I visited wikipedia to brush up on my trans fat chemistry and found it very useful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat). If you remember high school chemistry this article would make more sense. I don’t remember any of my teachers ever discussing these aspects issues regarding geometric isomerism while discussing organic molecules. The stress was on just on covering the material in the textbook. And this is not just a country specific thing (I say that from experience). I don’t think there is a solution for this though. Making PhD’s teach people in their formative years is not the solution nor is the current one and neither is creating a capsule made by the most advanced minds and injecting it (in one form or another as in orally or through sensory perception)

i think he’s saying that as long as you have a PhD and/or you are from a different country you can ingest trans fat intravenously

I’ll tell you what I’m blathering about! I got information–new shit has come to light and–shit, man!

trans fats are unsaturated hydrocarbons with higher melting points. can anyone tell me who remembers this shit from high school? or if you were told that trans-2-butene was worse than cis-2-butene for the said reasons. i am talking about teaching relevant education in schools where facts are put in context and that achieving this is not a pure function of the educational background of the teacher.

My two cents: let them eat cake. Since we’re all on a path to self-destruction anyway, if ppl want to eat crap, let them.

To defend teachers, instruction is driven by assessment. Politicians set the assessment standards depending on their political agenda of the time aka No child left behind. This is pretty silly since most politicians have little experience with children or with teaching. Most teachers want their work to be meaninful. We are trained and educated with these intentions, but the reality of teaching tells us otherwise. Besides the pay, I think the micromanaging in education forces so many teachers to leave the field.

So back to trans-2- butene, someone on the MCAT board thought learning dense facts about chemistry is really important. Thus the mad race to make sure kids know the most obscure facts that they will probably forget the week after the test. Sure a teacher could make it applicable at the risk of losing time to cover material and to have parents breathing down their necks. Not to mention the additional amount of time to plan which teachers are doing out of the goodness of their hearts bc who are we kidding no one is going to pay the them. So in short if we want to teach relevent education than our tests should be a reflection. So start changing the tests not the teachers.

does anyone watch the wire? pretty good insight into the state of inner city publc schools. there a couple of good scenes where the teachers are torn between teaching the given material or providing the students with more relevant info. i.e playing craps/slinging crack.

i have to say that the wire has to be the best show on tv in a long while. very intelligent and provactive (i may have lifted that from tv guide, but i felt it was a great description). I do find it troubling that i root for Omar, one of the more unlikely heroes on tv.

i found this much funnier than the shower video.

7. Alvar Hanso starring in the long lost instructional Dharma Initiative video – The Plumbing Project

8. dude’s old and retired and finally gets a chance to work on his lifelong mission, i.e., clensing. this world in his very own way.

and why does he have the softsoap in the shower?

off topic (not even tangential): what do you think of sir barkley’s intention of being in the alabama gubernatorial race? -
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1153906206247070.xml&coll=2

Barkely’s (maybe not so) famous quote: “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying” regarding the SEC.

Just found that extremely funny.

Swiched at birth? You are really reaching here. I think you just need to accept the fact that Tennessee played terribly and still managed to win the game.

I think I misunderstood : ( I thought you were relating Alabama’s loss to Mike Shula’s biolgical father. I just wanted to point out (rather inarticulately) that Tn. won regardless of Mike Shula’s father. Okay I am not making any sense to myself. I just wanted to give you a hard time about Bama losing! Mission failed.

another bama loss theory:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2639328

i saw this game and at all points in the game (even when they were leading 6-3 and scored that td to go 13-6) there was a palpable sense that bama was going to collapse.

also, am i alone in my assessment that the espn is destroying MNF? the commentary is ridiculous. the best part of the MNF game between the bears and arizona was the appearance of sir charles barkley. that guy is solid. i know there are not many fans of al michels and madden commentary out there but i liked them better.

i hate the sunday night show too. the half-time bob costas show is terrible *yawn*. the theme song is bad.

