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Holy shit, baking soda (trona ore) really is mined! Yes, in that case, it would offset some of the energy used to mine the ore. And as that PDF lays out, there are many other uses for baking soda. I knew of some (deodorizing, leavening, buffer) but not as a grease/electrical fire retardant. Pretty cool stuff!

Now if only we could turn it into solid rocket fuel! Just add vinegar?

It may be a well made and tasty bacon (I have had TJ's bacon, its not bad at all), but it is definitely cured and definitely contained nitrites. This article explains why sometimes, it can even be labeled "Uncured" despite the fact that it is actually cured (since USDA regulations apparently don't currently include celery-curing): http://fyi.uwex.edu/meats/file...

I don't even know why you would want to eat nitrite-free bacon...it won't taste like bacon and it might give you botulism. Either stick to fresh pork or accept that nitrites are required when consuming cured/smoked/aged pork products.

The Ruhlman/Polcyn charcuterie book doesn't go deep enough into detail, but cites Harold McGee's "On Food And Cooking". I don't have a copy, so I've tried to find some other sources.

• Ruhlman writes about "Uncured" and "No Nitrites or Nitrates Added" Bacon. Of particular note is his link to his article about meat curing safety concerns where he talks about the actual dangers of nitrites (only a few grams of sodium nitrite can kill you, which is partly why curing salt is only ~6% sodium nitrite).
• Very interesting article on how little nitrites even come from cured meat

  . 400+ hotdogs (or quite a lot of bacon) has fewer nitrites than a single serving of Arugula (a whole foods favorite) or 4 servings of celery or beets.

• Fact Sheet from American Meat Institute. Possibly biased source, but has some discussion of how beets/celery are used to create cured meats (which by definition include nitrites).
• UW-Madison Meat Laboratory pamphlet. Has some good discussion of what the different terminology on meat product labeling means. Particularly of note is the USDA rules that allow you to call products cured with non-traditional sources of nitrites "uncured" despite the fact that they are cured. Also discusses how meats only make up 5% of our nitrite intake and ~90% of the nitriate and nitrite added to meats is broken down and converted to other compounds, leaving very little behind.
• Some discussion on the curing process from one of the better sausage resources online. Cited for discussion of actual quantities and ratios of curing salts needed to work. You need about 50ppm to be effective, the FDA asks for 156ppm to ensure enough curing plus a safe amount of nitrites. If whole foods is selling it, you can be sure it meets these requirements.
• I recognize that I have yet to provide a source that substantiates the claim that the celery-bacon may have more nitrates than traditional bacon. According to this abstract (can't access the full paper), it is not possible/difficult to "analytically measure the amount of nitrite produced by this [alternative] process" (since nitrites break down and while you can measure their presence after the fact, you can't measure their presence in the initial curing)
• This GOOD article references a study that found more nitrites in the alternative bacon than in traditional. Unfortunately it is not available without a subscription (I think I actually remember reading that article which is probably why I made my original post, but my paper-subscription to Cooks Illustrated does not include online access).

Hope some of this answers your questions (or points you in the right direction if you have journal access). My takeaway from it all is that it really doesn't matter. There is so little of it present in cured meats compared to other foods that are never even questioned that it seems like a total red-herring used to sell one brand over another (like

Typical domestic animal control fences carry a non-lethal charge of from 2,000 volts to 10,000 volts. It's not the voltage that kills you, it's the current.
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/energizer.pdf

A different report says this can happen in any type of grass. http://www.uwex.edu/ces/forage/pubs/sorghum.htm Young plants, including roots, and leaves of older plants contain a compound called dhurrin which can break down to release a substance called prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide (HCN). The recommendation is not to graze or cut for green chop until the plant is 18 to 20 inches tall.

The real target here was the federal stimulus money (NTIA, BTOP) that was being used to create coops in Wisconsin. The Building Community Capacity through Broadband project which would have connected together anchor institutions (city and county governments, libraries, schools, hospitals) and allow them to buy bandwidth wholesale rather than retail. That did not sit too well with some telecom folks and in the press they are saying that the University should not compete with the private sector. Well the University has to get bandwith in most of the state anyway to feed the various Univ of Wisc campuses. So including some school systems in the process makes sense if you believe in efficiency and cost savings. Gov Walker is "open for business" so he does not believe in government efficiency.

WiscNet was, as I understand it a secondary concern, although the telecoms have wanted it to die for a decades. It is the same pattern of schools banding together and riding together on common infrastructure. ATT would like that to go away with WiscNet in favor of Badgernet which they run or even better, from their point of view, to sell everyone T-1 lines retail.

This is the second effort for this. The first successful effort (from ATT's perspective) was to give back $37 million of the same stimulus money (NTIA, BTOP) for a different state run project. The spin there was that the Feds did not want to give the money to a private company. But insiders tell me that it was not the feds but ATT. ( wisconsins-stimulus-rejection-too-many-strings-or-too-much-scrutiny)

15 years later and hunters will still defend their pass time with the fervor of a rabid PETA campaigner, or Muslim cleric. Saving the world you know. Thinning pests, and over population of grazing animals...

Hi there, hunter here from Wisconsin. Do you know that there are more deer in Wisconsin than before it was settled? It's true. And do you know why? There are no more wolves. The deer have no natural predators any more. Every year deer cost millions of dollars in crop damage and insurance claims. Almost 27000 deer/car collisions a year.* $28 million in crop damage.** They also destroy forests by eating new growth faster than it can recover. Yes they are cute and many people are afraid of guns due to ignorance and inexperience, but don't let that stop you from actually getting the facts.

And trust me, all the shitheads that want to go around poaching and shooting road signs and transformers piss off every decent hunter out there that has to defend themselves against stories like these. It's not the guns or the hunting that's the problem, it's STUPID PEOPLE.

* http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/HUNT/DEER/CKDFY10.pdf
** http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/G3083.pdf

Those papers are way outdated.

http://wihort.uwex.edu/flowers/greenhousegases.htm

"CO2 levels of 300ppm are generally what are needed for good plant growth, while levels above 1200ppm can become injurious. CO2 deficiency can occur in greenhouses that are closed up in winter to conserve heat. When CO2 is limiting, plant growth slows resulting in stunted plants and delayed maturity. Conversely, too much CO2 will also stunt plants but this is usually accompanied by chlorosis or necrosis of the foliage"

"Measuring a child's behaviour with adult criteria is inappropriate."

Only to a certain extent. You treat your children like kids, and they never learn to be adults. You're not raising a child... you're raising an adult. If they're constantly "protected", they'll learn that nothing is their fault or problem, their parents will take care of things for them, and that's why we have things like more grandparents than ever taking care of grandchildren as primary caregivers.

As for figures, I'd charge you to prove it wrong, but since that is no way to start a debate. here is an old article. I was actually having a hard time finding facts. This interview might also provide some insight. This place actually has some numbers. I'll leave it at this for now and see if you can counter my statements with numbers as well.

Would you call this a motor than?

This event is primarily targeted at the media, Apple Retail stores, and Apple corporate offices around the country. It's not like Apple thinks people are just going to pull out their 12 foot C-band dish and start watching this; it wasn't intended to be a "public" or webcast event (in fact, the original release was likely intended to be a Media Alert release and not a full blown public press release, as it was pulled from Apple's press release page).

That said, the University of Wisconsin - Madison will be hosting the event live at the Pyle Center. It will be open to the public. For details, see:

04.28.2003 Apple Media Event Coverage