Hawaii apparently friendly to women

Hawaii ranks as the nation’s second-best state for women in the areas of health, economy, politics, parenting, education and reproductive rights, according to iVillage, an NBC Universal online site that targets women.

The site points out that nearly a third of all Hawaii business owners, more than one-third of state legislative seats and both U.S. House posts are held by women, although none has ever reached the U.S. Senate. Only 9 percent lack health insurance and 48 percent are a healthy weight. The bad news is that child care is expensive ($12,600 a year for an infant) and only 27 percent of women eat a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables.

"Considering that they live in a tropical paradise," iVillage comments, "we think they could do better."

Who came up with ‘pink slime’?

When one of the ingredients in your hamburger is a filler called "pink slime," it’s natural that you might not want to eat it. So it’s no wonder that the state Department of Education is considering taking ground beef containing the filler off school lunch menus. An angry Internet campaign against the stuff has prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to give participating school districts the option of getting ground beef without it.

Never mind that the beef filler is cheap, bacteria-free, leaner than regular ground beef, has been in the food supply for years and is no more risky that what you’d find in a common hot dog. Oh, never mind.