Well, well, well.
Looks like Paris will be mixing junk food and fine art.

Yes, McDonald’s is slated to move into the famed Louvre in Paris.
This news made me both cringe and laugh.

Even though there is an underground mall in the Louvre and a food court, I hardly think that picking McDonald’s as a gastronomic delight shows good judgment or taste.

Underground Mall In The Louvre

I find it very ironic that Paris chose to put a McDonald’s in the Louvre. Not only did they pick a restaurant that is a crappy corporate fast food chain, but they picked a food chain that pretty much screams The United States of America. Especially with France’s lonnnnng history of poo-pooing the US.

The US should be poo-pooed for their love affair with fast food. It’s sad that McDonald’s has become one of the symbols of US culture by many.

I would be happy if all the McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Kentucky Fried Chickens, and the rest of the heart attack restuarants would all go away. They lure customers in with convenience and low prices, and could care less about their customer’s health.Yeah, I know, everything in moderation, and it’s up to the individual if they want to eat there or not. But many people just don’t get how dangerous these places are to their health.The fat content and calorie counts are not in plain site for the consumer in these places, and I think they should be posted.

These restaurants (I use the term lightly) not only play a major role in US obesity, but other related health problems such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels and many more.
WE SIMPLY DON’T NEED THEM FOLKS.

So, back to the Louvre…

The NY Post wrote:

PARIS — French culture and American convenience will come together in December — thanks to plans by the McDonald’s restaurant chain to hang its shingle in the shadow of the Louvre.

McDonald’s is delighted at the prospect of feeding hungry culture vultures. But not everyone is happy about mixing high art and fast food.

The McDonald’s will be installed in the food court of the underground mall adjoining the museum, known as the Carrousel du Louvre, as the fast food chain fetes its 30th anniversary in France, McDonald’s France said.

The pairing could serve the interests of both. The Louvre is the world’s most visited museum; France is McDonald’s top market outside the United States.

In France and elsewhere, McDonald’s is emblematic of U.S.-driven globalization and the homogenization of cultures. However, the fast food chain’s chief executive, Jim Skinner, said in an interview published Monday that the reason McDonald’s is such a hit in France, where it has over 1,000 outlets, is that “we are perceived as a French enterprise.”

The McDonald’s on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue is the most profitable in the world, he said. The interview was published in the economic daily Les Echos.

The Louvre refused comment on the expected arrival of its new neighbor. Spokeswoman Aggy Lerolle said only that it is not up to the museum veto McDonald’s arrival since the Carrousel is run by a private company rather than the state-run museum.

However, some French are indignant about mixing French fries and art treasures in the backyard of the former palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV.

The Web site louvrepourtous.fr, which is aimed at keeping museum visitors informed, is among those whose hackles have been raised at the coming of McDonald’s, even in a food court where a variety of restaurants offering cuisines of the world are present.

“Rendezvous in December for a Mona Lisa Extra Value Menu,” it wrote, contending that the Louvre could have, and should have, put its foot down.

Some saw McDonald’s taste for art coming long ago. In January 2007, the culture wing of the large CFDT union decried what it said was the “Disleylandization” of French culture, claiming the state is looking to turn museums into theme parks. It cited plans for the so-called desert Louvre, to open in 2013 in the United Arab Emirates, and the arrival of a Starbucks coffee house near the Louvre.

“When will McDonald’s set up shop?” the union asked, perhaps more presciently than it wished.

McDonald’s says no date has been set for its opening at the Carrousel du Louvre.

European art and what passes for American cuisine have crossed paths before. The former chief of Italy’s McDonald’s chain, Mario Resca, now supervises that country’s chain of
illustrious museums.

 

“The McDonald’s on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue is the most profitable in the world“.

In the world?  Wow.
I also had no idea that there were already over 1000 McDonald’s restaurants in France.

So I guess they figure one more can’t hurt? 
The one in the Louvre will probably end up outselling the Champs-Elysees Avenue location.

AND Starbucks, another more recent symbol of American culture (again, very sad) may be moving down the block from the Louvre? 
I say anybody who is dumb enough to pay Starbucks for their over priced coffee concoctions can have them.

Hmmm… Remember France… those who throw stones….

But perhaps the Louvre can put a spin on this particular McDonald’s location and turn it into an artsy/educational approach for the kids.

