Children of the High Fructose Corn Syrup News

I've been noticing that the big media and other folks are becoming aware of the problem of High Fructose Corn Syrup in a wide range of food products from soda pop to jelly to whole grain bread.

I've considered the Corn Grower's Association's attempt to placate the unwashed masses. They have called those of us who question their product's safety stupid. How dare I question their great product that makes food cheaper with a longer shelf life - especially baked goods.

I've considered their argument, which is their product is fine as long as you use it "in moderation..."

Yes. That's quite a consideration. I've been considering a lot silly things like facts along with their suggestions. Too much natural cane sugar or HFCS - either way, if you eat too much of anything - you'll get fat. I have been mulling that over for a while, and trying to balance their argument in my head. I've decided that their argument has some merit. The fact is, that you can eat pretty much whatever you want - and you won't gain weight - as long as you eat just below the total calorie number that you need based on your size and metabolisim.

You or I can chow down on about 3/4 of an order of Chili's Awesome Blossom:
2,710 calories
203 g fat 194 g carbs
6,360 mg sodium

As long as we don't eat anything else. For about a day. That's 24 hours. Technically, we'll be okay. Now, granted, thats about enough sodium to wreck Troy and if I'm going to eat that much fat, I'd rather just eat a big plate of bacon. However, I'm trying to illustrate a point.

However, it is when you wash it down with the 17 teaspoons of HFCS in a can of Cola... and at Chili's you've got bottomless glasses - so multiply that by at least 3. Let's just say now you're up to at least 33 teaspoons of the junk with your tasty Onion Bomb. Now you're over your calorie amount, and now you're packin' away the pounds.

Remember, we'll be fine, as long as you didn't have a breakfast or a dinner, and only drank water all day long. Sugar, fat, carbs, or HFCS - as long as you don't go over the number. This is the basis of Weight Watcher's system as well.

But this is Blasphemes, so you know there's going to be a catch somewhere.

But let's look back at the concept of "in moderation..." It is kind of funny, if you're completely unaware of how often you really are ingesting HFCS. And then there's the news from Con-Agra in regards to trace amounts of mercury found in HFCS-laced foods like ketchup. The thing is, people don't just eat ketchup. HFCS is in everything.

The PR spokesperson said a person would have to eat 100 pounds of ketchup a day to reach the safe exposure levels. Whew! But if you reverse-engineer this reassuring thought, just how much HFCS is in ketchup? Or that Cola? Considering that, plus the USDA's data that the According to the USDA, average person ate 128.3 pounds of HFCS in 2006, maybe we can figure out how much HFCS-related mercury people ingest a year, let's throw the hypopthetical worse-case scenario that all HFCS has mercury in it.

Also, mercury builds up in the muscle of fish, can we just assume the same for humans? Let's ask Jeremy Piven.

If people are eating all this HFCS regularly and little bits of mercury are adding up... then maybe that's something worth looking into? It's not necessarily a crisis, but it's also not as trivial as the spokesperson tried to make it sound. Unless you're a parent.

Which is why this is in the Children of High Fructose Corn Syrup file. Because if you have small children, and you read the label of the "food" you're giving them - their juice boxes, their fruit roll ups, the animal crackers - I'm going to bet that HFCS is not only in all those products, but fairly high on the ingredient list - which means there's a lot in it. You're giving your children trace amounts of mercury - which is deemed unsafe for developing brains.

-- hmmmm... now here's a thought, the anictdotal link (meaning wrong) to the increase of autism in children was mercury and vaccines. What if they were on the right track, with the mercury, but it wasn't the vaccines? -- look I'm no scientist... but will someone ASK a scientist if this is possible?

PREVIOUSLY: Teeny Bits Of Mercury Found In High Fructose Corn Syrup Foods

Bad News for Bad People

Lux Interior (Oct. 21, 1946 - Feb. 4, 2009)

Well you can't dig me you can't dig nothing.
Do you want the real thing or are you just talking?
Do you understand?
I'm your Garbageman.
~Cramps

Lux's vocals jumped and weaved around the jangly guitars and throbbing back beat. Like a child swinging through the monkey bars oblivious to time and surroundings. Ignorant of pressing issues - just having fun.

