Ah, the people of Wal-Mart. 
The kids, too.
According to an article in the peer-reviewed journal, Pediatrics, about one out of every six children ages 1 to 6 is too beefy to fit into a standard-sized child safety seat – and needs oversized models designed to accommodate proto-Elvii.
One of the study’s authors, Lara Trifiletti, decided to look into the matter after she discovered researchers evaluating the functionality of child safety seats were encountering problems finding seats to fit/properly restrain “husky” children.
This isn’t baby fat wer’e talking here. These are three-year-olds who weigh in at 40 plus. Kiddies on a fast food track to being 200 pounders by their tweens.
Those gummi bears and juice boxes really add up, apparently.
So, what to do?
The obvious answer – feed them less and especially, less high fructose corn syrup and wheat products – isn’t the right answer, apparently.
Instead, the call is for accommodation, for super-sized car safety seats – units titanic enough to hold Baby Fatima so that she’s not injured in the event of a car wreck. That she’ll end up a teen diabetic – or in the cardiac care ICU by 40 – doesn’t matter much, I guess.
It’s much easier to build a bigger seat than put not-so-junior on a diet.
These weighty waddler toddlers need wide-load seats such as the $250 Britax “Husky” (no, really) like Elvis needed another 3,000 calorie serving of Fool’s Loaf Gold (See here, “The Sandwich That Killed Elvis”).
The “Husky” seat is designed to handle kids who weigh up to 80 pounds. Remember, this is for 3-5 year-olds. Hopefully, the parents of these kids are going to the gym – because they’ll need Popeye-sized biceps to heft their little giants onboard the family SUV.
Maybe the automakers will develop a special auto-winch system?
Or heavy-lift running boards?
Britax spokeswoman Joyce Kara told the Associate Press that the childhood obesity epidemic is “. . . something that we do keep in mind when designing our seats to make sure our seats are versatile in accommodating all sizes of children.”
They might be better served if someone sent them a membership to the YMCA.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into new regulations which would apply to these super-sized child seats. They’ll be using a crash test dummy carrying an extra 25 pounds to simulate an 80 pound youngster.
No word as to whether the shock absorbers on the cars involved will also be tested to see whether they can handle the load.
The part that slays me is that, on the one hand, our society is mawkishly fixated on safety uber alles as far as outside risks go – helmets for kids on Big Wheels, seatbelts everywhere and forget about lawn darts – yet more indifferent than a chain-smoking, gin-and-tonic-swilling Mad Men ’60s-era mom to the arguably greater threat posed by man-titty’d ten-year-old boys and young girls on their way to becoming the next stand-in for “Precious” by the time they’re 14.
You’d think that parents would take notice of their child’s expanding girth (and their inability to find a child seat that fits) as evidence of a problem with the child – not a reason to go buy a supersized car seat.
Childhood obesity was pretty rare 25 years ago, in the pre-Playstation age. Nowadays, fat kids – really fat kids – are everywhere. Is it likely our genetic make-up mutated in this short span of time? Or could it be we’re just eating too damn much – and too much of the wrong stuff?
I recently got through reading Wheatbelly, an excellent book by Dr. William Davis (see here). His thesis is that it’s not so much that people have become more sedentary, it’s that they are being turned into mutants by their diet. And not so much the quantity, but the stuff itself. Stuff that spikes our blood sugar, which triggers a fat deposition process and metabolic mayhem within us, the external manifestation of which is grotesque fatness.
I strongly recommend this book.
Also, maybe sign Baby Huey up for Little league instead of buying him another Pixar mind-rotter and handing him a quart-sized jug of high fructose corn syrup and colored water.
We’re not doing these kids (or ourselves) any favors by accommodating their wide-load waistbands. But it’s probably easier for often also-beefy parents to look upon their progeny as smaller scale (for the moment) versions of themselves and thus, perfectly ok.
If current trends continue, looking like the Michelin Man will be the new normal – and the handful of skinny kids who somehow fall through the cracks will just have to make do with flopping around in super-sized seats.
Pass the chips, son. Halftime’s almost over… .
Throw it in the Woods?
It isn’t just the kids who are fat. Americans are by far the fattest people in the world! Based on my occasional observations at public places, the startling (gag) trend seems to be growing worse by the day. I’ve decided that I have little in common with a population that waddles rather than walks, lives to eat, and places complete safety above all other things in life except, of course, food.
It’s funny, I was workign late last night and had the TV on in the background. Batman Returns came on, the one with DeVito as Penguin, and Michelle Pfeifer as Catwoman?
Ok, DeVito was always fat – part of the character – but looking at the characters briefly, they were EMACIATED compared to today.
And that fits with the link somewhere above, of the 70’s era flower girl… SO skinny compared to today!
It’s disgusting, really, WHAT WE HAVE BECOME as a society….
Yeah… I call it the Red Giant stage of the American Imperium. Bloated, belligerent, but obviously in its death throes.
Jean – I’m 54 and can still wear the same waist size trousers I did in high school. I look around and want to ask many of my contemporaries “When are you due?” It looks like male pregnancy runs rampant these days, at least around here. My goal is to have a six-pack by 55 and I’m 65% there. I still take the stairs…two at a time. I make it a point to sprint across the yard with my dogs, lift heavy things (like my 200 lb. Katahdin ram, and set him on his butt when he gets feisty) and I keep moving…a lot. I still dig post holes by hand and split wood with a maul. As someone else here quoted recently, it’s harder to kill a strong man. And what’s more, if you’re strong and old, you can get the element of surprise on your aggressor(s) and take more of the bastards with you when you go! 😉
Boothe, I have a jacket* that I wear to do yard work, working on cars, etc…. I’ve had it since I was in 8th grade. It’s a bit tight because I am taller than I was when I was 14 (It’s been tight since HS) but not bad all these years later. My mother found a pair of jeans I had abandoned sometime in the late 1980s. Same size I wear now. But they were probably big on me then and thus why they were forgotten about. I should put them on sometime to see if I really am the same size. who knows maybe I’ve been a victim of the changing size numbers compared to reality.
*Old made-in-the-USA quality. I’ve beaten the hell out it, washed, sewed it, and beaten the hell out of it some more.
This thread got me to thinking how the slide from June 1977 with 22% of nonfarm payroll in manufacturing, down to 9% in March 2012, had some effect in fattening people up, too.
Chart from 1960 – 2012:
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8f/c6/fc/8fc6fcf5cb9ea527ffbb905fd6cab784.jpg
Not too mention the slide in farm payroll.
Chart:
http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2010/sep/images/graph-0910-1-1.gif
Add a dash of “money for nothing” and MTV, then morph it a bit with some ethical debasing satellite or extra cable stations with a twist of hypnotic digital gaming, add a super-sized splash of HFC along with gobs of altered wheat everyday (all bought with easy Fed fiat) then throw in a sprinkle of ‘submit & obey’ next to some big pharma prescription drugs, with some fluoride on top, all wrapped in state/sports/military whoreship… and viola! Instant plastic balloon people.