Maybe they can have the very first ”Mona Lisa Happy Meal”.
Or perhaps something more catchier like the “Oui Oui Happy Meal”, (well… maybe not)
The kids can collect “Paintings of The Louvre Trading Cards”!

Although the painting below of Madame de Sorquainville by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, in which he brilliantly captured the first official “purple nurple“ in oil in 1749, should be left out of the Happy Meal trading card collection in my opinion.

Hey Kids! Collect Them All And Receive Free Pommes Frites!

And what about the parents?
How about a ”McDavinci  Sandwich”meal? It can come complete with secret codes that you must hold in front of a mirror and decipher for your chance to win a free McDe Milo shake or the grand prize of a family four pack of tickets to the Louvre. Dan Brown would be so tickled! (if this idea materializes… I want 10%)

So France… you took Jerry Lewis, (well, not really) and now you are putting a McDonald’s in the Louvre? 
What’s next? A Dunkin Donuts selling “croissanwiches” next to the Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower?

So will the French become chubby from all the junk food they will be consuming? Only time will tell.

Some Americans love junk food SO much, they have become quite desperate! 
Just ask Darrel Medley of Jacksonville…

A Jacksonville man has been charged for extorting a Jacksonville Dunkin Donuts for a croissanwich.

Darryl Andre Medley, 33, of Sherwood Road, was charged Friday by the Jacksonville Police Department with extortion and resisting a public officer.

Medley told another customer to go ahead of him in line, Capt. Billy Houston said.

“He told her she was going to pay for his too. She thought it was a joke until he motioned down and acted like he had a gun,” he said.

Medley was located about a block away from the Dunkin Donuts on Sherwood Road and U.S. 17 without a weapon, Houston said.

No injuries were sustained by the victim.

Bond was set at $6,000.

Wow $6,000 bond for a croissanwich heist! 
Yeehaw! Totally worth it dude! *snort*
I swear, you can’t make this crap up.

FYI: “The kipfel – ancestor of the croissant – has been documented in Austria going back at least as far as the 13th century. The French version of the kipfel was named for its crescent (croissant) shape.”
Thanks Wikipedia!

AND many people also think that french fries were invented by the French. Nope!
French Fries first showed up in BELGIUM.
Thanks again to Wikipedia:
“Belgian historian Jo Gerard recounts that potatoes were fried in 1680.”

Gee, France…. can’t you come up with your own dern junk food for cripes sakes! *snicker*

So to the controversy…
Many people are outraged over McDonald’s moving into the Louvre. Some people think it’s a shock at first and that visitors to the Louvre and residents of France will get over it, and others could simply care less.

I am stuck between being a little dismayed, and not caring, mixed with a little bit of gloating over the fact that France seems to be getting more and more Americanized.

I do know I wouldn’t like to see a McDonald’s move into the MET.

So what’s your take on McDonald’s moving into the Louvre?
Should we have the same attitude as France’s former Queen, Marie Antoinette? 
And say “let them eat burgers“?

Do you say, oui?
OR… non et non ! (absolutely not!)
OR… je m’en fiche! ( I don’t care)

Speak your mind and leave a comment.
Merci!

Pamela Anderson with Henrik Winther

Pamela Anderson has a bone to pick with Kentucky Fried Chicken. She is a member of PETA. Although she has been criticized in the past for being a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to PETA, as far as what she has worn and eaten, I have to say that  this fight against Kentucky Fried Chicken is justified in my opinion.

Now I am not a big fan of corporate food chains to begin with. The most I ever venture into is a Crackle Barrel or Burger King if I am on the highway and the choices of meal stops are very limited. I haven’t been in a Kentucky Fried Chicken since the late 1970’s, and after watching the KFC chicken processing video, I never will.

I had the misfortune of suffering through the entire video of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s processing plant which you can view at  www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com and I was totally horrified to say the least. Workers throwing chickens against the walls, stomping on them alive, clipping their beaks off on arrival, over crowding, boiling them alive and the tale of terror goes on.

Pamela Anderson has contacted Kentucky Fried Chicken and has asked them to be more humane in their processing plants and and even asked Kentucky’s governor to remove a bust of Col. Sanders from the State Capitol Building. Pam went as far as to contact Henrik Winther, president of Rostik, KFC’s Russian partners and asked them to watch the slaughter house video.

