My How the Year Has Flown

Already this is July, a time to celebrate and rejoice in our freedoms, and reflect on the greatness that makes the United States of America so great. A country unlike so many others. A country that is an experiment in the making for 235 years now. Yet I am appalled by the destruction of the very foundations of our Republic by those who believe in a different ideology. I am appalled at those who are looking to "fundamentally" change all the things that brought this country to greatness.

This past week I looked on at the circus of spectators waiting to hear the verdict of a woman, Casey Marie Anthony, accused of committing a heinous crime, and then when the verdict came back that circus almost became a mob. Why? Because these people disagreed with the verdict of not guilty by a jury of this woman's peers, is why! The media had almost 24x7 coverage of the trial, the media sensationalized the trial as if it were a sporting game, and the media had this woman convicted even before she came to trial.

Then the media in their coverage had expert after expert who all testified to the power of the prosecution's case, and the weakness of the defense's strategy in defending this woman. When the verdict came back NOT GUILTY (different from innocent) everyone was shocked, dismayed, angered, to the point of despair. Except those of us who used logic and common sense. First we did not get caught up in this media hype. Second, we did not personalize, and internalize the death of little Caylee Marie Anthony. Third most of us had other more important issues to attend to than to sit 24-7 and obsess over whether Casey Anthony, killed Caylee. It was not until the last week of the trial, that I even really became aware of this case. I followed it only peripherally because of someone in my households obsession with the case. As I listened to both prosecution's, and defense's summation of testimony during the closing I was struck by several questions that if answered could have changed the outcome of the trial. First question: Was Caylee Marie in the custody of her mother Casey Anthony's care at the time of her death? If not whose custody? Second: Did Casey Anthony actually cause Caylee's death intentionally, or by accident, or negligence? Third: Why did, if George and Cindy Anthony smelled human decomposition in the car, why did they not immediately call police and turn over the vehicle for forensic investigation? Fourth: Why did investigators not do a better job of determining cause and manner of death, before turning the case over for prosecution?

The burden of proof in a murder trial is a high standard, that of "beyond reasonable doubt" when presented to a "reasonable individual."  The defense's job is not to prove innocence, but to defend the accused to the best of their ability, and to the extent that the law allows. That means to put "reasonable doubt" into the minds of the jury of "reasonable individuals." The verdict in the Anthony case was not a verdict of innocent, but NOT GUILTY, based on the evidence presented by the prosecution. The defense presented scenarios that lead to reasonable doubt.

My personal feelings, just based on common sense, is Casey Anthony MAY have had something to do with the death. I'm not angry she was found not guilty, but disappointed that Caylee's death happened in the first place. Why did the little girl die? Where the reasonable doubt in my mind comes in to play is was it intentional, or accidental?

Though our legal system may have flaws, and may not be perfect, it is still one of the most fair, and impartial systems in the world. It strives to first protect the innocent, not to punish the guilty. It is there to determine matters of law, not morality, which brings me back to our country. It is a right and a protection afforded to every single one of us under the laws of this great country. If I were to ever be faced with a similar circumstance, and I hope the same for you, that the law would be applied fairly and equitably. What I hope is that there is no MOB mentality wanting to lynch the judge, jury, prosecutors, defense, or accused.

Finally I want to tie this all into Marketing since this blog is primarily about marketing. From a marketing stand point, the lesson here is to not over-hype and under deliver. The media in it's fervor to cover both the investigation and trial, sensationalized so many aspects of the whole sad affair. In doing so the media led many to conclusions that just were not true. Case in point; the chloroform searches. In evidence the facts came out that only 1 single search for chloroform was made, not 84 as speculated in the media. I blame this sensationalism of media on the case being brought to trial prematurely. Same thing should apply to your products and services. Never over promise and under-deliver, always, always, always, UNDER PROMISE, and OVER DELIVER to exceed expectations.

Thanks for your attention, and please if you are ever called to be on a jury don't shirk your responsiblity, serve. One day you may be accused, and need a fair and impartial jury.

Diet, Diets, Dieting, what is the truth?

Every New Year begins with people all over making resolutions to "lose weight", "get healthy", "eat healthy", and "work out more." OK, that all sounds good but how many folks stick to the resolutions? Roughly 68% of all adult Americans over the age of 20  are overweight to obese according to FastStats on the CDC website. That is people who are just overweight, to morbidly obese. So what about losing weight, what is the truth? Unless you have a medical reason for weight problems then the facts are hard to pinpoint why so many are overweight. Diet, Diets, and Dieting is a huge industry here in the US, and accounts for an estimated $40 Billion spent chasing the elusive ideal weight. Yet the rate for obesity, and weight related diseases continue to increase. Diabetes is the number one weight related disease, and heart disease a close second. 

So what is one to do? First don't approach losing the weight as something that you are going to do for a few weeks, then go back to the same old ways. Don't "diet", learn to change your attitude towards foods you eat. Learn to read the labels on foods, become aware of the foods that are good for you, and the foods that give you nutritionally empty calories. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), starchy vegetables, foods high in sugar all appeal to our taste buds, but according to research and studies are behind the obesity epidemic. So we need to begin to go back to more natural unprocessed foods. Buy more fresh fruits, and vegetables. Find the organic ones if you can, but buying the canned, and processed products add sugar, preservatives, and other ingredients which appear to cause weight retention. Convenience food items really should be avoided. Snacks like potato chips, corn chips are full of empty calories. For instance a popular brand of potato chips have 140 calories per serving. But exactly how much is a serving?? In this case for this particular brand of chips it is 1ounce, or roughly only 14 chips. So if you eat the whole bag ( not uncommon) which is 8.5 ounces you are consuming 1190 calories. Average daily caloric intake for women is about 1500 to 1800 calories, and 1800 to 2200 for men just to maintain current weight. That is also about128 grams of carbohydrates or roughly 43% of your daily recommended carb intake.  But it is not that simple. There are good carbohydrates, and those that are not so good. The good one are the complex variety, the ones that are not quickly converted into sugar. The not so good are quickly metabolized into sugars, from HFCS, starch, and sugary foods. When you are taking in the bad carbohydrates over time it causes the body to either not produce insulin or the cells to ignore the insulin leading to diabetes. Part of the problem with this whole food issue is that the better foods are more expensive, and economic issues creep into the factors of obesity, and food choices. Plus the advertisers in media telling you how good some of these products are for your health. Don't believe what you hear or read or see. Do your own research on nutrition, and make better choices in selecting food products. Start a garden in your back yard where you can grow your own fresh green veggies to save money. Plant fruit trees in your yard for fresh fruit, you'll be amazed at the difference in the taste of a tree/vine ripened fruit over store bought produce. 

The truth about diets, & dieting is that weight loss is simply consuming less calories than you use, or using more calories than you consume. It is about the combinations of the foods that we eat, and what we eat. It is about nutritional education. If we are knowledgeable and we make good choices then we can win this battle of the waist line, but the choices are between how much and what we eat, vs. how much exercise or calorie burning we accomplish. There is no simple quick fix to the long term problems of poor eating and exercise habits we have developed in life. There are programs, & diets that will help you lose the weight, but if you want to keep it off, you must have a paradigm shift, an attitude adjustment to make it permanent.