Michelle Obama Lunch Rules Ban Fried Foods, Frosted Flakes in Daycare
. . . which we know would have a positive effect. "New rules stemming from the school lunch law championed by first lady Michelle Obama are banning popular children’s cereals like Frosted Flakes in daycare centers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service issued a final rule Monday that will affect more than 3 million kids in daycare centers across the country. The regulation will only allow daycare centers to serve juice once a day, will ban fried foods, and encourages centers to not add honey to a child’s yogurt. The regulation is a result of the 2010 law aimed at school lunches, a top priority of Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move anti-obesity initiative. The government hopes the new rule will “help children build healthy habits.'" In school's these policies have worked exactly as expected with millions of children throwing out lunch food they deem inedible. But then not eating is probably considered better than eating unproved food, by this cabal of flapdoodles. The last thing we need is more federal regulation of the local.
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Kansas Reduced Poverty by Requiring Work for Food Stamps
. . . all that stands in the way are the progressives who wish to keep the poor on the plantation. "Over the past several years, the number of Americans on food stamps has soared. In particular, since 2009, the number of “able-bodied-adults” without dependents receiving food stamps more than doubled nationally. Part of this increase is due to a federal rule that allowed states to waive food stamps’ modest work requirement. However, states such as Kansas and Maine chose to reinstate work requirements. Comparing and contrasting the two approaches provides powerful new evidence about the effectiveness of work. According to a report from the Foundation for Government Accountability, before Kansas instituted a work requirement, 93 percent of food stamp recipients were in poverty, with 84 percent in severe poverty. Few of the food stamp recipients claimed any income. Only 21 percent were working at all, and two-fifths of those working were working fewer than 20 hours per week. Once work requirements were established, thousands of food stamp recipients moved into the workforce, promoting income gains and a decrease in poverty. Forty percent of the individuals who left the food stamp ranks found employment within three months, and about 60 percent found employment within a year. They saw an average income increase of 127 percent. Half of those who left the rolls and are working have earnings above the poverty level. Even many of those who stayed on food stamps saw their income increase significantly." Shocking! To hear the progressives, any amount of work would be horrible for the poor. It would sap their self image, destroy their ability to work and force them permanently onto welfare. Except that is not what happens. Instead, the poor become more prosperous, and wealthier, and ultimately have the ability to leave the ranks of the impoverished. Don't expect the progressives to agree with this or pursue these policies, they like the poor being kept on the plantation. Votes don'tchaknow. FAKE HATE=> 'Racist' Noose Drawing Leads to Two Black Students
. . . and deserve to be expelled from Salisbury University. "When Salisbury University police discovered that someone drew a stick figure hung by a noose on the school library’s whiteboard, they launched a hate crime investigation. But after realizing it was two black students who drew the picture – which showed the hangman crying, included the N-word with an arrow pointed at the stick figure, as well as the message #whitepower – they decided not to press criminal charges, The Delmarva Daily Times reports." All they have is the fake creation of hate. Their victimhood is in jeopardy, so they act. This is a test of Salisbury University's character, but I have no doubt whatsoever it will fail this test dismally. Mountains Out of Molehills | Information is Beautiful
. . . resolve that mistake by never watching any 24-hour news network, and preferably by never watching televised news, other than you local weather. The chart here is wonderful, but it only goes back to Y2K. It would be eye opening indeed to see this chart extended back to the 1960s. Then we could track the insatiable desire of the progressive environmentalists to say anything to gain control over other people. The neo-Malthusians have been wrong every single time they raised the alarm throughout recorded history. There is no reason to believe these wackadoos will be right this time, or the next time. Ignore the ignorant, shrill harpings of the neo-Malthusian, he is a fool attempting to beclown you. Peaceful, pacifist vegans want to kill couple who turn from veganism and now eat meat . . .4/28/2016 L.A. Vegans Go to War: Death Threats, Macrobiotic Bowls and Virulence of Beef Broth
. . . oh, those peaceful vegans, and their murderous, rage. Progressives would be happy if only you complied with each and every one of their demands, now. Right! Sigh. Every time you open the cover on this book, the homicidal, authoritarian progressives are shouting their hatred, and desire to murder from the rooftops. Take them at their word. U.S. Economy Expands to 0.5% Pace, Weakest in Two Years
. . . no matter what the economy bulls say, it's no boom, and closer to recession than they want to admit. "The U.S. economy expanded in the first quarter at the slowest pace in two years as American consumers reined in spending and companies tightened their belts in response to weak global financial conditions and a plunge in oil prices. Gross domestic product rose at a 0.5 percent annualized rate after a 1.4 percent fourth-quarter advance, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. The increase was less than the 0.7 percent median projection in a Bloomberg survey and marked the third straight disappointing start to a year." That 4th quarter 1.4% "boom" was driven by subprime auto loans, and another housing flight. While you might not want to reprise the Great Recession, the federal government does, and is trying its best to get us there. Thanks, Bammy! "Spending, while slightly better than the 1.7 percent median forecast, was a disappointment in light of the consumer-friendly fundamentals including low gasoline prices, cheap borrowing costs, increased hiring and warmer-than-usual winter weather. “The first quarter is going to be the worst quarter for consumption for all of 2016,” said Jacob Oubina, a senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in New York. “With financial markets calming down and retracing all of their losses, the fundamental factors that have driven consumption will continue to do so.'" This is more prayer than reality. The wankers have been wrong for the past, well, forever. The chances they are getting it right now are minimal. But perhaps Oubina is correct, or we are diving into a new recession. I still can go either way on this. The GDPNow is