A black and yellow ghoul-like creature with a six foot pompadour leered at me off the cover of the album knowingly. Just slap that vein a few more times . . . The back cover offered no clues as to what was happening either. Lots of ghouls connected together by sinews and tendons and hair - a sort of Gothic escher painting.

This is one of my fondest rock and roll moments. As I searched for some hint as to what was going on I was being cleansed by the sounds coming out of the speakers a foot away. It dawned on me - John Cougar is bullshit, Bob Dylan is a whiny chatty Cathy, and I could do without Paul McCartney telling me that love will solve all of my problems. I would have no more 12 hour guitar solos from the Dead and I would ignore all "important" Elvis Costello music. I had no more room in me. It was being filled with schlock, puns, b-movie images, and soft core porn all over a bed of psychobilly. And it felt great.

This past Wednesday, Lux Interior, lead singer of the Cramps, died. Heart condition.

"We sell a lot of records, but somehow just hearing that you've sold so many records doesn't hit you quite as much as when a lot of people call you up and are obviously really broken up because you've died."
~Lux Interior

The Cramps have had a career as bizarre as their stage shows. Formed in 1976 by Lux and a hitchhiker he picked up who would later become his wife (learn from this kids), the Cramps created a sexually charged punk-rockabilly style that was truly unique at the time. Part of the CBGB's crowd, they never really fit in. They were not as crunching as the Ramones or as artsy as Television. They were, simply, fun.

The live shows were truly spectacular. I have seen the other members of the band leave the stage for a break while Lux licked a female audience member. For 10 minutes. She was soaking wet by the end of it. I have seen him cry while singing "It's just that Song" drinking wine from a shoe he grabbed from someone while squirming on the ground. Say one thing for Lux Interior, say he left it on the stage.

The last time I saw the Cramps perform was at the Vic Theater here in Chicago. The costumed crowed was singing, swaying, laughing, and rocking. Lux was clad in a leather g-string and at one point made an amazing climb up to the balcony (he was 60 at the time) where he proceeded to smash his microphone and dangle the remaining live wires into beers of the balconyers.

It's just so much fun. You pull in to one town and people scream, 'I love you, I love you, I love you.' And you go to a bar and have a great rock 'n' roll show and go to the next town and people scream, 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.' It's hard to walk away from all that.
~Lux Interior

Lux Interior reminded me that rock is supposed to be fun. There is no shame in screaming at the top of your lungs, "Calling all cows down on the farm. Close the door, you born in a barn?" He gave us great songs, Don't Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk, GooGooMuck, What's Inside a Girl, Bikini Girls with Machine Guns, end Over, I'll Drive, and Tear It Up. Unafraid, the Cramps have opened for the Police and headlined at the Napa State Mental Hospital. They have rocked, shlocked, hooked, and banged all over the world. And now it is over.

Lux Interior may be gone but his attitude, and his music, will live on.

The War Against America's Kids

Dora the Explorer and Caillou are calculated subversive propaganda machines brought forth by foreign governments to undermine the sanctity and security of the United States.

Since the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte [TLCAN], French: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain [ALENA]) the trilateral trade bloc in North America created by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, there has been a war against the United States. And more importantly, against the future of America - through the children.

A note of history, Prior to sending it to the House, Bill Clinton introduced clauses, which, he hoped, would provide protections for American workers. It also required our “partners” to adhere to environmental practices and regulations similar those of the United States. Being able to enforce these clauses, especially with Mexico, was considered questionable at best. The House grudgingly approved NAFTA in, 1993, by a vote of 234 to 200. 132 Republicans and only 102 Democrats. That vote reflected the resistance President Clinton faced in force feeding the idea that NAFTA would truly benefit all Americans. The agreement was signed into law in the U.S. on December 8, 1993 by President Bill Clinton and went into effect on January 1, 1994.

