Wednesday, May 5, 2010

KFC Double Down Commercial : Is There A Cardiologist In The House?




---> PAIR THAT DOUBLE DOWN WITH THIS IF YOU WANT IT SO BAD <---


By Dave Lieberman

Yes, that's right. I put my cardiac health on the line today. I drove to the KFC on Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove, steeled my nerves, crossed myself, walked in and ordered a Double Down. Let no one say I never take one for the team.


On the surface, it doesn't sound so bad. It's really a chicken club without the bun, except that it's also devoid of anything resembling a vegetable. Even iceberg lettuce has been banished from the Double Down.

It took eight minutes to get my sandwich; unlike pretty much everything else at KFC, the breaded chicken breasts are fried to order for the Double Down. They lovingly smear "Colonel's sauce" on the breasts, then layer on Monterey Jack and pepper Jack cheeses and two pieces of bacon (also, from the smell emanating from the back, freshly cooked). The two breasts are clapped together, wrapped in paper, put in a box and rushed to you.

The first thing you notice is how greasy it is. It soaked completely through the wax paper in which it was wrapped; six double-folded napkins later, it was still greasy enough to cause me to get grease on the touchscreen of my camera.

Then you dive in to the nutritional information: 540 calories, which is actually less than some of the "man meals" of other fast food chains (the Low Carb Six Dollar Burger at Carl's Jr., for example, has 570 calories). A whopping 32 grams of fat (10 of them are saturated and 0.5 are trans fats). The real kicker, though, is the massive 1,380 milligrams of sodium.

Let me put that into nutritional perspective for you with a mental image:


1. Take a microwave-safe bowl and measure out two and a half tablespoons of Crisco.
2. Toss eight ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast into the bowl.
3. Add a heaping half-teaspoonful of plain old table salt.
4. Mix it all together, microwave until the chicken is cooked, and eat, licking the bowl clean.


This disgusting-sounding concoction contains 535 calories, 32 grams of fat (30 from the Crisco, 2 from the chicken), 54 grams of protein, and about 1400 mg of sodium, and it still isn't as bad for you as the Double Down, because it's lower in saturated and trans fats.

The taste? It mostly just tastes salty, that slightly umami saltiness associated with the cap falling off the Parmesan shaker in an Italian restaurant. I ate a few bites, tossed the rest of the half I ate from, and foisted the other half onto an unsuspecting friend. This is not at all a sandwich for the ages; if you find yourself in the same plaza, go get a sandwich at Lee's.

Me, I bought a $3 package of fresh salad rolls, a banana and a $1 cup of Vietnamese yogurt at Nhu Lan Bakery on the opposite corner of Harbor and Garden Grove.

*** OOMMGGGGG thats pretty bad ****

Greece Financial Crisis: Tensions rise, 3 killed during protests



The financial crisis in Greece resulted in violent anti-government protests, with three dead after a fire was set during the riot.

MSNBC reported, "We have found three dead people in the building that is on fire," the fire department said in a statement.

Protesters threw paving stones at police as police tried to stop them from approaching Greece’s parliament using tear gas.

Greece in financial trouble

The Greek government has put a plan in action, drafting a new bill in an effort to save their country from financial ruin.

Their plan includes increasing consumer taxes, slashing spending, cutting salaries and pensions for civil servants. All in an effort to secure a vital three-year loan package from European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

MSNBC reported that IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned that the crisis could spread to other countries despite the rescue package's efforts to contain it.

"Everyone must remain extremely vigilant," to this risk, Strauss-Kahn said in an interview published in French newspaper Le Parisien Wednesday.

He said Greek anger at the harsh spending cuts was understandable but that without these measures, the situation would be “infinitely more serious.”

There is outrage among people being most affected because they feel they have to pay for what they see as politicians’ mismanagement of the country’s economy.

The Prime Minister had announced cuts in salaries and pensions for civil servants and another round of consumer tax increases Sunday, saying it was in an effort to pull his country away from the brink of default.

While thousands took to the streets and protested, others went on a 24-hour strike, grounding all flights to and from Greece, shutting down ports, schools and government services and left hospitals working with emergency medical staff. Ancient cites were closed and journalists walked off their jobs, suspending television and radio news broadcasts.

