October 6, 1999 Vol. 4, No. 19 Circulation: 31,779 in 80 countries
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GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, UNBELIEVABLE NEWS
by James W. Harris
Fat Tax Urged in "War on Obesity"
The idea of a "fat tax" on high-fat foods is gaining ground.
(Yes, that's *fat* tax, not flat tax.)
"Obesity: The Public Health Crisis" was the name of a conference held in Washington DC September 14-15 by the American Obesity Association. Obesity was described as a "ticking time bomb in the health care system." One solution proposed by some of the assembled experts was the "fat tax" - a tax on high-fat foods, similar to already-existing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. The tax would discourage the purchase of such foods, and fund various programs to help the food-addicted.
Other Big Mother proposals from the convention: lengthening the school day to give kids more exercise; a massive increase in tax-funded research on obesity (the National Institutes of Health currently spends a mere $103 million annually); and expanded insurance for weight loss treatments.
Among the attendees was Judith S. Stern, vice pesident of the American Obesity Association, who described obesity as "a national emergency;" and the U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, who declared: "Obesity is a major public health problem in this country and one that deserves much more attention than it receives."
Yes, you can hear it coming. How long before our rulers simply outlaw fatty foods outright? How long before the Federal Fat Police (FFP) begin searching our cars for candy, invading our homes to halt the preparation of cherry pie, and forcing mandatory random weighing tests to uncover fat addicts? How long before the U.S. military is ordered to seal our borders against smugglers of lard and coconut oil? How long before a fat-free America - maintained at gunpoint -- becomes a national goal, lauded by Democrats, Republicans, and Chambers of Commerce across the land?
Given America's experiences with alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes, we'd say oh, any day now.
(Sources: Reuters Sept. 15, 1999 / Knight Ridder Newspapers Sept. 16, 1999)
Our Lost Heritage of Liberty
(The following is excerpted from a longer article by renowned civil libertarian Nat Hentoff, which appeared in "Jewish World Review.")
"I often speak at high schools and colleges around the country as well as at elementary schools. Nearly everywhere, I find an alarming, pervasive failure in American education. Most young people have only the dimmest knowledge of the rights and liberties guaranteed to every American under the Constitution
"Recently, I spoke at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and its counterpart at New York University. These bright, earnest young journalists only knew one small part of the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the Constitution). They only knew the clause in the First Amendment that speaks of 'freedom of the press.'
"As journalists, they will, therefore, be of little help in informing the rest of the citizenry about their rights. If you don't know your own rights, you will be indifferent to the rights of other Americans when they are violated by the police, by legislatures, by the president, or by school boards
"I know from considerable experience that youngsters are open to learning about their legacy of freedom...
"Once, in Miami, I was asked to speak about the Bill of Rights to two large groups of high-school students. It was a very multicultural audience. Their teachers warned me: 'Don't be disappointed if they get bored. All they're really interested in is music and clothes.'
"I told them stories about our freedoms. How, for example, the colonists suffered and were humiliated by British customs officers, who had the power to search their homes and persons at will -- without any court approval.
"And I told them that was one of the main reasons for the American Revolution. And that's why the Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights specifically guarantees our privacy from illegal police searches.
"I told the youngsters other stories about our history of freedom. At the end of the hour, the youngsters stood up and cheered. They weren't cheering me. They had discovered America! They were cheering their great good fortune in being Americans."
(From "Our 'Americanism'-ignorant Generation" by Nat Hentoff, Jewish World Review, August 19, 1999)
Privatizing Space Exploration: The Next Frontier?
The privatization of space exploration may be closer than we think, according to NASA administrator Dan Goldin, His comments came at the eighth annual conference of the Space Frontier Foundation, an organization devoted to opening up space to free enterprise. Foundation members include top aerospace industries. Topics at the conference included space tourism, commercial space piloting, and space property rights.
According to Goldin, NASA wants private industry to take over activities in the Earth's orbit, such as the International Space Station. The organization hopes that will free NASA to pursue deep space exploration (which private enterprise could also do better, but that's another story).
Goldin said free enterprise is essential if space exploration is to become a daily reality. "The way we'll get there is with a revolution both in [our] technology and business approach," he said. "We can't afford to do solar system exploration until we turn these earth orbit activities over to a cutting edge private sector.
"A partnership between NASA and the Space Frontier Foundation -- which consists mostly of aerospace companies -- will be the only way to make the new millennium the space millennium," Goldin said.
"Beyond the next 5-10 years [when the International Space Station is completed], our hope is to turn the keys of the station over to an entrepreneur in the private sector who sees an opportunity.
"If this happens, we [NASA] will become one of the many tenants and users of the station. The entrepreneur can make money and we wave goodbye to low Earth orbit on our way to explore the far frontier.
"Some may say that commercializing portions of NASA's functions are heresy," Goldin concluded. "Others may think we are taking a path that will ruin the wonders of space.
"But I believe that when NASA can creatively partner with you, all of humankind will reap the benefits of access to open space."
(Source: Wired News: "Privatize NASA Now")
Thinking Ahead...
"We oppose all government restrictions upon voluntary peaceful use of outer space. We condemn all international attempts to prevent or limit private exploration, industrialization, and colonization of the moon, planets, asteroids, satellite orbits, Lagrange libration points, or any other extra-terrestrial resources. We repudiate the principles contained in the U.N. Moon Treaty. We support the privatization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration."
-- "Space Exploration" plank of the national Libertarian Party platform.