What do you think are scams?

[Takumi]

I've read that sugar cane makes for better ethanol than corn, but last I checked we don't have a sugar cane lobby.

[kalvado]

corn ethanol as a motor fuel

I mean, farm subsidies are a scam, but if we must have them, then I'd rather turn the corn into fuel than high-fructose corn syrup.

I'd rather not promote a fuel that increases the profitability of rainforest deforestation.

Pizza trees is all we really need.
And why education is a scum.. A high school graduate should be able to collect data about arable land available in US, average harvest numbers, and per capita demand of food/fuel/energy to see how things add up. I wonder if today's MS is enough for such task

[mgk920]

plastic recycling is a scam by the plastics industry to externalize the disposal cost of their products

People appear to have finally learned this.

I have always thought that the best use of that stuff was to be ground up and used as boiler fuel.  Maybe as a locomotive fuel if the railroads still ran on steam.  Ditto tires.

Mike

[triplemultiplex]

That would make diesel tailpipe emissions look like sugarplum fairy farts.

[kalvado]

That would make diesel tailpipe emissions look like sugarplum fairy farts.

Actually, most of hazardous wastes are treated by incineration. burning plastic as an additive fuel should be very clean - except for PVC and teflon, of course

[bm7]

whenever something says "real" food or "real" ingredients

I always wonder what the "non-real" ingredients would be. Are they imaginary? Or when it says something contains flour, it might actually be sawdust?


Another scam is alkaline water. Drinking it can't change the pH level of your body, and if it did, you'd most likely die.

[Big John]

^^when I see "real" it usually means "real gross" or "real disgusting".

[kalvado]

whenever something says "real" food or "real" ingredients

I always wonder what the "non-real" ingredients would be. Are they imaginary? Or when it says something contains flour, it might actually be sawdust?


Another scam is alkaline water. Drinking it can't change the pH level of your body, and if it did, you'd most likely die.

Well, non-real ingredients are real. sometimes they are mostly harmless, sometimes they are specifically marketed as such, and sometimes it is shaky.
Vanillin instead of real vanilla is a pretty standard and accepted option.  "I can't believe this is not butter" or "plant burgers" are proudly sold as such.
It may be less honest, though.
There was a pretty interesting story about fake eggs. Like eggs made out of gelatine and dye with much less cooking or nutritious value
palm oil based substitutes for milk fats like cream or butter could be billed as plant-based, but process to create solid fats involves some serious chemical treatment.   
Flavored corn syrup can be presented as honey.
quite a few things can be like that. Labeling requirements protect to some extent, but creative approach to these regulations also exists.

[bm7]

whenever something says "real" food or "real" ingredients

I always wonder what the "non-real" ingredients would be. Are they imaginary? Or when it says something contains flour, it might actually be sawdust?


Another scam is alkaline water. Drinking it can't change the pH level of your body, and if it did, you'd most likely die.

Well, non-real ingredients are real. sometimes they are mostly harmless, sometimes they are specifically marketed as such, and sometimes it is shaky.
Vanillin instead of real vanilla is a pretty standard and accepted option.  "I can't believe this is not butter" or "plant burgers" are proudly sold as such.
It may be less honest, though.
There was a pretty interesting story about fake eggs. Like eggs made out of gelatine and dye with much less cooking or nutritious value
palm oil based substitutes for milk fats like cream or butter could be billed as plant-based, but process to create solid fats involves some serious chemical treatment.   
Flavored corn syrup can be presented as honey.
quite a few things can be like that. Labeling requirements protect to some extent, but creative approach to these regulations also exists.

Nothing about those ingredients is fake, though. They are very much real, and they are in the food. "Made with real cheese" makes sense. "Made with real ingredients" doesn't, as every food contains ingredients that are real.

[Rothman]

Heh.  "Vanilla instead of real vanilla."  At least in NY, it's imitation vanilla and vanilla extract.  Price is also a big indicator of the difference.

Haven't seen corn syrup passed off as honey.  Honey here is labeled as pure honey.

[roadman65]

New and Improved.

[skluth]

I've read that sugar cane makes for better ethanol than corn, but last I checked we don't have a sugar cane lobby.

Because the US has very little land suitable for sugar cane cultivation. I'm sure it would be a powerful lobby if the US was located closer to the tropics like Brazil.

[kalvado]

Heh.  "Vanilla instead of real vanilla."  At least in NY, it's imitation vanilla and vanilla extract.  Price is also a big indicator of the difference.

Haven't seen corn syrup passed off as honey.  Honey here is labeled as pure honey.

I was certainly thinking about chemical synthesis of vanillin vs good old vanilla beans. There are still a few places where you can get beans, once you get past the price shock.   I don't think "imitation" is used that much anymore

[kalvado]

Heh.  "Vanilla instead of real vanilla."  At least in NY, it's imitation vanilla and vanilla extract.  Price is also a big indicator of the difference.

