Fausta's Blog

#NannyBloomberg’s appointees want your popcorn and your latte, too:

Health panel talks about wider food ban

The board hand-picked by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that must approve his ban of selling large sugar-filled drinks at restaurants might be looking at other targets.

The New York City Board of Health showed support for limiting sizes of sugary drinks at a Tuesday meeting in Queens. They agreed to start the process to formalize the large-drink ban by agreeing to start a six-week public comment period.

At the meeting, some of the members of board said they should be considering other limits on high-calorie foods.

One member, Bruce Vladeck, thinks limiting the sizes for movie theater popcorn should be considered.

“The popcorn isn’t a whole lot better than the soda,” Vladeck said.

Another board member thinks milk drinks should fall under the size limits.

“There are certainly milkshakes and milk-coffee beverages that have monstrous amounts of calories,” said board member Dr. Joel Forman.

Obviously they think we’re all helpless children who must be told, or, in Mikey’s own words, “forced to understand” what’s good for us.

Phinneas:

Other than a public comment period (and how much good do we really think that will do?), there is no check on their power to regulate the most basic behaviors of NYCers; the elected representatives of the residents of New York City, the city council, apparently have no say. It might take an act of the legislature to tell Mikey to “knock it off.”

As Dan Riehl says,

It must be wonderful living in a city like New York, where all the serious problems have been solved and all bureaucrats have to do is sit around worrying about what citizens eat and drink.

Yeah…I wonder how many “monstrous amounts of calories” it takes a bedbug to propagate.

And,

UPDATE,
In NYC, The Government Needs To Ban Soda For Adults, But In the Schools, Adults Have Nothing to Teach Children
A Blue Man Group school??

Just in time for summer heat, New York Plans to Ban Sale of Big Sizes of Sugary Drinks

New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

Obviously Mike thinks it’s up to him to do something, no matter how meaningless, to bring in more government regulation,

The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

The measure would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages; it would not extend to beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.

So, after all, to answer my question in the post title, it looks like you’ll still be able to get a Big Gulp, if they sell them in Manhattan?

What will happen is that businesses will offer free refills, people will spend more money, and producers will find a way around it, as it happened with candy bars,

The company has replaced the King Size Snickers with the so-called “2toGo,” which is two bars in one package. Each of the bars is 220 calories. The company said the package can be resealed “to save one for later.”

By the way,
I have had chronic hypoglycemia for well over a decade, and do not tolerate anything with any sugar added, so I simply do not have anything with added sugar. The thing is, it’s up to you, not to Mike Bloomberg, to decide what you eat. Upcoming sugar taxes are even more of an insult than these “bans on sugary drinks”, since the government spends huge amounts of money in sugar subsidies, including corn syrup.

What it all adds up to is, we live in a much less free society than we did 100 years ago. 50 years ago. in fact, 20 years ago, thanks to Mike Bloomberg, among others.

Michael Bloomberg: turning the Empire State into the Nanny State, one diet item at a time.

UPDATE:
Mike wants to save you from yourself but endorses Charlie Rangel. Culture of corruption indeed.

“We’re forcing you to understand“?

And,
NYC Council: Ban Of Large Sugared Sodas ‘Seems Punitive,’ ‘Won’t Yield A Positive Result’

How Sunday’s NFL Cities Became Champs
Favorable property taxes were game changers for New York, San Francisco and Boston. Baltimore needs a Hail Mary.

All these cities had long pursued progressive political agendas with pride. But the problem with redistributive policies at the local level is that the donor classes might move out as fast as beneficiary classes move in—or, as the population figures cited earlier show, even faster. Robin Hood may seem a heroic figure, but once his rich victims flee Nottingham, even that city’s poor might question his effectiveness.

San Francisco and Boston were rescued from their folly by statewide tax revolts. California’s Prop 13, passed in 1978, capped property taxes in that state at 1%—which slashed San Francisco’s rate by almost two-thirds. Massachusetts followed suit in 1980 with Prop 2½, which mandated that municipalities could not increase their total property tax receipts by more than 2.5% annually. New York City taxpayers did not revolt, but state legislators rationalized the Big Apple’s chaotic property tax system in 1981; it now enjoys property tax rates that average about one-third of those in its surrounding suburbs (though its other taxes are certainly punishing).

While no single factor explains any city’s destiny, it is not a mere coincidence that Boston, New York and San Francisco reversed their declines at the exact moment they became favorable environments for private investment in residential and business capital.

It has to do with the fact that

Every time a city raises the tax rate on residential and business property, its owners suffer a capital loss (which economists refer to as “tax capitalization”). In effect, tax hikes are incremental expropriations; owners flee not just because of short-term wealth losses but in fear of future damage to their property rights. Tax caps not only improve the immediate cash flow on investments in real property but—perhaps more important—secure it against further expropriations.

Go read the rest.
Here’s the video,

Two #OWS leaders are staying at the W Hotel in downtown Manhattan. Their idea of being “the 99%” includes spending $700/night.

Peter Dutro, member of the group’s finance committee, charged the room to his American Express card.

“Don’t leave home without it!”

More on the #OWS organizers here.

Elsewhere,
Hazmat Crew Called in to Remove 200lbs of Human Feces Near Occupy Santa Cruz (h/t Instapundit).

The Wall Street Journal,

New York City authorities said Sunday they thwarted a plot to blow up post offices and police stations with crude pipe bombs.

