Usa #1 ?!?!

[downtown]

How does that work then?

Federal sets the standards and the state collects the taxes to fund it and administer it. i.e. how are the taxes administered for it ?

It varies depending on the program. Some welfare-ish programs are federally administered. Others, like education, and paid for and implemented almost entirely at the local level, with the feds acting in an advisory position (our federal DOE does not pay for schools or set curriculum...it makes sure schools dont discriminate, and gives grants to especially poor districts).

One of them seems to be: get a girlfriend. Since I got one my eating habits have improved immensely.

Funny, that's made mine way worse. She's a substantially healthier cook than I am, but it also means i'm almost NEVER at home, increasing the likelihood i'll eat crap.

 

[Narz]

So what are people supposed to do? Eat only healthy food all the time? Give me a break.

What's wrong with that? That's what I want for myself, my daughter & anyone I love. I also want to breathe clean air & drink clean water & be happy. The marketers must've got you good if you think eating healthy is a burden & only crap is tasty or "fun".

Good thing McDonalds isn't the only place where we can get food!

Don't see how that justifies their practices or products. And BTW, their charity doesn't either, you could have a charity to help sick kids without making a hundred times as many sick with your products.

The truth is plenty of people eat at McDonalds and are perfectly healthy.

No, if you're "perfectly healthy" you'd feel like crap everytime you ate at McD's because your body would be used to feeling good.

McDonalds isn't some evil corporation just because they sell a product that's unhealthy. People make their own choices about eating there or not.

So a crack dealer isn't evil because crackheads make a choice. The mofos spend millions on marketing the most additive combo of sugar, salt, grease & additives that won't immediately make people sick but will keep them hooked & coming back for more.

I agree with this sentiment, because of the 2nd & 3rd hand repercussions.
Cigarettes will kill you, give you cancer, etc. Everyone knows that. It is generally, these days, a 1 victim crime.

However, McD's is responsible for the transition in the USA to Factory Farming. It never ceases to amaze me that you can get a burger for under a $1... but you can't make one at home for anywhere near that amount.
The documentary "Food, Inc" shows how McD's is a prime culprit in the growth of factory farming, which leads to exploitation of farmers... e. coli... etc, etc, etc.
The entire beef, chicken and corn industry have been effected... and of course corn comes from many places, but what presidential primary state that goes first is it a major factor in?
Meanwhile, we have corn rotting in silos, with people starving, and 30% of the US land base producing corn with the help of tax payer subsidies...


I agree they aren't "evil"... but they have had a huge impact that is detrimental.

Subtle stuff that most people don't think about (like everything you mentioned) is what makes them evil. The fact that even fairly intelligent people can claim that eating it "in moderation" (and thus supporting all their practices) is "healthy" shows their influence. No one would claim smoking just one pack of cigs a week is "perfectly healthy" or breathing a moderate amount of smog is healthy.

Or she can eat McDonalds once a week, exercise, eat other well balanced meals, and be perfectly fine.

People who don't eat junk at all are going to be more "fine" than people who do. If you give up fast food for a few years & then try to finish a burger, fries & a soda from a fast-food joint you'll feel more viscerally what's going on. If you eat there once a week you're not really gonna be as sensitive (not trying to sound all pure or anything, just stating my experience).

Lots of healthy food!

Where I live, a fast food meal that will actually fill me up costs about 7 bucks (with taxes and all). For seven bucks, I can buy multiple servings of rice, beans and fruit. For the price of 2 fast food meals, i can buy the ingredients to make fairly large sammichs for a week, or two full dinners.

Yeah but you've got to prepare all that stuff (except the fruit). Rolling thru a drive-thru takes a couple minutes, grocery shopping for healthy food takes significantly longer. Time is money & all that.

 

[Narz]

Yeah, but while rice and beans aren't that unhealthy per se, they aren't very rich in terms of what's inside.

I was talking more about uberhealthy stuff like veggies.

It's all politics. The mofos at the top simply do not care about human health.


Link to video.

 

[ZeletDude]

I eat Mcdonalds or Fast Food in general probably once or twice a month (maybe less) and I must say I feel fine, I get enough exercise. It isn't killing me.

 

[REDY]

I just like more bacon than carrot.

