Thanks for this very interesting post (despite the odd, anti-feminist zinger tossed in at the end!). The linked article identifies an aggressive public health campaign as "a reasonably obvious strategy," a notion that I find it difficult to disagree with.

I think we should all raise a glass and a Virginia Slim to revamped health care in 2009.

Too many fatties and smokers. Fatties and smokers do not care about their health and as a result die earlier than those of us who do. Please, let us not spend billions on keeping people alive who clearly were not willing to keep themselves alive by saving money (not smoking, and eating a good ol' cheap apple).

This nation needs health reform, but I don't want my tax $ going to worthless obese types and smokers. I won't stop them from smoking or being pigs, but I seriously hope our country isn't stupid enough to subsidize their behavior with free healthcare.

If you are fat, it is your fault. 100%. Final answer. Stop being fat. It isn't ok. You're disgusting.

What percentage were single mothers? Oh, that’s right. A single mom can do it on her own and doesn’t need a man.
And Brock is right. Candidates can talk about health care reform all they want, but it is up to the individual. Some of you may think that is “right wing”, but it is the truth. If you are fat, smoke, do not get regular checkups, you will die prematurely. No amount of health care reform will change that.

Hey Brock, spoken like a true Repuglican.

What about free preventitive health care to help them lose weight and stop smoking? Or how about putting phys ed back in our schools?

It is true that people have should have personal responibility for their own healthcare and well-being, but come on, your attitude is nasty and uncalled for.

Carol, while we're giving out "free" health care..., could we possibly add "free" houses, "free" brand new cars and the ever-popular "free" money???

I mean, if it's really "free" then it doesn't cost ANYBODY ANYTHING! So why the hell NOT?

Unfortunately, "preventative" health care does not stop people from smoking or being lazy and fat.

Everybody knows that smoking is bad for you. We all know that weighing as much as a cow is bad for you. It is in your own hands now.

Preventative health care will test for diseases and the like. Indeed, it might even tell the lazy fat smokers that being a lazy fat smoker will kill them. But if you are a lazy fat smoker and you don't know that being a lazy fat smoker will kill you, I just don't think you are worth our money anyways.

Being a lazy smoker isn't a disease. It is a death wish. Again, I don't care what you put in your disgusting burger-ridden bodies as long as I don't have to pay for the consequences.

Phys ed in schools is a good idea. [deleted]

I'm really disappointed in Mother Jones for contributing to feminist backlash. The women's movement did not encourage smoking; it encouraged choice and opportunity. The media's recent trend of blaming feminism for women's drinking and smoking stigmatizes and trivializes women's agency, implying that women cannot handle agency and opportunity.

Please don't contribute to this dangerous ideology.

What about those people that
have hormonal imbalances, Brock. You might use a few lessons in compassion.

Wow. I need to find that perfect community where you live and where everyone is slim and handsome and well-adjusted and nobody needs any help... just like the one I saw in the beer commercial. It has to be sweet to live somewhere where obesity is purely the result of apathy and conscious decision and not, say, childhood sexual-abuse and the complete destruction of her self-worth. In fact, I bet if an abuse survivor were to hang with you, Brock, absolutely all her problems would just disappear, including her need to fight for a desire to live after having been raped by her father or relative when she was twelve. Or was that her decision, too?

The "hormonal imbalance" is so rare that it need not be even measured. Walk around your city.. All those fat lazy types you see? They are fat because they ate more calories than their body needed. Final answer, full stop.

Compassion.. Ha. Yeah. I take care of myself yet I'm supposed to feel 'compassion' for the grown adult who can't do the same.

And just like a nutty lefty to bring child sex abuse up. Haha. All these fat lazy types must have been abused. Yup! Anything but personal responsibility!

But such is the mentality of a sick mind. Apparently to "boonie", asking a fat person to stop being fat is EXACTLY THE SAME as asking a rape victim to not have been raped is exactly the same. I want what "boonie" is smoking.

Hmm. I seem to remember lots of articles in Ms. magazine warning women about the dangers of smoking. Ms. is a feminist magazine, right?

Hey, Brock. You've obviously never heard of thyroid problems or other metabolic conditiona that can cause obesity-whether the 'fatty' actually overeats or not.

I'll bet good money you own a t-shirt that says 'No Fat Chicks'.

Can I go out on a limb here and say that regardless of the reason why someone is fat, we should have compassion and help that person achieve healthfulness? I would venture to agree with Brock only in that not all obesity is related to abuse or hormone imbalances... most of it is related to overeating. But that is still too simple of an answer, and shows a lack of understanding about what the fundamental issues are: nutritious food can't compete with food that are cheaper on a calories-per-dollar basis. Remember, calories are energy. We all need 'em.

I would urge Mother Jones to discontinue its full page ads for American Spirit cigarettes. I understand that magazines - even the best magazine in this country - needs advertising revenue, but would you accept a full page ad from Dick Cheney advising readers that it is ok - even "cool" - to die in a totally unjustified war so that Haliburton can reap more profits?

