Obesity is the percentage of the population estimated to be obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 or higher. BMI is equal to your weight in pounds divided by your height in inches squared and then multiplied by 703. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides BMI calculators for both adults and children here.

Obesity is known to contribute to a variety of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and general poor health. The data are collected by each state as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of the CDC.

The United Health Foundation has assembled a statistical chart illustrating the prevalence of obesity in America by state. The trend isn’t good. Blame who you want, but unless we alter our eating behavior, we’re all in deep trouble.

The graphic below, using data from the CDC, gives an alarming look at how we’re increasing our BMI as a population. Check to see how your state compares. Scary, isn’t it?

One thing you have to love about America is our western movies. To me they’re pure Americana, especially if they starred John Wayne. What makes the Duke special? Well, my father was a big Wayne fan and, thanks to these two men, I fell in love with film, especially the western. It’s a love that remains strong to this day.

Western movies were, for me,  an uncharted land filled with danger and excitement. They represented a place where a man lived by his own rules, where, to quote Wayne, “There’s right and there’s wrong. You got to do one or the other. You do the one and you’re living. You do the other and you may be walking around, but you’re dead as a beaver hat.” The westerns I watched growing up were always centered around morality and I believe they helped shape my views on right and wrong.

Of course, Wayne didn’t just star in westerns. I watched him kill half of the Japanese army, wrestle a giant octopus not once, but twice (okay, one was a squid), get lost in the desert with Sophia Loren, put out oil fires and catch animals in Africa. But the westerns were my favorites. John Ford’s cavalry trilogy, Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo and El Dorado, his Oscar winning turn in True Grit and, of course, The Shootist and The Cowboys were some of my more recent favorites. But I think my all time favorite Wayne western was The Searchers.

But film wasn’t my only exposure to westerns. My dad and I watched all the TV westerns during their heyday. Hondo, Have Gun Will Travel, Sugerfoot, Cheyenne, Bronco, Wanted Dead or Alive, Trackdown, Lawman, The Rifleman, Maverick, Tales of Wells Fargo, Death Valley Days, and, of course, Gunsmoke were regular events at our house. And before them (although my dad seldom watched them with me) were Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, and The Cisco Kid. In all of them, the underlying message was one of basic, cowboy morality, doing what’s right ‘cause it’s right.

Many of my most vivid memories of growing up are shared film or TV experiences with my father. Even now, when I watch a modern western like Open Range, I find myself thinking, “Dad would have enjoyed this.”

Yes, the western movie is as American as, well, apple pie. But that’ll be another post during this journey.

Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers… JimK, Scott, Larry, Drumwaster, and Cosmicbabe.

I’m going to take a stab at reviving “Monday Punday,” a regular feature on my AFP web site, provided readers send in some material. So, without further ado…

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in the craft it sank, proving once and for all that you can’t have your kayak and heat it, too.

Ouch! I don’t even remember who to blame for this one!

Here’s another example of an unusual art form - or perhaps it should be categorized an unusual “talent” - in either case, Ryan Reeder is one very fast talker!

In case you didn’t catch all that in the allotted two minutes, he recited all of the books of the Bible’s Old and New Testaments and of the Book of Mormon; named all fifty states; recited the alphabet backwards; listed all the presidents of the United States; and finished up with all the movies that have won Academy Awards for Best Picture. (Whew!)

It’s interesting to note among the comments on YouTube, some like these:

Why are you doing this? What is the point? Why are people praising [Ryan Reeder] for talking fast. If i did a quick fart would i get this much attention? –cockneybandit

Alas, humanity is lacking in neither talent nor jealousy. And while Ryan basks in his 15 minutes of fame, let’s hope he can slow down enough to enjoy it.

I ran across some interesting health factoids over the weekend in the Sacramento Bee. For example, the first Merck Manual of medical information, published in 1899, listed these “scientifically-advanced treatments” and doctor-recommended prescriptions for what ailed you:

• Arsenic - diabetes, arthritis, and asthma

• Strychnine - skin diseases and bed wetting

• Smoking tobacco - asthma

• Cocaine - chest pains of coronary artery disease

• Cannabis - insomnia

“Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” - Proverbs 17:6

Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day has a modern origin. The idea came to Mrs. John Dodd as she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1910. Her father, William Smart, had raised his children alone on his Washington farm after his wife died giving birth to their sixth child.

