WASHINGTON

Obama: Drug violence harms U.S.-Mexico relations

The explosion of drug-fueled violence along Mexico’s border with the United States could harm relations between the two nations, President Obama said Monday; Mexico’s leader retorted that much of the problem of drugs and guns begins on the U.S. side of the line.

In the thick of political contests in both the United States and Mexico, Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon traded unusually direct claims about the cause and effect of the drug violence that has consumed a swath of northeastern Mexico. They were cordial and complimentary to one another, but did not hide the degree of worry on both sides about a six-year spasm of violence that has killed more than 47,000 people.

“It can have a deteriorating effect overall on the nature of our relationship,” Obama said. “And that’s something that we have to pay attention to.”

Obama met with Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The three leaders launched a new bid to pare back regulation and boost North American trade.

GSA chief resigns amid reports of lavish spending

A senior government official resigned Monday after a report concluded her agency improperly paid for an “over-the-top” training session near Las Vegas that featured a mind reader, bicycle giveaways and lavish after-hour receptions in resort suites for federal workers.

The White House accepted General Services Administration chief Martha Johnson’s resignation after she dismissed two deputies and suspended other career employees over an $820,000 conference. The 300-person event at the M Resort Spa and Casino in Henderson, Nev., included a $95-per-person dinner and reception as well as various violations of federal laws and policies.

“As the agency Congress has entrusted with developing the rules followed by other federal agencies for conferences, GSA has a special responsibility to set an example, and that did not occur here,” the inspector general concluded in its report.

Public Buildings Service chief Robert Peck and Johnson’s top adviser, Stephen Leeds, were forced out. Four GSA employees who organized the five-day conference for the Public Buildings Service’s western region have been placed on administrative leave pending further action, a White House official said.

AirTran tops airline rankings; American Eagle hits bottom

For the second straight year, low-cost carrier AirTran Airways did the best job of getting passengers where they were going, says a survey exploring the all-too-familiar hassles of flying. American Eagle was ranked worst among the nation’s 15 largest airlines, though United drew the most complaints.

Despite higher fares, new fees and canceled routes, flying is getting better overall, said researchers who analyzed federal data on airline performance during 2011. Key indicators on lost bags, delayed flights, bumpings from overbooked planes and consumer complaints to the government improved.

Hawaii Airlines and JetBlue Airways ranked second and third.

After the top three, the overall rankings, in order, were: Frontier Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, US Airways, SkyWest Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Mesa Airlines, and American Eagle.

Body-mass index may not be best measure, study says

A new study has found that the body-mass index, the 200-year-old formula used to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy weight, may be misclassifying roughly half of women and just over 20 percent of men as healthy when their body-fat composition suggests they are obese.

The study, published in the journal PLoS One and co-authored by New York City Commissioner of Public Health Nirav R. Shah, uses a patient’s ratio of fat-to-lean muscle mass as the “gold standard” for detecting obesity and suggests that it may be a bellwether of an individual’s risk for health problems.

The study finds that for women over 50 especially, many whose BMIs suggest they are the picture of health are, in fact, dangerously fat.

 

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