Some More Random Thoughts

You know that horror movie cliche where just when you think the killer is dead and buried there is a shot of the undead hand reaching up through the earth in front of the tombstone?  This is the political equivalent of that.  It appears that it took exactly 11 days after the 2012 presidential election for the first steps towards 2016 to be taken.  I know that it has always been said that politicians are perpetually campaigning, but didn't it seem like they used to do it more subtly than this?

In other news, panic is gripping our obese nation as Hostess announced it is going out of business.  But fear not my fellow plump friends, it is very very unlikely that you have seen your last Twinkie.  People seem to think that in a bankruptcy everything just sort of dissolves into the ether of the universe, but that is not the case.  In truth, every asset of the company is still owned by someone - usually in these cases it's a creditor but after that it's the shareholders (everyone with an interest is collectively called the stakeholders).  In a bankruptcy case, a trustee is placed in charge of liquidating the assets in order to pay back the stakeholders as much as possible.  So really, anything of value is going to be sold.  And judging by the rabid response of individuals rushing out to horde or scalp boxes of Twinkies, it appears that they still do retain some value.

In all likelihood, the recipes and naming rights to all of the Hostess products will be sold off to the highest bidder, so unless some uber-millionaire with an Eric Cartman complex buys them all for the sole purpose of having them personally made for him and no one else, you will likely continue to have all your favorites available to serve your 3 A.M. overeating needs.  The only difference is now the next time you have one you will bite into it, shake your head slowly, and say to whatever unfortunate soul happens to be within earshot of you, "they're just not the same anymore."  When in fact they will be exactly the same but what has changed is how you built them up in your mind when you thought you'd never have one again.

By the way, here is my rough guess as to the recipe for a Twinkie:

2 parts unnaturally spongy and obscenely yellow cake
1 part room-temperature dairy-like substance
3 cups sugar
A dash of loneliness

For the record, I love Twinkies.  But to paraphrase Jim Gaffigan, I've never finished a Twinkie and said to myself "I'm glad I ate that.  I feel good about myself."