Mr Cameron has rightly said he wants to tackle global challenges, such as climate change and migration. To succeed, he must work closely with the European Union. This will be difficult if he is also pandering to the eurosceptic right of his party by pledging to pull out of the EU’s main centre-right grouping.What difference does it make to global warming if the Euro-Tories agree their line with the French centre-right party or the Czech centre-right party? Mad.
Mississippi is the fattest state in the Union, with 30.1% of Mississippians being obese. That’s almost one in every three inhabitants. Not that the Magnolia State (in red on this map) should be singled out for its massiveness. It is surrounded by four of the eight other fattest US states (in brown on this map): Tennessee (29.0%), Arkansas (29.3%), Louisiana (29.5%) and Alabama (30.1%). Being overweight clearly is a Southern thing - even if the second-fattest state, West-Virginia (30.6%), broke away from the rebellious South in 1863 to join the North.
The other states in the top obesity bracket are Oklahoma (28.1%), Kentucky (28.4%) and South Carolina (29.2%). The next bracket (26 to 28% of inhabitants obese) is filled out by nine states, three of which are Southern (Texas, Georgia and North Carolina), three adjoin the Great Lakes (Michigan, Indiana and Ohio) and three are clustered in the Midwest (Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri).
The leanest states also tend to cluster: states in the least but one category (22 to 24%) include Maine and New Hampshire; New York and New Jersey; and California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Some of the least obese (20.7 to 22%) states are Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Another one, Utah, is adjacent to Colorado, which is by far the leanest state of them all (18.4%).
Overall, the Soutwest and New England are counting calories, while the South and to a lesser extent the Midwest are piling on the pounds.
Obesity, it may be useful to repeat, is not a euphemism for being overweight. It means being so fat that one’s health is affected. You are defined as obese if you have a body mass index of 30 or over (with a bmi of between 25 and 30, you are merely overweight). The US is the most overweight nation in the world, with over a quarter of the total population being obese. Obesity is a global phenomenon, however. It was recently reported that for the first time in history, there are now more overweight than malnourished people in the world.
Thanks to Stannous Flouride for sending in this map, found here at frostfirezoo.com. Original context unclear.
cobalt123 posted a photo:
A surreal image captured as a shot in the dark of a gecko at my home on the adobe wall. See the previous photo for another view - I had to be fast, for he sure was!
cobalt123 posted a photo:
Another view of a Mediterranean gecko at my home, shot in the dark. The wood piece is a large section of what looks like some kind of driftwood, but it may be weathered mesquite. It was left here by a previous tenant and I use it as an accent to the cactus growing in a large pot in this corner of my home. See the next image for an even more surreal view.
cobalt123 posted a photo:
While driving along Washington Street, this image was snapped through my driver side window as I was taking off from the stoplight as it changed to green. I'd love to get back here as a pedestrian and get a good zoom shot of this coil of power lines.
cobalt123 posted a photo:
While driving, in front of me I saw the most beautiful way cyclone fence can be seen. This was shot through my windshield while driving along Washington Street in Phoenix. Reminder to self: remember to wash that windshield.
If you are going to stand for public office, don't lie about your CV. With questions already hanging over him Ray Lewis made an exaggerated claim that he was a Justice of the Peace rather than merely approved to be a Justice of the Peace. In the context of questions about his probity, that was a fatal untruth.( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )
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proudI don't know what being a patriot means these days. I've been called a traitor. There's a bitterness to that, but nothing compares to the contradictions inherent in what happens on this day of all days, the day we celebrate our independence and recall the day that started our freedom. In spirit it is the day that to the armed forces means everything, as this is the day that marks the day our job effectively started. Yet if you are a veteran with PTSD, too often the celebrations bring to mind the very trials you went through.
I love the national anthem. This is because I know the story behind it. Fort McHenry is a star shaped fort that blocked a British attack during the war of 1812. The soldiers who defended it endured a bombardment during a night of heavy rain and visibility was poor. The only way to tell if their side had been victorious was to check and see which flag flew over the fort on the morning of Sept. 14, 1812. These soldiers were stuck in the rain and under a barrage of cannon fire. They waited for dawn in miserable conditions, desperately, to see if a battle for their country's existence would turn in their favor. The first verse depicts them in the rain, in poor visibility, straining for a glance to see which flag flew from the flagpole.
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Does that flag yet wave? Are we still a nation? And it was there. It was the plea of an ordinary soldier, and that's why it resonates today.
I don't know what it means to be a patriot any more than it means to be a hero. I love my country like I'd love a child. I must criticize them and guide them, and try to make them do right. That's my job. It's not showy, it's not glorious. It's not a thing of grandeur. It's like religion, best done in private, and best done with good deeds and privacy. Be a good example of one's country. Respect that others love their country the way you love theirs. And if you're a veteran, survive what sounds like a firefight outside your house.
In Babylon, after my shift ended, I would make my way to the stairs outside the building that led to the roof and sit quietly for a few minutes. The Euphrates flowed a hundred yards away, and light glowed over the walls of Babylon. Against the glow of the lights of Hillah black palm trees were sharp silhouettes. Generators roared but they were so common they faded into the background. There was momentary peace.
Tonight, after the fireworks, I will go outside in the dark and sit on my steps, and think of how I love my country, no matter her flaws, how she is my mother and my child both, and how it's my duty to both protect and guide her. And maybe, just maybe, I will light a candle and hope and pray for her guidance, and for my own.
A new star, likely the brightest supernova
Dear Lenore,
I know you don't like loud noises, and I'm sorry that we moved from New York (where firecrackers are illegal) to Louisiana where everyone and their brother has been setting them off round the clock for the past two days in celebration. Still, did you have to kill the power cable to our modem? I know it's nice and chewy and that makes you feel better, but couldn't you have gone for something less expensive like my old tennis shoes?
Your inclination to chew through wires is what got you locked in the bedroom today while we were out purchasing the replacement cable so that you wouldn't damage anything else, and we moved the food and water bowls as well as the litter pan in there so you wouldn't have to go without and you seemed pretty ok with that. But sweetheart, why did you panic when we moved your scratching post? I know you don't like change, but didn't you realize it could be moved? We put it in there so you could beat on it instead of other things you needed to not be harming, I assure you the earth will not spin off it's axis because it is no longer in it's spot in the livingroom!
Please darling, I know you're high strung and neurotic, but we're trying to make you as comfortable as possible durring these trying (and loud and explodey) times.
Love forever,
She who tames the vacum
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