johnb's Profile
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
Unfortunately for those such as yourself who wish it were otherwise, Pusztai's study was bad as were his results -- here is the conclusion of a detailed evaluation of his study:
"The likeliest source of the variation he detected - and of the differences he attributed to the fact that they contained foreign DNA - was the culture procedure itself. In order to be able to attribute the deleterious effects of the transgenic potatoes to the newly introduced gene or to some other part of the introduced DNA, he would have had to make a comparison between potatoes that had the very same history, but either had or lacked the transgenic construct. This can be done, but the study that Pusztai participated in was simply not designed for such a test."
In short, his study proved nothing about GM itself, just that he did a really bad job of setting up his study, and got worthless results, at least as far as an assessment of the impact of GM is concerned.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
It's not a question of limited knowledge. It's a question of the very limited geographical area you are talking about. It has NO IMPACT on national farm land values. Nor does the conversion of farm land to residential development. The areas are simply too small. This is what you fail to see. You are extending your very limited evidence into a broad area where it no longer is relevant.
I never criticized the NPR story. I criticized your use of it to add evidence to support your thesis. It doesn't. It's anecdotal and irrelevant. Yes we live in two different world -- I live in a world of evidence and proof, and you apparently live in a world of blind ideology supported by facts chosen through confirmation bias while ignoring relevant facts. Sorry, but that's just how it is.
Favorite Paper Towel?
Used to like Brawny, but they are made by Georgia Pacific which is now owned by the Koch brothers, and I can't bring myself to hand my money to them. So I'll try just about anything else.
Now nearly everybody seems to have "pick-a-size" so that's no longer much of an issue.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
And those who have, frankly, wrong and wrong-headed beliefs also have the power and ability to tell their false versions of the story, and keep it going ad nauseum even though it is demonstrably false. In another sphere, for example, this is how the birther nonsense has remained alive. The internet is a very mixed blessing for getting at the truth.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
I'm going to restate this one more time, as simply as I can. My point is and has from the beginning of our discussion been that, contrary to your statement suggesting that farmers are doing poorly currently, farmers are in fact are doing well now, and this is reflected in the tremendous increase in agricultural land values in the last few years. What happened in California 30 or 40 years ago has no bearing on what has happened in recent years which is what we are discussing. Land values across a wide area, but particularly in corn/soybean growing areas (those being the crops where the GM issue has been widely discussed) such as Iowa (I'm from Indiana) have doubled in the last four years. The reason is that the prices of the crops grown on the land has increased so much, and that is what has driven up the land values -- it has NOTHING to do with conversion of land for development. BTW, to digress, I haven't looked at the data, but I strongly suspect that the proportion of total arable land in California that has been lost to development over the last 100 years has been greatly counterbalanced by the tremendous increase in agricultural efficiency that has occurred everywhere.
NPR is a fine organization, but that story was about Arizona, a desert -- it is anecdotal and not applicable to the larger issue we are discussing, and never in the story did NPR claim it provided any explanatory power to the question of increases in crop prices and land values on the national level, which is a good thing because it didn't.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
I was not being rhetorical. I was being sarcastic, in response to your tumescent and overblown statement, a tendency that continues in your more recent response.
I'm probably older than you are. But our ages have nothing to do with the essential point. People have always had access to information -- it didn't start with the internet as you tried to suggest. Furthermore, due to the relatively higher expense of disbursing information before personal computers, what was out there tended to be vetted. With the internet there is a huge amount of unvetted, and thus inaccurate and plain false "information" floating around, probably more on a relative basis than ever before. Thus, "the ability to access, exchange and disperse [mis]information" has also become a key to wide misunderstandings, false beliefs, and nonsensical conclusions.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
The amount of farmland that has been converted to residential use is trivial in the larger picture, moreso in the time period I mentioned. Take a drive through rural Iowa or anyplace similar sometime and see for yourself. Land has increased in value for one reason and one reason only -- the value of crops grown on that land has increased enormously, and that is the reason the land has increased in value. That is a simple fact. PS the "tide" is not in any way turning. Look at what I said above -- farmland has DOUBLED in value since 2008 -- it has nothing to do with residential development.
What's so bad about genetically modified foods?
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Wrong. Completely contradicted by the facts. Farm land has doubled in value in the last four years. Why? Because farmers, large and small, are in fact doing very very well right now, making gobs of money either by producing or by selling out to the next-door farmer. The reasons for this have little to do with GMOs one way or the other (and a lot to do with ethanol use requirements) but that doesn't change the fact that you're wrong, swallowing the "poor farmer" line that farmers' always put out (including BTW my father, may he RIP). Do you have any farm country experience at all? You really need to look at these "poor farmer" claims with a great deal of skepticism.
