Another Saturday….another excruciating ‘Dump’…..

The 2024 Summer Olympics is winding down…..the Paralympics will be gearing up….

Locally–we have broken 11 high temperature records so far in 2024….ain’t we lucky?

I would like to start this Saturday with food news….and other stuff….

I adore dark chocolate even the 100% stuff and now some troubling news….

Every so often, a study emerges touting the benefits of eating chocolate, with dark chocolate earning special praise. New research, however, has unearthed toxic heavy metals in dozens of dark-chocolate products sold by Amazon, Whole Foods, and GNC, among other retailers. For the peer-reviewed research published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, scientists from the George Washington University picked up more than 70 products containing cocoa to test for toxicity over an eight-year period from 2014 to 2022, looking especially for lead, cadmium, and arsenic. The researchers found that 43% of the products they put through the paces had unacceptable levels of lead, using California’s guidelines as a barometer, while excessive cadmium showed up in 35% of the products, which weren’t called out in the study by name or manufacturer.

The Golden State allows 0.5 micrograms a day of lead before warranting a red flag; this research found some daily servings of dark chocolate contained up to 3.316 micrograms. Meanwhile, arsenic levels fell within acceptable limits for all the products. Interestingly, organic products studied by the researchers featured more contamination than nonorganic products. The Guardian notes that it’s suspected lead is seeping into chocolate products during drying, processing, or packaging, while cadmium is thought to be a contaminant in soil. Still, although ingesting excess heavy metals can lead to health issues, some experts aren’t pressing the panic button just yet.

“I don’t think this is a massive cause for alarm,” Brian Pavilonis of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, who wasn’t involved with the study, tells ABC News, noting that lots of common foods contain low levels of heavy metals. Although young kids and pregnant women may be more at risk, some experts say that concern for most other people would typically arise only if someone was scarfing down “pounds and pounds” of dark chocolate a day, or eating dark chocolate alongside other foods that also contain higher levels of heavy metals. The New York Times adds that most of the chocolates examined in this study were below the FDA’s lead-level mandate. “I’m still eating chocolate, and I will be eating chocolate later today,” study co-author Leigh Frame tells ABC. Still worried? The As You Sow nonprofit keeps a running list of toxins in chocolate products.

More bad news for processed meats….

New research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference showed that frequently eating ultra-processed meats such as hot dogs, sausage, bacon, and salami may increase the risk of dementia. Using data collected over four decades, the findings haven’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet, but they gave professionals a peek at “one of the most robust studies” linking diet to cognitive decline, as Dr. Maria Carrillo, the chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, tells NBC News.

• The study: The research tracked over 130,000 US adults for up to 43 years. About 8.5% of participants, 11,173, developed dementia, and the researchers were able to compare their typical consumption of processed meat.
• Frequency mattered: Per the New York Times, participants who ate about two servings of processed meat weekly were at a 14% greater risk of developing dementia than those who ate it far less often (less than three servings a month). They also found that each additional serving of meat daily was linked to another 1.6 years of cognitive aging, specifically in regard to language and “executive function,” per NBC.
• Theories: While ultra-processed foods are linked with declining brain health, we don’t know why. Theories posit they are bad for vascular health, they replace food with vital nutrients, and they damage brain cells.
• Supporting evidence: NBC notes that the study’s demographics were limited—conducted on a mostly white group with above-average socioeconomic status—and may not represent the general population. But other studies out of Brazil and the UK also have linked cognitive decline to diets high in ultra-processed foods.

Damn!  I enjoy a bologna sandwich every now and then.

Food for thought….’ento-veganism’….

The ento-vegetarian, therefore, does not eat meat or fish, but insects. An ento-vegan is then obviously someone who follows a complete plant-based diet and adds insects to it. This may sound crazy at first, but the main considerations that make these groups choose to eat insects are in the area of sustainability. The cultivation of insects produces high-quality proteins through the use of ‘waste streams’. Nevertheless, using the term Vegan could be problematic as the Vegan philosophy
involves not breeding nor killing any animals. As much as farming insects could sustainable and ethically be, it stills involves breeding and killing animals.