 

[dutchfire]

I think the laziness of people plays an important role as well Or maybe the time people have to prepare food if both parents are working, as well as the willingness to prepare a meal. I believe that the decision to buy MacD is also determined by time and ease.

But I simply asked to compare apples to apples. Not making any point with it.

I guess some take-away Chinese/eastern places might be cheaper. Also, pizza places are roughly the same price for a full meal, I guess, but I don't know if those pizzas are much healthier.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

That's true. (At least for us)

Chinese can feed 3 families for a decade if you have the dinner for 2 and can be rather healthy.

And Pizza have lots of veggie servings in them I heard

 

[onedreamer]

It is far easier to regulate and control the general welfare of a nation of some single-digit millions, than hundreds of millions spread across the east-west of a continent.

Oh please, we're talking of laws & rights not of practicality... come on these objections are miserable.

 

[downtown]

Don't see how that justifies their practices or products. And BTW, their charity doesn't either, you could have a charity to help sick kids without making a hundred times as many sick with your products.

I don't know what McDonalds did twenty years ago, or even a decade ago....I really don't. I also don't know anything about their agricultural policies, or foreign labor. I am close friends with one of the guys who produces their commercials though, and my company does a ton of consulting work for them (so I read about their internal businessy crap a lot)...and I don't really see the exploitation now.By far, the biggest trend in fast food (and grocery stores actually) is a move towards healthier food with better quality ingredients (with a few small exceptions). It's never going to be as good for you as a home cooked meal, or even most meals at a sit-down...and it won't really hurt you unless you eat it a LOT, and couple it with other unhealthy eating habits.

So a crack dealer isn't evil because crackheads make a choice. The mofos spend millions on marketing the most additive combo of sugar, salt, grease & additives that won't immediately make people sick but will keep them hooked & coming back for more.

McDonalds is not anywhere near as addicting or dangerous as crack. Lemme me know when guys start mugging people to get a McNugget fix.

The fact is, most foods are going to be bad for you if you eat them in unhealthy amounts, or coupled with other unhealthy practices. Do you ever drink Narz? That's about as unhealthy, and likely more destructive than a Big Mac. Are companies that produce booze evil and exploitive? What about candy companies? Ice cream?

 

[onedreamer]

What sort of healthy food is cheaper than fast food?

is this a serious question?
anything you cook yourself is cheaper than something that is cooked for you or even just ready to be cooked and anything you buy yourself is (or better can/should be) healthier than something you are served ready and eventually cooked.
Fast food is fast to serve, not cheap.

 

[NovaKart]

What's wrong with that? That's what I want for myself, my daughter & anyone I love. I also want to breathe clean air & drink clean water & be happy. The marketers must've got you good if you think eating healthy is a burden & only crap is tasty or "fun".


Don't see how that justifies their practices or products. And BTW, their charity doesn't either, you could have a charity to help sick kids without making a hundred times as many sick with your products.


No, if you're "perfectly healthy" you'd feel like crap everytime you ate at McD's because your body would be used to feeling good.


So a crack dealer isn't evil because crackheads make a choice. The mofos spend millions on marketing the most additive combo of sugar, salt, grease & additives that won't immediately make people sick but will keep them hooked & coming back for more.


Subtle stuff that most people don't think about (like everything you mentioned) is what makes them evil. The fact that even fairly intelligent people can claim that eating it "in moderation" (and thus supporting all their practices) is "healthy" shows their influence. No one would claim smoking just one pack of cigs a week is "perfectly healthy" or breathing a moderate amount of smog is healthy.


People who don't eat junk at all are going to be more "fine" than people who do. If you give up fast food for a few years & then try to finish a burger, fries & a soda from a fast-food joint you'll feel more viscerally what's going on. If you eat there once a week you're not really gonna be as sensitive (not trying to sound all pure or anything, just stating my experience).


Yeah but you've got to prepare all that stuff (except the fruit). Rolling thru a drive-thru takes a couple minutes, grocery shopping for healthy food takes significantly longer. Time is money & all that.

I don't know about you but sometimes I like eating junk food, drinking a 6 pack, sleeping till noon. I'm not the Buddha. Even my stepmother who teaches aerobics and is very healthy sometimes eats fast food. It's perfectly fine in moderation. It's not the equivalent of having the occassional bit of crack.

 

[Narz]

It's never going to be as good for you as a home cooked meal, or even most meals at a sit-down...and it won't really hurt you unless you eat it a LOT, and couple it with other unhealthy eating habits.

