Rasing The Driving Age?

Are you kidding me?

Evidently there’s an effort to raise the driving age from 16 to 17 or 18 in this country. The case is being made because driving accidents are leading cause of teen deaths. Here’s the problem though, the Insurance Institue for Highway Safety is providing the wrong solution to the wrong question.

This isn’t a question about age, it’s about maturity and practice. Age doesn’t guarantee maturity, so why should a 16 year old safe driver be penalized for his or her peers? Because it’s easier to lump everyone together? I’ve seen plenty of drivers over the age of 18 that should be off the road. The United States takes a view that a driver’s license is pretty much a right and not a privledge. That’s the ultimate question, should driving be a privilege?

If the IIHS is really worried about creating safer roads through better driving, then we should be talking about the following things:

• Mandatory Driver’s Education
• Better enforcement of aggressive driving and traffic laws
• Required written testing, not just once-and-you’re-done
• Required driving tests every few years
• Stricter DUI limitations
• Fuel efficent, less powerful cars
• Required Headsets or Speakphones for in car use of cell phones
• Black boxes for your car
• Increased punishment for traffic violations

2008 New Year’s Resolutions

A review of the 2007 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Exercise more / eat right: I started off strong and crapped out about halfway through. It’s something that is going to stay on this list for a long time. I’ve struggled most of my life with this stuff, but I’m staying positive and I’m going to make a better effort in 2008. Specifically I’m going to exercise more and overall eat less.

2. Clean out the house: Talk about making a huge dent in the project. This can fall into an ongoing list now, as there’s always a little bit of cleanup to do, but overall I’d say my goal was achieved. The paperwork is much more organized now, the closets are cleaned out, and there is generally less clutter around the house.

3. Grow ScalpEm.com’s writing base and readership: Well, I grew the readership and the advertising base, but I’ve still had no luck growing my contributors in the sense of contributing articles. However, I did get more contributions in the comments section, which means A) there are more readers and B) they are contributing that way. Mission accomplished.

So where do I head from here? 2008 New Year’s Resolutions

1. Healthy Living: It remains #1 on my list for 2008. Specifically, I’m going to exercise at least 3 times per week for 30 minutes. Eat a vegetable at least 5 times per week, and I’m going to work on ways to relieve stress, either through Zen meditation, sports… whatever works.

2. Invest some money. By the end of the year I would like to invest in either a mutual fund, an IRA (which would be a mutual fund) or a combination of both. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to save, nor am I sure what the best combination of tax benefits and flexibility of getting the money is at the moment, but I have the early part of 2008 to figure that out.

3. Push ScalpEm.com into the Top 100,000 Alexa Websites: To do this, my writing is going to have to be much, much better. Specifically, I’m going to stick to a regular posting schedule with regular features. I’m also opening a message board at TailgatingForNoReason.com.

Resolutions: Week 46

1. Healthier Living - Um, it’s the holidays. It’s going to be tough I’m sure, but I’ll keep portions under control.

2. Cleanup - I’ve reorganized the pantry and a big cabinet in the kitchen.  It freed up a bunch of space, and it’ll make getting Thanksgiving dinner items easier to put away.

3. Website Growth - EmptyNotebook is a superstar this week thanks to the post about NBC Life. It’s nice to get some comments over here.

Resolutions: Week 45

1. Healthier Living - I’m feeling better finally, had some weird stuff going on which was like stress related. Or maybe it was a virus. Good news is that the doctor wasn’t concerned.

2. Cleanup - Bam! My girlfriend and I got a spiffy new calendar for the fridge to keep track of important dates, and I got rid of all of the crap on my dresser. It’s all nicely filed in the To Pay, Paid, and To Save letter organizer on the dresser. That should keep things a lot cleaner. I’ve got a couple of filing cases to file away the paperwork that I need to keep around too.

3. Website Growth - ScalpEm.com and EmptyNotebook are continuing to risk up the Alexa ranks, although it’s slowly starting to level off. I’m very, very pleased with 2007’s performance was it comes to a close over the next month and a half though. I also launched a redesign of ScalpEm.com, which everyone seems to be very, very happy with. Not only did it make the site look more professional, and easier to read, but it opened up more space for advertising, that isn’t overly intrusive.

The South Beach Heart Diet

Is the “plumbing model” for heart disease all wrong? Famed South Beach Diet guru, Dr. Agatston thinks so. The MSNBC article is interesting. I don’t have a lot to add about it, other than I’ve seen South Beach work pretty well and Agatston seems to know what he’s talking about. So maybe his model and his plea for prevention is a better solution than the current one of drugs and repair?