Too fat? No food for you!

[Darth Wong]

Also, I'm sure a 2-foot doorway would violate handicapped access laws.

They can have a separate entrance which is wide and short, for wheelchairs.

[Darth Wong]

Also, I'm sure a 2-foot doorway would violate handicapped access laws.

The real thing is that it's gotta be a fire hazard.

Couldn't they have several narrow doors next to each other?

It would be pretty funny, though, watching someone who was struggling to wiggle through it in an effort to get to the buffet table inside.

It also has the advantage of being much easier to enforce than the law they've proposed.

[Darth Servo]

Does anyone see anything wrong with a law that makes restraunts function in a MEDICAL capacity?

Not really.

Will we get McDonald's to staff an onsite physician?

Slippery slope. You don't need an MD to tell is someone is fat.

Will there be the state 'Department of Obesity'?

We already have the surgeon general.

Do people really think Americans are so fucking stupid that unless told otherwise we will eat ourselves to death?

Um, most ARE that fucking stupid. Three words: George W. Bush. Guess who voted for the idiot.

I suppose mandatory bath time is next.

Heaven forbid. Just like those awful mandatory seatbelt laws <gasp>

P.S. Good lucking to all the Waffle Houses which will have to deny service to law enforcement under this law . They aren't ALL healthy, you know.

Good riddance if you ask me. And for someone in a job like law-enforcement, there SHOULD be more strict health requirements.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Also, I'm sure a 2-foot doorway would violate handicapped access laws.

They can have a separate entrance which is wide and short, for wheelchairs.

Except Handicapped Access isn't just helpful for wheelchairs, its good for people with crutches, walkers, strollers, and seeing eye dogs. All of them benefit from wide doorways.

Maybe some sort of narrow turnstile at the counter, perhaps...

[CaptainChewbacca]

Why not just have a law that says fat people must volunteer as a trampoline at the rec center or the Y or whatever?

Well, for starters, we fat people aren't nearly as springy or elastic as you would hope.

Second, do they even HAVE YMCA's as public health facilities anymore?

[Darth Wong]

Also, I'm sure a 2-foot doorway would violate handicapped access laws.

They can have a separate entrance which is wide and short, for wheelchairs.

Except Handicapped Access isn't just helpful for wheelchairs, its good for people with crutches, walkers, strollers, and seeing eye dogs. All of them benefit from wide doorways.

Maybe some sort of narrow turnstile at the counter, perhaps...

At stores in the mall which have turnstiles, they have a special entrance that they open for people with wheelchairs or strollers. One could simply say that you need to have a special handicapped assistance device to get to use that entrance.

Not that I'm serious about this law. It seems totally pointless, since people can easily get morbidly obese without going to restaurants anyway.

[Flagg]

They can have a separate entrance which is wide and short, for wheelchairs.

Except Handicapped Access isn't just helpful for wheelchairs, its good for people with crutches, walkers, strollers, and seeing eye dogs. All of them benefit from wide doorways.

Maybe some sort of narrow turnstile at the counter, perhaps...

At stores in the mall which have turnstiles, they have a special entrance that they open for people with wheelchairs or strollers. One could simply say that you need to have a special handicapped assistance device to get to use that entrance.

Not that I'm serious about this law. It seems totally pointless, since people can easily get morbidly obese without going to restaurants anyway.

Exactly. Simply requiring restaurants to post calories or have healthier menus is far simpler and more effective.

[Glocksman]

Hell, I'm shocked that this was proposed in Mississippi.
When I was in Quitman MS last March, the guy we were doing business with sent out for lunch.

The lunch consisted of:
Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy.
Green Beans

The fried chicken wasn't anything I haven't had before, but the gravy on the potatoes looked odd and I commented on it.

I was told that it's made with the grease drippings from the fried chicken.
I also noticed that the green beans were cooked with bacon and the beans themselves were swimming in bacon fat.

I swear I felt my cholesterol go up 20 points just looking at that meal.

[Flagg]

Hell, I'm shocked that this was proposed in Mississippi.
When I was in Quitman MS last March, the guy we were doing business with sent out for lunch.

The lunch consisted of:
Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy.
Green Beans

The fried chicken wasn't anything I haven't had before, but the gravy on the potatoes looked odd and I commented on it.

I was told that it's made with the grease drippings from the fried chicken.
I also noticed that the green beans were cooked with bacon and the beans themselves were swimming in bacon fat.

I swear I felt my cholesterol go up 20 points just looking at that meal.

Nothing better than southern food. Real southern food. There isn't a part on a pig those fuckers can't make delicious. And gods damn them for it.

[Glocksman]

True.
Though my Mother always boiled green beans with a ham hock and onions instead of bacon and bacon grease.
However it's not that uncommon around here to fix beans with bacon fat, which is why I recognized what the green beans were floating in.

Southern Indiana isn't totally Southern in terms of cuisine, but we aren't really northern either.
An example would be our local preference for brain sandwiches.

[Tanasinn]

I can't say I understand why people think that obesity is an issue for the government to address. What ever happened to some degree of personal accountability?

The legal idea in the OP is hilariously impossible. Not only would you be unable to force restaurants not to serve the obese, but you can guarantee that the obese will turn it into a civil rights issue. Who is the government to tell you what you can eat?

In all seriousness, the individuals responsible for such a waste of time should be dismissed from their positions. That's what taxpayers are bankrolling? Really?

[Master of Ossus]

I can't say I understand why people think that obesity is an issue for the government to address. What ever happened to some degree of personal accountability?

