New Hampshire nibbling at nanny statism
posted at 12:15 pm on March 23, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Last year, Reason TV gave its Nanny of the Month award to New York state legislator Jeffrey Klein for his crusade against … fish pedicures. Despite getting no complaints and no evidence that the common Asian practice of having fish nibble off dead skin has any ill effects on humans, Klein petitioned to outlaw the business. Now, the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire has followed Klein’s lead, and Ted Balaker does more reporting on the latest shocking danger to American health — the nanny state:
Pay close attention to this part:
Unfortunately for Ong and her customers, New Hampshire’s Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics banned the practice.
That’s right, the state that lets adults motorcycle without a helmet or drive without a seat belt won’t tolerate tiny fish nibbling at the dead skin on your feet.
Who runs this board? It’s run by the licensed providers of New Hampshire — in other words, Ong’s competitors. Gee, why would they want to outlaw a practice for which Ong has the only outlet?
Why is that significant? When we debated the public option in ObamaCare, I repeatedly warned about the effects of having a competitor regulate a market. It would be akin, I said, to having Wal-Mart take over regulation from the Federal Trade Commission; no matter how circumspect the regulator would be, it would act to put its competition at a disadvantage.
Even beyond that, though, don’t these people have more important issues to handle than fish pedicures? Absent real evidence of health risks, the state shouldn’t interfere with commerce. The only risk I see here is that it could make you dress in black and make great videos supporting fiscal liberty and free-market economics, if Nick Gillespie is any indication.
Blowback
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I guess they’ll have to go back to the chisel and file then….
jbh45 on March 23, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Savage was always spot on
Liberalism is truly a mental disorder
blatantblue on March 23, 2010 at 12:17 PM
That picture of the foot just ruin my lunch.
brewcrew67 on March 23, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Via Drudge: “OPEN MIC: Biden to Obama: ‘This is a big f**king deal’…”
No Shit!
Mr. Joe on March 23, 2010 at 12:18 PM
If this practice is banned in NH, I hope our good liberal\statists friends will report any businesses performing this practice to proper authorities.
WashJeff on March 23, 2010 at 12:19 PM
This will come back to haunt soooooo many!!!
capejasmine on March 23, 2010 at 12:19 PM
The govt. doesn’t like competition when it comes to eating the flesh of it citizens.
thomasaur on March 23, 2010 at 12:19 PM
Well, on a personal note, they have to use a “cheese grater” on my feet, so I don’t think a tiny fish would have a chance.
ladyingray on March 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM
ewwwwww.
bloggless on March 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM
This country used to be a country of freedom.
Then the neo-marxists left college and went into politics and education in the 60′s, and have been surreptitiously rebuilding America in their warped statist image ever since.
Neo on March 23, 2010 at 12:21 PM
Guys… It’s not health issues causing it to be banned. It’s PETA.
Skywise on March 23, 2010 at 12:21 PM
OT joke. I hope I don’t get hit with the hammer for this, but here goes.
What’s the difference between Keith Olberman and an arsehole?
Glasses.
bloggless on March 23, 2010 at 12:21 PM
That is not a bad looking foot. Now envision Michael Moore’s.
CWforFreedom on March 23, 2010 at 12:21 PM
Zing!
lorien1973 on March 23, 2010 at 12:22 PM
That picture on Drudge is the kind of UGLY of which nightmares are made.
tessa on March 23, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Grossest post of the day : )
CWforFreedom on March 23, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Democrats: The Party of FREEDOM
They are working to give us so much freedom that we won’t be able to do anything.
originalpechanga on March 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Let’s throw PETA into the ocean, and let the sharks nibble off their dead skin. Muwhahahahahahaha!!! Just kidding 0 :)
capejasmine on March 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Thank you…thank you veddy much… :)
ladyingray on March 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Just a taste of what’s to come. It won’t be long before the liberals in Washington will decide every aspect of our lives for us…
stacman on March 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
PETA
People Eating Tasty Animals
mmmm….bacon
ladyingray on March 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
It’s when she explains that she sprinkles the scrapings on her husband spaghetti as if it’s parmesan cheese. Then it’s the grossest post of the day.
lorien1973 on March 23, 2010 at 12:27 PM
yeah, it’s probably safer to have some dremmel tool grind away and cut on your feet that’s been used on someone elses hammertoes than it is to have the little smelt nibble at a few skin flakes.
*eyeroll*
ted c on March 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM
I’m husband free…but I would like to know how you caught on to your wife doing that…
ladyingray on March 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Can’t wait to see how NH resident Mark Steyn covers this.
Del Dolemonte on March 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Betcha this won’t stop Barat, and his ol’ lady from using these skin eating fish, as something to do before they dine on their waigu steaks.
capejasmine on March 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Seakittens nibbling on my feet…. in the face of liberals taking my capitalist ventures away! Maybe the liberals know that the seakittens won’t touch their diseased toes!
