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Innocent or obese civilians can frustrate an agenda. Not if the commander has anything to say. |
Bombs Away:
On March 20, 2018 the Senate narrowly voted to defeat a resolution to block sales of laser guided bomb systems to Saudi Arabia presented by Rand Paul (R-KY) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).
The CEO of Raytheon (maker of the armaments) met with US officials prior to the vote to encourage the continued sales and was delighted by the vote outcome (a big bonus is always nice around the Holidays.) A spokesman for Raytheon echoed the CEO: “We value our 50-year partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and look forward to continuing to help meet their security needs”
Of course, the citizens of Yemen find little to cheer about in the vote, with the Saudis flying as many as 200 bombing runs a day killing them indiscriminately.
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Junk Food: |
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Obesity is a growing problem everywhere. Supported by the big prepared food and beverage companies the administration wants to limit the requirements to clearly label their products that contain excessive sugar, fat and salt. Inspired by Chile’s introduction in 2016 of black stop sign icons to warn consumers about the contents, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, and Argentina are discussing adopting similar labeling.
Chile’s new labels are easily visible, and already appear to be changing what people think about buying. According to Lorena Rodriguez, head of the Department of Food and Nutrition, “It takes less than a second to decide to buy something.”
The administration wants to prevent any similar requirements as part of the NAFTA agreement.
We already label most foods. We don’t need to spend more money expanding on that, imho.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, added sugars show up on food and drink labels under the following names: Anhydrous dextrose, brown sugar, cane crystals, cane sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, crystal dextrose, evaporated cane juice, fructose sweetener, fruit juice concentrates, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, liquid fructose, malt syrup, maple syrup, molasses, pancake syrup, raw sugar, sugar, syrup and white sugar (See Reference 1). Other types of sugar you might commonly see on ingredient lists are fructose, lactose and maltose. Fructose is sugar derived from fruit and vegetables; lactose is milk sugar; and maltose is sugar that comes from grain.
I think an icon that indicates this stuff is not good for your health might actually work.