I do not apply personal accountability to issues that affect other people, and obesity is one of those issues. Obesity is horrible for one's health, and health care costs in the US are shared, at least to some degree, by the general public. Furthermore, it's gotten so bad that systems, buildings, and devices must be designed so as to ensure that they can accommodate the obese. That's also why drinking and smoking are issues that I think that the government should regulate.

The legal idea in the OP is hilariously impossible. Not only would you be unable to force restaurants not to serve the obese, but you can guarantee that the obese will turn it into a civil rights issue. Who is the government to tell you what you can eat?

In all seriousness, the individuals responsible for such a waste of time should be dismissed from their positions. That's what taxpayers are bankrolling? Really?

I agree. This has about a zero percent probability of getting through the courts, even if they somehow managed to pass it.

[Darth Servo]

I can't say I understand why people think that obesity is an issue for the government to address.

Do you also feel the govt shouldn't address the hazards of smoking and other self-destructive-but-corporate-sponsored activities?

What ever happened to some degree of personal accountability?

What ever happened to corporate accountability?

[Stark]

Hey, does this mean America has a 'fat culture', like those crazy 'deaf culture' and 'autistic culture' people?

[Darth Wong]

Hell, I'm shocked that this was proposed in Mississippi.
When I was in Quitman MS last March, the guy we were doing business with sent out for lunch.

The lunch consisted of:
Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy.
Green Beans

The fried chicken wasn't anything I haven't had before, but the gravy on the potatoes looked odd and I commented on it.

I was told that it's made with the grease drippings from the fried chicken.
I also noticed that the green beans were cooked with bacon and the beans themselves were swimming in bacon fat.

I swear I felt my cholesterol go up 20 points just looking at that meal.

Ah, I understand now. Mississippi's solution to the obesity problem is to try and kill them all with their cooking.

[Flagg]

Hey, does this mean America has a 'fat culture', like those crazy 'deaf culture' and 'autistic culture' people?

If I they do then I hereby offer my services to infiltrate and destroy them from the inside.

[aerius]

Hey, does this mean America has a 'fat culture', like those crazy 'deaf culture' and 'autistic culture' people?

Well, given that Mike once posted a link to the website of a fat people acceptance and lobby group, I'd say the answer is yes.

[Stark]

Well, given that Mike once posted a link to the website of a fat people acceptance and lobby group, I'd say the answer is yes.

Is this for real?

[Darth Wong]

Well, given that Mike once posted a link to the website of a fat people acceptance and lobby group, I'd say the answer is yes.

Is this for real?

http://www.naafa.org/

One of their slogans is "fit at any size". They take research indicating that yo-yo dieting is bad, and conclude that therefore, it's better to be fat. They take research indicating that there is no health risk associated with being slightly overweight, and conclude that you can be any size with no health risk. They write reports with phrases like "study after study shows ..." without naming any of the studies.

[Stark]

That's so fucking broken. The last thing any nation (including my own Australia) needs is MORE people saying it's okay to be clinically obese.

That website actually makes me feel kind of ill. Encouraging people to forget about a major health issue?

[brianeyci]

That exercise programs encourage fat clients to attain an increased level of fitness and well-being rather than emphasizing weight loss or unrealistic levels of physical performance or appearance.

Goddamn isn't the whole point of weight loss to... lose weight?

Unrealistic levels of physical performance or appearance doesn't have to be linked to weight loss. Or am I missing something?

[Darth Wong]

That exercise programs encourage fat clients to attain an increased level of fitness and well-being rather than emphasizing weight loss or unrealistic levels of physical performance or appearance.

Goddamn isn't the whole point of weight loss to... lose weight?

Unrealistic levels of physical performance or appearance doesn't have to be linked to weight loss. Or am I missing something?

A lot of fat people have developed a very elaborate rationalization mechanism for their obesity. Many of them convince themselves that they're in great shape because "I do aerobics three times a week" or some other such shit. But I've seen the kind of low-impact aerobics that these people do, and it's barely more strenuous than casual walking.

I particularly liked the one where they quote some guy saying that he hired some fat woman as an aerobics instructor "because she was in fantastic shape". Yeah sure buddy, that's why there are so many obese people competing in Olympic track and field, right? It certainly couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you'd probably want an obese woman to teach an aerobics class for other obese women, and you're trying to put a positive spin on it, right?

[Zablorg]

That site reminds me of that other site that claimed that smoking is awsome and has no observed health effects.

[Darth Wong]

That site reminds me of that other site that claimed that smoking is awsome and has no observed health effects.

The methods used by all of these types (obesity advocates, tobacco advocates) are identical to those used by Holocaust Deniers and global warming deniers. In the face of overwhelming evidence, they exaggerate the mainstream position, provide evidence that this exaggeration is ... well, exaggerated, and then they claim that mainstream people are trying to "silence" this evidence (even though they're not), and that there is a conspiracy to lie to you about the truth.

[Terralthra]

I can't say I understand why people think that obesity is an issue for the government to address.

Do you also feel the govt shouldn't address the hazards of smoking and other self-destructive-but-corporate-sponsored activities?

Smoking harms people besides the smoker.

What ever happened to some degree of personal accountability?

What ever happened to corporate accountability?

What precisely is McDonald's guilty of? Making unhealthy food people like too much? Plenty of places offer healthy food; they aren't nearly as popular. A lot of people clearly want unhealthy food. Do you think we should outlaw corporations from making food that is any less than perfect because some people can't eat it in moderation?