GMO Polling

According to RT:

A poll conducted by the New York Times this year found that 93 percent of respondents want GMO ingredients to be properly labeled, and a similar survey done by the Washington Post in 2010 clocked in with 94 percent support.

"Surveys have always found 80 to 95 percent of people wanting labeling," Consumers Union senior scientist Michael Hansen told Rodale News back in April." People are paying attention to food, and because of that they're more interested in GMO issues and buying food that's more local and food without pesticides and other added ingredients."

Genetically modified food labels may be one of the defining issues which clearly portrays the lack of concern elected officials have for their constituents actual concerns.   90% of people agree on an issue yet money still wins the vote.

$15 an Hour?!

According to NYTimes:

Seeking to increase pressure on McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other fast-food restaurants, organizers of a movement demanding a $15-an-hour wage for fast-food workers say they will sponsor one-day strikes in 100 cities on Thursday and protest activities in 100 additional cities.

***

Officials with the National Restaurant Association have said the one-day strikes are publicity stunts. They warn that increasing pay to $15 an hour when the federal minimum wage is $7.25 would cause restaurants to rely more on automation and hire fewer workers. Industry officials say that only a small percentage of fast-food jobs pay the minimum wage and that those are largely entry-level jobs for workers under 25.

No offense, I've worked in restaurants and know how hot, hectic and exhausting it can be, but $15 an hour to cook burgers?!  Maybe $10.  Keep your demands realistic guys.  

Cops in FL Claim Feeding Homeless on Thanksgiving is Illegal

According to StoryLeak:

A church group in Lake Worth, FL was kicked out of a public park Thursday afternoon after a park ranger spotted them feeding homeless residents.

Members from the Acts 2 Worship Center, who headed to Palm Beach County’s John Prince Park to feed the homeless, intended to teach their children a valuable lesson about the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

***

Unfortunately, a Palm Beach County park ranger “just following orders” soon approached the group and demanded they leave for violating an alleged city ordinance.

“It’s very disappointing. We didn’t intend for this today,” said Brian. “ We just wanted to give the food and be able to bless people.”

Despite being told to leave, the church group sided with humanity, defying the orders as they finished handing out the rest of their meals.

Good for them!  Forget about what the gestapo goons in costume's claim is the law.  Being humane and caring about others is the true law of the land.  So as they say "'F' the Police".  Let these guys and gals help the needy, especially on Thanksgiving.  Maybe use your police resources in a wiser manner, like... I don't know stopping unruly crowds from rioting over TV's.  

McDonald's Play's Opera Music to Keep Away the Hooligans

According to The Telegraph:

A McDonald's outlet in Australia has begun playing classical musical and opera late at night to deter young people from loitering around the restaurant.

Fed up with their outlet's nocturnal transformation into an unofficial youth club, the store adopted the tactic a few weeks ago and says it has significantly reduced the number of loiterers, particularly around the car park.

***

Matthew Watson, the operations manager at the Mt Annan McDonald's on the outskirts of Sydney, said the music had been a successful deterrent.

"We've noticed a reduction in the number of young people hanging around, but we'll have to reassess it properly in a couple of weeks," the store's operations manager, Matthew Watson, told the Macarthur Chronicle newspaper.

Not a bad idea...

Man Attacked Pregnant Sister Over Chicken Nuggets

According to Click Orlando:

An Orlando man has been arrested on aggravated battery charges after police say he attacked his pregnant sister over chicken nuggets.

Kareem Gordon, 28, was arrested on Sunday night after the fight with his 25-year-old sister, who says Gordon ate her chicken nuggets without permission.

After arguing, Gordon's sister went to her bedroom but Gordon followed behind, yelling "I will punch you down." Gordon then grabbed her by her neck, pushed her into a nightstand, making her fall to the ground, police said.

Gordon's sister is four months pregnant, according to the report. Gordon said he was trying to explain the incident to his sister but she tried to close the bedroom door in his face. According to the police report, Gordon said he pushed her away from the door.

Gordon, who police say has a previous domestic violence incident on record with his wife, was taken to Orange County jail on no bond.

... the thing that really gets me is he is being held without bond.  

Parents Fined For Not Sending Ritz Crackers In Kids' Lunch

According to WeightyMatters.ca:

Apparently if a child's lunch is deemed "unbalanced", where "balance" refers to ensuring that a lunch conforms to the proportions of food groups as laid out by Canada's awful Food Guide, then that child's lunch is "supplemented", and their parent is fined.

Blog reader Kristen Bartkiw received just such a fine.