Plastic People
…”and Pierre’s story may someday also be your story.” …[?]
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2009/05/jeff-snyder/hero-of-gun-rights/
The sky’s the limit on what other subjects come up next just like that one.
Just thinking out loud.
There may be an auto related reason too. Before the Bush II administration both gas and cars were less of a burden to the average American. So people shopped more frequently. My speculation is that these days people try to get all their shopping done once or less a week. The rest of the time they spend sedentary at work and at home depressed. Sedentary people cannot really control their weight by eating less as they just don’t burn enough calories.
George, you might be doing yourself a favor by reading the book, ‘Wheat Belly’?
It’s not about the calories,… or even the level of activity. Many people do not increase their physical activity when they go Primal or Paleo and they still lost weight. Which means it’s not about total calories, or burning them off, rather, it’s about the type of calories. [Which also means my example below of lowered manufacturing and farm employment has a lessor role than it seems.]
These 150 Calories Go Straight to Your Bulging Belly – at the Rate of 1 Pound Per Week
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/04/joseph-mercola/these-150-calories-go-straight-to-your-bulging-belly-at-the-rate-of-1pound-perweek/
It’s also about getting enough sleep:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2012/07/joseph-mercola/you-need-this-to-lose-weight/
Do you suppose more people don’t get enough sleep these days, especially since the crash of ’07-’08 which was brought on with equal support from both political parties? Are more people trying to work two jobs or work extra hours to keep that ‘keep up with the Jones’es’ treadmill going?
Also, I never ever really thought of shopping as a physical activity. I don’t understand how anyone would.
Dear Pan,
“Also, I never ever really thought of shopping as a physical activity. I don’t understand how anyone would.”
Hey, haven’t you heard of the expression “shop til you drop?”
;-p
RE: ““shop til you drop?””
Ha. Yeah, and I thought it meant ‘drop from boredom’ or from standing still too long while waiting for your better half to slowly and methodically look through the stuff you have no interest in while you imagine how the track lighting was installed and notice what kind of quality they used. “Oh look! They used real fake wood trim!”
…Or, from dropping on the ground in shock after you see the total at the cash register… a total driven Up by (SFM) Fed funny money which seems to have no end,… oh wait, I’m letting my JMR out a bit too much.
http://mogamboguru.blogspot.com/
Thanks for that, PAH! “…drop from boredom…”
I’ve put up such a stink about going shopping for anything but hardware, groceries, or guns that my dear wife finally stopped asking me to go anywhere near clothes shopping.
Amazon Prime does that for me now 🙂
Oh no, methylamine. You mustn’t do that. IMHO. Not – All the time – anyway.
It’s about spending time with her. It’s not about the shopping, or how you feel about it. Don’t even try to understand it.
Embrace the idea of discovering flaws in how the clothing racks are welded or ground down. Look for cracks in the display cases. Notice how well the dust has been removed from the shelving giving an indication of how well the store is doing that it can afford to pay people to spend so much time on such things. Consider them economic indicators or signals to short sell? Perhaps utter a white lie in response to the question, “Are you bored?” while seeing how long you can stand on one foot? Consider it an effort in endurance and a way of building of patience? …Just do it in small amounts, and the payoff can be substantial if you are successful, not for you, of course, but for her.
However; if yours is the least bit like mine, don’t Ever expect the same from her, RE: the tool isle. Just don’t go there. Don’t even try.
Yeah, Amazon is the ultimate ‘quick in, and quick out’ store. And, how nice it was to watch her zoom in on clothes to her hearts content while I watched.
It could be you have the right idea, however; it could backfire if taken to the extreme. IMHO, moderation is the key. YMMV, of course. Good luck.
Dear Pan, meth,
I’ve got an even funnier one for you.
The slang term for “shopping” in Chinese is a transliteration of the English term “shopping.”
Transliteration means imitating the sound of the word.
血拼
xue ping
Literally it means “bloody struggle”
The first time I came across it, I laughed my ass off.
The image of a couple of pampered trophy wives, arms full of expensive purchases, viewing their activity as a “bloody struggle,” however consciously ironic, was just too much.
Hi Bevin,
I needed a good laugh – thanks! I’ve been down with flu since the weekend; gradually snapping out of it but the end is probably a couple days away yet.
To all: That’s why no new articles so far this week…. thanks for bearing with!
Dear meth, Pan,
Just remember, it’s a “bloody struggle.”
So man up!
“bloody struggle.” – Ya, Perfect description.
Dear Eric,
Glad you liked it!
Don’t worry about new articles for the moment. I’m sure everyone here will be able to keep each other entertained.
LOL!
“…while waiting for your better half to slowly and methodically look through the stuff
you haveshe has no interest in …”Fixed it for you.
See, part of it is how she, “hunts.” She wants to spend hours trying everything on, seeing if it fits JUST right, checking the price, watching you for a reaction, and maybe, IF everything aligns correctly, YOU will get the privilege of paying for it.
She really doesn’t care about these things most of the time.
Only occasionally will she care about ACQUIRING something.
Not male-type “goal oriented.” Mostly because the goal is different. It’s validation and socialization. Shared time. Proof of how important she is to you (validation).
Actually getting a THING is secondary to the “togetherness.”
Geek-types, like me? We just wish she’d STFU, GTFO, and leave us ALONE for a while. I spent 10 hours at work, I need to log back in to work, I have been talking and socializing ALL EFFING DAY – and I’m about to try and accomplish more – and you want to gush on about what you watched on TV (cr@p), how the puppy is (same as always, he did something cute), discuss dinner for the next three days (I don’t give a f*ck, woman, just cook something and I’ll eat it. If after 7 years, you still don’t grasp that you’re really cooking for YOURSELF and not me, you will never understand that I’m happy with steak, veggies, and even potatoes every day… We don’t NEED meals that take 15 hours to make. And yes, I can cook, fairly well, and had done so for several years before I met you.).
While I understand she is lonely during the day – it was only a little different while she was working. I’m NOT a “people person.” Most people are marginal to me, limited in thought, word, and deed – low-IQ uncaring, uninterested, breeders and eaters. About the only thig they produce? Is poop. I could fertilize my garden with their corpse, too, and it would save on carbon footprint… 😛
As for shopping? Takes money. Inflated funny money still beats the lack thereof. I’m “shopping” for a motorcycle now…. Might buy one in 2015 or so. IF I still have any money by then, we’ll see what happens between now and then. A lot of things to purchase along the way, like guns, ammo, training in how to use them, and probably a few medical procedures to add to survivability long-term.
“Are more people trying to work two jobs or work extra hours to keep that ‘keep up with the Jones’es’ treadmill going?”
That was once true, it’s not any more.
