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Mississippi Bloomberg Burning

By Selwyn Duke

While I'm generally no fan of new laws, a law that prohibits stupid laws is a definite exception. And that's just what the great state of Mississippi is giving us by passing legislation that would prohibit localities from limiting food portion sizes, forcing restaurants to list calorie counts on menus, and banning the inclusion of toys with meals. The bill was inspired by Little Big Gulp (the man some still call Mayor Michael Bloomberg), whose current mission is to ensure that human life may not be endangered via imprudent use of fat, sugar, or bullets, but only through abortion.

How Government Will Take Meat off Your Table

By Selwyn Duke

The British pork industry is collapsing, and it’s a story that should serve as a warning to all of us. Why? Because the agents of its demise have the entire West in their crosshairs.

The numbers are staggering. With a pig herd halved during the last decade, Britain has gone from producing 110 percent of its domestic consumption of pork to only 40 percent. This is due to many of the nation’s pig farmers having left the business, and they’re poised to be joined by 100 more this year, which represents “10% of Britain's small to medium-sized producers,” reports the Guardian. Consequently, it’s predicted that domestic production will decline another 20 percent by Christmas.

Britain’s pork farmers’ woes have been worsened by the droughts in the United States, which have increased the cost of feed. But what’s the source of their underlying problems? If you guessed government, go to the head of the class. As the Financial Times writes, “UK farmers are part of a global trend as the cost of feed and compliance with welfare regulations hits suppliers worldwide.”

The “regulations” in question are animal-welfare regulations....

Read the rest here.

When Michelle Obama Starts Starving the Kids

By Selwyn Duke

Unprecedented school-lunch regulations have just gone into effect, and they suggest a new answer to the question “Where’s the beef?”: not on students’ plates— or on their bones. The regulations are a result of Michelle Obama’s “Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act,” which was passed by the lame-duck, Democrat-controlled Congress in December 2010. And the result has been wasted food, endangered health, and hungrier kids.

The problem is that, in typical nanny-state style, the regulations not only prescribe foods many children find unpalatable, they also apply unrealistic calorie restrictions on students: “650 calories for elementary-schoolers, 700 for middle-schoolers and 850 for high-schoolers,” writes Suzanne Tobias of the Wichita Eagle.

Yet more perspective is gained when you consider that the government’s dietary limitations wouldn’t be out of place in a wartime prison camp. For example, writes PJ Media, “Current regulations limit servings of protein, which could be anything from a hamburger to a side of beans, to 1.5 ounces two days a week and 2 ounces the other three days.”

Read the rest here.

I’ll Eat What I Want; You Eat Your Heart Out, Bloomberg

By Selwyn Duke

Although I’ve never been one to demonize the rich, there is something particularly irritating about a busybody billionaire who confuses his bankroll with his I.Q. And the busiest of this species seems to be NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose latest patrician effort involves convincing governments worldwide to control what the peons eat.

Reporting on the story, CNSNews.com writes:

During a United Nations General Assembly summit on non-communicable diseases — a discussion that included diet and eating habits — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said “governments at all levels must make healthy solutions the default social option.…There are powers only governments can exercise, policies only governments can mandate and enforce and results only governments can achieve. To halt the worldwide epidemic of non-communicable diseases, governments at all levels must make healthy solutions the default social option. That is ultimately government’s highest duty.”

“Government’s highest duty…” My, that sounds almost … religious, Bloomie. But this billionaire really does care — far and wide and everywhere. This is the man who hired private investigators to conduct firearm sting operations in Arizona and other states in an effort to buttress his anti-gun agenda. He did this on behalf of the people — using their taxes. It’s rumored that his money was all tied up in cash.

Read the rest here.