Mind Soup

Population Forecast up to 2050 1- The world currently has 6.9 billion people. It is projected to hit 10 billion people in the year 2050! (right) 2- Parents in Denmark must choose from a list of 7,000 pre-approved names for their babies! 3- The FDA allows an average of 30 insect fragments and one or more rodent hairs per 100 grams of peanut butter. 4- Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy  and that comics of him were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear trousers. 5- In Moscow, weathermen can be fined for inaccurate weather forecasting. 6- You can cure a stomach ache if you lie on your left side for 5 minutes. The stomach is on the left side, the oesophagus enters it on the right and therefore gas bubbles can rise and allow you to burp. 7- A sharon fruit  (Kharma in Arabic) is a persimmon that has been artificially ripened. No, I had no idea what a persimmon was either.

OH MY GOD!  Yes! That is a real bug. Appropriately named the rhino beetle, it sure is huge. Imagine if more bugs were this size. Aaghh! It sure is a nightmare for those who are scared of creepy crawlies and even for those who get nervous when they see one close. It does redefine entomophobia, the fear of creepy crawlies. Can you just imagine how one would react to a couple of them crawling within a few feet of distance? These rhino beetles are a wily pest and can destroy coconut crops in a jiffy. Wonder what kind of bird if any has the guts to feed on this giant bug. Nature can have a strange sense of humor. Wonder why she made a bug so huge or may be we should be wondering why she made the others so small. Nature has her share of weird things in the world, so can man be far behind? So many extra large weird stuff, man made are out there to bring our fantasy to another level. Ranging from a gigantic burger, to a coffin shaped like a giant duffel bag or a coffee table...

After cocoa beans are harvested they need to be fermented. This means that they are put in an earthen pit near where they are harvested and covered with leaves. In the hot sun they ferment (rot) and then can be shoveled out as mature cocoa beans. Of course during this process lots of insects are present. Almost all chocolate have bugs in it, because it is too expensive to manufacture without bugs. The FDA allows a certain amount of bugs or animal in most foods you eat. Almost all manufactured food you eat comes with an animal you won't think would be in it. Cottage cheese is allowed to have 10 fecal coliforms / gram (fecal coliform being bacteria like Escherichia coli that is normally associated with human and animal feces). Doesn't mean that it will hurt you either.