Social engineering against obesity epidemic in NYC

If you are a connisseur of Big Gulps, you might want to save the cups you've already bought. If a proposal by NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg catches on, you might not be able to buy them in the future. As we speak, all Laredo Stripes stores have their 32 oz drinks at 99 cents. McDonalds has had their drinks (all sizes) at $1.00 for a long time.

Nutritionists agree that the sizes of today's sugary beverages are unequalled in American History. I still remember the 5 1/2 oz. "regular" sized cokes in a glass bottle. The "King" size coca cola bottle was 12 ounces and the "Family" size bottle contained all of 22 ounces. Nowadays, you can get a 44 ounce Mega-Gulp or even the 64 ounce Turbo-Chug at virtually all convenience stores.

Perhaps Mayor Salinas will follow suit and order all "mariachis" in Laredo to be sold only in a smaller, "taquito" size.

From Fox News Latino

New York – In a national first, New York City plans to ban the sale of large sugary drinks.
The ban, which aims to fight obesity, would impose a 16-ounce limit on the size of sweetened drinks sold at restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and street carts. It would apply to bottled drinks as well as fountain sodas.

The ban could take effect as soon as next March, and would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks or alcoholic beverages. Nor would it include drinks sold in grocery or convenience stores. Food establishments that don't downsize would face fines of $200.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that he "thinks it's what the public wants the mayor to do."


Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2012/05/31/new-york-city-plans-to-ban-sale-large-sugary-drinks/#ixzz1wSsg1Thf

Laredo Politics: No service after the sale

Earlier this morning, I was driving past the intersection of Arkansas and Lyon. In the front yard of the house on the Northwest corner, there was an elderly gentleman, perhaps in his late 60s. He was trying to pull out some of those long metal stakes that politicos use to hold up their 4'x8x signs. As the light turned green, I notice he grabbed a shovel. Apparently, these stakes are not easy to pull out at all. They are usually hammered into place with an assortment of makeshift sledgehammers.

Specifically, it was a Becky Palomo sign that he was working on. I know this because more than once, it blocked my view of Arkansas coming off of Lyon.  The gentleman had already pulled down the sign itself but that was the easy part. The other two signs - still up- are Rick Flores signs. I guess his race is not until November.

I'm thinking that the homeowner probably gave his consent to the Palomo and Flores camps to put up those signs. It's just a shame that they are not nearly as ready to follow up with the removal and cleanup of those same properties.  I certainly hope the older gentleman did not exert himself too much or maybe strain his back.

Brownsville eating our Manufacturing lunch

Trico wipers made in Brownsville, Tx : wiping the floor with Laredo ?

 From IndustryWeek.com

"Ten years ago our base of automotive suppliers stopped expanding," explains Gilberto Salinas, executive vice president, of the Brownsville Economic Development Council. The city's leaders decided to target large-sized multinational companies given its international presence, Salinas says.

"Now we are bursting at the seams," he says. The company's top 10 planned projects total $5.5 billion with upwards of 4,000 jobs being created., Salinas says.

In the past year, the Brownsville area has attracted $67 million in investment, including a new plant operated by CK Technologies, a trucking part manufacturer. Matamoros also saw a $49 million investment by Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Spellman High Voltage.

The location of the city and its easy access to the global market is why Keppel AmFELS also chose Brownsville. "As a division of Keppel Corp., the world's biggest builder of oil platforms, we were looking for a U.S. port location to service the mobile drilling rigs and platforms," says G.S. Tan, CEO, Keppel AmFELS. "It was a good decision as we continue to grow. The support at all government levels has been key to our continued success."

Government support also was a significant factor in CK Technologies' decision to locate in Brownsville. "We did an exhaustive search, and the ease of doing business with the state and local governments was a determining factor," says Mark Miller, CEO, CK Technologies. The company also received $1.3 million in incentives through cash, tax abatements and training dollars.

In addition, manufactureres have also  benefited from the region's steady workforce, Kennedy says. "We have found that given the small-town, family-oriented characteristic of Brownsville, our workforce is very loyal," he says. "People want to stay here and that translates to very low turnover for us"  said Martin Kennedy, managing director of the Americas for Trico, which manufactures nearly 40 million windshield wipers per year for 24 global automakers.

HEB #186 on Saunders: No lunch for you!

Oops sorry sir, that's just my somach growling for food.

Sunday evenings are usually pretty packed at Laredo's HEB stores. This was certainly the case at store no. 186 on East Saunder in Laredo.  The "express" lanes were anywhere from about 8 to 10 people deep as the cashiers did their best to keep the lines moving smoothly. The other lanes were pretty stacked with customers and their full shopping carts.

As I got nearer to the checkout counter, I couldn't help but notice a conversation between both express lane cashiers. They looked pretty concerned but still managed to greet and thank each customer. Prety soon, I heard one of the cashiers say "ya nos quedamos sin ir a comer". The other one quickly replied "ni si quiera un break" she added  "ya se fue".  Apparently, who ever the manager on duty was had already left and as a result these two hard-working cashiers were going to have to forego any break or time for lunch they might have otherwise gotten.

This reflects pretty bad on the HEB management at that particular store. Whoever is calling the shots should at least make sure that the most basic needs of the employees are met. It is certainly not easy to do a good job if you're hungry.  Overall, HEB seems to be a good place to work at but incidents like these, playing out in front of the public, do not make the company look good.

Strangeland = Laredo? OK, we got no sand

More or less, it could be a Laredo-based song - if only it mentioned maquinitas!

Versatile word "rocks" the most overused list

This just in: Dwayne Wade rocks pink pants

That versatile word is, of course, "rocks".  Joining other annoying words and phrases of the past and present such as awesome, cool, kewl, like, you know, so, regardless, and stuff like that is the jack of all occasions, master or none : "rocks".

Typing in rocks in the Google search bar and selecting news comes up with the following ridiculous headlines and quotes.

Tenacious D rocks the Fox in Oakland

Dwayne Wade rocks some hot pink pants

Rhianna rocks a new look

Yoga rocks the park.....again

Pitbull rocks the Today Show Summer concert series

Nicole Kidman rocks backless goddess gown at Cannes

Kylie Minogue rocks the Hot pants

and of course,

Kristen Stewart rocks side boob at Cosmopolis Premiere

Forget the revolution of the information age. I think it's pretty safe to say that we are now well in the "too much information" age.

What's next?  Will the old standard LMT start to resort to similar headlines? If so, we might soon be opening up our papers (or e-edition) to :

Mayor rocks DC junket

City rocks budget shortfall

Webb officials re-rock scandal  

Dogs and cats rock new $700,000 shelter

Fans rock Lemurs (actually correct use)

TAMIU planetarium rocks Rockzilla

Rockem' Sockem' Robots rock toy memories

LaredoTejas over-rocks point

 

The Melting Cazerola

Ol' Rush Limbaugh isn't too happy about the fact that, for the first time in US history, "minority" births are outnumbering "white" births.  Rushbo claims that a CNN story about this population trend is a "threat" to whites that they better change their ways or there'll be payback.

From Media Matters