off topic - sad statement about americans?

gym gravity writes:

wrote:
Ewoud Dronkert writes:

On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 19:29:31 -0500, hold my wrote:

http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html
Any of you more Euro-knowledgeable mofos care to comment?

Holy ****ing ****.
If she was stuck to the couch, I wonder where she got the food from
to
maintain her weight?
But 600 pounds ain't **** man. Get a load of this ******.
There's a disgusting piccy of him in today's ``24 Hours'' (a local
Free
NewsSheet) but I could only find the original story on the web.
http://www.keloland.com/News/EyeonKE...fm?Id=22,33881

It's not just the weight, it's that her skin had grafted to the ****in
couch!

I think the whole story was badly reported personally.

I wanna know where she got the Roubles from to pay the grocery bill and,
presumably, rent if not also telephone plus electricity/gas/water taxes/assessments.

I wanna know who delivered the groceries and/or how they were delivered.

I wanna know what kinda moron would let someone get into that state.

I wanna know if the PoLice have charged any caregiver/minder with constructive
abuse or whatever the charge would be in that locality.

I wanna know if the landlord or his agent was aware of the condition of the
tenant

Etc., Etc.,

And I wanna know when she last got Put

--
le Vent a Dos, Davey Crockett
Six Day Site: http://members.rogers.com/sixday/sixday.html

Andre Wrote:
The food involved (probably high glycemic index stuff) is cheap to
produce due to the vast sugar-producing capacity of the US great plains
and Canadian prairies.
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
'http://agc-pc.tripod.com' (http://agc-pc.tripod.com/)
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

I live in great plains of the US. And I've yet to see a sugar cane
field anywhere. Perhaps you meant the vast grain producing capacity of
the plains and prairies.


--
Bikerman2004

Andre wrote:
I would agree that many are at fault, including the victim. However, these
food producers are particularly at fault in that they have engaged
biochemists to engineer foods that are addictive. The chemistry is based on
evolutionary "taste", in that humans enjoy high energy survival nutrients
such as (as per Mary) sugar, oil (fat), salt.

This is absolutely true! That's why Sundquist is still having withdrawal
issues over Trader Joes. The *******s!

The French do this too. My kid came back from the Tour with an all
consuming desire for Croque Monsieur. We invited some of her friends over
and made a batch, washing them down with syrups. They were all hooked
instantly on French cuisine, just like it was methamphetamine.

Bob Schwartz

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 14:39:08 -0000, Bob Schwartz
wrote:

This is absolutely true! That's why Sundquist is still having withdrawal
issues over Trader Joes. The *******s!

Chocolate-covered raspberries are part of a plot? (The best thing at
Trader Joes)

I'm growing fonder of conspiracies even as we eat, er, speak.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Apparently the temperate zone of the plains employs sugar beet crops. Cane
requires a more tropical climate, apparently. Still, the result is the
same, simple sugars aplenty...

--
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
http://agc-pc.tripod.com
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

"Bikerman2004" wrote in
message ...

Andre Wrote:
The food involved (probably high glycemic index stuff) is cheap to
produce due to the vast sugar-producing capacity of the US great plains
and Canadian prairies.
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
'http://agc-pc.tripod.com' (http://agc-pc.tripod.com/)
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

I live in great plains of the US. And I've yet to see a sugar cane
field anywhere. Perhaps you meant the vast grain producing capacity of
the plains and prairies.


--
Bikerman2004

"John Forrest Tomlinson" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 01:09:30 GMT, wrote:

Ewoud Dronkert writes:

On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 19:29:31 -0500, hold my wrote:
http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html
Any of you more Euro-knowledgeable mofos care to comment?

Holy ****ing ****.

If she was stuck to the couch, I wonder where she got the food from to
maintain her weight?

But 600 pounds ain't **** man. Get a load of this ******.

Someone was feeding these people. That's messed up.

JT

That is also the first thing that crossed my mind and all I could really
think about. Whoever it was in the case of the couch-person, waited several
years too long. Someone can't get off the couch and you just feed them and
watch them grow? The enabler is much worse than the helpless individual (who
may have been ill from something else originally). This can only happen with
the help of someone with far bigger problems than obesity.

I know those here won't like my saying this, but I only ever see that kind
of sick enabler behavior here in the US. The nature of friendships is
different in many parts of the world where your friends are more likely to
do and say what they feel is right versus "anything goes". Somehow the
message to Americans about "rights" and the US Constitution seems to corrupt
the ability of friends to say things that are not pleasant but perhaps more
reasonable. Hey, I am just keeping to the topic, and it is true as far as I
have seen. That is also why most Europeans drive better. Here in the US if
you criticize your friend's driving, you get a ration of static interference
from them or worse. No, you have to be in another car screaming and flipping
the driver off if you want to say anything negative. In Europe your friends
are more likely to get on your case for driving poorly. Not only more likely
than other drivers, but far more likely than friends in the US. Extend that
as far as you want and you can see how Americans prefer "yes friends" (the
equivalent of a "yes man" on the job) and often won't tolerate any
constructive feedback at all (if the friend in question even knows how to be
constructive).

"hold my beer and watch this..." wrote in message
...

"Mary" wrote in message

True - Sugar, Oil, and Salt are very cheap and have been poured into
foods
in the USA to increase profit margins.
Almost anything you pick up in a store is over 30% in one of these
catagories.
Corperate Maggots.


