Scientists who tested 19 different kinds of cola found trace
amounts of alcohol in 10 of the samples. However, the amounts were so small
that you'd have to consume nearly 13,000 cans to qualify for a DUI.
The Sun reports that the amounts were as low as 10mg per
liter, or, 0.001 percent. In other words, you'll still need to visit your local
watering hole if you want more jack in your Coke.
France's National Institute of Consumption conducted the
tests, which were published in the magazine "60 Millions de Consommateurs."
"It is possible alcohol traces come from the process of
making our drink according to its secret recipe," said Coca-Cola France's
scientific director Michel Pepin.
Under the "rumors" section of Coca-Cola's website,
the company acknowledges:
"Trace levels of alcohol can occur naturally in many
foods and beverages. Governments and religious organizations have recognized
that such minute levels are considered acceptable in nonalcoholic foods and
beverages."
The news has sparked speculation from news outlets that the
presence of alcohol could violate the moral codes of certain religions and
organizations that prohibit the consumption of alcohol.
However, Pepin specifically notes that the Paris mosque gave
Coca-Cola a certificate stating that the Muslim community can consume their
products.
PepsiCo also acknowledge the possibility of trace amounts of
alcohol in their products, saying, "Some soft drinks can contain minute
traces of alcohol because of the ingredients used." However, the company
also stressed, "The Pepsi Cola recipe does not contain alcohol."
According to the Sun, both companies said natural fruit
fermenting likely produces the traces of alcohol. Interestingly, the study
found that the only soda brands which didn't contain the trace amounts of
alcohol were generic brands produced by local, French grocery outlets.
I survived another family vacation again. But this time I
claimed a partial victory in showing my kids where I spent my youth at but a
failure in showing myself on how old I have become. Either way, speaking as a
father, I was still the pack mule while everyone else was having fun. And I
wouldn’t change one moment of it.
This vacation I took the family to a place where my
grandparents use to live at, a place where my older brother graduated high
school and life was perfect, Surf City located on Topsail Island in North
Carolina. A lot has changed over the years but the people there are still the
nicest I have ever met. For the best of my memory goes, my life before school
and every summer vacation until the mid-1970’s was spent living on this island.
Back in those days, it was a place where many military
people lived. Those stationed at Camp Lajeune would make this island their home
that even today there are as many Marine flags as there are American flags
waving from the homes on this island. Constant helicopters and airplanes fly
over the area so close at times that we could see the pilot was waving at my
two boys who were waving at the aircraft.
Early 1970.
I was playing in the sand area at my grandparents’ home
and getting a little bored. I went inside and ask permission to go to the beach
and play by the water. She said OK and off I walked a block away, crossing two
sets of roads and over a sand dune to where I played for a few hours making
sand castles and frog holes (that when you cover your foot in sand, pat it down
and remove your foot to produce a make shift cave). A man came up to me to informed
me that my grandmother wanted me to go home now to which I did.
With tourist and locals on the island there was no fear
of one’s life being in danger. With so much military presents and everyone
knowing everyone there was a strong since of a family bond. If I did something
wrong, my family would know about it before I even got home. Back then, I as
everyone my age will tell you, manners was everything. There was no back
talking; always a yes sir or no sir, yes ma’am or no ma’am. No one locked their
car doors. Windows were kept rolled down. Houses were never really locked up at
night as the doors stayed opened during the day.
Today.
If all that happened today, there would be outrage of
mass proportions. I would be placed in a foster home and my grandmother would
be in jail. We both would be tested for drug use as I would be cursing at
anything that moved. Cars would be stolen as houses would have been robbed of
everything. But not here on Topsail Island. The people here are still nice and
understanding as ever.
The island doesn’t have all the bells and whistles other
major beaches have. It has all the shops for your beach needs. No major waves
for surfing just the beach, ocean and sea shells. It has fishing piers for
fishing with sea food restaurants galore accompanied by a few fast food places
like Hardees, McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza and subways. There is a Food Lion on
the mainland and an IGA store that has been on the island since the dawn of
time.
My grandmother worked at a diner located on the right
just before you crossed the swinging bridge to go onto the island. There was a
jukebox by the door and a TV hanging on the wall. It had a long counter top bar
with plenty of tables for the many customers that came here to eat. I always
had a plate full of french fries and a large glass of sweet tea that today my
two boys have inherited that from me.
My grandfather (papa as I called him) worked at the Ideal
Cement plant. It’s now under a different name. A few times he took me there to
do some fishing but I was always amazed at the size of the vehicles he would
drive. The tires alone were huge. I clearly remember climbing inside one of
these tires that was on the ground, sitting up inside of it as my head never
touched the top part of the tire. I wanted to take it home with me but he gave
me a ride inside the vehicles instead.
