Free vasectomies for fat guys!
[URL=http://www.pnmj.org/0032205_curing_obesity.asp]Wow. Just... wow.[/URL]
[QUOTE=pnmj.org]Beginning last November, the city of San Francisco began a program whereupon clinically obese men between the ages of 18 and 55 could undergo a procedure whereupon approximately 1/2 an inch is removed from each vas and the ends are sealed - commonly referred to as a vasectomy - completely free of charge. The overwhelming turnout led the State of California to follow suit, and now California is the first state in the Union to offer state-funded vasectomies to men who have been diagnosed as obese.
Why would a state adopt such a controversial program? The basis is simple: vasectomy is a popular method of birth control (in 1983, figures showed that approximately 10 million men had been sterilized in the U.S. since 1969). By offering such a highly effective form of birth control freely to men who, by clinical diagnosis, have been deemed genetically inferior to the normalized median of homo sapien development, such a gene line would effectively be eliminated. [/QUOTE]
Damn. While I'm all for taking steps to cure obesity and, well, getting shit for free, this is a little nuts (no pun intended). First of all, I'm not convinced that obesity is a purely genetic issue. Lifestyle choices play a huge part in how someone's body is made up. I've lost 20 lbs myself in the last eight weeks by just eating right, some calisthenics in the morning, and walking a lot. If you look at most charts out there (especially those crappy BMI ones) will tell you that someone 5'7" tall and 215 lbs is obese. According to this program, I could have gotten a free vasectomy because I was genetically inferior. I'm already back down under 195 lbs, and according to my electro-body-fat scale I'm now 24% body fat. That's within healthy range, and I'm still losing at least a pound a week. By the time my body finishes adjusting to this new lifestyle I've adopted, I'll probably be under 180 lbs and under 20% body fat. And my genes will still be the same. So, WTF is this shit really about?
As much as I think genetic research and engineering holds promise for curing various diseases in the future, this shit sounds much more like the term "cleansing"... you know the one Hitler liked to throw around?
Discuss...
Heh, california is teh stupid.
[url=http://www.sloganizer.net/en/][img]http://www.sloganizer.net/en/style7,capitalistnihilist.png[/img][/url]
I hate how science blames so many things on genetics, giving many people an excuse not to change. If you're fat, you have a responsibility to eat right and take care of yourself, just the same way that I do as a skinny person. If I don't eat right, I can stil lhave a heart attack at an early age, but I don't get the scientific community telling me it's all because of my genes. No, they tell me I was irresponsible and lived in an inhealthy way.
It's the same with alchoholism being termed a disease.
It's not.
Every time someone picks up a bottle, they have made a choice. It's not like you get diagnosed with Lupis, and then can decide to stop going to the Lupis bar and therefore no longer have Lupis.
Who the fuck though this stuff up?
Some people are genetically pre-disposed to obesity and alchoholism alike, but that doens't remove free will from the picture, and science is giving these fatties and alchoholics an excuse instead of support and help when they term these things as diseases. It becomes a crutch in your mind when you think that you have no choice because you have obesity disease.
Jase, I commend you for making the lifestyle change necessary to live within healthy limits. This is what people need. Healthy limits. Not a 4 week diet program as an intermission to indulgent habits. Not a 12 step program that tells you you'll never be free from your "alchoholism disease."
You all have to choose.
(pardon me if I come across quite strong, it just strikes a chord with me.)
| adj | facebook | an american atheist| warmed and bound |
You came across perfectly.You should [I]find[/I] these science quacks and grind them into coffee.
[QUOTE=Nightrious]You came across perfectly.You should [I]find[/I] these science quacks and grind them into coffee.[/QUOTE]
mmm... science quack coffee... now appearing at dunkin' donuts...
thank you
and coffee sounds good about now... *meanders away from desk*
| adj | facebook | an american atheist| warmed and bound |
its odd, because for zero reason whatsoever about five minutes ago i was thinking of this friend of mine in high school who was freaking huge, his mom was huge, his dad was huge, his little brother was less huge but large by anyone else's standards. and the thing is, i dont recall them having a stellarly bad diet--there weren't any fast food places where i lived and i think he drank like a mt. dew a day and wasn't sitting in the classroom at his desk munching candy all day, either. both his parents cooked semi-healthy dinners for the kids. so i definitely believe that obesity can definitely be caused by genetics, but bad diet, too much beer, no exercise, sitting around on the computer all day, these elements definitely can add up to fatassedness.
i'm definitely not a fan of fat people and i'm definitely 100% not against birth control, but to think 'curing' people of being fat can be done by tying the tubes is just disgusting. whoever mentioned hitler was absolutely right. i think this is just a way to trick people into a solution that won't work, make people think we're doing something to curve the problem, but in reality the couple thousand fatasses who get their tubes tied isn't really going to do much. i was pissed when mcdonalds started weeding out their super size options because some people have no will power but i think that decision is going to do more to help than state funded vasectomies.
Holy shit. When I first saw the title of this thread I thought it was a parody thread making fun of me. I know the exchanges can get pretty nasty on here occasionally, but damn...that would be some cold shit! But then I saw the date. And then I read it. Then I felt really stupid. 
Get on over to my website, young'un! www.subvertfromwithinrecords.blogspot.com
Wait....alcoholism isn't a disease?
Omg. So when my grandfather went into DTs and threw a chair through a window, he did that because he wanted to!?
There is hope, but not for us.
[QUOTE=jane s.;1032318]Wait....alcoholism isn't a disease?
Omg. So when my grandfather went into DTs and threw a chair through a window, he did that because he wanted to!?[/QUOTE]
Yup.
The same goes for when my dad threw me across the room.
(What is it with drunks and throwing things?)
All that sugar in the alcohol gives them energy.
There is hope, but not for us.
Ahhh.
Makes sense.
Hitler was so cool.