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1. Embed this notice
   Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 18:23:50 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwzekdznldo

   Now they're after my milkshakes.

   They'll attack ice cream next. Then pizza. They'll force all pizza to be salt-free and maybe dairy-free.

   Don't you just love it when governments assume they have the moral authority to tell you how much you're allowed to have?

   You can't even buy sugared fizzy drinks now, in some stores. Companies rightly wanting to retain their profits just started shoving sugar-free crap at us instead.

   Artificial sweeteners are worse for your health.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 18:29:30 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     Governments tax the earth until you're no longer able to have fun. A few irresponsible parents let their children get fat and lack self-control themselves, and then the government wants to protect the rest of us.

     One day, they'll pass a law that bans cars over a certain size and speed, for Your Protection. Because too many people broke the speed limit.

     Where does government intrusions into daily life end, and personal responsibility begin?

     I once heard these wise words:

     Freedom isn't safe.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 20:30:50 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres

     @rayres Your point is will taken, but I stand by my assertion. People should make their own choices.

     Again: freedom isn't safe.

   • Embed this notice
     Richard Ayres (rayres@social.linux.pizza)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 20:30:51 JST Richard Ayres

     in reply to

     @libreleah On the other hand, who will protect people from powerful, predatory companies that design their products to be as addictive as possible to ensure their profits?

     The corporations that make these products aren't your friends. They'll happily watch you die, as long as you're buying their crap while you do it. Look at the tobacco companies.

     No one has a right to a business model.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 20:46:49 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres I don't mind paying more. The problem is the companies don't charge more; they reduce their sugar content instead. Thus removing my choice altogether.

     And we're talking about milkshakes, softdrinks... which aren't that important, but it's the principle of the matter, that the state thinks it should decide for you what choices you make, before you even have a chance.

     Today it's your milkshake.

     Tomorrow it's what car you can drive, or what phone chargers you can have.

   • Embed this notice
     akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt) (lizzy@social.vlhl.dev)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 20:46:50 JST akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     @libreleah @rayres nothing is funnier to me than consumerist westerners getting upset that the milk shake will be 50 cents more expensive and thinking they're fighting for "freedom"
   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 20:53:23 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres I call them the health police.

     Their job is to make everything you want to do illegal or expensive, or both - or impossible altogether. They hate freedom of choice. They will happily treat millions of adults like irresponsible children. They don't trust us to use caution or moderation.

     It's a symptom of a larger problem, namely that we are governed by control freaks. I oppose authoritarianism in all its forms. I start from the assumption that the individual should get to choose.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 20:57:50 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres Unfortunately, the way they act is only a representation of the wider public, who largely support such measures because they aren't educated about anything.

     Take the recent Online Safety Act for example. There's no evidence of serious widespread harm being caused to the behaviour or mental health of teens using the internet. Some may misbehave.

     Guess what. Now the state can fine you for failing to remove fully legal content from your website because it might upset a few parents.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 21:05:08 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres Back to the sugar tax.

     Dr Pepper. I tried some recently, and it was vile. Bland. Nowhere near as good as it used to be. And I thought I was being crazy, so I looked it up.

     They did in fact reduce their sugar content almost in half, since the sugar tax came into effect, to avoid the larger levy.

     And now my Dr Pepper is not worth drinking. I'm talking about the sugared version, not the sugar-free one.

     Same with other products. They didn't raise the price, they reduced the sugar.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 21:07:29 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres Because some people drink gallons of the stuff every week, people like me who occasionally enjoy something and who consume in moderation, now have no choice at all.

     And childhood obesity hasn't been solved. it has actually gone up, since the sugar taxes went into effect. Because people probably just drink more softdrinks.

     Plus, the artificial sweeteners screw up your metabolism, so you don't burn fat as quickly.

     They should introduce a sucralose tax instead.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 21:11:27 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres well, yes. exploitation of sex workers should be punished, since that is a violation of worker's rights. i believe an honest day's pay deserves an honest and fair wage. a lot of those porn sites are criminal in my opinion, plus they rip off a lot of the videos and people don't get paid fairly.

     AI-generated pornography is also problematic. that's a big thing nowadays.

     this is something we can probably agree on. not that i use porn myself. but i respect people's choices.

   • Embed this notice
     akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt) (lizzy@social.vlhl.dev)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 21:11:28 JST akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     @libreleah @rayres again, the solution is to aggressively dismantle the porn industry & hold the people profiting from it accountable instead of censoring whatever individuals or self-employed sex workers put up
   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Tuesday, 29-Apr-2025 21:13:27 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Richard Ayres
     • akkoma flavored lizzy (fleckenstein@lizzy.rs alt)

     @lizzy @rayres and after you're done making your movie, you might like to enjoy a milkshake, right?