The "Soda Tax" Myth Part 1: It Will Make You Healthy

Today, I'm going to take the time to debunk the myth that the soda tax will make people healthier. Now, before I start, I want to say a few things: First off, I'm not with a beverage company, I'm not paid by one, nor am I getting free swag from this. Not only that, I also want to point out that I'm not dismissing the fact that soda isn't great for you, but it isn't inherently bad. It seems so many people want to make it an either/or debate, when really, it isn't. But more on that later.

Soda alone does not make a person fat. In fact, simply put, soda in moderation isn't bad at all. If you have a can of soda once every two days, you're not doing that much harm to your body. If you exercise, you're in even better shape. Every day, you see people eating fast food, buying junk food, and simply consuming what they can either get their hands on the easiest or they enjoy. If, in the end, they exercise, stay active, and balance it with healthy food, really, what's the problem?

The idea of "taxing soda" is that it reduces consumption. There's a few problems with that logic.

For starters, it only taxes soda made with sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup. You know what it doesn't tax? DIET Soda. So, the guy who wants to buy soda still can buy it without paying tax if he's willing to put something worse into his body.

Wait, what?

Point 1: DIET SODA IS BAD FOR YOU

For starters, Aspartame, the sweetener found in Nutra-Sweet, is commonly used in diet sodas. For me and others, it can actually trigger asthma attacks and other problems not related to caffeine consumption itself. Side-effects of it include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood. The FDA has approved it, but it's only allowed in 90 countries out of over 150. In fact, it's 180 times sweeter than sugar. Neat, huh? So all the joy of sugar, but with much more painful side-effects. Throw in the fact that some people seem to ignore the fact that it is just as bad as soda itself, minus the calories, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. The FDA has approved it, but it's only allowed in 90 countries out of over 150. Just to be clear, the stuff isn't going to kill you unless you drink a keg full of the stuff, and even then you just won't leave the toilet for a week.

Point 2: IT TAXES YOU FOR BEING CHEAP
Now, again, people keep referring to this thing as a "soda tax". The problem, though, is that it isn't a SODA tax; it's a SUGAR tax.

So, lets say you decide to not drink soda anymore because you hate the tax, so you go to the store to buy some juice. You have a choice between Mott's 100% Fruit Juice at $3.99 a gallon or a no-name brand for $2. You go up to the counter, pull out your $2... and then you're hit with a 2-cent per ounce tax! WHAT?!

Well, here's the problem: The juice you just bought has sugar in it. Yep, sugar! That means you would be required to pay an added tax on that juice to make you healthier. Your cost of living just rose thanks to this tax!

So the tax that was supposed to encourage people to make healthier choices may do just the opposite in some cases. Instead, they may buy bottled water which, in some cases, is actually pretty bad for you. It also makes it more expensive to make a healthy choice as well.


Point 3: IT TAXES YOU FOR BEING ACTIVE AND HEALTHY!

OK, lets just say you don't drink soda, and you only drink 100% natural juice. Awesome, and good for you! Personally, I couldn't do it, but still, good for you.

You've just hung out with your friends and played a great game of basketball, or maybe you just got done riding your bike around Fairmount Park, maybe even to work. You've worked hard, you're tired, and now you need to get some nutrients back in your body. So, just like most people, you go into the store and buy a Gateroade, Powerade, or maybe some other sort of sports drink.

BAM! 2 CENT AN OUNCE TAX!

Yes, your sports drink is now taxed thank to this law, so now there's a tax on being active and fit and not paying to drink bottled water. What? When was the last time you saw a water fountain in Philadelphia?

Point 4: TAXING THOSE WHO NEED IT

And now, the final group. Diabetics.

Now, this law, to those who want to point to the health benefits, is supposed to help stop people from getting diabetes, and to be honest, that's a great thing to try and stop. But, sadly, some people have it, and some people develop it at even a young age.

Thanks to this law, their little energy boost just got taxed.

In my life, I only knew of one person with the disease, and I want to state now that I don't know what type it was. I don't know if it was because they had low blood sugar, or if it was high. In the end, I knew they had the disease and it was a problem. Periodically while we were out, their blood sugar would get low and, being out of whatever it was that they may have had on them, we would go into the store and get a bottle of soda, or tea, or anything else with sugar in it to drink.

This tax will effect them as well.




I started by saying that we all want to paint soda in one way or another in this debate. There are people who so easily want, and do, compare it to smoking tobacco when, really, it's apples and oranges. There are also those who may go to far in their love of the drink to say it isn't bad at all. These people are also wrong.

Soda is fine.

We, as a society over the past 30 years, have taken the easy way out in these problems too many times. We seem to look to our government not to protect us, but to protect us from ourselves. This is one of the instances where we must start saying enough. This is when we need to start saying we need to be treated as adults, not children.

