“Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere.”

The year is 1984, the scene London, largest population center of Airstrip One. It could be Chicago or New York City 2006, where the “thought police” decide your every move and your diet.

Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime and now, coming to a city near you, dietcontrol! In the book 1984, George Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words concerning totalitarian control and it’s seems to be picking up steam in city councils and mayoral offices.

In April the Chicago City Council, aka, “Chicago Menu Police” banned the sale of was “Foie Gras”, a goose liver delicacy served up at famous venues such as Charlie Trotter’s, regarded as one of the finest restaurants in the world.

The “Chicago Menu Police” were considering trans fats as their next target, but Big Brother of Oceania aka New York City, beat the windbags of the Windy City to the punch.  This week, at Mayor Bloomberg’s urging, the New York Board of Health voted to ban trans fats from use in its restaurants. No word from the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who deems trans fats at chemically safe.

What next? Sugar, Caffeine? This is becoming government regulation at it’s worst. The American Heart Association opposes the New York ban on the grounds it may actually cause restaurants to revert to oil high in unhealthy saturated fats.

“The American Heart Association is concerned that the ban of trans fat in restaurants in its current form may not be the best course of proposed action.”

“We are concerned that there is the potential for unintended and adverse consequences, such as restaurants returning to the use of oils high in saturated or animal-based far if healthier oils are in short supply,” said AHA representative Megan Lozito.

“These unhealthy substitutes also pose important health risks.”     A broad range of medical groups, including the American College of Cardiology, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American Medical Association, the American Society of Hypertension, the Medical Society of New York and the New York Academy of Medicine, have come out in support of Mayor Bloomberg’s ban.Encouraging government regulation is wrong, these organizations can perform a public service by combining their efforts to inform the public of the dangers of consuming trans fats and let individuals decide what is best on a one to one basis.

The trial lawyers are licking their chops and it’s not McDonald’s french fries they smell. This will be a legal recipe for disaster, unless you’re an ambulance chasing lawyer. Cha Ching!

“‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’”

Oceania fed the people lies; the modern day Oceania wants to tell you what to eat through government control. Some will believe government is “looking out for our good,” but ask yourself if you can manage this on your own.