A Stitch in Haste

Red Cans Canned in Red State:

The Riverton [Wyoming] school board has decided to remove pop and candy machines from public schools within the next year.

The pop and candy will be replaced by juice/milk and nutritional snack vending machines.

The only beverages allowed for sale on school grounds on a regular basis will be milk, water, and 100 percent fruit juices. Candy will be replaced with nutrient-dense foods such as whole grain snacks, fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.

Board member Carl Manning said Tuesday the change was "a worthwhile cause," saying the board needs to address obesity concerns.

MY TAKE: Um, milk and juice are fattening too. What’s wrong with a vending machine full of Caffeine Free Diet XX? And I’ll bet dollars to donuts (assuming one can even find donuts anymore) that many soda-free school vending machines will carry chocolate milk, “not quite juices” like Gatorade or Sunny Delight (which is just Kool-Aid on steroids), or perhaps even Red Bull. This is nothing more than the Politics of the Warm Fuzzy Feeling, and will accomplish nothing.

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Blue Cans Canned in Blue State:

When the Philadelphia School District banned the sale of carbonated soft drinks in city schools last year, a nonprofit nutrition advocacy group considered the decision a sweet victory for its activists.

Since then, the Philadelphia-based Food Trust has been working to build statewide momentum for its cause. With funding from the state Agriculture Department, it has developed a "Healthy Beverage Toolkit" - a primer on how other communities can marshal support for similar policies.

"We figured that if Philadelphia could do it, then it's a slam-dunk that anybody throughout the state can do it," said R. Duane Perry, the group's executive director. "Now is the right time."

The Food Trust and other school-nutrition advocates view the presence of soft drinks in schools as a key contributor to the childhood obesity epidemic. A state Health Department survey last year found that while 72 percent of Pennsylvania high schools with vending machines offer bottled water, carbonated drinks and sugary sports drinks were present in 60 percent of those high schools.

MY TAKE: Again, I wonder whether school cafeterias serve Philly cheesesteaks in Philly.

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Duck Bill Platitude:

At Hurley's restaurant in hip Northwest Portland [Oregon], foie gras isn't anywhere on the menu. You have to ask for it.
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Hurley's is among several Portland restaurants that have removed foie gras from their menus because of protests by animal rights activists, who would gather outside restaurants with gruesome images of dead and diseased ducks they say are the result of inhumane force-feeding techniques used to produce foie gras.

Opponents say the practice should be outlawed, and persuaded the California Legislature last year to pass a bill that will ban foie gras in 2012 unless producers can prove the technique is humane.

Legislation also is being considered in Oregon, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts that would make it a criminal act even to possess the delicacy. Activists recently persuaded about 10 restaurants to stop serving foie gras in Pittsburgh.
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Some say the protesters -- and now legislators -- are clueless, and scoff at the idea that birds whose livers alone are worth $75 a pound are mistreated.
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Francine Bradley, a poultry specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension Service, said foie gras farms simply take advantage of ducks' natural ability to store a large amount of fat.

MY TAKE: Here’s Sonoma Foie Gras’ description of how they treat their ducks. Here’s the Humane Society’s critique of the practice. We blog, you decide. Obviously wherever there is animal farming there are going to be incidents of animal cruelty, and it should be punished. But a flat-out ban strikes me as an example of “progressive lifestyle regulation” (i.e., pass laws that affect the rich more than the poor, like foie gras bans, because it’s easier and more headline-grabbing).

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Speaking of Bird-Brained:

José Ramos, who attended Unity HS in SoHo, charged that safety agent Tiffany Delin wouldn't let him leave his math class to participate in a student council event on Oct. 17, 2003.

Ramos said he had received permission to participate in "Hispanic Day" festivities. But, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Delin ordered Ramos to sit down, saying she had never seen the student volunteer before. Ramos told the officer to contact the principal, who had approved his participation.

"Officer Delin responded by shoving Mr. Ramos and telling him to sit down," the suit says. When Ramos, who's now in college, persisted, Delin responded in a loud voice, "Just go and sit down, you boy or whatever it is that you are," the suit claims.
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Delin handcuffed Ramos after he refused to sit down and said he was "going to the precinct," the young man claims. She then took him to the vice principal's office, the suit says. As it turned out, Ramos said he was not charged with a criminal offense nor disciplined by school authorities for any wrongdoing.

The suit also charges that in the past, Delin was heard calling another student a "f-ing faggot."

MY TAKE: “School safety agent”? Another euphemism for “someone with a police fetish but is too intellectually deficient to actually qualify as a cop.” I’d say “sue ‘em into the ground!” But, as a taxpayer, guess who would have to pay the judgment. Grrr... Meanwhile, here are previous posts about kids in handcuffs.