Quote from: boskone on August 01, 2021, 06:47:30 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 01, 2021, 05:53:46 PM

Quote from: NT2C on August 01, 2021, 03:10:14 PM
Same way I feel about NYC.  NYS has its great areas that I'd love to visit again, and I still have a stake in 40 acres with a cabin and private lake belonging to the family of an ex, but I will never set foot in the state ever again.  The wackos have taken over the government there.

I wonder if whoever coined the phrase "The lunatics have taken over the asylum" ever lived in NYS or California?

ETA: I just looked up the phrase and apparently it came into being in 1919. Not sure if NYS and California were as messed up then as they are today.

We're gettin' political here, guys.

Yep, my bad.  I'mma gonna go put myself in time out and make 

Pigs are one of the most intelligent domesticated animals we have. I have no problem with implementing better standards for their living and paying more for their meat.

Quote from: the_alias on August 02, 2021, 07:07:17 AM
Pigs are one of the most intelligent domesticated animals we have. I have no problem with implementing better standards for their living and paying more for their meat.

Says the man who does not raise pigs 

Quote from: the_alias on August 02, 2021, 07:07:17 AM
Pigs are one of the most intelligent domesticated animals we have. I have no problem with implementing better standards for their living and paying more for their meat.

If they were really that smart, wouldn't they know better than to be so delicious? 

(I'm kidding, but not about them being delicious.)

Quote from: flybynight on August 02, 2021, 07:10:07 AM

Quote from: the_alias on August 02, 2021, 07:07:17 AM
Pigs are one of the most intelligent domesticated animals we have. I have no problem with implementing better standards for their living and paying more for their meat.

Says the man who does not raise pigs 

No but my grandfather raised Gloucester Old Spots as part of the widespread effort to preserve Heritage Breeds in the UK following WW2, and I buy my pork from a farm where the pigs can be visited and seen on regular basis.

Quote from: boskone on August 01, 2021, 08:30:50 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 01, 2021, 07:44:40 PM
Back to bacon, I've tried turkey bacon, but while some of it is edible, a lot of it tries too hard to be real bacon and fails horribly at it.

I've noted the same with "faux foods".  If they tried to be what they are, they're fine; but start trying to sub them for something else and they fall flat.

What comes to mind is mashed cauliflower (in place of mashed potatoes) and black bean burgers (in place of hamburger patties); both are actually pretty good, but if I ordered mashed taters and got cauliflower I'd be pretty peeved.

As someone who has to source alternative foods for special diets and requests, I agree completely with this. 
The Walmart (Morning side farms?) "Chipolata Black bean burger" is actually quite tasty... you know.  For not having meat in it... lol.  I eat riced cauliflower on a regular basis. While it's a great alternative and addition wot a lot of foods, it is most definitely NOT mashed potatoes or rice.  I got to try a real "Impossible Meat" burger 2 weekends ago (Not from Burger King) - we had a potluck camping and one of the girls there was vegan and wanted to know if I wanted to taste one.  Not bad, but had about as much flavor as a Mcd's plain burger... 

Quote from: SCBrian on August 02, 2021, 12:48:18 PM

Quote from: boskone on August 01, 2021, 08:30:50 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 01, 2021, 07:44:40 PM
Back to bacon, I've tried turkey bacon, but while some of it is edible, a lot of it tries too hard to be real bacon and fails horribly at it.

I've noted the same with "faux foods".  If they tried to be what they are, they're fine; but start trying to sub them for something else and they fall flat.

What comes to mind is mashed cauliflower (in place of mashed potatoes) and black bean burgers (in place of hamburger patties); both are actually pretty good, but if I ordered mashed taters and got cauliflower I'd be pretty peeved.

As someone who has to source alternative foods for special diets and requests, I agree completely with this. 
The Walmart (Morning side farms?) "Chipolata Black bean burger" is actually quite tasty... you know.  For not having meat in it... lol.  I eat riced cauliflower on a regular basis. While it's a great alternative and addition wot a lot of foods, it is most definitely NOT mashed potatoes or rice.  I got to try a real "Impossible Meat" burger 2 weekends ago (Not from Burger King) - we had a potluck camping and one of the girls there was vegan and wanted to know if I wanted to taste one.  Not bad, but had about as much flavor as a Mcd's plain burger...

So it had zero flavor?

The only vegetarian thing I've ever tried was a vegetarian MRE I had in a box of MREs I'd gotten from a friend of my oldest sister.

It was a vegetarian version of a pork rib patty (sort of like the McRib from McDonald's). It came with BBQ sauce and I definitely needed to use that because it was pretty flavorless otherwise.