banging about at 0.6%, so there is confirmation. GDPNow Forecast Rises to 0.6% as Trade Deficit Narrows | MishTalk It looks like consumer demand is tanking. "Subtracting from GDP vs Last Quarter Nonresidential fixed investment Private inventory investment Exports Federal government spending Imports Adding to GDP Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) Residential fixed investment State and local government spending PCE (consumer spending) added to GDP but is decelerating. Economists’ Estimate 0.7% The Bloomberg Economy consensus estimate was 0.7% in a range of 0.1% to 1.1%." I am sorry but the Economic consensus has been wrong on the high side for a while now. We are faced with a decelerating economy, especially consumers. The auto situation has collapsed, and we are left with housing being the only thing between a flat dead economy at zero growth, and recession. I get the feeling we are slowly backing into a new recession after 7-1/2 exhausting years of fighting against the Obama Administration's attempts to regulate businesses out of existence. Cross you fingers, and hope the dithering dunce from Chicago is too distracted by the good weather, and the golf game to muck about in the economy, or do more damage to business. Otherwise we are probably in for a European Sucking Recession. And that would be bad indeed. Comcast scores a win over cord-cutters
"The cord-cutting generation is growing, but Comcast just won a battle against it." Please elaborate. "The caveat here is that Comcast likely added these subscribers because the company adapted to the new TV environment by offering smart TV, on-demand, and skinny bundle packages. In fact, 35% of Comcast's video customers have the company's smart TV platform X1, and 86% of these subscribers use XFINITY On Demand, Comcast's on-demand TV and film-streaming service. Comcast also recently inked a deal with Amazon to sell Internet and television packages through Amazon's platform, which could have also boosted subscriptions." Ah, yes, winning by shrinking revenue, and shrinking packages. This is simply a plan to starve to death more slowly, not to actually stave off starvation. Now, perhaps Comcast can pull off the difficult Triple Lindy, and stave off starvation, but I doubt it. Amazon is enriching its stable of partners, and its basic offerings are quite good today. Netflix is in good shape with a large stable of content. Some good content remains, but I suspect that Amazon, and Netflix, or others will slowly pick off this content leaving the cable/satellite with little option but to cut costs to meet the Internet prices. Perhaps they will survive, perhaps not. I don't much care, Maddog and family cut the cord many years ago, and have found a rich vein of content at a cost of about $26 per month (plus the Amazon Prime video subscription, which I consider a cost of about $8 per month). So, a total cost of about $34 per month, down from the $125+ Maddog was paying pre-cord cutting. Colorectal Cancer Screening: Not All It's Cracked Up to Be?
Over time we are finding preventative medicine particularly screenings have some benefits, but the physicians are deeply wedded to the idea due to the benefit to their bottom line. "'Unambiguous good news" — that's what the trends are in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality for adults 50 years and older in the United States, according to a pair of experts. Since 1975, incidence has dropped by about 40% and mortality by about 50%, observe Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, and Douglas Robertson, MD, MPH, from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in Lebanon, New Hampshire. "These trends are often attributed to screening," the pair write in an essay published in the April 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. But Drs Welch and Robertson are skeptical that screening has been that powerful. The "magnitude of the changes alone" suggest that "other factors must be involved," they argue. They also point out that screening is not always needed for a gastrointestinal cancer to decline dramatically in the United States. "Since 1930, without any screening effort, gastric cancer incidence and mortality have decreased by almost 90%," they report." This makes sense, medicine has improved over time, we are more in tune with what is happening in our bodies, and when we think something amiss we are willing to see a physician. "If gastroenterologists and other screening clinicians are taking too much "credit" for these disease trends, this could "exaggerate" the benefits of screening, Drs Welch and Robertson write. This, in turn, could "distract from the more important activities of promoting health — for example, by encouraging a healthful diet and exercise — and caring the sick," they say. Furthermore, although the "majority" of people who undergo colonoscopy screening have no cancer or large precancerous polyps, "they often endure repeated colonoscopy for surveillance of small polyps," the essayists explain." The great problem in medicine today is the Cargo Cult belief that preventative medicine is an unalloyed good. While it can have benefits, it also has negatives, including the occasional death. Failing to understand the cost/benefit relationship, and falling into the fear trap is not a good. We need to take more care to understand exactly what we are doing, what the consequences are for the action, and what the potential positive outcomes are. Failing to do this leaves us open to financial, and physical peril. "So what explains the decrease in mortality? Three things, they say. First, treatments have gotten better over time. Second, there is earlier detection of symptomatic cancer (which can reduce mortality even in the absence of screening) because of better awareness and better diagnostics in the clinic. Third, "there could be fewer cases of colorectal cancer in the first place," say Drs Welch and Robertson. Dr Weber agrees with the pair that two of these phenomena have been at play, but disagrees with the third idea, as noted above. What explains the decrease in incidence? Again, the essayists cite three things. An "obvious candidate" is diet, especially the reduction in the consumption of smoked and cured meats in the United States. A second factor is the increased use of antibiotics, which have reduced the prevalence of deleterious bacterial flora, such as Helicobacter pylori. Third is the increased use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including aspirin. Drs Welch and Robertson do not argue that screening has been ineffectual. They know it works to some extent. However, they want "clinicians to have some humility regarding the effect of screening on disease trends.'" While we like to believe we are living in the period of modern medicine, this is only partially true. Be cautious of the preventative care, and screenings, and understand the downsides. Further reading. Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health 1st Edition by H. Gilbert Welch H. Gilbert Welch |
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