Authorities charged Jose Pimentel, a Dominican-born Muslim convert, with providing support for an act of terrorism, conspiracy and weapons charges. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Mr. Pimentel was arrested on Saturday after having been watched by the NYPD since May 2009.

The NY Times reports that the 27-yr old was in the process of building three bombs and:

was planning to build and detonate a bomb in New York with government workers, returning military personnel and elected officials as the target

Supposedly he was acting alone.

I’m curious about who converted him, under what circumstances, and what houses of worship he attended here and in the Dominican Republic.

The NY Daily News has been liveblogging.

Power Line detailed why Zuccotti Park had to be cleaned up.

Jim put to rest any comparisons between #OWS and the Tea Party,

More, lots more, at OWS Exposed.

UPDATE,
Via Instapundit, A List of Occupy Mayhem Sorted by Type

Police Clear Zuccotti Park of Protesters; the protestors must have been adding transfats and too much salt to their food since Bloomberg finally got around to it,

The mayor, at his news conference, read a statement he had issued around 6 a.m. explaining the reasoning behind the sweep. “The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day,” the mayor said in the statement. “Every since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with” because the protesters had taken over the park, “making it unavailable to anyone else.”

For Bingley and Wall Street!

A look at the Zuccotti Park zoo on Columbus Day:
Millionaire celebrities Kayne West, Russell Simmons, Mark Ruffalo and Penn Badgley (never heard of Penn before) – and, what would a protest be without Susan Sarandon and Al Sharpton? – joined the affluent and effluently odorous crowd. The Daily Mail has the details, plus fashion show,
A very privileged protest: Wearing $300 jeans and from some of the most exclusive schools, the children of the one per cent out for a good time at Occupy Wall Street
Teens from Bard and Parsons show their solidarity in NY
Chicago protesters heckle financial industry events
Dozens are arrested, including girl, 14, in first Des Moines protest
Mayor Bloomberg blames protest on warm weather
Wall St demonstrators plan march today on millionaires’ mansions

Does that mean they’ll stop by Bloomberg’s own abode? He’s The Man, after all. He says he won’t throw out the occupiers “as long as they’re not breaking any laws“, so one must guess that in Mike’s book loitering, drug use, public defecation, and what in olden days was called “creating a public nuisance” are not against any laws. Makes me pine for the days of Giuliani.

But to answer the question of whose houses, who’s heading there, Matthew Vadum reports,
Radical labor organizer Stephen Lerner of SEIU intends to terrorize the families of bank executives in their homes as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The rest of the occupiers are best represented by this character (click here for larger version),

The NYTimes says the Protests Offer Help, and Risk, for Democrats. Help! I’m being repressed!

If anything, the self-esteem generation ought to just shut up, shower, and stop bothering people. In the meantime, here are a few #OWSPickupLines: What time do you get off not working? More at Twitter.

On a personal note,
For years I worked in downtown Manhattan, but had never heard of “Zuccotti Park” until this latest fiasco. As it turns out, I walked past the “park” every morning and every evening but never stopped to find out if it had a name. It’s mostly a plaza.

Better there than at Louise Nevelson Plaza down the street. I’m rather fond of Louise’s sculptures.

Michelle Obama borrowed three very nice bracelets for Monday’s DNC fundraiser in New York (h/t Silvio),

If you’ve been saving your nickels and dimes, the cuffs are available locally at Judith Ann Jewels. The First Lady wore Katie’s Lotus cuff priced at $15,000 with 2.9 carats of diamonds, her Gothic cuff at $15,350 with 2.17 carats in diamonds and the Quatrefoil bracelet at $11,800 with 1.73 carats in diamonds.

The news is making a stir, considering the recent rumblings of class warfare; even NYC’s own mayor Bloomberg was saying there’ll be rioting on the streets. However the First Lady chose bracelets designed by Houston-based Texas A&M graduate Katie Decker, who will probably be able to hire more people, as Texas leads the nation on job creation:

The Lone Star State added 84,900 jobs in the field of professional and business services between the midpoints of 2006 and 2011.

That’s the kind of stimulus I favor.

DIfferent stimulus in fashion news comes from Paris, where Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández was strongly supporting the hotel and shoe industries:

Cristina Fernández and her daughter stayed at the luxurious “George V Hotel” ($1,500-$12,500 a night) in Paris during an official visit to France ahead of flying to New York for the United Nations General Assembly today.

Those of us who follow these stories may recall that terrorist Yasser Arafat’s widow lived at the 5-star Georges V for many years.

But I digress.

Before her meetings with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and other French officials, Cristina had the “George V Hotel’s Personal Shoppers” bring her several purses and pairs of shoes which she tried on in the comfort of her suite.

In addition to Louis Vuitton bags, Hermès Birkin and Kelly bag purses, the Argentine president purchased 20 pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes, at approximately $5,500 a pair.

You must be in Paris to get those. Here in the USA us plebes have to settle for the cheap Louboutins at Saks’s shoe department, all with the sought-after red sole,

The pair above retails for US$895, and certainly would be most appropriate for UN conclaves, even when you ought to miss the Durban III part where Ahmadinejad and Mugabe beat up on Israel.

For the budget-minded, I must admit that I own a pair of red-soled shoes,

Sharp-looking, but didn’t cost anywhere near Louboutin’s.

Ironically, they were made in Argentina.

Linked by The Other McCain. Thanks!

by Gedeon and Jules Naudet.