New bill would make it illegal for restaurants to serve the obese

New bill would make it illegal for restaurants to serve the obese

www.thesmokinggun.com

FEBRUARY 1--Mississippi legislators this week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese patrons. Bill No. 282, a copy of which you'll find below, is the brainchild of three members of the state's House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. The bill, which is likely dead on arrival, proposes that the state's Department of Health establish weight criteria after consultation with...

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lol, what kind of crazy insanity is this?

PC run amok in reverse?

I'm not obese, or even fat, but damn! What are these people thinking?

www.thesmokinggun.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by TrueAmerican

That has GOT TO BE the most RETARDED piece of BS legisalation I have EVER heard about up until this point.
Please say that is some sort of April Fools joke.

What a waste of time, even writing legislation like this.

It seems pretty vague (without reading the wording) and is definitely discriminatory... although obese people wouldn't constitute a "protected class" like race, and so the standard of review would be lower.

Still... how stupid. Besides, obese people can still go to the grocery and buy food there. All this would do is give fast food employees and restaurant workers fake "authority" over customers, and embarrass people. It would do nothing to fight obesity.

reply to post by WraothAscendant


Be nice if it was. Problem is, it's February. Well, TSG does have this supposed copy of the bill on their site. Not that I'd believe it ever had a chance in hell of passing, but it is another example of wasted time and money in our system. Unbelievable.

reply to post by TrueAmerican

LoL!
Yet more proof we need to limit all terms in any public office to one year and only one year in government.
Our leaders are getting dumber.
LoL!

reply to post by TrueAmerican


This is pretty ridiculous, but in all honesty, it makes sense.

I don't think 'obese' people should be denied, but morbidly obese sure. I don't know where the line is cutoff, but I'm pretty sure if you're at the morbid part you can't leave your house so its a mute point.

Its very silly we have lawmakers worried about obese people eating at restaurants when they should be more worried about additives and chemicals in the foods the majority of people eat on a daily basis.

I propose a bill to the people of Mississippi to stop paying taxes so that politicians like this are without a job, and then take the extra money and head over to McDonalds.

The whole reason that Americans are obese is because they can't afford real nutritious food instead of raiding the dollar menu and eating the same food they are serving. Why don't they propose a bill that sends fat people to a nutritionist and gives them discount organic foods?

[edit on 2/2/0808 by jackinthebox]

Originally posted by biggie smalls
This is pretty ridiculous, but in all honesty, it makes sense.

I don't think 'obese' people should be denied, but morbidly obese sure. I don't know where the line is cutoff, but I'm pretty sure if you're at the morbid part you can't leave your house so its a mute point.

You can't be serious, biggie. It might be one thing if private establishments refused to serve the obese, but even then I'd hate to be the owner of one in the morning.

But to legislate it into law? Well then hey, let's make a law that prohibits people from buying music at record stores when the state determines that you listen to too much music. Next they'll be making laws prohibiting us from having too much sex. Jesus. Ron Paul. We need you, fella. Get rid of this insane overindulgence of government meddling in our lives.

We should make a law that prohibits government from excessive abuses when the people determine there has been too much abuse. How about THAT law?

Originally posted by jackinthebox
Why don't they propose a bill that sends fat people to a nutritionist and gives them discount organic foods?

Why should just fat people get discounts on healthy food?

I feel better all around when I eat organic, and it really makes a difference in the pain I feel from my endometriosis... It's just so damn expensive.

Besides... a lot of people eat fast food (dollar menu included) not because they can't afford better, but because it is convenient. Also, many people think it tastes good. I don't but other people do.

OK this is awesome! I mean it's totally lame, a complete violation of individual freedom and harmful to restaurants. But it would be an instant classic to hear from the booth behind you, "I'm sorry sir. You're too fat."

Problem is organic seems to be a bit of a farce in and of itself.
Never heard of a artificial tomato after all.

reply to post by TheHypnoToad


People need convenient fast food because they work 60 hours a week to pay for a studio apartment that doesn't have a kitchen. I hate fast food. I used to get a craving once in a while, like maybe once or twice a year, but try eating that crap every day.

