Ooh! Alternate Universes!

When reading science fiction, I have always been fascinated by stories of alternate universes, timelines where worlds like ours took a left turn where ours took a right, where small changes become large changes and everything we know is skewed. Now, The American Conservative suggests that we have evidence of visitors from an alternate reality! Personally, I find this terribly exciting. Many thanks to supergee for the link!

In more upsetting news

The federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing to redefine the very essence of chocolate and to allow big manufacturers such as Hershey to sell a bar devoid of a key ingredient - cocoa butter. The butter’s natural texture could be replaced with inferior alternatives, such as vegetable fats. And consumers would never know.

Chocolatier Gary Guittard said it best: “No one can afford to sit back and eat bonbons while America’s great passion for chocolate is threatened.”

For every defender of traditional chocolate, there are powerful proponents who want to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil: the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Snack Food Association. These industry titans have filed a “citizens petition” to the FDA, as the Los Angeles Times recently reported, as if there were some groundswell in society to water down chocolate.

Yet another reminder never to trust the FDA.