Fat Tuesday ... And Wednesday ... And

It's no secret that humans are now living longer than ever before. This is probably due to the extensive and relentless research of pharmaceutical companies that continuously produce life saving medications and breakthrough medicines. Also, many people are choosing a more healthy outlook in their diets and personal lifestyles ... but are they? I know many are quick to jump on the smoking bandwagon citing that the health effects of such behavior are ultimately dire, and personally I agree that the long term affects of smoking are probably not too good. But the one thing that really plagues me is obesity, Americans are fatter now than ever before. And for some reason, this issue is sticky enough that nobody really wants to acknowledge that obesity related illnesses have far surpassed the amount of ailments of chronic smoking and abusive alcohol consumption. Why? Because fat people are only hurting themselves? (Insert wrong answer buzzer here.) Quite the contrary, obesity related illnesses cost the average American way more. Although health officials were worried about Joe Camel swaying kids to smokes, ... at least that would prompt them to walk to the store and get some exercise.