Panic!: Local health agencies around the country unprepared for likely flu pandemic.

OK, Calm Down: Seasonal flu kills 36,000 every year.

When All Else Fails, Hire a Consultant: City agrees to hire outsider to come up with a plan for snow response.

Take That, Early Birds: Night owls have more mental stamina.

Ouch: Bush’s approval rating (yes, Bush) drops to 26 percent.

First Time Out of the Gate: King County gets an “F” for dirty air.

The 100-Yard Diet: First produce from White House garden served in White House.

Never Mind: Palin says she’ll take that stimulus money after all.

Safety First: Transpo secretary LaHood proposes full review of bus safety after CA crash.

Bad All Over: Unemployment rises all over the country for third straight month.

Recipe of the Day: Chicken Giouvetsi (Recipe and photo via Closet Cooking)

1cd1/1241046425-chicken_giouvetsi_500.jpg

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion (chopped)
1 cubanelle pepper (chopped)
1 1/2 cups orzo
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste
1 whole chicken (separated into pieces)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and pepper and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the orzo and toast for a few minutes.
4. Add the stock and tomato puree and season with salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil and transfer to a baking dish along with the chicken.
6. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

65 replies on “The Morning News”

  2. Re: Grade F – Its somewhat because of the traffic that sits at a standstill for 2-4 hours every day because transit nuts won’t let freeways expand to actually allow people to commute in the morning. Also, the people who can’t drive that get into accidents that cause some of the afore-mentioned backups (but not all).

    Ah well, they want to be green. Its funny, really. By sticking firm to their Green standards, they actually make the world a more polluted place.

  3. Pretty ironic that you post a recipe with bird corpses when the harvesting of bird corpses is responsible for your top story – pig flu (which has bird flu origins). If Iraqi troops die from roadside bombs are you going to post instructions to make roadside bombs at home?

    I know you’re from Texas but you usually don’t seem so socially conservative. Why are you posting recipes for dangerous redneck food like bird carcass?

  8. #5, Google it or watch the news. The current swine flu pandemic has some origins with bird flu. Both the chicken and pig sources are from animals harvested for slaughter and consumption by Erica and others who don’t see any problem with eating carcasses, even though part of her job is to report on the deadly results, like she has done today and at length in previous chicken flu feature articles.

  10. #7, Most people who don’t eat animal carcasses don’t eat tofu. 40% of India doesn’t eat any corpses (and hardly any eat dead pigs or cows), and they don’t eat tofu.

    You know the stuff you eat besides carcass? Eat more of that. Every single restaurant in somewhat progressive neighborhoods has good options without corpse, very few with tofu. Even almost all fast food chains have many corpse-free options, none with tofu.

  13. also, @3, farmed vegetable (peanuts, tomatoes, alfalfa come to mind) can spread deadly diseases just as well as farmed animals. get off your high horse, or go splash paint on some rich people wearing fur. I’ll enjoy my salami sandwich, thankyouverymuch.

  14. Animal carcass/corpse=good eatin’ I like having muscle tone, and I don’t want that waxy, pallid vegetarian complexion.

    It’s good to be at the top of the food chain.

  15. #12, “Wild duck” refers to a class of duck species, and does not mean they were running around in the wild giving flu to humans minding their own business. Wild ducks are harvested for their carcasses in many Asian countries, much like chickens are harvested here. That’s where the Asian bird flu outbreaks in the 20th century came from.

  16. #14, That is a bizarre stereotype. People who don’t eat animal carcasses are more healthy and have fewer vitamin deficiencies and chronic diseases than people who do.

    Many bodybuilders (if you’re into that sort of thing) don’t eat carcasses to maintain top physical condition and they don’t look waxy or pallid:

    http://images.google.com/images?q=vegeta…

  17. I’m willing to eat animal carcasses even if it means I have to get the flu.
    Why?
    Because they’re fucking delicious.

  19. 16, Many body builders, especially like the ones to which you linked, vegetarian or otherwise take huge amounts of steroids and crazy supplements. (And they still looks sickly)

    I’ll keep my healthy skin tone, nice natural muscle tone, and a well balanced diet that includes meat over your sunken eyes, anemic pale skin, and saggy vegetarian body.

  20. #17, Of course, you aren’t risking getting pig flu directly from eating mammal carcases.

