I’ve agreed with this for the longest time, always laughing at those who had to drink “spring” water, which more often than not is just “filtered” water.
It is obviously a fad created by marketers, in much the same way that music is manufactured and marketed and global warming is marketed.
Just read this clip from the Washington Post today:
Desalinated seawater from Hawaii, meanwhile, is being sold as “concentrated water” — at $33.50 for a two-ounce bottle. Like any concentrated beverage, it is supposed to be diluted before drinking, except that in this case, that means adding water to . . . water.
And from Tennessee, a company named BlingH2O — whose marketing imagery features a mostly nude model improbably balancing a bottle of water between her heel and her hip — is retailing its water at $40 for 750 milliliters, with special-edition bottles going for $480 — more than a million times the price of the liquid that comes from your tap.
The push to turn water into the new wine is a marketing phenomenon: The bottled-water industry is engaged in an intense effort to convince Americans that the stuff in bottles is substantially different from the stuff out of the tap.
But empirical tests have repeatedly shown that they are generally the same. In blind taste tests, many people who swear they can differentiate between bottled-water brands and tap water fail to spot the differences, and studies have shown that both are fine to drink, and both occasionally can have quality problems.
Experts who study bottled water as a cultural phenomenon say differences between the two are largely marketing inventions.(Source)
In fact, if you look at most spring water bottles, you’ll see that it actually says “filtered” not spring. And we have all heard the anagram for the famous bottled water Evian. Naive.
I’ll close with this clip from Penn and Teller’s show, BS:
Angie and I spent the weekend visiting friends and going to see Les Miserables since it was playing in Philly. Not only is Les Miserables a wonderful production, but it is also nice to see that a production that makes a big deal about doing what is right (instead of what is easy) and listening to God is still popular in this day.
The next day (after spending the night at Loews Hotel in Center City) we strolled down to a coffee shop for breakfast and hung out at Independence Hall.
I’m always in awe when I’m at Independence Hall. After all, we used to be the nation’s capitol for a short time and this city was where our great country was born. It seemed appropriate that on Friday, when the Supreme Court ruled against a gun ban and re-affirmed an individual’s right to bear arms, we were right down the street from the building that drafted the original document.
We can’t forget our Constitution, the Bill of Right and the history that has given us the freedom that so many today take for granted.
It is reported that another Democrat, Baltimore Mayor Dixon, had a personal relationship with a property owner. She even admitted to it.
And now reports are that an investigation is underway regarding personal gifts to the Mayor in exchange for her voting for zoning and tax breaks.
Hmmm.
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― New information is released in the investigation into Mayor Sheila Dixon as she admits having a personal relationship with a prominent developer.
Mike Hellgren reports prosecutors are now investigating whether Dixon received thousands of dollars in gifts from developer Ronald Lipscomb when she voted on tax breaks and zoning for his projects.
In one case, the document states Dixon voted on a $13 million tax break for Doracon–for the Spinnaker Bay building in Harbor East– the same day she and Lipscomb went on a lavish trip to New York.
(Source)
I thought the Republicans were the corrupt ones? I really believe that there should be a limit to the number of years politicians serve. It seems the longer they stay in office, the more corrupt they get.
The funniest one was when federal investigators found tens of thousands of dollars in Democrat congressman William Jefferson’s freezer. He’s still under investigation. He’s still a member of congress.
Last night I had some free time to hang out at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor before a gig for a client at the Marriott. So I enjoyed the beautiful day, took a few pictures and then walked over to the hotel for the gig. These aren’t my best pictures, but I am trying to keep taking pictures more and more often.
The picture of the cleat was taken with a 50mm lens at 1.8 and ISO 200. I’ve alway’s loved the look of a 50mm and, especially, the fast 1.8 that gives me the depth of field.
And I’ve got to say that the view from the upper floor of the hotel was awesome. I took a picture from my iPhone from the room in which I was performing.
I should also mention, I’ve been updating the photostream at my Flickr page. You can find that here.
So now Obama has another flip on the War on Terror. And it is eerily similar to Sen. Kerry’s “I voted for it before I voted against it” remark. Here’s the news:
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama supports the spy bill compromise passed by the House Friday, despite having opposed retroactive amnesty to telecoms that helped with the President’s secret, warrantless wiretapping.
The bill is widely perceived as a victory for the White House, and was agreed to by Democrats out of a fear of being labeled soft on terrorism in the upcoming elections.(Source)
Obama said yesterday, “That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act.”
