Who doesn’t enjoy a handful or three of jelly beans at Easter time? Well, now that Easter has passed and you’ve consumed your yearly quota of that confection, it’s probably safe to share with you an interesting tidbit that most of you most likely weren’t aware of …
That beautiful glossy glaze that makes jelly beans glimmer is made from the poop of female lac bugs! YUM! YUM!
The female lac bug (Kerria lacca) sucks the sap out of trees in the forests of India, Thailand and Malaysia, and then poops out the excrement (called sticklac) on branches. This will become shellac that’s used on our furniture as well as “Confectioner’s Glaze”. (I think you’d agree that’s a much more appetizing term than “Liquid Lac Bug Sh!t”).
This sticklac is then then scraped off the branches – but because it also contains pieces of bark and pieces of lac bug, it needs to be purified. The glob is place is a long canvas bag and heated over a fire to liquefy the … hmmm … let’s go with resin. This is then mostly converted to shellac, and it’s estimated it takes anywhere from 50,000 to 300,000 lac bugs to make a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of shellac flakes.
These shellac flakes are then converted into the Confectioner’s Glaze that’s sprayed on jelly beans, Malted Milk Balls, Raisinettes and even apples. It not only produces an attractive sheen, but it also extends shell-life.
To make you feel better, the FDA has approved it as safe for human consumption.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be sticking with Peeps and chocolate Easter bunnies from now on.
As long as were discussing Easter, we shouldn’t pass up covering Rep. Steve (Cantaloupe-Calves) King (R-IA) who had the temerity to claim victimhood comparable to the suffering of Jesus by claiming he’s been crucified by his fellow Rethuglicans.
You can easily recall that while King has a very long and a very ignoble history of uttering racist remarks, this is the one made during an interview with “The New York Times” that crossed the red-line for Rethuglicans:
He was quickly stripped of all his committee assignments – and his whining immediately commenced.
King said he can easily relate to the suffering of Jesus Christ, equating his recent humiliation to what Christ “went through for us.”
Well, if King is saying that he, you know, wants to get the full experience of Christ’s Easter Passion, I’m sure there are people willing to chip in for the lumber. Just saying …
But I don’t want to close with that downer, so I’ll share with you some tidbits and a GIF I came across that illustrates how Twitler will cheat on anyone, everyone, anything and everything … even something as trivial as a game of golf.
Twitler is such a well-know golf cheat that an entire book has been written about it: Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.
In fact his caddies have witnessed him kicking his ball out from the rough back onto the fairway (a YUGE golf “NO-NO”) that they’ve nicknamed him Pelé, after the Brazilian soccer legend.
But I will say he’s a very accomplished and skillful cheater, as this GIF demonstrates. But I slowed it down and you have to watch closely because he’s perfected the art:
You don’t get that smooth at cheating without years of practice!
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As said earlier, the future historians will have this display of human vacuity to refer to, and laugh! ‘Nuff said! Well, maybe I can add… “Worm!”
Cross posted to Care2 HERE
Anyone who watches Antiques Roadshow knows about lac. It is probably some other part of the same bug, though, which makes the non-synthetic red dye which makes rugs so desirable – both “Persian” and Navajo.
Steve King wouldn’t make it past the First Fall – unless the cross was made from 2 soda straws and a rubber band, and that would exhaust him for weeks.
As for the Evil Emperor, it almost would seem easier to just play the frickin’ game than to have to use the eyes in the back of his head like that!
I did know that shellac is beetle poop and sprayed on almost all confectionery with a shine. I didn’t know that the poop needed to be purified before flaking it. Kinda ironic, isn’t it?
Even I am willing to chip in to give Rep. Steve King the experience of his life and truly feel one with his saviour. But don’t let him down until he promises to stop whining and comparing the humiliation he brought on himself to anything Jesus endured.
Magnificent GIF, Nameless. Apparently Drumpf has been cheating as long as he’s been playing the game, both secretly and openly. No surprise there. If he thinks he’s above the law, he surely thinks himself exempt from any stupid rule in golf that keeps him from winning. And winning is all he’s interested in.
I think he’ll only play on his own golf courses, where his guests, i.e. opponents are handed out HIS home rules to abide with:
Rule 1: Your host, the owner of this golf course, always wins
Rule 2: If your host, the owner of this golf course, is about to lose, look away and then go back to rule 1.
Lac: Cool information here. Oddly, I did not eat any jellybeans this past Easter, and after reading this, I think I’ll stick with the coconut Easter eggs, just to be sure. I do like jellybeans too though. lol
King needs to think before he speaks. If that’s possible. Which by his remarks he is clueless, AND a whiner.
dt: Thanks for the gif! He cheats at not just golf, but everything he does. It’s a norm for him as he’s cheated his whole life.
Thanks, Nameless for post. and Joanne for cross-posting.
Thanks Nameless. Dawg lac on all Republicans!
I have never been fond of jellybeans. What would Ronald Reagan have thought? Or did he know this about his favorite snack?
Steve King comparing his suffering to that of Christ? I hope that p*sses off a lot of Christians. But it probably will fly right over the heads of the extreme right-wingers.
His Orangeness cheating at golf? Hardly a surprise. What do you expect from somebody who lives on hamberders and covfefe?
Not a big fan of jelly beans either. Always was concerned of the amount of sugar. But after seeing your post I definitely will stay away from them.
Steve King seems to think and speak like his dumb-a*s leader. A bit nervy of him to compare himself to Christ.
Love the GIF…..tRump cheating at his golf game too.. Doesn’t surprise me. Can’t trust him at anything.