Dream Day Cakes

A little self promotion never hurt… in theory.

I have great news. Yeni’s been baking now for well over a year and her cakes are simply amazing. Living in Gainesville provided us the perfect opportunity for Yeni to follow her dreams and try doing something she truly loves. And with that introduction, I introduce Dream Day Cakes — Gainesville’s newest Wedding Cake Bakery.

I’ve posted a few of the cakes before, and Guillo with o3b.com produced an amazing site for us. We’re very excited and looking forward to our new adventure.

Out of nowhere, a great friend of mine, sent me this:

Artwork by Christian Senn

It’s great to have good (and talented) friends.

New Makers Mark

We all know that I love Bourbon — after all, there’s a Fat Freddy Says page dedicated to the subject. Although Yeni has put a nix on my cigar smoking, I do still enjoy a good Bourbon whenever I get the opportunity. I also try to share my love of Bourbon with all, which genuinely works out very well for me (and Yeni’s Bourbon infused buttercream frosting is a great benefit). But enough about me, let’s talk Bourbon.

Maker’s Mark recently announced a new Bourbon, titled simply Maker’s 46. The difference between Maker’s 46 and Maker’s Mark Bourbon happens after the regular distilling process, in four steps:

1. Fully matured Maker’s Mark is removed from its barrel. Top hoops are removed from the barrel, and the barrel head is pulled.
2. Ten wooden staves are then affixed to the inside of that barrel.
3. Searing the staves caramelizes the sugars in the wood, adding a unique flavor that finishes on the front of the tongue.
4. The fully matured Maker’s Mark is then put back in the barrel and aged several more months. When it tastes exactly right, Maker’s 46 is removed from the barrel, bottled, corked and dipped.

Simple as pie. Maker’s 46 is 96 proof and supposedly has a hint of caramel flavor… I might need to get a bottle of this asap.

(By the bye… when Yeni adds a little bit of Jim Beam Red Stag to her cakes, it’s out of this world)

More information:

• Maker’s Mark
• Maker’s Mark to uncap first new bourbon since ’50s (Associated Press)

Back in the 90’s, one of my favorite commercials used the tagline, “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy; we make a lot of the products you buy better.” Well my friends, when thinking about our government’s response to the continued pouring of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, I can only think that our government didn’t make the crisis in the Gulf; they made the crisis in the Gulf more catastrophic.

First, let’s ask the most simple question. How much oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico?

We don’t know. Right after the explosion, we were told that 42,000 gallons per day were leaking into the Gulf. Shortly after that, the number was corrected to 210,000 gallons daily. On Thursday, May 27th, that number was increased to more than 500,000 gallons a day (with some estimates at more than 1 million gallons daily).

Now, here’s the kicker. The spill at this time, with whatever semantics we want to call it, is under the control of BP. Right now, it is what it is. It’s BP’s mess and they’re the ones that have been told to fix it. Now, when you have the same person in charge of reporting about and cleaning up the problem they created, I would think that a reasonable person would expect the problem to be under-reported.

Why wouldn’t it be? I mean, let’s think look at the Tennessee coal ash disaster of 2008. Remember it? It was described as the biggest natural disaster in US history and was originally estimated at 1.7 million cubic yards. It was actually 3 times that — 5.4 million.

But, any idiot with a problem knows that sometimes, you may not be the most qualified person to clean your own mess. If you cause a small fire in the kitchen, you might be able to handle it with the fire extinguisher. Hopefully, you’re smart enough to realize when it’s time to call the Fire Department. If you’re not, chances are any one of your neighbors will do it for you.

Of course, we don’t have an Oil Department. Oh wait, we kind of do. You know the one that approved the permits (while watching porn and accepting gifts and jobs from the oil companies). We also have a coast guard, a military, an Environmental Protection Agency, and countless other governmental entities paid by our tax dollars. Are we saying that our government, the United States Government that put humans on the moon, doesn’t have any capabilities of stopping this leak? Is the only entity with the technology and resources to stop this issue British Petroleum?

If this is true, then we’re fucked. Stick a fork in me. Throw in the towel, and get Aretha Franklin a microphone (if it’s time for a fat lady to sing, it might as well be good).