Now they are keeping up with the Kardassians. TV has made the glamorous lifestyle of the obscenely rich seem commonplace. She doesn’t want A Gucci bag… She DESERVES a CLOSET FULL!
Because Kim has it, you know.
What do you mean, you don’t earn $1mil per year after taxes? You’re not a REAL man! (etc, endless shaming language ’cause she thinks a part of her anatomy is made of gold. Even if it were, sweetcheeks, EVERY WOMAN has one.)
I will also state, I have known good women in my life, it’s just that they are in the minority… like, 0.001% or so. Also known a few female engineers. Please note, they are engineers first. 😉 But they’re an even smaller percentage….
A little class-ism here. The problem is not the low end fast food joints. I see fat people in restaurants of all price points. And that does not include people who get the stuff delivered that I cannot see. I would actually say if you wanted to lose weight eat exclusively at McDonalds every day as the food is not that good, and would get monotonous pretty fast.
But the problem is not just the calorie count, it is not moving, and using food to sooth disorders like depression. At my old public school in Brooklyn NY the school yard has been filled with little shacks they use as additional class rooms to house the children of the legal and illegal immigrants. many of the new immigrants work for nothing in the food prep business lowering the cost of a prepared meal to the same as cooking it yourself. There is a high incidence of obesity among the public school kids, but not the Orthodox Jewish kids that do not attend public school. The kids at the Baptist parochial school also looked more fit than the public school kids.
Another good observation, George…back to my earlier point about fewer huskeroos in 1963 (longish post ahead):
It’s no secret that people of all ages moved more back then, even without fancy gyms. That was because obviously screen time consisted of everyone watching the 6:00 news after dinner, watching cartoons on Saturday morning, or a movie on Saturday night. It was also because more people worked in physically demanding jobs, and because even office jobs involved using manual typewriters and filing cabinets, which meant many little opportunities to be physically active that added up over time, not to mention that people spent a lot less time driving everywhere, and even driving was much more physical in an era before today’s almost-self-driving cars. So even “sedentary” folks expended more calories in getting through a given day than today.
I’d also be willing to wager that people weren’t soothing themselves as much with food. first, because people were less stressed and depressed in general (don’t get me started on that!), and because they were more likely to seek non-food comforts like family, community and religion. Unfortunately, many were soothing themselves with booze and smokes, and would soothe themselves with stronger junk in just a few years.
Finally, you’re right, George, that obesity is today a visible class marker, with lower class people far more likely to be obese than upper class people. For example, if JFK and Jackie were around today, they’d be noticeably more fit and trim than the general population. Notice how almost all of our presidents have been not-obese, along with others in the “1 percent.” It may be because they can afford better fare, it may also be because they’re less stressed. I don’t think Michelle Obama goes to the McDonald’s drive-through after picking her kids up from soccer practice because she was working late and doesn’t have time to cook dinner.
Bryce, I guess you’re mistaking class with income, not a very good comparison.
Dear Bryce,
Good point about manual labor, even white collar physical exertion.
“On the Axiom, the descendants of the ship’s original passengers have become morbidly obese after centuries of relying on the ship’s automated systems for their every need.”
— Wall-E, animated SF film
Wall-E Fat People
Here in Oz we have just lost our local car making industry as of 2017, thanks to overly high paid workers and not enough productivity from them. Our industry made full size cars that are now not in favor. But I look around at all these fat people and wonder how a family of 5 will fit into a Toyota corolla, and how the suspensions will cope. Jap cars are designed by skinny japs. How are the seats in the jap and korean cars going to hold all this weight? And what about the seat belts? And how much more braking will be required to slow down the car, even from a low speed? How much effect does all this extra weight have on the frame of the car, especially when the frame is spot welded? How will the paramedics extract these fatties from a car wreck? Then there’s the amount of medication to treat these fatties in the hospital. And with our nurses being more Oriental, that is slight and skinny, how are they going to handle all these fatties?
Re, foods. The “preservatives” and “emulsifiers” you see listed are not these at all. Rather they are chemicals that turn off the brain’s system that lets you know when you’ve had enough to eat. That way you just keep eating. And btw, all the accumulated fat needs more food to keep it going. Leading to more of the supersize gut, etc……..
The car seat makers will be making lots in the next few years fixing the ripped up seats from the fatties.
Hi to5,
Sucks about Holden. I always liked Aussie GM stuff (and Ford stuff, too).
On the Japanese cars:
You guys may (and probably do) get different versions of Toyotas, Hondas, etc. The models they sell here were designed specifically for the American market. Not surprisingly, they are pretty porky. Take a gander, for instance, at a U.S.-spec. Camry or Avalon.
Same goes for many of the Euro cars. For example, VW sells a version of the Jetta here that’s bigger/heavier than the Euro-spec. Jetta.
I have a 2001 camry touring V6, and a VP Commodore wagon, full size, 3.8 L motor & auto. The camry is very similar to US model, so much so that I order many of my parts from the US due to high prices here. The camry is 500 kg heavier than the wagon, but not as fast on takeoff. 2 of my sons have holdens, 1 has a ford fairmont, a full size car with st8 6 motor.
One advantage to local cars here is the lower cost of replacement costs. That will now change in a few years. I rarely see jap cars stay with a single owner for more than a few years.
When local production ceases, car prices will skyrocket. No doubt greenies will love that as fewer people will be able to buy a car.
There’s a lot more to it than simply “the workers were overpaid” (and, in fact, there’s a quite easy fix for that one issue that’s politically unfashionable at the moment). I’m actually doing some economics work that touches on this; it isn’t quite finished and it’s too bulky to excerpt here, but this article I found in research gives a pretty good picture of the background problems, though it doesn’t go into what could and still can be done about them.
PML, no doubt there are other problems. Excess government regs. We do not need California air pollution standards, but we have their excess cost added to cars. Same with sulfur in fuel. And workers’ attitudes, esp. at the union level. I know coz I used to work with union guys. Never happy with what they got. Excess government interference in the workplace leads to high costs that can’t be recovered. But the main one is this:
The Labor party and the Greens want all manufacturing and agriculture to be removed from Australia. They want us to eat chinese made foods, which are loaded with industrial toxins. in short, they want the middle class gone. All Greens will tell you that the middle class lifestyle is not sustainable. Also I have noticed that the green policies actually cause more environmental damage that they won’t admit to.
The real problem we face is pollution. And while the greens focus on CO2, the industrial monarchies continue to pollute and get by with it. While I do my best to preserve the environment, the green policies are causing huge damage, many in ways not visible to the public. But I can assure you, what I am saying is true, and not the raving lunacies of an anti-greenie. After all, the greens are all in favor of agenda 21.
to5–you touch on something so absolutely true!
The “greens”, the “progressives”, the “liberals”–all of them are, under the surface, nasty little control-freak authoritarians who in actual fact don’t give a shit about the environment.
