DanielSan <danielsan1977@gmail.com> wrote in
news:do-dnd4aPa0-hwnanZ2dnUVZ_oKhnZ2d@comcast.com:

Fred Stone said the following on 1/20/2008 7:34 PM:

DanielSan <danielsan1977@gmail.com> wrote in
news:6P2dndBmTN5nkgnanZ2dnUVZ_urinZ2d@comcast.com:

Fred Stone said the following on 1/20/2008 5:47 PM:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-
goldberg20jan20,1,3087455.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

http://tinyurl.com/39999c

For instance, California is proposing revisions to its housing code
that would require all new or remodeled homes to have a
"programmable communicating thermostat." Equipped with special
"nonremovable" FM radio receivers, these devices would allow state
power authorities to set the temperature in your home as they see
fit. Ostensibly to manage demand during "price events" and other
"emergencies," you would basically cede control of your home's
heating and air conditioning to the state (when and if state
officials wanted to exercise it).

And if they do it like you're suggesting they would, "the people"
would rake them over the coals and they'll be politically destroyed.

But you still think it's possible for "them" to do it in a way that
would be acceptable, don't you?

Yes....and it's in accordance to the wishes of their constituency. If
they break ranks with their constituency with what they do, they'll be
out on their ear.

I see. So the majority is always right, unless they disagree with
DanielSan?

You're an idiot, aren't you, Fred?

I know you are but what am I?

http://iknowuarebutwhatami.ytmnd.com/

I'm sorry, Fred. You're not an idiot; you're a child.

I know you are but what am I?

In article
<5e57d537-75d9-44c3-9273-46ab1a846300@h11g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
magilla <chris.linthompson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Jan 22, 9:33 am, Fred Stone <fston...@earthling.com> wrote:

magilla <chris.linthomp...@gmail.com> wrote
innews:07b6ad21-3d96-4b95-bf4e-d4968a696b78@n22g2000prh.googlegroups.com:

On Jan 20, 8:47 pm, Fred Stone <fston...@earthling.com> wrote:

aluminum baseball bats; the

Again, a movement by private citizens that failed.

So was the trans-fats thing before the government got on board.

Will of the people Fred. Will of the people.

It's funny how liberal big-government mavens love the "will of the
people" until the people decide to do something like toughen up drug
laws or ban gay marriage. Then suddenly the will of the people must be
ignored!

magilla <chris.linthomp...@gmail.com> wrote innews:5e57d537-75d9-44c3-9273-46ab1a846300@h11g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

On Jan 22, 9:33 am, Fred Stone <fston...@earthling.com> wrote:

magilla <chris.linthomp...@gmail.com> wrote
innews:07b6ad21-3d96-4b95-bf4e-d4968a696b78@n22g2000prh.googlegroups.c
om:

On Jan 20, 8:47 pm, Fred Stone <fston...@earthling.com> wrote:

snip

Fred, this article has overstated quite a few things about New
York.

In New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has become a
champion of a supposedly new "post-partisan" movement of
for-your-own-good- government, trans fats are off the menu.

Yes, they are, and a good thing, too. Do you disagree with this
move, Fred?

Yes.

That's pretty silly Fred. Are you also against the ban on mercury in
drinking water?

Are you against a ban on medical marijuana?

Smoking has become the ceremony
of heretics and outlaws.

My biggest objection is that Bloomberg is a hypocrite: he's been
seen lighting up a big ol' cigar inside at catered events. I
disagreed with the ban on smoking in bars, but a "no smoking"
section in a restaurant is like a "no peeing" section in a public
swimming pool.

In 2006 alone, New York City banned -- or
attempted to ban -- pit bulls;

No, that was a group of citizens. Although Rudy Ghouliani succeeded
in banning ferrets from New York City. What a jerk.

trans fats;

A fine thing. Do you disagree? They are definitively linked to
heart disease, and you cannot see them, smell them, taste them- so
how are you to tell if your restaurant is using them or not? Get
rid of them; we have already seen that there are perfectly
acceptable alternatives available at the same cost.

Yes, I disagree, and no, Trans fats have *NOT* been definitively
linked to heart disease.

Of course they have Fred. The medical literature is full of articles
on the topic. Just go to Pub Med and search "trans fats heart
disease". The data are overwhelming; it's perverse to deny them.

Sure, Chris, if you feed mice an exclusive diet of trans fats. Now show
me the research that links a normal human diet containing a normal amount
of trans fats to heart disease.

And no, again, there are *NOT* perfectly acceptable
alternatives available. There are *barely adequate* alternatives
available.

