Why are beverages the current news topics in WA State and NYC?

I am back because I feel like things are starting to feel a little more back to normal in my life after a lot of major changes. But the real reason I wanted to post something today is because of 2 beverage related stories in the news right now. One is about NYC's mayor Michael Bloomberg putting a limit on the size of soda pop. The other is the sale of hard liquor at regular Washington State retailers.

Here is how Mayor Michael Bloomberg SHOULD HAVE handled the soda issue:

Instead of limiting the size of a drink, the right thing to do is to allow the consumer to choose which drink size they want by making it mandatory for places to offer smaller size drinks if only large sizes exist. This is not a moderation issue but an issue of consumer choice which is a big difference. The only thing Mayor Bloomberg has done here is likely unite Pepsi and Coke drinkers behind an issue which is unheard of these days!

Meanwhile, Washington State has its own beverage issues today:

Let us hope that kids are not using today's newspapers here in Washington State as an educational resource. That is because nearly half of the front section of today's newspaper is ads for hard liquor. With beverage names like "Skinny Girl", these could appeal to young kids. It is kind of sad when even the newspaper is not a very family friendly way of getting news.

Conclusion:

With all of the bad things going on in this country today from Washington State to NYC such as high unemployment and rising fuel costs, can we please just skip the discussion on whether or not people should be able to drink soda and can we please cut back the "Black Friday" type ads to announce the start of hard liquor sales here in Washington? I know that is too much to ask, but at least I tried!