Mostly Untrue.... How to Lie with Facts part whatever...

A couple months back I wrote a few posts in a row about how we are lied to using common misunderstandings about science, basic facts, statistics, percentages and the like...

Time to address another one...

So, popular facebook meme:

True or Not?

MOSTLY untrue...

The first part of it being mostly untrue, is that McDonalds has announced that it already does not use "mechanically separated and recovered beef slurry" in most of their patties in most of their locations; and that for those who do, they will cease doing so.

For the other part of it being mostly untrue... that's where we get into lying with science, and misapplication and overgeneralization etc...

Its a semantic issue, and a matter of lying using the facts without context.

Yes, every major food processors lower cost frozen beef patties are made at least in part, with mechanically separated and recovered beef (the same is true of chicken patties and nuggets).

First thing there is, mechanically separated beef IS "real" beef. It just looks gross and has no texture.

Now... Some of it, from some processors, is cleansed with ammonia, from others it isn't.

However, in either case, it is generally cleansed, neutralized, flushed and rinsed with either saline solution or pure distilled water, and only trace amounts of ammonia remain.

Also, this is a standard technique... in fact, sometimes an FDA MANDATED technique... for maintaining sanitation in all processed meats including ground beef and beef that has been broken down into primals and subprimals at a processing facility (i.e. anything smaller than a side of beef that gets shipped to your supermarket for their own butchers to break down... which means almost all beef sold in the U.S. today; generally referred to as "boxed beef").

In any case, what remains in the food product prior to shipment is so low as to require a lab to detect it... Lower than the levels likely to be present in your own kitchen.

Mechanically separated meat is indistinguishable in lab tests from other meat except in that when handled properly it actually has LESS chemical trace AND less pathogen trace, than most ground beef.

Further, it has been in used for over 100 years, and it does NOT cause cancer.

Nor does ammonia in the extremely tiny amounts remaining in any food product. If it did, we would all get cancer from the trace amounts of ammonia left in our kitchens from using windex.

So.. you can't say it's absolutely 100% false... and some of the bare facts are at least in part correct... But basically the graphic is a lie.

The meme itself by the way was created by an anti-meat raw food advocacy group, who run the website "rawforbeauty.com".

Whipping it out for Og

No, I haven't suddenly gone all "black plastic mack" flasher... I'm responding to Ogs meme about pocket knives:

Take the knife out of your pocket and take a picture of it, and post it. Or post a picture of the same knife from a brochure or whatever.


No, not your favorite knife, or your prettiest, but the one that never leaves your side.

This is my most common daily carry pocket knife:

It's a first production run Mel Pardue Ambush, made by Benchmade in mid 2003, when they were still making these in the U.S.

I've probably carried it in my left front pants pocket 8 days out of ten since I bought it in early 2004... and it certainly shows.

That said, the blade is great, I keep it incredibly sharp, it handles well... I love it. In particular I love the size of it.

Most pocket knives are too small for me, this one most definitely is not; with a 4.25" plain edge blade (4" sharpened length), and a 4.75" hilt, .5" thick and 1.25" wide at the widest, it's one of the few pocket knives out there that actually fills my hand, and gives me a blade long enough to balance properly. Also the action is so smooth I can flick it open quick as an automatic, and flick it closed faster.

Unfortunately, the Ambush has been discontinued by Benchmade (Mel Pardue will still make you one if you want though, with any decoration or hilt you want... but he aint cheap, and his backlog is I think about two years at this point), as most people seem to think it's too big for a pocket knife. The "mini ambush" was also offered up until recently, but it only has a 3" blade, and a polymer hilt.

I have plenty of other pocket knives; from expensive high end custom pieces, to $10 "superknife" utility blade type folders, and I do carry them sometimes... but the ambush is my default knife to pickup and clip to my pocket every morning.

Robb and Phil can have their Ford Earthfuckers... I prefer my ...

100 Books

It's memetastic!

I saw this one on facebook, and thought I'd play.

