No, This Doesn’t Mean We Need More Government Programs

From Bloomberg Businessweek:

The obesity rate may rise to 42 percent from about a third of the U.S. population by 2030 if nothing changes, according to a report.

Preventing that rise may save about $550 billion in medical costs over the next 20 years, Eric Finkelstein, the study author and an associate research professor at Duke University, said during a press briefing. The findings were presented today at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of the Nation obesity conference.

No doubt this is a bad prospect. That doesn’t mean, however, that we need more government programs to combat the problem. I suspect that’s what we’ll hear once these stats make the rounds. While there may be some folks who legitimately need specialized medical and/or professional help to address obesity, for most people there’s a simple cure that doesn’t have anything to do with government — eat less and exercise more.

Acting Durham DA: Creating Crime Lab Could Be “a profit-making endeavor”

The acting Durham DA has made an interesting comment to the Durham Crime Cabinet. Leon Stanback wants Durham to have a crime lab, which he says could do more than help speed up processing of local cases. He says it could make money. The Herald-Sun story says there will be a report about this in July.

Stanback said he wants to see a laboratory established in Durham to handle drug and blood analysis, and he said he believes it could also do analysis for surrounding counties. He said he believes it could be a “profit-making endeavor” for Durham. 

He said the problem is not the fees for the work, which he said are passed on to the defendants, but it’s the time it takes to get the analysis work completed.

 

It’s an interesting idea. Nice to find out that a county official is thinking this way.

Similarly, counties across North Carolina are looking for, and have found, ways to be more cost efficient and effective with tax dollars. JLF’s Michael Sanera has compiled a report on some of these innovations in this report. 

Occupy Raleigh Calls It Quits

After existing on a slogan for a few months, the party’s over for Occupy Raleigh.

Gallup: Romney 46, Obama 45

Gallup reports its latest polling of registered voters shows a dead heat for the presidency.