Is there a reason that while we were sitting, watching BP try this “top kill” that we didn’t tell them to star to drilling relief wells just in case? Is there a reason our government cannot start drilling one or two wells themselves? I mean even Bruce Willis knows that you don’t just send one team to drill (and he was right, because Ben Affleck saved his ass… well not his ass, but the world’s ass. Yes. Armageddon. And, yes. I liked that movie.)

BP is effectively in charge of the entire Gulf cleanup and I see us doing nothing. We have a live feed from their cameras. Their cameras. Their feed. I’m thinking step one should have been sending our own crew down there and installing our own monitoring, but that’s just me.

Of course, BP would never limit access to the media or the government, right?

Oh wait… there was that CBS team that was threatened with arrest if they didn’t leave a beach. And that photographer who wasn’t allowed to fly above the Gulf at lower than 3,000 feet. And that 500 foot zone around any BP vessel, and…

Obama promised to “…establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.” It hasn’t happened yet, and he’s not doing shit about it. Not doing jack shit.

Of course, I’m not looking at Obama to waive a magic wand and make this better. Although I am not looking to him to make this worse, either.

So what do I want him to do?

At this point, anything. Just DO something. Don’t talk about what you’re going to do. Don’t tell me what you’re planning. Just shut up and do something. Whatever credibility the government had, is eroding at the rate of a Grecian dollar. I value talk from government in bullshit. More talk, is more bullshit. Unless this bullshit can be used to plug the leak, I respectfully ask that the bullshit stop. Dig some wells. Get a sub down there and monitor it. Do something and then tell us what you’re actually doing.

The government didn’t make this crisis. But they surely helped make it more catastrophic.

More reading:

• ‘Top Kill’ Fails to Stop Flow of Oil From Gulf Leak (The Wall Street Journal)
• Oil Spill May Be Still Bigger (The Wall Street Journal)
• Gulf oil leak rate much higher than reported, professor says (Los Angeles Times)
• Flow Rate Group Provides Preliminary Best Estimate Of Oil Flowing from BP Oil Well (US Dept. Of Interior)
• Limits on access to oiled waters, coast frustrates journalists (nola.com)
• Oil spill taking toll on BP’s credibility — and the government’s (Miami Herald)

My beautiful bride

Saturday, Yeni and I will be celebrating our first wedding Anniversary. Of course, we could think of no better place to go than Disney World – after all, we go there quite a bit (Florida Annual Pass has it’s privileges). Anyway…

Yeni’s always been fascinated by these beautiful cakes that have become popular. She watches Food Network non-stop and just loves that cakes can be very custom and yet very beautiful. When we got married in May, she had made a stuffed mini-cake, as our wedding was very small and we wanted to keep costs down (plus she didn’t know I had a surprise Courtney Clark cake waiting for us ).

Luckily, around Christmas time, Yeni decided to try and make these cakes on her own. The good news? She’s amazing. I know I’m biased, but it is awesome to see her make these cakes. The bad news? The cakes don’t just look good, they taste REALLY good. And of course, this means that it’s been even harder to lose this big ol’ gut I’m carrying around. Ugh. Plus the house always smells incredible, so I’m consistently hungry… but I digress.

This year, it was my wife’s turn to surprise me. You see, I love that little cake she made for our wedding. I love it so much I thought she should actually go in business making replica wedding cakes for Brides. I mean, seriously… look at that picture… the cake is just awesome (yes, we’ve already established my bias).

So, what was my surprise?

This year, Yeni reproduced our mini-replica in real cake!

Score!

Ah, married life is good.

(If you want to see more of Yeni’s cakes, look at just a few of the ones she has made this month. Crazy)

Fight the fight or quit.

Soon, as in a couple of hours, Florida Governor Charlie Crist will announce a decision regarding his candidacy for the United States Senate. I’ve said it before, and let me state it again: I am a proud NPA (No Party Affiliation) Florida Voter. I have declared myself NPA my entire adult life, and I vote.