She sent her children to daycare with with lunches containing leftover homemade roast beef and potatoes, carrots, an orange and some milk.

She did not send along any "grains".

As a consequence the school provided her children with, I kid you not, supplemental Ritz Crackers, and her with a $10 fine.

As Kristen writes, had she sent along lunches consisting of, "microwave Kraft Dinner and a hot dog, a package of fruit twists, a Cheestring, and a juice box" those lunches would have sailed right through this idiocy. But her whole food, homemade lunches? They lacked Ritz Crackers.

Canada, Oh Canada.  

Norwegian army goes vegetarian... one day a week

According to The Daily Caller:

Norway’s military is taking drastic steps to ramp up its war against global warming. The Scandinavian country announced its soldiers would be put on a vegetarian diet once a week to reduce the military’s carbon footprint.

“Meatless Monday’s” has already been introduced at one of Norway’s main military bases and will soon be rolled out to others, including overseas bases. It is estimated that the new vegetarian diet will cut meat consumption by 150 tons per year.

“It’s a step to protect our climate,” military spokesman Eystein Kvarving told AFP. “The idea is to serve food that’s respectful of the environment.”

“It’s not about saving money,” Kvarving added. “It’s about being more concerned for our climate, more ecologically friendly and also healthier.”

Wowzers.  This is impressive, I actually believe their reasoning concerning the environmental issues as opposed to financial ones.  This would not happen in America, the dollar is the bottom line and the most important factor when considering any issues.  Not so much in Norway apparently.  Again, impressive!

McDonald's Releases Too Many New Products At Once

According to Wall Street Journal:

McDonald's Corp. came out with its strongest acknowledgment yet that its customer service in the U.S. has suffered recently, and that it blundered by introducing too many new menu items too quickly.

Jeff Stratton, president of McDonald's USA, said the chain introduced several new products and limited-time offers this year to give customers more variety.

"The pace of product introduction in my opinion: too fast," he said Thursday afternoon at an investor meeting at the company's Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters.

Between March and July alone, McDonald's added Premium McWraps, Egg White Delight McMuffins, blueberry pomegranate smoothies and new Quarter Pounders to its menu. 

The fast pace of the new-product introductions "created challenges for the restaurants," making their operations more complex in ways that slowed service, Mr. Stratton said.

***

To rectify the situation, the company is planning to spend less on remodeling next year by updating just 300 restaurants in the U.S., compared with 465 this year through the third quarter.

It will instead invest in new preparation tables for all of its U.S. outlets that can accommodate more ingredients and speed the assembly process. The new tables also will help address demand for customized orders.

"Ingredients"...  

Eating While Driving Significantly Increases Chances Of A Car Accident According to "Experts"

According to CBS:

Experts say eating while driving can increase a motorist’s chances of a car accident by 80 percent.

Ryan Harrison, an editor in Burbank, said long hours at work means more time in his car.

“I’d rather just eat on the way home, so I’m killing two birds with one stone,” he said. “I would make scrambled eggs before I go to work and then I’d eat them on the way to work, and I’d also eat yogurt. It’s definitely convenience.”

***

Officer Juan Galvan of the California Highway Patrol office in Glendale said that while Harrison’s behavior isn’t illegal, it is unsafe.

“Usually when people take a bite and if they spill, what’s your first reaction? Your first reaction is to let go of the steering wheel or drop whatever it is you’re doing because you want to clean up the mess you possibly caused,” Galvan said.

Law enforcement officials say much like texting and driving, eating also falls under the category of distracted driving.

Come on ... there are more drive through's in this country than churches.  American's love eating and driving.

Racist Burger King Sign: “Now Hiring, Must Be Mexican”

According to InfoWars:

A huge sign outside a Burger King fast food restaurant in Ephrata, Washington is causing outrage because of its racist tone. The billboard reads, “Now Hiring Must Be Mexican.”

***

It’s possible that the managers of the restaurant meant to advertise for a bilingual or Spanish-speaking employee, but their choice of words is clearly discriminatory.

***

Imagine the backlash if Burger King posted a sign outside one of its restaurants which said “Now Hiring Whites Only.” That’s almost as racist as the sign in Ephrata, and yet over 24 hours since the image caused outrage, Burger King has failed to address the issue.

Red Bull sued for $85 million over man's death

According to NaturalNews:

Red Bull is being sued for wrongful death after a healthy 33-year-old man collapsed dead on a basketball court after gulping the high-caffeine drink.

The lawsuit, for $85 million, is believed to be the first wrongful death suit against the world's largest energy drink company.

