Publications by Patrick Rhodes
The NFL: Pass or Lose
The rushing game is slowly disappearing. Heave That Sucker When it doubt, chunk the pigskin. Whether you like it or not, NFL (National Football League) teams are relying upon passing more and more. Looking at the above chart, the average passing yards per game tends to go up by 25 yards every two decades – or 1.25 yards per year. Can’t To...
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Global Homicide Rates by Government Type
Surprising results For purposes of this article, any mention of homicide rates refers to reported homicide rates. Open vs Closed In mostly open countries (full democracies), the homicide rates are rather low when compared to other types of governments – except for authoritarian regimes. Left open to speculation, the reasons can be many. Perh...
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Global Fires, the Amazon and Humans
Fires are natural – most of the time (click on image for larger view). Natural Global Fires Many plants and animals have evolved to depend on fires periodically occurring in certain parts of the world. This phenomenon has been occurring for millions of years, successfully replenishing and rejuvenating the areas in which it is allowed to hap...
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Body Weight in the United States – Part 1, "The Problem"
The Problem In the United States, people are getting fatter and they are doing so at an alarming rate. So What? Being fat isn’t just a social stigma – it’s unhealthy in nearly every facet of life. Staying in this condition brings high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and arthritis to name but a few. Additionally, an obese person has a mu...
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Body Weight in the United States – Part 2, "Non Factors"
Sometimes the story isn’t what is a trend, but rather what is not a trend. In this second installment about body weight in the U.S., listing what doesn’t seem to be contributing factors will help narrow down what might actually be the problem(s). Alcohol “Stay busy, get plenty of exercise and don’t drink too much. Then again, don’t ...
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Body Weight in the United States – Part 3, "Contributing Factors"
Carbs In Part 2 of this series, micro-nutrients were cited as a non-factor for weight gain. This is not the case with macro-nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water). While fats, proteins and water are essential (without them you could not live), carbohydrates, on the other hand, don’t appear to share this status. As Dr. Christian B. Al...
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Health Care Costs – Part 1, "The Problem"
The Problem In the United States, health care costs have been going up for a number of years, even when adjusted for inflation. Not unlike a runaway freight train, this rampant inflation cannot continue indefinitely without crashing. Health What is ‘health’, anyway? According to Steven Jonas, MD, Raymond Goldsteen, DrPH, and Karen Goldstee...
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Health Care Costs – Part 2, "Unhealthy Things Not Related to the Problem"
Lighting Up Way back in the day, folks believed that smoking was not only cool but also completely safe. As Marcel Danesi states in his book Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things, Second Edition: An Introduction to Semiotics (Semaphores and Signs): “American society believed that smoking was not only highly fashionable, but...
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Health Care Costs – Part 3, "Why You Are Paying More"
Malpractice – A Booming Industry? Perhaps authors Frank Sloan, Randall Bovbjerg and Penny Githens capture it best from their book Insuring Medical Malpractice: “If aging Doctor Kildare were to return to medical practice today, having been in suspended animation since the early 1960s, he would find enormous changes in his malpractice insura...
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2012 Summer Olympics: Home Court Advantage – How Will the Brits Perform?
The Olympics are a big deal on a global scale. How big? Perhaps Paula Radcliffe (an English long distance runner) said it best: “I have achieved a lot and I’m grateful for that – I’m just a bit greedy because I want to add the Olympics. It’s once every four years – everyone wants it and very few people get it.” Take that sentiment...
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