Let them eat Kix - GREAT BEND TRIBUNE - Great Bend Tribune

I never parted with a $20 bill faster.

It happened at one of my favorite diners. The Western omelet and Diet Coke I often get wasn’t the $11 it had been for as long as I remember.

It was $16.

That expense, with my tip for the excellent waiter, consumed my entire $20 bill.

I feel bad for the diner’s owner. He told me that soaring food costs have been killing his profits for months. He’s been forced to raise his prices, yet he’s making half of what he used to.

Why?

First, his labor costs are up because there is a shortage of workers and he has to pay them a higher hourly wage or they won’t take the job.

And second, because he has to charge higher prices, his customer base is dwindling.

As wonderful as a diner breakfast is, more people, getting hit by inflation across the board, are choosing to stay home and eat a bowl of Wheaties or Kix instead.

I’m certainly no economist. But I know this: inflation stinks.

According to one financial advisor quoted in Forbes, there are a few driving factors behind our current spike in prices – high demand and low supply.

COVID-19 lockdowns caused Americans to sit on their money for months but lately they’ve been injecting those dollars back into the economy with abandon.

The nearly zero-percent mortgage interest rates we’ve been enjoying since March 2020 are driving up the demand for houses – and therefore their sales prices.

And global supply chains for many products are all goofed up because of the pandemic’s disruptions.

For instance, due to a shortage of vehicles for sale — new vehicles are being held back by car makers because of a shortage of computer chips — new and used car prices are ridiculously high.

I bought a new Toyota Tacoma Off Road truck in December of 2019 and it’s done something no other vehicle I’ve bought has ever done in my life: gone up in value.

Kelly Blue Book tells me that my truck with 11,100 miles on it is worth $3,000 more than I paid for it brand new.

That is one of the few upsides to inflation. Owning property is another. If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, but the dollar “value” of your home keeps rising, you at least keep pace with inflation.

But if you are retired, as my parents are, and living on a fixed income, inflation is an invisible  tax that nibbles at the buying power of your money.

Your limited dollars buy fewer groceries and other increasingly expensive basic items you need to sustain yourself.

I trust in the efficiency of the many very talented business people in our mostly free economy to adjust to inflation and get our markets running smoothly again.

But I don’t trust our government leaders who have been spending recklessly for years and are currently attempting to ram a massive, ridiculous spending bill down our throats that could make high inflation a lasting problem.

I fondly remember the Clinton presidency when, for a blip in time, our government actually took in more money than it spent.

But since 2001 Presidents Bush ($6 trillion), Obama ($9 trillion) and Trump ($6 trillion) have reversed that trend and added trillions to our total debt.

Way too few people in Washington seem to care about our $28 trillion national debt or the inflation they’ve caused.

They don’t care a whit about struggling diner owners or cash-strapped patrons who now eat cereal for breakfast.

Tom Purcell is an author and humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Email him at Tom@TomPurcell.com

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Don't forget to eat, breathe and live - Picayune Item - Picayune Item

By Ronnie Michel

My watch tracks everything – my heart rate, sleep pattern, every move I make, every step I take – you get the picture. I can text on it, make phone calls, and yes, even find out the time. (It’s almost unbelievable – unless you’re like me and grew up reading Dick Tracy comic strips and remember the watch he had.)

For reasons I will never know, and through a process which I have no knowledge, my granddaughter Adeline put my name as “Eat” on my watch. Now, any information regarding my physical activity includes Eat. I get messages such as, “Eat, you’ve met your move challenge,” “Eat, you can do it,” or “Eat, you’ve halfway through the month.”

Believe me, I don’t need a reminder to eat. I could use a reminder to mop, turn off the television, or fold the laundry, but I’ve never forgotten to eat.

One reminder I do appreciate on my phone is the reminder to Breathe. While breathing is involuntary, there’s a type of focused, deep breathing that can help to relieve stress, tension, anxiety, and even pain. Deep breathing can also increase energy and focus. For most healthy people (asthmatics and those with respiratory issues should follow a doctor’s advice) deep breathing can be beneficial. During a tension-filled moment, you may have been told, “Take a deep breath and count to ten.”

When I follow my watch’s advice to breathe, I often remember a scripture in Genesis 2:7.  After creating Adam, “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

I breathe in and remember that I am not alone. I am, and you are, created by God, and we are the breath of God. Then I exhale and let go of any fear or worry I’m facing. While I will never need a reminder to eat, the reminder to breathe is always welcomed.

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Never Take an Antibiotic Without Eating This, New Study Says | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Here's hoping you won't get sick this season… but if you do, and if it calls for an antibiotic, science has a new suggestion for you. When you take that prescription, there's one particular snack that can help protect you against an uncomfortable side effect from your medication.

