On the nature of big, fat, destructive things.

I started work today (mail drone in a real estate office, basically), and I'd already noticed previously that the building nextdoor to the office has an easy-to-miss plaque set in it, stating that the building had been completely destroyed, presumably by the Germans, in a zeppelin attack in 1915, and rebuilt in 1917.

Okay. Not something you see every day, especially not in the US. In fact, I can't think of a single American building that was ever destroyed in a zeppelin attack.

In other news, Americans are really fat. (Did you know that Googling 'britain obesity rates' sans quotes first gives you a BBC story about how Americans are fat? True.) According to the American Obesity Association says that you're obese if you have a BMI of 30 or more. 60 million Americans are; that's 30.5% of the adult population. In Britian, it's not overwhelming less, but it's only 22.5% of the adult population. However, look at the statistics for morbid or severe obesity (BMI of 40 or more): In Britain it's 2.6% of the population, whereas in the US, it's 4.7%.

What does this tell us? I'm not certain, but it's grossing me out.