Sharing Ideas for Gluten-free Eating
Nothing to be sorry for. I think we are indeed mostly discussing home made, but restaurants are in the picture as well, so no reason not to discuss both. Right now my wife and I are traveling (have been for a month), so restaurants are very much on our minds.
Thank you for your excellent input.
Sharing Ideas for Gluten-free Eating
Good list. I'm interested, however, that you mentioned arepas. We were in a Latin restaurant a few days ago that specialized in them, and we asked about the GF factor. They told us their arepas did have a small amount of wheat flour. So it would be good to know if this is normal or an exception. In any case, it would suggest that checking before consuming is a good idea.
Road trip: WY to VA to AZ, and back to WY
Peter Chang also has a place in Charlottesville. He goes back and forth.
In Nashville you should stop at Prince's hot chicken shack. Check their hours to be sure they're open -- odd hours. Best hot chicken in a town famous for it. Near the new grand ol opry on the north side.
Sharing Ideas for Gluten-free Eating
My wife was diagnosed with celiac disease about a year ago. I'm the main cook in our house, and have been poking around ever since for food prep ideas. The commercially available gluten free products are mostly pretty boring for a committed 'hound, not to mention expensive. And one can only eat so many salads. We'd like to keep eating old favorites as much as possible, and I'd like to hear what others have come up with to get a handle on the problem, and share ideas.
I have been experimenting with non-wheat flours, and have had good luck with lentil flour, available in Indian food sections, both for breading (e.g. fried chicken) and as a thickener (e.g. bechamel).
I have also read in various places that many/most?? soy sauces are actually not a problem. Similarly, and amazingly, I have heard that bread made with levain (true sour dough, which most SD bread isn't) is actually OK-- something about how the wild yeast affects the gluten. We have a local baker who uses levain -- she has tentatively experimented with eating small amounts of his bread and has not experienced pain. So take it FWIW -- her celiac may not be as severe as others.
What ideas have you come up with for a more satisfying gluten-free diet?
Parboiled Rice [moved from Home Cooking]
Thank you. Yours is one of the more sensible posts in this thread. Many don't even seem to be clear on the difference between parboiled rice and instant (pre-cooked) rice such as Minute Rice, or even rice-a-roni god help us.
It is also worth repeating (as was mentioned above) that parboiled rice is considerably more nutritious than other white rices, including jasmine, basmati, and so on, because the process preserves much of the nutrients otherwise lost in the polishing process. Indeed, some folks seem to think that white rice is somehow "natural" when in fact it is a highly processed product. IMO it is reasonable to say that parboiled rice is closer to brown rice than white rice.
Visiting The Villages, FL and looking for good restaurants
If my understanding is correct, The Villages is a gigantic, built-from-scratch, high-end retirement community full of people age 60+ whose idea of a good time is to put on their Sansabelt trousers and white shoes and go for a round of golf. It looks like every high-end shopping center, complete with those little turret-like things at the corners of the buildings. It's loaded with businesses of all kinds, mostly national chains. In short, not the sort of place that you would be likely to find chow worthy grub unless your idea of good Chinese is P F Changs.
Best of luck -- I would plan on driving out of there if you really hope to find anything that is likely to appeal.
Costco Business Centers for Restaurant Supplies -- West Coast
How do these compare to Restaurant Depot?
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
I agree with your assessment, but like it or not Yelp is a very powerful site and restauranteurs quake in their boots at the possibility of bad reviews there. IMV CH is inhabited by an older generation of food crazed people like us; Yelp is a creature of the "everything can be posted and read on the internet" (crowd sourcing) generation, and appeals to a much younger crowd that is less steeped in accuracy but believes that quantity can substitute for quality in these things.
And for all its faults Yelp can sometimes be useful. My favorite story is once I was in Coral Gables on business. I knew nothing about local restaurants but was hungry. While stopped at a stoplight I pulled out my iPhone, and did a quick Yelp search of places close to where I was. Within seconds I found a well-thought-of dim sum place, did a directions search and learned it was about 200 yards away from where I was still waiting for the light to change, followed the map right over there and had a very memorable and excellent lunch. I could never have done that on CH.
Moral of the story? I suppose avoid being too dogmatic and use the tools available to you when it's to your advantage.