The meme says:

"The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?"

But it's BS. There is nothing of the sort related to the BBC, except a 100 most popular book list, which doesn't look much like this list.

Anyway, it should be interesting.

Instructions:

Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read. Tag other book nerds.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen -X-
   
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien -X-
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte -X-
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling -X- (actually 7 books)
   
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee -X-
6. The Bible -X-
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte -X-
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell -X-
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman -X- (actually 3 books)
   
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens -X-
    
    10 for 10
    
    
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott -X-
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy -X-
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller -X-
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare -X- (poems and plays, not really books but OK)
    
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier -X-
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien -X-
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
    
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger -X-
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger -X-
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot - (seen the miniseries, but never read the book)
    
    18 for 20
    
    
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell -X-
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald -X-
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens -X-
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy -X-
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams -X-
26. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky -X-
27. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck -X-
28. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll -X-
29. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame -X-
30. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy -X-
    
    28 for 30
    
    
31. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens -X-
32. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis -X-
33. Emma - Jane Austen -X-
34. Persuasion - Jane Austen
35. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis -X-
36. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossein -1/2X- (I started it, didn't like it and put it down)
37. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
38. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
39. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne -X-
40. Animal Farm - George Orwell -X-
    
    34 for 40 (I won't count the half)
    
    
41. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown -X-
42. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
43. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
44. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
45. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery -X-
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -X- (required reading. I hate Hardy)
    
47. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -X-
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding -X-
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
    
    39 for 50
    
    
51. Dune - Frank Herbert -X-
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen -X-
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens -X-
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -X-
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -1/2X- (dropped it)
    
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck -X-
    
    44 for 60
    
    
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov -X-
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold -X- (overrated, but still good)
    
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas -X- (one of the greatest books of all time)
    
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac -X-
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -X- (again, required. I hate Hardy)
    
67. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding -X-
68. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville -X-
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens -X-
    
    52 for 70
    
    
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker -X-
72. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett -X-
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -X-
74. Ulysses - James Joyce -X-
75. The Inferno – Dante -X-
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -X-
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens -X-
    
    59 out of 80
    
    
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker -X- (required reading. Crap. Worse than beloved)
    
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -X-
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte’s Web - EB White -X-
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom -X-
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -X-
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -X-
    
    65 out of 90
    
    
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery -X- (I love Saint-Exupery)
    
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams -X-
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole -X- (good, but overrated)
    
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas -X- (one of my favorite books ever)
    
97. Hamlet - William Shakespeare -X-
98. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl -X-
99. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo -X-
    

Total: 72 out of 99

Not sure why they listed 32 and 36 separately, or 14 and 97... plus there are a half dozen different versions of the list out there.; and for some reason what would have been 16 is missing so it's only 99.

The ABCs of Mel Meme

Blatantly stolen from Breda

The ABCs of Me

Accent: I grew up in AZ so I have no real accent. However, I easily pick up accents so every time my aunt from Tennessee visits I sound like a southerner for a week.

Breakfast or no breakfast: Double shot of espresso with cream first thing in the morning just so I can survive. Otherwise, something quick like toast or a bagel.

Chore I don’t care for: All of them.

Dog or Cat: 2 huge dogs and 2 small cats.

Essential Electronics: A laptop, a desktop, my phone/pda, and my mp3 player.

Favorite Cologne: Flower by Kenzo. Slightly floral, very light, and doesn't make me sneeze like most perfumes. Most hated: Pleasures by Estee Lauder. I used to work in a duty free store where I earned a percentage on all of my fragrance sales. I've smelled and tested almost everything on the planet, and Pleasures turns my stomach.

Gold or Silver: Yellow gold, NO diamonds. I hate diamonds with a passion.

Handbag I carry most often: A black leather Brighton Collectibles cross-carry bag. It blends in with what all the other Scottsdale housewives are carrying, leaves both hands free, and has a pocket for my carry piece.

