A recent article on the BBC says “The US soft drinks industry says it has dramatically cut the number of high-calorie soft drinks sold in US schools as part of a drive to tackle obesity.”

While the article trumpets that “the reduction in sugary soft drinks in schools [was] formed part of a deal between the major companies and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation”, I think it’s a rather strange coincidence that corporate concern for “obesity” is timed with the fact that sugar is now priced at an all time high, with sugar prices jumping “… 12% in the last 12 months and is now 33% higher than the level that prevailed for most of the 2000s.”

To make matters worse, now that sugar is rapidly going up in price, suppliers are hording it, thereby making sugar even more expensive than it needs to be. An article on the Daily Tribune says “Food exporters suspect hoarding of sugar as the main reason for the rocketing price of the commodity and called on government to immediately step in to help avert the collapse of the food export industry due to possible supply manipulation.”

Back in December, I posted an article on how General Mills is cutting sugar in children’s cereals, coincidentally as sugar prices reach 28 year highs. GM saw this problem coming way back then, and now the soda industry is moving on it.

I bet there’s going to be even more drastic sugar reduction in foodstuffs soon. Not because the food industry truly gives a flip about the “obesity epidemic”, but because one of their main ingredients just rocketed by a 28 year high mark in 2009.

I also bet this issue is going to snowball pretty quick in the mainstream. I’ve already noticed a huge price increase on sugar in the supermarket, and if GM and the major soda vendors are cutting sugar content, you can bet the smaller companies are going to start making changes as soon as they can.

Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

* Campbells is a bunch of scheming bastiches! “An ABC investigation shows Campbell’s “Healthy Request” and “Low Sodium” tomato soups contain the same nutrients and exact same amount of sodium as regular tomato soups, but [the healthy request] costs more.” So it’s the 100% same product, just more expensive if you want the “healthy” sticker on the can? RIP! OFF! [CONSUMERIST]

* Forget the cows. There’s methane coming out of the Arctic on an insane scale. “7 teragrams of methane are currently being released annually from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. That’s about equal to the amount of methane that is annually released from the rest of the world’s oceans combined, and much more than was previously believed to be released from that part of the Arctic…. the levels in the Arctic now average about 1.85 parts per million, the highest level in 400,000 years.”” OK, whether you believe in global warming or not, this methane release IS happening. So how about putting aside the bickering on whose clipboard is bigger and try to solve this 100% increase in methane before we all keel over? 400,000 years is not a statistic to be ignored. [NSF.GOV]

* Speaking of changes happening on the Earth, Venezuela has had no lightning at all this year. From a standard 20,000 bolts per 9 hour show every single night to absolutely none. The really trippy part? It might have been the result of the recent earthquake in Chile! “The last time the phenomenon vanished was in 1906 after a catastrophic 8.8-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia unleashed a tsunami.” [GUARDIAN.UK]

* Another week, another mega financial crisis is getting underway. Just keep moving. Nothing to see here folks. [ABCNEWS]

* Drag racing Naval ships? Oh hell yes! Put that on SPIKE TV right before UFC! The headline says “A Navy captain was demoted because she berated and assaulted her crew, not because she led her guided missile cruiser on a drag-race with another U.S. warship in the Pacific” Wait, yelling at enlisted personnel of lower rank in the military is now a bad thing? [GOOGLE NEWS]

* Speaking of military news, the department of the Navy might be renamed to”Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.” Why you ask? “Families of Marines killed in action receive condolence letters from the secretary of the Navy, with no mention of the Marine Corps in the letterhead. Proponents of the bill want to change this.” Guys? You’re solving the wrong problem here. [THE HILL]

* One last military news bit. Dogs serving in the military that are coming back from the war are exhibiting PTSD just like some soldiers. Enough with these damn wars! Operation GTFO needs to start right now! [WSJ]

* Why aren’t people moving to where the jobs are? Apparently they’re trapped in a vicious cycle. “One in four homeowners is trapped in their house because they owe more than the house is worth, so they can’t move to take another job — until they sell or walk away.” Catch-22 anyone? [BUSINESS INSIDER]

* Praising kids all the time? Giving everyone who was in a contest ribbons and trophies and saying they’re all winners regardless of the outcome? Turns out it’s bad for them! More stupid baby boomer feel-good BS finally exposed for what it is! [NYMAG]

* Are you sitting down? Well don’t! Sitting down at your job is horribly bad for you! [NY TIMES]

* Want to pay for your waiter’s healthcare? That’s what the San Francisco restaurant industry hopes. They are tacking on a surcharge to each restaurant bill to help pay for their employee’s healthcare plans. What’s next? Rent surcharge? An electricity usage fee? [CHICAGO TRIBUNE]

* The managers at AIG are furious! Furious at the nerve that the American taxpayers want their money back! A manager summarized it all by saying… “To be honest with you, I really hope it blows up. I think the U.S. taxpayer deserves to lose a trillion dollars over this thing for the way they have behaved.” I like to think I’m a reasonable guy. But I think we need to get someone like good old “two fingers” Vinnie to go have a chat with AIG executives about the money they owe us. [WASHINGTON POST]

* OK, take a deep breath before you read this one. Ready? Here goes… “Extra small condoms for boys as young as 12” will be on sale soon in Britain because “not enough 12 to 14-year-old boys were having protected sex.” Wow. Where to begin with this? I’ve said it earlier in this post, but how about… Solving! The! Wrong! Problem! [DAILYMAIL.UK]

* ABC News is going to “Close all of its physical bureaus around the country except Washington and halve the number of its domestic correspondents.” Dude! So why bother calling it ABC News? Just pull an MTV and drop the extra title you don’t need anymore! News. Psssh. Who needs that crap? [LA TIMES]

* Got a bomb of a movie? Get a bad review? No worries! Variety will re-rate your movie for just $400,000! [GAWKER]

* USPS – no more Saturday mail? $10 BILLION in debt? Shorting their retirees to make ends meet? Maybe because nobody uses postal mail anymore? Can I possibly end this with one more question? [CNN]

* And finally, the Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid concept gets 78 mpg and hits 62 mph in 3.2 seconds. Vanity license plate BOO YAH not included. [AUTOBLOG]

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!