The World Has Gone Mad And I Want Off
All right, maybe it isn't the entire world, but it is the United States, or, more specifically the state of Mississippi. And I thought Clinton getting the Republican lobotomy was going to be tonight's worst news. But, no, this tops that.
Mississippi House Bill 282 is a proposed law that will bar restaurants in the state from serving, and I quote, "any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health." Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr. wants to save us from ourselves by turning restaurants into the food police, armed with whatever is necessary to determine whether prospective patrons are obese or not. This is so fucking insane that I can barely come up with a coherent response. Mayhall is clearly out of his mind.
Okay, lets take this apart calmly and rationally. First off, obesity is not contageous. Eating in a restaurant with fat people will not cause a thin person to become fat. Seeing fat people is not a cause of obesity. Health conditions can be, overeating can be, emotional problems can be, genetic quirks can be, but it is not now, nor has it ever been, a disease caused by proximity to fat people. Second, barring obsese people from restaurants will not in any way help them lose weight. One does not lose weight by not eating or not being allowed to socialize normally with one's friends. One loses weight by exercise and calorie reduction, within reason, or, in very extreme cases, surgery...which still requires one to engage in exercise and calorie reduction. Third, weight and health aren't as tidily linked as the self proclaimed weight police want us to think. Visceral fat, fat around the organs, seems to be consistently linked to health problems, but even a thin person who is inactive can have dangerous amounts of visceral fat. This means that a physically active obese person might well be healthier than a thin inactive person. (And, no, the solution is not to arm restaurants with the ability to measure our visceral fat instead.) Finally, and most importantly, discrimination is not okay. Not, not, and not. Period. End of discussion.
Clearly "Here's to the State of Mississippi" needs a new, modern verse. It's still the state that doesn't understand the basics of this country. (Not that the country at large is doing a great job of that. Would that the founding fathers would rise from their graves and storm Capitol Hill. "What have you done to our country!?")
Mississippi House Bill 282 is a proposed law that will bar restaurants in the state from serving, and I quote, "any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health." Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr. wants to save us from ourselves by turning restaurants into the food police, armed with whatever is necessary to determine whether prospective patrons are obese or not. This is so fucking insane that I can barely come up with a coherent response. Mayhall is clearly out of his mind.
Okay, lets take this apart calmly and rationally. First off, obesity is not contageous. Eating in a restaurant with fat people will not cause a thin person to become fat. Seeing fat people is not a cause of obesity. Health conditions can be, overeating can be, emotional problems can be, genetic quirks can be, but it is not now, nor has it ever been, a disease caused by proximity to fat people. Second, barring obsese people from restaurants will not in any way help them lose weight. One does not lose weight by not eating or not being allowed to socialize normally with one's friends. One loses weight by exercise and calorie reduction, within reason, or, in very extreme cases, surgery...which still requires one to engage in exercise and calorie reduction. Third, weight and health aren't as tidily linked as the self proclaimed weight police want us to think. Visceral fat, fat around the organs, seems to be consistently linked to health problems, but even a thin person who is inactive can have dangerous amounts of visceral fat. This means that a physically active obese person might well be healthier than a thin inactive person. (And, no, the solution is not to arm restaurants with the ability to measure our visceral fat instead.) Finally, and most importantly, discrimination is not okay. Not, not, and not. Period. End of discussion.
Clearly "Here's to the State of Mississippi" needs a new, modern verse. It's still the state that doesn't understand the basics of this country. (Not that the country at large is doing a great job of that. Would that the founding fathers would rise from their graves and storm Capitol Hill. "What have you done to our country!?")