Eating Meat

Instapundit is always going to highlight those studies which show that traditional nutrition guidelines have been badly flawed [the food pyramid may end up taking a few years off my life, wildly underestimating the damage from starches (can I sue someone?  It's the American Way)] , but as a counter to that possible bias, the article about red meat not being a serious risk is from the New York Times, which presumably has a different bias.

There is an interesting assumption buried in the story

...health officials still must give advice and offer guidelines, said Dr. Meir Stampfer, also of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Who sez? Where does that rule come from, that people from the government have to offer advice? It is assumptions like this, unquestioned, that are a serious part of the divide in this country.  There are people who believe that of course the federal government should hire lots of people to sort through this information and issue proclamations about what is good for the people.  They see it as one of the functions of government. Other Americans believe that individuals and various advocacy groups should make the best pitch they can and let people make their own choices; and if they choose badly, it is on their own head.  The weight of government offering an opinion, even if they don't make it  mandatory, implies some level of guarantee. Not perfect,perhaps, but acceptable.  Except it's not even acceptable.