Construction worker Cory Terry - survived by a 13-year-old son - was healthy, active and a non-smoker, his grandmother, Patricia Terry, said. However, he regularly drank large amounts of Red Bull.

"He drank that stuff all the time," she said. "He said it perked him up."

About a year ago, Terry downed a can of Red Bull about 45 minutes into a basketball game. Shortly after, he grew dizzy, collapsed and died. Doctors discovered that he had suffered idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), meaning that his heart had simply stopped. The medical report noted that he had consumed Red Bull right before the attack.

***

The FDA has confirmed at least 18 deaths potentially linked to energy drinks. Between 2004 and 2012, it received 21 reports from healthcare providers who suspected Red Bull of causing side effects ranging from fatigue and dizziness to chest pain.

Indeed, the FDA is already investigating whether energy drinks might have led to the deaths of five separate people, including a 14-year-old who fell dead after drinking two 24-ounce Monster beverages over the course of two days.

I used to drink a lot of Monsters and my wife drank four Red Bulls a day before we had our daughter.  Now I look on in disgust when I see one of my co-workers desks littered with energy drinks.  I almost look at them in the same light as smokers.  Gross and unnecessary.  

Man dies after accidentally drinking £34,000 of Crystal Meth!

According to The Daily Mail:

A man has died after drinking a massive overdose of liquid crystal meth after mistaking it for a health drink.

Romano Dias, 55, had been given a bottle of what appeared to be a fruit-based drink by his daughter Katee, who had found it in a package delivered to her home.

After downing about half a glass of the liquid he immediately began to feel ill and died shortly afterwards.

***

Mr Dias’s partner Debra Dulson said in a statement that he had opened the bottle and found a cork under the cap.

She said he took a mouthful of the drink and had said that it tasted 'awful' before complaining that his throat was burning.

He then said: 'I am in trouble here. I am dying, I am dead.'

Analysis of the bottle, which had been labelled as a health drink, showed it contained £34,000 of pure methamphetamine.

Holy crap ... do me a favor and read the rest of this article.  Totally nuts.  WTF?!  Never drink something that showed up in the mail if you are not sure what the hell it is! 

Chinese Chicken's On American Tables

According to CBS:

Chicken from China has officials on alert, including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)

As WCBS 880’s Jim Smith reported Sunday, Schumer said first, the U.S. Department of Agriculture only allowed chickens that had been processed in China to be sold in the U.S. Now, he said the USDA plans to green-light poultry raised and slaughtered in China.

This has never happened before, and it is a bad idea, Schumer argued.

“China has a terrible record on health safety, and chickens are one of the things that need the most care and inspections,” he said.

Schumer called the plan a huge change in policy, and a big mistake.

“China has been a massive source of food poisoning here in America for years,” he said.

A step closer to final approval, Schumer said a USDA report to Congress indicated aspects of the Chinese slaughter system to be equivalent to that of the U.S.

“Why is the USDA doing it?” he said. “We just don’t know.”

A USDA representative was unavailable for comment Sunday.

Meh, I hardly trust chicken from America unless it is free range and raised without antibiotics.  Even then I am slightly suspicious unless I've watched it hatched, raised, and slaughtered.  

Kraft to Remove Artificial Colors from Mac & Cheese

According to NaturalSociety:

Processed food company extraordinaire Kraft recently announced they would be improving at least some of their macaroni & cheese products by reducing the questionable artificial color ingredients within.

The announcement came on the heels of a Change.org petition that began in March and had more than 348,000 signatures at last count. While Kraft says their decision isn’t because of the petition, they no doubt heard the collective voice of consumers. Interestingly, one New York mother has started a similar petition, asking candy-maker Mars to replace their artificial colors with natural ones, creating a momentum that we need to collectively accelerate.

The plan is to remove artificial colors from three different varieties that come in kid-friendly shapes. This means the original Kraft Macaroni & Cheese will still contain artificial dyes, though the other varieties won’t. Apparently they want to keep the toxins available for those who like that sort of thing.

***

Competitors to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese products, like Annie’s, are getting more shelf-space as customer’s tastes change. Kraft couldn’t help but take notice.

Obviously this is a great first step, however what bothers me still is that Kraft is not doing this to help the health of their customers. They are not doing it to become a more conscientious company dedicated to making the world a better place.  They are certainly not concerned with the effect that artificial colors have on humans.  

The only thing they are worried about is their market share and the amount of money they make.  If making a change to appease and retain customers keeps the cash flowing a company will do anything.  If making that change didn't make monetary sense, they would not do so.  At least with a company like Kraft that is the absolute truth.  