Although I voted for Crist for Governor, if he changes parties he will not receive my vote. He’s said before that he would run as a Republican. Then he said that he would “consider” running as an Independent.

Well, and forgive me for speaking to you personally Mr. Governor, here’s the thing Charlie. This is not a decision that you have to think over. This is simple. Either you have the cojones (balls) to run under your party or you don’t. If you are going to change your party, it’s being done for one reason — because you think you’ll lose.

Don’t spin this any other way. I imagine that if you change from the Republican party that you will attempt to spin it as the party no longer represents what you believe, or they’ve lost track, yatta yatta yatta.

To me, this is nothing short of bullshit. And this comes from someone with no love for the Republican party.

Either you have the cojones or you don’t. You started it as a Republican, and either fight the fight or quit. Changing your party affiliation will only prove to show that (1) you don’t believe you can win as a Republican and (2) that you’re already playing politics.

I want neither from my Senator.

So, Mr. Governor… you may very well have a better chance of winning the Senate seat as an independent— but you will do so without my vote.

And of course, I have no desire to vote for Rubio.

So, stand up. Fight the fight. Bring it. Do an 80’s style training montage and get ready… because if you say “I will not change. This is who I am and I will beat Rubio in the Primary and win the Senate.” you may just start gaining back the poll numbers that are clearly affecting you.

Hey... Trust Me...

Did anyone see the Florida Supreme Court hearing yesterday? The judges kept asking the same question over and over again, are you sure you want either of these guys to be elected? — David Letterman

Politics in Florida helps America laugh. I’m sure it’s no different than Politics anywhere, but our openness and public access laws means that our Political scandals and corruption happen in the Sunshine.

What bothers me most about politics in Florida is when politicians try to either trick or falsely lead the elderly. I remember after the 2000 election, when Florida was ground zero for Political jokes, my grandmother received a phone call about her voting experience. My grandmother, who had voted for Gore, became convinced that she might have been tricked by the butterfly ballot and may have accidentally voted for the wrong candidate.

This angered me. First, the last thing my grandmother needs is stress. My grandmother, who incidentally is amazingly sharp and independent (and 98 years old), is part of “America’s Greatest Generation.” She’s lived through the depression, many wars, economic booms and busts, and political scandals. This is also a generation that likes to vote and have their vote counted. Gore’s campaign making my grandmother worried about her vote sickened me. I had to explain to her how I was certain her vote counted, that she was not tricked by the butterfly ballot, and how now I wish she had voted for someone else — because the butterfly ballot wasn’t even in her county.

But as usual, I digress.

For some reason, I receive a tremendous amount of political mail. Some of them I read, some of them I scan online, and others go directly into the shredder. I feel direct mail political advertisements rarely offers insight into a candidates message — and mostly just tends to feed into fears or hyperbole about an opponent. I still have the “call to grandma” stuck in my brain, so every now and then I read the political advertisements with a “who are they targeting here” kind of mentality. A recent mailing from Marco Rubio received this scrutiny.

Marco Rubio, a native of Miami, served in the Florida House for 8 years. He went to Santa Fe Community College, transferred to the University of Florida for his undergrad, and then received a Law Degree from the University of Miami. Marco Rubio, a republican, is challenging Governor Charlie Crist for a seat in the United States Senate.

I’ve received several mailings about Marco Rubio. A few directly from the Rubio campaign, and one from Mike Huckabee. In March, I received what I’ll call the “New York Times mailing” from the campaign, complete with “I’ve enclosed a must-read New York Times Article… open ASAP” written on the envelope.

The mailing, which I’ve attached, talks consistently about the New York Times article “Analysis; With Election Near, Gov. Crist Changes.” Marco Rubio encourages me to read the article, stating “I’ve enclosed a copy of The New York Times story just to prove it. I hope you take a minute to read it.” The last page of the mailing is a full article, printed underneath  The New York Times logo, and complete with a New York Times copyright.

Here’s the problem: The New York Times has no record of this article ever running in The New York Times. It’s an Associated Press article, not a New York Times article. According to The New York Times, they never ran it.

