Saturday 26 July 2014

Ban Mars Bars!

There's an interesting comment underneath a Times article about how Mars confectioners are wary of the precedent that plain packaging will represent in terms of stripping companies of their intellectual property (because it will do, no matter how much the tobacco control industry pretend otherwise).
EnglishRoseWhat we should be doing is preventing sale of all Mars and similar products. They are not needed for good health. People should eat only healthy natural unprocessed foods to ensure their own good mental and physical health. 
We can start by ensuring there are no vending machines of any kind on any state property and increase the number of free water fountains.
Are there really people around who believe this? Or is this just a subtle parody of the modern self-installed health 'prefect' we are increasingly suffering?

I'm stumped.


14 comments:

Simon Cooke said...

There really are people who believe this. I meet them every day. They are in positions of influence.

Sue Jameson said...

There are some scary psychopaths out there, many of them in Parliament. Having a "God-complex" seems to be a distinctive quirk of the left wing, of which there are far too many in our country.

Legiron said...

I agree with Simon. There are people who really believe this.

They will believe anything at all if it's given to them in the right way ;)

Henry Crun said...

Simon, next time you meet with one of those persons, please tell them to fuck off.

Kath Gillon said...

It appalls me that there are people out there that believe in taking away everyone's freedom of choice and labeling anyone but them and their kind a bit simple and therefore in need of their protection.
I am NOT a bit simple, im very simple I must be I have raised 3 children almost single handed and none of them broke the law ever. In fact one serves his country as an army medic, one is a new mum and doing a beautiful job and the other has just graduated 4 years of college and is now job hunting. I love a good mars bar but I don't eat chocolate every day, I like a glass of wine sometimes but I do so in moderation, I eat mostly healthy food with the odd side of chips, and I walk everywhere , miles daily and yes I could do with being a little lighter weight wise and yes I smoke roll ups like my life depended on it. BUT it's my life my choice and I don't go around telling morons like that what to do. Anyway not everyone wants to eat grey sterile food. My stepdaughter is vegan and everything she cooks looks soggy unappetizing and and swimming in fat. there is only so many ways to cook a cauliflower to make it appealing. People like that need a swift kick with a steel toe cap boot right in the derriere.

Chris Oakley said...

These people are a direct consequence of decades of investment in "public health". We are bombarded with utter junk by people with axes to grind on an almost daily basis because their ideologically based "research" is funded. We have a medical establishment which is at least 200 years out of date, is frequently disingenuous, is anything but a meritocracy, cannot train enough medics but is arrogant to the point of having a god complex. We have a supine press that spins this junk based on the output of charity and government PR machines and finally we have allegedly liberal and conservative politicians stupid and authoritarian enough to push us down the slippery slope that is DoH control of product packaging. When I see the mandarins at the DoH unemployed without massive golden handshakes and without OBEs, I might just start believing in politicians again. Forgive my waspishness but I have just waded through the disingenuous self justification that is the DoH impact assessment for plain packaging tobacco. It is less than competent and less than objective which of course is to be expected. Those responsible do not deserve whatever we are paying them.


It is not possible to create a decent society when legislation is based on lies and, despite austerity measures, funding remains abundant for socially divisive nihilistic public health projects. Public health is the last bastion of far left authoritarianism this side of Russia. It will take brave politicians to tackle it but we don't seem to have any.

Sam Duncan said...

I'm not sure it matters. The very fact that it's hard to tell shows how far we've sunk.

truckerlyn said...

Well said.


Also, look back over the decades and just see how many times they have changed their minds! It is like fads with these people, based on whatever the topic of the day/month/year might be. One minute something is bad or even deadly and the next it is the best thing since sliced bread! Hardly fills us with confidence, does it?

Dick_Puddlecote said...

And you're just the person to provide it, yes? ;)

Dick_Puddlecote said...

True. It seems the statement "don't believe all you read in the papers" has died a sad death with many people.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Agree with Lyn, very well said indeed!

Anja M ERF vaper said...

Excellent! I fully agree.

Especially with this part:
//It is not possible to create a decent society when legislation is based on lies and, despite austerity measures, funding remains abundant for socially divisive nihilistic public health projects. Public health is the last bastion of far left authoritarianism this side of Russia. It will take brave politicians to tackle it but we don't seem to have any.//

Chris Oakley said...

Thanks for the kind words. Anja is correct in that the most salient point in my rant is the reference to far left authoritarianism. Public health is dominated by those who appear to care more about their "wars" with industry and abstract soviet style statistical "victories" than they do about people.


I regard health extremists as no better than political or religious extremists. In fact they are worse in many ways because they hide behind a false solicitude for their fellow man. The DoH consultation that angered me yesterday majors on health inequality a concept that has historical nobility but which has been hijacked by eugenicists in order to justify behaviour that extends way beyond nannying. I don't agree with state sponsored bullying but in this I appear to be at odds with this allegedly liberal and conservative government.


There is no excuse for the appallingly partisan and dishonest impact assessment or as far as I am concerned those who produced it. We deserve better and I would greatly prefer not to have to fund these people and those who produce the policy based evidence on which they thrive.

JonathanBagley said...

English Rose is a notorious nutter.