Brock,you are as uninformed as you are full of hate. Most fat people eat less than you. There are many reasons for being fat. 80% of obesity is genetic. Also, most antidepressants and many other medications cause obesity. Quitting smoking causes it. So does being poor and oppressed. The biggest culprit is the food industry that puts high fructose corn syrup in the food of the poor. Who's disgusting? Take off your pointy white hat!!!!

"To over-eat or not to over-eat."
A moral choice you must make for yourself.

"To smoke or not to smoke."
A moral choice you must make for yourself.

"To have compassion on, and offer assistance to those who make bad personal choices for themselves."
A moral choice you must make for yourself.

"To promote the use of government power, to force those who are otherwise unwilling, to provide monetary support to those who make bad personal choices for themselves."
A moral choice you must make for yourself.

"No action which is not voluntary can be called moral. Any action that is dictated by fear or by coercion of any kind ceases to be moral....Freedom of the individual is at the root of all progress."
-M.K.Gandhi-

"Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism."
-Thomas Jefferson-

So, about 60% of Americans (the percent that are disgustingly overweight) have/were

1) hormonal problems
2) thyroid problems
3) raped as little girls (men need not apply for this one).

Good to know. So, when I was in Japan, Korea, Singapore and well, home in Miami the people were all thin because hormonal and thyroid issues are millions of times more prevalent in middle America and 2) child rape doesn't take place.

Go to McDonalds or Burger King. The blob who was too lazy eat a salad and take a walk doesn't deserve your compassion. She/he also doesn't deserve my tax dollars when their battered (and buttered) body gives out. If we subsidize them we will get more of them.

These people need a culture that is intolerant of their destructive habits. It is not socially acceptable (in polite, middle class society) to smoke any longer and it should not be socially acceptable to weigh as much as my Honda.

Grow up, you "tolerance and compassion" types. Those are meaningless platitudes and not a basis for health policy.

Yes, anne r allen, I'm a member of KKK for wanting fat people to take responsibility for themselves.

The left is intellectually bankrupt. No greater evidence of this could ever be offered than the nonsense on this thread.

It is an assault by "food companies" on the poor or oppressed, a result of anti-depressants, the result of child rape. haha. And if you disagree you are a KKK member.

Such a joke.

what? you're blaming feminism for women smoking? i'm not quite sure about the logic there...

(i'm not sure feminism was about 'giving women opportunities to live more like men' full stop, actually. wasn't it about liberation from the ol' patriarchy?)

What Brock and Joe Mama ARE... is trolls. What trolls say is unimportant; intelligent people do not listen to their words.

Thanks for the sane comment, Guinnevere. But I'm confused as to why the Mother Jones site has so many trolls? From the looks of it, it may be because it's so easy to push people's buttons here.

Naturally, anybody who holds and states a viewpoint I don't agree with is a troll!

That's a 'given', even if they offer evidence to show that they are not out of line with the views expressed by the likes of Gandhi, Jefferson or other revered thinkers.
WHO CARES!

SEE it MY WAY, or HIT the HIGHWAY!

That's where you seem to be coming from dear Guinnevere.

A quick, two line 'hit piece' on those you disagree with, paste a negative label on them, and don't bother to tackle any points they've attempted to make.
You don't need to.

It sounds just a tad bit biggoted to me.

No, Guinnevere, what we have is me being matter of fact about an incredibly simple issue and a bunch of defensive, never take responsibility for their own girth types getting offended that I am pointing out why they will die early and don't have to.

If you are fat, spend 100$ and go to a nutritionist and ask her/him "how can I not be fat". Then, follow her/his advice. Bravo! You're no longer fat.

If you smoke, then stop! It is that simple. Just stop. Don't smoke anymore. It is 3 days of mild discomfort and then about 3 months of cravings after meals. Then you are done. Don't listen to the hype. Quitting is easy.

It is that simple. And politics has nothing to do with it.

There was an interesting podcast a while ago (we're talking practically the dawn of podcasting) that Bicyclemark posted on his site (citizenreporter.org) about the history of advertising starting from the beginning of the 20th century. It mentions specifically how women were targeted for smoking and how (using Freud's ideas of association) advertisers coupled the idea of women smoking and the early feminist movement.

The Feminist movement is not what's being criticized here. It's the use of psychological principles to trick people into buying things. Edward Bernaise (Freud's nephew) exploited his uncle's ideas to change people's spending habits from one based on need to one based on desires. So, when you have the image of a someone driving a car with a carefree attitude on Hwy 101, advertisers are associating freedom with their car. We wouldn't say freedom is getting a bad rap--just that people's desires for that feeling of liberation is being exploited for marketing ends.

You can find more about it at this article: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14763.htm,
but it's more vitriolic and less convincing/balanced than that podcast/interview by Bicyclemark.

Query???

