October 20, 2016

Egyptians in "a panic" over a sugar shortage.

According to the NYT, which details the importance of sugar to Egyptians:
Egyptians pile sugar into mugs of tea by the spoonful — or three or five. A staple long subsidized by the government for most of the population, sugar is the chief ingredient of the national pudding, Om Ali. It can feel like the only ingredient. It is also a prime reason that nearly a fifth of Egyptians have diabetes....

“The people are going to snap,” Ahmad el-Gebaly said as he turned away customers seeking sugar he did not have at his subsidized-goods store in Bulaq, a working-class neighborhood of Cairo. “Nobody can stand [President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi] anymore,” he added of Mr. Sisi. “Sugar is like rice and oil and wheat. You can never run out of it. You can never mess with it. Who can live without sugar?”
One solution is to convince people that it's not good to eat so much sugar, but it doesn't sound as though Egyptians are ready to respond well to that advice.

114 comments:

rehajm said...

A staple long subsidized by the government for most of the population...

What kind of crazy, mixed up, bassackwards country subsidizes sugar?

gspencer said...

"It is also a prime reason that nearly a fifth of Egyptians have diabetes...."

and the predicable array of health problems which flow sugar (Syndrome X) including poor dental health.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Maybe now Ramesses II will release the Hebrews from their bondage.

Gahrie said...

What kind of crazy, mixed up, bassackwards country subsidizes sugar?

Well the tariffs we place on imported sugar in the U.S. are a form of subsidy for domestic sugar.

SukieTawdry said...

I love the scene in The Freshman where Marlon Brando keeps shoveling sugar into Matthew Broderick's espresso.

We in this country would be well-served to not only stop eating/drinking so many sugary products but also to stop using corn syrup in lieu of sugar.

SukieTawdry said...

Well the tariffs we place on imported sugar in the U.S. are a form of subsidy for domestic sugar.

More a form of subsidy for corn. Corn reigns in the US.

Sebastian said...

The implosion of Egypt will make Syria pale by comparison. What will Europe do when Egyptians start making their way across en masse?

Michael K said...

"the predicable array of health problems which flow sugar "

Sugar does not cause diabetes. Obesity may and probably contributes.

The sugar tariffs we have subsidize domestic sugar producers who spend a lot of money on politicians in Florida, especially,

I'm looking at you, Marco.

The ethanol rules are a subsidy for corn and therefore sacrosanct in the Midwest.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

They're going to snap?

Rob said...

Are Egyptians not aware that four out of five dentists recommend Trident sugar-free gum to their patients who chew gum?

Michael K said...

"The implosion of Egypt will make Syria pale by comparison."

Egypt's population has gone astronomical since WWII. 18 million to 88 million. The problem is Islam.

I can't find the data right now but I have read that Finland and Egypt had equivalent GDP and population in 1945.

2015 Finland GDP $230 billion 1960 GDP $ 103 billion Population 5.4 million 1960 4.5 million

2015 Egypt GDP $330 billion. 1960 GDP $ 4.2 billion Population 88 million 1960 26 million

Comparable GDP and population is 15 times the size.

Bob Ellison said...

Oh, my goodness, another big-journalism story about diabetes. Let me count the ways it is wrong. No, I won't bother.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

"One solution is to convince people that it's not good to eat so much sugar,"

-That is not a solution to shortage. That is a tactic of "messaging" employed to excuse and normalize shortages. A similar tactic has been deployed by the democrat party since the passage of Obamacare. For years the AMA and HHS among many others have touted regular, even annual screening for certain diseases such as prostate and cervical cancer. But no sooner was the Act passed then the messaging changed, and the public is now advised that lots of tests and check-ups are unnecessary, even harmful, and worst of all, wasteful. Mustn't waste the taxpayers money, you know...

BarrySanders20 said...

"One solution is to convince people that it's not good to eat so much sugar, but it doesn't sound as though Egyptians are ready to respond well to that advice."

That applies to other things too. Lora Logan says:

One solution is to convince people that it's not good to sexually assault women, but it doesn't sound as though Egyptians are ready to respond well to that advice.

buwaya said...

