Corporate Responsibilities

The new KFC Double Down sandwich is real! This one-of-a-kind sandwich features two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe® or Grilled), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce. This product is so meaty, there’s no room for a bun!

Sandwich Calories Fat (g) Sodium (mg)
KFC Original Recipe® Double Down 540 32 1780
KFC Grilled Double Down 460 23 1730

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Exceeding the recommended sodium intake is known to worsen hypertension, so it is important to know how much salt your body can take. According to the Institute of Medicine, the recommended sodium intake (per day) for each age group is:
- 1000 mg for children aged 1 to 3
- 1200 mg for children aged 4 to 8
- 1500 mg for people aged 9 to 50
- 1300 mg for adults aged 51 to 70
- 1200 mg for seniors aged 70+
As you can see, the DD exceeds the minimum Sodium Intake for ANY age group.

Too much salt or excess sodium intake will elevate the blood pressure and cause edema (usually ankles and feet swelling). This particularly occurs in person who is more sensitive to sodium.
The kidneys regulate the amount of sodium by retain or excrete it as needed. When there’s a high amount of sodium in the body, the kidneys will excrete more sodium to balance body fluid volume while when it’s too low, the kidneys will retain more of it to maintain a normal fluid volume.
However, when the kidneys can’t excrete enough of sodium, excess sodium starts to accumulate in the body. The accumulated excess sodium then leaks to the surrounding tissues causing swelling especially in the ankles and feet. In addition, because sodium pulls and holds water, high sodium concentration in the body will lead to an increase in the blood volume. The heart then needs to work harder to maintain normal circulation thus resulting in high blood pressure.

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Amid growing concerns over excessive fat and salt in the Canadian diet, KFC has launched the nutritional equivalent of a bunker-buster bomb, a package of chicken, bacon and melted cheese that delivers a mega-payload of sodium and grease. How much sodium? A total of 1,740 milligrams, which is more salt than a fully grown adult ought to eat in an entire day.
And that’s just the sodium. The Double Down also packs 540 calories, which, is the energy equivalent of two shot glasses of gasoline. A single Double Down, if burned efficiently, could heat a small bucket of ice-cold water to the point of boiling. If the “sandwich” were renewable, it would put Exxon out of business.
The point is this: Fast food has always been unhealthy. At least now it’s, ahem, interesting.
There is, alas, a problem with the Double Down, and it’s a problem no one seems to be talking about: the taste. It is salty. It’s salty the way crunching road salt between your teeth is salty. Imagine two dry but very salty pieces of otherwise flavourless chicken with salty processed cheese and salty (but oddly non-smoky) bacon in between, and you have a pretty good idea.
By selling this to customers, is KFC being greedy, do they lack corporate sensibilities and responsibilities or is this a great marketing ploy?

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The Dance

It is that time of the year, late fall, that I often use the term “The Waltz of the Winter Readiness”.
To those in the tropics this has no meaning for you.
It is the time during which you do everything to prepare for what you know is coming…. the freezing cold weather and lots of snow.
Let me separate it into three distinct areas, namely, personal, residence and transportation.
Personal
Do not let fashion be foremost, let “warmth” be the overriding factor.
If you have stored your warm (winter) clothing in containers, then this is the time to bring them out and store the summer clothes in the containers.
You check all your warm clothing, which includes thermal long johns, winter coats, winter gloves, winter socks and/or winter boots. If you have any that needs attention e.g. cleaning, then get it done or replace the worn out ones that will not keep you warm in the winter.(mitts are warmer than gloves in winter)
Because everything is seasonal, if you need to buy new items, this is the time to go shopping for those specific items, if any needs replacing.
Get your blanket(s) washed and cleaned.(replace if required)
Have your flannelette sheets washed and cleaned.(replace if required)
Do not use any sheets with thread counts of more than 400. (the higher the thread count, the colder the sheet).
Cost range $150 - $1000
Time 10 hours (approx)

Residence
If you rent, this is not required. However, if you own your residence the dance continues.
The purpose is to prevent any cold air from entering your internal space, and stop any warm air from escaping to the outside.
If you have an A/C, then it is time to turn it off and cover the outside unit.
You will need to have your furnace cleaned and serviced.
You will check ALL windows and doors to make sure that ALL cracks to the outside (or potential cracks) are caulked and sealed. The external and internal electrical outlets are plugged.
Outside plants are winterized. This involves wrapping evergreens (to prevent wind burn), covering the roots of sensitive plants and tying/wrapping shrubs to prevent breakage when the snow is on top during the winter. If you had an indoor plant stationed outside, it will need to be sprayed (to get rid of any bugs) and taken indoors.
If you are going to shovel the snow yourself, you will need to check and replace any worn winter shovels. If you are going to have a company remove the snow (snow plow), then you need to make the arrangements now.
You will need to turn off ALL inside water taps leading to the outside. (if you don’t it may freeze and create a severed pipe and subsequent flooding)
Shut off BBQ and store the cylinder. (if you are planning on doing BBQ during the winter, then leave it available)
Cost $50 - $1500
Time 15 hours (approx)
Transportation
The basic premise is to be able to go from point A to Point B, without you freezing.
In public transportation, make sure that your walking route to or from the bus stop is the shortest available, as it will be freezing during the walk.
If you own a car, the options are different. The intent is not to get stuck in the snow/cold.
Replace the tires with winter tires. Change the oil and filter. Have the battery checked and certified for the long winter months. Have the car thoroughly checked from bumper to bumper and should include, but not limited to the following:
-brakes
-fluids (oil, transmission, differential, radiator and washer)
-suspension
-lights
-wipers
-door locks and hinges
Never let your car run with gas gauge on ¼, as this creates condensation in the tank and leads to premature rusting. Follow the rule of filling the tank as soon as the gauge reaches ½.
Cost $150 - $2000
Time 20 hours

The Winter Readiness Waltz

Walk Good.