This is why there is very little Kraft could do to make me ever purchase their junk "food".

Apple Thief Bites Grocery Worker

According to DNAInfo:

A man caught stealing an apple from a Greenpoint produce market on Friday bit and choked a store employee who told him he needed to pay for the fruit, police and witnesses said.

***

The suspect then "put his hands on [the employee's] neck, preventing him from breathing normally," tried to "cover [the employee's] mouth and nose with his jacket," and "bit his left ear," drawing blood, according to a police report.

***


"He just took one apple," another employee said of the thief. "We have people try to steal fruit every day, but no one's ever been this aggressive."

Things are getting crazy.  EBT was cut less than a week ago.
  
Just wait till people really start feeling these roll backs of benefits.  

Just wait till the government starts taking away more entitlements.  

Just wait...

We'll be seeing a lot of very similar cases to this in the not so distant future.  

Woman runs over boyfriend 3 times for McDonald's

According to WKMG:

Police in Tennessee say a woman ran over her boyfriend three times after he refused to go to McDonald's with her.

Crystal Greer Brooks, 33, of Kingsport was apparently upset that her boyfriend wanted to eat at a different restaurant, police told the Kingsport Times-News.

Holy crap... talk about addiction.  McDonalds should proudly report this in their advertisements.  Woman loves Big Mac so much she would kill oyfriend over wanting a Whopper.  

Irwindale, California Sues Sriracha

According to RT:

Sriracha hot sauce may be known for burning your taste buds, but one southern California town is also blaming the company behind the popular product for harming its residents.

Residents of Irwindale, CA claim that the odors coming from the Huy Hong Foods factory, where the sauce is made, are causing irritated eyes, throats, and headaches.

***

A judge will decide whether or not to halt production at the factory on Thursday.

According to the Times, the smell from the factory is so strong that one local family needed to move a birthday party indoors because of it.

I love me some Sriracha, but damn can I imagine living near the factory that produced it could be quite a challenge.  

San Francisco Soda Tax

According to ABC:

A can of soda could eventually cost about a quarter more in San Francisco. A proposed measure would add a special tax to sugary beverages, but the proposal is different than a similar ballot measure that failed in Richmond last year.

The idea is simple -- the bigger the drink, the more taxes you pay. It would be 2 cents per ounce for all sugar-sweetened beverages. That includes soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and bottled Frappuccinos.

"It's not a nanny state at all; we're not banning anything," San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener said.

If you have to preemptively defend yourself of being a nanny state... you're probably part of a nanny state.  

McDonald's Sues Australian Town

According to NaturalNews:

Plans by fast food giant McDonald's to build its first restaurant in the Australian town of Tecoma, located in the state of Victoria, are being challenged by nearly 100,000 individuals who recently signed a petition demanding that McDonald's stay out of the area. 

According to Yahoo! TV in Australia, representatives from an activist group known as BurgerOff recently flew 10,000 miles to the McDonald's global headquarters near Chicago to deliver the petition and signatures, which company officials reportedly refused to touch.

***

Despite the fact that the vast majority of Tecoma residents, according to Muratore, are in opposition to the project, McDonald's plans to move forward with it anyway. The company has even gone so far as to file a lawsuit against the protesters in an effort to keep them away from the proposed construction site, alleging that the project is well supported throughout the local community. But according to Muratore, this claim is absolutely false.

"That's a lie that McDonald's in Australia keeps pushing," he told reporters. "We know that nine out of 10 people don't want this."

God bless any town that fights elitist global corporation who think they know what is best for an area of the world they've never even been to.  Somehow McDonalds thinks suing this town will help their image?  I guess they don't really care about their image considering the way they treat their employees.  

Mcdonald's has a world wide reputation, they were a once beloved aspect of society, not so much anymore.  Yet somehow they think they can rest on their laurels and keep treating their customers, employees and communities like crap, while still raking in enormous amounts of cash.  Sadly they get away with this because most people are so addicted to Big Macs they don't care what the company is doing other than serving their food.  

Learn more at the official site, BurgerOff.org.

Awesome Fast Food Packaging

It nearly makes me want fast food just to try something like this out ... fortunately for me it is only a concept, but a very awesome one!

Check out Wired to learn more.  

McDonald's Canada Linked To "Shocking Animal Cruelty"

L.A. To Ban GMO

According to RT:

Los Angeles is considering a ban on the cultivation, sale and distribution of genetically modified organisms, which would make the city the largest GMO-free zone in the US.

