I subscribe to the news service operated by the International Association for the Study of Obesity, and I think you should, too. But the purpose of this post is not to pimp but to promote a couple of related stories on this week's report.

The first is by amednews.com that highlights what four states are doing to address obesity among their residents. The four include Colorado (the least obese state) and Mississippi (the most); a prevailing strategy is to target youngsters.

Our booth neighbors over the fence at the Obesity Action Coalition's "Your Weight Matters" conference in Dallas last weekend represented Take Off Pounds Sensibly, or TOPS, as it is known.

For someone who regularly screeds (not a verb, but oughta be) about the evils of advertisers, I should have been all over leanwashingindex.com, an Austin-based reader-interactive site that evaluates marketers’ health claims.

Regular visitors will know that I think that write off the cost of advertising their crap on their taxes is absurd, and that all marketers are indeed liars, as Seth Godin coined it.

I've said some of this before, but a BBC health report (Obesity surgery "seen as quick fix") says it too, affording an opportunity to extend my remarks: Bariatric surgery might be the right choice for some obese people, but I have a very hard time regarding it as a complete solution for the people who qualify to receive it.

I didn't get to be 365 pounds with "only" an eating problem, and the size of my stomach was not a primary cause. So how could surgery that only would have made my stomach smaller resolve all?

Friday and Saturday, I'll be in Dallas at the first "Your Weight Matters" conference hosted by the Obesity Action Coalition.

I'm looking forward to meeting many of the several hundred folks who are registered, and hope to sell a few copies of "Fat Boy Thin Man" while I'm there.

I'll be sharing booth real estate with Meredith Terpeluk, a friend and colleague who has just released her book, "Healthy Voice."

The Stop Obesity Alliance has a guide for parents wanting to help their children who've developed or may be developing an eating problem. I think it is worthwhile, and recommend it to you, both for reading and sharing.

I can't say this post has much substance, but I stumbled across it and thought it mildly interesting. Take from it what you will, if at all.

The headline from front page of The Milwaukee Sentinel, July 28, 1925: "Corsetless flapper shames sister, all laced up, at weighing in." (Yes, they chose page 1 stories differently then, and wrote headlines differently, too.)

I've begun building a section of speeches I've given to my Toastmasters club on this blog, because ... well, I should be honest, it's at least partly because I'm a showoff. (Too much of one? You decide.)

But also, I am a professional speaker, and I want to highlight both my ideas and my speaking style for buyers and event planners who can't help but benefit from hiring me.

If you haven't seen this, then you should. And then, you should share.