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Wonder how New Hampshire resident Mark Steyn will cover this story?
Del Dolemonte on March 23, 2010 at 12:29 PM
But I bet they have no objection to rolling the fish up into a joint and smoking it!
ctmom on March 23, 2010 at 12:29 PM
When I lived in Maryland, the optometrists had their own little scam. If I broke my glasses and wanted a new pair, I couldn’t just waltz into LensCrafters or Pearl Vision and have them make me a new pair. Nope. If I hadn’t had a vision exam within the past year, they could not make new glasses for me until I had a new exam which they were only too happy to do for me. State law.
I’m in the video production business. How can I get a state law that requires businesses to produce a video each time they decide to sell a new product or service?
SleeplessinChicago on March 23, 2010 at 12:29 PM
I predict back alley nibbling to skyrocket…
golfmann on March 23, 2010 at 12:30 PM
I say sausage! Moose Bacon isn’t as good as it sounds.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:30 PM
I tried this out in Korea last fall. It’s odd but seems very popular…. and safe.
lexhamfox on March 23, 2010 at 12:31 PM
But how did it FEEL? That is what I wanna know.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:32 PM
I may disagree with you getting nibbled by fish but I damn well will fight to the death to protect your right to do so!
Holger on March 23, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Like Mark Levin said last night, it’s not a nanny state, it’s a bully state.
Daggett on March 23, 2010 at 12:33 PM
Moose sausage is better?!?
AsianGirlInTights on March 23, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Lady, send that trophy to lorien
CWforFreedom on March 23, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Obamacare didn’t teach you that already? What part of “fundamental transformation” did you not understand?
Extrafishy on March 23, 2010 at 12:35 PM
I’ve had Elk sausage before…yummy!
ladyingray on March 23, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Isn’t that because they kill the fish after each treatment?
Would you stick your feet into a tub where other feet you have no idea are healthy were or let fish that just chewed of diseased skin start chewing at your feet?
RagTag on March 23, 2010 at 12:36 PM
I don’t know. If the fish are eating pieces of diseased flesh off of a person’s feet, and then someone else dips their feet in the tank with the same water, and the same fish who were eating the diseased flesh from the previous customer start eating the flesh of the next customer, you gotta wonder how sanitary all that is. You could argue that it’s not the government’s business to regulate risk taking to prevent people to people infections, but then you need to go all the way with that.
Buddahpundit on March 23, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Sorry. It already bears my name!
ladyingray on March 23, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Shhh–Jimbo will see this and turn you in…
lovingmyUSA on March 23, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Anyone else remember the “free state project”, where a bunch of libertarians would move to New Hampshire and create a libertarian utopia?
Not only has the state gone blue, but this topic shows nanny-statism is alive and well.
Nice work, “libertarians”.
Rebar on March 23, 2010 at 12:38 PM
I noticed my spaghetti had a little toe jam in it one day and got suspicious!
lorien1973 on March 23, 2010 at 12:39 PM
But think of all those sea kitties!!!
lovingmyUSA on March 23, 2010 at 12:40 PM
Morning moose sausage rocks!
yum… elk.
With all this aside. This is a dumb item. I mean what are the little fish going to do… eat someones leg? Is someone going to order a pizza and put the little fish on as anchovies? Come on… I have heard of weirder things a theorpist makes you do then this.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:40 PM
dude, that wasn’t jam.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Don’t worry, by the time Pelosi’s done, all health insurance plans will be required to cover fish pedicures. That will solve the problem.
/sarc
MarkTheGreat on March 23, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Campaign contributions to the right people.
If they outlaw foot-nibbling fish, only outlaws will have foot-nibbling fish!
rbj on March 23, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Don’t worry, Jimbo3 has already promised to do just that.
MarkTheGreat on March 23, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Pffft. Every time I wade barefoot into the lake to go fishing I get a pedicure from the shiner and fathead minnows lolling around near the dock.
Come and get me, G-Man.
Bishop on March 23, 2010 at 12:43 PM
Sorry but fish peducures are highly unsanitary and that’s saying something in an industry where spreading fungus drom improper sanitation is common.
Monica on March 23, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Sorry to horn in but I’ve had venison sausage before and it was tasty because of the pork fat that was added to it. The venison steak I ate was a bit gamey due to the natural diet of the wild deer and also because it is so lean and lacks fat content to give it flavor. Most people I know who eat venison spice it up or add fat to the dish. Is it the same for elk?
Extrafishy on March 23, 2010 at 12:45 PM
I can tell you why this practice was banned: It discriminates against those people whose feet were amputated by unscrupulous, money-grubbing doctors.
