Are You Eating Explosive Cleansers?

Pipeline: Image courtesy of supakitmod / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Research has uncovered facts which have alarmed consumers who question the corporate food production empire.

Beware! A common ingredient in many foods and beverages has been proven to consist of an extremely dangerous chemical compound—referred to as tubig in parts of Asia, where copious amounts of the compound are found.

When heated, tubig becomes unstable and separates into two highly-flammable and explosive gasses, one of which has been shown to be the leading cause of oxidation. Both of these gasses can be found at high levels in the toxic smog of cities like Beijing and Manila. And yet they are included in much of the food you eat, and the manufacturers of these products can do this with no risk of arrest!

Tubig is sensitive to changes in temperature, which makes it a potential hazard in nearly any situation. At extreme heat, tubig may cause scalding, or even death. At low temperatures, tubig becomes rigid, and expands with enough force to split rock. Just imagine what this might mean for your digestive system. And it is a well-established fact that inhaling even a small amount of tubig almost certainly causes immediate death. Yet the FDA has made no move to require warning labels on products containing this killer which takes the lives of hundreds each year.

Recently, large amounts of tubig were dumped on city streets in the city of Atlanta, and traffic was rerouted to avoid contact with this dangerous substance. And yet tubig is an ingredient in every beverage served at Subway and McDonalds. As of this writing, Subway refused to respond to our inquiries about their use of tubig. McDonalds’ reply was less than reassuring, as they unashamedly intend to continue their use of tubig. It will be an uphill battle as consumers work against these large corporations and their deep pockets which pay their lawyers’ retainers.

Not only is tubig used in the preparation of many foods and beverages, this SAME chemical compound is used to clean up the greasy pots and pans and to scrub the floors when the restaurant closes. Large amounts tubig are poured in high-traffic areas of public spaces, in spite of the evidence cited here which points to the risk it poses to consumers’ health.

It is a fact that 100% of autistic children have been exposed to tubig. The fine print in recently-published WHO reports indicate that tubig has been consumed by people with conditions as as varied as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, congestive heart failure, acne, Alzheimer’s, MS, curly hair, and ABGS (Alarmist Blog Gullibility Syndrome.)

And yet tubig (also known as di-hydrogen monoxide, or H2O) continues to be used in cooking and to fill water bottles.

Are YOU eating and drinking this highly explosive industrial cleanser?

Disclaimer: This blog was inspired by several alarmist pseudo-science blogs I’ve seen recently. Now, do I believe that much commercially-produced food in America is full of unhealthy ingredients? Absolutely. And the health conditions listed here–some of them quite devastating–serve merely for making my point, and indicate no lack of sympathy on my part.
Image courtesy of supakitmod / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Free Million Dollars… yeah, right!

Everyone gets these money scam emails (often from Nigeria), but this one was so creative, so over-the-top, so… so COLORFUL, I just had to share it. I appreciated how hard these crooks worked to get my personal details. Note how the United Nations (or, United Nation, if you prefer) has both a gmail address and an AOL account:

UN MoneyPhotographs! Seals! Signatures! Logos! Reference Numbers! (You’ve always gotta have a few of those, right?) And colors… I know this email is legit. I mean, blue, red and green all in the same email?!

And I really appreciated UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon taking the time to write me personally and to wish me God’s blessings, besides! I know he’s a busy guy, what with those six-month-long meetings and now, having to oversee giving away all that money. Whew!

Now, why is it that the contact person for all these give-aways seems to be a Reverend? (Wait. Don’t answer that.) Anyway, it inspires my trust. But why doesn’t Rev. Martins Jonathan (or is that Jonathan Martins?) have a UN or a World Bank email? For that matter, why doesn’t the United Nation(s) use their own domain? I guess they were early adopters and keep the AOL account out of loyalty or because of a long relationship. And now they’re so hip as to have gmail, too. Hmmm… now that you mention it, I think I’m going to circle their G+ account.

I had questions about some of this, but my confidence was restored when I see that Rev. JM (MJ?)’s email domain “accountant.com” calls this up:

AccountantSurely there’s some mistake. I know the United Nation(s)’s duly ordained Representative Agent In Africa wouldn’t use a flaky domain for his email. But whether this money thing works out or not, for sure I’m going to write the good reverend, just to be friends, you know?

And even if I was suspicious (and of course I’m not!), I read at the bottom that I’m bound by the Electronic Communications Act, and I cannot disclose this private, eyes-only email. Geeze, I hope I don’t get in trouble for writing this blog.