    You are, however, causing other people to get sick and die, including innocent children and others who want nothing to do with your morbid eating habits.

    What is it called again when you knowingly perform acts that kill other innocent people?

  21. @20 and buying t-shirts supports Hanes, who sells those same t-shirts to people that live in Colorado, adding to the skin cancer rate there. what’s your point? I’m guilty of manslaughter because I like to keep my nips in?

  25. #23, Riding public transportation doesn’t cause disease. If you have pig flu symptoms, yes, riding public transportation and knowingly transmitting it to others is obviously immoral.

  26. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Bush’s approval rating at 26% is an increase for him.

    In reality it is probably somewhere like 2.6%.

  27. 24, It’s amazing what make-up and photoshop does for celebrity publicity shots. (most of those folks look sickly even with all the photo manipulation.)

    I’ll keep my nutritionally balanced strong, lean, well toned, meat eating body, over your thin, pale, waxy malnutritioned vegetarian body anytime.

  28. 25, People become contagious long before they show symptoms. Riding public transportation is responsible for so many more deaths. Your moral code is very selective.

  30. #27, I’d like to keep discussing this with you, but I’d like to see any basis in fact to support your stereotypes. Yes, people who don’t eat corpses are more than than people who do, but that is because eating corpses is the leading cause of obesity in America.

    People who don’t eat corpses are less malnourished than people who do.

    On average people who don’t eat corpses (or even animal fluids like eggs and milk) have deficiencies in 3 nutrients (not protein): Calcium, iodine, and B12 (which is easily remedied by eating any eggs or milk at all, or eating any fish or flax)

    People who do eat corpses have on average deficiencies in 7 nutrients: Calcium, iodine, vitamin C, vitamin E, fiber, folate, and magnesium.

  31. I mean the only corpse I’ve ever laid my lips upon was my Grandmother’s and it is that shame that has made me the vegan that I am today.

  33. Of course that’s why the transportation department doesn’t have the skills or knowledge “in house” to prepare an adequate snow response – they are always giving out those sort of “technical” jobs to outside consultants instead of investing in and training their permananent employees to have the same (or better) skills and knowledge as outside consultants. And guess what happens then – once the consultant study is completed it gets put on a shelf and ignored because the permanent staff have no incentive and only basic understanding on how to make it work. And we go back to square one in the next snow storm. Lather, rinse, repeat. I’ll bet if Erica did digging and public records request she could find the department’s “snow plan” designed by consultants a few years ago and start asking questions about why none of the recommendations in that plan were used in this past December’s “snowmergency.”

  35. 30, I’ll take you on in any athletic competition, and I know I’d win over your scrawny vegetarian build. The worst part about vegans is they permanently have whine flu. The non-stop, high pitched wheeze of self righteous, crying that comes from their spindly vegan weakened lungs, “Gasp, eating meat, gasp, causes all the, gasp, worlds ills. Gasp, I’ve got to go, gasp, sit down. That took a, gasp lot out of my, gasp, vegan body. gasp, gasp, gasp.”

    Again, if you care about preventing contagious disease, you’ll speak out against public transportation.

  37. #35, I am not a vegan. I am healthy but don’t work out often, so I’m sure you could probably beat me up if you are a tough guy like you make yourself sound. Congrats!

    Look, I agree with Biden and Obama in saying people should take precautions and use public transportation less. I am not arguing with you about that and of course I believe in reasonable precautions.

    However, riding public transportation before the pig flu spread here did nothing to spread the disease. Eating pig and bird corpses before now, however, did cause 100% of this disease. Riding public transportation after the outbreak is over won’t spread pig or bird flu, but continuing to eat pig and bird corpses will cause their next deadly pandemics.

  41. 37, I didn’t say beat you up. I said I could win any athletic competition over your weakened vegetarian body.

    Do you think that swine flu is the only disease that can be spread via the close contact of public transportation? What about the yearly human flu that goes around? You do know that most flu viruses contracted by humans originated in humans, right?

    You are against eating meat. You are using this flu outbreak to push your anti meat agenda. You think that animals are better than humans. Animals eat other animals. Humans are animals. We eat other animals. It’s good to be at the top of the food chain!

  42. 05:45 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 21, 2009

    Lance Armstrong wants to turn you into a nutrition expert with a few clicks of your mouse. The Daily Plate, an online calorie-counter, food diary and nutrient tracker, is now operated by Livestrong.com, the Web site of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

    Plug these chicken tenders into the Daily Plate on Livestrong.com.

