"Tuna's Red Glare? It Could Be Carbon Monoxide"
Seems the US and other countries agree the process is harmless, but Japan, Canada, and the EU have banned it because it might lead to the deceptive sale of otherwise bad tuna.
Not sure what I would think of brown tuna if it were served to me, but it is sometimes amusing what great lengths the market goes through to preserve appearances for the consumer. In another instance, I remember hearing that McDonald's was considering using genetically-modified potatoes that do not brown---simply because kids (and adults?) find pure-white fries more desireable....
Excerpts:
Tuna quickly turns an unappetizing brown (or chocolate, as it is called in the industry), whether it is fresh or conventionally frozen and thawed.
Carbon monoxide, a gas that is also a component of wood smoke, prevents the flesh from discoloring. It can even turn chocolate tuna red, according to some who have seen the process. ...
Just because a slice of tuna is brown, it does not mean it is not fresh. And other factors determine the color, including the fat content, species and cut. The finest fresh bluefin, which sells for up to $40 a pound at Tokyo's wholesale fish markets, is not a deep red but a pale pink because of the fine web of white fat that permeates the red flesh. Top-quality toro is often a brownish red. ...
Tuna treated with carbon monoxide is bright red when first defrosted, and fades within a couple of days to a watermelon pink. But "you could put it in the trunk of your car for a year, and it wouldn't turn brown," said one sales representative at Anova Foods, a distributor in Atlanta, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ...
What does all this mean at the market? Any tuna that is hot pink has probably been treated with carbon monoxide. Tuna that is bright red may be extremely fresh, and therefore very expensive, or may have been treated with the gas.
Not sure what I would think of brown tuna if it were served to me, but it is sometimes amusing what great lengths the market goes through to preserve appearances for the consumer. In another instance, I remember hearing that McDonald's was considering using genetically-modified potatoes that do not brown---simply because kids (and adults?) find pure-white fries more desireable....
Excerpts:
Tuna quickly turns an unappetizing brown (or chocolate, as it is called in the industry), whether it is fresh or conventionally frozen and thawed.
Carbon monoxide, a gas that is also a component of wood smoke, prevents the flesh from discoloring. It can even turn chocolate tuna red, according to some who have seen the process. ...
Just because a slice of tuna is brown, it does not mean it is not fresh. And other factors determine the color, including the fat content, species and cut. The finest fresh bluefin, which sells for up to $40 a pound at Tokyo's wholesale fish markets, is not a deep red but a pale pink because of the fine web of white fat that permeates the red flesh. Top-quality toro is often a brownish red. ...
Tuna treated with carbon monoxide is bright red when first defrosted, and fades within a couple of days to a watermelon pink. But "you could put it in the trunk of your car for a year, and it wouldn't turn brown," said one sales representative at Anova Foods, a distributor in Atlanta, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ...
What does all this mean at the market? Any tuna that is hot pink has probably been treated with carbon monoxide. Tuna that is bright red may be extremely fresh, and therefore very expensive, or may have been treated with the gas.
"If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?"
Scaling the numbers like this isn't exactly the best methodology (to be understated about it), but gives some sense of how bad it must be in Iraq right now.
Would be interesting to also do a similar projection to the United State from Iraq---but under Saddam's rule. That would be quite bad and grisly, too, I'd imagine.
Excerpts:
President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists and implied that things are improving in that country.
What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of statistics would have to be multiplied by that number.
Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or monthly toll.
Would be interesting to also do a similar projection to the United State from Iraq---but under Saddam's rule. That would be quite bad and grisly, too, I'd imagine.
Excerpts:
President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists and implied that things are improving in that country.
What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of statistics would have to be multiplied by that number.
Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or monthly toll.
"What Is an Assault Weapon?"
So 'now we can defend ourselves from repressive government,' right? More realistically, I predict, a small number of gun-happy individuals will find odd erotic satisfaction in shooting these weapons. It's good to know this country has its priorities in order.
Anyway, this article defines what types of guns actually fell under the recently-expired ban. Pretty interesting.