(jiminis.com)

But wait does the insect need to be killed?

I may be hungry but I will have been really hungry to eat bugs.

As I explained last week my daughter and I exchange stories of deaths that are ruled suicide and there is more to it than that…I have a good one….a woman apparently stabbed herself 20 times….

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the family of a Philadelphia woman whose 2011 stabbing death was initially ruled a homicide before the medical examiner switched it to suicide after police objected. First-grade teacher Ellen Greenberg, 27, was found in her apartment with 20 stab wounds, reports the AP. Police considered her death a suicide because her apartment door was locked from the inside and her boyfriend—who said he found her after breaking down the door—had no defensive wounds.

Philadelphia Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide, noting the large number of stab wounds, including 10 to the back of her neck. After police publicly challenged the findings, Osbourne switched the ruling to suicide without explanation. Greenberg’s parents are seeking to have the ruling changed back to homicide. The city has objected, arguing that state law “makes clear that a medical examiner can be wrong as to the manner of death yet cannot be compelled to change it.”

In Tuesday’s order, the Supreme Court said it will consider whether “executors and administrators of an estate have standing to challenge an erroneous finding recorded on the decedent’s death certificate where that finding constitutes a bar or material impediment to recovery of victim’s compensation, restitution or for wrongful death, as well as private criminal complaints.”

On a somber note….Utah is the latest book banning debacle…….

Utah has given schools statewide a list of 13 books deemed “pornographic or indecent” that must be “legally disposed of,” including Margaret Atwood’s Oryx & Crake and Judy Blume’s Forever. They have been banned under a new state law that requires books to be outlawed statewide if they are banned by at least three of the state’s 41 public school districts, or two districts and five charter schools, the Guardian reports.

• Schools and librarians have traditionally considered factors including literary and artistic value when deciding if a book should be allowed in schools, the New York Times notes, but the Utah law says school boards should put “protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations.”
• The full list, which can be seen here, includes six books by fantasy author Sarah Maas. The graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson is the only book of the 13 with a male author.
• The law went into effect on July 1. It applied retroactively, and school districts were asked to re-evaluate books they had already banned and submit lists to state authorities, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
• In a post on X, Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression programs at the PEN America free-speech group, said “many states have passed laws to facilitate book bans,” but Utah is the first “to outlaw a list of books.” “This is literally the government saying that Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, cannot be shelved in public schools,” he said, per the New York Times. The group said the list “will likely be updated as more books begin to meet the law’s criteria.”
• The law says the banned books “may not be sold or distributed,” the Guardian reports. Kasey Meehan, Pen America’s Freedom to Read program director, says the guidelines will “undoubtedly result in dumpsters full of books that could otherwise be enjoyed by readers.” She says the list “will impose a dystopian censorship regime across public schools,” going against “local preferences” in many cases. She adds: “Allowing just a handful of districts to make decisions for the whole state is anti-democratic.”

Why are most of these books written by women?

Will this become the template for other Red States to dictate what your children can read?

I thought of these morons were all about parental control or was that just bullshit?

‘Renewable’ energy has become popular and the focal point of many of a debate…..but is there a down side?

As countries including Aotearoa New Zealand embrace renewable energy production, a recent study sheds light on some overlooked impacts of this transition.

While the benefits of renewable energy are well-established, researchers are also examining the less discussed economic and social impacts of the move towards ‘green’ energy.

A study appearing in SSRN shows that the shift to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, has led to increased food prices and a decrease in agricultural output.

“Our findings show that the energy transition is not a neutral process and that it carries significant consequences,” says Professor Emilson Silva, director of the University of Auckland Energy Center and co-author of the study.

“It directly impacts people’s lives.”

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-renewables-food-prices.html

Just thought you should see this study.

That be it for I have run out of meaningless stuff to report….plus my fingers are tired.

Enjoy your Summer Saturday and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”