The BBC article isn't clear about it, but the bitter saponins are in tiny, thin shells that are around the individual quinoa seeds. The bad-tasting saponins protect the quinoa from birds.
You can get rid of the coating, but it's messy - the shells go all over the place, and they're hard to clean up. (Maybe I do it wrong.) After you remove the coating, you cook the quinoa, and it tastes good.
You can buy quinoa whose saponins have already been removed (ready to cook), but a box of that quinoa is more expensive.
Some good news re. H-1Bs: N.R. Narayana Murthy, the president of Infosys, said
Indian software companies must truly become multicultural. They must recruit American citizen [and] American residents in the U.S., they must recruit Canadians in Canada, British people in Britain, etc. . . . we should stop using H-1B visas and sending a large number of Indians to those countries to deliver services.
I don't know if he means it, or if he's just talking. But the fact that he's at least admitting the possibility of hiring Americans is a step in the right direction. We'll see what he follows up his words with deeds.
The article also says,
U.S. officials say the H-1B program suffers from fraud and extensive corruption, especially in India where inflated resumes and faked documentation are used to get poorly trained and poorly paid Indian workers into American job sites.
If you want to reward someone for doing a good job, you can tell a manager (look for someone walking around the store who looks like a manager), or go to the store's "Customer Service" department, and tell them. Be specific as to how that person was helpful.
Once in a busy pre-Christmas shopping season, a store employee went out of his way to help me. I told a manager, who was walking around the store, how much that employee had helped me. About 1/2 later, the employee rushed up to me all happy. He thanked me for telling the manager how helpful he had been. He said that because of what I'd said, he'd gotten a star (whatever that is) and a bonus.
1) Colleges should let students earn certificates in their field of study. (This is in contrast to a BS degree, which requires both the major field classes, and also "General Education (GE)" classes.) Let the certificate students take only the classes related to their major, if that's what they prefer. That would save the students the time and money of the GE classes, and it would free up the GE classes for other students.
2) Employers should be open to the idea of students learning in a non-traditional setting. Here's one way to ensure that the job applicant has learned what they need to know: Companies can form a "Testing Group". In this group of companies, managers and heads of departments can send in test questions. These are questions on subjects that they care about, not necessarily standard textbook questions. Build up collections of these questions. Then when I apply for a job, I take a test of these questions. The software running the test can choose a random question on the subject of scope, and a random question on the subject of security, etc.
3) Find out how the schools are spending their money. Trump should hire three people to write questions about the finances of colleges and universities. The people should be: an expert on the subject of college finances, a CPA, and a lawyer. First clearly define terms (what is a "part-time student"?). Then ask 20 or 30 questions about school operations and finances. How many students, how many teachers, how many dollars, etc. Make the schools answer these questions for each of the last 25 years, so that we can see trends in spending. The answers to the questions must be signed by the school president, and by the school's chief financial officer.
Let the school write a verbal explanation of its numbers, if they want to, but I want to see those numbers.
After the US government gets the answers from a school, it puts the answers on the Internet. The government should set up the web page so that you can compare one school to another. Also it puts the answers into files that you can download, so that you can do your own analysis. (Put the numbers into CSV, SQL INSERT INTO statements, and JavaScript statements that set the numbers into variables.)
After posting the information for a particular school, the federal government can't authorize any aid for that school for 30 days. During the 30 days, the government, public, and newspapers can read the numbers ("They're spending that much on the bureaucracy?!?"). The government might demand that the school change its spending, before the government gives it any more aid.
Also have a similar set of questions for the statewide bureaucracy (state regents, chancellors, trustees, etc.), including the salaries, perks such as free housing, and retirement pay of these people.
Does anyone here have any recent experience with Sonic? It used to get great reviews in Yelp. But recently there have been a lot of Yelp reviews by people who had a hard time getting the service set up. DSLReports has better reviews regarding getting the service set up.
Try explaining any of this to Apple fanatics. Every time I bring any of these issues up I'm immediately labeled a troll because some guy who edits 4K video professionally loves his new MacBook Pro.
