Painted Cupcakes

The other day, I went into a Lucky store for some groceries… and I noticed these cupcakes.

Ok so I didn’t just “notice” them, I went looking for them.   I always check out the baked goods — just to see what they have and to admire them, even though I rarely buy anything.  Yes I’m strange. :p

Anyway, these are quite unique — not just because they’re colorful, but because they look like they’ve been spray painted.  Yup, the coloring is not a result of very very fine sprinkles.

As in exhibit #2 (to the right –>), there is literally a line of color going down each row of cupcakes.

I don’t know what it is, but it can’t be good for you.  Hoping it was just the party trays, I looked for normal ones — but they also had coloring on them.

The only cupcakes that weren’t painted were the dirty looking ones in the first photo (those were sprinkles).

Yikes.  I wonder how they’re selling.

Wildfires in the Bay Area

I haven’t been keeping up with news on the fires because I felt like I was being paranoid about them.. but the smog from the fires have become so thick that I can’t see any part of the blue sky anymore…

So here’s the latest article, and a quick quote:

Air quality regulators today warned Bay Area residents – particularly the elderly, children and those with heart or lung disease – to limit outdoor activities after measuring unhealthy levels of particulate matter from the fires in portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

Elevated levels of pollutants are also expected today in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

The pictures were taken on 6/21/08, driving westbound on I-80 between Davis and I-680, and the first is from I-680 southbound, around sunset. Resolution’s horrible as they were taken with my cameraphone. I had to straighten and crop them, of course… I basically pointed and pressed the button without looking.

The article has a map if you want to know where the fires are. There have been 1,032 fires so far in Northern California.

The smog has gotten progressively worse since the pictures were taken.. It was actually relatively clear on that day, aside from that patch along the freeway. I believe today’s the worst so far. If you can, stay indoors if you’re in the aforementioned areas.

Anti-discrimination bill

Bush just signed a measure to ensure that genetic testing won’t be used against people (in terms of work/insurance).

It’s basically one of those bills that no one can argue against, other than insurance companies and other big companies.. Even then though, I think it’s pretty much a selfish reason on the part of the companies.

If it’s considered in terms of how it will affect the individual (other than the company), it’s a clear choice. Thus, it’s not surprising that it passed the senate 95-0, and the house 414-1.

Hand, foot and mouth disease

Just saw this article which reported an increase in reports of hand, foot and mouth disease, as well as discovery and punishment of corruption related to it.

Apparently, some doctors and officials were giving injections of a bogus “vaccine” to make money, and knowledge of the disease was not spread or properly handled.

I think the biggest complaint from the sars outbreak was the under-reporting/cover-up of cases, so it’s encouraging that the CCP changed its guidelines for reporting cases to more accurately gauge conditions/progress of the disease.

I hope the increased transparency continues and that this isn’t just a political tactic for the olympics or whatever reason.

By the way, the WHO says this will peak in June and July so hopefully with increased vigilance it won’t turn out to be such a huge disaster as sars. The disease seems to target children, which I feel makes it a bigger tragedy.

After all, that’s what made the pharaoh finally give in to Moses, wasn’t it?