News: Olympic Food Nightmare?

Oh, the Headaches of an Olympiad in China.
No, Really,I mean it.AP(via_ABC)reports:

(That) athletes are concerned with more than an upset stomach.

Antibiotics and growth stimulants, or steroids, are common in Chinese food production, which is poorly regulated.

Athletes fear a delicious dish of Chinese food could produce a positive doping test and, in turn, ruin their Olympic run. "I'm definitely concerned about any form of contaminated meat or anything like that," said Jessie Smith, a member of the U.S. water polo team.
"If there is a possibility of us getting tested positive for something through eating, I'm not going to take that chance," said Tony Azevado, water polo team captain. "I don't think anyone on our team will."

However, a manager the firm that controls 40 percent of the Chinese food market,
gave ABC News a rare tour of an organic farm north of Beijing.

On the farm, 65 tons of athlete-approved fruits and vegetables are being grown under tight security.

Security provisions include a computerized tracking system that details the
life history of each carrot and apple, tracking its path from the farm to the athlete's plate. (*)

Through this tracking code, we can see the entire production process of these tomatoes, from where they were grown, who grew them, to what kinds of fertilizers were used on these tomatoes, and any other manufacturing details, a manager explains.

(*) Mark wonders if the US Dept of Agriculture should license this computer system for OUR USA food safety?!!! Jalepeno Peppers Anyone???
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OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION.
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* According to Robert Reich (former Sec'y of Labor under Clinton): The only number that he EVER saw, defining the
depression was that the unemployment rate hovered around 25%.
* We need a new deal.
* After 58 years of NO Health Care Reform (since 1950!) it will FINALLY be coming soon...
* We've managed to WASTE a FULL generation (from Zero to thirty) with decaying social, educational, and interpersonal skills.
* Our nation is no longer DOING (producing) anything.
SO, from these few premises, I have extrapolated a great deal of items to FIX our society...

But....
We need to make sure that a number of issues are resolved ALL at once.
If we don't do them ALL at once, its like juggling three RUNNING chain saws, but dropping one!

Here's what I came up with:

We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more details.

Tech/Food : Now I KNOW I'm crazy.

OH. or Oy...

I dont know whether to laugh or cry.

I was updating my del.icio.us bookmarks when I came across this.

You may have heard of CAD (computer Aided Design) used by architects.
This link tells us of a CAM project (takes a CAD design and actually MANUFACTURES it in 3-D

However, THIS project is a homemade CAM machine which creates it's models in SUGAR!

That's right! the screw is made of SUGAR...


This is a picture of the SCREW being taken out of the bed of sugar, before it is dug out of the sugar!

Visible on the bottom right, is the "print head", or a heat gun!

In this project, the heat "melts" a 2-Dimensional picture (just like a printer) onto the layer of sugar.

In this specific case, instead of dots, being laid down on the paper, the layer of sugar (in certain spots) is FUSED to the previous layer of sugar, , or the first layer.


this is what the sugar looks like when first melted! Note again you can see the "print head" or heater element here, as it is heating the sugar.

Notice the shallow lines?? the Author says, "Because the hot air gun blows air continuously, it leaves a shallow trail wherever it goes, indicating the toolpath of the heater over the sugar surface."


Here is the finished version of the coil pictured in the above two pictures:

And here is the screw in partial fabrication..

Now I need to make a donut run!