Mayor Bloomberg and The Pepsi Generation --his BAN on 32 oz size sodas coming! Holy Prohibition!

[PoliticalPizza]

If you are in NYC and watching the Super Bowl this weekend, this might
be the last time you can order a refill and get a Coke and a smile!

Because in less than 3 months a new ban on sugary soft drinks that are
larger then 16 oz.'s will go into effect, which will limit you to one Coke or
a $200 fine.

It appears that Mayor Bloomberg thinks the Pepsi Generation's explosion
of Type II Diabetes, is now his obligation and even if "I'm a Pepper and
you feel like a Pepper"...you probably look way too much like a potato.

I appreciate the Mayor is concerned about my widening waistline, but I much
prefer he focus on widening the lanes on the Long Island Expressway!

People voted for Mr. Bloomberg to worry about alternate side of the street
parking, if they wanted to choose an alternative lifestyle they would have
purchased a weight loss program from Richard Simmons.

I personally want a Mayor to know how to clean my streets...not my colon!
Obesity is a serious problem with serious consequences, but our culture of
over indulgence is not limited to overeating...but a competitive lifestyle
where "Bigger is always Better".

Who has the biggest building, cruise ships are bigger than certain zip codes,
and planes are so big it takes you longer to find your seat than to get to your
destination! Is it really a surprise that our ass in the seats are so much bigger
too?!

Soon our luggage will go back to flying for free and they will charge our ticket
on how much we weigh per pound!

But this challenge cannot be overcome by changing a law...but by changing a
culture!

Modern Science may reduce our cravings or the calories we consume, but we
should not try to reduce someone's waistline... by reducing their "Rights".
They tried that once before...it was called Prohibition...and it didn't stop
drinking but started another cultural phenomenon... called the Mafia.

Just as we fight so hard everyday for a woman to have the right to choose
to actually be pregnant or not...if someone wants to eat enough to look pregnant
all of the time...than God bless Krispy Kreme and 32 oz. sodas to help them do so!
Laws are meant to stop us from hurting other people...they are much less influential
in stopping us from hurting ourselves.

And even though a six pack of abs is preferable to a six pack of Coke...we need to
have the "Right" to choose which one we prefer!

One can argue that seat belt laws and motorcycle helmets are examples where a
law has saved lives, when a culture had failed to do so...but we did not pass a law
that required someone to wear a seat belt only in certain cars or helmets on only
certain motorcycles to protect against only a certain type of accident!

Calories is the enemy here...and sugar in sodas is only one of the culprits. Unless
we are willing to ban sugar altogether...than this selective and arbitrary choice
to choose this one product and this one ingredient...becomes more harmful as a
a restriction of "Our Rights" than a benefit to our health!

Will carbohydrates be appearing soon before Judge Judy? Should we be legislating
how many pieces of bacon will be allowed on a Bacon Cheeseburger? Are we over-
reaching here even if we can't put our arms around our waist?

To truly tackle obesity, wouldn't our children be better served by offering them
more physical education classes instead of french fries and milkshakes in the
school cafeteria?

Sometimes the natural law of education, warning labels and the consequences of our
actions are our best guides...and if that doesn't work...I wouldn't bet against Mayor
Bloomberg's passion and philanthropic effort...to make sure it does!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/02/1184116/-Mayor-Bloomberg-and-the-Pepsi-Generation
http://www.politicalpizza.net/2013/02/mayor-bloomberg-and-pepsi-generation.html

[Enrique]

1. bullshit

no one's going to get a $200 fine for buying a large soda.

[PoliticalPizza]

23. Do you like Reuters as a news source?

The $200 fine will begin in June.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/23/us-sodaban-lawsuit-idUSBRE90M1AJ20130123

[Squinch]

25. Except that article doesn't say anything about a $200 fine for buying a large soda.

It says the stores can't sell it.

Lots of those stores can't sell beer either. Or wine. Or gasoline. Or mutual funds. Or guns. Or insurance. Or prescription drugs. Or sudafed. Or, or, or.

