Posted on 09/14/2002 9:39:44 AM PDT by forest
Back in the early 1970s, the hippie culture chanted "down with the establishment." Today, they are the adults -- teachers, reporters, lawyers, judges, legislators, and they make up the membership of dozens of foundations and non-government organizations -- affecting the establishment. And still, each group, in its own way, seems to be working to dismantle our American establishment.
As far as the average American citizen is concerned, our judicial system has become lethargic, cumbersome and ineffective at protecting our rights. Often, the judicial system appears little more then the playground for corrupt lawyers and their partners, the judges.
One case in point was the fiasco of the tobacco lawsuits. The attorneys involved became instant multimillionaires. Judges completely trashed the rights of American corporations and consumers. Unscrupulous tax and spend legislators allowed the foolishness to go forward because it gave them permission to levy yet another heavy tax. Everyone won. Except the average American consumer, that is. Consumers got the bill in the form of yet another hidden tax.
Of course, we are supposed to forget those billions of dollars changing hands at our expense. The published excuse was that the nanny state was protecting the public health. Never mind that everyone involved, except the consumer, had a vested interest.
As we warned back then, that foolishness was just a test case by those unscrupulous lawyers. The corrupters of the courts wanted to see if unprincipled judges would allow the frivolous cases, and they did. Well, the sharks still smell blood -- easy money. So, here come the fat police. Their first scam worked. Now they plan to go after many successful major American corporations under the guise of public health. Even the liberal concerns, like Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, are targets.
They're getting plenty of help, too. In between crying about global hunger, the World Health Organization declares obesity a global epidemic. Reports state that, in the United States, 61 percent of adults aged 20 to 74 are considered overweight or obese. About a quarter of American youth are overweight or obese.
Obesity is determined by body mass index (BMI). That calculation takes into account a person's height, weight and age. According to the U.S. Surgeon General's guidelines for adults 20 years or older, a six-foot tall adult 20 years or older with a weight of 140 to 180 lbs. would be considered healthy, 190 to 210 pounds overweight and 200 pounds or more obese.
The lawsuits have already started. A lawsuit was filed in the New York Supreme Court on behalf of a New York City man who says he has been eating fast food since the 1950s. He has sued the country's four leading fast-food chains, blaming their food's fatty content for his health problems.
The 5-foot-10-inch, 272-pound maintenance worker said he had heart attacks in 1996 and 1999 and has diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The suit asserts that it was the fast food chains that made him and others overweight. "They said '100 percent beef.' I thought that meant it was good for you," the plaintiff told reporters. "I thought the food was OK. Those people in the advertisements don't really tell you what's in the food. It's all fat, fat and more fat. Now I'm obese."
"There is direct deception when someone omits telling people food digested is detrimental to their health," his attorney said.
Three teenagers in New York City, aged between 13 and 19, have also filed a class-action lawsuit against McDonald's Corp., saying their fast food caused them to gain as much as 200 pounds and develop serious health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. The lawsuit seeks undetermined compensatory damages.
It appears that lawyers went hunting for these clients. The teenagers' parents are reported to be either unemployed or on disability. One question that cries to be asked is, if these parents do not have much money, how could these kids afford to eat so much at the fast food joints? Also, who fed the parents?
In another test suit, McDonald's and Burger King are being sued by a group that claims the fast food corporations have exposed customers to a cancer-causing substance in their french fries since 1990. This West Coast food police group asserts that the burger corporations' fries contain acrylamide, which they say is listed by California as a known carcinogen. The lawsuit argues that McDonald's and Burger King have sold millions of orders of fries, each containing "100 times more acrylamide than the maximum level permitted by the World Health Organization for drinking water."
Negligence can be described as the failure to exercise the degree of care considered reasonable under the circumstances, resulting in an unintended injury to another party. Is it negligent of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream to not
tell customers that, although their product is a food, it is not to be used as their complete diet? If not, then why should that be a requirement of any of the fast food chains?
With self determination comes responsibility for what you put in your mouth. If we allow these lawsuits to proceed, that is a direct signal that we Americans are willing to let government make most of our personal decisions for us. And, as with cigarettes, we can also expect huge taxes to be levied on anything bureaucrats wish to label potentially harmful.
If we are going to allow lawsuits "for the children," we should sue government schools. Not only do schools serve junk food to the children, most schools cut out recesses and even gym classes. Instead of letting kids burn off excess energy the natural way, the trend is to drug them into behaving. Clearly, that is detrimental to health.
Bringing this a little closer to home: As one who imbibed in a poor meat and potatoes and high refined carbohydrate diet -- made worse by the consumption of an excessive amount of adult beverages -- for way too long, I can attest firsthand to the resultant health difficulties. So, who do I blame? Was it those who sold me the foodstuffs for the poor diet or the producers of beer, vodka and bourbon?
Unlike those who call for the nanny state, I know damn well who is to blame: the one staring back at me in the mirror every morning. No person ever force-fed me anything. Nor has any person or concern ever tricked me into eating or drinking anything that was bad for me. I, as an adult, did it all myself. The problem, therefore, is mine to correct.