After reading the article, it just didn’t feel like an article from The New York Times. So, I went online and searched their website for it. Nothing found. I went through archives of the date on the article — nothing found. I reread the mailing and then started to see some items that concerned me…

Marco Rubio says, “Perhaps that’s why on December 12, 2009, The New York Times— traditionally a loyal cheerleader for just about every tax-and-spend politician, especially Republicans — ran a scathing article on Charlie Crist.” That date doesn’t match the date on the printed article. That date, December 7, 2009, does not match the copyright on the article — 2008.

So I checked The New York Times for December 7th (2008 and 2009) and December 12th (2008 and 2009). I simply could not find the article. But I didn’t give up. I called The New York Times and asked to buy a copy of the article. They couldn’t find it. I even emailed them, searching for it, saying I saw it in a political advertisement and just wanted to read it from the source.

I asked them:

1. Did this article ever run in the New York Times?
2. If yes, what date did it run?

Their response:

Hi Fred,

No, it does not appear that this article ever ran in The New York Times.

So I called the Marco Rubio campaign and after requesting to speak with a non-intern, talked with Alex Burgos (Communications Director). I asked Mr. Burgos about the article and at first, it seemed that Mr. Bugos thought I was part of another candidate’s campaign. It seemed strange to him that I would be asking about this article.

I was told that the article was part of a mailing put together by the Direct Mail [group] and that they were “pretty good” about fact checking. I told him about the response I received from The New York Times and asked why they would put that in the mailing, and emphasize it heavily, if it weren’t even an article from the The New York Times.

Mr. Bugos told me he would get back to me. So far, the phone hasn’t rang. I’ve left a few messages, but something tells me that there is nothing to say.

I believe that the Rubio campaign fabricated this article to gain support from some of the “northern transplants” living in Florida. The New York Times is a respected newspaper, especially by generations that were living in the North during before retirement. And, if I’m right… if this was just a complete fabrication then Marco Rubio should be removed from the ballot.

Irony aside (he wrote that “the concept I believe in is that you be truthful to the voters and to your principles at all times”), this sickens me. This sickens me as much as the Gore campaign did with a phone call to Grandma. And sadly, I don’t know where to go.

I did like Crist as a Governor. I haven’t been super impressed with him lately, but then again I haven’t been impressed with any politician in a very long time.

There’s a plus if Marco Rubio gets elected. I’ll have very good reason not to believe a single word he says or writes.

More information:

• Direct Mailing Received from Marco Rubio

Recently, I wrote on VoIP Tech Chat about a SIP Attack one of my servers received from Amazon’s Cloud service. First, Don’t Panic. This is not about anything Tech/Geek/Nerd related. It’s all good…

Let me quickly sum up the incident for the non-geeks (like my wife) who may be reading. Amazon sells everything. In your shopping cart you can buy a robot, a book, a DVD, and almost anything else you can think of. You can also buy Internet service for your business. This “cloud” service is called EC2, and it’s a little technical; so I’ll just say… you can place some of your business computing needs with Amazon.

Last week, some servers in the Amazon cloud decided they would attack servers throughout the world. Many people noticed the attack and complained, including yours truly. I notified Amazon that they had a server attacking me and their response, in a word, sucked. I detailed the response on VoIP Tech Chat, but to keep it simple, let me say that Amazon first suggested that I should talk to the person attacking me and make sure it’s not legitimate. This is the equivalent to being robbed, calling 911, and having the police tell you to first talk with the person currently robbing you to make sure it’s not a legitimate exchange of money.

Anyway, long story short… Their response was bad.

Last week I found myself needing something that I would normally buy on Amazon.com, and I just couldn’t bring myself to patronizing Amazon — and I soon discovered that not using Amazon will save me money.

I wanted to buy Yeni another cookbook (man her cakes are just amazing) as well as another SQL book for myself (either for programming or protection from Spiders). I did a quick Google product search and discovered that places I normally shop (such as overstock.com) had the same books for less money than Amazon. And then I discovered Alibris.

Alibris, an online bookstore, sells books, textbooks, movies, and music. I went through the last 10 books I bought from Amazon, and Alibris (and Overstock) had all of them in stock for a better price.

