Random Thoughts XII - This Thread Delivers

[CycloneErik]

On another twist in this line of thought it really floored me to see the sugar cane industry dying in Hawai'i. You'd think that an island archipelago that has to pay $4+ for a gallon of imported gas could think of an expanded use for an established crop like that.

Yeah, you would.
I don't know anything about the economics of modern sugar production.
I know that people involved in slavery at the plantation levels and smaller pretty much refused to look at new options or invest in better ways to do things. They just stayed in the same systems, stuck in their ways and terrified of dying in a slave rebellion.

I don't know if modern sugar producers get that same kind of tunnel vision, but it seems like a lot of industries do. Well, so says an escapee from check printing.

 

[SCyclone]

That's the good thing/bad thing about prednisone. Anything more that a touch of it makes you "feel" better than you are because it ***** with your adrenaline. I could use some now since inner sloth is yuge and sitting on my chest and has me pinned to my laptop lazy chair.

...........where all those miniature spiders can attack you at will.

 

[Rabbuk]

Brazil has been using sugar ethanol since like the mid-70s to power cars.

 

[cyrevkah]

The lifespan for a "lucky" slave on a sugar plantation peaked out at 2-3 years, and that was far from common.
If you read some about the processes involved, and things like the treadmills, the brutality just never ended.

I think one of the punishments you told me about was from the Caribbean

Read at your own risk:

Spoiler: Punishment

They had to eat their own feces

 

[CycloneErik]

I think one of the punishments you told me about was from the Caribbean

Read at your own risk:

Spoiler: Punishment

They had to eat their own feces

Not their own. Derby's Dose dehumanized two slaves for the price of one.

 

[SCyclone]

I'll have to read this. Admittedly most of my interest in history is around military history, but this is good stuff. Especially with my newfound hatred of sugar in general (damn, but it is hard to lose weight when you're hooked on it!!), some disgust from reading about how we setup the sugar-industrial complex might give me some more ammunition in my fight against consuming sugar.

I found that I got rid of my sugar Jones pretty quickly after I was diagnosed diabetic. I still eat a lot of fruit, which is a much better substitute. It was harder giving up the starches (potatoes and pasta) for me, but I've done that, too. The whole sugar industry is diabolical - this was the food industry's answer to replacing fat in processed foods. And now we have a nationwide epidemic of obesity to show for it.

 

[jcyclonee]

The crazy thing is; at this point I'd be willing to consider it.

You can drive there now.

 

[cyrevkah]

You can drive there now.

I would probably only leave the apartment with the spouse and in daylight.

 

[jcyclonee]

So was this because plague, or because slavery, or both? (Or none of the above?) I have to admit, I skipped over a bit of Caribbean history. I know Columbus in 1492, and I know Bermuda Triangle. Everything else is kind of, well, blank, for me.

You left out the Bay of Pigs and invention of the Pina Colada.

 

[wxman1]

Waiting in line to warm up my lunch and a co-worker opens the freezer and points at a bag of frozen chicken. Apparently it has been in there for a bout a year now. One day last summer it just randomly showed up in there and has not moved since.

 

[harimad]

I found that I got rid of my sugar Jones pretty quickly after I was diagnosed diabetic. I still eat a lot of fruit, which is a much better substitute. It was harder giving up the starches (potatoes and pasta) for me, but I've done that, too. The whole sugar industry is diabolical - this was the food industry's answer to replacing fat in processed foods. And now we have a nationwide epidemic of obesity to show for it.

Sounds like you've read a lot of the same books I've read. The Obesity Code, etc.

I've discovered that my best option for weight loss is intermittent fasts with periodic extended fasts. I've dropped 30 pounds in the past four months doing that. I'm sure you remember how big I was a couple of years ago from the Alumni dinner. I'm much (45 pounds) slimmer now.

 

[jcyclonee]

Man, I told myself there was no way I could have gone to school for 4 more years after undergrad. You, obviously, were on the other spectrum.

