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Cake day: June 13th, 2024

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  • I visited Panama for an agricultural trip about a decade ago where we focused on coffee agriculture and production. Coincidentally, there are some coffees that blend in beans or peanuts to mellow the flavor. This is usually done for cheaper coffees that use robusto beans instead of arabica. It’s also to relieve some of the acrid taste that can develop during the drying out process if the beans are dried around animal droppings.

    If you’re interested in what a mellowed coffee would taste like, I think chock full of nuts is a brand you can try in the states.

    Edit: ok so I did some more research and it appears that chock full o nuts likely no longer does this, they just have typical coffee nowadays. I’ll leave it to you other internet sleuths to find a brand that does.


  • Right? Why do civilizations fight wars anyway? If not flat out colonialism and dick measuring, then It’s usually for resources, maybe protection for cultural exclaves if it serves the nation’s geopolitical interest.

    All that is to say, Russians are not Chinese. And I don’t think many Eastern Russians would welcome the switch. So, China would be instigating a lot of strife for minimal gains.

    Taiwan on the other hand, I can at least understand. I don’t agree with the stance, not in the least, primarily because I believe democracy is superior to communism. Nevertheless, if I had my adversaries 100 miles off my border and their existence hampered me economically and militarily, then I absolutely would subjugate them in any way possible.







  • Hillary got buttery maled and blue walled.

    She was exceptionally equipped and would have made for a fine president, after all, she was the one who advocated for Obamacare back in the 90s, (which you may know, was actually a republican plan first, back when republicans used to win New England states).

    All that is to say, people like to think Hillary wouldn’t have moved the country to the left, but she most certainly would have. Her public perception may not have been as left as Bernie, and perception absolutely matters (see Joe B). However, like Biden, I think she had such control of the political machinery that she would have been much more effective at putting those plans to action.

    The reason I say all of this is, some our most left leaning policies have been enacted by presidents who were elected from the center (Johnson, Clinton, Biden).







  • There are some alternatives to cheese that are pretty good. I’m an omnivore but my wife has convinced me that there are some good vegetarian options out there. Might be worth exploring if the low-fat cheese isn’t palatable.

    • Cashew cream on enchiladas is fantastic
    • the fake shredded cheese made out of almond isn’t so bad. We use it on salads, chili, etc. It’s expensive though.
    • TVP gives things that umami flavor, good in chili, but it more so acts like ground beef. Don’t put too much in.
    • Blended tofu with nutritional yeast acts as a very good ricotta substitute (coincidentally tofu also makes for a very good chocolate pie)

    With this, and trimming down my meat consumption to just a few times a week, as well as a little exercise, I’ve kept my LDL numbers below my late 20s highs, which were borderline - I’m nearing two decades older now.




  • I think it’s that PayPal was one of the firsts to provide a method for collecting credit card transactions electronically.

    Before PayPal, you’d often have to visit a website, then call the phone number for the seller to collect payment.

    eBay needed paypal because their sellers were often not businesses, just people yardsaling stuff online.

    Coincidentally, I interned at a PayPal competitor in 1998 that went under during the bust. We had an electronic interface through MS access, but it was a still a human entering in the CC number into one of those dial pads on our side and then confirming the transaction. I’m sure with all of the concerns around security nowadays that you can understand why that was a terrible long term business model.