I'm a Mac user, and I don't know any Mac fanatics who defend everything that Apple does.
And Mac-related publications don't give Apple a free pass. For example, here's a Macworld article by a senior contributor, that calls for bigger batteries in Apple laptops, even if bigger batteries mean thicker laptops.
Hey Apple, it's time to give up thinness for a bigger battery... If Apple insists on making its devices thinner and lighter, there simply won’t be enough room for batteries that last all day in real-world situations.... Thinness or more battery? I’ll take more battery.
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard Zuck: Just ask Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one? Zuck: People just submitted it. Zuck: I don't know why. Zuck: They "trust me" Zuck: Dumb fucks
China grabs islands, and steals our drone, because they can get away with it.
Suppose Taiwan declared independence. China would probably tell us, "If you support the declaration, we'll stop selling you the electronic goods that we make."
We need to make up a list of all important items (electronics etc.) that we buy from China. Then write laws that will result in those items being made in the US.
Last Wednesday, Trump met with IT leaders. I'd guess part of the meeting had to do with manufacturing in the US. I hope the meeting went well.
I think the best solution to the H1B issue is to legislate a minimum wage of $100k/yr, as Ted Cruz had proposed when he was still running.
I agree that Congress should make it expensive to hire H-1Bs. But instead of giving higher pay to non-US citizens, let's have a federal tax of $50,000 per year per H-1B.
The money might go into a special fund that gives job training to US citizens, in skills that are in short supply. For example, Tim Cook said Apple makes its products in China because
The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills. I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.
So let's use a $50,000 per year per H-1B tax to train more American tool and die makers, making the US a more attractive country in which to manufacture.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he would not allow Americans to be replaced by foreign workers, in an apparent reference to cases like that of Disney World and other American companies wherein people hired on H-1B visas, including Indians, displaced US workers.
"We will fight to protect every last American life," Mr Trump told thousands of his supporters in Iowa on Thursday as he referred to the cases of Disney world and other US companies.
We'll see how hard he pushes Congress on this matter.
“We pay competitive wages — all permanent and temporary Amazon associates start on £7.35 an hour or above regardless of age and £11 an hour and above for overtime.”
1 British pound = $1.27. So the pay rates are $9.33 straight time, and $13.97 overtime.
If over 40 hours/week is considered overtime, then 60 hours of work there is 40 hours straight time + 20 hours overtime, and the pay is (40 * $9.33) + (20 * $13.97) = $373.20 + $279.40 = $652.60.
If "The fares the company charge for transport swallow up a lot of the weekly wage" then the shuttle service must be expensive. I wonder how far away from work the employees live. Maybe the employees who don't own a car can commute with employees who do own one, or take public transportation.
Heh, I'll skip the gun. I don't own one, and don't know how to use one. If sometime I had to use a gun, my first questions would be, "Where's the safety catch, and how do you set it or unset it?"
The summary says "Donald Trump supporters", among others, fostered the rumor. The summary should say "some Donald Trump supporters".
I voted for Trump, and I would never spread rumors like that about anyone. Anonymously spreading this kind of rumor is cowardly and unfair, and can lead to violence.
I'm very glad that no one was hurt physically, although the people who work there must be suffering emotionally. My best wishes to them. If I were in the area, I'd stop by for pizza there, to show my support for them.
I don't know if the engineers are American. The website of website Millennium Partners is written in English and Chinese. The right side of their Contact Us web page lists offices in four cities: Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai and Singapore. And the bottom of that page lists those cities, plus Kuala Lumpur.
"We don't serve your kind here" is not something to cheer for.
Refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding is not the same thing as refusing service at a restaurant.
1) The bakery owners weren't refusing all service to gay couples. They didn't say, "I won't serve you as a customer because you're gay." or "I won't sell you this donut because you're gay." They were refusing to support gay marriage. The bakery owners were rejecting gay marriage, not gay customers.