Pam has appeared in billboard adds in her “lettuce bikini top” and TV spots asking people to boycott Kentucky Fried Chicken until they change their evil ways.

Pamela is not alone in her fight against KFC. Many celebrities as well as musicians have joined her fight. From Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Tommy Lee (natch), and Pink, to the Smashing Pumpkins and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. For the full list of  almost 60 celebs that support this boycott click here. And some of the celebs have provided short videos. These stars are asking people to “Kick the Bucket” and sign the petition.

Kentucky Fried Cruelty Activists explain their beef with KFC:

The roughly 1 billion chickens killed each year for KFC’s buckets are crammed by the tens of thousands into excrement-filled sheds that stink of ammonia fumes. The birds’ legs and wings often break because they’re bred to be too top-heavy and because workers carelessly shove them into transport crates and shackles.

Chickens’ throats are slit and the animals are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers, often while they are still conscious and able to feel pain.

KFC lets frustrated factory-farm and slaughterhouse workers handle live birds, so many of the animals end up being sadistically abused. At a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and violently stomping on them. This was discovered more than two years after KFC promised PETA that it was taking animal welfare seriously.

KFC hides behind its Animal Welfare Advisory Council, even though five members of the council have resigned in frustration. One of them, Adele Douglass, told the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”

And How KFC Can Clean Up Their Act:

PETA wants KFC to adopt the animal welfare programdeveloped by five members of its own animal welfare board. These advisors are the world’s top poultry experts; they advise the meat industry in North America and Europe and believe that KFC can—and should—adopt them. KFC has yet to do any of the following:

Adopt the “Animal Care Standards” program. This would lower the amount of ammonia in the air in factory farms, improve the living spaces and lighting in chicken sheds, prohibit the intentional starving of breeding birds, and ensure that birds are provided with mental and physical stimulation.

Switch to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK). This would prevent live birds in slaughterhouses from being abused by workers, having their throats slit, or being scalded while they were still conscious. CAK would also improve conditions for workers and decrease contamination levels in chickens’ flesh.

Switch to mechanized chicken gathering. This would drastically reduce the number of broken bones and painful bruising that birds endure when factory-farm workers carelessly throw them into transport crates.

Breed for health rather than rapid growth, and stop feeding drugs to chickens. This would reduce the rate at which birds suffer painful, crippling diseases and injuries, such as broken legs, heart attacks, and lung failures.

Make all welfare standards transparent and verifiable. This would simply ensure that the animal welfare program is being adhered to through announced and unannounced independent audits (the results of which must be made available to the public through KFC’s Web site).
 

Seems like all reasonable requests to me. So if people have to pay a little more for their bucket of bird, then so be it. Besides, these places are only adding to the ever mounting and staggering problem of obesity in the US. Fast food chains play a huge part in the rising cost of health care due to all the health problems associated with being overweight.

Now I am not a fan of Pamela Anderson’s one iota. I can write an entire article on her that would rip her a new one as far as her and Tommy Lee’s shenanigans over the years, besides her overall phony fake parts appearance. And some will say she does all this for the publicity. Whatever. It’s still a good cause and KFC can certainly be less cruel. I know all slaughter houses are a nightmare, and I am certainly not dismissing all the other cruelties that go on in other places, but simple measures can be taken to make them less cruel. And I will admit that I am a bit of a hypocrite due to the fact that I am not a vegetarian myself, but I do try to limit my eating habits.

Many people think PETA goes way too far, but I agree with what they have asked of KFC, and I saw the horrific processing video. And since I HATE corporate fast food chains already… this campaign gets my vote. I am also in full agreement with PETA’s stance on any circus that uses elephants and big cats in their shows. Go to the Cirque baby! Animal free circuses all the way!

I digress….
So before you pull in to that next drive thru… stop and think of what you are supporting. If the chicken processing video you watched of your next lunch or dinner being prepped didn’t bother you, perhaps when you order that next KFC Chunky Chicken Pot Pie , Mmm mmm, that has 770 calories and 42 grams of fat,  and 2,160 mgs of sodium, will make you think twice.

For all the caloric, fat content and sodium levels of all KFC’s menu items, go here, and feel ill. Check out the stats on other fast food menu items too. I guarantee you won’t be making as many trips as you used to!

