“All the News That’s Fit to Print” is the motto of the New York Times, and you better believe the paper gave us great news yesterday. No, I’m not talking about avoiding the fiscal cliff or Stanford’s beating Wisconsin. I’m talking about two articles which should give us all great comfort going into the new year.
The first article appeared smack on the front page, “From Congress to Halls of State, In New Hampshire, Women Rule.” The fact is for the first time in our country’s history, a state will send an all female congressional delegation to Washington. New Hampshire’s newly elected governor is also a woman as is the Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice of New Hampshire’s highest court.
In other words, if you are a male in New Hampshire aspiring to a life in the political arena, might I suggest you consider having a sex change operation or moving to Vermont. I think the latter might be easier.
The suffragettes who fought for passage of the 19th amendment to our Constitution never dreamed that one day women would control the strings of power in the “Live Free or Die” state. They would be as surprised as Dr. King would be if President Obama greeted him at the White House. Never have women had so much power since the times of the Amazon women warriors. Although there are still men who think women belong in the kitchen, I believe there is no way they can bungle public affairs as badly as we men have done for years.
The second article strikes closer to home, “Study Suggests Lower Mortality Risk for People Deemed to be Overweight.” Now before we gorge ourselves on a dozen doughnuts, we need to examine the details of this welcome news story.
The study of three million people concludes that those with modestly increased B.M.I. (Body Mass Index) might even outlive those of normal weight, but those who are more than a bit overweight are at a higher risk of mortality. This, of course, is a fancy way of saying that if you really pig out, you are going to kick the bucket, buy the farm. (Hopefully, you get the idea.)
So, if we have just a little beef on the bones, we might live for a few more years. Just as I was about to celebrate my new found longevity, I read more of the article only to discover to my chagrin that the location of this modest fat plays a critical role in impacting longevity. Belly fat (that's my kind of fat) is bad, but thigh fat or butt fat isn’t a killer or so the article implies. Sometimes it’s better just to read the headline and move on.