But the guy I really want to meet is that Asia/Australia President! I’m sure he (or she) would be a fascinating person with a lot of power and influence. Of course a lot of Asian heads of state will be surprised to learn about this hemisphere-wide leader, and 22 million Australians, the framers of the Aussie constitution, and newly-installed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be disturbed to learn that Australia now has a president. That just doesn’t seem right.

But the United Nation(s) would know… and anyway, it’s all “to make the world a better place.”

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30-Day Drawing Challange: Day 30 (the end!)

30-Day_Part2

The challenge is arm-wheeling. No, wait… the challenge is OVER!

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Concert

Day 30: Our FINAL assignment was to draw a Concert Moment.

So I drew: The Night I Lost My Hearing.

Somewhere in the early 70s, my friends and I saw The Who at the San Diego Sports Arena. We were in the “cheap seats,” but rushed the stage and wound up in front (I think this would be called a mosh pit in more modern times). We were packed in like sardines with everyone else, waiting for the music to begin.

We saw dark forms milling on the stage, stage hands setting up guitars and gear, walking back and forth in front of the little red amp lights.

Then nothing.

Then more milling forms. Band members took their positions on the stage. Well, most of them did. Then three things happened at the same time:

  1. The lights came on.
  2. The music started.
  3. Peter Townshend was arm-windmilling a chord on his guitar, mid-air… having jumped off the top of a stack of amps and speakers.

All night long, Townshend kept giving his engineers the thumbs up, meaning “louder, louder.” When each song ended, all of us sardines would scream at the top of our lungs, clapping and whistling, our faces only inches from each others’ ears.

Our applause must have been insanely loud. And we would hear…

…rinnnngggggggggg. Nothing. We would hear nothing but the ringing of our ears. I literally heard no sound from the wide-open, screaming mouths of those beside me. Yikes.

Trying to find the car that night, my friends and I were like a Cheech and Chong routine, shouting into each others’ ears with cupped hands, “Where’s the CAR?!”

“What?!”

“Where’s the CARRRrrr?!!!?”

And so on.

The 30 Days are now behind us and we’re done! Thanks to Don Hillson for inviting me to this challenge, and thanks to all of you who also participated, those who commented, liked the posts, and those who simply endured them wondering if I would ever stop! Normal (if such a word ever applies to me) blogging will resume now…
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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 29

30-Day_Part2

The challenge is purring right along.

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Cat Meme

Day 29: Our assignment was to draw an Internet Meme.

Here’s my favorite. It speaks for itself.

And it really doesn’t care what you think.

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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 28

30-Day_Part2

The challenge is waltzing Matilda.

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Tramp

Day 28: Our assignment was to draw a Hobo.

I’m sorry to keep complaining on top of drawing, but who makes these lists? “Hobo” hasn’t been an acceptably used word in decades.

A bit of history for you youngsters… when I was a kid, we spoke of hobos, tramps, bums and winos. Charlie Chaplain’s character was “the tramp,” by the way.

A hobo was technically just a migrant worker who usually hitched rides (without paying) on trains, and lived in camps outside of town. A tramp (from “tramping around”) was basically the same thing, but tramp was a slightly more pejorative term.

A bum actually refused to work, and a wino was the alcoholic sleeping on the street.

A lot of these were shown in movies, usually in a stylized, romanticized form. The props were the worn out top hat, the bindle bag (matilda in Australia) over the shoulder, a stub of a cigar (either a discarded butt picked up as a free smoke, or a roll-your-own made from multiple butts), and cooking beans over a fire in their own can (since the hobo could not afford a saucepan, etc.; oddly the can was usually shown with the lid still attached.)

But those terms have fallen out of use, there are whole new classes of migrant workers and issues associated with that, and a whole new mindset toward the various kinds of down-and-out people who come to cities.

Dray a hobo? Naw. But I did draw you a Tramp.

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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 27

30-Day_Part2

The challenge’s head is stuffed with fluff.

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Pooh

Day 27: Our assignment was to draw our Favorite Disney Character.

Honestly? I don’t have one. Really! I’m not that into Disney characters at all. I could have put Ariel, since I think the music from Little Mermaid was amazing, but I really can’t call her a “favorite character.” It’s the music I like… that, and the Jungle Book music. (King Louie’s “I Wanna Be Like You” solo is a classic, as is the vulture Beatles parody “We’re Your Friends.”)

But then I thought of Winnie the Pooh. Now, I realize that Pooh was not created by Disney. No, Disney merely exploited Pooh and made gazillions. A. A. Milne created the whole Pooh menagerie and those books are sheer genius for entertaining kids while not driving the adults who have to read them insane. We loved them, in fact. I confess I’ve read them without a kid on my lap or anywhere in sight. The droll humor is pretty classic. And the insights have been distilled into books like The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet.