Bishop on March 23, 2010 at 12:46 PM
you are kidding me right? Do you eat fish? Trout? Crappie? Crabs? Lobster? Shrimp? You do realize that ocean, lakes, rivers and streams are just as unsanitary and yet we eat and drink from them and I am talking about prestine waters.
Hmmmmm I don’t get the mentality.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:47 PM
The primary purpose of govt regulation is, and has always been, to eliminate the competition.
MarkTheGreat on March 23, 2010 at 12:48 PM
it depends on where they are roaming.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:48 PM
The spa owner just needs to get with the new capitalism.
Rather than appealing to notions of freedom and fair play, for a modest investment, she can probably get a congressman to slip an amendment into some omnibus bill that mandates that health insurance companies must pay for fish-nibbling pedicures.
In one swoop, she’ll negate any contrary state laws, and get a huge de facto subsidy.
Plus a free, glowing cover story about the health benefits of fish-nibbling on Newsweek, and a column where Tom Friedman claims that this just once again proves the superiority of the Chinese, who provide whole body fish-nibbling.
notropis on March 23, 2010 at 12:48 PM
You need to purchase your venison with a discriminating eye.
Prairie deer eat sawgrass, nettles, low-lying mulch and have to keep on the move; you will find that meat much leaner and blander.
If you can get an upland or heavy forest deer, one that has been eating fresh leaves and grasses, even mushrooms, you will find their meat redder, thicker and tastier.
I love venison, but I spice the bejeebus out of it before freeze drying or sausaging it just because I like spicy foods.
Bishop on March 23, 2010 at 12:50 PM
THREAD WINNER!!!!!
UltimateBob on March 23, 2010 at 12:50 PM
The winner!
TugboatPhil on March 23, 2010 at 12:52 PM
yet moose is much milder… and caribou has almost no taste. Elk up here tastes like pineneedles. I wish i was kidding… it isn’t bad but when you start cooking it it is a odd smell.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Become a congressional representative and threaten to vote against
Health ControlCap’n Tax.ROCnPhilly on March 23, 2010 at 12:53 PM
If you want to keep with the ‘competitors quashing innovation’ theme, you might go with one of Wal-Mart’s down-and-out competitors instead.
Count to 10 on March 23, 2010 at 12:56 PM
No I’m a vegetarian- don’t eat fish. I also used to own a spa. Having clients stick their feet in a tank with live fish (who commonly have fungus and viruses) where the water isn’t changed between clients is disgusting and unsanitary.
Oceans, lakes, rivers, etc have bacteria to balance out the waste and there is a much greater water to fish ratio than in these tanks. Pedicure fish tanks don’t. Feel free to enjoy a fish pedicure, just be prepared to fight foot fungus for the next year.
I don’t care if it’s legal or not, it’s gross.
Monica on March 23, 2010 at 12:56 PM
With all I said above, Ed is right about industry competitors as regulators on state boards. It’s a huge conflict of interest and very common.
NH isn’t the first state to ban try to ban this type of pedicure.
Monica on March 23, 2010 at 1:01 PM
If the fish aren’t dying, then it is unlikely to be a threat to people. Most likely, the owner is very protective of her fish, and cleans said feet thoroughly.
Count to 10 on March 23, 2010 at 1:01 PM
*snort*
And this comes from someone who owned a spa. Sweetie you do realize many “spas” are being shut down due to bacteria of a different kind? Staph infections are becoming rampant due to the type of staph bacteria that doesn’t die with bleach now. And since I would rather stick my foot in a aquarium with the possibility of a fish having ick (which is curable) rather then a staph infection…. I will take the fish.
upinak on March 23, 2010 at 1:02 PM
I love animals. They’re delicious.
There’s plenty of room for all of God’s creatures. Right next to the mashed potatoes, on my plate.
rightside on March 23, 2010 at 1:02 PM
speakin’ of nibblin’, how’s Ed’s toofs today? He said he had a dental emergency yesterday. Was he going in to get a Flava Flav grill installed?
ted c on March 23, 2010 at 1:03 PM
This reminds me of forcing ladies who open up eyebrow threading kiosks at the mall to go get cosmotology degrees from schools that don’t even teach eyebrow threading.
Vera on March 23, 2010 at 1:03 PM
I wonder if its physiology or are they just eating different things or what? I can’t hunt moose or caribou, though I’ve taken elk on game farms. The elk was good but I knew it wasn’t eating what it would naturally so I can’t say whether the taste was “normal” or not.
To be honest I like wild meat but I wouldn’t really miss it if I couldn’t get it, I go hunting for the hunt.