Excerpts:
For starters, consumers can now purchase one of the 19 firearms specifically outlawed by the 1994 ban, including such action-movie staples as the Uzi, the TEC-9, the Kalashnikov, and the Street Sweeper shotgun. ...
On top of the Big 19, the ban also included a few formulas for forbidding less well-known armaments. A semiautomatic rifle was considered an illicit assault weapon, for example, if it featured a detachable magazine, as well as at least two of...: a folding or telescopic stock; a conspicuous pistol grip; a bayonet mount; a flash suppressor...; or a grenade launcher. ...
[G]un enthusiasts will still have a difficult time purchasing machine guns, which keep firing as long as the trigger is depressed. ... [I]n 1986, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act outright prohibited the ownership of new machine guns; the only ones that may now be in private arsenals are those that were manufactured prior to the act's passage.
Anyway, this article defines what types of guns actually fell under the recently-expired ban. Pretty interesting.
Excerpts:
For starters, consumers can now purchase one of the 19 firearms specifically outlawed by the 1994 ban, including such action-movie staples as the Uzi, the TEC-9, the Kalashnikov, and the Street Sweeper shotgun. ...
On top of the Big 19, the ban also included a few formulas for forbidding less well-known armaments. A semiautomatic rifle was considered an illicit assault weapon, for example, if it featured a detachable magazine, as well as at least two of...: a folding or telescopic stock; a conspicuous pistol grip; a bayonet mount; a flash suppressor...; or a grenade launcher. ...
[G]un enthusiasts will still have a difficult time purchasing machine guns, which keep firing as long as the trigger is depressed. ... [I]n 1986, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act outright prohibited the ownership of new machine guns; the only ones that may now be in private arsenals are those that were manufactured prior to the act's passage.
"Afghanistan, Iraq polls: India to help"
Saw this on al-Jazeera's English site. I've been long amazed by the logistics of Indian elections. It's good to hear they are willing to aid new democracies.
Excerpts:
India, the world's largest democracy, will help Iraq and Afghanistan conduct their forthcoming elections under an agreement signed between New Delhi and the United Nations. ...
India's Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishna Murthy described the signing of the agreement as "historic". ...
Earlier this year, the panel organised national polls in India in which more than 670 million people voted for 543 MPs in the lower house of parliament. Electronic voting machines were used throughout the country.
Excerpts:
India, the world's largest democracy, will help Iraq and Afghanistan conduct their forthcoming elections under an agreement signed between New Delhi and the United Nations. ...
India's Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishna Murthy described the signing of the agreement as "historic". ...
Earlier this year, the panel organised national polls in India in which more than 670 million people voted for 543 MPs in the lower house of parliament. Electronic voting machines were used throughout the country.
"Chechnya - What drives the separatists to commit such terrible outrages?"
Timely, informative article in light of the recent events in Russia. Claims that Chechens are terrorists of the same kind as, or cooperate with, al-Qa'ida appear not as straightforward as Vladimir Putin would have one believe.
Excerpts:
As many as 600 people, many of them children, are dead, and hundreds more are injured. The two-day hostage crisis that ended in an 11-hour gunfight is the most horrific in a harrowing chain of terrorist attacks in Russia. Russian officials are saying al-Qaida did it. But the truth is far more complicated. ...
The Russian Constitution recognizes the right of federation members to secede—and Chechnya tried to claim this right. ...
The Chechens' desire was perfectly understandable. ... In 1944, the Chechens, along with several other ethnic groups, were accused of having collaborated with the Nazis and deported to Siberia. Their collective guilt established by the order of Stalin, ... [a]s many as half died en route, and uncounted others perished in the harsh Siberian winter; the exiles were literally dumped in the open snowy fields and left to fend for themselves.
The Chechens were not allowed to return home until 1976. So by the time of perestroika, virtually all Chechen adults were people born in Siberian exile. No wonder they didn't want to live side by side with the Russians.... The last straw came in August 1991, when ... rumors spread that another deportation was in the works. Chechens overthrew their local, Soviet-appointed leader, and elected a new president on a nationalist platform.
