2026-08-01
The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic
Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that the Huanan market was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from activities associated with the live wildlife trade there. Spatial analyses within the market show that SARS-CoV-2–positive environmental samples, including cages, carts, and freezers, were associated with activities concentrated in the southwest corner of the market. This is the same section where vendors were selling live mammals, including raccoon dogs, hog badgers, and red foxes, immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple positive samples were taken from one stall known to have sold live mammals, and the water drain proximal to this stall, as well as other sewerages and a nearby wildlife stall on the southwest side of the market, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (24).
Bill Gates donated $60 billion — and lost $356 billion.
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/bill-gates-donated-60-billion-143500991.html
I read somewhwere that Bill Gates plans to donate the rest of his fortune by the year 2045.
Gates developed such a bad reputation as a ruthless businessman, I wonder if part of his motivation is to improve his image?
2026-07-29
2026-07-28
2026-07-27
Scam Twiced
This is alarming. Scammers are impersonating the FBI itself, specifically the people who handle Internet Crime Complaint Center reports. And they hunt one group above all others: Americans who already lost money to a scam. |
The pitch sounds like mercy: We recovered your funds. We can help you file to get them back. Simply cover the fee. https://thecurrentalerts.komando.com/p/scammed-twice?_bhlid=4eaa234680798ad3bdb45514b5705f029891f88c |
2026-07-25
Nearly 50% of U.S. consumers use TikTok as a search engine
https://www.thekeyword.co/
TikTok is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ByteDance Ltd., a private multinational technology company. While ByteDance's corporate structure includes global institutional investors and founders, a domestic Chinese subsidiary of ByteDance includes a "golden share" held by Chinese state-affiliated entities.
2026-07-24
2026-07-23
Data Center water usage, according to Google AI
Nationally, golf courses use significantly more water than data centers. U.S. golf courses use about 2.08 billion gallons of water per day, compared to approximately 449 million gallons per day for U.S. data centers. [1]
However, the comparison is nuanced:
- Regional Clustering: While golf courses are spread out, data centers cluster in specific metros (like Northern Virginia or Phoenix). This means a server farm can drain localized watersheds much faster than a distributed golf course. [1, 2]
- Exponential Growth: Golf course water use has slightly declined, but data center water usage—driven by cloud computing and AI—is growing by roughly 20% each year, with projections suggesting data centers could rival total golf consumption in the coming years. [1]
- Economic Value: Data centers generate far more tax revenue and economic output per gallon of water used compared to golf courses. [1]
For a deeper dive into regional impacts, check out the Montgomery Advertiser or read the full analysis on Buttondown. [1, 2]
What’s the only country in all four hemispheres??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE_oLmpXpO8
@john2001plus 1 minute ago
@john2001plus 1 minute ago
Why are there 4 hemi-spheres?
I was guessing the United States, because we have 14 official territories in the world.
What about the British Empire? Does it still exist?
2026-07-22
What People Consider Important
You can tell what people consider important by visiting a Kroger store. Half of one aisle is devoted to just coffee and tea. A full aisle, both sides, is devoted to ice cream and frozen treats. However, four full aisles are devoted to alcohol.
YouTube Just Unlocked 10 Hard-to-Find Movies (FREE for a Short Time!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98LobsuDKMk
Rotten Tomatoes scores...
State of Play 84%
The Great Santini 95%
Mystery Men 59%
American Sniper 71%
Inherent Vice 73% (Very weird movie)
Patriots Day 80%
The Right Stuff 96% (One of my all time favorite movies)
The World's End 89% (Pretty goofy, but entertaining)
A Beautiful Mind 74% (Won best picture. I liked it, but with reservations.)
Das Boot 98% (Great submarine movie.)
2026-07-20
Re: Cyclospora
On Sat, Jul 18, 2026 at 5:12 PM Grant wrote:
Here in Utah, Taco Bell is highly suspect because they get their lettuce from Mexico.
For a long time I liked to eat salads. But lettuce doesn't keep very long and now I am highly suspicious of things like that.
I eat Roma tomatoes for the higher lycopene content.
I have concluded that a moderate amount of chips with salsa is healthy, and a good substitute for salads. The high fiber is filling and helps with appetite.
Tortilla chips are high in resistant starch, which is linked to some health benefits.
Google AI says...
