Love my chocolate, but... (also comments about the Supreme Court "code")

 Eating chocolate isn't always healthy, as Consumer Reports shows how much lead and cambium can be found it it...dark chocolate, milk chocolate, drinks, brownies, cake mixes and more.

I wasn't thrilled to hear about dark chocolate, my favorite. But they didn't test my brand, Lindt. 

Here are some other results:

"When we tested dark chocolate bars last year, we found lead or cadmium levels above CR’s thresholds in 23 of 28 bars, or 82 percent of them. Our results this time were similar. Of the seven bars we tested, five, or 71 percent, were above our levels for lead, cadmium, or both.

I do like to make brownies though, oops!

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Below 100% of CR's levels

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Above 100% of CR's levels

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My favorite brownie mix...results:

Ghirardelli

 

Premium Brownie Mix Double Chocolate

16 servings per box

 

LEAD

 

 

108%

 

CADMIUM

 

 

37%

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The way I look at that is that it's 108 times above the allowable amount of lead for a single serving. I shall no longer bring this to pot luck functions! If it's only 8% I could live with that. I'm stewing over this.

If you understand the way it's over or under I'd like to hear how you see that working. It's really just 8% over their level, isn't it?

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Today's quote:

If you pray for rain long enough, it eventually does fall. If you pray for floodwaters to abate, they eventually do. The same happens in the absence of prayers. -Steve Allen, television host, musician, actor, comedian, and writer (1921-2000)

And just a note on current events:

Robert Reich offers this info:
Yesterday, (11.13.23) the Supreme Court announced an ethics code for the justices. But the code is utterly empty. It has no enforcement mechanism and no mechanism for the public to lodge complaints of misconduct.

It’s public relations pablum.

The court effectively admitted this, saying that “the absence of a Code … has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the justices of this court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.”

Misunderstanding? I’m sorry, but the public understands quite well that the justices regard themselves as free to do whatever they wish, in terms of ethics.

The new rules don’t require any changes in how the justices conduct themselves.

The new code has no system for the public to lodge complaints or for any outside review of alleged ethical violations.

In the absence of any enforcement process, the document states that Chief Justice John Roberts has directed court staff to do a review of “best practices” based on systems already in place in the lower courts. It didn’t provide a timeline for that review or what action the court might take in response.

Ultimately, I blame Chief Justice John Roberts. The court’s chief justice is supposed to maintain public trust and confidence in the court, but Roberts has done everything possible to avoid a Code of Ethics with teeth. This latest pathetic attempt at pacifying the public will do little to reverse the sharp decline in public confidence in the nation’s highest court.