They are very poor and their pleasures and comforts are limited. Things like this mean a lot to them. You have to live close to this level of poverty to truly understand it. The consequences if any are seen in old age, which to put it bluntly is hell anyway if you are that poor. Diabetes is the least of your problems.
This is why I am opposed to bans on smoking, or taxes on tobacco. It removes a great comfort from the people. Like diabetes, the problems come with age.
I also think that far worse drugs fill in behind tobacco.

Bob Ellison said...

You know, at some point in the very near future, we're probably going to have a huge glut of trans fats in America. Hydrogenated vegetable oil is the new bugaboo, after being the savior for maybe fifty years.

We should find a way to transport all those Twinkies and all that margarine to Egypt. That'll both kill them off and give them succor! Though we may have to sweeten the Twinkies with sucralose or something like that.

We'll also have a gluten glut. A GLUTEN GLUT! Imagine having a gluten-glut butt or a gluten-glut gut! There will be pictures. There's money to be made, though, if we think creatively.

dreams said...

Too much sugar can destroy the liver too.

rhhardin said...

There's no such thing as a shortage unless you have price controls.

Henry said...

Egypt's population has gone astronomical since WWII. 18 million to 88 million. The problem is Islam.

I'm betting the problem is the green revolution and modern medicine.

Finland, population 1945: 4M
Egypt, population 1945: 18M

Finland, income per person 1945: $5.8K
Egypt, income per person 1945: $1.6K

Finland, population 2015: 5.5M
Egypt, population 2015: 91.5M

Finland income per person 2015: 39K
Egypt income per person 2015: 11K

Source: Gapminder

Michael K said...

"I'm betting the problem is the green revolution and modern medicine."

Better medicine (and public health) is a factor and the green revolution has made a lot of difference in India but did you read the article ?

Egypt is growing faster than its food production and economy can handle. I was surprised they didn't go after the oil in easter Libya. It would have been a wise thing to do.

Michael K said...

Eastern.

Leslie Graves said...

Given where we are in the election cycle, what I now want to do is cook up many batches of Om Ali and then eat it, while I am speaking to someone on the Angel Helpline at $3.99/minute.

http://eatlikeanegyptian.com/Recipes/Desserts/OmAli.html

gerry said...

Though we may have to sweeten the Twinkies with sucralose or something like that. [emphasis added]

Great. Then they'd have diabetes AND the shits. And then, of course, there will be a toilet paper shortage.

mockturtle said...

Sounds like a great export opportunity.

Andrew said...

Not to worry, Obama and Hillary will send the Muslim Brotherhood to fix it.

gerry said...

So a weekslong sugar shortage has plunged people into a panic.

Doesn't panic in individuals liberate glycogen, particularly from the liver, which hydrolyzes quickly into glucose? What say you, good doctor Michel K.?

Mr. Sisi, under pressure to overhaul the economy, has been blamed for the shortages in subsidies for sugar and other products that Egyptians have relied on since World War I.

...

Today, 88 percent of Egyptians — about 80 million people — can buy subsidized food through government-issued electronic cash cards. In a country where a quarter of the population lives in poverty and millions of workers barely have enough for basic expenses, the cards are a lifeline. The government also subsidizes water, electricity and gas for all.

Ahmed Kamal, an aide to the minister responsible for the subsidies, blamed the private sector


Bad luck, eh?

ALP said...

Here is the REAL question: will it be as bad as the Japanese French-Fry Shortage of 2014-2015???

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-28/japan-s-french-fries-crisis-couldn-t-come-at-a-worse-time

Etienne said...

One solution is to let market forces rule.

Anytime the government subsidizes anything, then only a few people profit, and all the people are taxed more.

In the USA you would not believe how much of your taxes goes to subsidize agribusiness.

Etienne said...

mockturtle said...Sounds like a great export opportunity.

Not really. The country is bankrupt. The tourist industry has abandoned Egypt.

tcrosse said...

Let them eat aspartame.

cubanbob said...

@Henry do the comparison between Israel and Egypt for the same time frame.

SweatBee said...

Sugar does not cause diabetes. Obesity may and probably contributes

And eating sugar contributes to weight gain, so...

Sugar-sweetened beverages, weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women

Paul Snively said...

