Bad Deeds for 2-3-2011

 

No Money for Texas Teachers; Plenty for Football – A $60 million football stadium is being built at Allen High School, near Dallas, Texas. Residents voted 63 percent in favor of a bond issue in May 2009. This is the same state that is laying off teachers and librarians because people say they want to be financially responsible.

 

Food Companies Sneaking Fake Blueberries Into Their Products – Blueberries have long been touted as a superfood, high in antioxidants, vitamin C, and manganese. But, it seems that all of those products like Target Blueberry Bagels and General Mills Total Pomegranate Blueberry cereal are not being totally honest with the consumer. As if we have never been lied to by cynical marketers, it seems that several of those blueberry-laden products are made without blueberries. Actually, many of the products have nothing even closely resembling a blueberry in them, other than a bluish tinge (all done with the magic of mixing artificial colors, hydrogenated oils and liquid sugars). How could this have happened?

A group called Natural Food Advocates recently produced an Internet video that threatened to blow the lid off Blueberrygate, once and for all. This expose-style video goes on to point the finger at everyone from Health Valley to Betty Crocker for being blueberry imposters – selling unwitting consumers on the promise of blueberries, but instead serving up dextrose, Corn Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Sugar, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavor, and of course the obligatory Blue #1 and Red #40. As the video states, “When consumers buy blueberry cereals, muffins and mixes, they’re under the impression that they’re buying real blueberries. No ordinary consumer realizes they’re actually buying blue coloring chemicals mixed with hydrogenated oils and liquid sugars.

 

Texans Shiver Through Rolling Blackouts While Rick Perry Politics in Sunny California – Texas is currently experiencing a record cold-wave and ice storm which has killed at least 6 people and brought rolling power blackouts. Texas parents, public officials, business owners and managers are all struggling to keep homes and businesses warm. Meanwhile, Rick Perry is in California meeting with deep-pocket Republican donors and right-wing opinion leaders.

The cold weather knocked approximately 50 of the 550 power plants in Texas offline this morning and also resulted in increased demand for electricity. Lack of adequate winterization and preparation appear to be a major cause of the outages.” Thanks, Rick, for leaving us unprepared. And thanks for just leaving.

 

Fox News Producers Scripted ‘Socialism’ Outcry, Email Shows – A seemingly spontaneous response concerning the Obama campaign canceling an appearance on a local news station was actually scripted by Fox News’ producers. The evening before the Fox News segment aired, Fox producer Elizabeth Fanning sent an email to staffers at the network, listing five questions: “Is this a preview of things to come? Will the White House press room be like this? Can you not ask tough questions? Will they suppress the freedom of the press? Isn’t this what happens in communist countries?”

In another e-mail obtained by Media Matters, Fox News Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon told his staff to downplay the importance of climate science that showed the world was getting warmer.

Additional emails showed that Sammon asked his news department to refer to the public option as the “government run option” because polls showed the phrase “government option” was opposed by the public.

Regards,

Jim