Wrong again. Do the search I mentioned above, and look for the study
in the Netherlands that compares McDonalds fats there with McDonalds
fats here in the US. Also, I can tell you that the price of MickeyD's
has not gone up in New York since the ban went into effect. And their
fries still suck; Burger King's fries are still better (and also with
no trans fat).

McD's fries are not the best example, Chris. Pie crusts and other baked
goods do not turn out the same.

aluminum baseball bats; the

Again, a movement by private citizens that failed.

So was the trans-fats thing before the government got on board.

Will of the people Fred. Will of the people.

"Will of the people, Chris. Ban gay marriage."

purchase of tobacco by 18- to 20-year-olds;

Never heard of it.

foie gras;

Private citizens

So was the trans-fats thing before the government got on board.

Um, so what? No ban on pate' ever went into effect. And the article
was incorrect when they claimed "New York" tried to ban pate'. It was
a small group of citizens.

What about Chicago?

pedicabs in parks;

Pedicabs were never going to be banned; that was the hype of the
pedicabbies. The city instituted licensing for pedicabs, and the
cabbies went ballistic.

new fast-food restaurants (but only in poor neighborhoods);

Didn't hear of that. But show me a Taco Bell in a tony section of
Manhattan.

Market forces at work.

lobbyists from the floor of council chambers;

Damn straight. But how on earth can this be put in the same class
as things that are patently harmless? Lobbyists are generally the
scum of the earth.

vehicles in Central and Prospect parks;

They have always been banned for at least part of the year. There
are a couple of roads we're talking about here: Park Drive North
and Park Drive South. They are loop roads that are
pedestrian-clogged in nice weather. They're closed for most of the
year, and always on weekends, and have been for decades. The
several transverses (that just go from east side to west side, and
vice versa) have never been closed to cars, and never will be. They
offer no pedestrian access to the park itself; they're in trenches.
That's distinctly different from Park Drives North & South, which
go right through the park at people-level. But even they are open,
and heavily used, by cars, on the weekdays, in late Fall, Winter,
and early Spring.

cellphones in upscale restaurants;
the sale of pork products made
in a processing plant in Tar Heel, N.C.;

Never heard of those; obviously they didn't get very far. Why were
they banning the pork from Tar Heel?

mail-order pharmaceutical plans;

As well they should be; most of them are mills for illegal vicodin
and other narcotics

candy-flavored cigarettes;

Good thing, too. Kids should not be encouraged to smoke.

That's something parents can and should deal with, not the state.

Nonsense again, Fred. The government has an obligation to provide some
level of protection for its citizens. Or perhaps you think the link
between smoking and lung cancer and heart disease is as nebulous as
that between trans fat and heart disease?

I think that if people want to smoke, they'll smoke. Or are you in favor
of banning medical marijuana too? Will of the people, right?

the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus;

Private citizens- PETA types, I think. Went nowhere

and Wal-Mart.

Grass-roots movements in several neighborhoods that (a) want to
keep small shops alive in their neighborhoods, and (b) don't like
the way Wal-Mart treats their employees. I don't like them myself.
But people get to make zoning laws where they live, as a rule.

Irrational behavior. a) those small shops sell goods at much higher
prices than Wal-Mart, and b) that's between Wal-Mart and their
employees, not some zoning commission.

Will of the people, Fred. Local government deciding things
democratically. Remember democracy? Local zoning laws govern what can
go into neighborhoods.

Ah, majority rule. Majority rule is just fine except when they rule
against something liberals want, right?

Will of the people? Gay marriage?

snip

In Canada, there are now a slew of public service announcements
that use fear, terror and gruesome imagery to encourage workplace
safety. You can find them on YouTube. My favorite features an
attractive young female chef in the kitchen of her restaurant,
gushing that she's about to get married and have a wonderful life.
Unfortunately, proper safety precautions weren't taken, and in the
middle of the ad, while she's speaking to the camera, she slips
and falls, pouring boiling oil on herself. She screams in agony.
We see her scalded hands clenched in pain, the singed flesh on her
face peeling off. So remember kids, safety never takes a
vacation!...

That's in New York City too. It's a public service announcement
that stresses safe workplace practices. Is this bad?

It's ridiculously exaggerated.

Ever seen a burn victim Fred? It wasn't nearly as gruesome as a real
third-degree burn; it was softened considerably for prime time TV.

That's like the driver ed films that show some poor mangled-up victim of
a car crash. "This could be you if you don't buckle up!"

--
Fred Stone
aa# 1369
People who think with their epidermis or their genitalia or their clan
are the problem to begin with.
C. Hitchens