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Jill Treacy

Fattest state in America is Mississippi

Mississippi is once again named the fattest state in America for 2011.

 

The fattest state in America is once again Mississippi. This is the sixth consecutive year for Mississippi to be at the very top of the obesity percentage charts for all 50 states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 34.9% of Mississippi is considered obese—the leader by more than a full percentage point. Coming up second is Louisiana at 33.4% and third is West Virginia with 32.4% of the population considered obese.

The CDC has come out saying that obesity in America has risen drastically over the past 20 years, releasing its fattest states statistics on the web. Over “one-third of the U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (0r 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese,” according to the CDC website. Twelve states now have an obesity percentage over 30% and no state has a percentage less than 20%. By definition, a person is considered obese with a BMI over 30.

Colorado, on the other hand, is once again the skinniest state with only 20.7% of the population considered obese. While it is a little less than 15% below the fattest state, 20%, give or take, would have been considered the highest ranking two decades ago.

The region with the highest percentage of obesity was in fact the South, with the Midwest coming in second, the Northeast after that and finally the West as the skinniest.  

Jerry Sandusky writing second book as he awaits sentencing

The former Penn State assistant football coach uses the weeks before his sentencing to put together his own accord of the trial.

 

Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State assistant coach, is reportedly writing a book as he awaits sentencing. Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse last June and is currently being held at the Centre County Correctional Facility in Bellefonte, PA. The book is Sandusky’s second; his first, titled “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story,” was published in 2001 and focuses on his time as Penn State assistant coach and charity work. 

Helping Sandusky is his wife Dottie, who recently had her written correspondence privileges taken away by prison officials for the large amount of paperwork exchanged between the two. While the content is unclear as of yet, the Washington Post speculates that the new book will be his own account of the trial thus far. Unable to have testified at his trial because of adopted son Matt Sandusky’s allegations of abuse, Sandusky “views his sentencing as an opportunity to tell his side of this,” as was said by his lawyer Joe Amendola. The prison has provided pens and paper (and time) for the former assistant coach to formulate his thoughts. 

Though it is safe to assume a general antipathy of the book, experts nevertheless say there is little chance Jerry Sandusky will make money off of the book as convicted felons are restricted from earning profits from books written about their crimes. 

Sandusky’s sentencing is set to take place in September. 

Cosmopolis film a unique collaboration with Pattinson and Cronenberg

The Twilight actor and film director bring Cosmopolis, originally a novel by Don DeLillo, to the theater in eccentric and internal adaptation.

 

Cosmopolis, with its surprisingly refreshing partnership between director David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson, brings about this summer’s limited release, film extravaganza. The film, adapted from Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name, ventures into the seemingly controlled atmosphere of a limo as young, multi-billionaire Eric Packer is driven to get his hair cut, and, in proper Cronenberg fashion, the character’s eccentric self destruction ensues. Cronenberg, releasing his first film since 1999’s eXistenZ, promotes the film as a unique adaptation of the novel and claims Pattinson as the leading man in the visual reality. 

Cronenberg realized the possibility of jumping from novel to film with Cosmopolis when he stripped the plot down to dialogue and wrote a screenplay based not off of Eric’s inner monologue but of his dialogue with other characters. Working with what Cronenberg calls the “emotional, physical and psychological reality” of the main character separates the film from the novel as the secondary characters get a voice and a physical body. Pattinson was aware that Cosmopolis was unique and complex, saying a film like it has “never been done before.” The 26 year-old actor also had nothing but praise for the otherwise strange Cronenberg as he deemed the director “the sweetest guy.” 

The Pattinson-Cronenberg duo is bringing in a lot of attention for the film, Pattinson from his Twilight franchise following and Cronenberg because it’s his first film release in over a decade. The film was first released at the Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving positive reviews for the most part and reaching moderate success in France and Italy.  Despite the scandal in his personal life with Kristen Stewart, Pattinson was positive and cheery at the New York City premiere (after a consoling chat over ice cream with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show).

Cosmopolis opens August 17th in select theaters.

Winter Olympics 2014 preparation underway in Sochi, Russia

Resort city Sochi put through major construction with extensive budget for Winter Olympics 2014

The Winter Olympics 2014, destined for Sochi, Russia since 2007, are on the horizon now that the London Olympics have come to a close. Located on the Black Sea, Sochi offers a striking contrast of palm tree-lined streets and snow-capped mountains off in the distance. The Russian resort city is a questionable location for the winter games, specifically because of its more temperate weather conditions, possible terrorist attacks and lack of pre-existing venues to house participants and hold events.  But amidst the doubts, Russian President Vladimir Putin assures all preparation is “on time and on budget”—welcoming news for the International Olympic Committee. 

Deemed “Europe’s largest construction project,” the preparation for the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi is rumored to cost anywhere between $18 billion and $24.5 billion for Russian organizers. A majority of that budget is going toward building two main venue projects, a sea-level park containing skating venues and a 40,000-seat Olympic stadium and a necessary mountain park.  Transportation construction, also a main component to the alarmingly high budget, for a 30-mile highway that runs between the two parks and a high speed train is also underway to make the area more accessible for Winter Olympic 2014 participants.  The IOC has pushed for safety and green technology to be taken seriously during the construction. Though rumored to be behind schedule and already riddled with construction company corruption, the IOC has had nothing but praise for Russia as the country faces the challenges in planning Sochi Winter Olympics 2014.

As the first major global event since the fall of the U.S.S.R., the Sochi Olympics bring hope in reaffirming Russia as a contender for such events. The project in Sochi is being called President Putin’s baby as he promises to prove skeptics wrong and provide international prestige for Olympiads venturing to Sochi in two years.