Gosh. There are lots of things restaurants and fast food places can't sell by law. Always have been. And yet, no one has called "Nanny State", until the very powerful soda companies were inconvenienced. What a coincidence!

[graham4anything]

2. Bravo Mike! for all your wellness plans including the 48 ounce ban & being anti-NRA/anti-GUn

Nobody needs 48 ounces seeing a 90-120 minute movie along with a refill

that is 12 8 ounce glasses in 2 hours

and if you drink that much, that would seem like alot of bathroom breaks and you miss the movie

It is about time someone went up against the NRA with money and publicity.
bravo mayor Mike, the great equalizer

[nick of time]

3. You say nobody "needs" 48 oz. of soda.

Isn't that up to the individual to decide that, and not some 1% asshole?
Your adoration of someone like Bloomberg is disturbing to say the least.

[graham4anything]

4. I can understand why some hate this mega liberal from Mass. The NRA and their fans for instance

and I applaud Michelle Obama and Mayor Mike on their wellness

because taxpayers pay for bad habits

and because 90% of the public used to smoke
symbolic talking against cigarettes has gotten 90% to not smoke


it's not like you can't drink 96 ounces
just buy 3 32 ounce ones

Or one 2 liter bottle.

but stopping and thinking means you save the calories

btw-buy a diet, its zero calories

or drink water

and people can't drive without seatbelts
wellness saves lives

and no, this is a collective society. We are all in this world together
the lives Mike saves could be my own

96 ounces of soda for a 2 hour movie?
Audacious.

btw, Vice President Obama, Gabbie Giffords and Mike Bloomberg made for a great cover of Time Magazine.
All on the same team.

[nick of time]

6. What part of it's up to the individual

to determine what size soda they want? Not some 1%.
Here's my prediction, his authortarian bullshit ban won't survive the coming court challenge, and rightly so.
It's an individual choice and that's why it'll be struck down by the courts.

I have a big problem with some 1% telling people whats good for them and then enforcing their will by passing stupid laws that aren't effective in any way.

[graham4anything]

8. the point is not the ban, but to think about what one is doing to their body

and NO someone driving 100 mph in a 55 mph zone cannot do what they want

48 ounce sodas are as wreckless as say voting for a third party candidate in a presidential election

imho feel free to disagree

the companies who want to overturn it in the courts, are the 1% who want to continue to sell junk
at what point does ones concern for the 1%/99% do you not realize that?

and saving $100000 on ones health care bill, buys alot of time
instead of frivioulous drinks

btw, drink diet soda
48 ounces is 6 x 130
so one is having 780 calories in a meal extra than not having it

stupid is wasting all those calories

I welcome a nanny state, because people can't control themselves

God Bless Mayor Mike-his mom lived to 102
the right living worked well for her
and she was alert and wonderful up to the end

you are what you eat after all
and we all live in the same universe

and the USA is the #1 most obese country in the world

going overseas, that is the first thing I noticed

[nick of time]

10. You welcome the nanny state?

Well, that says all I need to know about you. You favor less freedom of individual choice and more govt. control of our lives.
Let me guess, you favor the Patriot Act, the Terrorist Watch List, the No Fly List, Warrantless Eavesdropping?

[graham4anything]

11. one always needs a friend in their hour of need

obesity is in alot of cases an addiction to food
(there are other causes, but I am referring to those that are obese because of their diet, and of course there are reasons people eat.

I for one used to smoke 1983 or 4 I quit cold turkey
never missed it

but I did gain weight
No excuse, just stupidity

but well, self-help groups are welcome thing to me
and people helping each other are important
when one wants to drink, they go to AA
and all the people around them help them

the nanny state means someone is trying to help

JFK and Bloomberg and Michelle Obama all three are the three biggest USA people to be for wellness

and every dollar saved buying a larger soda, every calorie saved, most likely leads $$$ to $$ to lower insurance and hospital bills
and in the end each person probably can save tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of dollars

who wouldn't want that?

who wouldn't want to buy 48 minutes more of life, instead of another 48 ounce soda?