I’ve talked customer service before, and as a small business owner, I know  the importance of customer service towards building customer loyalty. The lesson imprinted on me from this incident shows that Amazon has simply lost touch with the importance of Customer Service. Once, they were amazing. Maybe they’ve gotten too big. Maybe they’re not hungry anymore. But, for whatever the reason, Amazon’s attention towards Customer Service has lost it’s focus.

But that’s ok.

Turns out, I can get better service and save money by shopping elsewhere.

My wife has been baking like a woman possessed… and let me tell you. These cakes taste even better than they look.

Makes it harder to lose weight– but it’s gooooooood.

Sick, Poor? No thanks.

You already know where I’m going— it’s in the title after all. At this time, I do not support the health care bill. Now before I get into the many reasons why I do not support this legislation, let me spell out the following disclaimers.

I am a small business owner. I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I proudly check the NPA (no party affiliation), when I register to vote for one simple reason— I vote along my ideals and conscious; not along some party mantra. As a general rule, I feel that the government continually mismanages money and our current news media fails to account the statements of government officials to any fact check or truth test.

With that introduction out of the way, I can now describe why I believe our government failed us— as we should expect it to. After all, the Founding Fathers did not want us to depend on our government; and for good reason.

Money, Money, Money

First thing, let’s talk money. The government told us that the new bill will significantly bring down insurance premiums. Sadly, this is wrong. At BEST, the new model brings down premiums $100.00/year. And that’s ONLY if you’re in the “small group family market” or “large group single market.” Individual families will see an increase of $2,100.00/year on their plan. The majority of us will pay either the same, or slightly more for coverage (unless you’re a business).

Let’s remember this: The bill that passed was basically written by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). You know AHIP, right? They’re the national organization representing roughly 1,300 health insurance companies.

You can’t turn on the news or walk down the street today without hearing about recessions and lost income. Unless of course, you’re in the business of health care. Since October 2009, health care stocks have risen almost 30%. Our new health care laws, written by the health care industry, requires us to purchase health care insurance from the companies that pooled together and wrote the law. The health care companies also significantly contribute to most of the people who voted for the law as well.

How does this boil down for the middle class? Under the new bill, a family of four living on $66,000 will be paying more than $5,000.00 for insurance premiums and be responsible for another $5,800.00 in out of pocket expenses. Of course, they’re also paying another $16,000.00 in federal taxes. So before any out of pocket expenses, this family has $4,125.00 per month to cover all of their living expenses. Bottom line: Middle class will be paying approximately 9.5% of their income on mandated insurance that will cover approximately 70% of their medical expenses.

The bill was touted to stop medical bankruptcy. But, with this bill there’s an $11,900.00 max on out of pocket fees (on top of premiums). Let’s remember, even in 2009, 62% of the bankruptcies filed were medical related (and 75% of those people had insurance). There’s nothing this bill provides that will financially help an average family that must endure a serious medical problem.

You know, the Revolution started in Massachusetts

Massachusetts implemented their health care reform in 2007 and it’s very similar to our new Federal plan. A “3 years later” review from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 3/4 of Massachusetts’ uninsured had obtained insurance— which is great. Of course, 21% of the population went without needed care because they could not afford it. Also, wait times for seeing doctors increased and health care costs rose.

Massachusetts needed to find many ways to handle the increased health care costs. This included terminating coverage for 30,000 immigrants (legal immigrants with green cards who pay taxes), no longer automatically enrolling low-income residents, and adding $100 million in new fees to private companies.

Of course, with recent Federal overhauls, these same legal immigrants are not entitled to Medicaid or other Federal aid. Nothing says “Welcome to America” better than forcing people to pay taxes and fees for services you then prohibit them from using. Of course, I guess it’s easier to pick on a group of taxpayers that aren’t allowed to vote.

With Massachusetts as the model, we’re in for a great ride.

Let’s wrap it up.

I think the item that bothers me most has to be our Federal Government forcing us to buy health insurance from private companies. I understand the states do this for things like auto insurance — but there’s also a big catch. If I don’t own a car, I don’t need car insurance… How do you do the same for health insurance?

