The Off Topic Topic

[derspiess]

Food in general is cheaper than it's ever been.  At least it seems so

But at what cost?

Gettin' fat.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/john-boehner-is-joining-a-marijuana-company-2018-04-11

John Boehner, former Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, and Bill Weld, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts who was the 2016 running mate of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, are joining the advisory board of Acreage Holdings, which owns cannabis licenses and assets in the 30 states where cannabis is approved for medical or recreational use.

[garbon]

News from April?

[Admiral Yi]

Yes?

[Eddie Teach]

It's an amusing footnote.

[Josquius]

Interesting piece in the Guardian about obesity.

Here is a picture of a crowded beach in 1976 (no fat people).  just picture in your mind the difference today.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/25/1976-long-hot-summer-political-upheaval

The opinion piece considers what changed.  The conclusion the author draws:

So what has happened? The light begins to dawn when you look at the nutrition figures in more detail. Yes, we ate more in 1976, but differently. Today, we buy half as much fresh milk per person, but five times more yoghurt, three times more ice cream and – wait for it – 39 times as many dairy desserts. We buy half as many eggs as in 1976, but a third more breakfast cereals and twice the cereal snacks; half the total potatoes, but three times the crisps. While our direct purchases of sugar have sharply declined, the sugar we consume in drinks and confectionery is likely to have rocketed (there are purchase numbers only from 1992, at which point they were rising rapidly. Perhaps, as we consumed just 9kcal a day in the form of drinks in 1976, no one thought the numbers were worth collecting.) In other words, the opportunities to load our food with sugar have boomed. As some experts have long proposed, this seems to be the issue.

The solution the piece implies is not a matter of individuals making better dietary choices, but better regulation of the food industry.

I think the piece is a bit simplistic in that it does not address why obese people make poor nutritional choices, it simply blames government for allowing those choices to be made.  But I think it likely that there is another structural problem with food delivery - junk/fast food costs less. So it is not surprising that so many people eat it and get fat.  In fairness the article does mention that obesity is more prevalent in lower socio-economic groups.  But why is that?  The article simply says "lower spending power, stress, anxiety and depression associated with low social status makes people more vulnerable to bad diets".  I don't think that is very helpful.  All that amounts to is poor people are always going to make bad food choices.  Putting aside how demeaning that logic is to poor people, I think we are better off looking at structural causes rather than simply concluding the poor must be protected from themselves. 

I think the issue is the cost and availability of health foods vs unhealthy foods.

Now how does that get addressed?  Not sure.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/15/age-of-obesity-shaming-overweight-people

Rich person's commute= 15 minute bike to work.
Poor person's commute= 30 minute drive to work.

Rich person's special weekly treat= eating out at a fancy restaurant and a walk around the city centre.
Poor person's special weekly treat= crappy delivery pizza.

[Threviel]

And vegetables don't have to be fresh, frozen is often just as good or better. Perhaps less tasty, but nutritionally quite good.

[Syt]

Fox News compares Denmark's welfare state to Venezuela, Danish politican replies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ1gjObNDv8

[Habbaku]

Fox News compares Denmark's welfare state to Venezuela, Danish politican replies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ1gjObNDv8

Does Fox News deliberately try to find the dumbest sounding/looking anchors for these types shows?

[Habbaku]

  And of course, her show is named "The Intelligence Report".

[Tonitrus]

Surviving two rounds of Allied WW2 bombing and having to live in Belgrade for 80 years?  Not bad lizard...not bad.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-aligator/muja-the-alligator-still-alive-and-snapping-in-his-80s-at-belgrade-zoo-idUSKBN1L014T

[The Brain]

I wonder if he even knows he's in Belgrade. He is over 80.

[Razgovory]

Man, I thought yesterday was Friday.

[Syt]

When you look at this cover and think, "What a beautiful ... FW-190!"

[derspiess]

GIANT LADY SNATCHES KRAUT PLANE FROM SKY