I don't know how many experts have told us that one big reason the Islamic fundamentalists hate us is because of the corrupt Arab governments.

During the Cold War, we didn't have a lot of choice. Given a pro-American corrupt dictatorship and an anti-American corrupt communist dictatorship, we supported the government that supported us back. (Most of us did, Kerry tended to support anti-American communist dictatorships like the ones in El Salvador or North Viet Nam).

In the case of Iraq, we had the opportunity to overthrow a particularly murderous, corrupt dictator. Unlike most dictatorships, we had been in a state of continuous hostilities against Iraq for more than a decade and Iraq had violated numerous UN resolutions. Given all that and Iraq's long-standing relationship with terrorists, this was a no-brainer.

But John Kerry says that it was the wrong war at the wrong time. He made it clear that he prefered the stability of Saddam's murderous rule.

America can do better than this.

Now for a break from politics and into junk science. A recent report says that fat kids cost schools money and test scores. The report says:

• Schools with high percentages of students who did not regularly exercise or eat well had smaller gains in test scores than did other schools.
• Children who do not get the recommended basic vitamins and minerals have lower test scores, are absent more, have difficulty concentrating and have less energy.
• Physical activity programs are linked to increased concentration and improved math, reading, and writing test scores.
• Students taking daily physical education classes missed fewer classes, had a more positive attitude to school and earned better grades.

You have to look closely to see the problem with the report. There are several hidden assumptions and without them, this report has nothing to do with obesity.

Obesity is a medical refering to a high percentage of body fat. While it is true that someone who eats too much and doesn't excersize enough will be obese, it is not true that everyone who is obese is inactive.

None of these finding actually address overweight people. Let's look closer:

-- Schools with high percentages of students who did not regularly exercise or eat well had smaller gains in test scores than did other schools.

This one is totally meaningless since it only addresses gains in test scores. Were the children in question spread evenly across the score range or were they already concentraited, possibly at the top (or bottom)? What sort of test score gains are we talking about?

-- Children who do not get the recommended basic vitamins and minerals have lower test scores, are absent more, have difficulty concentrating and have less energy.

This is talking about malnutrition, not obesity. Economics are not mentioned, either. Poor kids tend to eat poorly but their poor test scores are lined to poverty, not obesity.

-- Physical activity programs are linked to increased concentration and improved math, reading, and writing test scores.

Again, this has nothing to do with obesity. It could be argued that these classes either wake kids up or let them work off excess energy. It doesn't even address the kids' general lifestyle.

-- Students taking daily physical education classes missed fewer classes, had a more positive attitude to school and earned better grades.

Same as above.