NPR

Russia’s war heats up cooking oil prices in global squeeze : NPR

ISTANBUL — For months, Istanbul restaurant Tarihi Balikca tried to absorb the surging cost of the sunflower oil its cooks use to fry fish, squid and mussels.

But in early April, with oil prices nearly four times higher than they were in 2019, the restaurant finally raised its prices. Now, even some longtime customers look at the menu and walk away.

"We resisted. We said, 'Let's wait a bit, maybe the market will improve, maybe (prices) will stabilize. But we saw that there is no improvement," said Mahsun Aktas, a waiter and cook at the restaurant. "The customer cannot afford it."

I know the feeling, I saw that vegetable oil was $5 at Hannaford. Fortunately, I was able to find a bottle at Walmart for still $3, which is expensive but not so bad.

You know, I prefer the east side of Auger Falls. 🌲

You know, I prefer the east side of Auger Falls. 🌲

 Auger Falls Via Griffin (East Side)

  • Less crowds, actually its rare you see anyone here
  • Most of the trip is on dirt roads and a fairly dry old road that’s now maintained as a snowmobile trail
  • The bushwhack from the snowmobile trail to the falls can be a bit hard but listen and you’ll find the falls
  • And then you can hike back along the snowmobile trail to Auger Flats to observe wildlife
  • Plus you cross that bridge on Teachout road and can enjoy the falls on the East Branch Sacandaga River

 Foam

Why Being Anti-Science Is Now Part Of Many Rural Americans’ Identity | FiveThirtyEight

Why Being Anti-Science Is Now Part Of Many Rural Americans’ Identity | FiveThirtyEight

This past February, Lunz Trujillo published work that shows this kind of anti-science attitude is associated with having a rural identity. And this identity is held not only by people who live in rural areas, but also by people who strongly identify as rural, regardless of where they currently live.

“It’s more how people think of themselves versus where they are,” Lunz Trujillo said. She cited the political scientist Katherine J. Cramer’s well-known work on rural resentment, which illustrated that many rural people disdained anything perceived to be urban — racial and ethnic minorities, liberals, the LGBTQ community, cultural elites — and tied it to their rejection of intellectuals and intellectualism as well.

The key insight to all this work is that those who distrust vaccines, science and expertise aren’t doing so necessarily because they have a knowledge gap or a misunderstanding. Distrusting experts is part of their identity. Motta and his colleagues’ work suggests that being anti-vaccine has become an identity, too. In some respects, distrusting experts has become a political choice, which means that any message from an official source — whether it’s a researcher, head of a government agency or a journalist — is more likely to inspire the opposite of its intended reaction from those who view that source as part of the political opposition.

These trends might be spreading to include some experts themselves. Motta released a paper earlier this month that shows about 10 percent of primary care physicians were uncertain about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, despite abundant evidence that they have been extremely safe and effective. The vaccine-hesitant doctors shared many of the same characteristics as other vaccine skeptics: They were more likely to be rural and conservative. For rural areas especially, this data suggests a vicious feedback loop. People who were suspicious of the vaccines had doctors who were suspicious, too.

Weather Update – April 26, 2022

Showers then cool the next few days 🌦️

Not sure how much rain we will get today, although I guess it doesn’t matter to me as I have to work. Finally a nice weekend to get out of town, next week is the tulip festival so I’ll probably be staying around to help at the Pine Bush booth. I’ll just catch the 18 downtown for that.

Today.
Feels like …
April 13th.

Chance of Showers then Showers

Showers, mainly after 1pm. High near 58. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

and

58 degrees , 7:51
sunset.
Tonight.
Feels like …
April 26th.

Showers then Slight Chance of Showers

Showers, mainly before 11pm. Low around 41. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

and

41 degrees , 5:53
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Feels like …
March 26th.

Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance of Showers

A slight chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly sunny.

Northwest wind 10 to 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

and

49 degrees , 7:52
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Feels like …
April 1st.

Partly Cloudy

Partly cloudy.

Northwest wind 11 to 16 mph.

and

31 degrees , 5:52
sunrise.
Thursday.
Feels like …
March 28th.

Mostly Sunny then Mostly Sunny and Breezy

Mostly sunny.

Breezy, with a northwest wind 16 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

and

50 degrees , 7:53
sunset.
Thursday Night.
Feels like …
April 4th.

Mostly Clear

Mostly clear.

and

32 degrees , 5:50
sunrise.
Friday.
Feels like …
April 4th.

Mostly Sunny

Mostly sunny.

and

53 degrees , 7:54
sunset.
Friday Night.
Feels like …
April 16th.

Partly Cloudy

Partly cloudy.

and

37 degrees , 5:49
sunrise.
Saturday.
Feels like …
April 13th.

Mostly Sunny

Mostly sunny.

and

58 degrees , 7:55
sunset.
Saturday Night.
Feels like …
April 19th.

Mostly Clear

Mostly clear.

and

38 degrees , 5:48
sunrise.
Sunday.
Feels like …
April 26th.

Sunny

Sunny.

and

64 degrees , 38 max dew point, 7:56
sunset.
Sunday Night.
Feels like …
April 26th.

Partly Cloudy

Partly cloudy.

and

41 degrees , 5:46
sunrise.
Monday.
Feels like …
May 3rd.

Partly Sunny then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Partly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

67 degrees , 43 max dew point, 7:58
sunset.