June 24, 2002

• I read in the paper that 60% of all Americans are overweight.  I believe it; heck, at 5’7″, 155 pounds, I’m one of them.  At my stand every day, I see rich soft fat Americans by the score waddling by, double scoop ice cream cone in each hand, licking and dripping all over the landscape.  The adults are bad enough, but the kids!  My goodness, the  preteens with great droopy bellies and double chins are becoming increasingly apparent.  About the only visitors who aren’t fat are the climbers, who tend toward the other extreme–gaunt, almost skeletal.

  
  

  Isn’t it amazing that here we are, the richest and most powerful nation on the planet, with the most advanced medical care available to the relatively few rich folks who can afford it, and the biggest health problems we have are all self-inflicted.  We eat too much, drink too much alcohol (especially in Alaska, which is one reason we have the highest death rate from accidental gunshot wounds  in the country), don’t drink enough water even though the passion for bottled water is wreaking havoc on aquifers all over the place), and we don’t get enough sleep.

  
  

  In a sense, those who report news like this are committing treason, in that this news must be giving huge aid and comfort to the enemy.  I can hear them saying –”Who needs anthrax or another bombing?  The Americans are so scared they are giving up their freedom, and they are killing themselves anyway.”

  • 1:52 pm
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