Jobless and hopeless in America

[tobee43]

The thing about a hundred years ago is that people didn't live so long either. THAT makes a big difference in health care costs, nursing home costs, etc. And people shared and took care of each other. In my last job, it was dog eat dog. Awful environment. Even with the economy, I was glad to be laid off from there. Things were way different 100 years ago.

so correct...and woman even had size 17 inch waists!! so we no the overweight problem didn't have anything to do with obestity...it was medical and the hard way of life in those days that killed...of course you are always so logical!

[tobee43]

California does NOT charge tax on food bought at a grocery store.
I too agree that we should tax junk food, fast food, alcohol and tobacco to help offset the increased medical costs we will all end up paying for people who over indulge in those life styles.

oh yes, i know....i went into molly's a few months ago and i'm buying some food for my parents house...and i am outraged at the prices themselves on the food...not even considering whether or not the bread was taxed.......i SO wanted to put that bread back...since i know where we live that same brand is no more than 2.50....why in the world is california paying so much for that loaf of bread...

now...food costs are going up all over...here in florida we were in price shock....nj has MUCH cheaper food.......plus......it's so hard to get health foods here...all the cuts are meat are fatty...fish i have to go 45 minutes for fresh fish...what??? isn't there ocean all around us?? LOL!!

we can't even eat out locally since the places use so much fat...

i thought was is FAT BACK??? what can that me.........

well it's fried pork or chicken's back shaved with a peeler and deep fried in only the LORD knows....it's cheap tho!! and of course it is ....eat it and it assures you die in a week of a blocked heart viens.....LOL!!!! really it's terrible.

[tobee43]

Shark, I'm really starting to like you.

Very little tax on something I choose to indulge in every now and then is too much. It isn't up to you or to me to police someone and their eating habits. It isn't up to you or the government to decide what is healthy. No one would like what my idea of healthy is. That isn't my job, it isn't yours and it isn't the governments.

Edit: More government gets me going. Every where I turn I've got big brother barging into my house. I'm tired of it, and I'm tired of paying higher taxes in the name of "safety" and of course "to protect the children" blah blah blah. I don't need the government to tell me how to eat, how to educate my children or to pay even more taxes on stuff they have no business being involved in.

ditto...and i have ALWAYS loved sharks comments..

[shark66]

ditto...and i have ALWAYS loved sharks comments..

Thanks, tobee...the feeling is mutual...

On another note, fellow BKF users, let's try and not get too personal, this is an interesting thread but is likely to get locked if it stays on its current path...

Good luck to us all.

[lovemybugs10]

I think that information is what happens to be decreasing smoking rates. There aren't many people that can claim to know it wont kill you.

Information is key in nutrition as well. How many "healthy" meals are prepackaged out there that aren't healthy? How many "low fat" yogurts are actually worse for you than the real stuff?

Truth in advertising. When we have that, then I will believe that people actually know what they are eating. It seems easy (heck, my 6 year old knows that gelatin is gross) but when a package says artificial and natural flavors... we really don't know what that means. Or when HFCS is under a different name.

We put so much junk in our bodies, even healthy type people. That is causing the increase in obesity, (and laziness, you want to tax that? I'd be poor) It isn't just McDonalds or cokes. It's the mentality that diet coke is better for you than coke when it really isn't. Taxing people is pointless. Information is key.

[WhatMoney]

You brought it up, I had nothing to prove. What a silly thing to do, answer a question, with a question, real cutie pie.

Now, go order some 1600 calorie ribs with what's her face.

I see you listen to Rush Limbaugh. Figures. No wonder you are so full of misinformation. The ribs only contained 600 calories, btw, (Rush lied as usual) and the meal included kale, one of those healthy veggies you probably hate. It was a well balanced meal actually. Funny that fatso Limbaugh makes fun of other's eating habits, and even sadder that people believe and repeat the sh*t he spews daily.

Michelle Obama's Vail meal becomes talk-show topic after Rush Limbaugh attacks the First Lady for ordering ribs.

(Vail Daily) The first lady, in Vail with her daughters and some friends for the Presidents Day weekend, dined at Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail Village Saturday night, enjoying a pickled pumpkin salad with arugula and a braised ancho-chile short rib with hominy wild mushrooms and sauteed kale.

A braised short rib is a relatively lean cut of beef, braised with most of the fat cooked off. The 5-ounce serving runs about 600 calories, Liken said - a far cry from the 1,500 calories and 141 grams of fat it's accused of.

