Adjective order in standard English

Via a post by Kevin Drum, I learned of this chart from the Cambridge English Dictionary:

Thus, in general, one would say “the small white house,” not “the white small house.” However, context can change things. For example, if you are telling someone about some small and medium houses, you might say, “I like the small houses. The white small house has a porch, but the others do not.” What has happened is that you are talking about a specific group of small houses, so “small house” becomes, as it were, the entity of interest, and you might talk about the differences between the white small house and the green small house.

Still, it’s an interesting chart.

The (Almost) Bulletproof Plan to Take Down America — and How to Stop It

Dave Troy writes on Medium:

There is a nearly foolproof plan underway to crush the United States and bring it fully under fascist rule. In recent months, this chorus has been on repeat:

1. “Federal overspending has pushed inflation to new levels.” This claim, which is in fact difficult to back up with facts, connects two facts in a misleading way. Yes, the Federal government, under Trump and Biden, authorized significant stimulus spending to help with the severest effects of the pandemic. These efforts were mostly successful. And while there has been significant inflation over the last year, there isn’t much evidence to suggest that COVID stimulus did in fact lead to inflation.
2. “Gas prices are too high, hurting everyday people at the pump. And it’s Biden’s fault.” Yes, gas prices are very high — in every country in the world, where Biden is not president. Regardless of whether gas should be as cheap as it was (we need to get off of it entirely), we certainly are dependent on it now. So this has important real-world effects for everyday Americans, but importantly the costs of all goods. Including food. But oil and gas companies are realizing record profits, suggesting that high prices are not a result of supply shortage, but rather discretionary profit-taking.
3. “The Fed needs to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check, since it lost control of the economy.” Arguably, near-zero interest rates were not a great thing for the economy anyway, and we saw a lot of speculative bubbles (like the entire crypto market, more on that later) arise from this policy. But the Fed can raise interest rates to 10% and it won’t make a damn bit of difference to fuel prices, which are actually behind the inflation.
4. “Wow, the Fed sure is raising interest rates aggressively and nothing is getting better… this is going to kill the economy.” This is because the inflation is coming primarily from profit-taking in the energy sector and supply chain imbalances, things that will remain unaffected by interest rate hikes. We are being goaded into treating a symptom that will explicitly not address the disease.
5. “Looks like Joe Biden’s overspending led us right into a recession, just like we said it would. Mass unemployment can’t be far behind.” Nevermind that unemployment is at all-time lows… this recession that Biden caused is certainly going to lead to doom and gloom! Good thing the oil and gas companies made record profits throughout all of this — but let’s not mention that!

These false assertions, repeated ad infinitum from every possible media outlet, will guarantee that Democrats lose control of Congress in November. Whatever else people think will motivate voters, pushing fuel and food prices to the point of civil unrest will make it impossible for any other issue to matter. November will be a referendum on energy prices and food prices. Banks are already planning for civil unrest, according to a report obtained by the Byline Times.

This is all, well, really bad, and is going to lead to a lot of pain. But it could have been worse. Parts of their otherwise solid plan to push the economy into disarray are not going to plan.

Here’s what they hoped would also happen: . . .

Continue reading.

Are the Health Benefits of Nuts Limited to Those Eating Bad Diets?

From the video:

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is the highest ranked peer-reviewed scientific journal in nutrition. That should tell you a lot about the field, since it’s published by the American Society of Nutrition, whose sustaining partners include the Sugar Association, candy bar and soda companies, the corn syrup people, and the meat, dairy, and egg industries. And this is the highest ranked nutrition journal. The fact that the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is a sustaining partner may help explain their publication of this article. . . 

The entire video (5 minutes) is worth watching. FWIW, I eat about 1/4 cup of nuts per day, generally walnuts (and 1 brazil nut).

Chana dal and barnyard millet tempeh done — and induction burner note

I started a batch of chana dal and unpolished barnyard millet tempeh three days ago. The photo above shows it when it was cut up to be refrigerated after 75 hours of fermentation That dark spot is, I think, some internal sporing or perhaps just a cavity in the slab. 

This tempeh is quite fine-grained, as you see, and the 50-50 mix of pulse and grain will make it easy to incorporate into my meals. I’ll probably mostly use this batch in a stir-fry with vegetables — for example:

Evo-spray a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil, then add:

• 1 bunch thick scallions, chopped
• 4-5 stalks asparagus, chopped
• 3-4 medium mushrooms, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons walnuts
• 1 jalapeño and/or 2 red cayenne peppers, chopped
• 6-8 oz of chana dal and barnyard millet tempeh, diced small

Sauté that for a while, and as the mushrooms come round, add:

• 1 San Marzano tomato, diced
• 1 Meyer lemon, diced
• 1 cup cooked kale 

Cook until tomatoes break down a little, then serve. I have a no-blender-required lemon-miso sauce I made up (a variant on one of the sauces listed in this post), and I’ll pour some of that over a bowl of this dish.

An induction burner, which is what I use, can interfere with a pacemaker if you get too close, but it’s not a serious problem. I talked to a patient services tech at Boston Scientific about my particular model of the Boston Scientific Accolade MRI EL DR Pacemaker (model L331). He told me that if my pacemaker gets within 12 inches of an induction burner in operation, it will pick up the magnetic field as a signal and (in effect) say, “Okay, I don’t have to send out pacing signals,” and so it will let my heart do its own pacing. As soon as the pacemaker leaves the field, the pacemaker notices that there is no signal, so it resumes its programmed operation. [Note: this comment concerns that particular make and model. Pacemakers vary, so don’t assume that what is true of the Boston Scientific L331 is true of another pacemaker.]

So, basically, no problem. I can just stand back a little with my right side toward the pan (and burner) — and, luckily, I am right-handed — and cook, knowing that even if I move in close and my heart must resort to its own pacing for a few seconds, the pacemaker will resume operation as soon as burner is off or I move away. And I normally don’t stand all that close anyway, plus I can move my portable induction burner farther away, toward the back of my cooking space. That will easily take care of it. I’ll just have to reach a little farther.

Moreover, according to what I’VE READ, the effects of the induction burner’s magnetic field are minimized when (a) a large pan is used, and (b) the pan is centered on the burner. An iron or carbon steel pan, or a magnetic stainless steel pan that works on an induction burner, captures and channels the energy of the induction burner’s magnetic field, using that energy to produce the eddy currents that heat the pan. As a result, the field outside the pan is minimized and has little range.

Here you can see how I moved the induction burner to the back of the cooking space. And note that as I use it, the presence of the wall on the right will automatically keep my left side away — to get my left side directly in front of the burner, I would have to break into the wall (which I will not do).

I believe that this change in induction burner position will present no problem at all, though I will take extra care should I ever have occasion to use a small pan (as last night, when I wanted to cook just 1/2 cup of barnyard millet, measured before cooking).

For my largest skillet, a Field Company No. 12 cast-iron skillet, I shall have to move the burner a little to the left, but that will be fine.