Mrs. Dodd proposed to the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA that they celebrate a “father’s day” on June 5, her father’s birthday. The idea received strong support, but the good ministers of Spokane asked that the day be changed to give them extra time to prepare sermons on the unexplored subject of fathers. The first Father’s Day was observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, and soon other towns had their own celebrations.

In spite of widespread support, Father’s Day did not become a permanent national holiday until 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed a law declaring that it be celebrated annually on the third Sunday in June.

Thanks Michael! All fathers, I’m certain, remember days just like this with a smile, and none of us would trade the experience for anything in the world.

This “Perfect Moment” rose was photographed by Sisko Darling in her back yard a few days ago. Perfect indeed!

The 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee was held May 30-31 at the Grand Hyatt Washington. The nation’s largest and longest running spelling bee was won by Evan O’Dorney, a 13-year-old speller from Danville, California. We congratulate Evan and all the contestants for their accomplishments.

What caught my eye, though, was a photo of young David Brokaw who, advancing to the third round, correctly spelled “marathon.” Notice anything unusual in the photo? Look closely…

David’s sponsor, Catapult Online, is the nation’s leading provider of live, at-home tutoring for NCLB supplemental educational services (SES). I suspect the Scripps organization provided the sponsorship signs.

Project Vote Smart calls itself “The Voter’s Self-Defense System.” On its site, every candidate and elected official from President to local government can be easily and instantly accessed for:

• Voting Records — Compare what your representatives said during the campaign with how they actually voted on the record.

• Biographical & Contact Information — From their previous professions, education, families, organizational membership to their latest e-mail address, we gather it all.

• Issue Positions (NPAT) — We test thousands of candidates for President, Congress, Governor and State Legislature with our National Political Awareness Test (NPAT). The test accurately measures a candidate’s willingness to provide voters with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected to represent you.

• Interest Group Ratings — Over 150 competing special interest groups, from conservative to liberal, evaluate your representatives. Look at what they say.

• Public Statements — The Project constantly collects speeches and public comments of the president, governors, and congressional representatives. Just type in a word, say; ‘immigration’ and all public utterances containing the word ‘immigration’ will appear. Compare what they said while campaigning in California a few years ago to what they are saying now in New Hampshire.

• Campaign Finances — How much money did your representatives raise and from whom? Just follow the money and then follow the votes.

This is a valuable tool, especially considering the number of candidates running or considering running for their party’s Presidential nomination, and will become even more so once the race heats up. Check regularly to keep up on what the candidates actually say compared to what their opponents claim they say. Be an educated, informed voter, not a follower who votes according to what someone else tells them. This site will help.

Do you think other countries offer citizens such a storehouse of information to aid their intelligent voting decisions? Hardly. It’s yet another thing that goes in America’s “Good” column.

Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers… JimK, Scott, Larry, Drumwaster, and Cosmicbabe.

This short quiz aims to describe just how Republican (or Democrat - there’s a quiz for you guys, too) you are. I think it fairly well describes my political leanings. Give it a try. You might be surprised.

You Are 56% Republican

You aren’t a full fledged Republican yet, but it’s probably the party that fits you best. You probably consider yourself an independent Republican. You usually support the party, but you also think for yourself!

Got this from Mike, Heather, Michael…Funny!

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag - the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory.  Here’s a very condensed history of why we celebrate our flag today:

Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as Flag Day. Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years. Congressional legislation designating that date as the national Flag Day was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949; the legislation also called upon the president to issue a flag day proclamation every year.

According to legend, in 1776, George Washington commissioned Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross to create a flag for the new nation. Scholars debate this legend, but agree that Mrs. Ross most likely knew Washington and sewed flags. To date, there have been twenty-seven official versions of the flag, but the arrangement of the stars varied according to the flag-makers’ preferences until 1912 when President Taft standardized the then-new flag’s forty-eight stars into six rows of eight. The forty-nine-star flag (1959-60), as well as the fifty-star flag, also have standardized star patterns. The current version of the flag dates to July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became the fiftieth state on August 21, 1959.

