Nutella is not a healthy food? I’ve been spreading the stuff on all my food – Nutella and jelly sandwiches; Nutella and Rossi on the rocks; Nutella deviled eggs; Nutella dip for carrots and celery – pickles too; Nutella fondu; Nutella almond milkshakes; and my favorite, blob o Nutella on a spoon. Frankly, I’m outraged that the stuff is nothing more than chocolate goop. I’ve been duped.
Of course, I could have read the label. 20 grams of sugar in a spoonful – that’s a couple of bowls of Lucky Charms cereal with extra marshmallows and sugar added. No wonder I felt so strange after my Nutella and Red Bull breakfast. At least I didn’t feed my four year old the stuff like the mother who filed the lawsuit against Nutella maker Ferrero, the fine Italian chocolatier. I actually don’t have a four year old and it was my 19 year who turned me onto the stuff.
Apparently, the mother, Athena Hohenberg, watched a TV ad for Nutella and was hypnotized by its wholesome ingredients and began feeding it to her young daughter on a daily basis. When she finally realized Nutella was little more than a spreadable chocolate bar, she sued Ferrero and won. Now the case has become a class-action lawsuit.
The TV ad may have been misleading, but the Nutella label did not hide its ingredients or the fact that it contained palm oil, and tons of sugar. I can understand if the label did not make it clear that it had 20 grams of sugar per spoonful or serving. Unsuspecting people might have believed 20 grams was for the whole jar. On the other hand, I’m no expert on oils, but palm oil sounds recreational, if not healthy. Notwithstanding the deceptive ad, misreading is not the same as misleading.
Filed under: food, Health, humor | Tagged: Ferrero, Nutella, Nutella lawsuit | 6 Comments »
Obama Care and Student Loans – what’s the link?
Both Republicans and Democrats agree that Congress must act to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling this summer. Wow! The two major parties actually agree on something; it’s a rare day in American politics, especially in a presidential election year. But wait. All is not what it seems. I knew it was too good to be true. The party of NO really isn’t interested in solving the student loan crisis. No, they want to dismantle the Affordable Care Act – a/k/a Obama Care. Here’s what they did:
The House set aside, more accurately, ignored a bill sponsored by Massachusetts Congressman John Tierney that would pay for continued student loan subsidies and prevent the rate increases by eliminating some tax breaks for big oil and gas companies. Instead, Speaker Boehner put up a Republican sponsored bill which passed that would preserve low interest rates at the expense of a disease prevention fund in the Affordable Care Act, a fund that provides cervical and breast cancer screenings, among other things.
For the GOP, it’s not about helping students graduate with less debt – in fact, some among them blame students for going to expensive schools. Romney told folks to shop around more to find the best deal, as if education were something you could buy on Amazon. Rick Santorum hinted that young people shouldn’t aspire to college at all, calling them educated “snobs”. One Republican leader in Florida said that the state shouldn’t be subsidizing students who major in anthropology because there are no jobs in anthropology, which of course misses the point of education all together but that’s for another post.
During the student loan bill debate, as reported in the Boston Globe article referenced above, Speaker Boehner had the nerve to say, “my god, do we have to fight about everything?” He’s such a hypocrite. The GOP fight is not about protecting students from mountains of debt. Do you think they care a thing in the world about helping needy students? Their constituents, the wealthy corporate class pay for their kids’ education from trust funds -$60,000 a year is pocket change for them.
What is the GOP fight all about? It’s a fight against women, the middle class, and young people who aspire to enter the middle class or stay in it. It’s a political fight against President Obama and the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are hell bent on destroying. And it’s a fight to preserve the corporate ruling class that has bought the party, which was a gift from the conservative activist judges on the SCOTUS via their anti-democratic Citizens United ruling.
And so here we are, in the year 2012, as polarized as ever, with both political parties saying – “you know I am right”, which, incidentally, is a great and little known song by Pink Floyd guitarist, David Gilmour. Get yourselves some free Spotify and have a listen: You Know I’m Right.
Filed under: Health, Opinion, Politics | Tagged: Anthropology bad major, Boehner My God comment, Congressman John Tierney, David Gilmour, education for snobs, GOP and Student Loans, GOP Student Loan Bill, Student Loan Interest Rate Bills, Student Loans | 2 Comments »