I do agree with your second point. On morning edition on NPR the other day, a journalist who is one of the few defending madonna’s adoption of the malawian kid brought up an obvious but great point about separating the child from its “culture” asking what culture meant in the context of a 1 yr old. What has become a moot point is actually in the modern sense of the phrase – moot.

I believe the human rights group is not against Madonna’s adoption. They believe Madonna received special treatment from the court bc only her wealth/fame was taken into consideration in the adoption. This is a high publicity case and the group wants to send the message that being wealthy doesnt qualify being a good parent. In any country the adoption process is very thorough, and future parents are questioned about their parenting abilities. The group wants Madonna and other celebrities to follow the same procedure.

I agree with Pallu’s comments because even if the Malawian govenrnment denied preferential treatment, we all know that she was given preferential treatment. Policies and processes were put in place for a reason and not to satisfy some rich person’s whims.

My concern is that celebrities may be turning the idea of foreign adoption into a fad (even though tons of ppl already do it) and are doing it just to increase their star power. Kireet makes a good point about giving a kid an opportunity, but money alone can’t raise your kids.

I think that adoption is very noble, but I don’t want this to turn into something ugly like in China where girls are being kidnapped and sold to orphanages. Oops! Off on a tangent; I’ll stop now.

Btw, the law states that you’re supposed to live for 2 years in the child’s country, and not 18 months on your palatial estate.

I think the fad is not such a bad thing, especially if it helps the kids who would otherwise die of malnutrition and disease. I think the issue is whether the kid would be treated well by madonna and I think he would be.
A non zero probability of the kid doing something meaningful for the people later also exists.

My vote is no. You wouldn’t have dumped the rice. I’ve known you your entire life and have never once seen you lose your temper ever. If you have lost it, please post the story! It’s unfortunate but true that the squeeky wheel always gets the grease. I’m glad you took the rice back and stood your ground.

On another point, I love your blog and check it almost every day. It’s a really good way to communicate. What a wonderful idea.

I think the bigger problem is that you are paying $13 for fried rice.

how do you edit posts?

No, you wouldn’t have dumped the rice. I’m finding that your postings are showing me a new side to Kireet – an emotional side! Still, you don’t seem like the type to throw a tantrum over take out. Playing the irate customer may seem like a good idea in theory. In practice, I think you feel worse after the confrontation, and you don’t often get what you wanted anyway. Unless you’re being royally screwed by everyone up the management chain, I’d wager it’s more effective (in general) to play the hurt customer who just wants his due process.

Better to unload your repressed anger towards asian females on strangers than on me …

Your blog would be better if you had pictures.

For example:
a picture of your incorrectly-fried fried rice next to a picture of your correctly-fried fried rice.

Then we would really be able to feel your pain.

When I first read this blog’s title, I thought you were talking about Nhi.

I agree with Nina. I thought that you were talking about Nhi, too. On the other hand, she isn’t technically an ABC but acts like one. I think that your entry would have been more interesting if it was about Nhi.

But going back to your question – no, I don’t think that you would have dumped the fried rice on the floor. Although I was secretly hoping that you would just so we can get a glimpse of Kireet the Trouble Maker, I think that you are way too civilized to do something like that. Nhi should teach you some chinese so that you can talk shop with them, and maybe next time, they won’t screw up your order.

I agree with Josh that this blog is bringing out the sensitive side of Kireet. As for the rice incident, take it from a Vanderbilt fan, patience pays off. You got your rice and we finally got an SEC win!

Maybe Nhi could teach you the Chinese curse words so you can catch them in the act next time. If you are still bitter, you could go to ABC’s citysearch comment section and practive using your new expletives.

now, what did i tell you about the SEC last time? they beat each other in the most inopportune moments. due to all this infighting, it will lead to USC taking on Ohio state or michigan. but who cares.

Regarding this saucy incident, these words from Walter Sobchak are relevant here:

“What the fuck are you talking about?! This Chinaman is not the issue! I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line you do not, uh–and also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred, uh. . . Asian- American. Please.”