On Flag Day and during Flag Week we celebrate and show respect for our flag and the people who designed and created it. Our flag represents our independence as Americans and our unity as a nation - we fly it proudly. We’re proud of our nation, our culture, our people and the flag that represents them.

Take a look on the American Memory: Library of Congress site under American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1940, and search “Flag Day”.  You’ll find, among other things, this entertaining exchange between two gentlemen that is today as indicative of how we Americans feel about our flag as it was then:

“Why ain’t you got your flag out?” says Mr. Richmond, entering the gas station in which he spends much of his time these days. “You know today is flag day, don’t you?”

“I guess the boss forgot to buy a flag, George,” says Mr. Davis, the station attendant. “And even if we had one, we ain’t got no place to put it.”

Mr. Richmond: “That’s a fine state of affairs, that is. Here they are tryin’ to bring home to you people the fact that you’re livin’ in one of the few countries where you can draw a free breath and you don’t even know it. You’re supposed to have flags out all this week. Don’t you know that? This is Flag Day and this is Flag Week. Where’s your patriotism?”

Mr. Davis: “What the hell are you hollerin’ about, George? You’re always runnin’ the country down. They can’t do anything to suit you. You’re worryin’ about taxes and future generations and all like that. Where’s your patriotism?”

Mr. Richmond: “Well, that’s different. A man got a right to criticize. That’s free speech. Don’t mean I ain’t patriotic. …”

Remember to fly Old Glory today and the rest of the week. Take a few minutes to reflect upon its proud history and what it symbolizes. It’s a grand old flag and it stands for all that is America.

Check out the other Patriotic Journeyers… JimK, Scott,  Larry, Drumwaster, and Cosmicbabe.

Another great Barry and Stuart comedy/magic act, this one with lots of blood (I think they may have ruined their victim’s wallet) and lots of laughs. These two are hilarious!

Here’s an interesting, 16-question quiz to determine what American accent you have. I apparently have a “Midland” accent and could have been a newscaster (or played one on TV!) Hmmm… I was born in Ohio and married a Chicago girl. Could either have affected my results? Not necessarily? Give it a try and discover your own accent!

There are countless things we can place in America’s “Good” column, notwithstanding that a few things rightly fall in our “Not So Good” column as well. For instance, America creates most of the new pharmaceuticals for all that ails the world. Sure, we complain about the high cost of drugs, but we recognize that drug companies spend billions in R&D in order to create them and rightly need to recover those costs.

And let’s not forget that America put all - 100 per cent - of the men on the moon. Our unquenchable thirst for knowledge drives our indomitable desire to explore the unknown.

America invented the Internet, making it possible for people to spread their wisdom (and stupidity) to a wider audience at greater speed than ever before. No, it wasn’t Al Gore, but it was  American ingenuity.

Although we’re experiencing some growing pains with respect to illegal immigration, America still peacefully accepts more legal immigrants than any other country in the world.

And we have the longest standing constitution of any government, providing the strongest protection for individual liberty, of any nation in the world. That’s an amazing thing! Sure, organizations like the ACLU try to erode it, but our constitution has held up better than any other in history.

America props up much of the world’s economy through its massive foreign trade deficit, stable dollar, leadership of the G7+1, advocacy for free trade and funding of the IMF. That’s no small feat.

Let’s remember, too, that America has stopped all - 100 per cent - of the major wars the world has known in the last 100 years. Think about that for a minute. And we prevent or stop smaller wars across the globe in a way that no other country or international organization (think EU or the UN) can even contemplate. Who really stopped the invasion of South Korea? Or brought the killing in the Balkans to an end? Or keeps the lid on the Middle East?

And most importantly, America has the self-control, self-confidence, and morality to not use its global hyper-superpower to annex land and resources simply because it can. That’s never been nor will it ever be the American way.

Yes, our “Good” column is long and distinguished, and we continue to work on those things that land in our “Not So Good” column. It’s part of what has made America strong throughout our short history and why we will remain the greatest nation on earth. God bless the USA!

Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers… JimK, Scott,  Larry, Drumwaster, and Cosmicbabe.