Food For Thought

For the past few years, Mrs. TBF has had to endure my sermons regarding how I would solve America's health care issues. Ok... maybe my idea of an annual weigh-in and a "fat tax" is a bit... um... extreme.

Let's scratch that one.

However, a much simpler approach which most Americans could (but are for the most part unwilling to) do is... Ready for this????

LOSE WEIGHT!!!!!!**

Losing weight would cut down on type 2 diabetes, knee operations, back problems, unnecessary tests, etc. Plus the money one would save on food could go toward purchasing that shiny new car, big screen TV, or straight into the savings account.

Yeah, sure! Like people would actually put the money into savings. Right!

The benefit of that would be that the sales tax on non-food items is much higher than it is on groceries, and that would result in more money going into government coffers. Which, in turn, could go into health care (which people would now be requiring less of).

See? I told you I had it all figured out.

Anyway...

I saw this little letter to the editor in The Economist yesterday:

SIR - Some of the expense of health care derives from Americans' diet and sedentary lifestyle. We have the highest percentage of overweight and obese patients in the industrialized world. One-third of Americans are obese; that is 50% more than the British, 100% more than the Germans and 250% more than the French. The cost of treating obese patients rises as their body mass index increases.
Obesity lessens life expectancy more than smoking. I would like to see Europe's health-care costs with the same levels of obesity.
DR. ARTURO BONNIN
Dayton, Ohio

See? I've been saying it all along!

**I'd also like to take this moment to remind people that you don't loose weight, but instead, you lose weight.

loose vs. lose

Buon Giorno, Comrades!

The Russians are coming! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!!!!

Actually...they've already come.

HUNDREDS of them!!!

We first came to Amalfi three years ago: no Russians.

Two years ago, we came to Amalfi for the second time: a couple of Russians.

This year: our hotel is crawling with Russians.

They're everywhere!!!

We chose a couple of seaside chaise lounges our first day here, and we were surrounded by people speaking Russian.

They mostly sit under umbrellas, playing cards, taking calls and sending texts on their crack-berries, and ordering the occasional fruity, frozen cocktail. Then, they all get up together and go for a communal swim in the sea.

Overall, in my opinion, a very odd people.

Yuri: And now, comrades, we go for communal swim.

Ludmila: Oh, Yuri! You are like Russian sturgeon jumping out of Caspian Sea!

Yuri: Da!! I happy to see you!

Ludmila: Damn you, Yuri! You, once again, confuse Armani hat for bathing cap!

Yuri: No worry, my little sable. I buy 500 of them. I just wear one day, and then I throw out!

Ludmila: If you buy hats for yourself, what you buy for Ludmila?

Yuri: Oh, my little chinchilla... Perhaps I buy Santa Caterina hotel, and rename it Святой Катрин...just for you!

Ludmila: Who is awful man who reading English propaganda about Russia's rightful invasion of Georgia.

Yuri: I think he called Big Finn. Perhaps I call my friend Vladimir Putin and arrange to also have "peace keepers" sent to Finland!

How Things Change...

I just love this cartoon from the June 14th 2008 issue of The Economist.