[nick of time]

12. Yes I would want to buy another 48 minutes of life,

but that should be my choice, not some 1%'s choice.
How far are you willing to let the nanny state choose whats best for you?

[graham4anything]

13. One day at a time.

I am not scared of oblique things

I am scared of guns by private people, guns by rightwing extremists, the NRA
and going to a movie and having one of those gun people in the theatre like in Colorado

I am not afraid at the airport anymore
I was.

one day at a time

betting the world, one day at a time

I admit, I need help
as I am an addict or cheese and soda

and I need help all the time so I can say
no retreat no surrender from wellness

and as Kristofferson sang(C), freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
and dying from a massive heart attack, diabetes, cancer means being free from all rules and regulations and nannies.

therefore I want to be here
and not 6 feet under and have all that freedom and time in the afterworld

funny how decades later, age and wisdom made me see that Kristofferson was not singing about in the 1960s what I thought.
He was singing about the exact opposite of the meaning I used to have in my mind
(and Mr. Kristofferson himself went through a few wellness programs and surgeries.

and thank God and Kristofferson that he is still here, check out his latest album just released.

and he managed to keep his voice too, proverbially speaking of course.

[nick of time]

14. Huh?

[graham4anything]

15. my answer to your question is One day at a time

you asked how far

I answered, one day at a time

[nick of time]

16. So why not just say that instead of a rambling post?

[graham4anything]

17. it makes no sense without context

why does Hey Jude last 7 plus minutes?
without the last 6:59 there is no classic

(as an example, I am not comparring myself to the beatles,
but since the Beatles were brought up

a gun in the street and some bullets took away John Lennon

it's the columbo effect
a bumbling response has a line that becomes a pesty important sentence

[nick of time]

18. Whatever.

But your rambling posts really put people off sometimes and your message is sometimes lost in translation.
Just a little friendly advice.

[graham4anything]

19. without the rambling post, John Lennon's death could not have been brought into the discussion

everything in politics ends up cause and effect

[nick of time]

20. Maybe,

but a lot of people will just look at your posts and not even bother to read them because of the rambling nature of them and then your message doesn't get the attention it might be due.
But if this is how you want to do so, have at it, like I said, just a little friendly advice.

[Duckhunter935]

30. I think all they should sell

is water, that is all anybody needs. They should not be able to sell anything except what is required for survival

[nick of time]

31. Be careful.

Some Bloomberg wanna be may take you seriously.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Does this mean large bottles of soda in the grocery store cannot be sold?

Guess people will simply double up on buying a case of canned soda.
or 2-3 16 oz cups at 7-11.

I can thnk of numerous ways to get around the law*, so can soft drink vendors.

*said with irony since I don't drink any sodas.

[graham4anything]

9. you miss the point. the point is like a timeout in a football game. Gives one time to think

think instead of drinking 780 calories in a meal or a movie
what a waste of calories

if one is on a 1500-2000 day calorie, and drinks a 48 ounce soda
sheesh, it's impossible to do

[zbdent]

7. an enterprising soul could make a mint selling 31.9 oz drinks

(and really piss off the RWers when he/she revealed later he/she was a LIB!)

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

21. The endless mayoralty...

I cannot wait until bloom crap goes. AND I will vote for ANYONE who says they'll rip up the godforsaken bike paths! AND I ride a bike in NYC!!!!

[Squinch]

26. I completely agree with you about Bloomberg. The guy is wrecking the city's schools, and I will be

very glad to see him go.

But about the sodas? I just can't disagree with him.

[Igel]

22. People like the "nurturing" vs. "authoritarian" division.

Odd thing is, many mothers are into controlling their kids and insisting that the apron strings not be cut.

