To the Point
Can Government Control Obesity?
Americans are eating the wrong foods, with and obesity now a pandemic. But efforts to improve nutrition have created a furor over the role of government in our lives.
By Warren Olney • • 50m ListenAmericans are eating too much of the wrong kinds of food, and obesity has become a pandemic. First Lady Michelle Obama is pushing healthier school lunches; Mayor Michael Bloomberg has banned extra large sodas in New York City. We hear how their good intentions have created a furor over the role of government in American lives. Also, money changers and the police clash in Iran, and America's flawed fight against domestic terrorism.
Banner image: School lunch staff and students enjoy the new school lunch menu created to meet the new standards at the Yorkshire Elementary School in Manassas, Virginia on September 7, 2012. USDA photo by Lance Cheung
In this episode
3 storiesMoney Changers and Police Clash in Iran
Economic sanctions against Iran are doing their job: the country's currency has lost 40 percent of its value in just a week and today riot police used tear gas to suppress angry clashes in the streets of Tehran. Thomas Erdbrink is there for the New York Times .
Read the story7 minCan Government Control Obesity?
The agriculture industry has made food so cheap and so plentiful that one third of Americans are obese and another third overweight. Twenty six million people have Type 2 Diabetes, with 79 million more on the way.
Read the story35 minSenate Report Scornful of Homeland Security 'Fusion Centers'
In the aftermath of September 11, the Department of Homeland Security established more than 70 so-called "fusion centers" to coordinate federal, state and local efforts at counterterrorism around the country.
Read the story8 min