2) Suppose a gay couple was offended by the refusal to bake a cake, and they wanted to force the bakery owner to voice support for them. So they sue the bakery owner, and say they'll only be satisfied when the owner stands in front of a TV news camera, holds a sign that says, "I support gay marriage", and says into the mike and camera that he/she supports gay marriage. That demand would be going too far, right? You and I disagree with the bakery owners, but we have no right to force them to state that they support gay marriage. I think the bakery owners see the wedding cakes this way. I think they see making the cakes as a symbol or statement that they support gay marriage.
In case you're wondering, I have nothing against gay/lesbian weddings. (In fact I'm all for them, because I think overpopulation is one of mankind's biggest problems, and gay/lesbian couples tend to produce fewer children than straight couples.) I just hate to see the bakery owners be pressured to bake a cake, which symbolizes that they agree with gay marriage, when they don't agree with it.
Twitter says it doesn't tolerate "hateful conduct". That's pretty vague.
I think US borders should be guarded so that people can only come here legally. Does Twitter consider that statement hateful?
Does Twitter consider showing pictures of the US flag on Cinco de Mayo hateful? These Americans were called "Racist a–holes” for flying the American flag in the US on Cinco de Mayo at a school. At the school,
officials had banned the practice to avoid violence threatened by Hispanic students celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The controversy developed in 2010, when school officials ordered students not to wear U.S. flag-themed shirts on the Mexican holiday. The ban has been upheld by a federal appeals court.
Does a picture of someone wearing a Trump hat "interrupt... operations"?
If you say the words "he", "she", "him" and "her", are you being hateful because those words make gay people feel "marginalized"?
The last three examples are extreme, but they illustrate my point. Twitter has to be careful not to ban political statements because they don't agree with the statements. They should ban statements only if the author is trying to incite violence.
This web page lists the Firefly cast members. Ron Glass is the only cast member who has died.
Still, if another Firefly TV show or movie is to be made, they need to make it soon. Actors/actresses get older, and might gain weight or die. If a follow-up show were made today, they'd have to explain why the cast looked so much older.
Spoiler: (Shepherd Book and Hoban Washburne died in the movie. But something might happen to the other cast members.)/Spoiler
My favorite actor/actress was Adam Baldwin. He had lots of charisma and energy. Nathan Fillion was a close second.
For those of you who like books, I recommend these books on JavaScript:
1) "The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript", by Nicholas C. Zakas. That book is great. And if anyone can tell me what the picture is on the front of the book, I'd appreciate it! (Is it a factory?)
2) The series of books "You Don't Know JS", by Kyle Simpson.
Here's the list of the latest Medal of Freedom recipients.
That web page says
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
I'd like to see medals given to people who routinely save lives, like doctors, nurses, and emergency responders. If not the Medal of Freedom, then some other medal.
Also people who bring us our food and water, like farmers and water utility workers. We can live a matter of days without water, and weeks without food. So farmers and water utility workers are super important. But when's the last time you heard of a farmer getting a medal for producing a good crop, or a water utility worker getting a medal for supplying clean water?
Also caring teachers in the inner cities should get medals.
And people who risk their lives to rescue others in need, like these people.
China may just cut off access to rare earth metals to US companies, call in a huge wad of debt they hold in the US, etc. . . . As for "bring home manufacturing", do you have any idea how many YEARS away that is, and thats just the build the factories, then there is the new power generation needed, improved infrastructure (roads, rail, water, power lines etc).
We should not have gotten into a situation, in which we depend on China for raw materials and finished goods. It will be hard to reverse the situation. But the sooner we start, the better.
Maybe we should start becoming independent of China a little bit at a time, instead of all at once. But I see no advantage to doing nothing.
Slashdot Mirror
The BBC article isn't clear about it, but the bitter saponins are in tiny, thin shells that are around the individual quinoa seeds. The bad-tasting saponins protect the quinoa from birds.
You can get rid of the coating, but it's messy - the shells go all over the place, and they're hard to clean up. (Maybe I do it wrong.) After you remove the coating, you cook the quinoa, and it tastes good.
You can buy quinoa whose saponins have already been removed (ready to cook), but a box of that quinoa is more expensive.