Puh-leeze!

Spare us all your low-brow anti-corporate garbage spew. 'Corporate
Maggots'
don't force somebody to consciously eat themselves to 600 pounds. I'm
sorry, but that woman and the enablers who are continuing to bring food to
her are 100% at fault here.

I'm just wondering if the phenomena of super-morbid obesity exits in
Europe,
that's all.

The odd thing is that I think in Europe people eat fewer calories but not
especially different than here. Then again, I am usually in California where
even many obese people eat fairly healthy. The difference seems to be mostly
that Americans expect all kinds of accommodations out of the norm. For
instance, most restaurants don't server food all day, they have a shorter
service period for each meal. Although there are more and more fast food
type restaurants all the time, they are still far more common in the US. So,
Americans are more likely to eat in between (snacks or extra meals!). I
really think those extra portions are what causes obesity among most people.
I have watched and tried to help people with their diets and what usually
ruins their efforts are the extra meals or snacks. What they do is wait
until it is a serious problem and they are really upset about it. They take
on a difficult diet that they think is dramatic enough to "really make a
difference" and then they can't stick to it. Once they go off, they go off
big. Even when they don't go off, they eat the structured weight loss diet
at meal time, and then eat enough in between to get darn close if not all
the way back to the same foods and quantities that got them to where they
are.

I would love for someone show me that I am wrong, but that is what I have
seen year after year. Also, the fad diets mislead people in to thinking that
there are certain "formula" diets that are *the only way* for them to be
normal. With all of the emphasis on "low carb", most of these fatties
"forgive" themselves for being fat because they were tricked in to eating
carbs. They scoff at how in the past a high carb diet was promoted (even
though that diet was fine for people that followed all of the
recommendations, like plenty of exercise). Many of these people are
constantly changing to the latest fad as if "science" is behind all of these
trends. They constantly attribute there problems to uncontrollable things
like that or other uncontrollable factors. Anyone that they see who is not
overweight is considered to have a genetic advantage, etc. Heavy denial.

To answer your question directly, I have never seen anyone more than perhaps
300 pouinds in any European country. The number of obese people seems to be
much lower. However, I have heard claims that this is related more to the
shame these people are made to feel (as apposed to Americans who eat like
horse with much less guilt in general). These hidden fatties are the
theoretical proof that the whole world has the same sort of problems with
obesity. I can't dispute the numbers since I don't have access to them.
Still, I have seen that in general Americans do eat very differently (the in
between calories I mentioned above).

"Andre" wrote in message
.rogers.com...
I would agree that many are at fault, including the victim. However,
these
food producers are particularly at fault in that they have engaged
biochemists to engineer foods that are addictive. The chemistry is based
on
evolutionary "taste", in that humans enjoy high energy survival nutrients
such as (as per Mary) sugar, oil (fat), salt.
Tobacco companies are similarly innovative.

OK, so how long did it take for these evil corporations to break down the
willpower of the "victims"? You say this as if the forces of market demand
have no influence on food choices. Also note that higher income is
associated with poor diet and obesity, not low income.

A similar argument could be engaged in regards to the drug war. Is the
problem supply or demand? Liberals attack the demand, conservatives
attack
the supply.
Historically, it's always been easier to attack supply, than it is to
attack
demand. Reducing demand requires creativity, and it's hard to prove (and
fund related programs) a negative. Did our action truly prevent the
obesity? Hard to say. However, if we cut the supply of harmful food by
half (thus doubling the price), we would see an effect. Sadly, addicts
would find a cheaper source, more likely.
Funny, this also could be applied to the fossil fuel debate...

--
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
http://agc-pc.tripod.com
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

"hold my beer and watch this..." wrote in message
...

"Mary" wrote in message

True - Sugar, Oil, and Salt are very cheap and have been poured into
foods
in the USA to increase profit margins.
Almost anything you pick up in a store is over 30% in one of these
catagories.
Corperate Maggots.


Puh-leeze!

Spare us all your low-brow anti-corporate garbage spew. 'Corporate
Maggots'
don't force somebody to consciously eat themselves to 600 pounds. I'm
sorry, but that woman and the enablers who are continuing to bring food
to
her are 100% at fault here.

I'm just wondering if the phenomena of super-morbid obesity exits in
Europe,
that's all.

"Chris" wrote in message
. ..


OK, so how long did it take for these evil corporations to break down the
willpower of the "victims"? You say this as if the forces of market demand
have no influence on food choices. Also note that higher income is
associated with poor diet and obesity, not low income.

Your last statement is not true, if you are talking about the US and the
other industrialized countries. E.g., Time/ABC reported a few months ago
about studies showing that poorer Americans are significantly more likely to
be obese. And it's even worse among poor minorities. There is no doubt that
the bad foods are cheaper and more accessible.

I believe the same set of articles also discussed the genetic drive to pack
in the fats, sugars, and salts, even though it is unnecessary in the modern
world. Of course, most everyone can and should control their deep-rooted
urges!

Mark
(still curious about Chris' background re bike racing)

"Chris" wrote in message

To answer your question directly, I have never seen anyone more than
perhaps
300 pouinds in any European country.

I remember seeing some humongous, pot bellied cycling coaches about 10-12
years ago. The ones that specifically come to mind were a couple of
Bulgarians (post-Berlin Wall) coaching the Spanish track team.