My recommendation for the new Surgeon General

Helena Jane shows no signs of womb departure.

Sometimes reading the editorial section of the newspaper is just exhausting. I enjoy Charles Krauthammer because he always seems sensible and erudite without being inflammatory. Of course I love William Safire. But the rest I kind of skim and roll my eyes (I'm talking about you, Ellen Goodman). Much to my delight was this little gem in the Letters to the Editor of yesterday's Houston Chronicle:

Are you hooked on smoking? How about chewing tobacco? I know about your addiction. Trust me, I'm a Cub Scout. Well, in my opinion, just stop! Put down the cigar. Stop chewing. I know you'll shake a lot, but you'll get used to it. If you're going to die, it's better to die later than now. Now, as for beer, wine, and alcohol, a little's OK. But gallons a day! You're way off. Stop. Cough medicine and all medicine: if you need some, get a fair amount. Teens and a few adults take too much. Do you know what this could do to you? You could die or send your heart racing.
If you don't do any of these, you're excellent! But if you do, my point is to stop doing all of this craziness. I hope the best for you. Best of luck.
--Daniel McCree, age 9, Spring

A wee sage is Daniel. I like how he just keeps saying, "Stop." I had been writing a post in my head about how many of our health problems as a nation are almost completely preventable. And I was going to pen a screed complaining about my skyrocketing insurance premiums paying for someone else's terrible lifestyle choices. Daniel is right. Just stop. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity--it's pretty straightforward. We don't need billions of dollars in pharmaceutical research so we can alleviate symptoms. We need to make better choices. Stop ingesting junk and stop sitting on our collective bottom and move around more. It really is pretty much that simple. The diseases for which we really don't know the cause are quite rare. This is where the money should be going. When I worked at M.D. Anderson I was in the cafeteria one day and there on the refrigerator case full of Odwalla juice was a big sign warning all patients to check with their doctors before drinking Odwalla because there could be ingredients (mango puree? spirulina??) that could interfere with treatment. I looked around incredulously to see if the Chick Fil-a station had a similar sign. Nope. The grill where you could get a greasy hamburger and french fries? Nope. The desserts? Nope. The baked potato bar with big vats of butter and cheese and sour cream? Nope. The endcap with Little Debbies? Uh, nope. It's an epidemic of willful ignorance. Stop, indeed.