Teenage rebellion is both rebellion against the smothering that "nurturing" becomes in the "hands" of many mothers as well as against the overbearing authoritarianism that setting limits can turn into.

Both are good, in the right place and in the right amount.

Both are pernicious and harmful in the wrong place or when taken to excess.

[davidpdx]

24. It's a load of crap

If you want to buy soda 32 oz soda all you have to do is buy two 16 oz cups. Now suppose I do that and they try to ticket me for $200. The cop is standing right outside 7-11 (or whatever store you'd like to imagine). How do they know whether I'm buying two cups for myself or one cup for another person? So my buddy is standing outside and after the cop walks up to me and starts writing the ticket my buddy asks what's going on and while the cop is writing me a ticket he takes his soda out of my hand.

[graham4anything]

27. actually, why not read the law itself. NONE of what you say is true

first off 7-11 is NOT one of the places, so you could buy a 100 ounce if you wish at 7-11

and NOTHING stops you from buying 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 32 ounce or 16 ounce at all

NOTHING stops you from buying 100 two liter bottles in a supermarket

you miss the whole point

However, why would you need 48 and a refill in 90 minutes?

Nobody is going to ticket you buying it.

Again, everything in your theory here is 100% false.

It has NO basis in the law whatsoever, nor is it a point.

[Travis_0004]

33. Tickets will not be given to people who break the law by selling large soda, not those who buy it.

Also, who cares why somebody wants a large soda. I think its none of my business. If the demand wasn't there, people wouldn't sell it, so obviously people want to buy a large soda.

[graham4anything]

35. there is no demand. It is just put in front and people think they are getting a bargain

but all they are doing is one day closer to a heart attack\

if something isn't in front of them, they don't see it, then don't demand it

and it saves alot of people's money.
especially on future health care

not to mention, this helps the poorest save the most in many ways

from saving the difference between a 32 and 48, and then tens of thousands of future health care bills

and the price of healthcare is everybody's business

[Travis_0004]

37. So in your opinion people are stupid.

Which is why we need the government to tell us what to do.

If you feel this way, why don't we also close KFC, McDonalds, etc. we can have a subway on every block, they can walk in and get the oven roasted chicken, on wheat. No cheese or mayo. What a utopia!

[graham4anything]

38. Please don't put words in my mouth & I won't again put a 48ounce soda in mine

I take things one day at a time.

and I welcome all the help I can into not gaining weight.

every ounce counts.

Sometimes kids think they are immortal.

and like every other addiction, food and soda is an addiction too.
You know how much sugar is in a 48 ounce soda

all those future dentist bills

and for what?

I used to drink 48 ounce sodas and have a tub of popcorn.

Now I don't eat popcorn at all, and only have diet sodas.

Why not go to the market and have a salad with no dressing.
zero calories, You can eat all you want.
lettuce, tomatoes, celery,
and have a few pickles. Zero calories.

and if salt is not a problem add olives or anchoives.

[davidpdx]

39. Then the law is toothless....

since it only applies to restaurants, mobile food carts, delis and concessions at movie theaters, stadiums or arenas from selling sugary drinks in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces. Allowing people to buy more than one drink also makes it toothless. As far as the theater I can smuggle in two 16 oz drinks (I've gotten caught once in my life and I believe that's the time when I was 16 and we had the video camera too, not too smart).

Watch this all the way through:

[graham4anything]

40. you are missing the point. Punishment is not the point. Wellness is.

and some people need and want a little help and a nudge.

there will always be those that abuse their bodies in one form or another

For 100s of years AA has been there
Alot of people don't want or need their services
but some do

you can never tell someone to do wellness
it is ingrown

you have to do it yourself and want to do it

and this is truly a bottom's up campaign.
because those with the least, get helped the most

with wellness, there is no end in sight
it is 24/7/365
and of course, one has to be vigillant
because any setback can reverse all that was worked for

A healthy person they say should have around 2000 calories a day
130 calories in an 8 ounce coke.
780 calories in a 48 ounce coke for a 90 minute or 2 hour movie.
Which means one can if on a 2000 calorie a day diet,then have
1220 calories in the other 22 hour day.

