And so it begins

[Universe Prince]

First they came for the fat people... Well, okay not quite that bad yet, but apparently:

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist. The full text reads:     HOUSE BILL NO. 282 An act to prohibit certain food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health; to direct the department to prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments; to direct the department to monitor the food establishments for compliance with the provisions of this act; and for related purposes. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi: SECTION 1. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers. (2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person. (3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section. SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/01/no-fat-people-allowed-only-slim-will-be.html

No, it probably won't pass, but no, it is not a joke. But it just might be a portent of things to come.

[sirs]

And....what party affiliation would they be?  Just curious

[Universe Prince]

If I am reading the table on this page correctly, Mayhall and Read are Republicans, and Shows is a Democrat.

[sirs]

Gotcha....thanks

[Plane]

If I am reading the table on this page correctly, Mayhall and Read are Republicans, and Shows is a Democrat.

Ok I can be ashamed of the Republicans , who wants to be ashamed of the Democrat?

[sirs]

Apparently not, Plane       

[fatman]

I'll be ashamed of the Dems for you Plane, though I'm honestly not really either party.

I've said that this is coming for a long time, as soon as society started going after tobacco companies.  The next logical step was junk food, some states and municipalities are beginning efforts to try and tax junk food, much like a "sin" tax for tobacco or alcohol.  Eventually the government is going to have to learn that people will do what they do regardless of health benefit.  As with most sin taxes, a junk food tax mostly hits poor and low income folks.

Denying food to someone because they're fat is like denying a bank withdrawal to someone that is rich.

[sirs]

Dead on, Fatman     

[Universe Prince]

Denying food to someone because they're fat is like denying a bank withdrawal to someone that is rich.

True, but there are folks who would like to try both, and all for your own good, of course.

[Rich]

There speculation that this is a ruse crafted in order to point out that our government is going to far with these kinds of mandates i.e. smoking and trans fat laws.

[sirs]

Notice the deafening silence from the left?  Same thing occurs, everytime the anti-1st amendment (un)Fairness Doctrine comes up in debate.  Most often indicates positions they'd advocate but have no valid basis to support such

[Universe Prince]

There speculation that this is a ruse crafted in order to point out that our government is going to far with these kinds of mandates i.e. smoking and trans fat laws.

I'm sure there is. But in reply, I point back to the blog entry:

I called lead author, Rep. Mayhall, and asked if this was serious legislation or tongue-in-cheek to make a point. He kindly took a moment to answer my question while the legislature was in session. He said that while, regrettably, he doesn?t believe his bill will pass, this is serious. He wrote it, he said, because of the "urgency of the obesity crisis and need for government action." He hopes it will "call attention to the serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system."

So apparently this is not a ruse or satirical in any way.

[Plane]

I am a member of the overweight public myself , getting some fat off would help me , but I don't want the government to command me to diet.

Is public action that doesn't involve the government adequate to the problem?

[Universe Prince]

Is public action that doesn't involve the government adequate to the problem?

That might depend on what the problem is and what the public action is.

[Plane]

Is public action that doesn't involve the government adequate to the problem?

That might depend on what the problem is and what the public action is.

Thee is a lot going on with commercial enterprise caering to the dieter , how well can this work?