They care about control.
In fact the worst ecological disasters in the world happen in collectivist societies. Just a brief tour through the Soviet era–the Caspian sea, the catastrophic dumping of industrial heavy metal waste…chrome, mercury, cadmium…the absolute destruction of oceans, rivers, and lakes.
It all comes from a lack of private property. Show me a sound ecology–and I’ll show you strong private property laws. The “tragedy of the commons” is no more obvious than in a collectivist society.
Eric, I also grew up in the pre-safety era. No helmets or car seats and eating junk food was limited to a few times a month. I survived and so did all my family and friends. Where everything went wrong was the nanny state coming to full power. “They” will protect us with mandatory “safety” laws. These laws are designed to look like common sense and marketed as such yet do nothing real.
As far as obesity is concerned the government will do nothing real to prevent its own goldmine. All the overweight people I know spend a huge amount of their wealth maintaining their food addition/obesity such as $$food$$ and $$$medical care$$$. It’s now politically incorrect (Marxist) to call a fat person fat, even your own children because it might hurt their feelings.
Yup.
It seems almost like a dreamworld, doesn’t it?
You’ll probably agree with me that back in the day, any kid who showed up to ride bikes with his friends wearing a helmet would have been laughed off the playground.
Very true. Back in the day any kid that had a helmet was considered mentally retarded. We got our bumps and bruises and learned from it.
eric, in my day helmets sat on top of the race car drivers head, exotic stuff. Motorcycle cops had them too, looked weird.
I remember my mother bought us bicycle helmets and constantly carped at us about how important they were for OMG SAFETY — and then we never ever wore them. They hung on the wall in the garage pretty much exclusively.
Coach suing little leaguer for 1/2 million.
http://extramustard.si.com/2014/01/15/little-league-coach-sues-player-for-500k-for-accidentally-hitting-him-with-helmet/
The CA Chiropractor’s achilles tendon was severed by the batting helmet the kid through in the air during a home run celebration.
– – – – –
Idaho Hero Provides Complimentary Suicide Service
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9db_1389855116
The guy was asked 8 times to put down the knife. I mean come on, that’s more than enough chances, when will you teabaggers ever be happy?
Top LL Comment:
I don’t really blame the cop, I blame the entire policing system. The cop will have been trained to shoot in these situations and he will have been trained to shoot to kill, hence the multiple shots. He did his job.
Nevertheless, it’s a totally disgusting way to police a country. I can guarantee that British or German cops would have ended this situation without a fatality and almost certainly without injury to either party.
The government via the “food stamp” program buys groceries for 47 million people and climbing. If they were actually serious they would drasticly scale down what is available in that program to include only whole fresh foods.
But, it’s not about fighting obesity it’s about controlling the sheeple and funnelng money into Big Ag. Every 10yo boy with Moobs is another crisis that a bureaucrat has to solve by spending my freedom.
In my home we’ve embraced the paleo/primal diet and with some very minor changes we’re all much healthier and thinner. HFCS I the devil’s elixer!
Bulls-eye, Steve!
What a lot of people don’t know is that the food stamp program is also welfare for the non-poor, namely Big Ag. It’s basically a way to prop up demand and by extension, farm prices, not to mention provide a convenient way to offload excess food.
In the bad old days before the War on Poverty, there was a program that I think was called Food Relief. That involved lining up to get blocks of government cheese, sacks of beans and rice, and various surplus canned goods. Not any more…you just swipe your EBT to get Big Macs and Coke.
Never mind what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate a million years ago…what about what we ate just 50 years ago? I was watching a lot of TV specials on JFK’s assassination last November, and I noticed a conspicuous lack of huskeroos in the footage taken in 1963 among the folks in the background. And people in 1963 weren’t eating paleo; in fact, they were eating roast beef, butter and eggs, eating Wonder Bread, drinking whole milk and eating rich desserts and casseroles.
I’m willing to bet that factory farming (animals are caged up and fed corn and wheat, not allowed to forage for grass) and HFCS are key culprits. Again, I don’t know if they were doing these things then, but they do now.
Trouble is, no politician who hopes to get elected will buck Big Ag over these issues.
Exactly, Bryce.
It’s very edifying to watch newsreels from the past. Right up through the ’80s, it’s fairly uncommon to see severely overweight people. Coincidentally, you’ll start noticing more and more fat people as the ’80s roll on … to the present time, in which being 20 pounds over is pretty much the norm. I put “coincidentally” in italics because the ’80s just happens to be the moment in time when big AG began its hard sell of HFC. Here’s an example that any of you over 40 will probably remember:
Around 1986, the so-called New Coke was introduced. It flopped and there was much relief when Coke Classic was brought back. Except guess what? “Classic” Coke was not the same product sold before the introduction of New Coke. It was (and still is) a different formula… . The sweetener used is not sugar, as had been the case previously. It is HFC. And wouldn’t you know it, pretty much every other major soda line also made the switch to HFC.
It was also around this time that your typical jam/jelly (and a multitude of other products) also replaced sugar with HFC.
I hadn’t known that the switch was made with that timing; do you think it could be just a coincidence that it happened right then?
Outside the U.S.A. there isn’t the same market bias away from sugar, and so soft drinks there are often still made according to the older recipes; I hear Mexico is like that. Also I hear that, because of the large Jewish population in New York, coca cola there reverts to the old formulation in the run up to Passover when leavened bread isn’t kosher.
Hi PM,
Coke is of course a mighty player – and the switch to HFC no doubt massively increased Coke’s profit (HFC being much cheaper than sugar in the U.S.) and this in turn no doubt put pressure on others to follow suit.
There is a tremendous price difference between HFC-sweetened products and sugar sweetened products, jams for example. 50-75 cents or more per jar being typical.
You can still buy “real” Coke – sugar sweetened – via Mexico. Boutique foods stores will usually stock it. (It also comes in green glass bottles, not those god-awful aluminum cans or plastic bottles.)
Hi PM and Eric. Mexican Coke, made with sugar, is becoming more widely available in grocery stores in my area. It’s expensive though: about $1.25 for a 12 ounce bottle. Pepsi now has a throwback version made with sugar that you can get almost anywhere, and it costs the same as any other soda. I enjoy one can of it every day. (Of course the sugar isn’t all that healthy, but I still keep about 95% primal so I’m not going to sweat it.) They also make Sierra Mist and throwback Mountain Dew with real sugar.
IIRC, the switch to HFCS was primarily motivated by cost. In the 80s, price supports made sugar expensive while subsidies made corn relatively cheap. The cost difference now is much less, I suspect because of the artificially increased demand for corn to be used for the ethanol scam.
Most of the additional price of Mexican pop is transportation and that it is in real glass bottles.
US made soda pop with sugar can be found, it is more, but again glass bottles, low production volume are largely the reasons.
