" Lawmakers around the country are passing or proposing laws to regulate the grease your doughnuts are fried in, the calls you make on the road, what you listen to when you cross the street, even the bat your kid hits a baseball with."

" The ideas are offered with the best intentions -- usually to minimize a newly recognized danger or to encourage healthful behavior. Lawmakers worry, for example, that text-messaging while driving can be deadly, and that foods fried in trans fats promote heart disease."

" Critics counter that regulating french fries and BlackBerries infringes on personal liberties. "Nanny government" some critics call it, and they point to a playpen full of behavior-related bills before city councils and state legislatures."

" "If we were really at war, if we were in a depression, people wouldn't be wasting their time with this stuff," said David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, "but because we're not, you know, it's easy to look at every little thing that bothers you.""

" Attempts by the government to modify public behavior have a long history, from Prohibition in the '20s to smoking bans in the '90s. In recent years, lawmakers have increasingly focused on food."

" The big action this year involves trans fats, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils used for deep frying and baking."

" In December, New York City imposed the nation's first ban on the use of trans fats in restaurants. The idea has spread like greased lightning, with bans or warnings introduced in at least 18 states."

" New York's City Council recently called on residents to voluntarily stop using the n-word and approved a ban
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