Ad bans won’t stop kids liking junk food but they will reduce consumption

Liberal Party propaganda columnist for The Age, Chris Berg, reckons that because a ban on junk food ads during children’s television programming will not stop them liking junk food there is no point in doing it — it’s just more oppressive nanny statism depriving us of our liberty and personal choice.

Berg argues that junk food advertising is basically about providing information. Yeah, right. Try junk food advertising to kids is about increasing junk food sales to kids — otherwise why would they bother. You can’t drive more than a few urban kilometres wihout seeing the ubiquitous Golden Arches.

The only freedom being compromised here is the freedom of global food corporations to make a profit by peddling food which is dangerous to the health of the individual, creates public costs through ill-health and obesity, and environmental degradation.

The freedom of children and parents to like and comsume junk food is in no way being compromised.

Asshat.

Filed under: Ass Hattery, Economics, Howardians, Ideology, Law, Media, Nonsense, Politics

Speed cameras reduce speeding!

Those who believe (almost exclusively male drivers) that it is their inalienable right to break the speed limit by just a little bit will be indignant over the latest findings that only one in 10 motorists now say they speed all or most of the time, down from one in four just seven years ago.

Speed cameras, long criticised as “revenue raisers”, have cut Victoria’s road toll by reducing average speeds to a record low.

Average pedestrian fatalities of 140-150 per year in the 1980s have now fallen to 40-50 fatalities a year, according to Monash University Accident Research Centre.

Who would have thought!

Filed under: Law

What is Politics?

A conservative colleague sent me this anecdote explaining the true meaning of politics:

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, ‘What is Politics?’
Dad says, ‘Well son, let me try to explain it this way:
I am the head of the family, so call me The President.
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government.
We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.
The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.
And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.
Now think about that and see if it makes sense.’
So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to
check on him.

He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.
So the little boy goes to his parent’s room and finds his mother
asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny’s room. Finding the door
locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the
nanny.

He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy say’s to his father, ‘Dad, I think I
understand the concept of politics now.’

The father says, ‘Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think
politics is all about.’

The little boy replies, ‘The President is screwing the Working Class
while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and
the Future is in deep shit.

Filed under: Humour, Politics

Crocodile tears for the low paid

Enter Turnbull and Nelson — champions of the low paid workers! Give us a break. Have these men no principles at all or are they just shameless opportunists desperate for power at any cost? Why do they bother — do they really think they’re kidding anyone, other than themselves?

The Fair Pay Commission was Howard’s sop to the low paid who would be even worse off under his WorkChoices policies designed to reduce the cost of labour. Whatever its due processes, the Fair Pay Commission was designed to have a political appointee as its head — an appointee who would be sympathetic to a quiet word from his masters.

In a deft piece of fancy footwork, Turnbull is impuning the character of the head of Treasury and arguing that the Government needs to advise the Fair Pay Commission on the minimum wage in order that the Fair Pay Commsision can then advise the Government on the minimum wage. And we are now supposed to believe that Malcolm is concerned that the lowest paid won’t get a decent pay rise. Priceless.

Just confirms my theory that new oppositions, after a decade in power, would actually be better off not saying anything for the at least the first year. Next thing they’ll be calling for increased spending in pubic health and social welfare with pay rises for teachers, police and nurses.

Filed under: Ass Hattery, Economics, Politics

Climate drives weather: weather does not make climate

Around our part of the world it is considered that February was rather cooler than normal. All the usual suspects remarked (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) that the cool weather really made the idea of global warming seem a bit of a joke.

Predictably they have been rather silent about the record breaking heat wave that has engulfed the South Eastern corner of Australia over the last couple of weeks.

Filed under: Ass Hattery, Environment, Media, Pseudoscience