WTF-Beta

We had an H-Mart near us in CA and it was wonderful!

The food court alone!

Good news!

Same with corn for ethanol.

Elon, want to do something useful?

I put salsa on it. OTOH, I put salsa on pretty much everything.

I was trained in the Palmer method in grade school but now my hands are kind of stiff so I print everything.

Border Patrol runs solidly MAGA. Who’s going to tell them they shouldn’t?

Interesting fact on the nature of the border and the Border Patrol. The Patrol has jurisdiction within 100 miles of the border and Kern County is far north of that.

But it turns out the Border includes the California coastline, and given the shape of the state their jurisdiction includes pretty the whole state.

Kern County went solidly Republican this election.

Leopards, faces, etc.

That was quick…

https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/01/kern-county-immigration-sweep/

Knudsen is the brand I remember liking. Looks like they’re still in business and local stores stock it.

I’ll pick up a carton and see if it tastes like I remember.

@jon-nyc

The first time I’ve heard that take.

Thanks!

Haven’t found a small curd variety I like. Not sure anyone makes it any more.

Watched Biden’s farewell address. It’s a great speech and worth seeing.

But his eyes. Vacant and expressionless.

He’s tired.

Wow, Chas!

Hope everything resolves quickly!

A web search lists the same reasons I did above and one more. Some people lose weight like crazy on GLP and others lose more slowly. There are generally plateaus. People who lose more slowly can get frustrated and give up.

The people who lose weight most quickly appear to be people who have a lot to lose and people with poor diets when they start. Interesting that these same people are also the ones who do well on IF routines.

My guess would be that many stop because of the cost. Others stop because of side effects, some of which appear to be avoidable and others that don’t.

I also think at least some stop because they get tired of not being able to eat the way they like to eat.

The analysis by Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), reviewed pharmacy and medical claims data for 4,255 people with commercial health plans.

Mik, you know this stuff.

What are PBMs, what do they do, how do they make their money, why do we need them, and what would be lost if we dropped them all in to a volcano?

Maybe, although I’ve seen microwaves last 20 years or more. Not sure about the newer ones, though.

I’ve never so much seen a drawer microwave so I don’t know much about them. I do know that microwaves have some serviceable parts and it’s not always the Magnatron. Some even have fuses that can be replaced. Fans and switches can fail as well. Boards too, buy they generally cost as much as a new unit.

I think I might enter the make and model in to a search engine and see what people have to say about what goes wrong with them. If everyone says “board”, or “Magnatron” I’d probably replace it.

Sooner rather than later though - tariffs will likely make the price go up.

@ShiroKuro said in Ozempic:

At the same time, eating well is incredibly difficult, especially for those in lower income groups, between the cost of healthy food and the availability of it.

I’m going to disagree here. Changing the mindset is difficult, but except in extreme cases of poverty obtaining the food is not. A few anecdotes, if I may.

My sister works at a food bank that is nicely supplied with the good stuff. What she finds is that their patrons don’t want the good stuff (artisan bread from local bakeries, fruit, veg, etc. from government programs and various farms, whole wheat things, beans, rice) they want processed and snack foods. White bread, chips, soda, cookies, packaged meals. A lot of the fresh stuff goes to waste. Reasons include that they just don’t like the unprocessed stuff or that they deserve better - an argument I find maddening.

I’ve spoken before of the toddlers. Great people, salt of the Earth, lousy diets. All of them struggle with weight issues, some to a rather extreme extent, and they’re teaching their kids to be the same. Jane (Mom) makes an attempt - always lays out veg and fruit for Sunday supper - but few eat it. Several won’t eat anything green, or fruit, or beans. Lots of snacks before dinner - all delicious but all highly processed. Great scratch cooked food but lots of gravy. Crazy rich desserts. Big portions, lots of butter.

One went on Mounjaro and lost some 80 pounds. She’s happy about it and her diabetes is in remission, as are any number of other medical issues, but she still craves brownies and won’t eat vegetables. Another is on OZ and progressing nicely but is about to bail on it because he feels lousy when he eats the food (pizza, mostly) he really likes. This sort of thing is hard to fix, and advertising makes it hard to even modify.

I live on the border of two towns, the one to the south that is heavily Appalachian, older, and lower income; and a more affluent suburb to the north. The difference in grocery stores - and grocery carts - is striking.

The main grocery store to the south caters to the tastes of the locals - and of course they do. Aisles and aisles of soda, candy, chips, and boxed meals. Limited produce, very little meat. Lots of bacon and sausage, beer, heat and serve stuff. None of it is cheap, but it’s what they want.

Their carts reflect this, and sometimes I wonder what keeps them alive. That has a name BTW, “cart shaming”. I’m supposed to feel bad about it but I don’t and I keep it to myself. The store also has plenty of healthy options but they’re hard to find. If their patrons wanted them they’d be displayed more prominently.

To the north are stores more like the ones I was used to seeing in CA. More produce, more kinds of rice, more staples, better selection of breads and such. Still aisles and aisles of questionable choices but more of the better choices featured prominently. The carts tend to reflect this and the clientele at least appear to be healthier.

Education, maybe? Perhaps, but it’s going to be mighty tough to get people to change, particularly when they’re bombarded with advertising 24/7. Equally important is that people have a right to spend their money as they please and eat what they like.

It’s complicated.

Again true for some and not for others.

One thing being on OZ teaches you is what you should be eating vs. what you should not. It’s a stern taskmistress too - eat something highly processed, greasy, or overly sweet and you get sick, sometimes very sick. Stay hydrated and eat your fiber or you’ll get constipation. Eating too much at a sitting also makes you sick. Half a sandwich is plenty.

Sounds horrible, right? It’s not, once you figure these things out, and it works. The trick then, and some people seem able to do it, is to continue these habits once you discontinue the treatment.

It can be done but it’s not always easy.