March 17, 2015

Sigh.... going to have to stop eating some pretty damn awesome chips

Found out that the vegan bakery we go to (a little bitty shop, locally owned) was named as part of a suit by Smart Balance and Brandeis University.

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A small artisan bakery in Bay View has been named, along with more than a dozen corporate cookie makers, as a defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit by Brandeis University over the use of fats and blends to improve the ratio of good to bad cholesterol in their products.

Joining Brandeis as a plaintiff is its licensee for the two patents at issue, New Jersey-based GFA Brands, maker of Smart Balance foods.

The suit, filed in federal court in Madison, claims East Side Ovens and more than a dozen major food corporations - such as Nestle, Pillsbury and Unilever - are infringing on a patent for "Increasing the HDL Level in the HDL/LDL Ratio in Human Serum by Balancing Saturated and Polyunsaturated Dietary Fatty Acids."

The adjustment leads to "significant health improvements," according to the lawsuit.

Amanda Maierhafer, owner of East Side Ovens, said she was unaware of the claim until Thursday.

"I have very little understanding of what they are alleging we have done," she said. "We're a tiny little vegan bakery with seven employees."

East Side Ovens is a wholesaler whose products are sold at some area grocery stores, cafés and farmers markets.

"I think it's got to be a mistake somehow," Maierhafer said.

The suit claims the infringing cookies include East Side Ovens' cranberry orange cookies, along with such national brands as Keebler's Chips Deluxe, Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Rippin' Good vanilla wafers.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, injunctive relief and declaration that the case is exceptional, which would entitle Brandeis and GFA to attorney fees if it prevails. Both are represented by Quarles & Brady's Madison office, which did not return calls Friday.

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We know Amanda. She's a sweetheart. The courts ruled against Brandeis and Smart Balance, but it still stings the bakery. When I wrote to Smart Balance to express my dismay, they first said they knew nothing about it. Then I posted the link and the story changed to 'oh, they just got caught up in it, and it didn't cost them much business'.

So, you took them to court, but you didn't hurt them 'much'?

Sigh.

March 10, 2015

Christian university shuts down bake sale benefitting homeless LGBT youth

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/christian-university-shuts-down-bake-sale-benefitting-homeless-lgbt-youth/

Christian university in Michigan has told students that they are forbidden from raising money for a group that benefits homeless LGBT youth because to do so would “conflict” with the university’s “mission and practices.”

According to Blue Nation Review, students at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan wanted to hold a bake sale to benefit Fierce Chicago, a relief group dedicated to providing services to LGBT homeless youth, who make up an estimated 40 percent of kids under 18 in the U.S. who have no place to live.

The bake sale was planned by AULL4One, Andrews University’s unofficial gay-straight alliance, which boasts around 80 members, but is not allowed to advertise on campus because of the school’s affiliation with the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

March 5, 2015

Old DU members might remember this meme and enjoy the song

January 24, 2015

NSF funded Antarctic Drilling Team finds new ecosystem

NSF-funded antarctic drilling team--first to bore through hundreds of meters of ice to where ice sheet, ocean and land converge--finds a new ecosystem

Using a specially designed hot-water drill to cleanly bore through a half mile of ice, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded team of researchers has become the first ever to reach and sample the "grounding zone," where Antarctic ice, land and sea all converge. Data gathered from samples of sediment taken in the grounding zone will provide clues about the mechanics of ice sheets and their potential effects on sea-level rise.

Cameras sent down the drilling hole also revealed an unsuspected population of fish and invertebrates living beneath the ice sheet, the farthest south that fish have ever been found. The surprising discovery of fish in waters that are extremely cold at -2 Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and perpetually dark poses new questions about the ability of life to thrive in extreme environments.

Read more in an NSF news release here: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=133895

January 6, 2015

My letter to Gardein...

A while back I wrote a letter praising your tenders and how in love with them I was. In fact, the only thing that prevented me from marrying them was the fact I was seeing other Gardein products on the side.

Then I found your Szechuan strips and a new love affair was born. I was torn between the two loves of my life, not really sure which I wanted to be with. I began to think maybe I could see both of them, as long as they didn’t know about one another.

Recently I was introduced to Gardein meatballs.

Really?

What are you trying to do to me?

There are only so many meals in a day, you know. I can see one of them in the afternoon, and one in the evening, but now I have to consider one of them in the morning, too.

I’d say shame on you for what you’re doing to me, but it’s so damn good.

Thank you for everything,

Will Parkinson