News from THE DELANEY CO.

HEALTH & FITNESS - Extreme obesity is now threatening the youngest members of our society. Last month, results of an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that children between the ages of eight to 14 were shown to have an obesity rate of 8.3 percent at the end of 1994, but by the end of 2006 the rates were found to have increased to 15.8 percent. A new study, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, found that 37.1 percent of the children were overweight, 19.4 percent were obese, and 6.4 percent were extremely obese. These latest statistics should be a wake-up call to better monitor and protect our children. U.S. children need to develop better health habits including eating a healthy diet, and getting an adequate amount of exercise. Now that spring is here, send your kids outdoors to enjoy the day, getting off the couch and into the sunshine. Take a walk to the local farmers market, plant a vegetable garden, enroll in the local YMCA or Boys and Girls program. Find an outdoor activity that your kids will like. And a healthy diet can go a long way in the prevention of obesity, as well as build a solid foundation for maintaining health later in life.

POLITICS-Too early to mull Republican's chances on unseating President Obama in 2012? Not for potential GOP candidates itching to run. The field will be wide open: There's no consensus ppick s with Reagan in 1980, Dole in 1996, and Bush in 2000. Among those to keep an eye on:

Mitt Romney. But the question remains, if he didn't excite the party two years ago, why would he do any better in 2012?

JOB MARKET - The job market for college grads this year: About the same as last...lousy. The forecast for hiring and salaries is flat, but that's a lot better than the outlook a few months ago, when declines of as much as 7% seemed likely. Best off (and no surprise here): Grads in IT, engineering, and accounting. Liberal arts graduates face the biggest challenge, and that won't change anytime soon. One growth area is paid internships, set to increase 4%. They're a great way for new grads to show what they can do and maybe jump the line for a permanent job.

AFGHAN WAR - Another grim moniker for Akghanistan: America's longest war. On March 29^th it passed Vietnam's 8 ½ years of sustained combat. And the end is still many years away. Though Obama plans to begin a withdrawal by July, 2011, a U.S. presence will last much longer. Kiplinger Forecasts estimates that "it will take until 2014 at the earliest before the Afghan army and police are prepared to take on the Taliban without significant help. Afghans are undermanned, ill-trained, ill-equipped and lacking in logistics and secure facilities. Plus corruption is rampant, chiefly among the police."

ECONOMY - U.S. corporate earnings will feel the effects of Europe's halting recovery. The euro zone and the United Kingdom will limp along over the next few months, hurt by weakness in business investment, job markets and private consumption. That's not counting the potential damage should Greece's debt woes turn into fiscal crises in other heavily indebted countries such as Spain or Portugal. Slow growth in demand for U.S. exports is the least of the problems. Weak sales by foreign affiliates will have the most impact on parent firms. The decline of the euro, pound, and other European currencies against the dollar translates instantly to lower overseas earnings on the parent firm's balance sheet.

HEALTH BILL EXTRA - The health care bill signed into law last Tuesday by President Obama is the nation's most sweeping social legislation in four decades. But it also includes some smaller changes, including requirements for restaurants to post calorie information. Chain restaurants that have more than 20 locations will now need to display calorie information next to the food item on the standard menu. The Food and Drug Administration has the task of establishing more specific regulations and determining when these changes go into effect. Nutrition facts would also be required to be posted on vending machine products and drive-thru menus. The National Restaurant Association called the passage of the provision "a win for consumers and restaurateurs." The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit health advocacy group, praised its passage, calling it a "one of dozens of things we will need to do to reduce rates of obesity and diet-related disease in this country."

MARCH MADNESS - I did a brief survey of a dozen people here at the Delaney office this morning. Who will win the National Championship? The results as follows:

Four people pick Duke

Three people say Butler

Two like Michigan State

Two pick West Virginia

And one said, "It's basketball season??"

Make it a good month!!!