Soda isn't great for you. Personally, I drink about 20 - 32oz a day. Everyday. How and why can I do that, you ask? Because I can, and I know how much I can take. Everyone on this planet is different. What's right for you may not be right for me, and vice-versa. As Lemmy Kilmeister would tell you, "Anything that's good for me is fucking poison for a human being!" Actually, that one is true and no exaggeration, but you get my point.

I'm not trying to preach to everyone that soda is great, but I am saying that we need to start treating this just for what it is; a personal health matter.

Parents: Don't give your kid too much soda or sweets, it isn't good for them. A little treat now and then is fine, but not all the time. If you're an adult, just make sure you know how much you can handle and make sure you exercise properly.

In my humble opinion, if the City of Philadelphia cared about your health and that of everyone around, they would instead talk to Trojan and give out free condoms to the people in the city. Considering it's cheaper and easier to prevent STD's than it can be to treat it ($1 a condom if you're lucky)... yeah, lets focus on that and save a few more lives.

Child Leashes: Really, WHY?!

I. Hate. Child Leashes.

To me, there is no symbol, no outright disregard for all that is intelligent and a sure sign that the person shouldn't be a parent than having this kid on a LEASH!

Today, I went to a corner store in Center City to get something real quick. While on my way, I saw a kid. I thought he was adorable, and I then noticed something else while on my way into the store: A leash. A. LEASH. Attached to the other end of this leash was a father. The man had to be about 300lbs, 5' 6", and looked like some cross between a gansta and a punk, emphasis on the former rather than the later. While I've gone on and on about how I hate it when people stare at me, people judge me, etc... well, there are exceptions to the rule. Like doing something that doesn't just harm yourself, but an innocent child.

To quote the Simpsons, "This leash demeans us both."

To me, the leash shows you don't care about the kid and their emotional well-being. It means you're treating them as nothing more than a status symbol, an accessory... that you can not, and will not, be bothered with doing what you need in order to keep them in line, to help them grow up into responsible members of society. It means that, instead, you treat them as a pet; to be trained, to be obeyed by you.

You SUCK! You sicken me!

To me, the ONLY time, THE ONLY TIME, you put a kid on a leash is if you don't have a choice. If the child has some sort of emotional problem, A REAL ONE, where they could otherwise really, really, REALLY do something harmful to themselves without knowing it... yes, I can understand it. If your child is a god-damn hellspawn, by all means, do it. This kid wasn't. He was a sweet, little, adorible thing. Not misbehaving, not suffering from anything... just standing there.

Do me a favor: The next time you want to put your kid in one of these "harneshes", think for a moment that your not doing it keep your child in line. Instead, you're humiliating both yourself AND your child.

Photo thanks to Mick Laders.

Bottled Water: Worse Than Tap!

I always laughed at people who thought it was "cool" or "hip" or whatever to buy and drink bottled water. "Well, it's better than Philly tap water!"

No... well, not by much.

Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants, including cancer-linked chemicals three times higher than California's health standard, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group.

The findings challenge the popular impression — and marketing pitch — that bottled water is purer than tap water, the researchers say.

In the Wal-Mart and Giant Food bottled water, the highest concentration of chlorine byproducts, known as trihalomethanes, was over 35 parts per billion. California requires 10 parts per billion or less, and the industry's International Bottled Water Association makes 10 its voluntary guideline. The federal limit is 80.

Water researcher Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment of the University at Albany, who had no role in the study, singled out trihalomethanes as the biggest concern because of strong research links to cancer.

"These are levels that should not be in bottled water," he said.

So you basically aren't getting a ton of difference between the tap and the bottle; just the convince of a bottle if you can't find a water fountain around and $1.50 less in your pocket.

Source: USA Today

Councilman Wilson Goode, Keep Your Money!

This is relatively new and I just heard about it:

Philadelphia city coffers are $836 richer thanks to a check from Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr.

The personal check, hand delivered Friday to City Controller Alan Butkovitz, comes ten days after Goode promised to reimburse the city for what he calls "mistakes" his controversial aide, Latrice Bryant, made on her timesheets this summer.

Source: Fox 29 News

Councilman Goode, do us a favor: Keep your money.

Your money means nothing to the hundreds of thousands of citizens who have witnessed the devastating toll you've taken upon our city government. You and your aid have made a mockery, dear sir, of what our city government is about. It is nothing short of terrible that you have not done the one deed, the one single action that would redeem you. The one thing that anyone looking at this situation, anyone who has the facts they have concerning you, your employee, and your relationship with said employee, that would redeem you and her actions.

Fire Latrice Bryant.

