First Cuppa Coffee – February 16, 2012 : Ground Meat Day Edition.

A Smash at Smashburger…The big news out of San Diego this week wasn’t Newt Gingrich’s exploratory trip to the Zoo; it was that long silent wife #3 Callista actually made a campaign appearance on her own: she spoke publicly to a small group of Republican women at a Smashburger restaurant. La Jolla GOP Women’s group officer Susan Skoglund  was impressed: “Any woman who we’re looking at as a potential president’s wife, they need to show who they are and not just kind of stand there, she might need to say a few words on it herself and kind of explain her thoughts on it and then get past it. All wives need to show that they’re persons, too, with real thoughts, that they’re not just somebody standing there.”

A star is born… check out this Hodad’s inspired celestial object known as Gomez’s Hamburger, a mere 900 light years from earth. Our friends over at Boing Boing think that this object is most likely a young star sitting in the middle of a dust cloud that will eventually coalesce into a solar system.

Just as Advertised…. In Las Vegas, NV a restaurant calling itself the Heart Attack Grill that features extra high caloric menu items and waitresses dressed as nurses found itself in the midst of a real emergency last Saturday when a customer eating one of their Triple Bypass Burgers suffered a cardiac arrest. The Heart Attack Grill prides itself on food that many would consider unhealthy. The Triple Bypass Burger has 1.5 pounds of beef and up to 15 slices of bacon. According to the menu, their French fries are cooked in “pure lard” and non-filtered cigarettes are available for purchase.

I’d like my sushi well done, thank you… Presidential candidate Rick Santorum was eating healthier last week at McCormick & Schmick’s in suburban Washington; then he had to go ruin the moment by asking if his Sushi was cooked.  (Sorry, we really can’t just make this stuff up)

A Healthier Breakfast Choice…  Activist group A Better San Diego is hosting another one of their breakfast forums tomorrow morning, and while the food (most likely burritos) may not bedazzle you, the discussion certainly will.  This month’s panel discussion on the Foreclosure Crisis featuring David Lagstein, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and Corinne Wilson, Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI) promises to shed light on a situation too often glossed over in mass media coverage. A contribution of $5 is suggested for breakfast.