Sugar is made more expensive by government policy, but at the retail level the price difference would be pennies for us. It would be well within what the knowledgable public would pay for ‘better’. The experiments with ‘throw back’, mexican pop at walmart, etc show the demand is there. But…. the vast majority aren’t informed. They’ll buy the HFCS for a few pennies less and for the bigs the cost difference is enormous at their volumes.
If americans were as informed as europeans about food at least half if not most of this stuff that is done to the food in this country would flop on the market.
BrentP, I went to Mexico in ’04 for a bit over a week, went almost to Guatemala but never saw a glass bottle of soft drink the entire time. They have a severe problem with litter there too, just toss those plastic bottles. It’s sorta weird too since they keep what little plastic they get and paper too for recycling. Do you see glass Mexican bottles where you live?
I don’t know what containers it is sold in in Mexico, but the stuff that arrives at the local wally’s and the mexican grocery store is in glass bottles. If you want I still may have an empty glass fanta bottle that I can take a photo of.
US Fanta:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fanta-Orange-Soda-12-fl-oz/24360356
“Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (to Protect Taste), Modified Food Starch, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Sodium Polyphosphates, Coconut Oil, Yellow 6, Brominated Vegetable Oil, Red 40, Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate.”
Mexico Fanta: (zoom in on the photo)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fanta-Orange-Soda-355mL/17248148
“Carbonated Water, Sugar, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (to Protect Taste), Modified Food Starch, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sucrose, Acetate Isobutyrate, Sodium Polyphosphates, Coconut Oil, Yellow 6, Brominated Vegetable Oil, Red 40, Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate.”
Ah–you notice the “brominated vegetable oil”? It gives it that cloudy appearance.
And contributes to your zombification.
Look on the right side of the periodic table. Guess what your body will use, if it doesn’t get enough iodine? Yup–fluorine or bromine. Chlorine it knows how to deal with.
The primary use of iodine is of course to make thyroxine; which itself is considered the “master hormone”, and without which you’re retarded…literally. Cretinism is a permanent retardation in children deprived of thyroxine, by proxy, iodine.
And it’s not just the thyroid; dozens of tissues, especially glandular, use iodine…breast, prostate, cervix etc. Without it they become hyperplastic and cancer-prone.
The “third eye”–the pineal gland–reacts very badly to fluorine, becoming calcified.
Whatever mystical qualities you do or don’t subscribe to this part of the brain, the fact is it makes melatonin at least. Some consider it the “seat of the soul”.
Not only do they put fluoride in the water, but they’ve stopped putting iodine in the bread and the amounts in iodized salt are nowhere near sufficient. In fact most wheat flour is now brominated–providing a further source of this poison.
Remember the term “bromides”, as in the colloquial term for a sedative, comes from the use of KBr as a sedative.
The Russians, then the Nazis, used fluoride for the same purpose in drinking water.
Why then does the US fluoridate its water supply? And continue to do so, when the science is very clear that it does NOT prevent dental caries?
P.S. I started taking a good iodine supplement a few months ago. After the initial detox–mild in my case but some suffer a bit–I’ve noticed an uptick in my metabolism and a very definite sharpening of my thought processes.
Dear meth,
“I started taking a good iodine supplement… ”
Good info! Thanks.
Any specific recommendations?
I’m more limited here on Taiwan. But they do have Costco and GNC.
I’m interested in this, also. I see several iodine supplements available on Amazon, but I don’t really know which ones are better and which are worse. I’m also interested in finding a good vitamin D supplement, since I live so far north I can’t really synthesise any from sunlight — and especially not in the winter.
@Bevin and others–
“Good” iodine supplements…I’ve been all over the map on this question. Some advocate just slapping a Betadine-soaked gauze 4×4 pad on your belly at night and letting the iodine absorb. That’s ghetto-style.
Others say “iodine is iodine” and advocate a plain old KI (potassium iodide) supplement. That’s certainly excellent for acute radiation poisoning prevention–to block the radioactive I-131 from being absorbed by yourthyroid. On the other hand, it’s quite harsh, and may not be well absorbed.
Lastly many advocate “nascent” iodine–unbound, un-ionized, elemental iodine. It’s usually suspended in glycerine. And it’s way more expensive than KI, but there’s some evidence it’s better absorbed, more bio-available, and better tolerated.
There are enough naturopathic doctors advocating nascent that, unwilling to spend hours researching it, I just said “what the hell” and went with nascent iodine.
I use the Infowars Survival Shield brand because it tastes good and it’s very potent for the (relative to other nascent iodine) low price.
OTOH I had no issues taking the KI I was using for a month before I got the nascent stuff.
I had two or three bottles of it several years ago when I had a craving for some orange soda. (kept the empty bottles for awhile in case I found a use for them) I get that every few years. By the next time I wanted orange soda I had found the trader joe’s stuff. It’s been a couple years since I even had that.
About the only chemical things I still have a weakness for are certain candies that only come into my radar around halloween when people bring them into the office.
Mang, Bevin, seeing as how you’re on Taiwan I would think you get enough iodine from the seafood and kelp or seaweed dishes they serve there to not have to seek out additional sources?
Kelp tablets or liquid kelp drops seem to me to be the best way to get additional iodine. Some brands are made just from Atlantic kelp if people are afraid to eat from the Pacific. Myself, I’m not afraid. It seems like the gooberment dumps radioactive material all around the world and in every ocean, in every desert and across every land, there’s no escaping it. But, I digress.
I have read that you need to get some selenium too, otherwise you get problems. There’s a ratio, but I don’t know what is the perfect ratio. I found a brand of olive leaf that lists selenium in the ingredients, it’s a double good thing, I think. The brand name is, Only Natural.
Or, eat lots of nuts, like Brazil nuts,… and hope they were grown in selenium rich soils.
On D3, I think Jarrow Formula brand and Natural Factors are good brands. They don’t have magnesium sterate in them, which so many supplements do. Magnesium sterate is soap scum and some people say it’s bad for you. I could see it accumulating in your bloodstream (to help to form clots) the same way it does in your bathtub, especially if you don’t get enough K2, or too much calcium.
The Natural Factor’s brand has soy lecithin in it, and soy is bad to eat unless it is fermented, but I don’t know what the lecithin part means,… and is if it Is bad, is it enough to be bad for a person? I’m going with, no.
Oh! I almost forgot. The second best way to get D3 besides the Sun is via fish oil. Wimpy squeamish people can’t handle the thought of drinking it, but a pretty girl I know doesn’t wince while downing a shot or two. Her brand is, Nordic Naturals. It should be mine too, or soon will be.
Anyway, Just some shit I read. I read a lot about it.
I’m not a doctor, and I’m not playing one on TV, er I mean, on the internet. Ha. Old school joke.
Dear meth,
Thanks for the added info. Will check it out!
