No Snacks For You

English: Snack Machine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The other day, I was browsing through some of email news alerts that I subscribe to at work.  These alerts are usually related to the retail industry, with a heavy emphasis on the convenience store industry.  I was going to delete most of the emails, but one of the articles caught my eye and I had to check it out further.

The article was about a new vending machine that they have developed in Europe.  This vending machine uses facial recognition and can detect your age, build, and mood.  It will then go through a series of calculations, including past purchases, before the machine decides whether or not to allow you to complete the purchase.  So if you are stress eating your 4th Snickers bar of the day, good luck.  It also has the capability to tie into your medical records in the approval process.

This disturbs me on so many levels.  I know junk food is bad for me but sometimes I just need, no, want a Reese's Peanut Butter cup.  The machine doesn't have any idea what I have had to eat that day so how can it make an educated guess as to whether or not to sell me the product?  I might not even be buying the product for me.  Perhaps my son or a friend is with me and I am treating them to a snack.

Let's also talk about the fact that the machine has the potential to tie into my medical records.  That just blows my mind.  There are somethings that nobody should have access and medical records is one of those.  That info should only be accessible by me, my doctor, and my insurer.  I would not trust that the info would be safe from other eyes that have no business seeing it.

Of course my geeky side thinks that the technology is very neat.  However, that doesn't override in the least the objections I would have about it.  Way too much Big Brother for my liking.  I'd like to know what others think about it.  Would you want a soulless machine to deny you a snack because it doesn't like the look on your face when you try to make the purchase or would you like a machine making decisions for you?

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The Ugly Truth About Sin Taxes

Image by ColumbusCameraOp via FlickrOur governmental leaders (usually Democrats) like to tell us that sin taxes are for our own good.  They tell us that the reason that they are putting taxes on things like cigarettes and alcohol is that they want to deter us from consuming products that are bad for us.  It is for our own good, after all.  The truth of the matter is that it is just another way for the government to line their coffers so they can spend, spend, spend.

States and the federal government have been raising taxes on tobacco consistently over the years.  In most jurisdictions, the majority of the cost of a pack of cigarette goes to the government, not the tobacco companies.  This morning I was going through some emails at my office.  I receive a lot of email news letters pertaining to the convenience store and retail food industry.  One of the articles that I read today further solidified for me the truth about sin taxes.

CSP is a magazine pertaining to the Convenience Store and Petroleum Industry.  On their website today, they had posted an article about three states (New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island) that are considering lowering their cigarette taxes.  Their reason for going against all the national trends of raising cigarette taxes?  Their hope is that by lowering their cigarette taxes that they will draw consumers from other states over state lines to buy cigarettes, increasing sales and revenue.  Now I ask you, do you really think cigarette taxes are to deter you from smoking?  I think not. 

 

Related articles

• Federal toilet paper tax proposed (dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com)
• How Much is the Government Making Off of Alcohol? (turbotax.intuit.com)
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• New Hampshire Debates a Reduced Cigarette Tax (nytimes.com)

The Secret Menu at ampm

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of ampm. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you have an ampm store near you?  I hope so.  If you aren't familiar with the ampm stores, they are convenience stores that are attached to a gas station.  These days, that is a familiar site for most of us, but when ampm first began the concept in 1978, it was fairly uncommon.  They have grown now to have over 1100 locations nationwide.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I am on the road and need to fill up my gas tank, it is nice to have a place to grab a bite to eat as well.  The ampm stores are just the place to fit that craving.  I know what you are thinking, every service station with a convenience store has things to eat.  That's true.  You could grab a hot dog just about anywhere, but ampm has recently rolled out their secret menu.

You can check out their secret menu items by visiting their Facebook page and clicking on the secret menu tab on the page.  They have already released the first five items on their secret menu, and will release additional items over the next few weeks.  In addition to the items that ampm are posting on the menu, beginning August 2nd users can create their own concoctions on the Facebook page.  See how creative you can be at coming up with your own menu items.

Of the items that have already been released, there are two in particular that I would want to try, the Hot Chihuahua and the Chili Conquistador.  The Hot Chihuahua is a hot dog topped with spicy nacho cheese and jalapeno peppers.  The Chili Conquistador is a hamburger topped with chili and spicy funyuns.  I can see why they are calling these "yums."  Check them out and let me know which ones sound good to you.