Does Mother Jones check on the accuracy of the claims made by the website's "Sponsorred Links?" Or do they allow con artists and other frauds access to their viewers and subscribers?

Could it be that the smell of dollars covers the smell of fraud?

I, for one, can attest to the fraud perpetrated by www.best-teeth-whitening.com.

Think of them as the newest player in the Mainstream Media Game.

Brand new Washington D.C. bureau (just like the other MSM players).

Lots of advertising dollars rolling in, and lots of advertisers they have to keep happy, in order to keep those dollars flowing (just like the other MSM players).

Lots of political bigwigs to rub elbows with, and exchange favors with, in order to assure continued 'access' (just like the other MSM players).

The company you keep says a lot about you, and DC Elite and MSM is the company Mother Jones has taken to keeping.

Do you have any evidence for that msm?

Five years is hardly a "plummet," although Americans do have shorter life-spans than other first-world countries.

It doesn't surprise me that the generations who have grown up with McDonalds and Pizza-Hut would be experiencing health issues; however, don't let that con you into trashing universal health care:

Much more dangerous to one and all are the pesticides and industrial chemicals (and can you say pharmaceuticals in the water and food-supply?) dumped into the environment since 1950.

We'll be getting the fallout from that, soon.

msm: Here's an American Journalism Review article from last year about their joining the other MSM players in DC:
www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4445

Excerpt: "More than just getting into it, Jeffery says, Mother Jones wants to be able to steer the conversation and draw the mainstream media's attention to stories that might otherwise slip through the cracks. "We don't want to just follow," she says."

Right..., they want to be a Power Player in the MSM game!

Here they are begging 'charitable' donations, asking you and yours to fund their new Washington DC playground for them:
https://secure.ga3.org/03/dc_bureau

As to the question of advertising dollars..., have you picked up the magazine lately?
And Tobacco Advertising..?
It speaks for itself.

Questionable 'Sponsored Links' on the web site?
Did you notice "esrdblu"'s comment above on the matter?

But, hey... I'm probably not REALLY observing these things.
I'm probably just imagining them.

Perhaps if I had the good sense to keep my eyes shut and my ears plugged, then I could 'imagine' Mother Jones was the way I once pictured them, and all would be right with the world again.

Well, I guess they should just shut up shop then.

Do you have any evidence that the use of advertising has altered their editorial legitimacy?

Also, I see nothing wrong with MJ trying to influence the msm. Nothing at all.

"Editorial Legitimacy"?
I'm not even sure what that phrase means, but if it means criticizing tobacco companies out one side of their mouths (as in the above article), while helping them market their poison to a gullible magazine readership, then I'd say they've still got it.

Or if it means criticizing Big Pharma out one side of their mouth, while marketing name brand Sex Enhancement drugs to a gullible online following, as they are doing at the bottom of this page, then "Editorial Legitimacy" they must still possess.
[NOTE: Their "Editorial Legitimacy" apparently includes blocking ME from naming said drugs in my comments..., no doubt to protect the interests of their advertisers, at the expense of free and open discussion among the bloggers here.]

Go ahead and excuse their begging charity from the working class, in order to put themselves in place to be invited to Inaugural Balls and other elite festivities if you like.
For myself.., I can't do it.

As to MSM and MOJO's influence: It appears to me that all the influence has been flowing the other way.

Now... There's the way I see it.
Any last word on the subject belongs to you.

Editorial legitimacy refers to the extent to which advertisers are able to swing the editorial slant in their direction.

I see no evidence that their allowing a cig firm to advertise has in any way/shape/form altered the content of the mag. Do you know what "evidence" means?

But yes, the left should just sit in the corner and scream at the center. That will get results.

read the Five finger agenda at internetfreepres.com if you want to make real change.

visit my web site at internetfreepress.com to find real solutions for america's problems

visit my web site at internetfreepress.com to find real solutions for america's problems

Question: If a banker pays two dollars per hundred for money(2%)and lends it for eight dollars per hundred (8%), what is his gross profit. If you said six percent,you are in good company--but wrong. It is 400%. He bought the money for two dollars and sold it for eight dollars. Try dividing 8 by 2 times 100 for gross profit.

Question: If a banker pays two dollars per hundred for money(2%)and lends it for eight dollars per hundred (8%), what is his gross profit. If you said six percent,you are in good company--but wrong. It is 400%. He bought the money for two dollars and sold it for eight dollars. Try dividing 8 by 2 times 100.see internetfreepress.com for moregross profit.

Being a fat American is a major problem. The fat rates in America have gone up since the 80's when people gave up trying to be healthy vegetarians. Vegetarians live much longer than eating dead conscious beings. Be healthy, be green, and eat your greens.
Being a meat eater and fat oftentimes is due to a character defect. One's pursuit of endless pleasure without considering the affect one has on the environment and other people. Since it is mothers day, let us all remember to have only one child. The planet is overpopulated with meat eaters as it is. We in China have the one child policy and we are doing our part.