Living a healthy life is a huge financial, emotional, and time-consuming invesment. Vegetables and fruits are pretty pricey especially if you want to go organic. If you are single, you know that its more cost effective (not healthier) to eat out rather than going to the trouble of cooking food. Lets not forget about the gym memberships/yoga classes and a new workout wardrobe. Last week I walked to the grocery store instead of working out. The total trip is probably 2 miles. 6 people stopped and asked me if they could give me ride home. It never occurred to anyone that I wanted to walk outside. You also need to be feel emotionally stable to exercise. It would be ridiculous to ask low-income moms to work out so they will be healther. They are struggling to pay bills, raise children, and put food on the tables. I highly doubt the endorphins from running around the block is what they need. They need a miracle. Time is a huge issue too. If you are busy like Shali, are you really going to work out after a 12 hour day?

Anyways, we still need to teach kids that its a worthwhile invesment. A healthy lifestyle is the best preventative medicince. Schools and homes are great places for children to form good eating and exercise habits. Unfortunately schools have a long way to go. PE classes are being cut left and right bc its taking away from reading and writing time. There are no health questions on standardized tests and bubbling answer sheets is the most exercise some of these kids are getting from schools. As for setting up an individualized exercise program for each child, the teacher is only human. Elem. schools with 400 and under have 1 PE teacher. When I was kid, I could play basketball or home run derby (when sriram and kireet would let me play!). Today, there are safety concerrns as well as the newest Sega that keeps kids from being outside. Now to the cafeteria. As a former teacher, I could barely stand the smell of the lunchroom much less think about eating there. I cant even begin to tell you some of the meals that are being served. A brown bag lunch for suburban kindergartners in Brentwood consists of the following: 2 peanut butter sandwiches, a bag of chips, a banana, 2 poptarts, juice, and milk. I dont know what you ate for lunch today, but I bet you didnt eat this much! I read an article the other day where each kid is given a card to the cafeteria. If you are overweight, the card will reject some of your high fat/calorie purchases in the lunchroom. Isnt that insane! Basically the message being is sent is that skinny people dont need to eat healthy.

Growing up my mom cooked healthy homecooked meals. However my brother and I had full reign on breakfast foods and its a wonder we havent gone in for our first bypasses. Hot pockets used to be a regular snack food (heck we would eat them for breakfast too!). It wasnt until college that I realized that people ate them for lunch or dinner. I was also a big fan of the poptarts. Again, it wasnt until much later that I realized that its only 1 poptart per serving and its really not necessary to add a heaping spoon of peanutbutter to enhance their flavor. Parents are the gatekeepers to a healtier lifestyle. Its easier form good habits as a kid rather than changing your lifestyle as an adult. If you have gotten to this point, thanks for humoring and reading my random and disconnected thoughts.

I believe the blog movement shoots itself in the foot by using the acronym “RSS.” I read plenty of blogs and I still don’t know what the hell it means. This definitely reflects laziness on my part, but it also reflects a basic lack of desire on their part (ah, the pleasantly ambiguous “they”) to inform readers of whatever it is that this technology does.

You know I generally don’t follow sports, but when I was in college I heard someone say that rooting for the Yankees to win the series is like rooting for Bill Gates to win the lottery. I guess that still holds true today, although Bill Gates seems to have rehabilitated his reputation by giving away truckloads of money. It seems that he’s passed the torch to that guy who runs Wal-Mart.

Since my driver’s license is from Arkansas, go Razorbacks, I suppose.

Awesome! Now I know everything about RSS. Except, of course, what it stands for. No worries: as a military guy, I am on familiar ground.

i dont hate the yankees as much as i have in the past. I have just focused my wrath on AROD.