The draft bill will be discussed at committee level in Parliament Wednesday afternoon and will be voted on Thursday, despite the strike. The bill is expected to pass easily.

"We'll be on the streets every day, every day! You never win unless you fight," said 76-year-old Constantinos Doganis, who gets 345 euro a month from his farming pension fund.

"It's our fault too, all the mistakes made by politicians over 30 years, all the people who cheat on their taxes," he said. "But they are behaving like buzzards — the Germans borrow money at 3 percent and then lend it to us for 5. Why?"

Low-income Greeks will suffer most from the measures that aim to save 30 billion euro ($40 billion), the country’s current budget deficit, through 2012.

"These people are losing their rights, they are losing their future," said Yiannis Panagopoulos, head of GSEE, one of the two largest union organizations. "The country cannot surrender without a fight."

Loans will be extended to Greece by 15 other countries that hold the Euro with an interest rate of 5 percent which is higher than they face themselves. However, it’s far lower than the 10 percent rate that Greece faces on the international market.

** all i have to say is .. read the book of revelation & the book of daniel **

Who is Faisal Shahzad?



Faisal Shahzad , a Pakistan-born naturalized U.S. citizen from Long Hill Avenue in Shelton, Conn., is accused of driving the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder loaded with a propane-and-gasoline bomb into Times Square on Saturday, May 1.

Shahzad was arrested at midnight Monday trying to board a Dubai-bound flight at JFK Airport, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

Charges were not announced but he is due to appear in a Manhattan federal court Tuesday, according to a statement from Holder's office.

"Mr. Shahzad, an American citizen, was taken into custody at JFK Airport in New York as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai," Holder told a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington after midnight.

He said the intent of the attack was "to kill Americans," and added: "This investigation is ongoing, it is multi-faceted, and it is aggressive. As we move forward, we will focus on not just holding those responsible for it accountable, but also on obtaining any intelligence about terrorist organizations overseas."

Good Day New York posted a photo of Shahzad.

In a statement by the University of Bridgeport, the school stated that Shahzad was a former student at the University of Bridgeport, where he earned a BS degree in Computer Applications and Information Systems (CAIS) in the fall of 2000. Shahzad returned to UB and graduated with an MBA in the summer of 2005.

The suspect is a 30-year-old who recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan. He reportedly bought the Nissan Pathfinder with cash from a 19-year-old female college student from Bridgeport, Conn.

Peggy Colas arranged to meet Shahzad through the listings web site Craigslist a week before the failed bombing attempt. The alleged terrorist was said to have paid $1,300 for the vehicle.

An advertisement that appears to be for the vehicle, which had 141,000 miles on the odometer appeared on at least two web sites, stated that it was in good condition — "CLEAN inside and out!!" — with a recently repaired alternator and a new gas pump, distributor and front tires, according to a New York Times report.

Police were also combing the Nissan sport utility vehicle and its rudimentary bomb consisting of timers, wires, fireworks, gasoline, propane tanks and fertilizer.

According to The New York Times , a neighbor said that Shahzad and his wife, Huma Mian, spoke limited English and kept mostly to themselves. The couple had two young children, a girl and a boy, said the neighbor, Brenda Thurman.

Pregnant Woman, Unborn Child Shot to Death in West L.A.



There's no word on a motive in the attack.

WEST LOS ANGELES -- Authorities are searching for two men accused in the shooting death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in the South Robertson area of West Los Angeles.

The shooting was reported around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of Corning Street, according police.

Two men got out of a sport utility vehicle, walked up to the woman and shot her as she stood outside an apartment building with two male friends, according Sgt. Gary Levy of the LAPD's West Los Angeles division. As many as four shots were fired at the victim, police say.

The woman, who was 15 to 20 weeks pregnant, was taken to the hospital about three miles away, where she died.

Doctors attempted to save her unborn child, but the baby also died, Levy said.

The woman is said to have been in her 20s.

The suspects were described as two men -- one Hispanic and one African American -- last seen driving a gray Jeep Liberty.

There's no word on a motive in the attack, but police say the shooting may have been gang related.

KTLA-TV, Los Angeles

*** that is sooo sad .. smh ***