"A staple long subsidized by the government for most of the population..."

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." — Milton Friedman

It's never the people who fuck with price signals who are on the receiving end of the fucking-over. It's the poor.

rehajm: What kind of crazy, mixed up, bassackwards country subsidizes sugar?

Similar ones to the ones who impose tariffs on it and subsidize corn, perhaps?

walter said...

We need a national pudding...

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Our sugar subsidies are to keep the price high, not low. (ie: they are for the sugar producers). It's ridiculous that we can't have sugar at world prices, and can't even have the real recipie for Coca-Cola in our domestic version because of that. Not to mention that it really hurts domestic confectioneers like Hershey. It would be a shame if we lost them because of these stupid handouts to Florida growers. (And BTW the subsidies are a big part of the ruining of the Everglades which other parts of government pretend to care about..)

mockturtle said...

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." — Milton Friedman

My mother turned me on to Friedman many years ago. He and his protégé Thomas Sowell are the only economists I've ever found worth reading.

Michael K said...

Doesn't panic in individuals liberate glycogen, particularly from the liver, which hydrolyzes quickly into glucose? What say you, good doctor Michel K.?

Dunno. It's complicated. Translate that and see what you think.

Adrenalin causes glycogenolysis but then it gets replaced. I guess when you measure it is important.

walter said...

I thought type 2 could be caused by excessive sugar/carbs eventually pushing the pancreas to lose its ability to manage insulin production.

Anonymous said...

ALERT:

Come on Ann, get with it!

It's nigged...I mean RIGGED!!!

Remember the "NIG" issue from 2008?

Check this out:

https://twitter.com/RockyandSeb/status/789181464512299008

Rig.

Michael K said...

"And eating sugar contributes to weight gain, so..."

I looked at that abstract and you know what was not mentioned ? Race or ethnicity.

Read "The 10,000 year explosion." Mexicans are about half Amerindian and Amerindians were not exposed to wheat prior to the European discovery. They are much more subject the diabetes type II and it is probably related to carbohydrates, not just sugar.

There are a lot of racial factors in disease that the medical literature avoids. Diabetes is one of them.

Michael K said...

"eventually pushing the pancreas to lose its ability to manage insulin production."

Probably part of it is that insulin resistance is also a factor. I usually take a course on diabetes every couple of years. Probably due for one.

It's complicated.

Bob Ellison said...

We're running a grand, unplanned experiment. On the Navajo reservation, fry-bread is plentiful, as is alcohol. We supply fruit juices to the children as foodstuffs. If we were trying to find out how to kill off a race, this would be a good way to do it.

buwaya said...

I am a curious case - I have diabetes, but there is no family history of it, I seem to be the only one in two generations.
We have lots of cirrhosis and heart disease, but no diabetes.
And Im only about 20lb over my "fighting weight", when I played football (soccer) in college and could compete in the 15K. Its way too many decades since then, and I figure 20 pounds over is doing fairly well.

I suspect (its probably the case) that its the result of too much of a good thing, one too many milkshakes catching up with me. Or perhaps there is some other factor unique to the modern world.

walter said...

I would like to see how race holds up when diet is controlled for...consider the corn and wheat based diet typical to Mexican food, for example.

tough love re: pudding

Bob R said...

"There's no such thing as a shortage unless you have price controls."

And, we have a winner.

mockturtle said...

buwaya, DMI or DMII?

bagoh20 said...

So what are they gonna do about, elect a populist?

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Diamondhead said...

They have to live in Egypt. Let them eat their sugar.

Bay Area Guy said...

Christianity and Capitalism built America.

Islam and Totalitarianism/Socialism has built the modern state of Egypt

Any difference?

Michael K said...

one too many milkshakes catching up with me. Or perhaps there is some other factor unique to the modern world.

Type I is autoimmune. My son has it and there is no family history. Also, you can't transplant islets cells because the autoimmune reaction kills them. It;s been a huge problem in figuring out a cure.

Type II is insulin resistance and probably diet. That is the type that Amerindians have.

Interesting that autoimmune diseases may be lower in Amerindians so they may have less rheumatoid arthritis or lupus and maybe less type I diabetes.