UT – its amazing how one offensive coordinator can make all the difference. maybe shula should take some notes.

i did not go to any college in the SEC, but i love watching their games. its always exciting and more often than not, they screw each others’ title chances due to the much loved and hated BCS. one team i hate, for the same reason as most people hate the yankees, is notre dame. i think the top 5 teams in SEC are better than them any day.
one of the sports highlights for me this week was the Mets sweeping the dodgers. the pundits, obviously, had predicted otherwise. i am picking the mets to go all the way. no. 7 baby

Now if only USC lost to UW, then it would’ve been great too. Shady ending, if you ask me. There should’ve been 5 secs on the clock, not 2.

SHADY USC.

default values dictate wide range of behavior, i am not saying that, newton did. and the third law is as universal as it gets. look at the automatic 401k movement that recently got started -
http://www.aarp.org/money/careers/employerresourcecenter/benefits/automatic_401k_overview_for_employers.html

but then the naysayers always strike back with the argument about ‘who defines the good’ and all that. its a discussion that honestly leads to nowhere. there is no good or bad. the only truth is the market (some economist said that, i believe)

michael pollen’s omnivore’s dilemma (http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php) highlights a lot of the issues with food habits and other related things that you bring up in the current time. its a great read.

You cant legislate a fix to this problem. We need to better educate children about the nutritional value of various foods, and we need to stop pretending that it’s “ok” to be fat. It’s not. Go get some exercise fatty.

Perhaps we need to hold up your countryman little budhia as an example for us all… maybe supressing the whole selling of children for $20 and child abuse angles though.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4241958.stm

I usually zone out when I hear someone start a sentence with “I was listening to NPR the other day…” but I’ll make an exception for my old college roommate.

The Economist did a cover story a few months back about this general issue called “The Rise of Soft Paternalism.” They were generally favorable to it but noted one counterpoint which, to my mind, tips the argument in favor of the libertarians: what happens when adjusting the “default value” doesn’t produce the desired results? Will a trans-fat-free diet be any match for Americans’ gargantuan appetites and sedentary lifestyles?. And if outlawing trans fats fails to produce a discernible effect on public health, will the soft paternalists admit defeat?

No. More than likely, paternalist policy wonks like this guy will point to such a failure and say “Heavens to Betsy! It’s worse than we thought.” Then they’ll look for (and find) other “default values” in need of adjustment. Meanwhile, the real nannies among them will start clamoring for hard paternalism – maximum portion sizes, mandatory exercise, and God forbid, alcohol-free beer.

For some humorous, hardcore libertarian screed, check out Modern Drunkard (http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com). The posters in their merchandise section are a riot. As for me, I’m inspired to read 1984 again. With a beer, as long as it’s still allowed.

Here, I’ll supply the opening line for the next comment: “This is just the slippery slope argument…”

No, I was definitely advancing the slippery slope argument. That’s why I supplied the opening line to your counter-argument.

Such measures are never repealed, regardless of whether the issue dissipates. We still subsidize sugar farmers, for Christ’s sake. For a more recently contentious example, the Voting Rights Act marches on unchanged since it was passed as “emergency” legislation nearly 40 years ago. The mere existence of legislation which was intended as a palliative measure often morphs into a self-contained reason for its continuation.

The guy in the interview – henceforth known as “this guy” – places all the responsibility on restaurants that use trans-fats. Very convenient for this guy, since you undoubtedly consume too many trans-fats if most of your calories are delivered by restaurants. And if you fit into that category, you’re probably consuming upwards of 3000 calories a day. It’s not what Americans eat that make them unhealthy, it’s how much they eat.

What should we do then? I don’t have an answer. From a public policy perspective, I’m extremely pessimistic. You could spend billions educating people (perhaps we already do) and I don’t think it would make a difference. When I was 10 years old, I remember showing my father a picture out of my science text book of a smoker’s lungs next to a non-smoker’s lungs. He still smokes today, although he’s quit a couple of times in the intervening 18 years.

America is certainly digging its grave with a knife and fork (although we’re still doing better than plenty of supposedly advanced countries, amazingly enough). But I think that if you made everyone switch to chopsticks, they’d still find a way to dig graves with them.