    CHILE-RUBBED CHICKEN TENDERS

    3 tablespoons chili powder

    3 tablespoons light brown sugar

    ¾ teaspoon garlic powder

    ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste (see Note)

    1 1/3 pounds chicken tenders

    1 teaspoon vegetable oil

    Mix the spices and sugar on a plate. Set aside. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

    Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.

    Press each chicken tender into the spice mixture on both sides so that the mixture adheres to the chicken, and place into skillet. Discard remaining spice mixture. Cook chicken until no longer pink inside, about 3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.

    Makes 4 servings.

    Note: For mildly spicy chicken, use 1/2 teaspoon. If you like it hot, add up to three times as much.

    PER SERVING: Calories 210 (11% fat)

    Fat 2.6 g (Trace sat) Cholesterol 89 mg Sodium 184 mg Fiber 1 g Carbohydrates 13 g Protein 35 g

    RANCH SLAW

    1 ½ cups light ranch salad dressing

    2 tablespoons skim milk (see Note)

    1 (16-ounce) bag coleslaw mix

    In a large bowl, mix the salad dressing and milk. Add the coleslaw mix and toss to coat well with dressing. Serve immediately. (Keep slaw refrigerated in an airtight container for up to two days.)

    Makes 6 servings.

    Note: Low-fat or whole milk could be used.

    PER SERVING: Calories 176 (71% fat) Fat 14 g (1 g sat) Cholesterol 17 g Sodium 625 mg Fiber 1 g Carbohydrates 11 g Protein 2 g

  43. 35: have you ever noticed that the largest mammals on the planet are vegetarian/vegan?

    Your assertion/excusing behavior that not eating meat makes vegans/vegetarians weak is absolute and pure bullshit.

    Listen, if you want to make excuses for why you are bigger (read: FATTER) than others who abstain and will live better, longer lives than you — go for it.

    Enjoy your delusions because you are seriously mistaken.

    We’re pointing and laughing, not wheezing.

  44. Hey Rob in Baltimore:

    “Animals eat other animals.”

    The only thing the animals you eat ever ate was corn, so get over yourself.

    And who ever said vegetarians think anamals are better than humans? (this logic and accusation cements the fact that you are a Republican, with thw way you lobby hate like that)

  45. #41, I’m not arguing that you could win athletic competitions against me. That’s because I don’t work out very much like I already said.

    I am sure the Olympic medalists who don’t eat corpses that I linked to could win any athletic competition against you.

    From 9-time gold medalist Carl Lewis, who credited his Olympic medals to stopping eating animal corpses: “most athletes have the worst diet in the world [eating animal corpses], and they compete in spite of it.”

  46. That swine-flu chicken-carcass recipe looks delicious.

    As a friend of mine once said: “Animals are just God’s way of keeping meat fresh.”

  47. #46: That might be funny if innocent people weren’t becoming sick and dying because of your attitude. Instead, it’s just cruel and sad.

  50. The elephant is the second-largest and the largest on land. Large bulls (males) can be as large as 20,000 pounds, though they typically weigh about 16,000 pounds.

    VEG VEG VEG

  51. So out of all the gold medalist, you could find, on some obscure website, ten that may be to some varying degree vegetarian?

    Again, I’m part of the food chain. Lions eat gazelle. Sharks eat seals and penguins. I eat too eat meat. It’s good to be at the top of the food chain.

  52. #51, If there was a registry where Olympic medalists list their dietary habits, I could give you more. Can you find ten Olympic medalists that you can confirm do eat corpses? Those are 10 outstanding gold medalists who don’t eat corpses, not just random competitors in Trampoline or Luge.

    Unfortunately, bird and pig flu eat you. You are causing yourself to drop from the top of the food chain. How does it feel to be completely out of control of your own health because of your carcass-eating acts?

  53. 52, The list of meat eating medalists would include about 99 percent of Olympians.

    Unlike your weakened vegetarian body, my health is excellent. I have low cholesterol, low body fat, lots of lean muscle. I have a heart rate of about 54 bpm, and very healthy blood pressure. Like other meat eating species, I’m eating a diet that my body evolved to eat. Vegetarian species were not able to compete, now we are at the top. Again, most flues that affect people were formed in people. Yes there is cross over, but that would happen regardless of whether or not people eat meat. My meat eating body is better able to fight off diseases, while your vegetarian weakened body will be sick for weeks if not months.

