Critics counter that regulating french fries and Blackberries
infringes on personal liberties.

"Nanny government" some critics call
it, and they point to a playpen full of behavior-related bills before
city councils and state legislatures.

`Nanny' laws are added to the books
By MICHAEL HILL
Associated Press Writer

- You're not eating that! Put the phone down! Pull those earbuds out!
And put down that bat; you'll hurt someone!

Lawmakers around the country are passing or proposing laws to regulate
the grease your doughnuts are fried in, the calls you make from the
road, what you listen to when you cross the street, even the bat your
kid hits a baseball with.

The ideas are offered with the best intentions - usually to minimize a
newly recognized danger or to encourage healthy behavior. Lawmakers
worry, for example, that text-messaging while driving can be deadly,
and that foods fried in trans fats promote heart disease.

Critics counter that regulating french fries and Blackberries
infringes on personal liberties. "Nanny government" some critics call
it, and they point to a playpen full of behavior-related bills before
city councils and state legislatures.

"If we were really at war, if we were in a depression, people wouldn't
be wasting their time with this stuff," said David Boaz, executive
vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, "but because we're
not, you know, it's easy to look at every little thing that bothers
you."

Attempts by the government to modify public behavior have a long
history, from Prohibition in the '20s to safety belt laws in the '80s
and smoking bans in the '90s. In recent years, lawmakers have
increasingly focused on food.

The big action this year involves trans fats, or partially
hydrogenated vegetable oils used for deep frying and baking.

In December, New York City imposed the nation's first ban on the use
trans fats in restaurants. The idea has spread like greased lightning
since then, with bans or warnings introduced in at least 18 states.
Philadelphia recently approved a ban, and one was even discussed in
Buffalo, N.Y., birthplace of the chicken wing.

BanTransFats.com founder Stephen Joseph, who grew up in England, said
the heated reaction to the ban seems uniquely American.

"I was on a talk show a couple years ago and the host said, `Well,
you're trying to bring socialism to America!'" Joseph said, "I mean,
what an incredible overreaction for trying to change a cooking oil."

New York's City Council recently called on residents to voluntarily
stop using the n-word and approved a ban on metal baseball bats in
high school games, because of fears that youngsters will get killed by
balls rocketing off the bats. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has yet to take
action on the bat ban.

New York in 2001 became the first state to make it illegal for drivers
to talk on cell phones unless they have a hands-free set. And last
month a state legislator proposed $100 fines for people who listen to
iPods, talk on cell phones or text-message in New York City
crosswalks.

Connecticut, New Jersey and the Washington, D.C., also have
hand-held-while-driving bans. And 35 states have before them
"distracted driver" bills aimed at activities like cell phone use,
text-messaging, DVD watching, reading, writing, grooming, even playing
a musical instrument, said Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of
State Legislatures.

California's cell phone driving ban goes into effect next year. In the
meantime, lawmakers there are being asked to consider a ban on smoking
in cars if there are children in the vehicle. A bill that would make
spanking a crime was withdrawn.

Two states, Arkansas and Louisiana, already ban smoking in cars if
there is a passenger in a child seat, according to Americans for
Nonsmokers' Rights. That is in addition to 21 states that ban smoking
in bars or restaurants or workplaces or all three, according to the
advocacy group.

Boaz of the Cato Institute said that banning drivers from
text-messaging can arguably protect people from the dangerous behavior
of others. But as for bans on such things as unhealthy food, "if I
prefer doughnuts to the promise of a long life, well, I think that's
my choice."


--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.

Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS

"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.


"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant

Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net