Ronald McDonald debuted in 1963 with TV personality Willard Scott donning the clown costume for the first time in an ad spot for McDonald's (MCD). But if some health advocates have their way, the fiery-haired clown's days are numbered.

The Corporate Accountability International is calling McDonald's mascot a "deep-fried Joe Camel for the 21st Century" and is sponsoring "Retire Ronald" events at several locations around the country. The group claims that Ronald McDonald is a spokesperson for childhood obesity, and they want him cut from the payroll pronto.

Michelle Obama has made healthy eating a priority in her role as first lady. Her emphasis on the earth-to-table approach to dining emphasizes local and organic ingredients -- and fits squarely with the mission of Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI).

Obama's White House garden is great top-of-mind stuff and demonstrates the value of a healthy lifestyle. It may not be for everyone, but there will be enough followers that will think more and more about going organic.

Give Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) credit for drumming up publicity. Today's Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that biographies of Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain will be available exclusively on Kindle, the company's hand-held reading device (because turning pages manually is clearly too much effort).

The publisher is Pequot Press imprint Lyons Press, and as you can tell from the titles, this is pretty hard-hitting stuff: "Cindy McCain: Elegance, Good Will and Hope for a New America" and "Michelle Obama: Grace and Intelligence in a Time of Change."

I recommend waiting until the biography of the winner comes out in paperback, because at least then you'll be able to use it as a pillow for the well-deserved nap you take after reading the first five pages.

If this is the best Kindle can do for exclusives, it doesn't speak well for Amazon's ability to convince publishers that digital distribution is the future for books.

That the FDA has granted accelerated approval to Genentech (NYSE: DNA) for Avastin for the treatment of patients with breast cancer is not just big news for the company, but great news for women around the world in their fight against the dreaded cancer.

"There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, so it is important to control the disease as early and for as long as possible," said Kathy Miller, M.D., Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Indiana University School of Medicine and lead investigator on the E2100 trial. "Now with Avastin plus Paclitaxel, we can increase the time a woman's cancer is kept under control, and offer a biologic option to women who previously were limited to chemotherapies alone."

"As an oncologist who has treated women with metastatic breast cancer, I know how important the first course of therapy can be," said Susan Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., M.P.H., president, Product Development, Genentech. "New treatments are needed, and this approval provides women who have not yet received chemotherapy for their metastatic breast cancer a new option to consider with their physician and families."

In this midst of a tirade about Michelle Obama's comments that "for the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country," the ever-so-enlightened Bill O'Reilly had this to say:

"I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down."

I've pretty much given up on being shocked by anything O'Reilly says anymore, but I am shocked that he hasn't been fired -- or at least suspended -- over this blatantly offensive and inexcusable remark.

Don Imus was fired for something that was, in my opinion, far less offensive -- and he's an early morning radio shock jock!

It's interesting that News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox News apparently has lower standards for its anchors than talk radio.

You can always tell when political campaigns change from first gear to second gear. The wife of Democratic U.S. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has resigned from a part-time position at TreeHouse Foods (NYSE: THS), a major Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) vendor. This move comes a week after her husband said he would not shop at Wal-Mart based on its anti-union stance.

With U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton moving away from her past association with Wal-Mart and with the wife of a Clinton competitor now cutting any appearance of impropriety with the retailer through a vendor relationship, Wal-Mart's political ties are in the limelight at the moment. Obama officially gave a reason of "increased demands on her time" when resigning from TreeHouse. Are you convinced?

Was Obama's resignation a response to her husband's comments or a way to try and head off dirt digging by political opponents hoping to get their claws into Mr. Obama's heels as he turns up the heat on his Presidential run? With Wal-Mart the target of organized labor (like it always will be), the chess move here by Mrs. Obama is a curious one. Or, perhaps there's no motive at all beyond how she explained it.