Kentucky Fried Cruelty Website Logo

What is this world coming to when even Girl Scout Cookies aren’t safe?  In Washington, somebody has been passing fake twenties to get their cookie fix:

Trooper leader KC Gettings made the discovery Saturday while making change.

“I went to the bank, right inside Safeway, and she told me two of the $20s were fake,” said Gettings.

Gettings quickly left, returning with a counterfeit detecting pen. Its mark shows yellow on real U.S. currency, but the mark turns black on fake money.  She discovered an additional $60 in fake bills.

That brought the total to $100 Troop 40411 may make up themselves. Two of the bills even had the same serial number. Troop 40411 isn’t alone; others around Bremerton invested in the pen.

“Another troop has come to buy them because they noticed they were getting fake money,” said Gettings. She said they’re being told to stop accepting $20 bills unless they use the pen.

But who is passing the fake money is still a mystery. Silvia Swanson knows what she’d do if they try again.

“I’d call the cops, that’s what I’d do — call the cops,” said Swanson.

Listen, don’t even tick off the Girl Scouts.  They’ll tie you up using the skills learned when they earned their Knot Tying badge, and then they’d work real hard on getting their Butt-Whuppin’ badge, and they’ll finish off with earning their Oh No You Didn’t badge.

But here’s the kicker…what happened when the troop leader tried to report the crime?

Troop leader Gettings tried to report the crime, but the local police station is closed on weekends. She planned to file a report on Monday.

What in the world!  What kind of police station takes the weekend off?  Let me see if I can channel the criminal mindset here…”I think I’ll steal this car, but I’ll wait until Saturday morning when the popo are gone fishin’.  And nobody can even report it until Monday!  Ahahahaha!”

But the good news is that the little girls earned a Fraud badge for helping uncover the crime, which will go right beside their Entreupenur badge for selling the cookies to start with and their Super Cuteness badge for being so darn irresistible with their little boxes of crack cookies.  I tried to resist, but they drew me in yet again.  Darn you, Samoas, and your evil little friends Do-Si-Dos!  Darn you all to heck!

More freebies from restaurants…and hey, I’m all about that.  Go to your local IHOP and you too can celebrate National Pancake Day (also known as Fat Tuesday) with a free short stack:

Join IHOP to celebrate National Pancake Day on Tuesday, February 24, 2009.  From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., we’ll give you one free short stack (three) of our famous buttermilk pancakes.  All we ask is that you consider making a donation to support local children’s hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network, or other local charities.

And I can’t think of a better day to have free pancakes than on Fat Tuesday, plus you can donate what you might spend on them to a good cause:

Known also as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, National Pancake Day dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products…hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday.

Since beginning its National Pancake Day celebration in 2006, IHOP has raised nearly two million dollars to support charities in the communities in which it operates. With your help, we hope to raise $1,000,000 for Children’s Miracle Network in 2009!

So you can have pancakes and help out a worthy charity at the same time!  What could be better?

This should be enough incentive to get even the most apathetic voter up out of his La-Z-Boy recliner and into the voting booth.  Krispy Kreme, that golden shining star of donuts, will be giving away free (yes, free!) donuts to anyone who votes:

On Election Day, Nov. 4, 2008, participating Krispy Kreme stores will offer one free star-shaped doughnut with red, white and blue sprinkles to each customer wearing an “I Voted” sticker. While voters may not always agree on the best candidate, voters can agree on one thing: Celebrating one of America’s most coveted constitutional rights can be oh-so sweet.

“We can’t guarantee that your candidate of preference will win on November 4, but we can guarantee that your right to voice your choice will be rewarded with a patriotic doughnut that will remind you just how tasty freedom really is,” said Krispy Kreme’s Chef Ron Rupocinski. “Krispy Kreme encourages everyone to take part in this historical election and vote.”

The star-shaped treats are made from Krispy Kreme’s signature, yeast-raised dough and available only on Nov. 4. The promotion is good for one doughnut per customer. Select stores may be offering yeast-raised doughnuts in the standard circle shape, but decorated with red, white and blue sprinkles.

The nearest Krispy Kreme store to me is about forty miles away, but by golly it just might be worth the drive for a free donut.  I mean, come on…they’re donuts!  And they’re Krispy Kremes!  And they have SPRINKLES!

However, maybe you’d like one of these?