San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

well....he appointed a Treasury Secretary who cheated on his income tax.......fits right in...

Outrage!

It's such an important position, also.

He's so fat that he can't even write a cigarette warning label.

Have a problem with minorities, do you?

Dr. Benjamin is a physician. She was the first doctor under the age of 40 to be a member of the AMA's board of trustees. She was the head of the Alabama Medical Society. She has a long history as a respected physician, running a non-profit clinic, and rebuilding that clinic numerous times after they were ravaged by hurricanes.

Her credentials for Surgeon General match any in the last 40 years. Of either sex and of any color.

And you have a problem with her because she's a bit overweight and African American?

Obese? I actually was unaware of the appointment so I ran a yahoo image search of Dr. Regina Benjamin. She is not obese, maybe a little thick, certainly beans and rice didn't miss her but she doesn't qualify as obese because based on her pictures (not the government's version of obesity, but a heterosexual man's) because her bust size exceeds her waist size. While she doesn't neccesarily do it for me, She fit in the formula I have spent years creating. Just like financial formulas, formulas for objectifying women are just as fun. O.K., here's the secret, it's taken me years to perfect it but it's simple. There are three measurements used for women, usually in inches, bust size, waist size and hips, in that order. As long as the middle number is smaller that the other two, it's all good, reagardless of the size of the numbers, the larger the difference, the better. I believe the modern day poet, sir mixx alot, said it best: "36-24-36, only if she's 5'3""

TG: I love ya, brother! You are like a kamikaze pilot when it comes to the opposite sex and have the cojones to say what a lot of us dudes are thinking, but are too pussified to express.

Rock on, you crazy bastard!

You should get one of those rising sun headbands. It would fit the whole "Banzai!" image. Just sayin'.

Baby got back!...There i said it on two threads :)

I do have a problem with the overweight part because a fat Surgeon General is not a good example. Kids will grow up thinking it's OK to be chubby.

I have no problem with the African-American part.

It must be all the delicious Southern fried cooking. ;)

Actually, compared to the general population, Regina Benjamin is just about average these days.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...

I have a doctor friend who is overweight. He knows full well that it's not healthy. But he loves wine, cheese, cakes, bread and the good life. Me, put an apple pie in front of me and it doesn't even beckon me.

Food gives people a high just like cigarettes, drugs, sex, shopping, etc...

That being said, leaders need to control their own desires if they want to be successful. You have to give up something for power.

If she is overweight it doesn't look extreme. I have met lots of Doctors that look similar. They work very long but not too physical hours. I doubt I could do better if I had the job and did it as well as they did. Maybe they give so much to others and are doing the best they can do, but it means a little weight gain for some?Add to these factor the reality that some people are prone to being thicker... No biggie. Aren't there at least three body types, ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph?

One MD we visted recently for one of my boys had similar proportions. There was a bike leaning against one wall of her office. She was bright eyed, energetic, kind and probably not taking amphetamines. I like that. I bet she was much healthier than average for her age.

unfortunately the overweight/obesity rate for African Americans is now a staggering 80%.

if you want to use weight as a litmus test you just disqualified the vast majority of African Americans right off the bat.

the problem is compared to most other races African Americans are genetically predisposed to obesity, this in addition to that Southern cooking.

why not use this opportunity to use Dr. Benjamin's own struggle with weight as a catalyst for change in America's Obesity Crisis?

Do you have kids? Could they identify any previous Surgeons General? I'm quite sure mine couldn't. Can you? (I confess, I could probably name 3, recognize 2, and might recognize the names of a couple more.)

Seems a weak argument.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad place if kids thought they were O.K., obviously the fine example of women's fashion magazine models have done wonders for the mental health and self image of young girls.

Who cares if she likes second helpings, who cares if Obama likes an occasional marlboro. Vices make us human and a hell of a lot more interesting. I guess I have to quote a more mainstream poet, Billy Joel, "I'd Rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints."

Naw, Allan and Flu like mixalot more, so for the guys I'd prefer to drink with "So cosmo says you're fat, well I ain't down with that, so your girlfriend rolls a honda, playing workout tapes by Fonda, well Fonda aint got a motor in the back of her honda"

TG: Great song. "Come out, Virginia, don't make me wait, you Catholic girls start much too late".

Story of my teenage years, baby.

And I'm with you on the booze and cigarettes. As one of my great uncles (hard drinking, cigar smoking German machinist from Wisconsin who had the worst diet in the world) used to say, "You ever see a jogger smile?".

First, maybe being a little overweight - like most Americans, will give people just what they need. Someone they can relate to.

Second, politicians are human and fall prey to all weaknesses, including the ever-so-common indiscretions.

Third, are there not pulmonologists out there that smoke?

actually, respiratory therapists are the worst. most of those guys are chain smokers.

outlaw soda. restrict portion sizes by statute. ban trans-fats. put BMI restrictions for those in public office. Then the economic recovery can begin.

I was just messing around about the overweight and minority comments....didnt mean to offend...

TG I found your dream woman:narrow waist

Um, pretty sure if the new SG was a white dude and the same amount overweight, we wouldn't even be seeing this thread. Didn't know part of the SG's qualifications was the rule, "no fat chicks".

TG - I love your ratio approach.
(Spoken as a woman who's overweight but who happens to have a proportionally small waist and big chest.)

As a woman I have a similar ratio for men... shoulders broader than than belly and if you have to wear the belt below the belly - you're fat.

My dad was famous for saying his waist size was small... because he wore his pants riding lower than his gut.

I also love your point, TG, about the image given to young women by anorexic models.

Maybe the general should take up smoking like our dear leader.

Technically speaking, a person is obese only when their Body Mass Index is greater than 30, so you’d have to figure in her height to accurately ‘pass judgement’…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Body_m...