Russia had no intention of recognizing Chechen independence. ... Granting independence to one region could set off a chain reaction. What's more, an oil pipeline went through Chechnya, and a small amount of oil was produced in the republic itself.... President Boris Yeltsin declined even to negotiate with the Chechen separatists ... and simply let the problem fester for three years.
Excerpts:
As many as 600 people, many of them children, are dead, and hundreds more are injured. The two-day hostage crisis that ended in an 11-hour gunfight is the most horrific in a harrowing chain of terrorist attacks in Russia. Russian officials are saying al-Qaida did it. But the truth is far more complicated. ...
The Russian Constitution recognizes the right of federation members to secede—and Chechnya tried to claim this right. ...
The Chechens' desire was perfectly understandable. ... In 1944, the Chechens, along with several other ethnic groups, were accused of having collaborated with the Nazis and deported to Siberia. Their collective guilt established by the order of Stalin, ... [a]s many as half died en route, and uncounted others perished in the harsh Siberian winter; the exiles were literally dumped in the open snowy fields and left to fend for themselves.
The Chechens were not allowed to return home until 1976. So by the time of perestroika, virtually all Chechen adults were people born in Siberian exile. No wonder they didn't want to live side by side with the Russians.... The last straw came in August 1991, when ... rumors spread that another deportation was in the works. Chechens overthrew their local, Soviet-appointed leader, and elected a new president on a nationalist platform.
Russia had no intention of recognizing Chechen independence. ... Granting independence to one region could set off a chain reaction. What's more, an oil pipeline went through Chechnya, and a small amount of oil was produced in the republic itself.... President Boris Yeltsin declined even to negotiate with the Chechen separatists ... and simply let the problem fester for three years.
"First Class"
...or, "Is it possible to raise rich kids who don't have a sense of entitlement?"
Thought-provoking article in Slate by Debra Dickerson. The focus is on her experience as a woman who is black---now well-to-do but born the daughter of sharecroppers---raising children who appear wholly white, and are afforded the privilege of their upper class.
I recommended her last article on Slate, "Racist Like Me," in a previous blog post.
Excerpts:
I couldn't care less what my kids look like. What I begrudge them is their privilege. Race schmace. The real issue is class.
Listening to my 3-year-old go on the other day about motor boats, preschool, lake houses, Vietnamese food, and skiing at Steamboat Springs, I felt a moment of vertigo followed by panic.... All at once, I could see my babies through a stranger's eyes: My kids are the ones that made poor kids like me embarrassed of our threadbare lives. My kids, God help me, are rich, that birth defect for which I have only begun to forgive a chosen few.
If it's true that our president, as Ann Richards quipped, was born on third base but thinks he hit a triple, you could say that my kids were born on second base. My job is not to teach them that they're black. My job is to teach them that they damn sure didn't hit a double. I will not allow them to coast on that which they didn't earn; they have to prove their worth to the world. And, frankly, to their mother.
Thought-provoking article in Slate by Debra Dickerson. The focus is on her experience as a woman who is black---now well-to-do but born the daughter of sharecroppers---raising children who appear wholly white, and are afforded the privilege of their upper class.
I recommended her last article on Slate, "Racist Like Me," in a previous blog post.
Excerpts:
I couldn't care less what my kids look like. What I begrudge them is their privilege. Race schmace. The real issue is class.
Listening to my 3-year-old go on the other day about motor boats, preschool, lake houses, Vietnamese food, and skiing at Steamboat Springs, I felt a moment of vertigo followed by panic.... All at once, I could see my babies through a stranger's eyes: My kids are the ones that made poor kids like me embarrassed of our threadbare lives. My kids, God help me, are rich, that birth defect for which I have only begun to forgive a chosen few.
If it's true that our president, as Ann Richards quipped, was born on third base but thinks he hit a triple, you could say that my kids were born on second base. My job is not to teach them that they're black. My job is to teach them that they damn sure didn't hit a double. I will not allow them to coast on that which they didn't earn; they have to prove their worth to the world. And, frankly, to their mother.
