Going to New York? Take Your Own Salt

.There's an article in WeaselZippers.us today on the disputed ban in New York on labeling fast foods with the amount of salt they contain.  The new regulations call for the addition of little salt shaker images on the menu or, presumably, the wrappers of said foods.  The number of salt shakers shown depends on the amount OVER the daily minimum requirement contained therein.

This is a  pet idea of Mayor Bill de Blasio and it is being hotly contested by the National Restaurant Association which is adamantly "aginst."  This foolishness has reached all the way to the highest court in New York State where it is currently being debated. 

Another hotly-contested food law that went to the high court  was former Mayor Bloomberg's ban on Big Gulps.  He wanted them limited to 32 oz.? rather than the 64-oz. then available.  Bloomberg's head was so far in the clouds on this one that it clearly never dawned on him that you could buy two at a time.  It did to whoever was on the bench and it was roundly rejected. 

Not sure who is the genius behind this one, but a pack of NY cigarettes now costs $12.50.  That's per pack, not per carton.  This price includes a $4.35 state tax and a $1.60 sales tax.  I paid $45 for a carton yesterday at Redondo Tobacco.

Now that all of you gentle readers are now frothing at the mouth at the incivility of NY laws toward any kind of fun -- forgot to mention this - it's no longer punishable by fine to urinate on a NY sidewalk.  Which you do have to admit ends all of this troubling nonsense about which bathroom for what sex.    Just whip it out and pee on the street of your current location. 

The commentators on the salt article had a lot of fun. 
"Gotta meet my salt connection - wanna split a nickel bag?"

Are we going to start getting frisked for salt shakers as we go into a restaurant?

We should be desalinizing the oceans - all of that salt can't be good for sea life.

Waiters could tell nervous diners, "Oh, the salt shaker?  It identifies as pepper."

It's okay to pee on the street, but not salt your food?  WTF?!

Welcome to the People's Republic of Gotham!  (Got any salt on ya?)