Haven't seen corn syrup passed off as honey.  Honey here is labeled as pure honey.

And as for honey... Once upon a time I did a proper analysis of honey I had on hand. All 10 bottles. I just happened to get some access to equipment....
All local honey looked real and natural. 'Orange blossom" from of 2 big retailers over here came out... questionable. Not to the point I would send a letter to AG, but enough for me to send a memo to myself - "local  honey only!"
Another way to make semi-real stuff is to feed bees with syrup. The result will be something like honey, but not quite it.

And in terms of "real ingredients".. There was a scandal when they did DNA testing on pharmacy-purchased medical herbs. I believe more than half had no traces of the plant named on the label....

[hbelkins]

My Masters hasn't gotten me a job yet, 5 years later. But I don't blame the education. I'm terrible at promoting myself. I stutter and ramble during job interviews. Nerves and autism make me very hard to market.

What were your career goals and objectives in pursing those history degrees? What kind of job market is there for someone with a post-graduate degree in history?

[Roadgeek Adam]

Community college history professor. Still my dream. Still achievable, but I'm just trying to have a 9-5 job that my degrees fit for now so I can start adjuncting on the side.

[formulanone]

I've read that sugar cane makes for better ethanol than corn, but last I checked we don't have a sugar cane lobby.

Because the US has very little land suitable for sugar cane cultivation. I'm sure it would be a powerful lobby if the US was located closer to the tropics like Brazil.

Big Sugar is not a recording artist in Florida.

Sugar's farmland grip is still a mere fraction of corn's in the US.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've read that sugar cane makes for better ethanol than corn, but last I checked we don't have a sugar cane lobby.

Because the US has very little land suitable for sugar cane cultivation. I'm sure it would be a powerful lobby if the US was located closer to the tropics like Brazil.

Big Sugar is not a recording artist in Florida.

Sugar's farmland grip is still a mere fraction of corn's in the US.

Big Sugar left some cool ghost towns in the Everglades at least:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/151828809@N08/HJqf2C7q4D

[MultiMillionMiler]

Rockstar Games is a scam. I bought GTA 5 almost a year ago and it's now saying "activation required" even when I am fully connected to the internet. All their support team does is give a bunch of gibberish technobabble troubleshooting steps which don't end up working (obviously). I may have even bought the game a 2nd time for nothing. Now I have to turn my computer clock back again to January 2nd, (for some reason rolling the time back seems to temporarily fix this problem) to play the game offline. Life is too hard.

[Otto Yamamoto]

Re: Gluten free

Let's not forget all the items nearly 100% sugar being labeled "Fat-Free"

It's not a lie, there's no fat in sugar.

[Otto Yamamoto]

You sound like you need it so he's right. Take some deep breaths next time he's over and relax for once!

Can't, I'm a Federal Employee and get screened randomly.  Marijuana is still a Federal Schedule I narcotic and thusly would appear on a screen.  Likewise, I wouldn't allow someone to smoke a cigarette in my house either.

To be fair, the federal drug-testing policy is kind of a scam. It's led to a lot of government agencies being forced to contract out certain functions because it is entirely impossible to hire anyone qualified who tests clean. (Computer programming is the prime example–you don't have to be high out of your mind to do software engineering, but it sure does help you make mental connections that you wouldn't otherwise.)

I don't disagree, all the same I'm not risking my pension and 401k over some weed.  A nice tall can of beer is more my speed anyways.

[Otto Yamamoto]

I could never drink that disgusting stuff. I have never even tasted beer in my life and never will. If I had a dollar for every recorded Marijuana death in human history I couldn't even buy a pizza.

There's always this tasty spread made from the leavings of beer brewing:

It's loverly on matzo for breakfast or a snack.

[Otto Yamamoto]

- People who were (and still are) all wigged out over the 'Bug' for the past 3 years


Mike

Yeah, I was doing at least a code a night when the 'bug' was really nasty there 3 years back. And my nursing home was lucky, we got a handle on it earlier than most. Even so, we were stacking the deceased up in our mourge nightly for a good 6 months.

[roadman65]

I could never drink that disgusting stuff. I have never even tasted beer in my life and never will. If I had a dollar for every recorded Marijuana death in human history I couldn't even buy a pizza.

There's always this tasty spread made from the leavings of beer brewing:

It's loverly on matzo for breakfast or a snack.

Reminds me of an I Love Lucy episode with a product Lucy was to endorse with a similar name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7IfR4fZW_k

[Otto Yamamoto]

Again, I say that not because I am a better person for not, but I just want to please put a stop to the "marijuana is perfectly fine for you" campaign I hear.  It's not.  It alters your mind and it's permanent (not saying you trip forever, just that if you use something that alters your mind, you better believe it has some kind of lasting effect).

Funny thing that. I have worked in nursing homes with residents that have had substance abuse problems for many years. Guess how many are related to cannibis?