Dear Pan,
I do eat a fair amount of seaweed and kelp. Whether it’s enough, I have no idea.
But some libertarian alternative media have been underscoring the dangers presented by the Fukushima spill. I figured it might be a good idea to double down.
I thought Fukushima might be the reason behind taking iodine. But I didn’t want to assume.
I have read some unsupported comments which say that if you are over 40 yrs old, taking iodine to protect against radiation is unnecessary. I’d be interested to know if that is fact.
In the background is the guy who lived to a ripe old age after being at Ground Zero in Japan – twice – during WWII. So, YMMV?
There was an article about him on LRC or Marketing In Japan, I forget which, and can’t find it easily at the moment. It’s quite amazing to me.
And then in the last decade why is every other ad about some product or service for some kind of illness?
The 1980s weren’t like this. WTF happened?
It’s like there is this giant market of sick people now. There’s more advertising for drugs and treatments that for consumer electronics. Back in 80s we had ’50 watts per channel baby’ not ads about bodily misfunctions and illness. WTF happened?
HFCS is payback to Big Ag and a vote grab in Iowa. I’d make a sizable bet that if WV had the first primary of the presidential season we’d see all kinds of coal mining activity and new uses for it.
Heck, the gubmint would mandate it into toothpaste if it made them money and got someone elected.
The obvious answer some how manages to easily escape the grasp of the clover. It’s much like the cancer epidemic in our modern era. Back in the 1930s German physiologist Dr. Otto Warburg demonstrated that sugar was a potent fuel for the rapid proliferation of cancer cells. Yet, despite the fact that Dr. Warburg won a Nobel prize in physiology corporate manufacutres, with the blessings of the US government has drastically increased the amount of sugar in the every day food suppy. (Remember, even “healthy” whole grains are eventually broken down into sugar and it remains the base for the US government’s food pyramid). Today, high fructose corn syrup is added into all types of food, despite the fact that Dr. Heaney demonstrated that fructose promoted a drastic growth in malignent cells. Of course, the clover has the mentality that if these foods are so unsafe the government should have already banned them.
OK, so isn’t the real solution to repeal the nanny state regulations that prevent parents from… you know, PARENTING the way they want to, including making the decision on how to transport their kids from place to place?
Don’t get me wrong, I get that obesity is an issue, but is it THE issue? I don’t think so.
Then again, I say that as someone who is obese and needs to lose weight, so take it with a grain of salt.
my son is almost 2-1/2 and the portly kids seem to be everywhere but they share many things in common. Both parents work, the kids go to daycare, the parents are overweight, they drink lots of “juice” and they watch lots of television.
WIth all teh safety nazi’s i am surprised they aren’t charged for child abuse. I bet it isn’t that far away but it will likely try and target all kids per a stupid BMI-type measurement adn would do additional harm to kids that simply are big & healthy and not fat & unhealthy.
my lil guy has never been “little”, he came out a hair below 9 lbs but was 23 days early and has been in the 95th percentile for height, weight and head circumference (and my wife didn’t have gestational diabetes) at every checkup. You look at him and pick him up and you immediately think football or rugby player. we were surprised because i was the same way and am now 6’2″ and 225 (but 12% bf).
one of the funny recent events was while we were at a friends house for New Years. He was thirsty and asked for “juice” so the hosts got a juice box and my wife let him have it. he took a sip and spit it out while making a “yech” face. Juice to him is what we make at home from local produce, not the crap sugar water he spewed up. I faked some embarassment while cleaning up. The stuff people are willing to feed their kids is atrocious. We lean towards aleo/primal meals and my son loves them.
The average American is a fat lazy stupid slob so there shouldnt’ be any surprise that their children are inheriting this lifestyle.
Sidenote on the price of car seats; they are f’n ridiculous but I have found out that a large part of that is that once a car is in an accident you are not supposed to continue using that seat so the manufacturing (like britax) offer “free” exchange. In reality you aren’t buying a seat, you are paying for your seat adn all the seats that will be replaced because of car accidents requiring them to be “retired”. That rolled in with the fact that there are many who pump out babies like it is their job can’t afford a $200 car seat are likely being subsidized so their future SNAP recipients stay safe. I have no doubt that this policy is a federal requirement.
These car seats are mandated by government which also serves to increase their prices if the rest of the regulatory climate can keep competition minimized.
The kids need the Bonsai Kitten treatment. A Victor Hugo Encyclopedia gave an overview of how it can be done: “A child was placed in a jar without a bottom so that the feet as well as the head were free. During the day, the jar was upright; at night, for sleeping, the jar was put on its side. As the child grew, the body, encased in the jar, took on more and more of the jar’s shape. Finally, the jar was broken and the product was finished — a human shaped like a jar. “
Of course the “solution” is bigger car seats. That’s how americans especially approach problems. Do they deal with clovers pulling into traffic without looking or waiting? No, they say everyone should go slower to compensate for it. In just about every problem a significant portion if not a solid majority demand problems be dealt with by treating symptoms. Do they want to reform their lifestyle or buy an FDA approved pill? They want the pill. Root cause analysis and dealing with the cause isn’t something most people in this country do.
I don’t understand why people don’t want to do root cause analysis. Even in my profession I get flack when I try to find the root of the problem and then correct what caused it. This is apparently socially unacceptable. It’s a reaction I get in discussion of topics online and off. How dare I look for the cause and aim to correct that. We can’t question the way things are done. Arg.
@BrentP – Shut up, sit down, that is how we have always done it. That was the answer I always got to those probing questions.
Yes, Brent — and eventually bigger car seats will become the norm. Because in our victim culture, where feelings matter most of all, the PTB will want to avoid making the obese kids feel bad about themselves. Also, it will become the “right” of fat kids to have “affordable” car seats, just like everybody else. So jumbo car seats for all! If your kid is too small to fit, the manufacturer will provide “adapters” to fill in the gaping spaces around his body. And the price will double for everyone. The American way!
But Eric, the USDA and Moochelle wants you to join the Peoples Garden for healthier peoples comrade. Oops, last updated march 2012.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=GARDEN_RT2&parentnav=PEOPLES_GARDEN&navtype=RT
YMCA? Get off of corporate food? Oh the horror!
Yes, the 3 meals a day thing is complete bunk. Skipping breakfast is fine, especially when it would have been cheerios and a donut with a glass of orange juice. That makes you sick, fat, and ravenously hungry by noon.
I scoff at the 3-a-day bunk…worse yet, the “eat lots of small amounts throughout the day to maintain healthy, even blood sugar levels!”
WTF are they talking about–do they think our hunter-gatherer ancestors could take a pause six times a day for a sip from their Big-Gulp?
Since going low-carb, and especially lately using plenty of coconut oil in addition to eggs, bacon, avocados etc. I have none of that “I’m starving” feeling.
