Another Example of how Corporate Greed Killed American Jobs

This time, it’s Hawaiian Pineapple Production.

And, it’s an old story.

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Del Monte to End Pineapple Production in Hawaii

Last Crop Will Be Harvested in 2008

By John Fischer, About.com Guide

Pineapple Growing in Central Oahu;
Photo by John Fischer

Sugar and Pineapple – those two words used to be synonymous with Hawaii. In a year where Hawaiians of Filipino decent are celebrating their 100th anniversary in the islands, one of the two cash crops which brought them to Hawaii along with immigrants from China and Japan is facing another long-time grower abandoning the islands for cheaper production elsewhere.Where once sugar cane and pineapple fields were strewn across most of the Hawaiian islands, now you’ll find housing developments, resort hotels and condominiums and more often, just barren fields.

Del Monte to Cease Pineapple Production in Hawaii

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. announced last week that after 90 years in Hawaii, they will plant their last crop of pineapple on Oahu this month and will cease all operations by 2008 when that crop is harvested.Citing the expense of

Fit for Human Consumption, or Rat Poison? High Fructose Corn Syrup Continually Indicted in Obesity Epidemic.

Fit for Human Consumption, or Rat Poison? How many foods use High Fructose Corn Syrup? The answer might surprise you. Or, it may not. Originally uploaded by SouthernBreeze

In the last several years, obesity has become a rampant epidemic in the United States. While there are doubtless many causes, it is my opinion that a wholesale change in our dietary practices – and I specifically do not mean to refer to increased portion sizes, consumption or intake – but rather to an ingredient which has become all too common in commercially prepared food… which, if we were honest with ourselves, is most of what we consume.

For example, the majority of Americans do NOT grow their own vegetables, raise their own groceries (meat, dairy, poultry, eggs, pork, etc.), nor do they eat homegrown, locally grown, or even “freshly prepared” vegetables, even if those vegetables were imported to the United States. Consider even pineapples, for example. Once, the exceeding majority of the world’s supply of pineapples were grown in Hawaii. The highest quality pineapples are sold to Japanese markets, where they pay top price for the highest quality fruit. Not so in the United States, where American customers balk at high prices, even if it’s associated with higher quality.

Historically, Hawaii was the world’s largest pineapple producer and source for pineapples. Relatively recently however, rapacious corporate profit seekers abandoned Hawaii for cheaper production (translate “cheap labor” & “no health & safety regulation”), and there now remain only two fresh pineapple operations remaining in Hawaii: one on Maui, and another on Oahu. And that quandary is an entirely separate, yet related, problematic issue.

However, much of what we eat has been commercially processed in volume. And I mean in HUGE volumes! In America’s factory food processors, a fairly common ingredient is

“Will that be cash, or charge?”: Many hospitals & doctors offer cash discount for care

Regular readers will recall the entry entitled “Q: Why do hospitals charge $75 for aspirin? A: Because they can.,” which was posted Wednesday, May 2, 2012.

In another venue, I had posted the following remark in response to the exorbitant healthcare costs, “It’s a simple concept, really. Anytime anyone gets in between you & who you’re buying from, it costs more. Insurance does that.”

And it’s true.

It’s not trite.

Let’s consider this example: You’re at the grocery store in the check-out line, about to pay for your groceries which have already been bagged and placed in your shopping cart. When the clerk announces the total, you have some strange feeling because the total is about ten times as much as you imagined.

When you double check the price of milk you find the sticker says $2.50/gallon, but your clerk rang up $25. You double check the price of frozen spinach. The sticker price says $1.37, but the clerk rang up $13.70. The chocolate was $4.50, but the clerk rang up $45.00. And the lean ground beef, instead of the posted $2.60/lb, the 5lb chub was… $130.00.

Talk about sticker shock!

You are aghast at the price, and in frustrated terms exclaim that “there is obviously some gross mistake!” – to which the clerk replies, “Let me check with your Food Insurance Agent,” picks up a phone beside the register, presses one button, and whispers into the receiver. 

Suddenly, out of a door leading to an inside office,

Alaska man files suit, says Obama not qualified because he “has the race status of being a “Mulatto.””

And here, all along, I thought cuckoo birds were only in clocks!

Seems they’re in Alaska.

But then, this would only confirm what we knew earlier.

Old What’s-Her-Name?

Quitter?

Yup.

Suit Says Obama Can’t Run In Alaska Because He’s Of The “Mulatto” Race

Alaska-(ENEWSPF)- A man from Juneau, Alaska, has filed suit with the state’s Division of Elections to bar President Obama from appearing on that state’s ballot on the basis that the President is a “Mulatto”, and “the race of ‘Negro’ or ‘Mulatto’ had no standing to be citizens of the United States under the United States Constitution.”

A Thanksgiving Luau

I was overjoyed to learn recently of a Thanksgiving luau in Hawaii.

Shipwreck Beach at sunset, on Poipu in south Kauai

It’ll be on the island of Kauaʻi, which is the oldest, and most scenic of the Hawaiian islands. It’s also one of the more remote islands – though not as far as Midway – and with 90 miles of coastline containing 552 square miles, it is the last, largest island in the chain. Nearly 60,000 people call Kauai home, and it is the fourth largest island in the state.

While the traditional baked or roasted turkey or duck will be served on tables throughout the USA,

Blogging from Japan – updated 3/13/11

As many are now discovering, Japan has been rocked with an 8.9 magnitude earthquake – the largest the nation has ever experienced – and subsequent tsunami. Underwater shock waves reportedly traveled at 500mph – the speed of a jet airliner – and have reached Hawaii, and will have reached the Pacific West Coast by press time. The initial waves are always the smallest, so mandatory evacuations in Hawaii have occurred already, and evacuation warnings along Oregon and Washington have been issued, and may authorities may extend warnings into the California coastline.

A high school friend of mine is an airline pilot, and is now in Tokyo, Japan as I write. He had earlier written on Mon 12:30 PM on his FaceBook page that

On a Cold Winter’s Day, it’s time for Hot Chocolate, Hot Cocoa – anything to keep warm and cozy… WHILE GOING STIR CRAZY!

For the past hour or two, I have found myself relaxing as I’ve not relaxed in several days.

Here, in the Southeast, we’ve been inundated with wintry weather. Specifically, on the night of the 10th of January, parts of the South received up to a foot (12″) of powdery snow. As a matter of fact, it was recently reported that 49 of our 50 states had snow somewhere in them. That solitary exception… what state was it? Florida, of course! Even Hawaii has snow capped peaks.

Not being familiar with snow, any forecast of snow in the South generates great skepticism, and continues to