NYC's Sugary Drinks Ban.

Today Judge Tingling sitting at the Manhattan state Supreme Court overturned a ban introduced by New York City Mayor Micheal Bloomberg preventing the sale of sugary drinks (soda basically) in cups larger than 16floz (475ml). Primarily the law has been struck down because it seems poorly written and is full of loopholes and inconsistencies. For example it doesn't ban the sale of more then 16foz in a bottle. That obviously leads into quite silly arguments about what constitutes a bottle and what constitutes a cup.

However in his ruling Judge Tingling spoke extensively about the limits of government powers and the constitutional separation between different branches of government. Therefore the verdict could be viewed as a victory for liberty against government tyranny. I believe "administrative Leviathan" was the term Tingling used. However as the legal challenge was brought by the big corporations who make and sell soda it could also be viewed as victory for corporate tyranny over democracy.

This balance between corporate tyranny and government tyranny is something that challenges people in politics across the world almost every day but has particular resonance in China. There fast growing corporations often and increasingly controversially trample all over the rights of ordinary Chinese often with the help of corrupt local government officials. Therefore the timing of the verdict, the jailing of ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the Navy E/A 6-B 'Prowler' jet is designed to draw everyone into a little fantasy argument about who's protecting Chris Brown from being sent to prison. For example is it the corporate tyranny of his record company or is it the government tyranny of the Judge. The hope is that the Chinese particularly will get confused by the apparent contradiction that in the US the Judiciary is both part of and independent from the government.

The problem is that everybody already knows that Brown is being protected by the CIA at a federal level as part of US foreign policy. For example his alleged crimes actually spread across three states. Also I think most people understand that it's sort of Chris Brown's team role to try and keep him out of prison but ultimately it is the Judges role to resist those efforts in making their decision. Most people also appreciate that because Brown is accused of crimes against the state (perverting the course of justice etc) Rihanna's views or feelings about the matter should in no way be considered factors in the decision to prosecute.

On a related note the trial of Pavel Dmitrichenko a lead dancer at the Bolshoi ballet has begun in Russia over the acid attack on Bolshoi artistic director Sergei Filin. Obviously this story has got quite a few twists and turns in it yet but in the initial metaphor I'm Dmitrichenko while Chris Brown is Filin. In telling the story the Russians seem very angry at me. However the reason that they're angry is not because I have trashed the US' Rihanna operation by metaphorically burning off Chris Brown's face. No the Russians are angry because I'm making it plain to the US that their Rihanna operation is trashed. You see as not exactly a close friend of the US Russia would much prefer to watch them push ahead with a blown operation so they get a clearer sense of how the US operates. This is exactly what happened during the Contra Mundum/COP18/CMP8 operation which was hilarious to everyone outside of the US.

(Originally Posted) 23:40 on 11/3/13.