the darkerside to rants

Have a dog at home? Or a cat? Are you just looking at the lable of the can you’re about to open and feed your animal?

If so, you might want to read

What’s Really in Pet Food, and then reconsider.

You may have noticed a unique, pungent odor when you open a new bag of pet food — what is the source of that delightful smell? It is most often rendered animal fat, restaurant grease, or other oils too rancid or deemed inedible for humans.

Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed grade animal fat over the last fifteen years. This grease, often held in fifty-gallon drums, may be kept outside for weeks, exposed to extreme temperatures with no regard for its future use. “Fat blenders” or rendering companies then pick up this used grease and mix the different types of fat together, stabilize them with powerful antioxidants to retard further spoilage, and then sell the blended products to pet food companies and other end users.

Tired of big grocery bills? Well, become a Freegan.

Newsday.com has an interesting story entitled
“One man’s trash . . .” that takes a look at the culture of “Freegans”. And yes, you guessed right, those are people who “dumpster dive” for their food.

“Freegan” comes from the term vegan – a person who does not eat meat or animal products for health or ethical reasons. Freegans take it one step further by eating food thrown away by stores and restaurants, to avoid waste and limit their impact on the environment.

I have to say this is a rather interesting take, and it seems that for most people it is ethically motivated. If you look at what some of those stores / restaurants throw out every one really has to wonder if there wouldn’t be better use for it.

Here in Toronto part of those foods that usually get thrown away is instead donated to Second Harvest who then distributes it to shelters and people who need it.

But it seems that at least in NYC there is still a lot of food to be had:

John Phillips of Manhattan, an 18-year-old freegan, says none of his freegan friends have gotten sick from eating food from trash. The only health problem he says is overindulgence. “People go crazy because they find a 50-pound bag of doughnuts,” he says. “Restraint is a problem.”

(via BoingBoing)

I have to say kudos to Apple. They managed to actually get their new iMac into the new CSI: NY show.

Looks like it is the nice 20″ version as well.

Because beginning today people who come into the US all have to be fingerprinted. That’s great, because, hey, now at least you know at the end who blew up your building without a doubt (if you can still find a finger print that is).

This is (not only in my opinion) stupid and absolutly useless. Think about it: Why don’t I have to wear a sticker on my shirt while in the US with, say, the german flag on it? Germany did it once before, but I guess it’s all different if you’re the US?

Not only that you will get printed when you come into the US but also on your way out:

Ultimately, everyone will also be asked to “check out” when they leave the country. This will enable the authorities to find out whether someone is still in the US – and indeed is staying perhaps longer than permitted. Pilot exit procedures are currently operating at a number of air and sea ports to establish which procedure works best.

After all it can’t be that you are staying longer than you’re allowed to. Let’s forget about the words on the Statue of Liberty, different times and such.

Discussion forums are already boiling over again and even the BBC is wondering about this.

But fear not, if you’re Canadian you’re still not giving your prints:

Canadian citizens will not be part of the scheme, although anyone travelling from Canada who is not Canadian will be. At least initially, Mexicans travelling on so-called Border Crossing Cards for trips under 30 days and within the 25-mile border zone will also be exempt.

Go Canada. And I guess “Go Mexico” everybody else: Please feel like a criminal now.

Q: Why are they so keen on biometric passports?

It makes it virtually impossible for anyone else to make use of the identity of a stolen passport as the biometric details wouldn’t match.

Let me call Bullshit on this, if there is something it can be forged and it will be forged, not too surprised if someone is actually stealing (or swapping) your data.

Let’s think about this for a moment: If I gain access to the database, swap my fingerprints for yours, how do you proof that you are really you? All the ID says I am you. And that is not as far fetched as it may sound.

Q: Does the scheme compromise my privacy?

Well, obviously to the extent that identifying information about you is being gathered and stored. But don’t forget that this is one of a number of measures which have been taken on the grounds of national security since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

The European Union earlier this year authorised airlines to hand over information about passengers headed for the US – including addresses, credit cards and e-mail details. Potentially, information about you will be checked against lists of suspected terrorists and criminals before you even set foot in the US.

Enjoy the 21st Century.

The New York Times has an interesting article entitled “Canada’s Prophets of Pessimism (Is It the Weather?)“. In which the author is asking: Where is Canada? Where will it go?

In a newly published updated edition of his classic “Right Honorable Men,” about Canada’s leaders through history, Mr. Bliss wonders about the recent “decline in quality” of the nation’s leadership. “A logjam developed in the river of Canadian political history,” he wrote. “Where are the visionaries?”

Canada may still have a glowing reputation as a sensible country that promotes peace and social justice abroad, and it is a pioneer in decriminalizing drugs and allowing same-sex marriage. But, they groan, the bold foreign aid programs of the past have been much reduced.

It once built great railroads, conquered the Arctic and had the world’s fourth largest armed forces at the end of World War II, pioneering peacekeeping in distant trouble spots. But today, they argue, Canada outfits its peacekeepers with 40-year-old helicopters and decrepit jeeps akin to dune buggies.

Very interesting read, especially if you look for an alternative to the US.

I just took a nice little stroll down to my local grocery store (you gotta love 24 hour full fledged supermarkets) to pick up some cheese, why at midnight you ask? Because I felt like having a cheese sandwich.

Now I tend to be a bit picky about the things I stuff into my mouth, so I always read the labels and ingridients list (I just wish they had an E list like they do in Europe) and processed food I try to avoid wherever possible.

Pasteurized process cheese, for example, is made from one or more cheeses, such as cheddar or colby, and may have cream or anhydrous milkfat added. The cheese is blended and heated with an emulsifier—typically a sodium or potassium phosphate, tartrate, or citrate—and other optional ingredients such as water, salt, artificial color, and spices or other flavorings.

The cheese is then poured into molds to solidify and is later packaged. This processing produces a smooth, mild-tasting cheese that melts easily. For pasteurized process cheese, the final product can have a maximum moisture content of 43% and must have at least 47% milkfat. An interesting twist is that the product alternatively can be labeled as pasteurized process American cheese when made from cheddar, colby, cheese curd, granular cheese, or a combination of these; when other varieties of cheese are included, it must be called simply American cheese.

As they didnt’ seem to have any “real” cheese slices, only processed ones. So I started looking for some of the alternatives they were offering, in this case of course based on Soy. Soy seems to be one of the new trend foods lately, besides the “no carb stuff’ (more about this in another post).

So I started reading the lable on the soy cheese slices and to my surprise I realized that half of what was in there was actually coming from milk.

So here’s my question: Why even bother with it, if it in essence is still milk?

I guess it’s one of those great marketing ploys like Atkins.

Anyways, I bought a brick of Mozarella and will be slicing it myself now, put it on some 16-corn bread from my local bakery and quickly toast it to perfection.

As a side note, I just came across this little nugget on the Kraft Website where they tell the background stories of how many of their products came to pass. I am still not so sure I like processed food, but it is fascinating to see just how industrialized most of our food has become.

… I spent half the day on Slashdot and in IRC…. I haven’t been on IRC in ages……

Am I reverting back to be a geek?

Black Coffee + Maple Syrup == Yumm.

If I am bored, I experiment. Much better than just plain white sugar or one of those nasty creamers.

Do you ever get the feeling you want something really spicy, preferabbly right now?

MMMMhhhhh……. Where could I go, where could I go?