This is an argument of "The 10,000 Year Explosion." I have been reading their references on the Indo Europeans and have not done much on autoimmune diseases.

Lots of interesting facts in that book which is about genetics and archeology.

commoncents said...

Grand Slam Home Run! Ann Coulter on The Sean Hannity Radio Show (10/20/2016)

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2016/10/grand-slam-home-run-ann-coulter-on-sean.html

ps. Would you consider adding CC to your blogroll?

Bob Ellison said...

Sugar intake does not cause diabetes. Certainly not type I, and not really type II.

This is difficult intake. Take it in.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Don't worry. I'm sure the "very impressive" Leader of All Women (Hillary), will find a way to get us into a war over it and prove our indispensible might and righteousness once again.

Michael said...

Yeah, Althouse, let's educate those backward Egyptians on what's good for them.

Good grief.

Quaestor said...

One solution is to convince people that it's not good to eat so much sugar...

No need to exhaust the public treasury trying to convince people not to consume sweets, just to shoot anyone who complains about the supply of sugar. They're most likely to be among the heavy sugar users anyway, and a bullet in the brain is a most persuasive argument.

There are times when Althouse needs to conquer the urge.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

One solution is to convince people that it's not good to eat so much sugar, but it doesn't sound as though Egyptians are ready to respond well to that advice.

Right. They've only had, what, a four thousand year head-start or so on the civilization that's now to be lectured to them by much more recently nekkid Germanic forest dwellers.

buwaya said...

DM II in my case.
Oh well, a headscratcher.

Quaestor said...

People used to call the urge to regulate the lives and choices of others paternalism. Feminists used to decry paternalism, labeling it part of the patriarchy.

Now we can call it maternalism. Will the feminists condemn that? Somehow I doubt it.

mockturtle said...

It occurred to me this morning, after watching the debate last night, that both Obama and Hillary are paternalistic but Trump never is. He never lectures nor preaches.

Quaestor said...

They've only had, what, a four thousand year head-start or so on the civilization that's now to be lectured to them by much more recently nekkid Germanic forest dwellers.

The last three decades of research on the site of the Pyramids of Giza have revealed thousands of graves of common working people, with many hundreds containing skeletal remains. Apparently an important incentive for the labor force was being granted burial on ground sanctified by the internment of the pharaoh. Most of the remains show stress fractures and joint changes associated with hard physical labor, such as hauling and lifting multi-ton stone blocks. However the evidence indicates that the most common cause of death was infectious complications from tooth decay.

In case the anti-sugar matriarchs' hearts begin to flutter one should point out that the tooth decay wasn't related to sugar intake. The ancient Egyptians ate mainly bread and porridge, and drank considerable quantities of beer. The grains these staples were made from were milled using soapstone grinders which left tiny particles of silica mixed with the resultant meal. The silica wore down the enamel of their molars, admitting bacteria into the dentine.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

You know what? I understand that the Egyptians have their problems And I feel their pain. Sure. Fine. Why not?

But I genuinely think that we all ought not lose sight of the bigger picture, which is this: No sugar tonight in my coffee; no sugar tonight in my tea; no sugar to stand beside me; no sugar to run with me.

Deep.

Oh. I almost forgot . . . . . . Dat'n-doo-dow, dow-dat'n-doo-dow-dow.

Quaestor said...

...both Obama and Hillary are paternalistic but Trump never is.

But Hillary knows what's best. She is a woman, and a mother, and a grandmother. How can anyone honestly argue with credentials like that? Doesn't Mother always know best? (Father knows best is sooo yesterday. Nothing but patriarchic propaganda.) Doesn't Mother always know best? Ask the Libyans and the Syrians.

Robert Cook said...

"Egyptians pile sugar into mugs of tea by the spoonful — or three or five."

Absolutely! While I drink coffee only with milk--no sugar--I can't conceive of having a cup of tea, my main beverage for 40 years, without a minimum of three spoonsful of sugar!

Gahrie said...

Right. They've only had, what, a four thousand year head-start or so

Yeah, well how's that working out for them?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I dunno, Gahrie. How's your civilization working out for you?

Original Mike said...