Bishop on March 23, 2010 at 1:06 PM
Gotta do somethin’ with all that big blog bucks!
lorien1973 on March 23, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Well, hmmm, do I open this can of tuna for lunch or not???
lovingmyUSA on March 23, 2010 at 1:10 PM
There was a case in DC, a decade or so ago, of a young women who was doing opened a shop that did cornrows, and only cornrows. She was put out of business because she didn’t have a license. To get a license she had to spend two years in a cosmology school learning to do everything, except cornrows.
Licensing is primarily a means of limiting the competition. Any benefit to the public (assuming there is any in the first place) is purely coincidental.
MarkTheGreat on March 23, 2010 at 1:11 PM
I do realize it. Trust me, spas can be dirty places and the busier they are, the less likely they are to disinfect properly. There are also specialized disinfectants spas are supposed to use to prevent the spread of staph, hep C and sorts of other goo but most are too cheap to use them or don’t follow the required soaking time. Going to a nail salon in particular is a crap shoot. A communal soaking tank isn’t helping matters.
Monica on March 23, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Monica on March 23, 2010 at 1:14 PM
Wide ranging board. I guess the Esthetics were what did the fish in.
Jeff2161 on March 23, 2010 at 1:17 PM
I can tell you why this practice was banned: It discriminates against those people whose feet were amputated by unscrupulous, money-grubbing doctors.
Bishop on March 23, 2010 at 12:46 PM
Oh no you didn`t. LOL.LSUMama on March 23, 2010 at 1:19 PM
Be sure to sift it for toenails.
There, did I ruin it for you?
Bishop on March 23, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Apparently Richard Gere has ordered a whole jacuzzi full of these fish, with the teeth extracted.
Sharke on March 23, 2010 at 1:28 PM
Maybe, but it’s some Gov’t Health Board that banned it.
uknowmorethanme on March 23, 2010 at 1:33 PM
Actually – liberals were complaining about this almost a year ago and NH isn’t the first state to try to ban them. There was a story about NM attempting to ban the practice last week. BoingBoing ran a story about the fish “pedicures” back in 08 and then other outlets began to cover states attempting to ban the practice.
These are sites with fairly liberal audiences. The problem would seem to be less with liberals, who don’t like the bans either, and more with having market participants regulating the market.
dieudonne on March 23, 2010 at 1:35 PM
Its a form of Fish Torture,I am slowly manufacturing
outrageous outrage over this barbaric indignation
to fish and…. and…….(snark).
canopfor on March 23, 2010 at 1:36 PM
Strange,no blue toenails,Blue States,
only,
red painted toenails,Red States!
Its a conspiracy to deny the pleasures,er grooming
affects of said little fishies to women of the right!!
They keep it up,and the SarahCuda Army will soon march!!
(snark).
canopfor on March 23, 2010 at 1:44 PM
NH has been taken over by Massholes. Just like its neighbor to the west, Vermont.
30-40 years ago Vermont was a solid conservative state. Then Massholes moved in and Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders were elected.
angryed on March 23, 2010 at 1:46 PM
Soak your wild game overnight in milk.
Gets rids of the gamey taste.
Badger40 on March 23, 2010 at 1:46 PM
Honestly, where is the evidence associating these fish with any diseases?
Whatever happened to buyer bewar?
I do realize that some regulations for things should be in order.
But if there is no evidence linking these fish with the spreading or harboring of diseases, then state &/or fed govts should not be able to make decisions like this.
But then, relying upon scientific evidence to make decisions would put the EPA out of business.
ALong with the Endangered Species Act.
Badger40 on March 23, 2010 at 1:54 PM
Freedom isn’t free — but it gets sold out way too cheap these days. It’ll cost a whole lot more to get it back.
Mark30339 on March 23, 2010 at 2:09 PM
Do the fish give happy endings?
Alden Pyle on March 23, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Liberalism was born with the second person ever born
The first man born was free to do could do as he ought.
The second person said he must do as I thought:
Just take a bite of this apple, but don’t get caught.
Liberalism has wrecked havoc ever since.
Don L on March 23, 2010 at 2:24 PM
Are people’s foot callouses poisonous to the little fishies?
Tickle Me Nemo.
Steve Z on March 23, 2010 at 2:27 PM
You are so good at this decipering lib-think, However, you forgot to tie it in to AGW and the coming amnesty. Maybe next time?
Don L on March 23, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Ya mean kinda like having the Govt that owns an auto co regulate Toyota?
UncleZeb on March 23, 2010 at 3:08 PM
I demand free Piranha Pedicures for all Reps and Senators. It’s not a privilege; it’s a right, by God.
hillbillyjim on March 23, 2010 at 3:08 PM
I have always liked New Hampshire’s motto:
Live free or move to Vermont.
Dhuka on March 23, 2010 at 3:27 PM
Hmmmm.
I expect it’s because you can’t sanitize fish.
Well unless you’re planning on making fish sticks.
This is a non-story.
memomachine on March 23, 2010 at 3:32 PM
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