Posted on 02/05/2008 6:03:31 AM PST by jurroppi1
Excerpt:
January 31, 2008 No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!
It has actually happened. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at junkfoodscience.blogspot.com ...
This is my first post, so please be gentle...
It sounds like he may have dipped a few times too many into his sample box.
How soon before they complain it is a ‘disability’ protected under the AWD act (another piece o’ crap legislation signed by Bush, the elder)
Good post. I don’t see this passing in Mississippi though. I can see some overweight barbecue afficianado beating the bone marrow out of a restaraunt manager that tried to enforce it . . . if the Mississippi legislature was so politically suicidal as to pass it.
I believe it already may be and may have been prior to bush... From what I know, morbid obesity (the kind that prohibits motility) is considered a disability. There are some rare instances of legitimate obesity that I think should be covered - but they are related to genetic and or endocrine issues.
Whatever your opinion, you gotta agree that this proposal is whacked!
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers - but please, don’t be offended. He says he never even expected his plan to become law.
“I was trying to shed a little light on the number one problem in Mississippi,” said Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, who acknowledges that at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he’d probably have a tough time under his own bill.
He sounds like another Huckaphoney.
Ping
This looks like it is punishing the obese, but won’t it devastate the restaurants? I thought businesses liked paying customers no matter what size.
They'll change their mind, I'm a lousy tipper.
Yeah, that’s really the whole point AFAIC. What the measure would do is wreak havoc on the local economy in the food service area - an area that is hurting already most everywhere, and deny what has always been a business owners’ ability to compete in the open market. (All this, even though as has been stated upthread - with concise citations I might add; no one in their right mind expects the measure to go anywhere.)
At any rate, I appreciate the response... And yes, I’m trying to lose weight anyhow :)
your post cracked me up, thanks!
Upon further examination of the article (see excerpt below), the lead author of the legislation is apparently very serious...
excerpt from: Junkfood Science: No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!
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, yes, this is for real and these elected officials actually believe this stuff.
The time is now for all Americans who value their freedom to eat, look, breathe and live their lives how they choose to unite!
Well, at a somewhat moderate build of 5 foot 9 inches, 165 pounds, this law will make it a lot easier, and far more appetizing, for me to hang out at the “All You Can Eat” buffets.
You’re almost as skinny and small as I am. I’m 170, 5’10”
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