It wasn't bad, but I'm not going to be rushing out and stocking up on them, though.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 02, 2021, 01:13:32 PM
The only vegetarian thing I've ever tried was a vegetarian MRE I had in a box of MREs I'd gotten from a friend of my oldest sister.

You've reminded me that I bought a case of Humanitarian Daily Rations about 15 years ago. I had a colleague who was in the US for 6 months so I had them delivered to him, then collected them when I went to visit. They were the early yellow ones, not the later pink version.

They were entirely vegetarian (but not quite vegan) and were pretty tasty. Looking at the menus they were mostly variations on "rice & beans". I'm sure I'd have got bored of them if I had to eat nothing but HDRs for months on end but a single case went quite quickly.

I had a couple of those HDRs as well, but mine were in an orange wrapper.

The accessory packets with the side dishes was the best part of the  one I tried. The main dish was just awful. Not sure what it was, but it looked like something that happens after a night of Taco Bell.

Smelled the same way too, now that I think about it. 

The HDRs were vegetarian, iirc, because that meant they were also kosher and halal.

I think XMRE (can't remember who they're a brand for) still produces similar rations.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 02, 2021, 02:34:49 PM
I had a couple of those HDRs as well, but mine were in an orange wrapper.

They switched the color at one point because some country or group of countries used the same color for some kind of explosive.

Someone realized it was a bad idea to basically train people to go pick up random explosive-colored items.

Quote from: boskone on August 02, 2021, 02:38:01 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 02, 2021, 02:34:49 PM
I had a couple of those HDRs as well, but mine were in an orange wrapper.

They switched the color at one point because some country or group of countries used the same color for some kind of explosive.

Someone realized it was a bad idea to basically train people to go pick up random explosive-colored items.

Cuts down on how many you have to feed though.







Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 03:21:11 PM
Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

I bet the explosives taste even worse. 

Quote from: Mr. E. Monkey on August 02, 2021, 03:24:48 PM

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 03:21:11 PM
Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

I bet the explosives taste even worse. 

You just know there's at least one Marine out there who has licked a brick of C4 on a dare or while bored on deployment.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 02, 2021, 05:06:45 PM

Quote from: Mr. E. Monkey on August 02, 2021, 03:24:48 PM

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 03:21:11 PM
Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

I bet the explosives taste even worse. 

You just know there's at least one Marine out there who has licked a brick of C4 on a dare or while bored on deployment.

I don't know about any Marine who may have, but I might know an old sailor who... 

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 05:19:05 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 02, 2021, 05:06:45 PM

Quote from: Mr. E. Monkey on August 02, 2021, 03:24:48 PM

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 03:21:11 PM
Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

I bet the explosives taste even worse. 

You just know there's at least one Marine out there who has licked a brick of C4 on a dare or while bored on deployment.

I don't know about any Marine who may have, but I might know an old sailor who... 

I know two Marines, but one's dead and the other is in prison and likely will be for awhile, so I can't ask either one if they've ever licked C4.

Knowing either of them, though, it wouldn't surprise me if they did at one point. Especially the one in prison. Dude wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box.

Probably explains why he's in prison.

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 03:21:11 PM
Cuts down on how many you have to feed though.

Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

Hmmm... I do not know what you did with NT2C, but you better untie him or wake him up and step away from the keyboard cuz he will be pissed when he sees what you posted with his account.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on August 02, 2021, 05:06:45 PM

Quote from: Mr. E. Monkey on August 02, 2021, 03:24:48 PM

Quote from: NT2C on August 02, 2021, 03:21:11 PM
Yeah, okay, that was in really poor taste, but any of you smartasses who deny having a similar thought about it is lying. 

I bet the explosives taste even worse. 

You just know there's at least one Marine out there who has licked a brick of C4 on a dare or while bored on deployment.

I don't know a Marine who has...but I know a former EOD tech who wouldn't confirm he had, but did state that it tastes bad even with Tobasco.

Quote from: the_alias on August 02, 2021, 07:07:17 AM
Pigs are one of the most intelligent domesticated animals we have. I have no problem with implementing better standards for their living and paying more for their meat.

The basic problem isn't the treatment of the livestock, per se, but "California".

They'll implement some change which increases costs, but then whine about how much it costs to live in California.

In addition to higher expense for the farmers will be the higher expense in tracking which meat is CA compliant and which isn't. Greater complexity in distribution systems often leads to greater vulnerability.

The law impacted other types of meat as well. The pork industry is just lagging behind worse than the other types of meat.

Even with stable distribution systems, this will further strain lower income families. Double the cost of all my food and I'll be ticked, but I can afford it. Add 30% to the cost of meat for a large family already on a very tight budget, and they may be really hurting.