My teenage daughter mentioned the other day how much she likes school and is a bit nervous about what she'll do when she doesn't go to school anymore. Currently she has 1 year of high school, 4 years of college, 4 years of med school and 4 years of residency left. She's nervous about what she's going to do in 13 years.

 

[Rabbuk]

Waiting in line to warm up my lunch and a co-worker opens the freezer and points at a bag of frozen chicken. Apparently it has been in there for a bout a year now. One day last summer it just randomly showed up in there and has not moved since.

I have a frozen chicken breast in my freezer that I use to ice my hands, it's perfect for it. Probably been in there 3 years.

 

[VeloClone]

Brazil has been using sugar ethanol since like the mid-70s to power cars.

Exactly where I was going and exactly what I immediately thought when I saw sugar plantations going away in Hawai'i. They even import the ethanol for their 10% ethanol that was mandated up until a few years ago. They could make 10-15% of their fuel home grown and even start getting more people to be using E-85. With gas prices over $4 the margins between ethanol and gasoline could make E-85 pricing very attractive.

 

[jcyclonee]

Yesterday I was taking an early morning walk along the same path I take every time and was attacked by damn red wing blackbirds. Like full-on assault complete with dive-bombing and pecking my head. Not cool. Took a different route on my bike ride this morning.

When I hear the "caw" of a blackbird, I can actually feel my blood pressure rise. Part anxiety, part fear and part anger. Very little actually causes me anxiety but blackbirds do.

 

[Rabbuk]

Exactly where I was going and exactly what I immediately thought when I saw sugar plantations going away in Hawai'i. They even import the ethanol for their 10% ethanol that was mandated up until a few years ago. They could make 10-15% of their fuel home grown and even start getting more people to be using E-85. With gas prices over $4 the margins between ethanol and gasoline could make E-85 pricing very attractive.

I'm not a scientist, but I think one of the issues with sugar ethanol(maybe ethanol in general?) is that it burns hotter and causes damage to something in engines. Like Brazil has changed the way their cars are produced to account for this i think.

 

[VeloClone]

You can drive there now.

It was heart warming to listen to the story on it on NPR. Women were driving for the very first time and random men were applauding and cheering them on when they saw them. Glad to hear there wasn't a huge backlash from the "old school".

 

[VeloClone]

I'm not a scientist, but I think one of the issues with sugar ethanol(maybe ethanol in general?) is that it burns hotter and causes damage to something in engines. Like Brazil has changed the way their cars are produced to account for this i think.

E-10 is a solution pretty much nationwide. E-85 engines are produced by most manufacturers that are specifically designed to withstand some of the less desirable effects of ethanol. I had an E-85 vehicle and I burned it regularly. It was about a wash between reduced mileage and lower cost at the pump but with oil prices lower now it doesn't make sense. However prices are on their way back up and they have remained pretty high in Hawai'i.

 

[jcyclonee]

Follow-up from my physical last week. Doctor and I figured that we might as well test everything before I join the uninsured and unemployed.

Been battling with my metabolism ever since this allergy battle began. We're learning now that I'm right on the edge of a hypothyroid condition, like pretty much there, and things seem to indicate that chemical allergies really wreak havoc on your thyroid and subsequently the metabolism.

Quietly using Samuel L. Jackson's favorite word for the family members who continue to refuse to adjust and instead keep exposing me to this stuff. I think we're looking at a lifetime of medication to keep the thyroid in line.

Rant over. The punching bags will endure some extra motivation tomorrow morning.

I had a partial thyroidectomy about 18 years ago. While waiting for surgery I learned that you may be able to avoid taking synthroid by eating a combination of blackstrap molasses and blue-green algae. Yum.

 

[jcyclonee]

Waiting in line to warm up my lunch and a co-worker opens the freezer and points at a bag of frozen chicken. Apparently it has been in there for a bout a year now. One day last summer it just randomly showed up in there and has not moved since.

How does a chicken in a bag fly into a freezer?