Some good news re. H-1Bs: N.R. Narayana Murthy, the president of Infosys, said
Indian software companies must truly become multicultural. They must recruit American citizen [and] American residents in the U.S., they must recruit Canadians in Canada, British people in Britain, etc. . . . we should stop using H-1B visas and sending a large number of Indians to those countries to deliver services.
I don't know if he means it, or if he's just talking. But the fact that he's at least admitting the possibility of hiring Americans is a step in the right direction. We'll see what he follows up his words with deeds.
The article also says,
U.S. officials say the H-1B program suffers from fraud and extensive corruption, especially in India where inflated resumes and faked documentation are used to get poorly trained and poorly paid Indian workers into American job sites.
DL just recently bought their software back in house
On the web page that lists open IT jobs for Delta, most jobs are in Atlanta, GA, and a few are in Minneapolis, MN.
I don't know how many of their IT employees are H-1Bs, though.
If you want to reward someone for doing a good job, you can tell a manager (look for someone walking around the store who looks like a manager), or go to the store's "Customer Service" department, and tell them. Be specific as to how that person was helpful.
Once in a busy pre-Christmas shopping season, a store employee went out of his way to help me. I told a manager, who was walking around the store, how much that employee had helped me. About 1/2 later, the employee rushed up to me all happy. He thanked me for telling the manager how helpful he had been. He said that because of what I'd said, he'd gotten a star (whatever that is) and a bonus.
To lower the cost of education:
1) Colleges should let students earn certificates in their field of study. (This is in contrast to a BS degree, which requires both the major field classes, and also "General Education (GE)" classes.) Let the certificate students take only the classes related to their major, if that's what they prefer. That would save the students the time and money of the GE classes, and it would free up the GE classes for other students.
2) Employers should be open to the idea of students learning in a non-traditional setting. Here's one way to ensure that the job applicant has learned what they need to know: Companies can form a "Testing Group". In this group of companies, managers and heads of departments can send in test questions. These are questions on subjects that they care about, not necessarily standard textbook questions. Build up collections of these questions. Then when I apply for a job, I take a test of these questions. The software running the test can choose a random question on the subject of scope, and a random question on the subject of security, etc.
3) Find out how the schools are spending their money. Trump should hire three people to write questions about the finances of colleges and universities. The people should be: an expert on the subject of college finances, a CPA, and a lawyer. First clearly define terms (what is a "part-time student"?). Then ask 20 or 30 questions about school operations and finances. How many students, how many teachers, how many dollars, etc. Make the schools answer these questions for each of the last 25 years, so that we can see trends in spending. The answers to the questions must be signed by the school president, and by the school's chief financial officer.
Let the school write a verbal explanation of its numbers, if they want to, but I want to see those numbers.
After the US government gets the answers from a school, it puts the answers on the Internet. The government should set up the web page so that you can compare one school to another. Also it puts the answers into files that you can download, so that you can do your own analysis. (Put the numbers into CSV, SQL INSERT INTO statements, and JavaScript statements that set the numbers into variables.)
After posting the information for a particular school, the federal government can't authorize any aid for that school for 30 days. During the 30 days, the government, public, and newspapers can read the numbers ("They're spending that much on the bureaucracy?!?"). The government might demand that the school change its spending, before the government gives it any more aid.
Also have a similar set of questions for the statewide bureaucracy (state regents, chancellors, trustees, etc.), including the salaries, perks such as free housing, and retirement pay of these people.
Does anyone here have any recent experience with Sonic? It used to get great reviews in Yelp. But recently there have been a lot of Yelp reviews by people who had a hard time getting the service set up. DSLReports has better reviews regarding getting the service set up.
Try explaining any of this to Apple fanatics. Every time I bring any of these issues up I'm immediately labeled a troll because some guy who edits 4K video professionally loves his new MacBook Pro.
I'm a Mac user, and I don't know any Mac fanatics who defend everything that Apple does.