Los Angeles City Councilmen Paul Koretz and Mitch O’Farrell introduced Friday a motion to curb growth and proliferation of GMO seeds and plants within the city.

The councilmen said the proposal aims to protect local gardens and city-grown food from future contamination from GMO seeds. The motion would not impact the sale of food containing GMO ingredients, however.

GMO seeds are mostly used only by large-scale farming operations, of which none exists in Los Angeles city.

***

Some smaller US localities have banned the cultivation of GMOs, but LA would be by far the biggest US city to do so.

***

A public effort to require all GMO foods and seeds to be labeled as such throughout the entire state of California failed a year ago. Opponents of Proposition 37 - like Monsanto and Kraft - helped donate around $46 million to the cause against labeling. Supporters of labeling raised just over $9 million in that defeat.

Voters in Washington State will consider a labeling requirement next month. Opponents of Initiative 522 - led by questionable fundraising tactics by industry trade group Grocery Manufacturers Association - have pumped $17 million into the effort to defeat labeling. Supporters have raised over $5 million.

As the article states this measure seems to be more symbolic than anything else.  Considering it won't ban much of anything since there are no large farms using GMO seeds in L.A.  

However I guess it is a step in the right direction in gaining more public attention to the situation.  So ... I guess good job L.A. Let's get this ban implemented and then adequately expanded to include a ban on all GMO foods and then we'll have something to truly celebrate about.   

Feds Order School to Ban Packed Lunches

According to InfoWars:

A school in Richmond, Virginia is following federal government instructions by telling parents that they need to have a doctor’s note in order for their children to be allowed to bring packed lunches to school, another example of how the nanny state is encroaching via the public education system.

***

While informing parents that they cannot make a decision on their own child’s diet, the same school promotes the fact that they sell ice cream during P.E. lessons every week. In a separate post, another parent describes how their child was upset because she was the only student not able to buy nachos and lemonade, which were also being sold during P.E. lessons right before lunch.

So schools are happily promoting junk food, while at the same time claiming that parents are not the best suited individuals to decide what their kid eats for lunch.  What kind of backwards logic creates this atmosphere of idiocracy is truly mind boggling to me.  

Dear Parents,

I have received word from Federal Programs Preschool pertaining to lunches from home. Parents are to be informed that students can only bring lunches from home if there is a medical condition requiring a specific diet, along with a physicians note to that regard.

I am sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Stephanie [redacted] the Health Coordinator for Federal Programs Preschool at [redacted].

Thanks,
Ms. [redacted]

Cop Served Raw Burger at McDonalds

According to CBS: 

Officer Rob Moore pulls up to the McDonald’s drive-through in Derry, New Hampshire a couple times a week for some fast food, ordering a double quarter pounder with cheese. It’s usually the only place open working the night shift.

“I was the only one at the restaurant. I drove through and I was in full uniform,” said Moore. He grabbed his order and pretty hungry he dug in and quickly took four bites before realizing something was wrong. “I took the bun off and the first patty was cooked, the second patty revealed a raw mess and I’m sitting there holding that. I couldn’t believe what I just ate.”

Officer Moore believes it was no accident given the circumstances. “A lot of people don’t like police officers, all the circumstances are there. Only one there in full uniform and it was obviously cooked after I arrived.”

The problem is it wasn’t cooked and a few hours later he became violently ill. Moore says he contacted the franchise owner and was told the cook was a manager in training.

He says he was also told there is surveillance video of the cook preparing his order. “I was told you could see him actually put the patty into the cooker, trying to close the mechanism a couple of times, eventually taking it out and putting it on the bun and serving it to me like that. It’s unacceptable.”

McDonald’s would only release a statement saying, “We take matters regarding food safety and quality very seriously. We have investigated the issue and have resolved the customer’s concern at the restaurant level.”

Officer Moore believes there should be more stringent procedures for monitoring employees. “This could happen to anybody, not just law enforcement,” he said.

There was no way I could even edit this story down, the whole tale needed to be shared.  

I worked at a rotisserie chicken place for a while, we served the majority of our food right in front of the customer, and I know for a fact we had a few cops who would purposefully come to get food from us knowing they could watch us prepare it.  

With that said I'd imagine they were worried about someone spitting in their food or using dirty gloves to prepare it.  Serving someone raw meet is not cool.  There certainly are bad cops out there but one should not assume that they are all bad people.  Possibly causing sickness or worse to someone who has never done anything to you personally is really immature and pathetic.  

But hey, it's McDonald's what else should I expect?