Lives in a Shoe

A1

The UK leaned more towards the Confederacy in 1862 and then gave more support to the Union starting in 1863.

Coincidence?…Yeah...

Portland WTF?

A Portland burrito shop was forced to shut down because it was owned by two white women. The owners of Kooks Burritos have been accused of cultural appropriation and suffered intense backlash online after their highly successful taco truck was featured in an article in a local newspaper.

Meanwhle, here's a feline palindrome to amuse you:

 

 

A Worm-Like Parasite, Yum

Beware your next Seattle roll; doctors say it could contain something that should never be found in sushi (besides cream cheese): a "worm-like" parasite. A paper published Thursday in BMJ Case Reports says cases of anisakiasis are on the rise in the West due to the increasing popularity of sushi and other dishes involving raw or under-cooked fish.

-- Newser

Mmmm ---Pass the Popcorn Please, Extra Butter and Lots of Salt

Today's helping of good news.

San Diego Union-tribune - Higher sodium intake associated with lower blood pressure. You read that right

Express - Saturated fat: Cardiologists claim warnings that it clogs arteries are 'plain WRONG'

And the NY Times is on it:

Why Everything We Know About Salt May Be Wrong

 

The Importance of Quality Ingredients Cannot Be Overstated

Ramen Tastes Good, But When They Discover Bacon...

Mildly interesting article with BS warning paragraph well down:  "We should note that these obesity cases have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, so we have to take into consideration that these appear to be very early observations of what could be a developing trend in the region."

But the photo was so damn cute I take it as an excuse: 

"It never happened before that the small local indigenous peoples of the north suffered from obesity. Now even a predisposition to obesity is being noticed," Alexey Titovsky, regional director for science and innovation in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, told The Siberian Times.


The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug has a population of just over 522,000 people, whose ancestors have survived the permafrost for millennia.

The nomadic Nenets and Khanty peoples have been herding reindeer up and down the Yamal tundra - a 700-km-long peninsula that stretches deep into the Arctic Ocean - for 1,000 years, with diets heavily based on venison and fish.

But that appears to be changing fast, as researchers note the increasing uptake of chemically processed foods, such as instant noodles and pasta, and the addition of sugar, pastry, and bread to their diets.

Would Annette Lie to You?

Many schools prohibit peanut products entirely since there is some indication nut allergies are increasing.  I wonder if it's a self-reported thing and a result of extra-careful parenting.  There are new guidelines which go full Emily Litella.  

“There is this magic window of opportunity, where you can introduce peanut-containing foods,” David Stukus, a pediatric allergist who coauthored the new guidelines, told Stat News. When “we introduce peanut-containing foods early, the immune system can get used to it.” Up is down, down is up, peanut products are for babies. Now, this doesn’t surprise me at all. We’ve known for years that kids who grow up on farms or with dogs are less likely to get asthma when they grow up. Kids who grow up in sterile environments are more likely to get allergies than kids who’re allowed to get messy. This is commonly called the “hygiene hypothesis.” 

GMOs Safe, Duh

Genetically engineered crops are safe for humans and animals to eat and have not caused increases in cancer, obesity, gastrointestinal illnesses, kidney disease, autism or allergies, an exhaustive report from the National Academies of Science released Tuesday found.

Work on the 388-page report began two years ago and was conducted by a committee of more than 50 scientists, researchers and agricultural and industry experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It reviewed more than 900 studies and data covering the 20 years since genetically modified crops were first introduced.

Overall, genetically engineered (GE) crops saved farmers in the United States money but didn’t appear to increase crop yields. They have lowered pest populations in some areas, especially in the Midwest but increased the number of herbicide-resistant weeds in others. There’s also no evidence that GE crops have affected the population of monarch butterflies, the report said.

The review was thorough and systemic, assessing many of the issues that have been raised about genetically engineered crops over the years, said Gregory Jaffe, director of biotechnology at the non-profit watchdog group the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington D.C. The group was not involved in the report's creation.

 

Low Fat Healthier? Not So Fast.

"No deep fat?  No steak or cream pies -- or hot fudge?"

 

 Low fat diet correlated with more heart attacks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This study 40 years ago could have reshaped the American diet. But it was never fully published.

But Broste suggested that at least part of the reason for the incomplete publication of the data might have been human nature. The Minnesota investigators had a theory that they believed in — that reducing blood cholesterol would make people healthier. Indeed, the idea was widespread and would soon be adopted by the federal government in the first dietary recommendations. So when the data they collected from the mental patients conflicted with this theory, the scientists may have been reluctant to believe what their experiment had turned up.

“The results flew in the face of what people believed at the time,” said Broste. “Everyone thought cholesterol was the culprit. This theory was so widely held and so firmly believed — and then it wasn’t borne out by the data. The question then became: Was it a bad theory? Or was it bad data? … My perception was they were hung up trying to understand the results.”

Damn good thing this kind of scientific blind faith couldn't happen relative to global cooling global warming climate change weather.

Questions Nobody is Asking

NPR Asks If It’s ‘OK to Profit’ From Cooking Food of ‘Other Cultures’…Or Is It Racist? 

We could have asked John Belushi, but NO-O-O...

Since National Public Radio is a taxpayer-funded liberal sandbox, you can find examples nearly every day of NPR conducting a conversation with its liberal audience on all the liberal obsessions of the moment, like the new political-correctness theme of “cultural appropriation,” like being mad at Justin Bieber for wearing dreadlocks, because that’s a black thing.

When I listen to NPR the sweet calm soothing voices of its on-air talent make me want to make fart noises under my armpits.  There is a food expert there, Kat Chow (really) who, in honored NPR fashion has "started a conversation".  Ah, yes.  A conversation.  Among earnest accounts of brow-furrowing drivel that passes for thought shines this gem from Chris Beck at Splice Today who admits he really doesn't understand the question:

Consider the following scenario: Say I'm a surfer who loves the waves in Mexico. I go down there, and love the fish tacos I buy at the beach from a food truck. I talk to the owner, asking about what kind of fish he uses, how he batters it, etc., and then I start cooking tacos regularly at home. Then I move to Maui, notice there are no food options at the beach, and open up my own food truck with fish tacos. It’s successful. I earn money giving sustenance to people who previously had to bring in their own food, and it makes them happy. Am I supposed to feel that my profits are ill-gotten gains because I've co-opted a culture that's on "the list." Should I have stuck to Italian, French or Japanese food, even though surfers just want to eat fish tacos at the beach?

Who knew that Pat Morita’s Arnold character on Happy Days was such a stone-cold racist and cultural identity thief serving all-American hamburgers and hot dogs to the lily-white kids who hung out in his diner? ABC should really be ashamed of the racism they pumped into American homes each week. -- Glenn Reynolds