Smartphone or not to Smartphone

SmartPhone or not
I dislike SMARTPHONES (let me get that out of the way). Let me rephrase that, I dislike the iphone and the Blackberry.
My employer provides me with a BLACKBERRY BOLD 9700 (with certain restrictions).
-Limited Texting
-No long distance calls (I must pay for them if I need to make a long distance call).
-No applications to be installed (unless approved by management).
-Units must be replaced every three months.
We got the new Blackberry Torch 9800, to trial, before we agree to do the replacement.
The Torch’s coming out party has been unprecedented for RIM, and it shows just how much the company needs this Smartphone to be a hit.
As a moderate but welcome evolution of the Blackberry line, the Torch succeeds. The question is, is that enough to fend off Apple and Android in the all-in one mobile phone market?
A smidgen thicker and heavier than the svelte Blackberry Bold 9700, the TORCH is a hybrid device with an 8:1 touch screen that slides up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. It also boasts the latest version of the Blackberry OS, which makes the already simple task of navigating through the phone’s features more intuitive. It will take current Blackberry users time to adapt to using both touch and typing to interact with the TORCH, but overall it’s more logical.
The TORCH will be great for those who dwell in the RIM’s realm, either by choice or by the will of their corporate departments (read me). Better music & video playback features, a slick universal search function and a combined timeline of social media updates are welcome new features (had to get approval to test that one), but nothing compromises Blackberry’s greatest strength: Fast and easy e-mail.
Will the TORCH draw in customers? The keyboard-plus-touch screen combo is fantastic, but when placed side by side with iPhone/Android, the TORCH feels almost primitive. The touch screen is not as high resolution nor as responsive as the competition, and the web browsing and multimedia features, while much improved, re still not nearly as robust.
As a current Blackberry user, I find the TORCH to be more finicky than my current Blackberry Bold 9700. Little things, like Blackberry Messenger being slower to respond and the dreaded clock icon appearing more frequently, make me wonder if the slick new OS is perhaps straining the hardware a bit.
I can’t remember the last time a Blackberry caused so much of a stir. There’s still a lot of love out there for the old ‘Berry, and the TORCH will surely fan those flames.

Walk Good

Catfish Movie

THE OTHER FACEBOOK MOVIE

This is not intended as a Movie Review.

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One of the truly wonderful things about social media is that it enables you to connect with people you might never have met otherwise and, in some cases, might never meet in an off-line setting at all. But how do you know the people you are connecting with over, Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn are, in fact, who they say they are?

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CATFISH is a film that conveys the social inaccuracies and dangers of Facebook in a compelling and even disturbing way.
The subject matter on display is very timely and important. It is important in a way that will hopefully open the eyes of the younger generation that use and flaunt themselves far too heavily in the social networking age.

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Fiction or non-fiction, the movie’s message is one of importance for today’s wired generation. As social networking becomes more and more a part of every day life for people of all ages, Catfish is a reminder that it’s wise to wonder what’s truly going on at the other end of the line.

Although the social networking craze is bona fide, it must be used with some basic caveat(s).
-Privacy
-Security
It would appear that most people who are using social networking fail to ascribe to either privacy or security. Whenever the user(s) privacy or security is breached, then it will be too late.

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Do we complain too much?

B-Bitch
M-Moan
W-Whine
Some call it "ranting".
"If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." ~Anthony J. D'Angelo,

com•plain
Is to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or grief; find fault.
Job 10:1 - I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.

What do we complain about? You name it - we can complain about it. My flight has been cancelled. The auto insurance company refused to hear my claim. It's too hot. It's too cold. My dog is in a bad mood.
People, who complain, trap themselves in a reality that constantly gives them more to complain about. Life keeps being unfair to them. Their luck is below average. They never get any real breaks. Unfortunate circumstances, seemingly beyond their control, keep manifesting. It seems totally unfair, but it isn’t. The complainers are merely witnessing the fulfillment of their own requests.
We complain about our wealth, or lack of it. I just saw a bumper sticker that said, "I'm too poor to vote Republican." Who ever has enough money? It's not fair that others have more than we do and that they have better opportunities to earn it.
One of the juiciest topics of complaint is others' actions and personalities. We're all like mental gossip columnists:
"My colleague at work doesn't turn in his work on time."
"My boss is too bossy."
"My employees are ungrateful."
"After everything I did for my kids, they moved to another town, and they don't come home for holidays."
"I'm fifty, and my parents are still trying to run my life."
"This person talks too loud."
"That one doesn't talk loudly enough, and I always have to ask her to repeat what she said."

What is the difference between complaining and discussing certain topics in a constructive way? It lies in our attitude - our motivation - for speaking. Discussing a situation involves taking a more balanced approach, in which we actively try to understand the origin of the problem and think of a remedy. In our mind we become proactive, not reactive. We assume responsibility for what is our responsibility and stop blaming others when we cannot control a situation.

For Buddhist practitioners, several meditations act as healthy antidotes to the habit of complaining. Meditating on impermanence is a good start; seeing that everything is transient enables us to set our priorities wisely and determine what is important in life. It becomes clear that the petty things we complain about are not important in the long run, and we let them go.

If you can’t influence or change something, don’t complain …. LET IT GO.

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