Texas: Poor, fat, and stupid

Gracious! The front page of today’s Houston Chronicle’s (online) is just full of good news for Texans this morning:
Texas ranks 10th among high-obesity states
Texas census shows state among poorest in U.S.
Texas seniors’ SAT scores still below U.S. peers
Dang, that’s embarrassing.
Now before you go all ballistic on me, there are some other ways to spin interpret these stories.
— The SciGuy explains that these obesity studies are simply designed to make you feel bad. (Is it working?)
— The Chronicle’s article includes the “they tricked us by changing the test” explanation (cheaters!)
— That poverty study’s pretty hard to get around, unfortunately. ‘Bout the best I can offer for those who are offended to learn that Texas is poor is the rather weak consolation (also in the article itself) that it’s not much worse than it was, either.
Feel better yet? Happy Wednesday, Texas…