Secrets of the City

“In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent.“
So the 90s were pretty good after all!

I’m fairly bored with these obesity stories… Has anyone seen Rick Bayless’ Mexico – One Plate at a Time? Whether he’s wondering through the poorest of towns and villages or Plaza de la Constitución, 1 out of every 3, including the children, are fat as hell. These stories do nothing but point a collective finger at fat people, regardless of why or how comfortable someone is about it.

…but I digress.

somebody stop the presses!!! that watered down drink story has unbelievably spawned quite a few clever comments and no trolling on the PiPress site. nothing like mocking violent drunken ’sconnies to unite Minnesotans.

We could fund health care by weight, the fatter you are the more you pay in taxes. One could argue that those that are fat drain the system more. The argument is similar to taxes on smoking.

I’ve long supported putting a scale at grocery store checkout lines and charging a tax based on the customer’s weight.

How about a bald tax?

We could fund health care by weight, the fatter you are the more you pay in taxes. One could argue that those that are fat drain the system more.

Because anorexics are cheap health care wise?

I read a study that said thin people are more likely to get alzheimer’s. Thin women are also more likely to get osteoporosis. Yes, people who are obese are more likely to get some diseases, but we can’t ignore that fact that being thin, particularly too thin has consequences on the health care system too. And any one can be hit by a bus and spend the next 20 years in a nursing home, fat or thin.

I wonder why there is a police helicopter hovering above my house shining the spotlight around right now. My friend just left and said that near Chicago and 38th there were cops everywhere, walking through the alleys and apparently looking for someone…

What kc said.

Weight is way too simplistic a measure.

I easily outweigh my brother by 70 or 80 pounds, but by almost any health measure except BMI, I would pretty easily out score him.

It is possible to be fat but fit, jut as you can be skinny and unfit.

And finally, since, just like poverty, not all weight problems are a sign of moral weakness or failure, I think there is an ethical problem in taxing someone at a higher rate for something they may not have a lot of control over.

Kevin, I find it hard to believe that you’re advocating new taxes. Isn’t that against all your principles?

No. Fat is against my principles.

Pretty ironic considering you worship an elephant.

Are you hindu, kwatt?

Nytimes redux of a study says overweight but fit is healthier than skinny and unfit. So suck it skeletor, down linemen and sumo wrestlers rule. I bet Kwatt had a no fat chicks decal on his pickup back in hicksville.

down linemen and sumo wrestlers rule.

They’re pretty fit guys, but most people carrying that much weight would probably not be able to run 40 yards. And all the wrestling they do is to get themselves off the couch.

That’s the point.

Tall people will weigh more than short people, so why don’t simplify it and tax based upon height?

Dumb people are more likely to do stupid things that require medical attention. So, why not tax based upon IQ?

Oh! Here is an idea. Rich people have more money and don’t have to live from paycheck to paycheck. Why not base the tax upon how much you make? Nah! Dumb idea. It would never work.

The argument is similar to taxes on smoking.

There is no tax on smoking, swandog. The tax is on the purchase of tobacco products. I stand corrected — there is a user fee on tobacco products.

bob’s right. you could be one of these people that schleps cigarettes off of everyone, never buying your own, and you’d never pay the user fee.

Tall people will weigh more than short people, so why don’t simplify it and tax based upon height?

That’s often not the case.

95% of the time a 6′5″ man will weigh more than a 5′4″ woman.

And if a man and a woman are the same height, the woman will often weigh more due to things like boobs and a naturally more heavy frame. Women need more fat on their bodies than men.

Then they should pull their own weight in taxes.

and he wonders why he’s single. or perhaps he doesn’t

If he’s a hindu, that would make him intriguing to the babes.

heh

I now feel vindicated for the ‘no fat chicks’ decal jab.

We have been down this road before and we all know where we stand, so I will just save us some time and say that I think the argument will prove itself pointless soon. If the price of food keeps rising people will not be able to afford the calorie dense but nutritionally vacant foods which seem to afflict them. The novel third world trend of the last half decade, where the overweight outnumbered the malnourished, will dissipate.

Or how about telling everyone: from September 1, ‘08 on, and with what we know as a human race about nutrition, everyone is on their own.

Is that freedom I smell?