And Mac-related publications don't give Apple a free pass. For example, here's a Macworld article by a senior contributor, that calls for bigger batteries in Apple laptops, even if bigger batteries mean thicker laptops.
Hey Apple, it's time to give up thinness for a bigger battery ... ...
If Apple insists on making its devices thinner and lighter, there simply won’t be enough room for batteries that last all day in real-world situations.
Thinness or more battery? I’ll take more battery.
Here's a quote from Mark Zuckerberg:
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks
I'm willing to pay more for a phone that's not made in China.
China grabs islands, and steals our drone, because they can get away with it.
Suppose Taiwan declared independence. China would probably tell us, "If you support the declaration, we'll stop selling you the electronic goods that we make."
We need to make up a list of all important items (electronics etc.) that we buy from China. Then write laws that will result in those items being made in the US.
Last Wednesday, Trump met with IT leaders. I'd guess part of the meeting had to do with manufacturing in the US. I hope the meeting went well.
I think the best solution to the H1B issue is to legislate a minimum wage of $100k/yr, as Ted Cruz had proposed when he was still running.
I agree that Congress should make it expensive to hire H-1Bs. But instead of giving higher pay to non-US citizens, let's have a federal tax of $50,000 per year per H-1B.
The money might go into a special fund that gives job training to US citizens, in skills that are in short supply. For example, Tim Cook said Apple makes its products in China because
The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills. I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.
So let's use a $50,000 per year per H-1B tax to train more American tool and die makers, making the US a more attractive country in which to manufacture.
It's a loophole that has been abused too many times to count and there's absolutely no sign that it will ever be closed.
This NDTV article states,
President-elect Donald Trump has said he would not allow Americans to be replaced by foreign workers, in an apparent reference to cases like that of Disney World and other American companies wherein people hired on H-1B visas, including Indians, displaced US workers.
"We will fight to protect every last American life," Mr Trump told thousands of his supporters in Iowa on Thursday as he referred to the cases of Disney world and other US companies.
We'll see how hard he pushes Congress on this matter.
The Courier article states,
“We pay competitive wages — all permanent and temporary Amazon associates start on £7.35 an hour or above regardless of age and £11 an hour and above for overtime.”
1 British pound = $1.27. So the pay rates are $9.33 straight time, and $13.97 overtime.
If over 40 hours/week is considered overtime,
then 60 hours of work there is 40 hours straight time + 20 hours overtime,
and the pay is (40 * $9.33) + (20 * $13.97) = $373.20 + $279.40 = $652.60.
If "The fares the company charge for transport swallow up a lot of the weekly wage" then the shuttle service must be expensive. I wonder how far away from work the employees live. Maybe the employees who don't own a car can commute with employees who do own one, or take public transportation.
Heh, I'll skip the gun. I don't own one, and don't know how to use one. If sometime I had to use a gun, my first questions would be, "Where's the safety catch, and how do you set it or unset it?"
The summary says "Donald Trump supporters", among others, fostered the rumor. The summary should say "some Donald Trump supporters".
I voted for Trump, and I would never spread rumors like that about anyone. Anonymously spreading this kind of rumor is cowardly and unfair, and can lead to violence.
I'm very glad that no one was hurt physically, although the people who work there must be suffering emotionally. My best wishes to them. If I were in the area, I'd stop by for pizza there, to show my support for them.
I don't know if the engineers are American. The website of website Millennium Partners is written in English and Chinese. The right side of their Contact Us web page lists offices in four cities: Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai and Singapore. And the bottom of that page lists those cities, plus Kuala Lumpur.
Sorry, I had an extra open quote tag at the beginning. That's why my whole post has an extra line down the left side.
"We don't serve your kind here" is not something to cheer for.
Refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding is not the same thing as refusing service at a restaurant.
1) The bakery owners weren't refusing all service to gay couples. They didn't say, "I won't serve you as a customer because you're gay." or "I won't sell you this donut because you're gay." They were refusing to support gay marriage. The bakery owners were rejecting gay marriage, not gay customers.