I’ve had Saturdayswith bacon and eggs for breakfast, then started working on my wife’s car and looked up at 7pm…realizing I’d forgotten to eat lunch. Same thing at work. No panicked hungry feeling; just “Hm, some food would be nice…”
zach, methylamine, et al,
From my anecdotal experience, I find breakfast to be an important meal, though I don’t necessarily eat right after I get out of bed. The best model for me is to get rolling a bit in a morning routine, then make a hearty breakfast of bacon and/or sausage (organic of course) and an egg or two. Some mornings I’ll make us some almond flour biscuits for a treat, sometimes with blueberries. Then I’m good to go until evening and sometimes I don’t even eat at all for the rest of the day. For me, the difference with eliminating wheat specifically and most carbs generally is amazing. My friends scoff but the results speak volumes. BTW, I have tried coconut oil and I simply don’t like it. I use butter or olive oil and that’s consistent with my heritage….my ancestors on the Italian side were not typically obese. Oh yeah, and avocados are common in my diet. Avocado and smoked Alaska wild salmon…great combination. Zach, the cheerios, donut and orange juice from concentrate amounts to a large dose of toxins….that’s not what I consider breakfast. YMMV
While I have only anecdotal evidence I am convinced that the key problem is the Frankenfoods, especially high fructose corn syrup. And HFCS is ubiquitous.
Another point to consider as well is the idea of three meals a day. That might have been good when manual labor was more of a norm but I do not think it may be necessary for those who have more sedentary occupations/lifestyles.
@skunkbear – Even the mighty corporations like Welch’s Foods will bend to awake consumers demands. I just picked up a jar of their “Natural” concord grape jelly that now proudly features “no high fructose corn syrup” on the FRONT label.
Dear Gary,
I noticed that with Hunts catsup. Prominent label shouting “No HFCS.”
By contrast, Heinz still uses HFCS.
I don’t need to tell you which brand I bought.
As in all things, the power really is in our hands. The PTB who meet at Bilderberg have no power whatsoever IF we become aware. The only reason they have acquired such vast power is that we were comatose.
The Tiny Dot
Three meals a day is fine, it’s the size of the meals that’s the issue.
And what’s in those meals!
I’ve become convinced – based on personal experience and years of trying all sorts of things – that going “primal” (and avoiding wheat and processed/refined carbs) is a realistic way to maintain weight (and strength) without getting flabby or starving oneself.
I eat pretty much all the meat, veggies I want – and haven’t given up candy (chocolate) but have been able to keep my weight around 195, which is about what I ought to be.
When I was eating wheat (bread, pasta) I beefed up to 215 and it was really tough to drop any weight, no matter how much I worked out.
I recommend the book, Wheatbelly. It’s a very good read; full of useful info and backed up with real evidence, too.
Eric–on the topic of wheat…
I wonder if it’s intentionally designed. After all, the Romans–pioneers of so many techniques of conquest, occupation, and enslavement–first enunciated and perfected panem et circenses.
Was the panem part by design? Did they notice the soporific effect of the heavy carbohydrates…and maybe something else a little extra unique to wheat?
The gluten and especially the gliaden proteins have an interesting side effect. They’re both highly resistant to digestion–so significant amounts pass to the small intestine, and get absorbed unchanged.
Both can act as endorphins–natural opiates. I haven’t read Wheat Belly but I think he says something similar about this opiate effect, correct?
The plot thickens. Wheat was the subject of intense bio-engineering even before straight genetic engineering was possible. In the 60’s, they’d grow concentric rings of wheat in a field with a cobalt-60 radiation source in the center. Gross mutations would occur; the inmost rings would die, but somewhere midway they’d get “useful” mutations.
Were they screening for more than higher yield or disease resistance? Were they screening for more soporific, addictive effect?
It’s hard to pin to one thing in particular. Our cognition and fighting spirit are under assault from so many angles–pharmaceuticals, gmo’s, vaccines, fluoride–it’s hard to say one thing’s predominant. But bio-engineered wheat looks like a big player.
Hey Methylamine,
Yes, Davis does indeed make the connection that modern dwarf wheat produces gliaden proteins that target the same area of the brain that opiates do…..and the same medical model of addiction applies with tolerance and withdrawal. Davis also mentions the Roman bread and circuses. His thesis is that wheat and other grains came to be used when humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer to an agricultural model. He also covers the areas that you mentioned WRT bio-engineering before gene splicing was possible. The development of dwarf wheat allowed a remarkable increase in yield…..but the stuff really is toxic to human beings. In the immortal words of Dennis Miller, “Hey people, two of shit is still shit”.
Wow–sounds like I need to read it then!
I’m intensely interested if they engineered these effects intentionally. It would not surprise me at all. The “elites” have talked about attacking us chemically in three ways–injection, ingestion, and injunction.
Vaccines, poison foods, and legal maneuvers to forbid healthy foods.
Look up Codex Alimentarius–the UN plan to regulate ALL food and supplements. They’re trying to make high-dose vitamins illegal and most supplements very difficult to get.
Methylamine – I think you hit the nail on the head with your observation of the multiple assaults we face on our self determination, ability to think critically and our very masculinity. Often when I’ve had to troubleshoot a complex system or even a discrete module, I would find that there wasn’t one single “smoking gun”, but a number of small failures that had accumulated over time leading up to the catastrophic failure. It would be real easy to identify a direct Sarin attack on a specific community or if the military started shooting 3 out of 4 people. Folks would immediately start retaliating. But it’s really hard to pin down statistical increases in the death rate due to poor diet recommendations, fluorine poisoning, GMO’s, vaccines, etc. The PTB are persistent, insidious and patient to say the least.
YES! That’s it, it’s multi-factorial. And as you point out, it’s those bugs that are the hardest to find. I’m in part of my project right now that I’m starting to find those second- and third-order bugs, things that require a confluence of seemingly disconnected events to expose.
Many of these poisons are synergistic. The fluoride increases blood/brain barrier permeability–“letting in” the other poisons. It also damages the pineal gland…altering hormone expression, leading to lower immune and sexual function. Ditto fluoride’s effects on the thyroid gland…again, leading to difficult-to-diagnose second-order effects.
God knows how the other poisons play into all this.
It’s like watching an assault on a walled city–traitors on the inside opening the gates at night, assassins sneaking in to kill strategic targets to weaken the defenses…
Dear meth,
I have my suspicions about that too.
Many decades ago, Big Agriculture got the USG to pressure the Taiwan Region of China to import wheat and flour.
The local authorities told them, “But there the demand is limited. Chinese do eat wheat products such as noodles and dumplings. But they aren’t in the habit of eating their Daily Bread.”
What did Big Agriculture and the USG do? They provided “free” instruction to local bakers in how to bake bread and pastries.
The rest you can guess. I used to be skeptical of conspiracies. I assumed that it was merely a form of convergence. Same interests lead to same behaviors. But the fact is, they do in fact meet and plan. And plan is merely another word for conspire.
