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On Vox: Pepsi vs Mexican Coke

  • Feb. 25th, 2008 at 9:05 PM


Which uses more fossil fuels to get to me, regular Pepsi or Mexican Coke?  Regular Pepsi uses high fructose corn syrup.  A lot of fossil fuels are used to grow the corn (specifically in the fertilizers) to produce the HFCS.  But Mexican Coke comes in a glass bottle instead of the can.  I'm also assuming that the sugar used in the Mexican Coke doesn't use the same source of fertilizer (and/or it doesn't need as much.)

Ok, maybe this is just wishful thinking.  At best it's just transferring the 'real' costs of producing the beverage to me, the consumer, instead of the tax payer (because of the corn subsidies in this country.)

At least I can get the Mexican Cokes at Costco.

Originally posted on toppledwagon.vox.com



After today's announcement that the USDA is forcing the recall of 143 million pounds of beef, I went poking around. Why don't we test 100% of our cattle for Mad Cow Disease? Japan does. There is a slaughter house here in the US called Creekstone Farms that wants to sell their beef to Japan. As such, they want to do the testing required by the Japanese consumers. But they can't. According to this article originally printed in the Washington Post (the article seems to have expired from their official web site), the USDA said that they could NOT do the testing. It's not that they were trying to do it improperly. It's that the National Cattlemen's Beef Association was afraid that it would become a domestic and international standard for all beef!

On March 29, 2007 (my birthday!) the US District Court for the District of Columbia concluded that it is unlawful for the USDA to prevent Creekstone from testing its cattle for BSE. Of course, the USDA appealed that decision.

It appears to me that it is just a matter of time before this test becomes mandatory, either domestically, internationally, or both. The later this test happens, the more cases of BSE we might have to confirm. If they start the testing now I'm sure they'll likely find some. If they start the testing in a few years from now, they'll likely find more. After all, it's a disease. Diseases spread. Either that or they are trying to silently clean up the herd before testing begins. How likely is that?

5 blade razors are pointless

  • Mar. 15th, 2007 at 10:43 AM

I was at the store the other day and saw that we can now purchase razors with 5 blades. I don't know about you, but my skin is too sensitive for that much destruction. If I want 5 blades rolling across my face, I'll drag my straight razor across my face 5 times. 5 blades is pointless and comes at an incredible price premium over the standard 2 blade pivot razors. If you're tempted to buy these, you're also tempted to use them for more than one shave. Do yourself a favor, get the 2 blade razors and use a fresh one for each shave.