More Poor American Government Choices

Apparently, the people running Boston thought the best way to use their million dollar stimulus package for improving the economy was to make smear campaigns against soft drinks. Yeah, Farva. You regret your "liter cola" now.

Spoiler

I know Super Troopers did not take place in Massachusetts.

Because the real reason our economy is failing is the fatties.

 

While I'm not defending the campaign (I haven't even looked at it), health care costs have a serious impact on our economy, and we spend billions every year on combating diseases and conditions associated with excess weight, high cholesterol, poor dietary choices etc.

Diabetes is a prime example, costing something like $174 billion per year in the US alone. While not all diabetes cases are the result of poor dietary choices, diabetes is obviously not the only cost. I'm sure the total cost far exceeds the $174 billion/year.

So while there are bigger.. fatter problems out there, yes, fatties are a significant contributing factor to our economic problems.

 

So yelling at people who consume soft drinks is more cost effective than hiring teachers? Those teachers could instill an appreciation for healthier food. The government shouldn't make people feel guilty about their beverages.
The money could've been used to repair roads and bridges, making it easier and safer to travel to work.
That same million dollars could've been given directly to businesses that would've popularized healthier food choices. Making something cool tends to attract buyers. Look at cigarettes! Hell, one of the brands is even called "Kool."
Personally, I have diabetes. Type 1, caused by an auto-immune response, and there was nothing I could've done to prevent it.
You want to cut down on our nation's diabetes budget? Prove to the people that their lives are worth something. Show them how much they can accomplish if they just walk for 30 minutes a day and eat a balanced diet. Teach them self worth by having them set goals. Show them it's ok to treat themselves every once in a while, but also educated them on the dangers of a high-sugar/high calorie diet (without injecting so much anger). You see people flip shit every damn day on whether or not a zoo animal is getting proper nutrition and intellectual stimulation. Do you see the same fervor in the majority of people with children? There's a humongous gap in standards of nutrition and education for people as opposed to the animals we keep for educational and entertainment purposes. You want to make a dumb nation? Show them what they have to hate.

 

Like I said, I'm not defending the campaign, I was just poking fun at your closing sentence there. I agree with most of what you're saying here

 

I suppose I responded merely to show I can have a point that makes sense occasionally, even when leading with fatties.

 

I and everyone I know hate those fucking commercials...

 

Got a link for one of the actual commercials? I'm curious to see how bad they are.

 

Actually, for weight loss, cardiovascular exercise is usually counter-productive. The body copes with it pretty easily, so it doesn't use much energy, but it does stimulate hunger, so you're likely to eat more to compensate, and end up with a higher calorie excess than if you'd stayed at home. There's also the psychological temptation to reward yourself for doing it.

That's not to say that cardio is completely pointless, but in the case of a "fattie" trying to lose weight, it will usually just make it more difficult.

 

Something has to be done. I'm tired of seeing people disabled because of their weight. I'm familiar with certain effects of cardio, but part of what I was saying was healthy diet choices as well. These people might be stimulated to eat more, but they would be told it's not such a great idea to treat themselves to a piece of cake (or another random junk food) every day just because of all the extra movement they've been doing, because, as you pointed out, the whole act of eating a 500 calorie snack will defeat having burned 350. With all of the extra body weight, these people will start out with higher energy requirements just from walking around. After a few weeks of gradually increasing either the distance or the speed at which they walk, they can start resistance training and really boost their metabolism.

 

Or they could eat less. Much easier.

 

The government should just shoot people when they get too fat, that'll make them change.

 

Dey took our jerbs!

 

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M53J6uizLng?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M53J6uizLng?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

Reminds me of this video (no youtube version, sorry, but I promise it's SFW. Here's the full page).

 

Are you in Boston? That video you shared doesn't seem that bad, but the campaign reminds me of those terrible anti-tobacco advertisements (http://www.thetruth.com/).

 

That advert is pretty annoying, but there still are more annoying adverts out there. There was one point in the UK when that was on during every ad break at certain times of the day.

 

I find the well-dressed gentleman randomly spending his time eating cornflakes in exploding crates creepy.

Damn you, Slender Man, why won't you leave me alone!?

 

I am in Worcester, which is a little less than an hour west of Boston.