"One solution is to convince people that it's not good to eat so much sugar,"

Another would be to sell them cheap sugar. We grow sugar (we subsidize the hell out of it), right? We need Eqypt, right?

I'm just sayin'.

wildswan said...

But what about 'mind candy'? Isn't that just as bad as too much sugar? - TV, video games, movies, smart phones, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - compared to 4 or 5 spoonfuls of sugar in coffee. Which is worse? "Mind Candy Breaking Brad, a BBC production brought to you by Masterpiece Theater. The story of a silent killer, stalking us in our homes." Will we ever see that?

And then we read that the number of people watching major league football on TV has "unexpectedly" declined this year. Apparently major league football on TV has been propping up the rest of commercial TV and now football viewer numbers are falling sharply. So that if the present trend kept up or if even more people stopped watching, then the mainstream media could not keep going. No more news shows. And why is this happening? There is no reason for the stupid racist yahoos (Piss be on them) who watch major league football to feel that it isn't isn't as much fun as it used to be. Executives wonder in executive suites why, why, why. But perhaps people have simply realized that we should intake less mind candy and started with TV's major league offering.

Gahrie said...

I dunno, Gahrie. How's your civilization working out for you?

Let's see....political and religious freedom? Check.

Ample, high quality food, clothing and shelter? Check.

Dominance in military, economic and scientific spheres? Check.

All in all, pretty good.

It should be noted that when Egypt was both Christian and ruled by Europeans it was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world. Now, not so much.

buwaya said...

Interesting stuff re Egyptians Quaestor, thanks.

Gahrie said...

My mother turned me on to Friedman many years ago. He and his protégé Thomas Sowell are the only economists I've ever found worth reading

Have you tried Adam Smith?

buwaya said...

Coffee = black, no nothin', since I was a kid.

Learn to drink Filipino Barako (robusta) black, and any other coffee, even Nescafe instant, tastes sweet and smooth.

I'm in it for the drugs, man. I run on straight caffeine.

buwaya said...

Adam Smith is not a casual read, at all. Wealth of Nations is a heavy dense tome. It is available free on Google books, so check it out.

buwaya said...

Ditto re mind candy.
We have been off network TV since the end of Seinfeld.

I have replaced much of my old mind candy with Althouse.
Oh well, addicts addict.

Btw, an NFL boycott really is a good way to get back at TPTB.
There is a boycott initiative going at Freerepublic.

Original Mike said...

"Coffee = black, no nothin', since I was a kid."

Yeah. If you put stuff in coffee, then you don't like coffee.

Which is fine, but then why drink coffee?

Henry said...

@cubanbob:

Here you go.

Israel 1950
Population: 1.2M
Avg. Income: $3870

Egypt 1950
Population: 20.8M
Avg. Income: $1740

Israel 2015
Population: 8.1M
Avg. Income: 31.6K

Egypt 2015
Population: 91.5M
Avg. Income: $11K

gadfly said...

World sugar cane consumption of 174 million metric tons is outstripping production. So with this year's record corn crop and Archer Daniel Midlands sitting here in the good old USA with all this available production capacity to make High Fructose corn syrup since demand has fallen for High Fructose and Ethonal in its three corn mills.

Anytime you need me to help solve the world's problems, I will make myself available.

Henry said...

The Israel/Egypt comparison isn't a whole lot different than the Finland/Egypt comparison. Post WWII countries with free institutions and a highly educated workforce are going to do better than Post WWII countries with autocratic institutions and a baseline of poverty, but almost all countries have improved dramatically in the last 50 to 60 years in average income and lifespan.

HT said...

I recommend Sugar Street by one of Egypt's best novelists.

High blood sugar levels are a risk factor for many complications, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Consumption of sugar and sweets and carbohydrates in general DOES contribute to development of type 2 diabetes in that whenever insulin is present, fatty acids are not used and more carbohydrates are stored as fat.

Obesity can but does not always lead to impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. Sugar and refined carbohydrates are basically the "triggers."

David said...

Since Egypt has to import half of it's food, and needs the Saudis to pay for it, they are lucky it's only sugar that is in short supply.

Egypt is always one war away from famine, and it does not have to be a war they are fighting in.

cubanbob said...