Ladders were used just to reach the door to get inside
the vehicle or the at least to another ladder that was welded onto the vehicle.
He would at times take me for a ride in these vehicles. Scary at first but I
really loved it later on. Binoculars were in every vehicle and I could clearly see
the huge holes in the ground that my papa had mined out. And some of these
holes were filled with water as a make shift fish farm as many employees came
here on a Sunday afternoon to do a bit of fishing.
My brother, 12 years older than me, was to me a bit bossy
back then. But then again, he was a teenager. He would come home from school,
do his homework then disappear for hours at a time, mainly fishing on the Surf
City pier. On the weekends he would do night time fishing on the pier. There
was a small building at the end of the pier as people would take turns getting
a few minutes of sleep during the night.
I use to go with my grandmother early in the morning to
carry my brother something to eat as we carried home the fish he had caught
during the night. One time the pier collapsed after a hurricane came through. I
still remember the diner was still open for business as people took turns
looking out the door to the pier to see the ocean just below them. But very
quickly the pier was rebuilt and life returned to normal again.
My brother would have to baby sit me at times which meant
many trips to a part of the island near the military base. There was a concrete
platform as many teenagers would climb onto it to get a better look at the
base. Bon fires were lit as alcohol was greatly consumed. For me it was Dr.
Pepper. My brother drinks it and so do I. That’s what little brothers are
supposed to do.
My job back then was to watch TV and play in the sand by
the house or on the beach. My favorite TV shows were Beat the Clock, Search,
Ironside, The Six Million Dollar Man and S.W.A.T to name a few. This was my
kingdom of heaven. This is what I wanted to show my kids by connecting them to
my life on a deeper level.
I just forgot to
take away their Nintendo DS’s in order to create that bonding experience with
them.
Federal regulations can be maddening, but none more so than a current one that demands oil refiners use millions of gallons of a substance, cellulosic ethanol, that does not exist.
"As ludicrous as that sounds, it's fact," says Charles Drevna, who represents refiners. "If it weren't so frustrating and infuriating, it would be comical."
And Tom Pyle of the Institute of Energy Research says, "the cellulosic biofuel program is the embodiment of government gone wild."
Refiners are at their wit's end because the government set out requirements to blend cellulosic ethanol back in 2005, assuming that someone would make it. Seven years later, no one has.
"None, not one drop of cellulosic ethanol has been produced commercially. It's a phantom fuel," says Pyle. "It doesn't exist in the market place."
And Charles Drevna adds, "forcing us to use a product that doesn't exist, they might as well tell us to use unicorns."
And yet, they still have to pay what amounts to fines:
"Why would they ask them to blend any at all if it doesn't exist?" Pyle said. "Because they know that they can squeeze some extra dollars out of them."
The EPA does have discretion to lower the annual requirement. And one supporter explains, that's what the agency is saying.
"We are going to reduce your blending obligation by 98 percent because we feel that that’s the right thing to do," says Brooke Coleman, the executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council of the Renewable Fuels Association. "We are going to maintain your blending obligation on the gallons that we think are going to emerge."
The EPA, which would not speak on camera, is still hoping production of cellulosic ethanol will emerge.
A study by the Congressional Research Service, however, says the government "projects that cellulosic bio fuels are not expected to be commercially available on a large scale until at least 2015."
Drevna of the refiners association says they had no other choice left since EPA insisted they still had to blend some of the nonexistent cellulosic ethanol.
"We've had to go to the courts and litigate this thing is because they just turned a blind eye to us," Drevna said.
So the refiners are now suing the EPA, in part because the mandate gets larger and larger-- 500 million gallons this year, 3 billion in 2015 and 16 billion in 2022.
And still, not a gallon of cellulosic ethanol in sight.
Burger King wants to lure customers this summer with a
barbecue party — and a bacon sundae.
The world's second biggest hamburger chain on Thursday is
launching several pork, beef and chicken sandwiches as limited time offers. And
for a sweet ending, the company is also offering a bacon sundae — vanilla soft
serve with fudge, caramel, bacon crumbles and a piece of bacon — that started
in Nashville, Tenn. earlier this year.
The salty-sweet dessert clocks in at 510 calories, 18 grams
of fat and 61 grams of sugar.
The limited-time items are Burger King's latest push to win
back customers with a revived menu and reverse-sliding market share, an effort
that started soon after the company was taken private by the private equity
firm 3G Capital in late 2010.
