February 27, 2015

The Government’s Bad Diet Advice


 The Government’s Bad Diet Advice

Super Massive Black Hole

Inexplicable black hole found, and it's not Australian politics.

The not so secret formula to making Coca-Cola

It's a drink loved by millions around the world, but have you ever wondered what actually goes into it?
You might be surprised to learn that nutmeg, coriander, vanilla and cinnamon go into making your favourite drink, according to UK newspaper The Mirror.

In 1993 author and scholar Mark Pendergrast published his history of the Coke company in his book, For God, Country & Coca-Cola, which lists the special ingredients which make up the drink in the appendix.
Pendergrast had stumbled across a formula book, originally owned by Doctor JS Pemberton who invented the drink, while searching through the Coca-Cola archives in Atlanta, Georgia.

See a full list of the ingredients here.

But while ingredients such as coriander, lime juice, and citric acid may be easy enough to come by, you may struggle to find citrate caffein.

There’s also another catch.
While the drink is bottled all over the world, the syrup is only made in the US.

The beverage giant employs the Stepan Company in Illinois which is the only one legally allowed to import cocaine containing coca leaves into America.

Yes that’s correct — a pharmaceutical processing company extract the cocaine and sell on the leaves to Coca-Cola, according to The Mirror.

The not so secret formula to making Coca-Cola

February 15, 2015

Counting Abbott

15 Feb 2015:  seven days since Tony Abbott, PM, announced the commencement of good government in Oz! 

Feeling the love yet?

February 14, 2015

What's in those supplements?

What's in those supplements?  Arh, not much at all, it turns out, at least if you live in America. 

Lesson:  spend your money on real food, cross your fingers all goes well.

What's in those supplements?

How to cook a fucking steak

Go to the goddamn grocery and get steak. Yes, the grocery. A little ammonia is not going to kill you, you pussy. You want to be all fancy and grass-fed and environmentally conscious, go ahead, I don’t give a shit, just get a fucking steak. Ribeye is good. And, yes, bone-in. Schmuck. Take the steak home. Get a bigass frying pan and put the shit on the stove, cranking the heat up as far as that fucker will go. Take a shitload of salt—rocksalt, you dumb motherfucker, none of that fine-grained crap here—and toss it around the bottom of the pan. When the pan is hot as all fuck—it should scorch the shit out of your finger if you’re stupid enough to touch it—put the fucking steak on there. You can crack some pepper on the top of the steak as the bottom is searing, but don’t even talk to me about garlic or onion powder or COMPOUND FUCKING BUTTER, asshole. This is steak, all you fucking need is salt and pepper. After a bit (3 minutes for pink, 5 for cooked good), flip that shit over and do the same fucking thing you just did with the other side, i.e. sit on your ass and wait for your motherfucking steak to be ready, you useless assbag. When you’re done, sling that shit on a plate. Beringer’s 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Private Reserve makes an absolutely delightful accompaniment, particularly if you’ve taken care to let it breathe a bit before quaffing. Also, make some fucking potatoes, because that’s what you eat with a fucking steak. God, sometimes I just want to smack the shit out of you.

Alex Balk 

February 1, 2015

Miranda Devine: Desperate defence of Credlin is humiliating

Miranda Divine lays blame for everything that ails the Federal Government, and it ain't the Prime Minister and it ain't the Treasurer, and it ain't the never ending bungles, and it ain't the inability to convince anyone in the country to pass the first Liberal budget (you know, the one from 2014), and it ain't the harebrained policies (we use the word 'policies' loosely), which Abbott has jettisoned left and right.  No, it's the PMs EA.  Yep.  One woman has destroyed the Abbott government, and if only she goes (and she should), Abbott and Hockey will morph into world-beating leaders, with a bottom drawer chock-full of dazzling policies and twenty first century vision. 

I can't wait.
In a funny way, the media overreaction to the Prime Minister’s knighthood gaffe has given him breathing space. 

The real narrative of his ailing leadership gave way to the laughable hypothetical that a prime minister should lose his job for such a frippery.

No, Prince Philip’s gong is not the reason Abbott’s job is at risk.

It was simply the match that lit the bonfire of disappointment that had been building among his colleagues and supporters for almost a year, and on which he kept blithely throwing petrol.

The violent reaction that followed was a catharsis that has temporarily relieved pent-up tensions. Paradoxically, the famous tweet of my boss Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday, calling for Abbott to replace his chief of staff Peta Credlin, has been used as an excuse not to do what needs to be done.
I must be misunderstanding this somehow. The article's premise seems to be that Tony Abbott cannot lead his own office but should be relied upon to lead the nation. Don't get me wrong, I understand that leadership is much harder than it looks but this article is pointing out Tony Abbott's failings - not Peta Credlin's. Removing Peta Credlin won't suddenly make Tony Abbott into a good leader.
All of the stories in this article are alarming but if it is really true that Credlin has screaming matches with ministers and staff and Mr Abbott feels the solution is suggestions to buy flowers then I would conclude that he really doesn't understand his role at all.
The government's problems are of their own making and they will have to be the ones to fix them as well. Finding a scapegoat does not fix a problem.
Will Peta Credlin be getting equal column space to defend herself after this?
It is scurrilous to blame and scapegoat any staffer: the buck stops with the boss.
I do not recall Miranda criticising Peta before Abbott started making colossal mistakes. Until then, Peta was just fine so why the big change of heart now? To try to save Abbott's neck?
He is the cause of the problem and solely responsible for his decisions and actions.
If he cannot even run his office properly, how can he run the country?
You are talking about a rhodes scholar, a career politician making rookie mistakes because his PA is a tyrant? Dont make me laugh.

Miranda Devine: Desperate defence of Credlin is humiliating