Highlight Realty George Baumann

09/08/2025

how do I change my location on Gacebook?

09/08/2025

The Hidden Bug Ingredient in Your Red Food

That vibrant red color in your strawberry yogurt, fruit punch, and even some lipsticks comes from an unexpected source that would make most people squirm.

Carmine, one of the most common red food colorings, is made by crushing thousands of tiny female cochineal insects that spend their lives munching on prickly pear cacti in South and Central America.

It takes approximately 70,000 of these bugs to produce just one pound of carmine dye. The insects are harvested, dried, and then ground into a fine powder that creates that perfect crimson shade manufacturers love.

The process itself is surprisingly ancient. Indigenous peoples in Mexico and Peru have been using cochineal insects to create red dye for over 500 years, long before synthetic food coloring existed. Spanish conquistadors discovered this incredible natural pigment and carmine became so valuable it was worth more than gold by weight during the colonial period.

You'll find this insect-based ingredient hiding in plain sight on labels under names like "carmine," "cochineal extract," "crimson lake," or "natural red 4." Major food companies use it because it's considered "natural" and creates more vibrant, stable colors than synthetic alternatives.

Starbucks famously used carmine in their strawberry Frappuccinos until customer backlash forced them to switch to a tomato-based alternative. But countless other products still contain it: red velvet cupcakes, fruit snacks, some varieties of Skittles, Dannon strawberry yogurt, and even some organic products marketed as "all-natural."

The cosmetics industry relies heavily on carmine too. Your red lipstick, blush, and even some shampoos likely contain ground-up insects. The beauty industry particularly loves carmine because it doesn't fade or change color when exposed to light or heat like many synthetic alternatives do.

The FDA requires carmine to be listed on ingredient labels, but most consumers have no idea what it actually means. Vegetarians, vegans, and people with shellfish allergies (who can also react to cochineal) often consume this insect product without realizing it.

The harvesting process is incredibly labor-intensive. Workers must hand-pick the insects from cacti using brushes, then carefully dry them in the sun before grinding them into powder. A single cactus plant might host thousands of cochineal insects, but each bug is smaller than a peppercorn.

The irony is that this bug-based dye is often more expensive than synthetic red coloring, but companies use it specifically because they can market products as containing "natural ingredients" while customers remain blissfully unaware they're eating insects with their breakfast.

08/28/2025

When investment fraud happens in familiar places
By BCP Staff
August 27, 2025

Did you hear about an investment opportunity from a friend or someone in a group or community you’re a part of? Before you hand over any money, make sure you’re not getting into an investment scam. Here’s how.

One way investment scammers work is by using your community connections or claiming to have similar values to gain your trust. It can happen online, through social media, or in person. To get you to invest, they’ll promise high returns with little to no risk and lie about how much money others have already made investing with them in forex trading, stocks, cryptocurrency, or something else. After you invest, they’ll often tell you your investments are doing well and make you think you’re making money. The reality? The investment isn’t real or is extremely high-risk, and you end up losing all your money.

To avoid an investment scam:

Look for information about the reputation of the investment company, its officials, and its promoters. Search online with their name plus words like “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” Go through several pages of search results.
Check for licenses and registrations. Check out the background, including registration or license status, of anyone recommending or selling an investment using the free simple search tool on Investor.gov. For precious metals and coin investments, check with the CFTC database.
Know that investments always involve risk. Don’t trust anyone who plays down the risk of an investment or who acts like risk disclosures are just a formality or something you don’t need to worry about. Scammers want you to think their opportunity is risk-free, but it’s not.
Learn more about affinity fraud — where scammers are or pretend to be part of a group — at Investor.gov, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website.

And report investment scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

08/24/2025

The Lightning Myth Everyone Gets Wrong

"Lightning never strikes the same place twice" is one of the most repeated sayings in the English language, and it's completely false. Lightning actually loves to strike the same locations over and over again.

The Empire State Building gets struckby lightningabout 100 times every year. Some tall structures get hit multiple times during single storms. Lightning is actually incredibly predictable - it follows the same paths and targets the same objects repeatedly.

The myth persists because people assume lightning is random, butit actually follows strict physical laws. Lightning seeks the path of least resistance to the ground, which means tall objects, metal structures, and high points get struck consistently.

