Is Coca Cola That Lethal?

There’s enough bad press out there about products we use every day but for now I want to look at Coca Cola. For some time I’ve received several E-mails detailing the lethality of my favorite soda with allegations such as these to mention a few:-

• It can dissolve a T-bone steak in 2 days

• It can be used to remove stains from toilets

• Phosphoric Acid in Coke leaches calcium from the bones

• It can be used to remove grease from clothes

• It can melt a tooth or a bone if left for some hours

• And probably the most outrageous of them all – the distributors of coke use it to clean the engines of their trucks!

This leaves me wondering whether we’re downing something so lethal on a regular basis or is this just a smear campaign in retaliation to the many marketing sins that Coke is accused of? I’ve never done any of the experiments partly because I really don’t want to clean a toilet with soda and partly because I love me a coke and don’t want to confirm that any of the allegations are true.

I’m not on an advertising mission but I’ll put in a few good words for the soft drink giant. One there comes a time especially after walking around on a hot day that only a chilled coke will do. At least for me. Not water not Alvaro but Coke. Two there are certain forbidden foods (read Junk – why is junk so tasty?) that only go down well with a chilled Coke. Three judging by the popularity of the drink, more people would have sued the manufactures for reduced bone density or some other ills. True there are several law suits out there but considering how much coke is consumed, there could be more from the people suing cigarette manufacturers for damaged lungs and fast food restaurants for obesity. Me thinks Coke is harmless after all. At least as harmless as all the other chemicals we consume on a regular basis be it through yummy steroid fattened chicken or pesticide laden fruits and vegetables.

None of my scare mongers have said how much coke one has to take to get these horrid effects in the body. But all the same too much of anything can be harmful. Even the oxygen that keeps us alive can be harmful in large quantities.

Read also: Big Brother Africa III Comes To An End.

Whatever Are Prison Warders Smoking?

The horrendous conditions in our prisons are no secret. Just google Kenyan Prisons and you’ll get the picture. I’m not expecting anything 5-star to be reported about them, they’re prisons after all, but still I’d expect them to be more like correctional facilities and not a factory for broken men. The recently aired beating of prisoners at Kamiti Prison are a shock to anyone who gets to view the clip. The Prisons Department Spokesman says that prison officials are allowed to use force in some instances but there is still such a thing as basic human rights.

As usual we hear the now almost offending phrase ‘the police are going to investigate’. ‘The matter is going to be probed’. But in Kenya these probes are known to be the end of the case. Other than appoint a new Commissioner of Prisons, what else has been done or is being done about the Marsden Madoka report? Trust me when they ‘probe’ this current matter, it’s going to be probed as a stand alone and yet it’s obviously a culmination of years of rot in the prisons department. We all know about the continued frustration of the prison officers but that does not absolve them from the chillingly animalish brutality they displayed herding together stack naked full grown men and thrashing them.

I’ve received enough of those annoying SMSs that are said to come from prisons but this time I commend the one prisoner who captured the incident – never mind he was not supposed to have a phone in there in the first place.

There is also word that the taping was done by a concerned warder and not a prisoner after all. True it’s wrong to have contraband, weapons, cigarettes and mobile phones in prison but how do they get there if not with the co-operation of the very warders who meted the beating?

Were the warders operating on a sober mind? Is the human being wired like that? I wonder where our friend was during the incident?

When Serena Came Calling

Thomas Beatie Pregnant Again

After giving birth to this beautiful baby girl earlier in the year, Thomas Beatie the transgender who made headlines for being the first 'man' to fall pregnant is at it again. He’s expecting his second baby in June next year.

Their unique case is also a business opportunity of sorts. Having sold pictures of the baby for an estimated $300,000/-, I wonder how much money the couple will make when their second baby arrives.

Coca Cola is venturing into the iced tea and coffee market. Trust big brother to come and beat young Ketepa Iced Tea. Anything new in the market is most welcome but first they have to demystify the whole concept of iced tea which at the moment is still considered elitist. Ketepa did not make this notion any better by pricing their iced tea way above the average soft drink. Coca Cola is not easy competition. The drink is not yet available locally and I hope Ketepa can withstand the tide when it finally comes.

Dare I say they can forget selling these beverages in rural areas? For a lot of people there and indeed many more in urban centers, tea and coffee comes in a steaming mug, not in a can or soda bottle. Will they convince people to pay more for tea or coffee just because it’s cold and has no milk? For some that is what it is – black tea. They’d rather pay less cash for a steaming mug ama?

See also: Alvaro, Redbull, Malta Guinness.

My Cyber Travels

I’ve come across many weird stories in my travels around cyber space. The world never seems to run out of ideas to grab our interest. Some bizarre restaurants I’ve read about:

• Cannibalistic Restaurant in Japan

• Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taiwan

• Pitch Dark Restaurant In China

• Medical Restaurant in Taipei

Man Of The Moment

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." ~ Barack Obama – President Elect USA

Beauty To The Dogs

Is Simba looking a little bit old of late? Are his ears either too droopy or protruding a tad bit more than you’d prefer? Would you like to refine his eyebrow shape with a bit of Botox?

Pet Cosmetic Surgery is happening and it’s happening big. I don’t know about locally but out there pet owners can now change physical attributes that they don’t like in their pets. And doesn’t anything Western eventually trickle down to these parts with time? You could soon tighten Chelsea’s mammaries in a veterinary clinic near you. The menu sounds pretty much like that of a human cosmetic surgery clinic. Liposuction, facelifts, Botox Injections, Porcelain veneers, Nose Job etc. If Simba barks too much and keeps the neighbors awake, the vet can devocalize him by surgically altering his larynx to muffle the bark. I hope we have that one here soon if we don’t already. I know a few candidates.

Dogs also get this procedure that is not so common in humans – Cosmetic Testicular Implants. Yeah - you can pick between petite, small, medium, large, whatever size tickle your fancy. Unlike some procedures that are done for practical reasons, these implants are mostly fixed for appearance purposes. At least in dogs. Speaking of practical reasons, there are dogs with so much skin in the face that they have trouble seeing or even breathing and surgery is the only way out. Others are so overweight that they risk developing Arthritis due to the excess weight on their joints. Never mind the reasons why they’re overweight in the first place.

As expected there are protests by animal rights activists, dog breeders and some veterinary professionals to some procedures but sometimes the line between medically justified and cosmetic surgery is thin. Dogs that go under the knife for medical reasons often have the pleasant side effect of looking better. As such it’s sometimes difficult to define and prohibit some procedures.

There is the thorny issue of ethics considering that like any other surgical procedures, these operations come with associated risks, possible infections, painful post surgery healing, and distress to the pet. Do dogs really care about sagging body parts? Do they stand in front of the mirror and fret about their disappearing good looks? Do they care for that toothpaste advert smile?

Bottom line, as long as there are surgeons willing to do the procedures and clients willing to pay for it, pets will continue to undergo cosmetic surgery and the owners will get bolder and weirder in their requests.

See Also: Extreme Makeover Jocelyn Wildenstein Style