@Henry, thanks. Interesting that both in the case of Finland and Israel the baselines for both countries were wartime years for both. Finland had finished five years of war in 1945 (at a heavy cost to Finland)and Israel in 1950 was barely one year old and one year from an existential war (Egypt didn't suffer much from WW2 or had serious damage from it's war with Israel in 1948-1949). Just goes to show how relatively good government makes a huge difference in outcomes.

Buwaya difficult as it is the best way to control blood sugar levels in through diet, as in giving up as much in carbs as you can. A1C levels don't lie and if they are elevated long enough the complications result.

narciso said...

yes, naguib mahfouz was very good, al aswani who has tried to follow up in non sequential tales, like the yacoubian building is not that good,

Jupiter said...

David said...
"Since Egypt has to import half of it's food, and needs the Saudis to pay for it, they are lucky it's only sugar that is in short supply."

Except it's not only sugar. Also, fuel to heat the water for tea. Oh, and the water. The Ethiopians are building a dam, which will pretty much eliminate the Nile flood.

It sounds like they have plenty of tea. Have they got a pot to piss in?

HT said...

it’s not just epinephrine that raises BG but also cortisol, which may be even more critical. Diabetics are told during their ‘sick days’ to not stop taking insulin bc the sickness will cause the BG to rise. In fact, many of the acute complications of diabetes occur during and after a period of illness, this is when you see hospitalizations.

Also people with Cushings disease are at risk for hyperglycemia due to an overactive adrenal gland(s), and people with Addisons are at risk for hypoglycemic episodes during stressful episodes.

Bad Lieutenant said...


Robert Cook said...
"Egyptians pile sugar into mugs of tea by the spoonful — or three or five."

Absolutely! While I drink coffee only with milk--no sugar--I can't conceive of having a cup of tea, my main beverage for 40 years, without a minimum of three spoonsful of sugar!
10/20/16, 7:55 PM


God, Bobby, you're one of those! Being a communist is one thing, but sugar in your tea? I suppose you use milk or lemon, too.

Bad Lieutenant said...


Blogger Original Mike said...
"Coffee = black, no nothin', since I was a kid."

Yeah. If you put stuff in coffee, then you don't like coffee.

Which is fine, but then why drink coffee?
10/20/16, 8:33 PM

Absolutely correct. The answer is, to kick my ass out of bed in the morning. I drink straight tea all day but I need the primary boost. 'Course if they would allow amphetamine purchases over the counter I wouldn't have to bother the nice people in Colombia.

Bob Ellison said...

Yeah, I started drinking coffee black as a teenager because I didn't want to have to search for creamer and sugar all the time. Iced and hot tea straight up, too. With just a little practice, it's the only way one likes it.

walter said...

"If you put stuff in coffee, then you don't like coffee."
Uh huh..think about that when you put ketchup on something.

Original Mike said...

"Uh huh..think about that when you put ketchup on something."

Touché.

Widmerpool said...

walter said...
We need a national pudding...

I nominate Indian Pudding.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/indian_pudding/

Laslo Spatula said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

Since we are talking about coffee:

The Girl at Starbucks That Hates You.

I am Laslo.

MadisonMan said...

It doesn't help Egyptians that most radio stations there only play these two songs.

Laslo Spatula said...

Lindsey Buckingham Has Something to Share With You.

There is a member of my band that always has to have her tea Just So. Lemon, three sugars, a spoonful of organic honey, in a cup that MUST be a china cup.

There'd be tears -- fucking real tears -- before stage if that tea was not to her satisfaction. She'd refuse to begin the concert without having that tea. THE SHOW WILL NOT GO ON.

Sure, like anything a pretty girl does it seems cute at first, but then you spend DECADES dealing with this kind of shit.

Tea is NOT Rock and Roll. Don't get me going on scarves.

By the way: I fucked Stevie Nicks.

When she was Hot.

I am Laslo.

walter said...

Laslo,
Hil feels her pain. And she's enduring it for a pay CUT!
But hey..she'll be able to arrange the menu more to her liking.
Everything with a lemon twist.

walter said...