Insomnia: Hah. I can fall asleep on the couch with Chris playing Call of Duty 4 at the highest decibel level possible.

Job Title: Professional wife and mother, of Chris's personal assistant.

Kids: 2 little girls, ages 6 and almost 5. They keep me on my toes and are entirely too smart and canny for their ages.

Living Arrangements: Modest 1950's house in the affordable part of Scottsdale.

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: Manipulating the hell out of my teachers.

Most Admirable Trait: My patience and ability to deal with the engineers that constantly surround me. Oh, and my self-control in not killing my sister-in-law 4 weeks ago.

Overnight hospital stays: 2 childbirths and 1 kidney biopsy.

Phobias: Bridges. Deep water. Drowning. Being forced off the road through the mountain passes between my house and my Dad's house (almost happened once).

Quote: I have no fucking idea.

Reason to smile: I am completely and utterly spoiled.

Siblings: 3 older brothers.

Time I wake up: In theory 6:45, more realistically 7:15 unless the kids or dogs are making too much noise.

Unusual Talent or Skill: Yeast likes me. I've never had bread that didn't rise, and most of the time it rises in about a third of the time its supposed to take. Oh, and butter doesn't melt in my hands so pastry likes me too.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Turnips. Can't stand 'em.

Worst Habit: Procrastinating. And swearing. I didn't swear near as much before I met Chris.

X-rays: Tons of dental x-rays when I was young. I spent ages 10 through 14 in braces.

Yummy Stuff: Sushi. I love sushi dearly. And sweet potatoes.

Zoo Animal I Like Most: ANY of the big cats.

Mel

A Meme to Remember

Well this one is ...interesting

Type in a letter of the alphabet, and list what site comes up first in your autocomplete.

A: http://anarchangel.blogspot.com (no surprise there)
B: http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com (I found this meme there, again no surprise)
C: http://countertopchronicles.blogspot.com
D: http://dansdata.com
E: http://email.secureserver.net (that's my webmail interface)
F: http://freedomsight.net (Jeds blog)
G: http://gunthing.com (considering I co-run it, I'd have been amazed if it was anything else)
H: http://haloscan.com (my commenting engine, again I'd be amazed if it was anything else
I: http://imdb.com (at least a dozen visits a day - I'm a pop culture junky)
J: http://joelonsoftware.com (Joel Spolskys blog)
K: http://kbarret.cotse.net/idiot/ (Kris Barrets blog)
L: http://lileks.com/bleat (who doesn't read Lileks?)
M: http://msrdutoit.com (Connies Blog)
N: http://neanderpundit.com (Ogs blog)
O: http://opinionjournal.com
P: http://penny-arcade.com
Q: http://questionablecontent.net
R: http://rivrdog.typepad.com/rivrdog (Rivrdogs blog)
S: http://sitemeter.com (again, they're my stat engine so it's not surprise)
T: http://thelibertypapers.org (I'm a co-founder and contributor there)
U: http://unrepentantindividual.com
V: http://vodkapundit.com
W: http://wikipedia.org (by far my most visited site that I'm not directly connected to)
X: http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com (Xaviers blog)
Y: http://youtube.com
Z: http://zappos.com (I was looking for some shoes for the wife)

Note, some autocompletes work differently than others. Some autocomplete favorites first, some go by most recent, some go by most frequently visited in history.

He dunno what he's asking for

Rivrdog tagged all the gunbloggers who read his site with this meme:

All of you neat freaks need not reply, you won't have any of this drek lying on your desk.

Meme:

What calibers/brands/bullet weights of ammo are lying on your desk at your blog station right now?

How 'bout you?

For extra credit, list the knives or edged weapons lying on the blogstation (or within arm's reach):

Hehehe...

My blog station happens to be my loading bench, which includes my boxed ammo storage (bulk ammo is in crates, and SHTF ammo is loaded up in mags, in grab-n-go bags); and within arms reach is my field knife box (collectibles and smaller knives are elsewhere), and one of my swords.

