Sugar tax

Paleocon wrote:

... 1.5 mile run in under 13 minutes...

This caught my eye, and I had to look it up to double check. Average walking speed is 3 miles an hour. So you have to move at roughly twice walking speed to complete in time. Which sounds to me like a sustained, relaxed jog. Does this sound correct, or am I oversimplifying things?

Strewth wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

... 1.5 mile run in under 13 minutes...

This caught my eye, and I had to look it up to double check. Average walking speed is 3 miles an hour. So you have to move at roughly twice walking speed to complete in time. Which sounds to me like a sustained, relaxed jog. Does this sound correct, or am I oversimplifying things?

It's slightly faster than a relaxed jog, but only barely. If your lungs are burning after 13 for 1.5, you are way out of shape and will get eaten by zombies. The shotgun won't save you.

I just passed a police written test yesterday and the recruiter warned everyone in the room that half the people in the room will not pass the physical. I looked at the requirements and chuckled quietly to myself.

Paleocon wrote:

I just passed a police written test yesterday and the recruiter warned everyone in the room that half the people in the room will not pass the physical. I looked at the requirements and chuckled quietly to myself.

You won't find it all that funny when you're selected to become Robocop.

LobsterMobster wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

I just passed a police written test yesterday and the recruiter warned everyone in the room that half the people in the room will not pass the physical. I looked at the requirements and chuckled quietly to myself.

You won't find it all that funny when you're selected to become Robocop.

Thank you for your ... cooperation.

Strewth wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

... 1.5 mile run in under 13 minutes...

This caught my eye, and I had to look it up to double check. Average walking speed is 3 miles an hour. So you have to move at roughly twice walking speed to complete in time. Which sounds to me like a sustained, relaxed jog. Does this sound correct, or am I oversimplifying things?

My rule of thumb is: 6mph = 10 minute miles = a reasonable pace for someone in reasonable shape to sustain over a handful of miles = a "relaxed jog"

1.5 miles in under 13 minutes requires ~ 6.9 mph average speed, which is a little more challenging, but still far from an outright sprint.

As someone who's been running 2-3 times a week for the last year, I can run at 6mph for miles on end and easily carry on a conversation the whole way. 7mph would have me breathing hard enough to make conversation challenging.

Minarchist wrote:

Likewise, you can lose weight by eating solely at McDonald's.

Or Twinkies, for that matter

while DanB has yet to convince me that body weight isn't essentially a calories in / calories out equation, i do concede based on the evidence that refined sugar is a danger to our species over and above its high caloric content, based on the damage it does to the body and its known addictive properties.

the problem as I see it is very complex and multifaceted. Let's ignore for a minute that in this country at least, taxes insure that HFCS is cheaper than market value via corn subsidies, and tariffs / other factors increase the cost of competitors like cane sugar or foreign sugar. Let's ignore that there is a veritable army of corporate special interests reliant on moving huge amounts of refined sugar into consumers' mouths. Let's ignore the fact that sin taxes don't work, generally speaking.

All that aside, we have at least three generations of people who absolutely love sugar, and this is a phenomenon that, unlike tobacco or alcohol, begins before kids even get their first tooth. Our bodies have evolved to seek out sugar. With zero help from corporate America and the knowledge that sin taxes don't really work, I have to assume this is a problem that will be avoided by people afraid of pills and just medicated away by the rest of the population. that way, most people wins (Monsanto, M&M Mars, Hershey, Big Pharma, our own cravings) with the only side effect being a species reliant on outside drugs to survive.

Seth wrote:

Let's ignore the fact that sin taxes don't work, generally speaking.

They don't? (Sure, it's only wikipedia, but the linked sources seem pretty solid.)

Also, I know from personal experience that the perception of sweetness is incredibly flexible. Reduce consumption of overly sweet processed foods for a while, and stuff like cooked carrots becomes sweet, fruit becomes *really* sweet, and a candy bar becomes disgustingly cloying. If it's no longer essentially free for companies to add HFCS to every damn thing, palates could change and America's addiction to sugar could be satisfied with healthier foods. In theory.

jonstock wrote:
Seth wrote:

Let's ignore the fact that sin taxes don't work, generally speaking.

They don't? (Sure, it's only wikipedia, but the linked sources seem pretty solid.)

Also, I know from personal experience that the perception of sweetness is incredibly flexible. Reduce consumption of overly sweet processed foods for a while, and stuff like cooked carrots becomes sweet, fruit becomes *really* sweet, and a candy bar becomes disgustingly cloying. If it's no longer essentially free for companies to add HFCS to every damn thing, palates could change and America's addiction to sugar could be satisfied with healthier foods. In theory.

I've witnessed this effect myself.

I go on an annual "cut out sugar" quest and try to eliminate everything corn syrup to white rice. I always end up feeling a whole lot better at the end of it and the odd side effect is that things like red bell peppers taste like licking lollipops.

i may have inadvertently mixed up sin taxes with banning products. i stand corrected!

edit: that's not to say I support sin taxes since I think they're remarkably regressive. Just correcting my use of the word.

I syntax support do not.

Tanglebones wrote:

I syntax support do not.

Clearly, we need to implement a syntax sin tax.

Malor wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

I syntax support do not.

Clearly, we need to implement a syntax sin tax.

/facepalm-to-highfive

Clover, is that a Pet Shop Boys send-up? I approve of that.

Paleocon wrote:

It occurred to me that the physical requirements (25 pushups in one minute, 35 situps in one minute, 1.5 mile run in under 13 minutes) were all requirements I was expected to pass back in high school annual physical fitness assessments. And I don't recall more than a handful of folks back then failing to meet or exceed them.

I suspect this might have a non-trivial impact on our culture of obesity.

Is this still a requirement in schools?

ranalin wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

It occurred to me that the physical requirements (25 pushups in one minute, 35 situps in one minute, 1.5 mile run in under 13 minutes) were all requirements I was expected to pass back in high school annual physical fitness assessments. And I don't recall more than a handful of folks back then failing to meet or exceed them.

I suspect this might have a non-trivial impact on our culture of obesity.

Is this still a requirement in schools?

It wasn't when I was in school (graduating HS in '97)

Tanglebones wrote:
ranalin wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

It occurred to me that the physical requirements (25 pushups in one minute, 35 situps in one minute, 1.5 mile run in under 13 minutes) were all requirements I was expected to pass back in high school annual physical fitness assessments. And I don't recall more than a handful of folks back then failing to meet or exceed them.

I suspect this might have a non-trivial impact on our culture of obesity.

Is this still a requirement in schools?

It wasn't when I was in school (graduating HS in '97)

interesting... it was in 87. So in 10 years time we started the turn of the US into a bunch of fat bodies.