major thoroughfare for the trucking industry.

Some say diesel emissions and pesticides on nearby farm fields could be contributing to the health problems.

The birth defects became a rallying point last year for residents trying to stop the expansion plans of the West’s largest hazardous waste facility by Chemical Waste Management Inc. Their stories of miscarriages and the photographs they carried of children with facial defects failed to convince the Kings County Board of Supervisors that the company’s expansion plans should not go forward.

The people at Waste Management, Inc. (owners of the plant)

are confident it will show their operation is not to blame for the facial defects in five of 20 children born there between September 2007 and November 2008.

They probably aren’t the sole cause for the defects, but they are definitely part of the problem.

The governor said both the California Department of Public Health and the state EPA will conduct the investigation and present initial findings at a meeting Feb. 9. The investigation will include interviews with residents, and reviews of soil samples and medical records.

Read the article here.

Follow-up article here

Here we are in Utah again. This time lawmakers want to help cut the state deficit by putting advertising on the sides of school buses, starting with the Jordan School District.

Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, is sponsoring a bill that would allow school boards to sell advertising space on the exteriors of school buses. He said the Jordan School District’s financial troubles inspired him to run the bill. The Jordan board decided last week to cut hundreds of jobs and increase class sizes to deal with an estimated $30 million budget shortfall next school year.

There are a few stipulations: No alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling or sexual material are to be advertised and it must be age appropriate.

Naturally, there are concerns about the kids’ over-exposure to commercialism and the ads causing too much distraction all around.

“Somebody’s reading an advertisement and not realizing that the bus is stopping,” said Bob Riley, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services. “We want them seeing one thing when they see a school bus, and that’s basically a yellow flag of caution.”

Childhood advocates Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood have spoken out on the subject as well, throughout other states.

What really irks me-amazingly-is not the fact that they are considering putting the ads on, but that they think the kids won’t actually pay attention to the ads.

One parent is actually quoted as saying:

“I don’t think they’d pay attention,” said Geurts, who has three teenagers and an 11-year-old in the Davis District.

Hate to say it, but Guerts’ statement seems a bit naive. Of course they’d pay attention. Kids pick up on everything.

However,

Parent Trissy Bawden, also of Bountiful, called putting ads on buses, “a seemingly simple way to get some money for education which is much needed.”

Her husband, Sam Bawden, said he’s not as concerned about his four young children being exposed to ads as he is about them suffering the impacts of school budget cuts.

“The education budget is a bigger issue in my mind than commercialization,” he said.

Read the entire article here.

In an effort to save money, State Senator Chris Buttars of Utah has proposed making 12th grade optional. Your last year of high school, optional.

He said eliminating 12th grade altogether would have saved $102 million.

If given the option to skip 12th grade that would save something like $60 million. Utah is certainly a state that could use some cuts here and there (especially when their state deficit runs to the tune of $700 million) , but I’m not sure cutting out 12th grade-cutting education- is the answer.

Are kids really ready to forgo Senior year?  J. D. Williams doesn’t think so-

J.D. Williams, student body president at West Jordan High School in Utah, told the Los Angeles Times that he’s against the plan.

“I need this year,” Williams said. “My parents are against it… All the teachers at the school are against it. I’m against it.”

Utah also wants to put ads on school buses to combat the state’s debt.

Neither idea is going over so well.

On cutting 12th grade:

“It is very shortsighted,” John Balden, president of the Utah chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, told ABC News. “Students don’t just play in 12th grade. They really do study. In higher education we find an awful lot of students unprepared for college. Twelfth grade is really a necessary grade.”

Many students actually use 12th grade to get everything in place and are thankful for the benefits the extra time provides.

What happens if Senior year gets the axe?