This is another entry in my “assumptions” series, in which my intention is to explain one of my underlying assumptions definitively, so the next time I feel the need to veer away from a post’s point at hand to provide full background, I can just link to the full thought and let others veer, if they choose to.

Assumption: Not all fat people are unhealthy, and not all thin people are healthy. But overweight does correlate with ill health, and the greater the overweight, the greater the likelihood and severity of ill health.

My friend Ron, the only reader of this blog whose keen eye for information and generosity for sharing has resulted in his own category, has passed along an Atlantic.com squib that says that Americans use a billion “extra” gallons of gasoline a year because of obesity.

And I say, whatever. By this snidery, I don’t mean to say I don’t believe it; more so, my reaction is yadda yadda yadda. Yes, I am a wordsmith; it even says so on one of my business cards.