Alas, I would love to do epidemiological research, but we each only have one life! I noted below that obesity and poor prenatal care are both correlated with poverty. The point still remains — it looks like this list is just comparing the best and worst places to live. Not very mother-specific.

Very true. Maybe we could just say that the cause is poverty, which is correlated with both obesity and lack of health care. Hopefully the Affordable Care Act will help mitigate the prenatal care issue.

So, we clearly need better policies for working moms.

Defensive medicine is a big problem. But remember — doctors are more likely to get sued when there's a bad result, so hopefully such practices will actually lower maternal deaths, even if they cause a host of other non-fatal problems.

Well, I do know that Monica Lewinsky did not blackmail anyone, and we don't punish people for thought crimes in this country. From what I've read about the conversations, it seems like Linda Tripp was pulling the strings and Monica Lewinsky was caught up in something much bigger than her. If you have quotes showing…

I don't know much about the details in the tapes, but I'll just say that there are a WHOLE TON of reasons she could have kept the dress besides blackmail and sentimentality. At the time, saving the dress was probably a smart thing to do. She could have wished the best for Clinton but also understood the need to…

I have thought about this a lot — how her name must forever define her. Maybe I'm a coward, but I definitely would have changed my name, stat.

I just thought the same thing. She was a couple of years younger than I am now? Wow. I cannot imagine the turmoil she went through.

"According to the Las Vegas Sun, the Metro Police co-sponsored the event with a local church. "

That's so true about snarky charm. I went to a place called Flo's Hot Dogs that's famous for attitude. Someone asked if they had pizza, and Flo was all like, "Is this called Flo's Pizza?! Read the sign and get outta here, dummy!" It was part of the experience and it was awesome. But tsk-tsking someone for their…

I completely agreed with you until you said that serving at a high-end place is the same as serving at a casual place. I have never been a server, but my husband waited tables at a diner (think IHOP) for years. He was great at it, so he decided to try his hand at one of the nicest restaurants in the area. He failed…

Because the expectations of "friendliness" differ widely by culture, I think it's more effective to look at the quality of service in non-tipping venues in the U.S. Think of the service you get from coffee shops, or restaurants where you order from a counter, or fast food restaurants. Service seems to be highly…

Yes, we should do away with tipping and pay restaurant workers an hourly wage. The most common argument I hear in favor of tipping is that it incentivizes good service, but I agree with Madeleine that the tip amount has more to do with the customer than the server's performance. Everyone I know tips a standard amount…

Dividing the total by 5 is hard! I think it's easier to take 10% x 2. (So for a $58 bill I would round up to $60, take 10% ($6) x 2 = $12.

:(

Ahh! I need to know what his reasoning is!

But Facebook's newsfeed feature doesn't show you posts from everyone - just certain people. I could definitely imagine a scenario where I wasn't notified of someone's death. I have some friends I met abroad or at conferences who share no mutual friends with me. If they died, and it didn't show up in my newsfeed, I…

I really like your suggestions about marking certain profiles as deceased or inactive. I am glad that you and your friends are finding comfort and community online from far away.

Totally disagree. I think Facebook is actually ideal for getting updates from people I don't see regularly and haven't talked to in years. Years ago, I had strong connections with people I met while traveling abroad, attending debate tournaments, or working at a coffee shop. I don't swap pen-pal letters with the…

Omg, I forget which tent, but I want to say it's the Maine exhibit for some reason? Anyway, it's been about 10 years, but I still dream of the baked potatoes there. YUM.