For the Romans, the big deal about supplying grain as a dole was that it was about the only food that could be sent long distances (well, there was olive oil, but they hadn’t yet discovered things like pemmican) and so could be got without paying for more than client kings and a few occupying forces, from tributary peoples (notably Sicily, North Africa, and Egypt – though, later, Britain sent grain to the legions on the Rhine frontier). That freed up land nearer Rome to specialise in livestock and market gardening, the produce of which Romans on the dole could more easily afford once they didn’t have to pay for grain (at first, they did have to grind it and then pay local bakers to bake it, but eventually the dole system just gave out bread after paying for processing the grain too).
Then there are kids like one of mine, that has always been 90th percentile and above for kids his age in both weight and height ever since he was 5 months old. It makes it obvious that age requirements on car and booster seats is outright ridiculous. He was the size of most 5-year-olds by the time he was 3. We never needed to buy an oversize car seat for him, but he did ride in a regular booster seat to put the shoulder belt in the right spot between ages 2 and 4. By age 5, he weighed enough and was tall enough to forgo any booster seat at all. By age 7, he met the height and weight requirements to ride in an air-bagged front passenger seat, and by ge 10, he was wearing jeans sized for men and looked like a slightly husky 14-year-old (was bigger than some 17-year-olds that we knew). I am sure that if he had the diet you talked about, he would have been one of your “huskeroos” and been grossly overweight for his height; however, he’s always been fed good food and the last time he tried McDonalds (4 or 5 years ago), he couldn’t eat more than a few of their fries and take a few bites of the burger before he couldn’t eat any more. He didn’t want to eat it because, “It tastes gross.”
When he was younger, my state’s requirements for booster seats and car safety seats were only based on weight and height, not on age. That made things easier for us. That has since changed and it is now an age-based requirement that would have made no sense with my son. I’m just glad that I didn’t have to put up with that crap.
I am grateful for many things – among them, that I grew up before the Safety Seat Era.
When my parents took us someplace by car, we just jumped in the car and went. Today, I watch parents with kids and the ordeal that going anywhere by car has become. Forget just getting in and going. Each kid has to be strapped in like Hannibal Lecter first. 5-10 minutes of getting ready before anyone goes anywhere. And when you get there, you don’t just get out. Now the kids have to be unstrapped. Another 5-10 minutes’ hassle.
Seeing this safety kabuki play out even once makes my teeth hurt – but imagining having to do it multiple times every day for years is perhaps the best birth control technique ever invented.
Amen, and I wish my kids could have experienced it!
Although, I did splurge a bit on my kids’ safety seats. I bought ones that made it so they could just be clicked into place in a baby carrier before they could walk. I also bought forward facing safety seats that had a single buckle to fasten when they needed to be forward facing but before they were big enough to use only a cheap shoulder belt booster. This way, I avoided extra charges on tickets when pulled over by the local Beauford.
…and it reduced significantly the time I would spend putting them in seats. In fact, both my kids were able to buckle and unbuckle themselves by the time they were two because of the style of seats I spent the extra dough purchasing.
Hey Shoal Creek,
Would I be correct in inferring from your moniker that you have some association with Austin, TX?
Hang on, “requirements?” This garbage is now officially “required?” As in, goons in jackboots will force you at gunpoint to put your children in “safety” seats?
The hell?
@Darien:
Yes, it’s required – and was REQUIRED over 17 years ago.
It’s getting worse, too.
17 years ago, it was required to have a child safety seat.
I think 15 years or so ago, you had to have TWO safety seats: Rear-facing for children under 2, then you could go to forward-facing (and had to, since the seat couldn’t be reversed – but Junior wouldn’t fit, either.)
Then, I don’t recall when, you had laws passed based on AGE, and no child under 18 could sit in the front seat.
It’s OH SO EMPOWERING for our children to be in special safety systems on their way to middle school…
Jean – the requirement varies state-to-state. I looked into it when my son was born October 2012 for Texas. No requirement for forward or backward facing child seat, as long as the kid fits in the seat and the seat is built for the direction. When he rides with just me, he sits up front facing forward.
Dumbest thing (other than the law itself) is you’re not allowed to put a car seat in a rear-facing seat. I always thought that rear-facing seats were better in a collision, especially high-backed ones. Rather that a strap holding you in, you’ve got the entire seat back.
That said, I’d rather have my kid playing around in the back of the truck. My brother and I spent a lot of time in the back of an open truck bed, sometimes fighting over the warmth of the exhaust coming up in the gap between the truck cab and bed.
To that end, GM devoted a full 43 pages in the 2007 Silverado owner’s manual solely to the procedure of installing child seats in the truck.
Eric, like you I’m also of the “just get in the car and go” generation as a child. When I was the age that would now require strapping in as if I were about to either drive 500 miles in a circle or be launched into orbit, my child seat consisted of the rear bench seat in a ’65 Dart. Through some miracle of happenstance both you and I managed to survive long enough to write these words.
The safety nazis only want to take things so far as to inconvenience other people. If they had to spend 15 minutes strapping and unstrapping 3-5 super-sized junior space monkeys into and out of launch position any time they wanted to go anywhere, maybe we wouldn’t be saddled with such onerous regulations.
“When my parents took us someplace by car, we just jumped in the car and went.”
Or, in my case, rode the back of Grandpa’s 49 Chevy flatbed, with the milk cans. No convertible can beat that rush of wind through the hair, etc.
i remember back in 1965 coming back from Brown County in my dad’s 63 Study Lark wagon, with a 256 V8, we had 13 people in the car. 4 adults, 9 kids. Kinda squished for us kids, but…………………………
Had similar experiences! A parent would pick us up in a big wagon and we’d all pile in, as many as could fit – however we could fit. I distinctly remember what fun it was to go for a ride. The kids today look miserable.
Imagine the psychological footprint it leaves to spend your formative years constantly caged – and hectored about “safety”….these kids are the Next Generation of Clover.
It’s going to be just awful.
There are some just plain tall kids but government usually doesn’t account for that much. The bean pole kid that’s a good 6 inches taller than his class mates is going to probably weigh almost as much as the fat kid.
And indeed, MickyD’s does taste gross. I had a burger sometime in the early 1990s and then just didn’t eat there again until 2002 with some coworkers. It was even worse. I haven’t eaten there since. I’d rather pay for a burger that tasted good than eat that inflation created crap. When I was a kid MickyD’s did taste decent, but that was another era. My father tells stories of how when he worked at McDonald’s when he was in HS the potatoes and everything else arrived fresh. Just another thing the federal reserve and other government interference has caused. People didn’t get fat on McDonald’s in the 1950s and 60s because it wasn’t crap back then.
On the other hand, there are people like me, who, at 32, buy men’s pants and hem them because it’s too embarrassing to be 32 and shop in the boys section. 😉