People are fat because they can't afford healthy food.







[edit on 2/2/0808 by jackinthebox]

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I think people need to take care of themselves. If you have a food addiction, maybe its in the person's best interest not to serve them.

Like any other addiction, food can be destructive if abused. I wouldn't serve a drink to an alcoholic, give a needle to a heroin addict, and the list goes on.

At a certain point we are enabling people to abuse themselves.

It would be great if families stepped in and took care of the problem, but it hasn't seemed to have worked so far.

Do I think the government should be involved?

Certainly not. But it would make complete sense if this sort of thing happened on a smaller scale.

Trust me I do not like government intervention any more than the next guy. This is something I've been struggling with for a while now.

The government usually does not have the best interest of the public, but in this scenario, they actually might...

I am not for the passage of this bill, but let's use some common sense people.

Take care of yourselves...

Eat local, go organic, and stop eating so much freaking fried food...

I can't say I would push a vegetarian or vegan diet on anyone as I'm not one myself, but at some point it might help these people.

reply to post by biggie smalls


Who gets to be the "fat gestapo?" How do you decide who is fat and who is big-boned, and who is a sumo wrestler?

Why doesn't the government provide jobs that people can actually have dinner with their family, and be able to afford something besides a box of macaroni and cheese with some vienna sausages cut up in it?

This would certainly be a detriment to restaurants. It's a no-brainer to know restaurants make their money from people who LOVE to eat.

This would be like telling smoke shops they can no longer sell cigarettes to smokers, only non smokers.


I can also see obese people suing the pants off Mississippi for this.


I don't like slovenly people, in fact, I know a few people I'd love to chain to a treadmill... but this is just a gross violation of rights of both the citizens freedoms, and business freedoms alike.


I propose a new bill. Mississippi court houses are not permitted to hear politicians on the basis that they've spent too much time in politics.

jackinthebox,

I don't think you read my entire post.

Do I think the government should be involved in this sort of action? No. I do not.

Do I think a responsible family member would get involved in someone's life if they were abusing themselves? Yes I do.

reply to post by biggie smalls


Most people I know who are fat would not be if they had access to a proper diet. Both time to cook good food, and money to purchase food that is full of nutrients.

I have known two people who were beyond dangerously obese. The first was a woman who became so depressed by the loss of her husband that she gained about a thousand pounds. She couldn't even go to the bathroom anymore. She had a metal contraption up over her bad to pull herself up to slide a bedpan in. It was terrible. Her daughter became an anorexic bulemic.

The other person was a young man that grew up living on welfare. He just kept getting fatter the older he got, until he couldn't leave the house anymore. He wanted to lose weight, but being raised on a very poor diet, was never able to adjust to proper nutrition.

There are indeed people who have a psychological problem in regards to eating, and they should have acces to help the same as any addict.

It is my honest opinion however that obesity in America is tied to economics. There are very few rich people who are fat.

I am sorry to hear about your personal experiences with obesity.

I am sure those people were great and did not deserve to suffer.

However, I disagree that its completely an economic issue. Education is also a problem, although that is tied in with economics.

"Good" food is expensive. Cooking is also a skill that not everyone learns and is capable of, but someone in the family is usually a great cook.

The more money you have the better access to all kinds of services you have, including food.

If a person manages to eat 20 pounds of food a day, I'm sure they could afford some decent meals in the process. Does that mean they won't gain as much weight? No, but the chances are a lot lower.

As for the idea that there's few rich people that are fat, that is inherently wrong. I come from a well to do community (well my parents live there still, but I'm out of the house now) and there are plenty of obese people and some morbidly obese.

People need to know there's another option than McDonalds and Burger King. Organic and locally grown food actually tastes better than the crap I used to eat. I can speak from experience on how I preferred eating fast food to a home cooked meal. I don't quite understand why other than the fact I was addicted to it.

There are a ridiculous amount of growth hormones and drugs that many animals are given to make them larger and fatter. The drugs are not dissolved when the meat is cooked.


I firmly believe people are literally addicted to the drugs that are in the food. It is not wholly their fault.