Posted on 09/30/2011 5:29:41 AM PDT by Clive
Part of the joy of watching the Super Bowl is getting to see all those whiz-bang, big-budget ads.
The best spot to air during last year’s Super Bowl was surely the “Green Police” advertisement for the Audi A3 — equal parts hilarious and horrific.
Set to the tune of Cheap Trick’s 1979 hit, Dream Police, the Green Police spot depicts an Orwellian near-future in which a legion of environmental cops, many of whom wear shorts and get around on geeky Segways, frequently intrude upon the personal lives of the citizenry.
They spy, sift through trash, and set up dragnets looking for environmental misbehaviour.
Thus, a supermarket customer is handcuffed for requesting a plastic bag; a homeowner is apprehended for “possession of an incandescent light bulb.”
The scenarios are funny but the Green Police spot also serves as a cautionary tale of how the ever-intrusive Nanny State can make our lives miserable — ostensibly for our own good.
I was thinking of that ad upon hearing Health Canada is actually looking at regulating the sale of energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster.
According to recent reports, an “expert panel” has recommended the federal health minister consider reclassifying caffeine-laden, heavily-sugared energy drinks.
The panel wants them classified as “stimulant drug containing drinks” and wants them yanked from the shelves of variety stores and supermarkets. The panel suggests they should be sold under the supervision of a pharmacist.
(Evidently, there’s been 61 incidents of ill effects due to energy drinks; Health Canada classifying 32 as “serious.”)
As you might imagine, the makers of energy drinks are frothing at the mouth.
The Canadian Beverage Association asserts the expert panel’s recommendations are “completely unsubstantiated in science and their conclusions are unreasonable.” It says they are based on flawed assessments and assumptions and the recommendations run counter to how energy drinks are regulated in 160 countries.
It also notes energy drinks contain, on average, half the caffeine found in a regular cup of filtered drip coffee.
“Health authorities and numerous scientific expert panels in various jurisdictions, including the E.U., Australia, and New Zealand, have assessed energy drinks and their ingredients and have concluded that they are safe,” argues the CBA.
That said, not all beverage makers are crying foul.
Frank D’Angelo, CEO of D’Angelo Brands, says he doesn’t have a problem with the proposed regulations. D’Angelo notes his energy drink, Cheetah, wouldn’t be affected because it’s caffeine-free.
“It’s not normal to market drinks to kids that are full of caffeine,” he said, noting if the proposed regulations go through as is, “Cheetah could be the last energy drink standing” at the supermarket.
Still, the idea of the government restricting the sale of these beverages smacks of the slippery slope.
After all, why stop at energy drinks? Cheese can be artery-clogging — will cheddar soon be sold by the local pharmacist?
Governments already over-regulate the distribution and sale of alcohol. Do we really want Ottawa doing likewise when it comes to non-alcoholic beverages?
Besides, consumers already have a choice.
If someone craves caffeine, let him freely buy a Rockstar.
If he wants a caffeine-free boost, he can try Cheetah.
How’s this for an idea: Let individuals decide for themselves what they want to eat and drink.
What a concept!
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“A supermarket customer is handcuffed for requesting a plastic bag...”
I see the same mentality with eco people and the food restriction nuts. It is all about CONTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL. In our county (starting in November), all plastic bags and paper bags will cost the grocery consumer .55 cents EACH. The county schools are offering the recycle bags as a fundraiser (YOU should see the cost per bag!).
NYC Mayor Bloomberg: ‘Government’s Highest Duty’ Is to Push ‘Healthy’ Foods
CNS News ^ | 9/28/11 | Eric Scheiner
Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 1:36:42 PM by Nachum
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2785050/posts
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The Western World’s nanny state!
*There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.*
We could still learn from this 18th century nursery rhyme.
Does that also apply to pretentious boxes on the internet?
I was in a rental car with satellite radio and the theme for a movie came on with the text below embedded in it. I then HAD to see the movie. I ended up owning the TV series on which it was based as well as the movie itself. I loved the message and the show is seriously entertaining. Oh, and the quote:
“People don’t like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don’t run, don’t walk. We’re in their homes and in their heads and we haven’t the right. We’re meddlesome”
— River Tam
The movie is Serenity and the “big secret” that is discovered, and actually brings many open questions from the TV series to a close, is very much a message about our own world and culture - and the planners.
Her conclusion was that grocery bags are more eco-friendly than garbage bags and that 5cent tax has nothing to do with ecology.
It is a tool of CONTROL and conditioning of sheeple.
The sad truth about Canadian education is that the majority of people believe that human behavior influences global warming.
Widespread ignorance and docility gives an opportunity to crooks to saddle us with more tax for nothing.
I've just read in the morning paper about Canadian Federal Commission warning of the elevated cost to economy if nothing is done to stop global warming. What they do not say is that we have to ADJUST to global warming that we can not change.
I believe that the select few want to prepare themselves with OUR money and then let us down the river. That's why I feel that 5cent tax on grocery bag, eco tax is attack on my life.
As of soft drinks, Government does not give a hoot about industry's use of poisonous High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in soft drinks and food, even for food used by small children. That's how much they care about people health. Controlling sale of energy drinks is about CONTROL, not health.
The sad thing about this situation is that the grocery stores are being forced to do this via the Montgomery County government. It wasn’t the grocery stores idea. (Infuriating, isn’t it?). The county schools are using this new agenda to benefit themselves by fundraisers offering these bags. One large eco-whatever bag is $19.99 and I would have needed at least three or four. So, I went on Ebay and purchased TEN large bags for $12.99 (free shipping). Thus, I am refusing to reward the county school over something the county government has forced upon me.
You are absolutely right... it is about forced acceptance. Once again, it is the mindset that other people are too stupid/lazy to make a good decision on their own. The “stupid” need to get in line via force to MAKE the decision that is “acceptable”. It is total BS.
What is so strange to me is that the plastic type grocery bags have gotten thinner and thinner over the past few years. I believe it was a way to make them more “eco”. That being said, I always re-use them as liners for the small trash cans in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Now I will have to purchase non-eco trash liner bags for such a purpose. The whole “eco” mindset is such boloney to me. If you use common sense and make the reasonable prediction that thicker bags will still be purchased and used then you “hate the earth”. Yeah, whatever!
Liberal elite scolds are exhausting...
bfl
Put the packaging in a box and send it to your congress critter, or Senator..... The people who are passing laws that force you to recycle.
Used CFL’s, Styrofoam, hard plastics...
Here in Ontario, it should be sent to:
Premier Dalton McGuinty
Queen's Park,
Toronto
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I see what you are aiming for, but every expense incurred by a retailer is always passed along to the customer. Any other option results in bankruptcy.
The real problem is all the busy-bodies. ;-)
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