Bloomberg Says A Big Fat No To Big Sodas

New York City Mayor Bloomberg is asking the city to enact the first ban-in-the-country on super sized sodas.  The sale of any sodas larger than 16 ounces-the size of a medium coffee-would be prohibited in restaurants, fast food chains, movie theaters, sidewalk carts and sports arenas. The ban would not apply to diet sodas.  He's hoping to get the ban enacted by March 2013.

Bloomberg's proposal requires the approval of the Board of Health-members who are all appointed by him.

“Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the United States, public health officials are wringing their hands saying, ‘Oh, this is terrible,’ ” Mr. Bloomberg said in an interview on Wednesday in City Hall.

“New York City is not about wringing your hands; it’s about doing something,” he said.

In New York City, more than half the adults are overweight or obese.

                                                           

Thin Woman Kicked Off Plane So Fat Teen Could Fly

Earlier this month, Southwest Airlines kicked off a thin woman from a Las Vegas flight to make room for a fat teenager.  The 110 lb. woman bought a full fare ticket--the last seat on the plane.  She got on the plane, sat down in her seat and buckled up, ready to go. 

The fat teenager arrived late and boarded the plane.  The flight attendant told the thin woman she would have to leave as they needed to make room for the overweight teenager.  The 14 year old teenager was traveling alone and the parents had not purchased a second seat for her.  The woman protested and said, "It didn't seem right that I should have to leave to accommodate someone who had only paid for one seat." She was told to get off the plane.  She was booked on the next flight and given a free ticket by Southwest.

If they would have asked me to leave that plane, I would have been pissed.  I would not want to have been inconvenienced just because of a fat person.  
If the teenager had not been fat, this would have been a non-issue.  Were the parents in complete denial about their fat teenager?  Did they not know about Southwest's policy requiring passengers too fat to put their armrest down comfortably, to buy a second seat?
As people are getting fatter and fatter, this problem is not going away.  I can see airlines in the future, asking us our weight before we purchase a ticket.

You May Be Paying A "Fat Tax" Soon!

The average American drinks more than 48 gallons of sodas a year, which researchers believe is a major contributor to our obesity problem.  To reduce your consumption of sodas, doctors, scientists, and lawmakers have proposed a "fat-tax" on sodas and other high-calorie drinks such as energy and sports drinks as well as candy.
What do you think? If you had to pay extra for soda and candy, would you think twice before buying it?  A recent web poll of 1,000 people said yes--72% of them would think twice before buying it.  Maybe that would be a good thing.