So, it is interesting that I could now add my name to a class action lawsuit and get paid for my own personal abuse. Appalling, actually! Excuse me if I fail to believe that is how our law is supposed to work.
It is time voters instruct their representatives in government to insure these legal actions do not go forward. The lawsuits are an insult to the liberty of a free people.
They're right! I want a listing of all natural carcinogens found in those healthy fruits and vegetables right now!
Does the acrylamide occur naturally in the potatoes, or is it added during the cooking process?
You want really crappy health care? Just let a doctor see a cigarette pack in your pocket. You get a lecture ($3.25/minute) about cigarette smoking. Great, Doc, how about sewing up the gash in my leg????
Through several doctors, not once have I been asked about allergies (other than pharmaceutical), or workplace exposure to dust, chemicals, or toxins.
This will simply be another witch hunt.
BTW, the BMI is just the old chart in a formula. I'm 6 feet tall, weigh 228, and can pick up an engine block (stripped, no main caps) and put it on the stand (8 cylinder, not a 4-banger). The last time I weighed in at 180 lbs, I had been underfed (grad school) for eight months and spent one week of that time with no food at all. Muscle weighs more than fat. The index should be a factor of total body fat as a percentage, not just body weight.
Studies: Obesity Worse Than Tobacco Smoking
"The same people behind the campaign against tobacco are gearing up to do it again to sugar, fat and the foods that contain them."
Fat City for Trial Lawyers: Suing away responsibility.
Great Dane! This is GREAT. I printed it out and will memorize it. Our Doctor retired, have to break in a NEW doctor again. So......if he starts on me about smoking, I can use your wonderful true words!
Thanks Great Dane!!!
Don’t swallow that food while you’re dining out
In response to the letter by Paul L. Perito, chairman and president, Star Scientific Inc: Cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain a multitude of toxic chemicals, according to anti-smoking zealots. Therefore, the public must be protected from evil smokers who would threaten the health of nonsmoking men, women and children in places like restaurants and bars.
But what exactly are those helpless victims eating and drinking in their smoke-free, toxic-free non-smoking section of the restaurant? You might be surprised. Holding your breath while you eat might protect you from toxic secondhand smoke, but don’t swallow that food!
Everybody likes roast turkey, especially when the whole family is around the table. Hope they like heterocyclic amines, too. Nothing goes better with turkey than some bread stuffing ethyl alcohol, benzo(a)pyrene, ethyl carbamate, furan derivatives, furfural, dihydrazines, d-limonene, psoralens, quercetin glycosides and safrole. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like cranberry sauce, unless it’s the furan derivatives that go with it.
How about some prime rib of beef with parsley sauce? Use lots of ketchup unless you have a taste for heterocyclic amines and psoralens. How about some broccoli spears? The allyl isothiocyanate ought to kill the taste. Who doesn’t like a nice baked potato? Can’t have too much ethyl alcohol and caffeic acid, I suppose. Perhaps you prefer a sweet potato instead. You’ll still get your dose of ethyl alcohol, but with a shot of furfural to boot. No meal is complete without rolls and butter. Or the ethyl alcohol, benzo(a)pyrene, ethyl carbamate, furan derivatives and furfural that come with it.
Save room for dessert pumpkin pie is good, even with the benzo(a)pyrene, coumarin and safrole inside. Apple pie is my favorite, though I’d rather not think about the acetaldehyde, caffeic acid, coumarin, estragole, ethyl alcohol, quercetin glycoside and safrole that go with it. Fresh apples, pears, grapes or mangos? They’re always good, even with the acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, caffeic acid, d-limonene, estragole and quercetin glycosides. Anybody else need a drink after all that?
If you drink enough red wine, you won’t notice the ethyl alcohol and ethyl carbamate. If you drink so much that it’s time for a cup of coffee, the benzo(a)pyrene, benzaldehyde, benzene, benzofuran, caffeic acid, catechol, 1,2,5,6-dibenz(a)anthracene, d-limonene, ethyl benzene, furan, furfural, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone might do you some good. Or not. If tea is more to your liking, you might need some sugar to mask the taste of the benzo(a)pyrene and quercetin glycosides.
And for you health-conscious types who prefer only herbal teas, have some symphytine with your comfrey tea. Or some benzyl acetate with your jasmine tea. A cigarette might taste good after all that.
Don’t swallow that food while you’re dining out
Here you go!
You know Great Dane, I try to avoid confrontation with the Doctor. I don't smoke in the car on the way over. I wash my hands and spray a little cologne on me, even AFTER bathing and washing my hair.
Bubba? Hell, he smokes on the way over, always wears shirts with front pockets and his cigarettes are visible to the Doctor's eye. Bubba says "Just let him say something to me. I'm ready." LOL! He doesn't care WHO likes it or not. If they don't want to be around him, get the hell out.
And you know? The Doctors NEVER say anything to him either. haha! (He DOES has that look on his face though, that you don't want to mess with him!)
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