Yes, lycopene is highly beneficial. It is a potent antioxidant found in red foods like tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit. It protects your cells from oxidative stress and is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and strokes. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
For maximum benefit, consider these key details:
- Better with fat: Lycopene is fat-soluble. Eating lycopene-rich foods with healthy fats (like cooking tomatoes in olive oil or eating them with avocado) boosts your body's absorption by up to 4.4 times. [1, 2, 3]
- Better when cooked: Heating and processing tomatoes (e.g., in tomato paste, sauce, or salsa) actually makes lycopene more bioavailable than eating them raw. [1]
Yes, salsa contains lycopene. Because tomatoes are the primary ingredient in traditional red salsa, the condiment is packed with this powerful antioxidant. Lycopene is linked to reduced inflammation, better heart health, and a lower risk of certain cancers. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The bioavailability of lycopene actually improves when tomatoes are cooked, processed, or mixed with a little fat (like avocado), making this flavorful condiment an excellent way to boost your daily nutrient intake. [1, 2, 3]
Yes, resistant starch is highly beneficial. It bypasses small intestine digestion, reaching the colon intact to feed beneficial gut bacteria. This produces short-chain fatty acids (like butyrate) that improve gut health, stabilize blood sugar, increase satiety, and support heart health. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key benefits of resistant starch include:
- Blood Sugar Control: Because it resists digestion, it does not cause blood sugar spikes. Some research indicates it can also increase insulin sensitivity. [1, 2]
- Gut Health & Digestion: It acts as a prebiotic, nourishing your microbiome and protecting the lining of the colon, which may lower the risk of colorectal cancer. [1, 2]
- Weight Management: By fueling the production of satiety hormones like GLP-1, it helps you feel full longer. [1]
You can naturally incorporate resistant starch into your diet by eating legumes, seeds, unripe (green) bananas, and whole grains. Additionally, cooking and subsequently cooling starchy carbohydrates (like rice, pasta, and potatoes) turns them into resistant starches. [1, 2]
Yes, corn tortillas contain resistant starch. The traditional process of making them—called nixtamalization, where corn is soaked in an alkaline lime solution—alters the starch and naturally increases resistant starch. [1, 2, 3]
You can boost the resistant starch content even further by cooking and cooling them (e.g., storing them in the fridge), which causes the starches to crystallize and become more resistant to digestion. For example, fresh corn tortillas might contain roughly 2.6 g of resistant starch, but this can increase to over 3.5 g after being chilled in the refrigerator. [1, 2, 3]
Watergate | 5 Minute Video
This reframes the Watergate Scandal as a political struggle between President Nixon and leftists. This is partially correct, but Nixon illegally tried to cover up the scandal, and this was worse than the original crime.
2026-07-19
2026-07-18
Cyclospora
“You can and should continue to eat fruits and vegetables, but you might want to take additional precautions depending on where you live,” says James E. Rogers, PhD, director of food safety at Consumer Reports, who notes that so far, the majority of infections have been reported in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky. “If you’re in one of those states, I recommend avoiding eating lettuce and salad greens until we know more, but currently, there is no data to support avoiding fruits and vegetables generally.”
2026-07-14
2026-07-12
Witnessing the Unstoppable: 31 Moments of Awe and Wonder
I think that my philosophy in life is to not put myself in harm's way.
2026-07-11
Reducing the Risk From Arsenic in Rice - Consumer Reports
Our team tested three cooking methods ...
...adding rice to boiling water, cooking 5 minutes, and then draining the rice and cooking it in fresh water—known as the parboiling and absorption method..
...the parboiling and absorption method reduced the inorganic arsenic content in short- and long-grain brown and white rice by 50 and 58 percent, respectively. This could be a very effective strategy for families looking to reduce arsenic exposure while still eating rice. “In some cultures, people already prepare rice this way, and it appears to have a protective effect,”
Akinleye says. There is also data from other studies indicating that cooking rice like pasta and discarding the excess water can remove between 40 and 60 percent of the arsenic in rice, according to the FDA.
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/arsenic-in-rice-reducing-risk-a8972350937/
Based on this, I think that the boil-in-the-bag method might be the easiest and still helpful.
I haven't cooked rice for years. However, I order Chinese food 2 to 4 times per month.
I own a small rice cooker that I haven't used.
2026-07-10
Moana (2026)
I see that the live action version of Moana scores only 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. Why take a pretty good animated movie and remake it into a dull live action one?
The Lion King is a perfect animated movie, but in 2019 they gave us a new version that is longer and more boring.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moana_2026
2026-07-09
2026-07-07
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