Since then, the Canadian and Mexican governments have questioned whether they got the raw end of the stick. Ask a Canadian commodity exporter, or small Mexican corn farmer how well NAFTA has worked out for them.

They each decided to get back at the United States.

In a two pronged attack, the Canadian and Mexican governments began an all out assault on their neighbor. Knowing they couldn’t win a battle with their armies, they decided a secret war against the American children would be their most effective assault. Patience would reward them both.

1999, in a hidden bunker in Tijuana, the pilot episode of Dora the Explorer was created.

The show is about a little girl, about age 8, or “Ocho” that wanders around in the Mexican jungle with zero adult supervision. She is bilingual, has an enormous head, and screams every line of dialog. A talking naked monkey, save for his oversized red ‘boots’ which is where he derives his proper name, accompanies Dora on her trailblazing quests. Dora carries a backpack that is alive that holds a talking map that has a stereotypical Semitic voice. Since the map is beneficial to the outcome, it is questionable as to whether the character voice is intentionally Zionistic or not.

In her travels, there are typically many hazards Dora must overcome including downed bridges, falling stars, lost cities of gold suddenly appearing and speaking Spanish. There is also the presence of a bandit named “Swiper the Fox,” a kleptomaniac foiled only by screaming, “Swiper no swiping” a couple of times. No doubt this character shows kids that a life of petty crime is acceptable? At the very least, that crime can be tolerated as long as you simply ask your aggressor not to take your belongings.

Dora is capable of handling herself, as long as the kids speak along with her in a basic pretend low budget “interactivity.” The faux interactivity forces the little “Nino’s y Nina’s” to scream out Spanish to move the story line. The repetition and scientifically designed songs with Spanish phrases causes memorization and learning for the targeted age group of 1-4 year olds.

Also, and more genius, is the subtexual context in Dora the Explorer’s lack of parental figures that creates erosion of the American family unit. The lack of effectual parental figures, save for the once-in-a-while-product-placement crossover of her older cousin Diego, [which is the male cross over version of Dora] creates the illusion to a younger age set that parental supervision is not only unnecessary, it in fact, dilutes fun. Any parental involvement in a child’s activity should be shunned and greeted with disdain.

The success of Dora the Explorer merchandise ($1Billion and counting) is a calculation of the success of the mission to erode the traditional American family, and injecting Spanish into a toddler’s vocabulary.

To the North, in 1998, a second project was hatched. Operation Pebble. Theirs based on the French Canadian books by Christine L'Heureux. In French, the name cailloiu means, “pebble”, but can also mean “Bald Head.”

The storyline revolves around a, 4-year bald “big boy”, named Caillou. Caillou either whines or speaks in a baby voice. He’s rarely in trouble with his hopelessly perky and indulgent parents, who are at his constant beck and call. The family dynamic here is the exact opposite of the Mexican Dora Project. The undermining aspect of the authoritarian love is not limited to his overseeing parental units, but all adults that he encounters. An all knowing “adult” to look over his every misstep advocates the advancement of an authoritarian “Nanny State.”

In addition the creators found it necessary to gain further sympathy for the character and undermine the United State’s healthcare system. Caillou (obviously) has cancer. The fact that he is four, and is living what seems to be a ‘normal’ life, rather than strapped to a chair receiving chemotherapy perpetuates the myth of successful government controlled healthcare system. This is especially dangerous for young children to be exposed to the idea of “Socialized Medicine” when their knowledge of the Canadian system and the US systems differs on the premise of the users “taking care of themselves.” Canadians take it upon themselves to stay healthy mostly to lessen the burden on their fellow taxpayer. In the US - not so much.

The narrator finds Caillou ridiculously charming and always chides the audience regarding the preschool hero’s antics. The unseen narrator was designed as a “school teacher,” but also acts as the enforcer of this totalitarian government. Perhaps acting as a type of ACLU analogy?

