Fascism gaining ground in NY

[homebase]

This poster is part of an education campaign noting that a typical adult needs no more than 2,000 calories a day. (Photo: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene)

Article:

Watch Those Calories, City Tells Subway Riders

October 6, 2008, 5:36 pm
By Sewell Chan


These days, the New York City subways seem to be filled with advertisements carrying prominent, unmissable public-service messages: Watch out for second-hand smoke. Call 311 if you see a homeless person who needs help. Be on the lookout for signs of child abuse. Don’t harass women.

(And we’re not even talking about the new, wraparound advertisements for the History Channel.)

Now the authorities have a new message for subway riders: Watch those calories.

A new public education campaign by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene — five advertisements, which will be posted in 1,000 subway cars — struck a variety of themes.

One argument made is that some meals are just too big. One ad shows a plate with a chicken burrito and full toppings: tomato, guacamole and sour cream (1,170 calories). Another shows a box of fried chicken, with a biscuit, macaroni and cheese and a soda (1,210 calories). “If this is lunch, is there room for a dinner?” the ads ask.

Other ads suggest smaller portions. For example, getting a double cheeseburger with small fries and a diet soda (670 calories) can be a vast improvement over the same cheeseburger with large fries and regular soda (1,250 calories). The motto: “Choose less, weigh less.”

Another tactic used in the campaign is surprise. Who knew that a tuna sub sandwich (530 calories) was so much richer than a roast beef sub (290 calories)?

Then there is the guilt factor. One ad shows a giant apple-raisin muffin (470 calories) and declares: “Healthy snack? Maybe not.”

There is an online component to the ad campaign. Cathy Nonas, a dietitian who directs the Health Department’s physical activity and nutrition program, will host a blog on calorie counting later this week at nyc.gov/health.

The city has taken action to ban trans fats and require restaurants to post calorie counts on their menu boards and believes that more information is better. The Health Department said in a press release:

Health Department surveys have shown that when restaurant patrons use calorie information in deciding what to order, they average nearly 100 fewer calories in each meal purchased. The Health Department estimates that posting calories on menu boards and menus will reduce the number of people who suffer from obesity by 150,000 over the next five years, preventing more than 30,000 cases of diabetes.

This will probably lead to government imposed portion control, stigmatize a large portion of the population and create animosity toward large sized people for being a "burden" on the health care system.

I never would have believed that New Yorkers would be so willing to bend over and keep getting rammed raw and battered by this over imposing freedom hating nanny Big Government that is more that willing to take them for everything they have and leave them high and dry when there is nothing left to extort, steal or pilfer from!

When did Health departments become "Health Authorities"?

[homebase]

Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg Buys NYC

the Billionaire Mayor

excerpt:

But the mayor's drive to overturn the two-term limit by legislation instead of popular vote has ignited opposition from good-government groups and city residents, divided the City Council and roused intense public debate.

Bloomberg is expected to spend $80 million of his personal fortune on his reelection campaign.

Unexpected Opposition for Bloomberg

excerpt:

"No more Bloomberg the King!" said signs outside City Hall, where people lined up to enter the packed hearing room and an adjacent overflow room.

"I'm not in favor of the mayor commandeering a third term," said Diane Rankins, a retired teacher from Queens who waited to go inside. "This is supposed to be a democracy. He's rich and he's using his power to make change."

Inside the hearing room, filled with guffaws, boos and cheers, a coalition of civil rights advocates, activists and politicians, some of them angling for Bloomberg's job, opposed the changes. They noted that voters already backed term limits in referendums in 1993 and 1996. And they said they are piqued that during a financial crisis, a billionaire mayor could use economic fear to create another chance to seek reelection.

New Yorkers Against Power Being Taken From People

excerpt:

As CBS 2 HD found out on Thursday, most New Yorkers think the outcome should have been decided by voters.

Opposition: '3rd Term Cries Out For Legal Remedy'

excerpt:

Tempers flared among spectators inside the Council chambers, and spilled out into the hallway as civil rights attorney Randy Mastro talked about a court challenge.

"The reality is, you can hear, can hear the reaction of the crowd," Mastro said. "This is something that cries out for a legal remedy."

Moments later, the same angry spectators shouted down Bloomberg as he tried to react outside City Hall. Many are upset because the vote allows not only the mayor, but two-thirds of the City Council to stay for a third term.

[brassmonkey]

It seems that doing the right and respectable thing is taboo in current government at every level. They are taking such advantage of the American people, and creeping fascism is rampant.