But everyone indeed is free to do as they please.

I myself am happy when someone gives me a sneer if I attempt to break my diet.
I welcome all help, and all nannies.
With friends, things are a little easier.

And I used to smoke until around 1984.
Sometimes I think of how much money I saved since then.
I have no idea what cigarettes cost, but if one smokes a pack a day,one can save thousands of dollars a year if one doesn't partake.

I just googled. Is a pack of cigarettes now $13.00?
sheesh.
13x7=91bucks a week x52=4732 bucks a year.
WOW.
I am saving $4732 a year.
In 20 years, that has been then about $100,000 saved.
If I make it another 20 years, another $100,000 minimum.

and I am an addict so I know what I speak.
an addict of coke and cheese for too many decades.
now diet coke and water and fat free or weight watchers cheese.

Wish I had a nanny 20 years ago so the option wasn't in front of me.
Because people told me and I didn't listen, and i reached for what was in front of me.
Had it not been there, I would at least have had to slow down a little.
96 ounces in a two hour movie is IMHO to me personally something I can no longer fathom

one day at a time. ounce by ounce. pound by pound.
for the rest of my life.
wellness never ends.
no retreat no surrender

and years ago people didn't wear seatbelts, and helmets when going bicycling.
and it is a proven fact nationwide that driving 55 saves lives over driving 85.
Because everyone can't do it on their own.
Those that are lucky can. But everyone is not.
IMHO

[davidpdx]

41. There's still no point

Screw talking about cigarettes and cars, we are talking specifically about soda.

If they added convenience stores (I'm talking about the cups) into the bill it would make more sense (I would still be opposed, but I'm looking at it logically in terms of what it would take to make it effective). Sure you can enforce it in the limited number of places listed (I believe it was movie theaters, restaurants, and snack stands) but when you can go across the street to 7-11 and buy a 64oz Coke it's called a slight inconvenience.

Again, it's a toothless law that makes no sense.

We'll see if the courts uphold it. I'd bet some of the theaters and restaurants will challenge the law.

[Eleanors38]

29. Well, they didn't call it bootlegging for nothing. nt

[kaiserhog]

28. Nanny State in action.

[Bjorn Against]

32. While I don't know that I support a ban...

I will say that drink sizes have gotten ridiculous, now when you order a medium drink at some places they give you a monster 32 ounce cup. When I was a kid a small drink was 8-12 ounces and a medium was 16-20 ounces, today you can't even get the 12 ounce drink and a 20 ounce is a small. I know of at least one major chain that does not even offer their customers anything less than 32 ounces now, it is absolutely ridiculous and it is time for the restaurant industry to police themselves better if they want to avoid these sorts of laws.

[Travis_0004]

34. If you are handed a 32 oz drink, then just fill it up half way if you only wan't 16oz.

I realize that you are paying a bit more than 16 oz drink would but probably less than .25 cents difference. Or if you don't like their policy, don't go there, and let corporate know why. If they loose enough business, they will change their policy.

I don't know why so many people want the government to hold their hand on such trivial matters.

[Bjorn Against]

36. As I said I don't necessarily support a ban

Nowhere did I suggest that I want government to hold my hand so please spare the codescending attitude.

Businesses however should be more responsible than to take actions that they know will be very harmful to their customers health, the people who are making these decisions are costing us billions in public health costs.

I think a tax would be more effective than a ban. Allow places to sell more than 16 ounces, but tax each ounce past 16 ounces at a penny an ounce and past 32 ounces at 2 cents an ounce. Right now a big part of the reason people buy the large sizes is they are a better value, if you make it a better value to buy a small people will drink less. This is not about the government holding anyone's hand, this is about facing the reality that unhealthy habits do cost our society money and a tax would help pay those costs.