Posted Without Comment
Well, actually, I do have a comment: I'm hoping Adam Freedman tells me I'm mistaken. You see, I'm pretty sure this item means that Western civilization is now completely defunct.
From this morning's Palo Alto Daily Post:
McD's sued over Happy Meals
A California mother of two and the Center for Science in the Public Interest are suing McDonald's Corp. to get the restaurant to stop including toys in his Happy Meals.
Monet Parham, a state employee in Sacramento, said she decided to sue after her oldest daughter, Maya, age 6, wouldn't stop pestering her to buy a Happy Meal in order to get the Fiona doll fromt eh movie "Shrek Forever After."
Parham said the girl's repeated requests were the fault of McDonald's advertising. "This doesn't stop with one request," Parham said. "It's truly a litany of requests."
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Jun '10
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I guess I'll have to sue Purina now, for making my dog fat. Who else's fault could it be?
May '10
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Peter, do you think Western Civilization is defunct, or are its institutions defunct? Is this the same thing?
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That she's suing doesn't mean much. The West has always had lots of nuts. If she wins, we're in trouble.
Jul '10
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I'm suing Ricochet for devising a fiendishly-addictive blog format.
Aug '10
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You know you can just buy the toys separately. You don't have to buy the meal to get the toy.
Jul '10
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I'm anxiously looking forward to the demise of our culture wrought by the Lord of the Flies generation being raised by parents who refuse to take any reponsibility for their children's upbringing or behavior whatsoever.
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Monet Parham could turn off the TV.
Nov '10
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True, but she's joined by CSPI (admittedly a bit wacky in and of itself). And San Francisco has also banned Happy Meal toys (again, the wacky factor, I know).
I think Peter's right: We're at or near the end. If this is not de Toqueville's "soft despotism," what is? Parents can't even be bothered--or even expected--to say "no" to Junior, and so the Nanny State must parent for them.
More from the Prophet (de Toqueville): "That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent, if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks, on the contrary, to keep them in perpetual childhood."
Oct '10
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I'm wondering why she isn't also suing the producers of Shrek for having licensed their characters to McDonalds in the first place. Sheesh. Go big or go home.
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Yeah, but it's not just an individual nut who's doing the suing. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has joined the suit. (A center for science! In the public interest! Come to think of it, it's not just western civilization that's finished. If an organization that appears to live for absurd publicity stunts can get away with calling itself a center for science in the public interest, the English language is finished, too.)
Edited on Dec 16, 2010 at 10:40amRe: Posted Without Comment
Peter, this item does not spell the end of Western Civilization. At this point, it's just a complaint filed in court. Wait until the jury finds for plaintiffs, and then the verdict is upheld on appeal. That's when we'll know Civilization is kaput.
On the bright side, did you see the news that Rick Perry is trying to introduce a "loser pays" system in Texas? It's not a panacea, but would greatly reduce the frivolous lawsuits clogging up the system. And over time -- to get back to your point -- it might help shift the culture away from the assumption that for every grievance there is a deep-pocket malefactor waiting to be sued.
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Hm. How could your legal institutions become debased if our culture remained healthy? You're drawing a distinction here, Daniel, that does not, to my little mind--at least not offhand--compute.
But I've found every one of your posts erudite and insightful, so I now push back from my keyboard and very happily await your elucidation.
Sep '10
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What is the matter with parents today? Why can't this mother tell little Maya "NO!" (and mean it).
So is she going to sue Apple in two years because Maya is bugging her to buy an iPod? What about Nike because Maya wants the latest shoes? And on and on.
The judge should look the mother straight in the eye, and say "Tell your daughter what I'm about to tell you: NO! Don't ask again. If you do, there will be consequences."
Parents are completely abdicating their responsibility to Michelle Obama, relatives, and schools. Now add lawyers to the list.
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Adam Freedman: Peter, this item does not spell the end of Western Civilization. At this point, it's just a complaint filed in court. Wait until the jury finds for plaintiffs, and then the verdict is upheld on appeal. That's when we'll know Civilization is kaput.
On the bright side, did you see the news that Rick Perry is trying to introduce a "loser pays" system in Texas? It's not a panacea, but would greatly reduce the frivolous lawsuits clogging up the system. And over time -- to get back to your point -- it might help shift the culture away from the assumption that for every grievance there is a deep-pocket malefactor waiting to be sued. · Dec 16 at 10:35am
I thank you, Adam, truly I thank you. My blood pressure is now returning to normal. Now to start searching for real estate in Texas.
Jul '10
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Waiting for the inevitable lawsuit for sex addiction due to the panoply of E.D pill commercials - which, incidentally, ruin, RUIN! any televised sporting event I attempt to watch with my young daughters.
Hey - maybe I should sue for that!
Oct '10
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I think we are all missing the silver lining here. Far from spelling the doom of Western Civilization, if this lawsuit proves successful perhaps parents across the nation can use the precedent to start suing universities whenever their children come back for Thanksgiving to pester them about White Male Privilege, Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, Tofurkey, Illogical Belief Systems, Low Wage Traps, Redistribution of Wealth, The Richest 1%, etc.
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If only my parents had thought to sue the maker of Rock'em Sock'em Robots...
May '10
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I don't think that CSPI expects to win, I'm not even sure that they want to win. Their whole modus operandi (Michael Jacobson, remember? Buttered popcorn kills, so close down the movie theaters) is to have a big PR splash hit the headlines, then go out with a fund-raising letter to all of their flat-earth, sandal-wearing latter-day hippie supporters.
I'm sure old Michael is only grumpy because of what he eats. If I had to subsist on only things that he hasn't attacked in a headline, it would be raw rutabaga and unflavored tofu. That would turn anyone into a serious curmudgeon.
May '10
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No, no - the end of Western Civilization has already begun, with settled court cases that have yielded far more catastrophic judicial declarations than the McDonald case could ever possibly produce. In my mind, the infamous Tony Martin case is arguably the most calamitously asinine court case in the recent history of Western jurisprudence and conclusively demonstrates that the British people haven't even got the ghost of a legal right to effectively defend themselves against domestic aggression. Here's a piece of Larry Elder's documentary on gun control for a video description of the hellishly aggravating specifics of the Tony Martin case. Begin the video at 5:55.
Edited on Dec 16, 2010 at 11:45amOct '10
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The Southern Poverty Law Center and the NAACP have just joined in a declaration that children asking "Are we there yet?" is hate speech.