Tuesday, May 13, 2003

IF THEY OUTLAW OREOS, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE OREOS Corporate Stooge?   Oreo cookies should be banned from sale to children in California, according to a lawsuit filed against Nabisco last week by San Francisco attorney Stephen Joseph a “public interest lawyer” who claims that trans fat -- the stuff that makes the chocolate cookies crisp and their filling creamy -- is so dangerous children shouldn't eat it.   Whenever I see those words “public interest lawyer” it makes me want to cringe. This guy is in it for the money and the publicity, make no mistake about it. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:   Joseph also believes his father's death from heart disease was caused in part by a lifelong diet of margarine and other foods made from trans fat.   Maybe it was caused in part by realizing that his son had become a lawyer.   State Sen. Debra Bowen, a leader in state nutrition-reform legislation, called Joseph's choice of the California product liability law to go after food makers who use trans fat a unique approach.   "Anything that brings people's attention to how dangerous and unhealthy trans fat can be is probably a good idea, because most people who go to the grocery store and see a bag of cookies or chips pitched as 'low fat' probably assume fat is fat," she said. "As the FDA confirmed last year, that's definitely not the case when it comes to trans fat."   Every time I hear one of these politicians start off by saying “anything that brings people’s attention to [fill in the blank]” I just know that the politically correct Thought Police are out and ready to rumble. Why is it that you can always count on California to come up with these bozos? Most people who go to the store to eat healthy will buy some fruit, not a bag of cookies.   Joseph, a former Washington, D.C., lobbyist who has been practicing law since 1980, has worked on several other business issues, including tax credits, aviation and energy and successfully sued ITT. He most recently formed S.F. Graffiti Busters and sued the Department of Parking and Traffic to try to get the agency to remove graffiti from its parking and traffic signs.   Is this guy used to running this sort of bullshiat as a cottage industry or what? The fact that he was a lobbyist in Washington D.C. should tell you all you need to know.   In addition to the Oreo suit, he has formed a nonprofit corporation called BanTransFats.com, Inc. and has printed T-shirts that read, "Don't Partially Hydrogenate Me."   I’ll bet he’s filed a trademark application. I wonder who the executive director of this “nonprofit” corporation is and how much he makes.   Even usually level headed people are falling for this! You just can’t make this stuff up. It just goes on and on and on. So Mr. Joseph, I plan on continuing to enjoy my Oreo cookies. And here’s a little something for you to dip your tofu in:     File under The Legal Profession. 9:51:53 PM    Go ahead, make my day  []