What makes this myth dangerous is that it gives people false confidence. Golf courses, beaches, and hiking trails have regular lightning strike zones that get hit season after season. People assume they're safe in previously struck areas when they're actually in the highest-risk locations.

Lightning rods work precisely because lightning does strike the same places repeatedly. Benjamin Franklin designed his lightning rod system knowing that lightning would return to the same buildingsduringfuture storms.

Some locations are so prone to repeated lightning strikes that they're famous for it. Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela gets lightning strikes almost 300 nights per yearinthe exact same areas. The pattern is so predictable that it's called "Catatumbo Lightning" and happens like clockwork.

Weather researchers can predict with accuracy where lightning will strike based on topography, elevation, and atmospheric conditions. The same ridges, towers, and open areas get targeted repeatedly.

The saying should actually be "lightning always strikesthe same place twice" because that's much closer to the scientific reality. Once a location has ideal conditions for lightning strikes, those conditions don't change.

That comforting old sayinghasprobably caused morelightning injuriesthanit's preventedbygiving peoplefalse securityaboutreturning topreviously struck areas.

08/13/2025

The Hidden Cameras in Every Department Store Dressing Room
The Hidden Cameras in Every Department Store Dressing Room
You assume dressing rooms are private spaces where you can try on clothes without being watched, but retail stores have found ways to monitor these areas without technically breaking privacy laws.

While cameras directly inside dressing rooms are illegal, stores use thermal imaging technology and strategic camera placement that can monitor activity without technically "seeing" customers. The surveillance goes far beyond what's legally disclosed to shoppers.

Thermal cameras can detect body heat and movement patterns through dressing room walls and doors. This technology shows store security exactly how many people are in each room and what they're doing without capturing actual images. Heat signatures reveal when someone is removing multiple items or spending unusually long periods in fitting areas.

Strategically placed cameras outside dressing rooms can capture partial views through gaps in doors or reflections in mirrors. The positioning appears accidental but is carefully calculated to monitor as much activity as possible while maintaining legal deniability.

Some stores install cameras in ceiling tiles above dressing rooms that can see down into stalls through ventilation gaps or lighting fixtures. These cameras are virtually undetectable to customers who aren't specifically looking for them.

The surveillance data is used to build profiles of customer behavior patterns. Stores track which items are tried on most frequently, how long people spend in fitting rooms, and which locations have the highest theft rates.

Motion sensors and weight-sensitive floors in dressing rooms can detect when customers enter with multiple items and leave with fewer pieces. This data triggers alerts for security personnel to investigate potential theft.

Store employees are trained to monitor dressing room activity through "customer service" interactions that are actually surveillance disguised as helpful assistance.

That private dressing room you trust with your most vulnerable moments is actually one of the most monitored spaces in retail stores.

08/08/2025

The Country That Legally Owns All Its Citizens' Gold Teeth
In North Korea, if you have gold dental work, it doesn't actually belong to you - the government legally owns every gold crown, filling, and implant in citizens' mouths.

When North Koreans die, families are required by law to remove all gold dental work before burial and surrender it to state officials. Burying someone with their gold teeth intact is considered theft of government property.

There's an entire government department called the "Precious Metal Recovery Division" that tracks dental gold throughout the country. They maintain records of who has gold dental work and conduct periodic inspections to ensure state property remains accounted for.

Families who fail to surrender dental gold face severe penalties including imprisonment. The law treats gold teeth the same as stealing gold bars from the national treasury. Even small fillings are considered valuable state assets.

The policy extends to living citizens. If you need gold dental work, the state provides it but retains permanent ownership. You're essentially borrowing your own teeth from the government.

Border guards specifically check for people trying to leave the country with gold dental work. Defectors are forced to have gold teeth removed before crossing, as taking state-owned gold across borders is considered smuggling.

The system creates a bizarre underground economy. Some families try to hide dental gold by having it removed and replaced with cheaper materials before death, but government inspectors are trained to detect signs of recent dental work.

Dentists are required to report all gold dental procedures to authorities and face prosecution if they fail to document state-owned dental work. The profession operates under constant government surveillance.