"A proper 5-ounce portion of protein is what nutritionists say we should have," said Kelly Liken, who launched the highly successful restaurant.

Let's not forget that the 5-ounce rib is served with local kale, nurtured and grown by students at Eagle's Brush Creek Elementary School.

"Kale is one of nature's super foods," Liken said. "There are more nutrients in the 3 ounces of kale we serve than you'll get in a massive green salad."

A skier will burn off about 6,000 calories during the course of a day.

"It's a hearty meal for sure, a great meal after a day of skiing, well-balanced and nutritious," Liken said

Read the truth - why Michelle Obama publicized that restaurant. As usual the truth is totally the opposite of what Rush tells his gullible audience:

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/201...NEWS/110229979

[shark66]

I think that information is what happens to be decreasing smoking rates. There aren't many people that can claim to know it wont kill you.

Information is key in nutrition as well. How many "healthy" meals are prepackaged out there that aren't healthy? How many "low fat" yogurts are actually worse for you than the real stuff?

Truth in advertising. When we have that, then I will believe that people actually know what they are eating. It seems easy (heck, my 6 year old knows that gelatin is gross) but when a package says artificial and natural flavors... we really don't know what that means. Or when HFCS is under a different name.

We put so much junk in our bodies, even healthy type people. That is causing the increase in obesity, (and laziness, you want to tax that? I'd be poor) It isn't just McDonalds or cokes. It's the mentality that diet coke is better for you than coke when it really isn't. Taxing people is pointless. Information is key.

And that's exactly why everyone and their seventh cousin went after late Dr. Atkins the way they did, with torches and pitchforks...because he proved the establishment science to be a lie, along with a couple of other things along the way...love him or hate him, he did hit quite a few nails on the head...

[lovemybugs10]

I've never been on a diet and never read a diet book, so I have no clue what he did. He is the no carb guy?

[lovemybugs10]

I would hunt someone down and stab them with a pitchfork if they tried to take away my pasta and bread. and scones. lol.

[tobee43]

I see you listen to Rush Limbaugh. Figures. No wonder you are so full of misinformation. The ribs only contained 600 calories, btw, (Rush lied as usual) and the meal included kale, one of those healthy veggies you probably hate. It was a well balanced meal actually. Funny that fatso Limbaugh makes fun of other's eating habits, and even sadder that people believe and repeat the sh*t he spews daily.



Read the truth - why Michelle Obama publicized that restaurant. As usual the truth is totally the opposite of what Rush tells his gullible audience:

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/201...NEWS/110229979

ok Whatmoney...hope your sitting down...

i not ONLY agree, but your actually correct....

additionally, people need understand nutrition.....a braised piece of meat also braises out all the fat ....a good example is a chuck pot roast one would likely think is fatty and high in calories..but after one has stewed with with maybe some carrots and white sweet potato...well is no more than 400 calories per full serving...

how do i know this...i am a bit of a freak about watching what we eat...like every thing that goes into my mouth....(other than perhaps my words?) lol!!

now...on the really serious side of this issue.....

i use to smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day...if i can quit anyone can....and i standing firm on that...tax cigarettes so high that no can afford them.....OH!! didn't they do that already...and also TAX getting those fake nails done...

i also lost over 118 pounds and went from a size 30 to a size 8..........had nothing to do with what i ate...i actually eat more now (i did have a serious medical problem which caused rapid weight gain...like over 80 pounds in year...another story!) and i know everyone thought i lived on potato chips and candy....never!!!...but i do feel that extra taxes on junk foods may promote healthier eating...i was raised with excellent eating habits...so were my kids, actually to the point, and this is somewhat out there...but my son, took issue with his wife prior to marrying her ...telling her she must change her eating or it's not going to work...of course to us that's way far to extreme....so i may have overdone it a bit?? LOL!! poor girl...when he was in grad school he was also rugby coach and his poor wife (she wasn't at the time)...had to work out and eat right or she was off HIS team.

[tobee43]

Thanks, tobee...the feeling is mutual...

On another note, fellow BKF users, let's try and not get too personal, this is an interesting thread but is likely to get locked if it stays on its current path...

