Smoking ban, fitness tests for healthier nation [junk food would be taxed and everyone would be..]

News.Com.Au

[Sub-Driver]

Smoking ban, fitness tests for healthier nation

By Sharri Markson

April 20, 2008 01:36am

SMOKING would be banned for everyone born next year, junk food would be taxed and everyone would be subjected to a fitness test by 2020.

By comparison, the cost of healthy food, including fruit and vegetables, would be reduced to reflect its low environmental impact and obvious health benefits.

These are just a few of the ideas from 100 of the nation's health experts who discussed the best way to combat obesity, reduce illness and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said one idea put forward in a submission was an annual national fitness test where citizens would receive a financial incentive if they pass.

Health stream participants in the 2020 summit also discussed increasing public education about how death can be a "positive experience" to avoid patients panicking when they reach hospital emergency departments.

Health participant, Meredith Sheil, a former Westmead Children's Hospital pediatrician, said many participants had suggested a ban on cigarette sales by 2020.

"A lot of the health submissions suggested a ban on smoking by 2020," she said.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Eric Blair 2084]

I know how you feel. I used to have to work with Irish women. My company banned them. They were usually drunk and obnoxious and smelled bad.

It’s nice to have someone to kick around and discriminate against. Makes people feel better about themselves. You can’t discriminate on the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, race or religion.

It’s been hard to find anybody lately to put down. Smokers are great for that. You can pee on them and curseat them...and the state will encourage you instead of sue you!

Do you feel better about yourself now? Good!

[Paved Paradise]

Thanks Eric! Love you too.

[Paved Paradise]

Anyone trying to stop smoking IS a part of the solution; and a good one too. Remember, if you don’t like it, there are many countries you can emigrate to - China, Russia, etc. Smoking is not banned anywhere.

[Paved Paradise]

They did that where I used to work. Somebody complained about it to the higher-ups and they cracked down but it only lasted about a month. They were back to their old tricks. I only wished I could’ve taken a “shopping break” for as long as they took their smoking breaks. I could’ve gotten a LOT done - all my grocery shopping and probably Christmas and even some personal shopping.

[Calpernia]

>>>>If the government would just move to 100% taxation, prohibit the consumption of dangerous substances (including drugs, and we all know that’s been a raging success), and institute all kinds of life-enhancing stuff, we would be a healthier and more vigorous nation. I can’t wait to be a healthier, happier citizen.

I watched a movie like that a few days ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_Man_(film)
Demolition Man

It is suppose to be fiction. Now it looks like a foreshadowing documentary.

[Paved Paradise]

Oh, BTW, Eric. Next time you want to say something, have an actual POINT. Nobody is kicking anyone around. You “Butt-Heads” have been a scourge for years and now it’s your turn.

Oh well, boo-hoo. Come talk to my mom sometime about her missing left lung and see how much pity and empathy you’ll get from HER or her thoracic surgeon or that entire surgical team that gets to remove people’s lungs every day because of this thing that you like to eschew as something positive and good.

Yeah, right. Maybe, I’ll start spraying a little puff of Zyklon B out my car window when I stop at the traffic lights.

[Calpernia]

>>>Which city will become the first “bad carb” FREE city?

You would think California, NJ or Wisconsin. But, ironically, it looks like it will be Mississippi.

http://blog.newyorkcitycommunity.us/2008/02/02/mississippi-pols-seek-to-ban-fats.aspx
Mississippi Pols Seek To Ban Fats

New bill would make it illegal for restaurants to serve the obese

[murphE]

and everyone would be subjected to a fitness test by 2020.

If we had mental fitness tests in place, maybe we wouldn't have to listen to idiotic proposals like this. = D

[eXe]

Yup.. Been warning people about this for years..

First its the smokers.. along with the years of brainwashing to demonize them..

Next up the fat.

Next the gun owners.. or anything else the nanny state does not like.

This kind of stuff never ends.. and quite frankly if it comes to the USA.. things will turn ugly for everyone.

[GOP_Lady]

That bill died in committee without a vote. The three sponsors (2 GOPers and 1 dem) introduced it to make a point. These politicians should be voted out of office for even thinking something like this. And trying to make a point in this way is a terrible way to treat/view constituents.

[Eric Blair 2084]

You got me all wrong. I'm a very sensitive man. You seem to be a nasty combo of A and A1. Tell me, how does your Mom's condition make you feel? Who do you blame?

I'm here to help you and provide a public service for a fee. I am a fully trained psychologist specializing in Nanny State Behavior Syndrome (NSBS). This liberal, left wing, social engineering disease is horrible and can strike anyone at anytime. It can even strike Conservatives who believe in free markets and limited government.

Thankfully, Dr. Feel (a wholly owned subsiduary of Dr. Phil) is here to help you work through your problems.

Please answer the questionaire below, so I know how best to treat you. And please have your insurance card ready for the wallet biopsy. This is a Capitalist country and I don't work for free.

I discriminate against smokers because:

A. The smell of smoke is icky and yucky, it makes my hair and clothes stink and I hate walking into a bar/restaurant where people are smoking. So rather than take advantage of the free market and go somewhere that is voluntarily smoke free, I would rather use the power of the state to impose my personal preference on my fellow citizens.

