Monday evening roundup

A lot of Russian women apparently marry Syrians.

The oceans are in pretty bad shape.

Okay, huge sigh of relief to learn that Tracie McMillan--who here explains why your hamburger hates America--is not the Tracy McMillan who hates women.

The Times hits the nail on the dietary restrictions head with this:

“The distinction is not that people have restricted diets,” she said. “It’s their attitude about whose responsibility it is to meet their dietary needs.” More interesting excerpts: 

Unlike the diet fads of yesteryear (Atkins, Zone, South Beach and countless others), many contemporary eating styles speak directly to values and virtues, aiming to affirm your ethos rather than nuking your love handles.

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But Fabio Parasecoli, a native of Rome and the coordinator of food studies at the New School, worries that diverse diets can kill the pleasure of shared meals. “For me, food is very social, and I would never show up at someone’s place with Tupperware,” he said. “It’s difficult when dietary choices prevent people from fully participating in social life.”

Yeah, I get offended if people show up at my house with animal products. Point:

“Not everyone’s going to be able to eat everything.” But with careful planning (plus a lot of recipe collecting and cross-referencing of diets), they’ve been able to ensure that, at any given meal, everyone can eat something.