Good luck to us all.

i agree....so back to being jobless...(we still are today) and hopeless in America....( although i have more hope today than yesterday)

[tobee43]

I would hunt someone down and stab them with a pitchfork if they tried to take away my pasta and bread. and scones. lol.

my dh was on it for 3 years...lost 50 lbs and our doctor LOVED the atkins diet...i gained 8 lbs and never cheated....so much for that..

i ended up really having to run my butt off!! (once they fixed my medical problem)....

shoot i lose weight on pasta and bread...of course not with 4 lbs of butter on it..

[lovemybugs10]

Who should decide what is healthy though? The government? Me? You? The companies that are in food production (watched food inc, anyone?) ? What about a dr? Yes, lets let them decide; because they all agree.

Broke people will spend the money if it's important to them. My mother stopped smoking after 28 years. Not because prices were so high, but because a dr told her if she kept it up she wouldn't see her grandkids grow up.

My dad on the other hand, (who used to tell me second hand smoke wasn't bad and that smoking probably wasn't either, that it was made up by the government. That I was terrible for not letting my kids in houses that are smoked in) still smokes 2 packs a day and a 6 pack a day. and he is broke. During the winter my mom provides for them by working at a daycare, yet he still has his cigarettes (highly taxed) and beer.

If we tax Doritos, they will still be bought. Healthy food actually takes a bit of work and time. People are going to stick with what they know and are used to, unless they have information they wont change.

[lovemybugs10]

my dh was on it for 3 years...lost 50 lbs and our doctor LOVED the atkins diet...i gained 8 lbs and never cheated....so much for that..

i ended up really having to run my butt off!! (once they fixed my medical problem)....

shoot i lose weight on pasta and bread...of course not with 4 lbs of butter on it..

I can't wait for winter to be over. I'm one of those people that will end up on America's funniest videos if I keep using the treadmill. I wish I were kidding.

[RichM]

California does NOT charge tax on food bought at a grocery store.
I too agree that we should tax junk food, fast food, alcohol and tobacco to help offset the increased medical costs we will all end up paying for people who over indulge in those life styles.

New York charges tax on many "junk food" items, all fast foods, alcohol, and tobacco. In fact, the New York City taxes on these items (especially tobacco) are the highest in the nation. Cigarettes, the last time I checked, were between $10.00 and $13.00 a pack, depending on brand.

Based on all these taxes, I would think people here should be lean, mean, and smoke-free. But alas, no. The taxes haven't led to an explosion in gyms or tofu bars, nor have they forced children off their little asses and away from their video games and computers to go outside and play. All they've led to is a transfer of even more money from consumers' pockets to government coffers.

The tobacco tax is the most useless of all, and like most oppressive sales taxes, has led mainly to tax evasion and fraud -- on the parts of both consumers and government. The government paints a picture of a rapid drop in cigarette sales immediately after the tax increase kicked in, and applauds itself for its "success" in motivating people to quit smoking. Of course, those of us whose heads are rooted in reality know otherwise.

We know that tax-free, Native-made cigarettes can be purchased for about three bucks a pack at the Native American reservation an hour east of here, and that the passengers on the "sightseeing" vans that visit the depressing little place didn't buy their tickets so they could enjoy the squalor.

The state claims that the reservations should be collecting cigarette taxes. The courts have been telling the state, "No," for about twenty or thirty years, citing treaties that give the reservations status as sovereign nations, yet the state persists in trying -- unsuccessfully -- to collect the taxes.

We also know that name-brand cigarettes can be obtained for about $6.00 a pack (less than half of the NYC price) from any of the neighborhood guys for whom daily trips to Pennsylvania in their old vans have become full-time jobs.

Personally, I also expect tobacco to replace marijuana as the most commonly grown illicit crop around here. The seeds are cheaper, it's easier to grow, and the penalties, if caught cultivating more than the "personal use" limit of one-tenth of an acre, are trivial compared with the penalties for cultivating marijuana.

In the end, the primary effect of the tobacco tax hike has been to encourage criminality in the form of evasion and fraud, very much like prohibition resulted in the rise of organized crime. And frankly, in the current case, I really can't blame people for evading the taxes.

Not only is the tax rate itself absurd (it calculates to something like 400 percent of the product cost), but the state's been trying to illegally tax cigarette sales at the Native reservations for almost 30 years. No matter how many times they lose in court, and no matter how many judges issue the same rulings regarding the sovereignty of Native American nations, the state persists in trying new schemes to illegally collect cigarette taxes from Native reservations.

So if the state government sets an example of criminality by thirty years of trying to do something that they've repeatedly been told is illegal, why should the citizens particularly care about the state's opinion?

-Rich