This year, Burger King launched its biggest-ever menu
expansion, including fruit smoothies, snack wraps and new salads. The items
were intended to go after a broader audience of moms and families, a shift from
the chain's previous strategy of courting young men with calorie bombs.
Core menu items, such as French fries and the Whopper, have
also been tweaked as part of the company's efforts to improve food quality.
Burger King is trying to underscore its own focus on ingredients with a new tag
line, "Taste Is King," which replaces "Have It Your Way." A
new ad has been celebrating summer barbecues to highlight the chain's emphasis
on fire-grilling burgers. The new summer items will be featured in ads starting
Thursday.
This month, 3G plans to take Burger King public on the New
York Stock Exchange.
Wendy's is also revamping its menu to improve ingredients and
recast itself as a higher-end burger chain. The makeovers by the hamburger
giants come at a time when the traditional fast-food chains are seeing more
competition from smaller players such as Five Guys Burgers and Smashburger that
offer higher-quality food and alternatives such as Subway.
Burger King isn't the only fast-food chain that's trying to
draw attention with unusual offerings. Taco Bell earlier this year introduced
its tacos with Doritos shells and a "nacho burrito" that includes
corn chips.
The rest of Burger King's summer menu includes:
—Memphis Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich.
—Carolina BBQ Whopper or Chicken Sandwich.
—Texas BBQ Whopper or Chicken Sandwich.
—Sweet potato fries.
—Frozen Lemonade.
The items will be available until Sept. 3 or while supplies
last.
The following
is an actual true story. From a different point of view.
Waking up
from the hospital bed after a quick and unexpected surgery is one thing. But
being surrounded by military personnel in a hospital gown is another. I checked
myself to see the damages were all repaired in my right arm and left leg as I
also check to see if my man parts were still attached. With a sigh of relief a
nurse came over to see if I needed anything. To which I replied that I needed
to go to the bathroom.
She helped
me to the porcelain throne where I did what I mainly do most of as afterwards she
helped me back to my bed. An NCIS agent enters the room wanting a full detail
report of what happened that caused me to nearly get killed on base. Getting
comfortable in bed I proceeded to tell a tale that is the god honest true from
my point of view. Setting up his electronic recorder to record my testimony, I
began my journey down memory lane.
That morning
was like every other morning. Marines are up by 5 AM ready to go on three mile
runs before breakfast. Afterwards it’s training and office work till lunchtime.
It’s usually MRE’s, Meals Ready To Eat if your platoon is too far the mess
hall. Then more work until that evening where everyone was pretty much finished
for the day.
Being on
base and heading out to one of the training areas on the far corner of the
base, I was very careful to stay aware of the road signs so as to not windup in
the middle of the target practice field. A tree had collapsed from the storm
that night as it had crushed a sign post. With no road marker I simply followed
the route I normally follow when I am in this area.
I reduced
the speed of my vehicle to prevent any accidents. Soon I noticed more trees had
fallen. I took the road that I believed to be the correct path. Noticing
another vehicle in the area and upon meeting up with it I soon found that my
worst fear had been realized. I was in the middle of the target training area.
The whistling
sound of incoming is always a sound that you feel at the bottom of your gut
when you are at the receiving end of that sound. And I was definitely feeling
it. I exited my vehicle and ran. The car I parked next to was obliterated as
mine was laying in the crater where the other car once was.
Not having
time to fully check if I was injured or not as more sounds of incoming artillery
approaching all around me, I simply ran for my life. After that barrage, I
heard whistles and horns being blown as the sound of men running towards me
gave me the reassurance that everything was going to be all right. That is
until I saw my bloody leg and shoulder.
Very quickly
I was surrounded by Marines as they quickly proceeded to treat my wounds. I
felt at ease as they worked to ascertain my injuries and call in to arrange for
medical assistance. The last thing I remember before passing out from the pain
was a tourniquet placed on my leg as several Marines started to carry me to the
hospital.
The NCIS
officer then surmised that with the damaged caused by the storm led to me winding up as target practice. As the officer was preparing to
leave, the nurse enters to inform me that my boss has been notified
of what has happened as my family was preparing to visit the base to
see me. The NCIS agent was puzzled by this and asked if I was a Marine or not
and what was my purpose for going to that part of the base.
I then
casually said that I was a pizza delivery guy who was bringing an order of pizzas
to a unit for their lunch after their target practice games.
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Scientists who tested 19 different kinds of cola found trace
amounts of alcohol in 10 of the samples. However, the amounts were so small
that you'd have to consume nearly 13,000 cans to qualify for a DUI.