As an American in favor of limited government, any law requiring loss of freedom angers me. Our government passed laws, written by the health insurance companies, requiring us to pay those same companies for health insurance. The much promised transparency for this process never saw sunshine, and sadly there is too much rhetoric going by without adequate investigation by our “free” press.

AT&T, Verizon, 3M and many other large companies have already warned shareholders of profit reduction (in billions) from new health care costs. Our new bill is estimated to cost $1 trillion dollars and from what I can see, not only hits us in taxes— but also in out of pocket expenses.

I’ve had health insurance since I started working full time in 1994. I’ve switched jobs (many times) and have started several businesses along the way. I’ve maintained health insurance the entire time.

This law costs me more while providing me with less. Should I choose to buy better insurance to cover the weak areas, I will be taxed an additional 40% for having a “Cadillac” plan.

So let me ask this: How are you benefiting from this new law?

References/Resources

• Massachusetts Takes a Step Back From Health Care for All (NYT)
• Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Three Years Later (KFF)
• The hype behind the healthcare reform bill (AnnArbor.com)
• Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill (Huffington Post)
• IRS.gov
• AT&T to Book $1 Billion Cost on Health-Care Reform (Business Week)
• An Analysis of Health Insurance Premiums Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (CBO)

Spirit Airlines drank some Kool Aid and decided to charge passengers for carry-on bags that do not fit under the seat. The fee will only apply to bags placed in the overhead bin. “Bring less; pay less. It’s simple,” Spirit’s Chief Operating Officer Ken McKenzie said in a statement. (Which by the way beats their first attempt at the slogan: Bring less, pay less, fuck you.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, although this time I’ll say it differently. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved everything about flying. After taking someone to the airport, my family would walk to the window and we’d watch (from the gate) as our loved one’s plane taxied out to the runway and would stay until we saw that plane leave the ground and take off into the sky. When I’d actually get to fly, I looked forward to it. I’d pick out a good magazine, try to get a pillow, and look forward to some pretzels and a nice drink.

What a difference a few (a few, plus) years will do to one’s outlook. Today, I absolutely HATE flying. There’s is simply not a single thing about the experience I enjoy. From sitting in seats where I simply cannot sit comfortably, to dealing with flight attendant attitude; the plane ride is less enjoyable than a ride on the city bus. And, just before anyone comments… it’s not my width that makes the seat uncomfortable. I’m only 6 foot, and I simply cannot fit in the seats. My knees constantly get hit by the seat infront of me, and should that person recline– well, my seat transports my ass to the 4th level of hell. And that’s just the plane! Between the TSA and whatever Airport Authority controls the local airport, the pre-flight experience is even worse.

Anyway… these new fees from Spirit Airlines sound like the perfect plan to make me continue to drive or ride whenever possible. I wonder how long it will take for the other airlines to follow Spirit’s example.

Spirit Airlines New Fees

]]> http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/758/yet-another-reason-to-hate-airlines/feed/ 4 http://www.fredposner.com/rant/754/no-you-cannot-scan-my-id/ http://www.fredposner.com/rant/754/no-you-cannot-scan-my-id/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:03:57 +0000 Fred Posner http://www.fredposner.com/?p=754

Tell me about you.

On a recent trip to Target, I decided to add some compressed air to my cart. Working in electronics, I find compressed air to be almost a necessity. The servers, computers, switches, and other equipment I use routinely need a good “spritz” of compressed air to keep the dust from accumulating.

But I digress.

When I went to check out, my cashier advised that I needed to scan my ID to purchase the compressed air. Not just show her my ID, but rather have my driver’s license scanned into their register. This of course allows Target to scan, read, and store my personally identifiable information. Although just someone’s full name fulfills the criteria of personally identifiable information, a Driver’s License barcode and/or magnetic stripe contains much more. By scanning the driver’s license, Target retains my full name, date of birth, address, gender, race, driver’s license number, license information (restrictions, endorsements), organ donation, and issue date.

First, let’s look at the obvious…

Why does Target need my Personally Identifiable Information?