Every character is carefully selected ethnically diverse, laughs at the end of every sentence. Perhaps this technique was designed to capture the attention of the target audience of 1-4 year olds? The other unintended positive consequence of the utilization of this uninspired laughing causes anyone over the age of 5 to ignore the program.

The subversive nature of the show begins with introducing the word “about” to young children. Not pronouncing the letter “o” repeated until a young child believes that this is considered “normal” pronunciation. Also, the show introduces hockey as a superior athletic activity over baseball or football. When football is featured on the show – it is either soccer, or much worse – Canadian rules football.

Further, the "Play-school" friendly color schemes of the clothing, furniture, buildings, cars, and, well, simply the world Caillou lives in appeals to the preschooler, but also has zero corporate presence. The lack of any independent corporate identity suggests a realized liberal socialist utopia. Even Sesame Street has corporate sponsorship! It is brought to you by the Letter A, W and the Number 2. Caillou's world has done away with it completely.

American parents, these schemes are now revealed to you. Turn off your televisions, resist the merchandise, and end the war against America’s children!

Where's the Outrage?

Daschle joins Killefer and Richardson on Da rejected Obama list.

Another Obama nominee has some "issues" with tax return or as the new administration likes to call it: Tuesday.

Frankly, where's the outrage?

Had three or four of Bush's nominees been caught 'making honest mistakes' on their taxes, he would have been impeached by now.

"I apologize for the errors and profoundly regret that you have had to devote time to them," he told committee members.

He profoundly regrets getting caught.

And to apply the standard of a Republican in a sex scandal - a Democrat dodging his 'patriotic duty to pay taxes' then Tom Daschle just got caught with a dead hooker in his hotel room. Since this is the third one, and I am comparing this to Republican sex scandals - this should be a dead 13 year old MALE hooker in his hotel room.

But where's the outrage? Where's the protesters screaming for his head on a stick?

Look, all this has been is yet another example of the ruling class elites that exempt themselves from the laws and morals they evoke to get elected. For the most part, Republicans lose their jobs when they're exposed as phoney-baloney hypocrites. But the Democrats simply fill their spots.

I've said it before, this isn't a changing of the guard, it's a shuffling of the cronies. The Democrats Hope that they can get their turn at the slop trough for a Change.

Death Star Costs

Some guy named Ryszard Gold—a super Geek who got a 49-point score on Gizmodo's Geek Social Aptitude Test—made the calculation of the most basic Death Star's price with current materials and space transport costs here on Earth. Here's a quick summary:

• First, assume that 1/10 of the 17.16 quadrillion cubic meters of the Death Star is something other than empty space and 6/10 of the total volume is pressurized space.

• That will require 1.71 quadrillion cubic meters of steel, about 134 quadrillion tonnes. That's $12.95 quintillion in current 2008 prices, and that's without counting strange alloys and elements.

• Shipping that to space will cost $95 million per ton: So add $12.79 septillion in transport.

• Now you need to add air, which will require 8.23 quintillion cubic meters of Nitrogen, and 1.65 quintillion cubic meters of oxygen, for a total delivery cost of $2.81 septillions and $212.46 quintillion.

The total: $15,602,022,489,829,821,422,840,226.94.

Yes, that's a whooping 1.4 trillion times the current US Debt. Or a sightly more meaningful number: 124 trillion years of war in Iraq.

That will only get you the very basic model of Death Star, no options, no GPS, no radio, no leather heated seats, no mega-laser to obliterate planets, no turbolaser towers, no computer systems, no miscellaneous life support systems, no crew quarters, no turbo-elevators, no energy generators, no showers, no air conditioning, no Darth Vader's jacuzzi, no Emperor's home theater system, and no bloody canteen. And don't get me started on the cost of all the lunch trays and the constant supply of penne all'arrabbiata and peas needed for all the Death Star personel*. That will probably double the final bill, coupled with the construction costs, for a total of more than $31 septillions.

And let's not forget the Emperor built TWO of them. No wonder there was a rebellion?

[Rick Gold — Thanks]