Sunday roundup

It does and doesn't surprise me how much charm-coated BS people will by into when they're driven by status, greed, and/or ego, but it unfortunately does not surprise me at all how much charm-coated BS a woman in love will buy into.

The Vatican wields "feminism" as an epithet, not unlike grade-school kids wield "cooties."

Maureen Dowd on Bush '41.

Not to be a pompous ass, but Louisiana Caviar Company's motto is missing a preposition.

For reasons of self-preservation, I disapprove of the decision to call animal control because the pet one sees through a window looks sad and in need of exercise.

As Dr. Gridlock himself writes in response to this sanctimonious letter, it's true that we make our choices and those choices have tradeoffs, but what's wrong with wanting to improve the realities of those choices? Yes, I'm sick of people choosing McMansions outside the city and then complaining about their commutes, but I don't blame them for wanting better roads. Similarly, even as I choose a smaller place in exchange for a quicker, painless commute, I have a right to complain about the metro not functioning as it should (and also about the street noise that can come with living in the city). The Metro has a responsibility to its users and we users have a right to hold them to account for subpar service.

I love umami. And the taste of (some) fats. And talk of how a limited lexicon may limit one's experience. But is this really true? Was there nothing orange in Europe before the import of oranges?

“There’s no real definition for basic taste, and there’s a problem with assuming there is because it limits your experience,” Delwiche said. “We didn’t have a prototypical example of umami until it was derived from seaweed less than 100 years ago,” she said. She compared it with the description of some people’s hair as red, a term used by Europeans since ancient times. “Their hair is actually orange,” she said. But Europeans didn’t have a word for orange until the fruit was imported from other continents. “Without the prototype, we don’t form a word for the concept.”

By the way, remember how I complained of the way the soy study was reported on, i.e. "soy doesn't improve cognition," etc.? Here's the right way to report it: supplemental soy may not yield cognitive benefits. In older women.