"Putin's Chilly Responses Darken the Political Clouds"
Pretty horrible what's happened in Russia recently. The public responsiveness of Putin et al. has been shockingly weak, it seems.
Excerpts:
[Putin's] first public remarks - "Today all Russia suffers for you" - made briefly, before dawn, were addressed to the region's president and leaders of its security agencies, not to those who suffered most.
His remarks and the orders he issued - to close the region's borders, to find the terrorists involved, to organize assistance for the victims - were meant to project, again, Mr. Putin's carefully cultivated image as the steely, decisive leader of a country in need. ...
But in the wake of yet another of Russia's seemingly endless crises, Mr. Putin's image appears less and less persuasive to those longing for answers. ...
All of the attacks have been carried out by terrorists linked to the separatist war in Chechnya, and much of the public's anger has turned toward them. But the government's handling of the attacks and Mr. Putin's public response have also stoked simmering discontent that rarely surfaces in today's political discourse. ...
In the days after two airliners crashed almost simultaneously, officials discounted the possibility of terrorism, assertions that were openly mocked, given the coincidence of two planes breaking up in midair within minutes. ...
[S]ince investigators discovered evidence of bombs onboard, Mr. Putin has said nothing, neither to express sorrow nor to demand justice. Nor has he spoke about a suicide bombing at the subway, which rent a late summer evening only two and half miles from the Kremlin.
In democracies, there is an expectation that public figures will inform and reassure a nation in grief, but Russia's form of democracy retains elements of the Soviet Union's penchant for secrecy.
Excerpts:
[Putin's] first public remarks - "Today all Russia suffers for you" - made briefly, before dawn, were addressed to the region's president and leaders of its security agencies, not to those who suffered most.
His remarks and the orders he issued - to close the region's borders, to find the terrorists involved, to organize assistance for the victims - were meant to project, again, Mr. Putin's carefully cultivated image as the steely, decisive leader of a country in need. ...
But in the wake of yet another of Russia's seemingly endless crises, Mr. Putin's image appears less and less persuasive to those longing for answers. ...
All of the attacks have been carried out by terrorists linked to the separatist war in Chechnya, and much of the public's anger has turned toward them. But the government's handling of the attacks and Mr. Putin's public response have also stoked simmering discontent that rarely surfaces in today's political discourse. ...
In the days after two airliners crashed almost simultaneously, officials discounted the possibility of terrorism, assertions that were openly mocked, given the coincidence of two planes breaking up in midair within minutes. ...
[S]ince investigators discovered evidence of bombs onboard, Mr. Putin has said nothing, neither to express sorrow nor to demand justice. Nor has he spoke about a suicide bombing at the subway, which rent a late summer evening only two and half miles from the Kremlin.
In democracies, there is an expectation that public figures will inform and reassure a nation in grief, but Russia's form of democracy retains elements of the Soviet Union's penchant for secrecy.
Never got around to posting these...
Some good articles I read over the summer but never got around to mentioning in a post. To highlight: I found the article on Zarqawi and "Racist Like Me" to be particularly good.
Articles:
Unfortunately, most of the articles from the New York Times website are now viewable in full only after paying a fee. (Of course, Lexis-Nexis is also an option for some people.)
Articles:
- "Is there a Science Crisis? Maybe Not", from The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9 July
- "Afghan President Describes Militias as the Top Threat", from the New York Times, 12 July
- "Doubts on Informant Deleted in Senate Text", from the New York Times, 13 July
- "Zarqawi's Journey: From Dropout to Prisoner to an Insurgent Leader in Iraq", from the New York Times, 13 July
- "Early Steps, Maybe, Toward a Democracy in Iraq", from the New York Times, 27 July
- "Racist Like Me - Why am I the only honest bigot?", from Slate magazine, 11 August
- "U.S. Report Turns Focus to Greenhouse Gases", from the New York Times, 26 August
- "Afghan voting number puzzle", from BBC News, 27 August
Unfortunately, most of the articles from the New York Times website are now viewable in full only after paying a fee. (Of course, Lexis-Nexis is also an option for some people.)