That gold crown in your mouth might seem personal and private, but in North Korea, even your teeth belong to the state.

08/03/2025

Highlight Realty George Baumann
February 1, 2024
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Think that I prefer a pool

08/03/2025

The Bizarre Medical Myth That Fooled the World

In the early 20th century, a terrifying medical “truth” swept through hospitals, classrooms, and newspapers: you shouldn’t let someone sleep after hitting their head—or they might slip into a coma and die. Parents were told to wake their children hourly after a bump to the skull. Doctors reinforced it. Even today, many people still believe it.

But here’s the wild twist: that “fact” was never based on medical evidence.

The idea took hold in the early 1900s during a time when concussions were poorly understood, and most brain injuries were assumed to be fatal if not closely monitored. Doctors noticed that patients who lost consciousness from a serious head injury and didn’t wake up often had worse outcomes—so the logic became: keep them awake to keep them alive.

Unfortunately, correlation was mistaken for causation. Staying awake didn’t prevent brain damage—it just delayed treatment. The myth snowballed through repetition, public health pamphlets, and media coverage. It became common wisdom.

Today, neurologists say the truth is the opposite: sleep is often helpful for recovery, and trying to force a sleep-deprived, concussed person to stay awake can worsen symptoms. What matters isn’t whether they sleep—it’s whether they can be woken and respond normally when they do.

This myth is a perfect example of how fear, repetition, and "discoveries" without strict adherence to the scientific method can embed false ideas deep into culture—sometimes for over a century. So, if someone gets a bump on the head, don’t panic and keep them awake all night. Just check that they can wake up and think clearly when they do.

07/23/2025

The Diamond Industry's Biggest Scam

Diamonds are marketed as rare, precious gems that symbolize eternal love and represent significant financial investment. The engagement ring industry alone generates over $7 billion annually based on the belief that diamonds are scarce and valuable.

But here's a shocking truth: Diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable. They're actually one of the most common gemstones on Earth, and their perceived worth is entirely artificial, created by one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history.

The diamond scam began in the 1930s when the De Beers company faced a serious problem: diamond sales were plummeting because people realized the stones had no practical value beyond industrial uses. De Beers controlled 90% of the world's diamond supply but couldn't convince people to buy their product.

So they hired an advertising agency to create artificial demand through psychological manipulation. The "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign launched in 1947 and fundamentally changed how people thought about diamonds and relationships.

Here's what's particularly manipulative: De Beers artificially restricted diamond supply to create the illusion of scarcity while simultaneously convincing people that diamond engagement rings were a mandatory tradition. They even invented the "two months' salary" rule to establish artificial pricing standards.

The reality is devastating for anyone who's bought diamonds: These stones have virtually no resale value. A diamond ring that costs $5,000 retail might be worth $500 to a jeweler the next day. The entire market is propped up by artificial scarcity and marketing psychology.

Even more shocking: Industrial diamonds used in manufacturing are chemically identical to "precious" diamonds but cost a fraction of the price. The only difference is marketing.

That diamond on your finger isn't valuable because it's rare—it's expensive because you've been programmed to believe it should be.

07/21/2025

The Baby Bird Myth That's Completely False

You've probably heard this warning since childhood: "Don't touch that baby bird or its mother will smell your scent and abandon it forever." This advice is so widespread that most people accept it as scientific fact without ever questioning where it came from.

But here's something that might shock you: This entire belief is completely false. Most birds have virtually no sense of smell and couldn't detect human scent even if they wanted to. The mother bird won't abandon her baby because of your touch.

So where did this persistent myth come from? The truth reveals something disturbing about how misinformation spreads and why some lies become more powerful than facts.

The myth was deliberately created by wildlife officials who were tired of dealing with well-meaning people "rescuing" baby birds that didn't actually need help. Most baby birds that appear abandoned are actually in a normal stage of development called "fledgling," where they leave the nest but still depend on their parents for food and protection.

Here's what's really happening: Parent birds often leave their babies alone for hours while hunting for food. The baby bird you think is abandoned is usually just waiting for its parents to return with the next meal. But humans who don't understand this natural behavior constantly interfere with healthy bird families.

Wildlife rehabilitators became overwhelmed with perfectly healthy baby birds brought in by people who thought they were helping. Creating the "human scent" myth was easier than educating the public about normal bird behavior, so the lie became official policy.

