Swing By Thursday Blog Hop

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Knock Off Olive Oil

Did you ever think you had to worry about buying knock off olive oil? I never thought I would be. I knew there was a difference in the quality, but manufacturers are making knock off olive oil where the olive oil is being substituted for cheaper oils and chemicals to make a cheaper olive oil to sell. I guess that goes to say you can't walk into a store and buy anything anymore without reading the labels.

According to the California Olive Oil Council, the best way to tell a fake from the real thing?


Consumers spend $720 million per year on olive oil, according to the California Olive Oil Council. But, not all olive oil is created equally.

Follow these tips from COOC to be sure you know what you're buying on your next shopping trip:

Bottle color matters. True olive oil should be kept cool so bottles will be darker in color to extend shelf life.

Check the label. States like California place quality control labels from the COOC on all bottles of oil produced in the state. To earn a seal, a taste panel puts it through a vigorous chemical test.

Where you shop matters. Olive oil is definitely one of those products you never want to buy generic. Not all retailers keep a close eye on where they're sourcing their oils, so look for higher quality oils at specialty markets. When in doubt, check the label yourself to see its origin.

And don't believe everything you read. The FDA can't catch every bottle that hits the shelves claiming to be "Extra virgin" or "cold pressed," Mueller warns. If all else fails, try taking a whiff. True EVOO should smell a little fruity.

Two Teens Charged With Racial Intimidation

Four families in Spring Hill had a terrifying start to the New Year after two teens vandalized their homes with racial slurs New Year's Eve.



Authorities say the two teens spray-painted racial slurs and swastikas on the homes and hung a noose at some of the houses. The teens vandalized four homes New Year's Eve at a subdivision off Mason Lane in Spring Hill.

The two Spring Hill teens, Dakota Calderhead, 19, and his friend Kristian Mathis, 18 are facing charges including vandalism and racial intimidation for defacing four homes with disturbing messages of hate. The teens are also looking at being faced with federal charges once the FBI finishes their investigation.

Some parents just do not understand what they are doing to their own children and others by not teaching their children diversity and compassion for others. Teaching a child hate can destroy their lives. Now, because they failed to teach their children compassion and the understanding of diversity, they will pay the price for the rest of their lives. College is most likely out for these two teens, difficulty finding jobs and federal convictions hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives.

This crime will live with the children and their families whose homes were vandalized for the rest of their lives. I am sure they will never forget what happened to their home that night. Why? Because a couple of parents failed to do their job as parents. Now the state of Tennessee and the tax payers is left to finish raising the two teens.

My New Year's Hope

Well, 2012 is finally here. The year the world is supposed come to an end according Nostradamus. We had a nice little celebration at home this year celebrating with my family and friends. The kids had a great time drinking the sparkling white grape juice and blowing the horns. The way they were blowing their horns, you would have thought there were twenty people in the room. But that is the fun part,  knowing your making memories for your children that will last a lifetime. They had so much fun, they didn't want to seem to let the night go. They enjoyed playing with our friends kids so much they didn't want to go to bed at 5:00 am.

With all the fun, I'm still having trouble getting excited about the new year. I guess I never really did get the hype about a new year, it's just another year to me. That's probably why I never make a New Year's resolution that I know I will most likely break.

Instead of making a resolution, I am just hoping things will start to turn around for the United States and hope the economy will improve, people will start going back to work to something other than low paying jobs and people will stop losing their homes. I am just hoping 2012 will be better than 2011 for a lot people and our faith in our government to make the United States a better place to live will be restored.

Happy New Year!

A Few Words Banned In 2012

Amazing
Ginormous
Baby Bump
Man Cave
Thanks In Advance

If they are no longer allowed to say man cave, is it going to be Papas Den?


A few words or phrases I think should be banned.

Epic (anything) - I hate that word. It is EXTREMELY over used by kids.
Are you serious?
Ahhh.... Cool - That phrase should have been left in the 80's.
Idiot- What's with kids over using the word idiot?
Awesome- People get offended if you say they are anything less than awesome.
Ditto- How did Ditto come back?
Boss- Not in reference to your boss. In reference to kids saying "That's so boss!" or "I'm so boss!"

Feel free to add to the list.

2011 Real People In Review

Now that we covered the celebrities and in the news reviews, I thought I would now cover the Real People 2011 Review. As we are watching television just before New Year's Day, we get slammed with the celebrity stars year in review, greatest sports moments and so on. But, they never mention what happened to the average every day person. I will start with the bad and finish with the good. What about?

How Eddie and Jan's house was
foreclosed on last month.

How many homeless families and people
there are in the United States now.

Or how Frank next door lost his job last week.

And his wife lost her job 2 years ago
and they had to file for bankruptcy.

Johny had his car repossessed after his....

unemployment benefits were cut.

Cousin Sally's school got shut down.

Police officers were cut from the force. So, the next time you call
911 when someone is breaking into your house,
they may not have one available and your wife will have
to drive you to the hospital after you've just been shot!

Urrrrrrrr....

That may not be interesting enough.

But, I'm going to tell you anyway. Because, we want to know when....

When Maggie turns six.

That Jimmy returns home to his family in time for
Christmas.

Nick and Alison just got married and
still believe in the American Dream and.....  

a year later they gave birth to triplets. Then....

Alison's little brother recovered from cancer.

And many more sad and happy stories of the everyday Americans people. But, we watch them. We kick back on our sofa watching TMZ and show after show of celebrities year in review or sports in review. By far I am not making fun at all the happy and sad moments in the lives of the everyday American. I am poking fun at all those who don't believe we are important enough to talk about.

2011 Year In Review




Finally, the Notorious Bin Laden was killed! So, we think.

He's kind of like the soap opera character that keeps
coming back to life.






Charlie Sheen while thinking about losing his job and custody of his children and wondering why.



JLo falls right on her Hollywood rear end while performing live and blames
it on the dancers sweaty backs. Yes, stars have
their awkward moments too.



Snookie gets arrested.




Detroit's Ex-Mayor Playboy sitting in court again.

 

Lady Gaga's Most outlandish entrance of 2011.

Ahhh.... let's not forget the Royal Wedding and it's hats.