Even if that's true McDonalds aim is for people to eat there alot. And by being so convenient & cheap many (especially people with kids) do eat there alot.

McDonalds is not anywhere near as addicting or dangerous as crack. Lemme me know when guys start mugging people to get a McNugget fix.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was violence in McDonalds over McNuggets.

Do you ever drink Narz? That's about as unhealthy, and likely more destructive than a Big Mac.

I did drink the other day, I was couchsurfing & my host wanted to go to a bar so I didn't want to be rude ("nah man, I'm just gonna crash here, I don't want to be social in your preferred manner" & ended up having a vodka & orange juice (I'm a super lightweight drinking so one drink is enough for me).

Studies show that drinking in small amounts (mostly just wine I think) is protective of health. No such studies exist about McDonalds.

Are companies that produce booze evil and exploitive? What about candy companies? Ice cream?

Definitely candy companies, booze not so much though maybe a little. Booze is marketed to adults. Ice cream companies piss me off cause now my daughter knows what ice cream is. It's possible to make a semi-healthy ice cream though but of course that's going to be more expensive as sugar is cheaper than other sweeteners & low quality dairy is cheaper than dairy from grass-fed, well-treated, healthy animals.

Its really all the fault of government for making processed junk (sugar, corn oil) and animal products unnaturally cheap. If those subsidies were eliminated (and fines were attached to pollution) & people had too pay the true cost of their food they would become healthier naturally.

Back on topic this is one of the main problems with the US. We subsidize things like processed food, oil, war at the expense of human welfare. The govt. (at least at the National level) does not give a damn about the masses, only appearances.

 

[onedreamer]

I don't know about you but sometimes I like eating junk food, drinking a 6 pack, sleeping till noon. I'm not the Buddha.

Hmm who said Buddha wouldn't do it? According to the icons we have of him he wasn't that big on healthy diets...

Even my stepmother who teaches aerobics and is very healthy sometimes eats fast food. It's perfectly fine in moderation.

Says who? Your stepmother who teaches aerobics? An influential opinion indeed.

It's not the equivalent of having the occassional bit of crack.

Just so you know even marijuana isn't the equivalent of crack but it is still a drug. Ask your stepmother if you don't believe it...

 

[NovaKart]

She's also a dietitian and in very good health. I doubt she would know much about marijuana or crack though.

 

[Narz]

Hmm who said Buddha wouldn't do it? According to the icons we have of him he wasn't that big on healthy diets...

Well eventually he settled on a middle path. Buddha's expertise wasn't really diet though, according to legend he died because he was too polite to refuse rotten food.

Says who? Your stepmother who teaches aerobics? An influential opinion indeed.

Right, fitness doesn't necessarily correlate with health. Alot of people use exercise as an excuse to eat poorly.

Famous long distance runner Jim Fixx died of a heart attack at 52 partially probably because of his poor diet.

 

[onedreamer]

She's also a dietitian and in very good health. I doubt she would know much about marijuana or crack though.

I'm also in very good health, especially since when I stopped visiting McDonalds back in 2000. I remember it happened after I had the only digestive problem in my whole life. Hence, backed by my thorough studies and experiments, I beg to differ and confute those (which?) of your stepmother. Which incidentally, I'm pretty sure she knows that not all drugs are equivalent of crack yet they are still drugs, even if she never tried any.

 

[NovaKart]

I personally know many healthy people who eat fast food maybe once every other week or so. I don't know what this has to do with drugs. You may be mistaken in blaming McDonalds for your digestive problem.

 

[onedreamer]

It seems you don't know or understand many things. Talk to you again later... maybe when you will have your own opinions instead of your stepmother's.

 

[NovaKart]

Perhaps I wasn't clear, these are my opinions based on many healthy people I know who enjoy fast food in moderation. This is just common sense really.

 

[Narz]

I personally know many healthy people who eat fast food maybe once every other week or so. I don't know what this has to do with drugs. You may be mistaken in blaming McDonalds for your digestive problem.

How do you know they are healthy? Many people appear healthy & three years later they're dead from cancer. Plus, I suspect most of your acquaintances are young. When I was younger I could eat a whole large pizza & then go out & play hours of tennis without even feeling full but no one can do that forever.