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
Well, I have used his site from time to time over the years.
In any case, if there is no objective evidence of any problems with the site currently, then why would it not be useful as one input when making restaurant selection decisions? Are you saying his reviews are not good enough to use for that practical purpose, which to me is the only worthwhile criterion in judging whether the site has value?
If you've had a run in with him in the past, and don't like him, fine, but what does that have to do with whether I or anyone should use his site as a non-exclusive input to restaurant selection decisions we might make?
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
As I clearly stated, my reference was to your statements in your Mar 21 post, the one in which you said "read" his reviews and then referred to his website which contained the ads, and went on to impugn his reviews, but made no reference to his radio program.
This merely being a Chowhound thread, I didn't think it was necessary to cite the specific post.
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
But the same problem applies no matter what the size of the media outlet. If an outlet loses credibility, it loses its market. The fact that at a large place like the TP different people do different functions relates as much or more to sheer size and specialization of tasks than to the creation of a firewall.
I repeat -- on his website, there is no correlation I can find between advertisers and ratings. I am not aware that (more than a few of) his top-rated places have ever had ads on his site. On this basis alone, I don't think there is any credible case that he is letting advertizing materially affect his ratings. Further, his ratings are pretty much in line with others' ratings, and with the preponderance (in general) of comments here on CH. Thus, I conclude that he is not engaging in pay for play to any degree that would make his site suspect or useless.
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
There have been lots of comments in many places that Yelp suffers from some types of pay to play.
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
I wouldn't have known, since I don't live in but only visit NOLA. I've never heard his radio show, but do rely to some extent on his written reviews as well as those of others to make my dining choices. JazzyB specifically referred to "his website" and "reading" his reviews, not listening, and the written reviews were what I was referring to. If the radio comments aren't reliable, seems it would be easy to ignore them and make just make use of the written reviews.
Making mention of, even recommending, one's advertisers on the radio seems fairly common and expected. But does he give them actual numerical ratings that are not justified?
Best Up and Coming Chef/Owners
Among the great restaurants in New Orleans, MiLa is one of the least well-known. The Rushings also have an interesting back story. Good choice.
Dozen Best Fried Chicken Restaurants list from nomenu.com
I doubt Fitzmorris' reviews are materially influenced by the advertizing on his site. Why do I say that? Look at his reviews and compare them with the advertizing. I haven't noticed there's any correlation -- in fact, very few of his top rated spots, or even medium rated spots, even advertize with him as far as I have seen.
If one is concerned, one can just discount his review for any place that also advertizes on the site, and use the others.
Of course it is always best to check out a variety of reviews. That said, his reviews are generally in line with the reviews of others.
And BTW, others also suffer from the appearance of pay-to-play. If one suspects that advertizing affects nomenu, then why not worry about it also affecting Anderson in the TP? Personally I doubt it much affects either; if it did, that fact would quickly become widely known around town and would negatively impact those publications credibility, which they must maintain. Legitimate media outlets know that, and would normally avoid engaging is that behavior for that specific reason. In short, I think there are much more significant things to worry about.
The Infamous Line at Galatoires
Suppose you go even later. How late can you go and still get the real deal Friday lunch show?
Chili left out all night. Would you eat it?
I think Cleesi decided to have a little joke on us.
Quality non-stick for induction - Swiss Diamond or...?
You mentioned 12"+. Here is an eBay listing that might be along the lines you're looking for
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-INCH-NON-STICK-SKILLET-FRYPAN-STAINLESS-INDUCTION-READY-RESTAURANT-GRADE-/120743616468?pt=Cookware&hash=item1c1ce15fd4#ht_726wt_1141
A Quieter Portable Induction Cooktop?
That's true, but even within the apparent consumer brands there is large price variation. So it's still somewhat mysterious why that is, and whether it makes sense to spend more on a pricier one.
A Quieter Portable Induction Cooktop?
May I ask a larger question? There are many brands of portable single-burner induction units on the market, with the same basic power, but widely varying prices. What is it that makes the prices vary so much, as in, should I just buy the cheapest one, or is there something about the more expensive ones that makes them worth more? If so, what is it? Any advice from anyone who has checked into this would be welcome.
Where's Chang?
Here are two links related to Richmond
http://www2.richmond.com/entertainment/top-features/2012/feb/10/peter-chang-whats-big-deal-ar-1679763/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/chef-peter-chang-settles-down-with-richmond-area-restaurant/2012/02/09/gIQAPsFY2Q_story.html