In certain cases, antibiotic usage can throw off the balance of microbiota that live in the digestive system. At times, this can lead to gastrointestinal upset—specifically, diarrhea.

RELATED: The One Vitamin Doctors Are Urging Everyone To Take Right Now

Aware of this, a group of doctors and nutrition researchers recently teamed up from institutions like Georgetown University, Penn State, the University of Maryland, and New York City's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. For a new study they've published in the journal Nutrients, the team sought to determine whether food that contained probiotics could help maintain healthy levels of gut microbiota.

To kick it off, for 30 days leading up to the study participants abstained from consuming any probiotics. Then, the researchers administered a seven-day course of the antibiotic amoxicillin (875 grams, taken twice each day).

Beginning on day one of amoxicillin administration, participants were divided into two yogurt-eating groups: One group that ate a "control" yogurt, and the other that ate yogurt which had been supplemented with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis—which one 2014 study referred to as "the world's most documented probiotic Bifidobacterium."

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Indeed, the researchers report, the probiotic-supplemented yogurt was associated with a more stable profile of the microbiota over time than the control group experienced.

The team also documented the quantity of small-chain fatty acids—metabolites that are essential to metabolism, immunity, and endocrine function—that appeared in the participants' stool. The scientists reported that the probiotic yogurt-eating group saw "a significantly smaller decrease in the fecal [small-chain fatty acid] levels." This provided more evidence that the probiotic yogurt helped maintain balance in the gut microbiota.

So, in addition to your Vitamin D, a yogurt with a probiotic or two (and, may we suggest, no artificial flavors or added sugar) could end up being a healthy addition to your grocery list this fall.

If you're a yogurt fan, you don't want to miss One Surprising Effect of Eating Yogurt, according to another super-compelling recent study. (Hint: Science has found yogurt may help you live longer!)

Sign up for the Eat This, Not That! newsletter, and get more food news here:

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Why did the Zoom-Five9 deal eat %#*& and die? - TechCrunch

Hello friends and welcome to bonus Equity, the sort of podcast episode where you get even more chat for the same low price of zilch. We are here to ensure a high ROI for your podcasting dollar!

To cap the week off, Danny and Alex and Chris got together live on Twitter to chat through the demise of the Zoom-Five9 deal. Those of you who remember how recently the deal was announced are likely a little surprised — how did it fall apart so quickly? Well, a few reasons:

• There could be inherent risk in all-stock transactions provided a rapidly-changing market.
• It may be the case that Zoom simply did not bid enough for Five9.
• And there’s a mix of anti-trust and national regulatory issues to the deal that never got fully hammered out.

So, you can pick your poison, even though the answer appears to be some of each above point.

Those of you who caught the Friday episode will wonder, and fairly, what the end of the Zoom-Five9 deal will have on other M&A activity. We talked about it.

That’s enough for now. Hit play and have a laugh with us. Thanks for sticking with the show!

Equity drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Eat Down the Street category winner profile: Dee's Diner — Best Diner/Deli - The Owensboro Times

Dee's Diner

Editor’s note: From Oct. 1-8, we’ll be featuring the each of the winners from the eight ca

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Eat Down the Street category winner profile: Dee's Diner — Best Diner/Deli - The Owensboro Times
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What to eat at Christmas instead of turkey - The Guardian

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What to eat at Christmas instead of turkey  The Guardian
What to eat at Christmas instead of turkey - The Guardian
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Ready-to-eat spices and food additives exposed to widespread rodent infestation were seized by the FDA - CNN

(CNN)FDA-regulated spices and food additive products exposed to "widespread rodent infestation" as well as live and dead insects, were seized in Miami on Friday by the US Marshals Service on behalf of the US Food and Drug Administration, according to an FDA statement.

The food products included more than 25,000 boxes and bags of bulk ready-to-eat spices and food additives, including monosodium glutamate, crushed red chili, and sesame seeds, the FDA said.

A complaint filed by the US Department of Justice on behalf of the FDA alleges that an inspection of the Lyden Spice Corporation conducted between June 8 and June 28, 2021, found "insanitary conditions."

Rodent feces "too numerous to count" on and around pallets with containers of food were found, according to the complaint, as well as evidence of rodent gnawing and urine on food containers, rodent-nesting material between food pallets, live and dead insects on food packaging, and apparent bird droppings in the food storage area.

CNN has reached out to Lyden Spice for comment.

The FDA is requesting that the food products be condemned and forfeited to the United States.

"The FDA plays a critical role in safeguarding the US food supply and helping to ensure that our food is not contaminated at any point during its journey along the supply chain," Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said.

"We take our responsibility seriously and will continue to take action against those who threaten the safety and quality of the products we regulate as a necessary step to protect the public health and the safety of Americans. The widespread insanitary conditions found at the Lyden Spice Corporation are disturbing and won't be tolerated."

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