The most disturbing part? This myth has probably caused more harm than good by preventing people from helping birds that actually do need human intervention. Sometimes touching is exactly what a bird needs to survive.

07/14/2025

Victor Davis Hanson exposed the one thing about Jeffrey Epstein that left powerful people scrambling
Posted on July 14, 2025

Thomas Bethge via Shutterstock

The Jeffrey Epstein case continues to haunt Washington, D.C.’s elite.

Powerful people are desperate to keep their secrets buried.

And Victor Davis Hanson exposed the one thing about Jeffrey Epstein that left powerful people scrambling.

Victor Davis Hanson reveals the truth about Epstein’s real business
Hoover Institution Fellow Victor Davis Hanson dropped a bombshell revelation about why the Jeffrey Epstein client list hasn’t been released during an appearance on Glenn Beck’s show.

Hanson cut straight to the heart of the matter when he explained what Epstein’s real business was all about.

"I think it’s pretty clear now that Epstein had no talent other than blackmail, and he was not a financier, he was not a captain of finance at all," Hanson said.¹

The respected historian painted a disturbing picture of how Epstein operated his criminal enterprise.

"What he did is he invited very powerful people to his island or his New York home, filmed them, and then he bribed them, and he shook them down and said, I’m going to be your quote-unquote financial advisor, and in exchange for that, I’m not going to release all that stuff," Hanson explained.¹

This wasn’t about legitimate financial services.

It was about control through blackmail.

Epstein managed to extract a half billion dollars from wealthy clients who had no legitimate reason to hire him as their financial advisor.

"There were much better financial gurus, but he got a half a billion dollars somehow from people who were mainstream establishmentarians on the basis that he was going to blackmail them," Hanson revealed.¹

That’s how this sick predator built his fortune and maintained his power over some of the most influential people in America.

Trump administration got calls from panicked elites
Hanson then dropped another jaw-dropping revelation about what happened when the Trump administration considered releasing the Epstein client list.

According to Hanson, the administration initially planned to expose the names but changed course after getting desperate calls from powerful people.

"I think the Trump administration thought, well, we’re going to release this, and there’s some crazy people that we don’t care about are going to be embarrassed, and then all of a sudden they got a lot of calls," Hanson said.¹

These weren’t just casual requests.

They were frantic pleas from establishment figures who feared their reputations would be destroyed by association with Epstein.

"They said, why are you doing this? I didn’t do this. I went down to the island once. I was on a plane. I didn’t touch anybody, and now you’re going to release my name, and I’ll be guilt by it," Hanson explained.¹

The calls came from people who claimed they had limited contact with Epstein but knew that any association would destroy their careers and standing in society.

Even if they didn’t participate in Epstein’s horrific crimes, just having their names connected to his operation would be enough to ruin them.

The establishment’s dirty secret
Hanson believes there are numerous powerful people who had financial dealings with Epstein but weren’t necessarily involved in his sexual crimes.

"There’s a lot of people who are very powerful that were giving him money or were trafficking with him, not necessarily all of them engaging in what he was doing, but just the association with him," Hanson said.¹

These establishment figures are now putting pressure on people to keep their names buried.

"I think they’re putting pressure on people. I really do," Hanson said.¹

The fact that so many powerful people were willing to give hundreds of millions of dollars to someone with no legitimate financial expertise speaks volumes about what Epstein had on them.

You don’t hand over that kind of money to someone unless they have serious leverage over you.

Hanson’s analysis explains why the Epstein client list remains one of the most closely guarded secrets in Washington, D.C.

The truth is that releasing those names would likely expose a web of corruption and compromised officials that goes far beyond what most Americans realize.

These powerful people know that their association with Epstein would destroy their careers and reputations, even if they weren’t directly involved in his crimes.

That’s why they’re fighting so hard to keep those names buried.

The American people deserve to know which powerful figures were compromised by Epstein’s blackmail operation.

But it’s clear that the establishment will do everything in their power to protect their own and keep these secrets buried forever.

¹ Victor Davis Hanson, Glenn Beck Show appearance, Blaze TV, July 10, 2025.

04/29/2024