Am I a fast food chain terrorist?

When I first read this headline on the News section of the Reuters website: McDonald's December sales disappoint; shares fall; I was filled with a reasonable measure of excitement. Do not get me wrong, I am not a terrorist plotting to blow up strategically located outlets of McDonalds, KFC or any of the other fast-food, fast-fat, fast-death outlets. If you were to do some global stats on who the regular consumers of fast food are, I would not be anyway near the top of your stats list. You however will not find me languishing at the bottom either.

Why then was I excited with this seemingly negative titbit of news? The simple reason is that although I do partake now and again in these high-cholestrol, high-fat, high-sodium, low-nutrition, obesity-inducing "meals" now and again; I am a man on a mission to free myself of the urge to regularly nibble and swallow this vile poison. Like a smoker battling to free himself from the clutches of this addictive and falsely seductive and delicious taste, I constantly need the reassurance of knowing that out there, are many others also fighting for their health. There is strength in numbers and the less sales McDonalds and their cronies make; the more encouraged I become.

I particularly sympathise with children who will never live a normal, healthy life because they have become slaves of fast-food at an early age. Thanks to the glorification of fried chips, burgers and other gooey "delights" in the media, as well as the lack of concern from parents - children as young as three, are doomed to having limited mobility, heart disease, faulty breathing and a doggy bag full of other ailments. It was therefore disappointing to read further and learn that the cause of the low December sales was bad weather. Even then, I will not lose hope and can only keep my fingers crossed that this blog article will go viral on cyber space and cause the fast-food chain sales to plummet - for health reasons this time! Does that render me a terrorist?

What do you think of Svetlana, the 71 year con artist granny?

How would you feel if you were conned out of the equivalent of thousands or millions of US dollars by a 71 year old granny going by the unusual name of Svetlana? A far fetched fantasy? Not at all, have a quick browse on Reuters or Yahoo News and you will indeed find out that this is a true story. Russian Super Gran, Svetlana was tracked down only this past week, having been on the run from the law since 2008.

Between 2007 and 2008, Svetlana is said to have posed as a well connected granny with contacts at Moscow’s City Hall. She lured Russian businessmen into parting with huge sums of money, promising to secure land in upmarket estates of Moscow from her City Hall “contacts.” That was the last that the corrupt land prospectors saw of granny dearest, until now!

As investigations continue, the septuagenarian has been restricted by the police from travelling outside of Moscow. It will be interesting to unearth the motive behind her con artistry. One would like to think that for her to win the confidence of some of Russia’s top business men, she holds some level of status and financial clout, unless if her victims were outright nitwits who were too desperate for land to think properly! Could she have done it to secure the future of her descendants or did she have a bucket list of things she would like to do before she dies but which she did not have money for? A gambling extravaganza in Vegas or an exotic holiday in Honolulu for instance? Who knows, maybe she just did it for the plain fun of it, just to prove the point that old does not equate to brainless, clueless or useless.

Time will tell the reasons and already many must be denouncing the extremely bad example that has been set for the youth by a senior citizen. You can bet a few rubles though, that in some old age homes throughout Europe and beyond, Svetlana has earned some adoring elderly fans who feel that in her, they finally have one up on the generally disrespectful and unappreciative younger generation of today.