A1. My __________ (choose one: Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt, Grandfather, Grandmother, older sister, brother, babysitter, next door neighbor, mailman) abused me by smoking ________(choose one: Marlboro, Merit, Kool, crack, Camel, Kent, marijuana) in the __________ (choose one: house, car, bar, juvenile detention center) when I was a kid.

B. My beloved ___________ (choose one: husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, maid, dog, cat, goldfish, gay lover) died from _________(choose one: cancer, heart disease, emphysema, car crash, train wreck, terrorist attack, sting ray) because of their smoking.

C. I smoked for _____ (years) and now I am ________ (choose one: missing it, sick, dead, born again, enlightened, ashamed of myself, if I can't do it, nobody can) and want to share my experience with others.

D. The Big Tobacco companies are lying scumbags and must pay! (you're not coming down off the mountain with the tablets there)

E. I represent Big Pharmaceutical interests that benefit from the anti-smoking movement because it increases the sales of our Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products.

F. I am a deeply caring individual in the mold of Mother Theresa and I am speaking out due to my benevolent, philanthropic, altruistic concern about the health of my fellow man.

G. I am a research scientist and grant junky, and if I don't tow the party line my grant money will disappear.

H. I'm just a garden variety Fascist and Totalitarian and get a ______ (choose one: cheap thrill, natural high, erection, orgasm) by imposing my will on other people.

I. I am a retard who believes in bogus studies, junk science, the Easter Bunny and the Toothfairy. I fear that because I walked into a bar on Spring Break in 1987, and was exposed to Second Hand Smoke I now suffer from ______(choose one: AIDS, Herpes, Athletes Foot, Jock Itch, male pattern baldness, or genital warts)

J. I am a disgruntled, prissy and angry employee of a ______(choose one: bar, restaurant, club, casino) who can't leave the job because I am a _______(choose one: slave, indentured servant, sweatshop laborer, illegal immigrant) and had no idea there was smoking going on in the place before I took the job.

K. An elected public serpent, serving as a _____ (choose one: State Assemblywoman, Senator, Freeholder, city councilman, mayor) and I have failed miserably in my job and trying to tackle really tough problems like _____ (choose one: gang violence, income taxes, property taxes, crime, corruption), so I will support a smoking ban based on the talking points and literature that "M" has given me and claim that I have actually accomplished something to help my constituents.

L. A Socialist liberal Democrat who is desperate for Universal Healthcare so the proletariet will continue to keep me in power. But if I don't do something about the "demand side" health care costs caused by such global health menaces as _________ (choose one: Marlboro, Merit, Kool, Big Macs, Whoppers, Chicken McNuggets, Budweiser, Coors, Jack Daniels) my health care entitlement program will go ________ (choose your adjective: broke, belly up, bankrupt, insolvent).

M. A professional anti-tobacco activist who makes $450,000 per year. MY GOAL IS TO REDUCE SMOKING RATES FROM 25% TO BELOW 10%. KICKING THEM OUT OF THEIR FAVORITE BAR AND RESTAURANT IS JUST A SMALL STEP TO COERCE THEM TO QUIT. I DON'T EVEN BELIEVE THE SHS NONSENSE MYSELF! Don't you dare try to ban cigarettes, if you do I will have to go back to my previous job ______(choose one: prostitute, drug dealer, pimp, state assemblyman, mayor) where I won't make nearly as much money and the bank will foreclose on my seaside villa and repo my _______(choose one: Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Hummer, Infiniti, Acura,Jaguar, Volvo, Bentley). I take advantage of the prejudices of categories A-L above to accomplish my goal.

N. I am a Religious Fundamentalist who believes that smoking is strictly forbidden in the ______(choose one: Qu'ran, Bible, Torah, Old Testament, New Testament, David Wells' autobiography "Perfect I'm Not", Hustler Magazine)

O. I don't fit any of the above categories, I just like to argue with people.

[Calpernia]

Ah, I didn’t know it was to make a point. Fell right in line with the Healthy People 2010 grant funding.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1563271/posts
Healthy People 2010

[GOP_Lady]

These are some of our fellow "Butt Heads." They look like fine folk to me.

[Eric Blair 2084]

[boop]

You worked around smokers from 1975-1987. What kind of lung cancer did you get from all that exposure to SHS? I’m still waiting for mine to appear since anti-smokers have promised that second hand smoke kills everyone. And I was exposed for a lot longer than 12 years.

[GOP_Lady]

Hi, Sir Eric. I was at a support the troops rally today in downtown Cleveland. Las Vegas Dave is going to post my pics tomorrow evening. I'll ping you.

[GOP_Lady]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004161/posts

[Eric Blair 2084]

Even the most rabid 4 anti smokers still left on FR don’t believe that smelling a whiff of smoke kills anyone. They may be selfish, but they’re not stupid.

They just don’t like the smell.

A lot of stuff annoys me. Gubmint should do something about it. My list is endless.

[timm22]

Anyone trying to stop smoking IS a part of the solution; and a good one too.

Would you still be so supportive of this "solution" if you knew it would lead to the kind of "solutions" proposed in the article? Do we really need the government to protect us from ourselves?

Remember, if you don’t like it, there are many countries you can emigrate to - China, Russia, etc. Smoking is not banned anywhere.

The same could be said for universal healthcare, handgun bans, ACLU-style secularism, or Islamic modesty laws. That doesn't change the fact that those are all stupid, unnecessary policies.