Phyrfight Intel

This is an excerpt from interesting article by a heath activist
William Campbell Douglass II, MD, who has been calling for government intervention on the behalf of school children for some time. It seems he has had an epiphany about government involvement in people’s lives. I attached the whole doc below as it is from a newsletter and I cant link to it.

His website: http://www.realhealthnews.com

… The bottom line is this: It isn’t the Feds’ job to protect us from ourselves by limiting what private industry can make and how they can promote their products – only to protect us from what’s patently unsafe. However, it is the combined duty of government, parents, educators and competing free-market entities to provide a balance between the freedom to destroy ourselves with consumption and the disciplined “wise use” that leads to a life full of choices, options and variety. Come to think of it, let’s leave the government out of the “wise use” equation. Can you imagine the government giving out wise advice on any subject?

Sure, it might be simpler if we banned all hazardous things – junk food, cigarettes, guns, motorcycles, fast cars and all related advertising – or allowed the legal system to sue them out of existence…

But it just wouldn’t be America anymore if we did.

Full article

The complete story:

Dunkin’ dunkers depositioned?

As you know, I spill a lot of ink on the topic of junk food.

Whether I’m imploring schools to get rid of candy and soda-pop vending machines (not to mention pizza and mac-and-cheese in the cafeteria), cheering about the impending bankruptcy of Hostess (makers of the Twinkie, Ding-Dong and Ho-Ho), or lamenting the barrage of junk-food ads on Saturday morning cartoons, I spend a good amount of time sounding the alarm about the unhealthy eating habits we Americans have embraced and are teaching our children.

Sometimes, like in the case of school lunches or junk-food advertising on TV, I’ve even called for governmental intervention – even though I’m certain that they’ll utterly botch whatever they undertake in the interest of junk-food regulation. And as if I needed any more evidence to support this notion (that ridiculous Food Pyramid is “exhibit 1” in a long list of such bungles), I recently thought I’d found another blockbuster example of how the Fools on the Hill are misspending your money in the fight against junk food…

Congressional hearings on “doughnut abuse” among NBA players!

According to a recent MSNBC online article, a Congressional committee is currently convening to investigate allegations of rampant doughnut consumption among players in the National Basketball Association. Scheduled to testify at the probe’s upcoming hearings are larger-than-life B-ball star Shaquille O’Neal.

The “report” cites a study showing that 200 of 426 NBA players are grossly overweight, and quotes one committee member as saying: “The NBA is an important contributor to the economy – if players are getting winded after one minute of play, the public has a right to know why.” Also quoted is a spokesperson for a popular national doughnut chain who called the hearings a “witch hunt.”

There’s a twist to this story, though: The whole thing, studies, quotes and all, is a goof. The original piece (released the week before April Fool’s day, mind you) appears in Newsweek as a humor column. The author is a National Press Club humor award winner.

Read in the context of humorous commentary, the piece is funny. But what’s really funny is that MSNBC picked up the piece and ran it as straight news – there was no “humor” mention in the byline at all. Apparently, they didn’t get the joke, a fact that’s very telling about the tragic-comic state we’re in.

The (tragic) joke’s on us

In our “blameless society,” the feds have a history of doing just this kind of nonsensical, frivolous thing – lynching the wrong suspects, so to speak. That’s why the whole idea of “Doughnut-gate” was so believable to the mainstream press that they reported it as news.

Need examples? Look at how – instead of spreading a contrasting message – the Feds have instead banned certain kinds of advertising for being “too effective” (remember Joe Camel?). Look at how – Instead of subsidizing truly healthy eating habits for millions of school-kids or turning their backs on the grain and refined foods lobbies to get the word out on the benefits of eggs and meat – they’ve opened up the door for lawsuits against fast-food chains, or cookie makers (remember the Oreo case in California?) because some people can’t control their appetites. Similarly, look at how they’ve put restriction after tax after unconstitutional limit on firearms because of the actions of outlaws. There are lawsuits brewing in that arena, too. And don’t get me started on tobacco lawsuits…

Their pattern is to restrict and penalize the producers instead of holding consumers accountable for their own consumption, overuse, or abuse of perfectly legal products. (But come to think of it, why should anyone be accountable to anybody for his bad habits? Isn’t self-abuse a constitutional right? Whose body is it anyway?) This controverts the free market, and leads to an ever-more-powerful and invasive government. Is this what we want? Apparently so: Los Federales are having a field day lately by restricting capitalism and lining lawyers’ pockets. That’s why, at first glance, the notion of congressional hearings on “doughnut abuse” seems utterly believable!

The bottom line is this: It isn’t the Feds’ job to protect us from ourselves by limiting what private industry can make and how they can promote their products – only to protect us from what’s patently unsafe. However, it is the combined duty of government, parents, educators and competing free-market entities to provide a balance between the freedom to destroy ourselves with consumption and the disciplined “wise use” that leads to a life full of choices, options and variety. Come to think of it, let’s leave the government out of the “wise use” equation. Can you imagine the government giving out wise advice on any subject?

Sure, it might be simpler if we banned all hazardous things – junk food, cigarettes, guns, motorcycles, fast cars and all related advertising – or allowed the legal system to sue them out of existence…

But it just wouldn’t be America anymore if we did.

Supporting capitalism’s “dough” over Capitol Hill’s “nuts,”

William Campbell Douglass II, MD