It's an Alex Jones documentary. Sci-fi premises are pretty much old hat for him, as are the loons who fall for his crap. Because all of it is crap, in case you were unsure of where I was going with this.
Those weren't rhetorical questions, I was not making a statement. I'm actually asking those questions so that the thread actually goes somewhere. By burdening, BTW, i meant the costs that the people around you have to put up with for poor health. Poor health increases care costs not just for you but also the other people that support you, businesses have to install wider seats, etc etc etc.
Apples to apples. Either government knows what's best for us or it doesn't. And if it only knows some things and not other things, why do we trust it to make decisions on some things when they could be wrong? You can't support some decisions it makes on personal matters and not others without being totally hypocritical in your logic, which means you have no argument whatsoever. It just boils down to whether you approve of the policy or not.
So it's everything works 100% of the time or gov't is just bad at everything? Simpleminded doesn't even begin to say it.
Thread rescue attempt failed. Continue your meaningless boring flame war. I'm not gonna bother putting down my opinion in; I'm outta here. Zzzzzzzz.
So you make an observation of a few friends and make a quasi-scientific claim that sugary drinks aren't partially to blame for obesity rates based on that? This is an absolutely reckless claim to make. There are multiple factors in the rise of obesity, most notably among children. But to suggest it has "nothing to do with drink and never will" is incredibly ignorant and defiant of logic and science. Suggested readings: Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in epidemic of obesity Research links soft drinks with obesity and diabetes Sugary drinks in the pathogenesis of obesity and cardiovascular diseases Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages: a systematic review Homework time. Lastly Travz, when you come back to Earth and abandon the crazy thought of the United States ever adopting the operating principles you advocate, then perhaps we can have a discussion based in reality. This theological utopian stuff is completely useless in this and any other debate.
I've said nothing of the sort in this thread. I've been talking solely about personal freedoms. Thinking it's sound reasoning to let government pick and choose what we can do with our own bodies is nonsense. But when it comes down to it, these kinds of debates are like religious debates. You can't convince someone government/religion is wrong if they have faith in it. They refuse to think logically or outside the box. They operate on their own rules and will defend their beliefs until something happens to get them thinking about things differently.
Plus it goes the other way, the right wing loons who whine about personal freedoms and shit when bans like this are proposed are the same people crying for government to intervene to prevent women from having abortions or birth control.
And the libertarians that decry the loss of our "natural rights" also support stores reinstating racial segregation because to do otherwise would be impinging upon the rights of the store owner.
Generally, I would agree. However, from the interview I was watching with the Mayor... his state of mind is that the baseball stadiums, football stadiums, Central Park vendors and even local businesses are granted a business license and a good license by the local government (city). So, at that point, the city can say, "hey, we're going to regulate the size of the food products you can sell, but not the amount that can be purchased." Basically, his idea was that the licenses already gave them their right to regulate.
Okay cool. So they are looking at where a relatively small drink is sickly over priced already. Go to any stadium around here and you can't get a hot dog and a drink for under $10. And the drink they serve is maybe a 16oz with 4 oz of ice. So, relative to that, if they mandate 12oz drinks at stadiums, that $4.50-$6 12oz drink will only yield you 9oz of soda. Sounds to me like another way to try and bleed money out of the consumer.
Quick question for those in the know: Is there any precedent for a law like this? Any evidence of something like this working in the past? I'm kind of torn on this issue. The cynical side of me thinks that, while this probably has the best intentions, this doesn't sound like it will be very effective. Cutting out soft drinks is a good way to curb obesity (as the numerous links Mark posted point out), but, short of banning sugary drinks outright, you can't legislate away bad habits. The predilection for junk food is so deeply ingrained in our culture at this point that I'm not sure if this is the right way to go about it. Plus, this is New York we're talking about here. Obesity is a much bigger issue in the poorer states in the south and midwest, states where legislation like this has a pretty slim chance of ever passing. Again, maybe this is just cynicism on my part. Maybe this law is just a baby step towards solving the problem. This issue hits pretty close to home for me, so I'm not trying to be contrarian just for the sake of it, mind you. Thoughts?
Being a Midwest boy, that's part of why I support this move. And hey, in Japan, fructose or some deal like that is banned in soda so that it has to be real sugar, and that cuts down Japanese soda consumption tremendously. That's why in my entire two weeks and tour across all of the main islands, I saw a total of three fat people. That's why everyone in America is a cream-filled jelly doughnut.
The fact that they have mandated a daily workout regime in Japan has nothing to do with what was quoted here, I'm sure.
Just to clarify: You realize this is not a ban on soft drinks, but rather a restriction on serving sizes, right? I didn't see any direct references to that in your post.
Yes. I wrote that kind of quickly, haha. @SuperDude: Interesting what you said about Japan. I'll have to look into that.
Aren't most the soft drinks (in brand vending machines) the same price in Japan? I noticed a few years ago that in Coca-Cola machines all soft drinks tended to be the same prize regardless of size. You can get 330ml and 500ml cans for about 120 - 100 yen... Reason I mention this is, I highly doubt that it will work that way in the U.S They'll probably be prized much more apart.