Now he’s for the same thing he’s been harping on Bush about. But he’s about change. But in all seriousness, I do applaud the Dems for voting for this bill, albeit for the wrong reasons.
I’ve made myself clear about McCain several times. He’s not a Reagan. But he’s better than electing a socialist. I’ve disagreed with McCain on many issues.
But he’s long promoted the option of nuclear power. On Wednesday, he said the following:
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Senator John McCain said Wednesday that he wanted 45 new nuclear reactors built in the United States by 2030, a course he called “as difficult as it is necessary.” (Source)
Building nuclear power plants is one of many good solutions to our dependancy on foreign oil. (The other options include drilling for oil off our own shores, but I digress).
And for all the environmentalists out there who are getting ready to cry “China Syndrome,” stop for a second and look at your European idol:
France has 59 nuclear power plants, producing 99.8% France’s power production. Take a look:
So, hopefully we’ll start building more nuclear, wind and hydro plants to supplement the new oil refineries that will be build if congress gets off their butt.
Just a few months ago (Nov 2007), Obama reiterated that he would “return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election.”
Today, when he realized that the Republicans have been raising more money (Republican National Committee has $40 million on hand, a compared to the $4 million on hand in the Democratic National Committe as of this writing) and he needed to catch up, the candidate of change decided to change his position and said, “We’ve made the decision not to participate in the public financing system for the general election.”
So the candidate of change means HE’s going to CHANGE HIS POSITION. Now I get it.
How are we to trust his comments on the War on Terror when he can’t even keep a promise about funding his own campaign?
A story in the LA Times today reports that many who used to oppose drilling off the shores of Florida and California are now rethinking their position. Something to do with high gas prices.
Due to pressure from environmentalists, we have been banned from drilling for oil in our own waters. We don’t want to hurt the fishes, do we?
Never mind that we have approximately 38 billion barrels of undeveloped oil resources (19 billion barrels onshore and 18.92 billion offshore).
Never mind that according to Rasmussen Reports, more than 2 in 3 Americans SUPPORT offshore drilling.
But those few environmentalists keep telling us how those oil rigs will damage the ocean beyond repair.
So here are some pictures, since pictures speak louder than words. The picture above is an “evil” oil rig (Grace) off the coast of California.
Looks menacing. Look at it again. Now look below the water:
Seems like life is flourishing ON the rig. Now that I think of it, don’t we typically sink old oil rigs as artificial coral reefs? Yeah, we do!
Fish and other marine life actually FLOURISH around oil rigs for several reasons. The main reason is that it provides protection from larger, predatory animals like sharks. But there is also an ecosystem that develops, creating more food for life to flourish.
Just remember these pictures from under the oil rig next time someone tells you oil rigs damage our ecosystem. To see more photos, visit: Flickr.
ALGORE has done his share of exhaling hot air over the years, blaming us for “global warming.” However, it is not surprising that his own home is guzzling power. In fact, more power than 232 average homes!
Energy Guzzled by Al Gore’s Home in Past Year Could Power 232 U.S. Homes for a Month: Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%, despite “energy-efficient” home renovations
NASHVILLE - In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.
“A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.”
In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month. (Source)
As I’ve said before, this entire flap about “global warming” isn’t about saving the environment. It is about regulating you and me. It is the Al Gore’s out there telling us how to act, while they go and play.
Ok. I have not a whole lot to say to this. First, the story:
LAND ‘O LAKES, Fla - A substitute teacher in Pasco County has lost his job after being accused of wizardry.
Teacher Jim Piculas does a magic trick where a toothpick disappears and then reappears. Piculas recently did the 30-second trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land ‘O Lakes.
Piculas said he then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he’d been accused of wizardry.
(Source)
This is what we get for allowing people to sue schools for prayer, religion, and any other reason.
This is what we get when the PARENTS sue the schools because THEIR kid didn’t pay attention and then failed a class. The result? Now we won’t fail kids, we’ll give everyone a passing grade so as to not make the kid “feel bad” or be “embarrassed” that they failed.
Thank you liberals. Thank you to everyone out there who has forced THEIR belief on us because OUR beliefs “offended” them.
Teachers can no longer even do a stupid magic trick to entertain a bunch of kids without fear of losing their job. They must fear every parent out there who said THEIR kid was “offended.”
I say this to these left wing parents: GROW UP. Our schools have sunk to this level because of YOU.