  54. You do know that most flu viruses contracted by humans originated in humans, right?

    Essentially all viruses that now afflict humans originated from other animals, namely animals domesticated for food purposes.

    Could you guys just ignore Stop it now, please? Fifty comments and a whole thread hijacked because of his/her nonsense. Ignore. The. Troll.

  55. #53, You are being silly and ridiculous. People who don’t eat animal carcasses are healthier and live longer. You will die an average of 7 years earlier than you would if you didn’t eat animal corpses. Do you have children? Will you tell them that they won’t have a dad for 7 extra years because you can’t stop eating bodies? If they get sick and die from pig or bird flu will you write “sorry, daddy couldn’t stop eating dead bodies but at least he has a healthy blood pressure despite his unhealthy diet that contributed to his children’s deaths” on their tombstones?

  56. #54, I’d like to hear what you consider to be my “nonsense.” I’m sorry for hijacking this thread if I prevented you from discussing something else here.

  57. 55, I bet I’ll live longer than you, as I am much healthier. I am eating a great balanced diet that includes meat, and will be able to fight off any disease better than your vegetarian weakened body.

  58. @Stop it now: I don’t disagree that there are some pretty bad consequences of eating meat. But if you will allow me to bring this up, more of the e.coli outbreaks of the recent 10 years have come from vegetables.

    I think the problem isn’t meat vs. vegetarian. It’s large factory farms (which are nasty and cause illness) vs. small sustainable farms (both meat and veggie ones)

    Also, good for you for standing for what you believe in. I understand, you think that the slaughter of animals is wrong, and unhealthy, and bad for the environment. We all know that. ALL OF US. This topic has been played out ad naseum on Slog. Really. You are basically doing the equivolent of telling smokers “hey, smoking causes cancer!”

    The best thing you can do is try to promote healthy, sustainable meat farming. And telling meat eaters to try and buy organic or grass fed if possible. But right now, when everyone is poor, and meat (especially red meat) is cheap, people need to eat and they will eat that.

  59. Original Monique #58: Thank you. E.coli outbreaks are spread by vegetables, but E.coli is an animal disease that originates from the harvesting of pig, cow, and bird corpses. E.coli cannot come from vegetables; it is an animal disease. Unfortunately, factory farms often mix animal and plant sources of food, causing E.coli outbreaks. The problem is that plant sources of food are often eaten raw, while animal sources generally are not (unlike the raw forms of corpse that our species evolved to eat). If farms would stop harvesting animal corpses along with their foods, there would be no more E.coli outbreaks.

    Organic and grass fed animals that are slaughtered for consumption have environmental, animal cruelty, and possibly health benefits, but don’t prevent the origins of bird and pig flus, or the serious health risks that go along with a carcass diet. Only stopping the harvesting and consumption of animal corpses can do that.

    I understand it has been played out, but I am only responding to misconceptions by other commenters and Slog posters. If there were none, I would not be commenting.

  60. Stop it Now and Rob in Baltimore:

    We, the folks who for some reason read all your posts, demand proof! Pictures of yourselves, naked. Flex!

  62. @ Stop it: I applaud your taking such a vehement stand for what you believe in, and will try to stop being flippant in response to it. Anything else I can think of to say will look like I am immediately breaking my promise, so I will just leave it at that.

  64. Slog contributer ‘Stop it now’ raises valid points about the harm caused by the mass production and over consumption of meat in the industrialized and the industrializing world. Clearly, the costs of meat gluttony to health and the environment are not well understood or accepted, or meat consumption wouldn’t be rising even further above its already unsustainable levels.

    I love meat. But I love it even more eating it once a week instead of every day. Humans aren’t carnivores; something we forget, I think. Meat has evolutionarily been an infrequent part of our diets. We’re able to get by well on a range of fruits, vegetables and grains, plus the occasional carcass.

    Crowing, as Rob from Baltimore does, about some fantasy of being on top of the food chain, as if that meant anything but ill for every living thing beneath us, and perhaps for ourselves as well, is a mind numbingly childish argument. Frankly, I’ve come to expect better from regular Slog contributers.

    Thank you, stop it now, for nimbly calling out the elephant in the room of meat gluttony. I hope you continue to bring this up at Slog.

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