Obviously this is all in a locked and secured area; which I also use as my office.

Ok so, on the bench itself I've got:

100 rounds of boxed handloaded 9mm fmj
200 rounds boxed handloaded .45acp Hornady XTP
100 cases primed 9mm brass
1000 cases primed .45acp brass
2000 cases unprimed .45acp brass
1000 cases unprimed 9mm brass
200 cases unprimed .38spl brass
200 cases unprimed .30-06 brass
500 cast lead .45acp bullets(X-Caliber)
500 plated 200gr SWC .45acp bullets (Berrys)
250 plated 9mm round nose bullets(berrys)
200 185gr Hornady XTP bullets
100 185gr .45acp gold dot bullets
100 124gr 9mm bullets
1000 federal large pistol primers
3000 cci small pistol primers
1lb Hodgdon TiteGroup
1lb Hodgdon HP-38
1lb Alliant Blue-Dot

And in mags:

16+1 200gr speed gold dot +p .45acp
6+1 95gr winchester ranger SXT +p+ .380acp
30 PMC moderator 38gr subsonic hollowpoint .22lr

Loose on the benchtop:

1x Lacquer wolf .225 (I wont shoot the stuff)
2x Winchester 20ga 7-1/2 shot practice loads
1x 240gr Hornady XTP .454 casull
1x 9mm dummy round
1x .45acp dummy round

On the boxed ammo shelves, sorted by chambering:

Shotgun

20ga: 20 buckshot 35 practice shot loads
12 ga: 125 practice shot loads, 60 buckshot, 20 "specialty"

Rifle

.223 Remington: 850rds mixed wolf polymer and PMC, 100 blanks
7.62x39: 300rds silver bear
.308win: 400rds PMC
.303 brit: 80rds Sellier and Bellot
7.62x54r: 100rds Hungarian milsurp
.30-06: 200rds CMP, 40 remington Core-Lokt, Winchester Super-X

.22

.22lr: 1 brick PMC moderator, 1brick Aguila Super Colibri, 1 brick remington subsonic, 150rds federal, 300rds cci (stinger, velocitor, and minimag) 80 tracers, 20 shotshells

Pistol

.380acp: 200rds winchester white box
9x18: 400rds silver bear
9x19: 1000rds nato milsurp, 300 mixed bulk ammo, 10 shotshells 100rds mixed premium (mostly gold dot)
.38spl: 60rds mixed bulk, 40rds cor-bon premium, 20rds federal hydrashok
.40s&w: 330rds speer gold dot, 20rds hydrashok, 36rds glaser safety slugs
.357 sig: 250rds speer gold dot, 60rds hornady XTP, 36rds glaser safety slugs
.45acp: 500rds mixed reloads and practice bulk, 20rds win ranger SXT, 40rds Cor-Bon, 40rds Taurus solid copper, 200rds speer gold dot
.357 magnum: 160rds mixed bulk, 40rds cor-bon premium, 20rds federal heavy solids
.45 colt: 1000rds PMC cowboy loads
.454 casull: 120rds 240gr Hornady XTP

Finally, the "edged weapons" section:

and

1 Ka-Bar Bob Dozier custom fighter
1 SOG Agent
1 Benchmade Prototype Mel Pardue Ambush (from my pocket)
1 Katz BlackKat
1 Buck Black Nighthawk
1 Lynn and Cook custom "Saturn"
1 reproduction 16th century pierced plate swept hilt longsword (halfway between a Schiavona and a sword rapier)

Oh and scattered within reach are an x-acto knife set, two gerber multitools and a bucktool, a Kershaw Ken Onion Blackout, and a couple superknives.

4800rds worth of components, 57rds in mags and loose, and 10,440 boxed up, plus the bulk crates and loaded mags in bags...

Think you've got enough ammo there Butch...

Hell no!