Well..was referring to starbuck's gal..
It seems lemons are in the air. No path to lemonade, I'm sensing.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Rhythm and Balls said...
I dunno, Gahrie. How's your civilization working out for you?

Civilization V was great but I'm looking forward to Civilization VI.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Uh huh..think about that when you put ketchup on something.

I've found that ketchup is a pretty easy thing to do without. A salt-sugar-vinegar delivery system and nothing more.

If I want to eat ketchup, I'll use a spoon, is my thinking.

Similarly, the point of Tabasco sauce seems to me to be to make everything taste like Tabasco sauce.

Matt said...

"sugar is the chief ingredient of the national pudding, Om Ali"

Om Ali = Ali's mother. People give their food such interesting names. Apparently the Egyptians also have some sort of honey-soaked donut hole called "the Judge's bite." Right up there with Brown Bettys and Ladyfingers.

Carol said...

Yeah. If you put stuff in coffee, then you don't like coffee.

Which is fine, but then why drink coffee?


You still get the caffeine kick, though cream blunts it a bit and is easier on the stomach. Cream has no carbs BTW. After drinking it black most my life, I started drinking one cup with heavy cream and the second black. Holds back the hunger a bit longer.

Black-coffee drinkers can be insufferably smug. Don't feel so virtuous.

walter said...

Right Carol,
It's like a "purity test" or an ideology.
I have to keep my occasional decaf on the DL ;)

MadisonMan said...

Black-coffee drinkers can be insufferably smug. Don't feel so virtuous.

You know when I feel smug with my black coffee? When I get it and leave behind people waiting for their flavored lattes. Why waste time waiting for a double shot espresso latte with almond milk when you can drink black coffee right away?

Almond milk. Sheesh.

I switched to black from creamed about 2 years ago. My daughter told me to.

Freeman Hunt said...

Black coffee is not very good. If you think people who add sugar or cream to their coffee don't like coffee, one might assume that you think you only like foods if you eat them steamed or boiled without salt or seasoning.

buwaya said...

I like instant actually.
Why? Its quick and convenient.
Fuss about beans and grinding and coffee tools, ugh.

Drugs, baby. Black drugs.

walter said...

"I switched to black from creamed about 2 years ago. My daughter told me to."

I understand. Some of the old school coffee machines shamelessly offer "whitener"

mockturtle said...

I like my coffee strong and black. Like my men. [not original, alas!]

Anthony said...

Egypt's population explosion is mostly due to the Aswan dam(s) that prevented the yearly flooding of half the country. The valley and delta are enormously productive agriculturally and controlling the floods and expanding irrigation allowed more land to live on and grow crops on. It's had its drawbacks, of course, since the floods dumped bazillions of tons of rich fertilized earth all over the place and now that's been cut off.

gerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
buwaya said...

Egypts population explosion, like most of these, is more the result of antibiotics, water supply and sanitation improvements.

One doesnt consider things like potable water systems as important in the US unless someone makes a slight screwup as in Flint MI (a truly minor matter vs what most of the world lives with), but its a huge thing to so rarely mention in public policy discussions. Go figure.

Mainly because its handled by a bunch of responsible professionals of the sort that are voting overwhelmingly for Trump.

Bruce said...

"Civilization V was great but I'm looking forward to Civilization VI."

Today! My pre-order is due to arrive around noon. And there goes the afternoon, and the weekend...

gerry said...

A salt-sugar-vinegar delivery system and nothing more.

Scurvy is making a comeback. Homeless advocates urge homeless crazies to eat McDonalds ketchup packs, two or three per day, to prevent scurvy. So it's a salt-sugar-vinegar-vitamin C delivery system, at the very least.

Robert Cook said...

"God, Bobby, you're one of those! Being a communist is one thing, but sugar in your tea? I suppose you use milk or lemon, too."

Nope...no lemon or milk. Just sugar.

HT said...

Lots of people in the Middle East put a cube of sugar in their front teeth and drink tea that way. Some of the aromatic teas are heaven on earth.

Books have been written about the contribution of sewer systems, antibiotics -- an excellent one is The Limits of Medicine: How Science Shapes Our Hope for the Cure by Edward S. Golub. He's a little harsh on the AIDS activists at the end, I thought, but overall a great book.

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