Ever since 1860, when South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, there has been a subtle undertone speaking to its politicians, reminding them of our “rebel” history. If we don’t like something, well, shucks, ma’am, we’ll just bow out again.
You aren’t going to push us around up there in Washington.
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who …

On Wednesday morning, Early Show anchor Harry Smith will undergo a colonoscopy live on the air, becoming the first network anchor to do so.
I know what you’re thinking: what about Katie Couric?  Good question!

On Monday morning, I had a physical. One of the first things they did was to take my blood pressure. It turned out to be 110/70, and I remarked, only half joking, that for a lazy, fat guy, I’d happily take that reading. I realize that it’s past time for me to stop being lazy, start being …

Jamie Oliver, otherwise known as “The Naked Chef,” was brought to tears by America’s “Fattest City.”
More specifically, the television personality, who visited Huntington, West Virginia to shoot a new reality show airing in March on ABC, got emotional when many of the residents there turned down his efforts to get them to eat healthier.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all…
An adult film star who posted an online video claiming she was upset about testing positive for HIV and had subsequently set out to “destroy the world” because no cure for AIDS had as yet been found has now changed her story.

Today is the first day of winter.
While most people are busy this week finishing up their Christmas shopping and getting more and more excited about the exchange of gifts and time spent with family and friends, others are having a particularly rough time.

My first mobile phone was a bulky Motorola that was stored in a black bag and had a cigarette lighter plug for power. There was no shoving it into your pocket. That was in 1987 or so.
A study out of Scandinavia has been watching people who have used mobile phones, presumably the bulky kind and the newer, pocket-sized …

From what I can tell, there is little doubt that pomegranates are good for you. They contain anti-oxidants, which help undo the damage that we do and that nature does on its own. They also have been shown to have helped reduce the risk of prostate cancer, which makes the little things more appealing to me, the son …

Forty is the year that a lot of people seem to believe the body starts falling apart. Is it any wonder so many people dread hitting the big four-oh?
I’ve found a list of ten things that men should be doing as they hit that milestone age. Some of them are easier than others, but all of them carry …

Not everything that approaches 40 is good, you know. A new study, for example, suggests that if current trends continue, the level of adult obesity in this country will hit 40% by 2018.
2018 isn’t as far away as it looks when you think about it.
And maybe that’s a good reminder that it’s time to get in better shape. …

One week from today, I celebrate a milestone that has been the butt of jokes for as long as jokes have existed. I turn that age Jack Benny refused to turn.
The big four-oh.
Am I happy about that? Well, yes and no. I’ll be happy to still be here to turn something. But I’m not delighted that …

This past weekend’s editions of the Saturday Six and Sunday Seven shared a theme of getting de-stressed. I had no idea how appropriate that timing was!
The Anxiety Disorders Association of America has declared November 9-15 National Stress Øut Week. The week highlights the benefits of mind-body practices to reduce stress and anxiety. Some suggestions to relieve stress …

My friends have a wide range of political views. I have some friends who are far on the left who think that “Obamacare” is the greatest thing since the Polio vaccine. I have some friends on the far right who think that Obama is somehow trying to reinvent health care to kill us all.
No, really. I think …

A new study in Australia suggests that bad moods can actually be good for you.
It also finds that people who tend to be more sad are less gullible and have a greater ability to discern other people’s character. Being sad also boosts memory, the study suggests.
Way FM, a Christian radio affiliate in Charleston, posed an interesting question yesterday: …

Did you happen to see the Halloween episode of The Office?
I didn’t, but the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention did and they, along with other mental health organizations say NBC and other entertainers should stop using suicide as a punchline.
In the episode, the paper company hosted a haunted house event for kids. Character Michael Scott pops out at the …

She gained national attention as one of the physical trainers on NBC’s reality hit The Biggest Loser.  Now, NBC is tapping Jillian Michaels to host her own reality show, Losing It With Jillian.
This time, instead of the weight-loss hopefuls coming to her, she’s going to them, and moving in!
She’ll spend a week with families struggling to lose weight and help …

I did something today that I not only have never done before, but had pretty much decided that I would never do:  get a flu shot.
I never get the flu.  At most, I’ll get a cold.  Fever that lasts maybe half a day, if that long, and mostly sniffles and sneezes.  Once every other year or so, I might have …

One of those annoying medical commercials spends most of its time extolling the virtues of a diabetes meter that doesn’t require “coding.”
“Honey, you don’t have to code anymore,” one lady says to the camera, addressing it as an old friend, as if this is the breakthrough of the century.
For those of us fortunate enough not to have diabetes, this “coding …