When I was told that I was required to have my license scanned, I asked very simply, “why?” The cashier told me that Target required my age when purchasing the product. I told the cashier, that I’m almost 40 years old and asked how old I needed to be to purchase the can of compressed air.

While she called her manager (and told her that someone refused to identify themselves), she told me that the age restriction was 18. Let’s face it… I’ve posted pictures here. I’m not mistaken for a teenager. I haven’t been mistaken for a teenager in 20 years. Even though the cashier believed I was over the age of 18, she said she was not allowed to sell my the item without my driver’s license being scanned.

The manager arrived and very abruptly and confidently told me that I was required by law to scan my license. I told her that I knew of no such law and asked her if this was a Florida law or a Federal law? She called her Security team and told me, “the security guy said you can google it.”

I didn’t allow my ID to be scanned and I didn’t get to purchase the item. Incidentally, not once have I had my ID scanned for Alcohol (purchased at Target), R rated movies, or other items that are restricted by age.

Here’s the bottom line

There’s no reason that you should show or give your personally identifiable information to Target. Especially when they do not provide you with any information on how this information will be stored, protected, used, and shared. They did not provide any summary of Fair Information Practices or describe to any degree of cause as to why this information was needed.

The United States of America, at one point, greatly valued personal freedom. Sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the case today. I believe that your personally identifiable information needs to be protected, whenever possible. I don’t let people take my ID and walk away with it, and I won’t let Target scan it in their cash registers.

Instead, I’ll choose to no longer shop at Target.

It must be the Corn Syrup

I’ve been saying this for years… and so has many other people. Lot’s of times, friends just said it was a conspiracy theory or some BS thought… but now scientists from Princeton University have conducted research on High Fructose Corn Syrup. The results? Increased weight gain with High Fructose Corn Syrup versus Sugar. Calorie intake was the same, but High Fructose Corn Syrup caused increased weight gain.

A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

by Hilary Parker

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

“Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.”

In results published online March 18 by the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, the researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute reported on two experiments investigating the link between the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity.

The first study showed that male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.

The second experiment — the first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals — monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six months. Compared to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in high-fructose corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous condition known in humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male rats in particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet. In humans, this would be equivalent to a 200-pound man gaining 96 pounds.

“These rats aren’t just getting fat; they’re demonstrating characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal fat and circulating triglycerides,” said Princeton graduate student Miriam Bocarsly. “In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes.” In addition to Hoebel and Bocarsly, the research team included Princeton undergraduate Elyse Powell and visiting research associate Nicole Avena, who was affiliated with Rockefeller University during the study and is now on the faculty at the University of Florida. The Princeton researchers note that they do not know yet why high-fructose corn syrup fed to rats in their study generated more triglycerides, and more body fat that resulted in obesity.

High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars — it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose — but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.

This creates a fascinating puzzle. The rats in the Princeton study became obese by drinking high-fructose corn syrup, but not by drinking sucrose. The critical differences in appetite, metabolism and gene expression that underlie this phenomenon are yet to be discovered, but may relate to the fact that excess fructose is being metabolized to produce fat, while glucose is largely being processed for energy or stored as a carbohydrate, called glycogen, in the liver and muscles.

In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the American adults are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. On average, Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year.

“Our findings lend support to the theory that the excessive consumption of high-fructose corn syrup found in many beverages may be an important factor in the obesity epidemic,” Avena said.

The new research complements previous work led by Hoebel and Avena demonstrating that sucrose can be addictive, having effects on the brain similar to some drugs of abuse.

In the future, the team intends to explore how the animals respond to the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in conjunction with a high-fat diet — the equivalent of a typical fast-food meal containing a hamburger, fries and soda — and whether excessive high-fructose corn syrup consumption contributes to the diseases associated with obesity. Another step will be to study how fructose affects brain function in the control of appetite.

The research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service.

Where has the time gone? To paraphrase the Princess Bride, which Yes, is still one of my favorite movies — there is to much to explain, let me sum up.