But, since most people think of Pooh as Disney now, I can proudly claim “Winnie the” (we’re on a first-and-middle name basis, you know) as my favorite. But I drew the version created by Ernest H. Shepard (illustrator of the A. A. Milne books), since in my opinion, it’s way cuter than the Disney version.

So Pooh it is, and all this in spite of the fact that when our 5th grade class put on a Winnie the Pooh play, I was given the one-second, one-line role of a BUG. I still remember my line! “Who me?” I’ve been asking that question ever since.

I drew Pooh on the Blustery day, which, as we all know, is when anyone needs a friend the most.

I didn’t mean to make Piglet seem quite so much like a measles patient. I’m pretty sure, in fact, that he was immunized. But my set of markers is limited as to colors and this what I tried to get a pinkish yet not-too-pink pink. Oh well. I know Piglet won’t mind. Rabbit’s attitude would have been another story…
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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 26

30-Day_Part2

The challenge is just playing around.

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Bird

Day 25: Our assignment was to draw our Favorite Video Game.

Well I have to put this in perspective. I grew up playing with DIRT, okay?

My friends and I used to go to game parlors and play air hockey and pinball.

I remember when “video game” meant Pong, Space Race or Pac Man, and we never owned any of those.

And then, once I was an adult, we lived and worked pretty much off the grid for 3 decades and were not exactly on the cutting edge game-wise.

So I was thinking, favorite video game? That assumes I have played some in the first place.

But then, my loving wife reminded me that since I was given an iPad, I have been known to spend a moment or two (I can quit any time I want… honest!) playing the game pictured here. And I supposed that’s a “video game” in the broadest sense.

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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 25

30-Day_Part2

The challenge is GONNA GETCHA!

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Bogeyman

Day 25: Our assignment was to draw The Bogeyman.

Okay, I admit I toyed with the idea of drawing Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer or Tiger Woods, and ducking for cover…

But instead, I offer this sweet image.

Really, I never saw (or believed in) the Bogeymen.

But I heard voices

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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 24

30-Day_Part2

The challenge gets playful.

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Train

Day 24: Our assignment was to draw a Toy.

Although I’m 57 years old, I actually spend a lot of time playing with toys these days. On the floor. With my grandson Max. (Disclaimer: I would gladly play with my granddaughter, as well, but other than a few brief moments of stacking her Duplo pieces, she’s usually going through the room across the floor, at about 36 mph.)

Max is into trains. And I mean really, really INTO them. This includes Thomas the train and all his buddies like James, Henry, Percy, Annie… believe me, the list goes on and on, and my favorite 3-year-old knows them all. (I pause here to offer silent thanks that my daughters were into Sesame Street, and now my grandson is into Thomas the train, and that we totally sidestepped the extremely annoying purple dinosaur who shall remain unnamed.)

The Ikea train is fun and easy to set up in multiple layouts with loops and bridges (trestles?). And the colorful little locomotives and cars hook together by magnets. Fun.

Playing trains with a little boy is interesting. Shouts of “Choo choo-oooooo!” and “All abo-oooard!” abound. But the absolutely most fun thing to do (Grandad soon learned) is to make a break in the tracks so the trains will “CRASH,” which allows you to say, “Oh no-oooo! They crashed!” as if surprised. (This is most likely one reason why our laws don’t allow for three-year-old engineers.)

Of course, “oh no” is said with a big smile. A smile of sheer delight with eyes a-sparkle.

Come to think of it, Grandad is smiling, too.

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30-Day Drawing Challenge: Day 23

30-Day_Part2

The challenge is all turned around.

See the blog Expatriatism for a list of the other worthy participants, including my artist niece, and links to their daily drawings.

Me As Girl

Day 23: Our assignment was to draw ourselves as the Opposite Sex.

This was another one that made me scratch my head and go, “Huh?!”

I mean, I’m not that kind of artist. I can’t even draw myself (recognizably) as my actual sex now. So what would a picture of the opposite sex be?

I thought, “Well, I could, you know… add long hair!”

Nope. I had a ponytail in my teens, without a single Y chromosome in my body. I wish I still had that ponytail…

Then I thought of drawing a picture of my youngest daughter when she wore a man’s suit coat and fedora and painted on a mustache for a middle school skit, because when she did, she looked a lot like a skinny, years-ago teenage me (with the addition of my adult 80s mustache). But that wouldn’t be drawing ME, but drawing my daughter who looked like me. So, no. Hmmm.

At the end I figured I’d likely do the same things I do now, hence the picture you see above.

And to be honest, that’s all the artistic energy I could come up with after a really exhausting day (mostly fun, but with one bit of really sad news.) So, if my character faced you, I might have to draw a few tears.

And who says tears are only for girls?

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