The fine you paid, this fine of $836, was supposed to be paid by YOUR STAFFER. Because she didn't, you did. The City Controller said, "This is a clear signal to all government workers that bad behavior won't be tolerated."It is, dear sir, anything BUT! Instead, you've given an example of what happens if you don't follow the rules and the laws. You've shown that if you don't follow the rules and do as your supposed to, your boss will pay to bail you out, especially if your sleeping with them.

You've shown the citizens of Philadelphia that the laws do not apply to the members of City Council or it's staff. You've shown that lying about when you work is fine unless your caught, you've shown that racism and slander and liable is fine and should not be fought against, you've shown that sleeping with your boss and having relations with them, even when your supposedly working, is fine. Wilson Goode, Jr, you've just shown that you believe City Council and it's staff is, in fact, ABOVE the law.

Keep your filthy, dirty, stinking, no-good money!

If you want to do some idiotic P.R. stunt to save yourself, if you want to try and make some idiotic and EMPTY gesture as to why the citizens of this city shouldn't storm your office and demand you leave... well, don't bother. The sooner you fire Latrice Bryant, the better. The sooner you simply admit that she was wrong for having those racist signs, the sooner you simply admit that, yes, THIS IS AN ISSUE.... the sooner you finally dismiss her, the better off the City of Philadelphia will be.

City Council and Mayor Nutter: SAY SOMETHING, YOU BASTARDS!

Mayor Nutter, you should be ashamed of yourself! For not saying ANYTHING, for not speaking out against this... this OBVIOUS corruption, you have instead simply resided yourself to letting this happen! By not doing anything you've become as much of a problem with this as if you had witnessed this yourself! Yes, I understand the need of keeping peace with the Council Members. Yes, I understand that speaking out of this may, in the future, make working with the City Council harder. And, yes, I understand that the current City Budget are a slightly bigger deal.

At the same time, Mayor Nutter, this scandal is just going to get worst by the day without you squashing this in the bud! The longer this goes on, the worst it looks upon yourself and your promise, dear sir, your PROMISE to end corruption in City Hall.

Councilman Goode, keep your god-damn money. We sure as hell don't want it.

Hard Time Posting...

Well, this blog isn't 100% professional, but it isn't 100% personal, either. It's a mixture of both. I come here to vent about politics and, really, my political views can, have, and will piss some people off. But that aside, this is a personal blog first and a professional place second.

I mention this due to something personal that came up relating to my business. The blog didn't turn away business; in fact, it actually attracted some. It's really is interesting, really.

I'm having a hard time posting, though, because the nature of the reply warranted me to think a little more about these posts and the attention they receive. But look forward to me still posting about the albums I listen to, metal news in general, as well as news and notes from Philadelphia and beyond!

White Guilt: Banning Menthol Cigarettes

This is just sad.

Smoking menthol cigarettes has become politically charged as Congress considers legislation that would give the federal government the power to regulate tobacco products for the first time. The bill, which the House of Representatives approved last week in a bipartisan vote, and which now awaits a Senate vote in the fall, bans clove, vanilla and other flavorings in cigarettes.

But the bill’s sponsors in the House decided that the Food and Drug Administration should make the decision on how to regulate menthol, the most common flavoring. Menthol cigarettes account for more than a quarter of all cigarette sales and, studies and surveys show, are the preference of the overwhelming majority of African-American smokers, as well as a significant proportion of all teenagers ages 12 to 17.

Take Away their Menthols? Is That Cool? - New York Times

In essence, the entire reasoning for the legislation boils down to two things: First, they can ban cigarettes in some form outright, something they know they couldn't do for a bunch of reasons, and the second, "Well, let's do whatever we can to placate blacks." Of course, it's mostly the Democratic party doing this...

Eh, the legislation is just stupid and misguided. The article points out that 75% of black smokers smoke menthols and that marketing has been directed towards blacks... really, just, wow. Obvious stuff, though. It's about as bad as trying to ban rap because it influences blacks to kill and rob, as well as leading to death and being heavily marketed towards blacks.

Really dumb legislation, and I hope that more people rise up and say "No, don't support this."

8/8/08 - One of the Most Unlucky Days Ever

Got some personally bad and terrible news, but at the same time, it's manageable. I won't bore you about it... at least not yet.

Too late in the day for me to wax poetic about everything, but the three most important things are this:

• 1. Russia attacked Georgia, basically starting a war.
• 2. John Edwards admitted he cheated on his wife after she was diagnosed with Cancer.
• 3. China started the Olympic Games, despite countless human and civil rights violations.

It's been said, namely in China, that the number 8 is a incredibly lucky number. I'm sure a lot of people are going to disagree after today.