2) Suppose a gay couple was offended by the refusal to bake a cake, and they wanted to force the bakery owner to voice support for them. So they sue the bakery owner, and say they'll only be satisfied when the owner stands in front of a TV news camera, holds a sign that says, "I support gay marriage", and says into the mike and camera that he/she supports gay marriage. That demand would be going too far, right? You and I disagree with the bakery owners, but we have no right to force them to state that they support gay marriage. I think the bakery owners see the wedding cakes this way. I think they see making the cakes as a symbol or statement that they support gay marriage.
In case you're wondering, I have nothing against gay/lesbian weddings. (In fact I'm all for them, because I think overpopulation is one of mankind's biggest problems, and gay/lesbian couples tend to produce fewer children than straight couples.) I just hate to see the bakery owners be pressured to bake a cake, which symbolizes that they agree with gay marriage, when they don't agree with it.
Twitter says it doesn't tolerate "hateful conduct". That's pretty vague.
I think US borders should be guarded so that people can only come here legally. Does Twitter consider that statement hateful?
Does Twitter consider showing pictures of the US flag on Cinco de Mayo hateful? These Americans were called "Racist a–holes” for flying the American flag in the US on Cinco de Mayo at a school. At the school,
officials had banned the practice to avoid violence threatened by Hispanic students celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The controversy developed in 2010, when school officials ordered students not to wear U.S. flag-themed shirts on the Mexican holiday. The ban has been upheld by a federal appeals court.
Does a picture of someone wearing a Trump hat "interrupt ... operations"?
If you say the words "he", "she", "him" and "her", are you being hateful because those words make gay people feel "marginalized"?
The last three examples are extreme, but they illustrate my point. Twitter has to be careful not to ban political statements because they don't agree with the statements. They should ban statements only if the author is trying to incite violence.
This web page lists the Firefly cast members. Ron Glass is the only cast member who has died.
Still, if another Firefly TV show or movie is to be made, they need to make it soon. Actors/actresses get older, and might gain weight or die. If a follow-up show were made today, they'd have to explain why the cast looked so much older.
Spoiler: (Shepherd Book and Hoban Washburne died in the movie. But something might happen to the other cast members.) /Spoiler
My favorite actor/actress was Adam Baldwin. He had lots of charisma and energy. Nathan Fillion was a close second.
I'm not sure what your point is. If I stay healthy, that helps both me and the company that I work for. What's wrong with that?
For those of you who like books, I recommend these books on JavaScript:
1) "The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript", by Nicholas C. Zakas. That book is great. And if anyone can tell me what the picture is on the front of the book, I'd appreciate it! (Is it a factory?)
2) The series of books "You Don't Know JS", by Kyle Simpson.
Here's the list of the latest Medal of Freedom recipients.
That web page says
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
I'd like to see medals given to people who routinely save lives, like doctors, nurses, and emergency responders. If not the Medal of Freedom, then some other medal.
Also people who bring us our food and water, like farmers and water utility workers. We can live a matter of days without water, and weeks without food. So farmers and water utility workers are super important. But when's the last time you heard of a farmer getting a medal for producing a good crop, or a water utility worker getting a medal for supplying clean water?
Also caring teachers in the inner cities should get medals.
And people who risk their lives to rescue others in need, like these people.
Who else should get a medal?
I'm willing to pay more for a product that's made in the US, or at least not made in China.
Also I'm an AAPL shareholder, and I want Apple to move more of its manufacturing out of China, even if that hurts AAPL stock price.
I can't speak for anyone else, but that's what I want.
China may just cut off access to rare earth metals to US companies, call in a huge wad of debt they hold in the US, etc.
. . .
As for "bring home manufacturing", do you have any idea how many YEARS away that is, and thats just the build the factories, then there is the new power generation needed, improved infrastructure (roads, rail, water, power lines etc).
We should not have gotten into a situation, in which we depend on China for raw materials and finished goods. It will be hard to reverse the situation. But the sooner we start, the better.
Maybe we should start becoming independent of China a little bit at a time, instead of all at once. But I see no advantage to doing nothing.