dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

This boy can still enjoy his Big Gulp on the streets of New York City after a judged struck down Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on sugary drinks over 16 ounces.

REUTERS/Andrew BurtonA New York state judge struck down Mayor Bloomberg's controversial ban on large sodas on Monday, arguing that the restrictions on sugary sweetened drinks did not make sense, partly because the ban wasn't evenly enforced.

The measure, approved by the New York City board of Health last September, banned the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces at New York City restaurants, street vendors, delis, and movie theaters.

The crackdown controversially did not apply to grocery stores or convenience stores.

The opposition also took issue with other arbitrary components of the legislation. Why, for example were high-sugar, high-caloric drinks like milkshakes and alcoholic beverages allowed while sugary sweetened drinks like soda and lemonade were not?

The judge also questioned the science behind the soda ban, which was crafted to curb obesity and obesity-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease in New York City.

Bloomberg is unmoved. He maintains that the "best science" tells us there is relationship between sugary drinks and hefty New Yorkers.

A presentation put together by Bloomberg's office last year attributes 5,800 deaths and $4 billion in medical costs in New York City to obesity.

The leading cause of this obesity epidemic? Sugary drinks, they said.

The city projected that if New Yorkers substituted a 16-ounce sugary drink for a 20-ounce sugary drink once every two weeks then we would "collectively save around 2.3 million pounds in one year."

NYC.govThe link between sugary drinks and getting fat was further supported by data released by the Mayor's office on Monday. The data showed that neighborhoods that consumed more sugary drinks had higher obesity and diabetes rates (see the charts on the right).

Correlation, however, does not necessarily mean causation. For example, it's very likely that the kind of people who drink oversized sodas are also chowing down on greasy cheeseburgers, french fries and other junk foods.

NYC.gov

That's where New York Health Commissioner Thomas Farley points out that it's not just the calories and sugar in targeted drinks that make us gain weight. Size matters from a psychological standpoint, too.

"People are beginning to recognize that soda is bad for you, that soda makes you gain weight, but it's tough for people to recognize that we are driven largely by the portions that are put in front of us," Farley said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

Not only do we regulate our appetite based on the amount of food or drink placed in front of us, but we also blindly accept the beverage industry's sizes as a general guideline for how much we should consume.

As studies have shown, the existence of a 40-ounce options makes people think that a 20-ounce size is reasonable. Eliminating that option, however, makes people more likely to view the 20 as extravagant and choose the 12-ounce instead.

Obesity is certainly a national health crisis, as more than one-third of American adults are obese. While Bloomberg's initiative was poorly structured and unpopular, the real tragedy is that the obesity epidemic lives on.

>>16365545

Everything You Need to Know About the New York Soda Ban

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-09-13/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-york-soda-ban

CityLab

Justice

It's official: New York City restaurants will soon be barred from serving sodas in containers larger than 16 ounces.

Sommer Mathis

September 13, 2012, 2:01 PM EDT

It's official: The New York City Board of Health on Thursday unanimously approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial proposal to ban the sale of large sugary drinks in the majority of the city's food-serving establishments.

The law won't go into effect until March 12, 2013, and business owners will be given a three-month grace period before they'll be fined for non-compliance. But today's ruling formally puts into motion the unrolling of an unprecedented number of regulations on how residents and visitors in America's largest city will consume soda and other high-sugar beverages in the future. Here's what you need to know:

Beverage Size: 16 ounces is the official upper limit on any sort of high-sugar drink, whether from a fountain or in a prepackaged bottle or can.

Beverages Included in the Ban: All varieties of non-diet sodas; sweetened teas, energy drinks or fruit drinks with more than 25 calories per 8 ounces (so yes, that means Honest Tea, too).

Beverages Not Included in the Ban: Drinks that are at least 70-percent fruit or vegetable juice, alcoholic beverages, or dairy-based drinks like lattes and milkshakes that contain more than 50 percent milk. It remains unclear whether Starbucks Frappuccinos, which contain milk but may not pass the 50 percent threshold, will be spared.

Businesses That Must Comply: Only establishments that receive a grade from the city's health department are included in the ban, so that means sit-down restaurants, fast-food restaurants, delis, movie theaters, stadiums and arenas, and mobile food carts and trucks will all be affected by the new rule.

Businesses Not Included: Supermarkets and most convenience stores don't get the same kind of food service grade from the health department, so 7-Eleven "Big Gulp" drinks will continue to exist in New York, at least for the time being. The same would hold true for newsstands and vending machines.

Is There a Chance This Could Be Overturned? It's possible. The Wall Street Journal reported today that opponents of the law, who range from representatives across the entire spectrum of the soda and beverage industry to civil libertarians who object to such fine-grained nanny state measures, "are exploring all possible paths to prevent the new ban from taking effect next year, including the possibility of a legal challenge." Still, Mayor Bloomberg has had a lot of success over the years convincing New Yorkers that his strident public health initiatives are a good idea, ranging from bans on smoking in public parks to trans fats to rules requiring restaurants to post calorie content information.

Is This Going to Happen in Other Cities? We think so. Refer to Eric Jaffe's analysis, including a brilliant Venn Diagram, on which cities have been quickest to copy Bloomberg's lead on public health laws to discover whether your city might be a candidate for a soda ban.

Top image: Benjamin Lesczynski, 8, of New York, takes a sip of a "Big Gulp" while protesting the New York soda ban on July 9, 2012. (Andrew Burton / Reuters)

Man gets life in prison, plus 45 years, in beheading case

abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-life-prison-45-years-beheading-case-85029527

A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was has been sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years

ByHolly Ramer Associated Press

May 27, 2022, 3:56 PM

CONCORD, N.H. – A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was sentenced Friday to life in prison, plus 45 years.

Armando Barron, 32, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. A judge imposed additional time as recommended by prosecutors for other crimes, including kidnapping, criminal solicitation and assault.

“Your actions were brutal. They were also horrific, they were selfish, and they were completely senseless,” Judge Elizabeth Leonard told Barron. “The abject cruelty, the pain and suffering and all that you inflicted on Jonathan that night is unfathomable.”

Barron was accused of assaulting his wife after discovering she had been texting with her co-worker, 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault, in September 2020. Prosecutors said he used his wife’s cellphone to lure Amerault to a park, where he beat and kicked him before forcing him into his own car and fatally shooting him.

Barron's lawyers argued that his wife shot Amerault, which she denied.

Britany Barron, 33, testified that after Amerault was shot, she was forced to drive the car 200 miles (320 kilometers) north to a remote campsite, with Armando following behind her. There, she said, she was forced to behead Amerault. Her husband eventually left her at the site, telling her to dispose of the body, she testified.

Their voices shaking with anger and sadness, Amerault’s parents both called Barron a disgusting leech Friday.

“The only good thing I see about all this heinous, heinous crime is that you are not 40 years old, 50 or 60, but only 30 years old. You have a long, long time to fade away and rot in prison,” Kenny Amerault said.

“My son Jonathan was a thousand times more of a man than this lowlife could ever even dream of being,” Justine Amerault said. “The loss of Jonathan to this world is incredibly sad.

"But the saddest part of all is that in spite of him being surrounded by so many wonderful people, this evil creature just slithered right through us all and took him from us. And the last hours of Jonathan’s beautiful life were in the company of this ugly, hideous, demented creature.”

Barron, who did not speak at the sentencing hearing, plans to appeal his convictions, his lawyer said.

The Associated Press had previously not been naming the couple in order not to identify Britany Barron, who said she suffered extreme abuse. Through her lawyer, she recently agreed to the use of her name.

>>16365639

>Armando Barron,