• Painting, painting, painting. (4 parents, lots of paint, bottom line: house looks great)
• Met Sebastian
• Renewed the annual pass at Disney and got Yeni her Florida pass.
• Took the in-laws to St. Augustine.
• Posted about Spam on VoIP Tech Chat
• Actually posted a chat on VoIP Tech Chat
• Getting ready for the Voipathon
• and posted a few pics on Picasa

Thanks for stopping by.

I’m sure you’ve googled. Who hasn’t. Well, based of course on the popularity of what others across our great world are searching, Google often “suggests” what you might want to search for; based on what you’ve typed in that google search box. Well… what others are searching for doesn’t just scare me, it scares the bejesus out of me. But now I understand exactly where we may be heading.

Today I made the mistake of typing why does in the google search… and well, I was presented with:

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Don’t get me wrong. I love poop questions as much as the next guy… but really? So then I started to see what others were looking for and well, here’s a few examples:  

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Also check out: http://mashable.com/2009/08/11/funniest-google-suggest-results/

]]> http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/738/google-search-scares-me/feed/ 1 http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/736/ok-starting-to-freak-out-a-little/ http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/736/ok-starting-to-freak-out-a-little/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:10:48 +0000 Fred Posner http://www.fredposner.com/?p=736

The movers were supposed to call and let us know what time they’d be here… hasn’t happened. We called the moving company yesterday and they were certain we’d get the call last night. Never happened. So far, no truck.

Not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling here…

We’re packing away… although “we” is mostly just Yeni; who is packing like a woman possessed. We’re heading out on Wednesday and looking forward to a change of view. We’re trying to spend as much time with family and friends as possible — taking the time to eat at out favorite spots “one more time” as well as try some new places we had neglected.

While working away, managed to post some quick words:

• VoIP Tech Chat: Blackberry desperate? RIM announces FREE Blackberry Enterprise Server Express
• Team Forrest: SIP Response Codes (just for a quick reference)
• Fat Freddy Says: Updated Review for Nick’s Original House of Pancakes, Ann Arbor

I’ve had a few dealings with UF and money over the last few months. Basically, many (many, many, many) calls to the house asking for donations, etc. When one of my favorite teachers had left UF, I had donated money to help start a scholarship in his name. I was not happy with the way it was handled, and have been reluctant to donate money to the school since (not to mention, I’m not impressed with the way the college is handling money — or my personal information — whatsoever).

Today, I received an email (posted below) from Florida President Bernie Machen asking for my voice. Seems they have created a new organization to lobby the Florida legislature for issues important to the school. To me, I am always offended when someone making 750k a year (including bonuses), gripes about a lack of funding. Simply put, Machen needs to lead by example.

A good leader demonstrates by example. If you want to discuss a lack of funding, how about first disclosing that you are one of the highest paid educators in the country. A good leader does not lead by having behavior that indicates a lack of personal responsibility. But then again, I started thinking Machen was not cut out for the job when he didn’t bother to attend a summer commencement .

Here’s the email:

Dear Gator Nation,

The Florida Legislature begins its 2010 session March 2nd, with another tight budget year expected. I want to take this opportunity to ask you to reach out to your elected officials in support of UF – and to remind you that we have an excellent organization to assist you.

Gators for Higher Education, created in partnership with the University of Florida Alumni Association, is a group of volunteers who contact their lawmakers at our request when the Legislature is considering issues critical to UF. The organization was extremely helpful to UF last year, when lawmakers considered and ultimately passed the tuition flexibility bill that is proving so important to UF during this era of cutbacks in state funding.

Support for our base budget is likely to be an issue again this year. Other UF legislative priorities include securing recurring funding for graduate student health insurance and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, and medical school funding.

Whatever the issue at hand, we hope and anticipate that Gators for Higher Education will be just as helpful this spring as it was last spring. Both Florida and out-of-state residents are welcome to sign up, and there is no cost for participation. To learn more and to become a member, please take a moment to visit http://gatorsforhighered.ufl.edu.

Your voice, your connection to your local lawmakers and your loyalty and love for UF can all make a huge difference to this university. Thank you very much for your consideration. I look forward to working closely with the members of Gators for Higher Education this spring.

Sincerely,

J. Bernard Machen

I thought this was a very neat idea and well done.