thoughts of food
How America became the capital of great pizza.
“Since the early 2000s, the variety and quality of pizza made by ambitious chefs all over the country have only gotten better.” ~ learn more
Tag: United states of America
to your health
“Normal” bloodwork is “average” bloodwork.
“I learned that most reference ranges on your lab results are based on the average values of the population being tested, which, in the US, often means metabolically struggling, chronically inflamed, and far from optimal. These ranges tell you if […]
retail therapy
How much of the U.S.’s exports are made of blood?
The Economist wrote it was ~2%. Seems high? “The article doesn’t explain how they arrived at 1.8%. And since the Economist speaks in the voice of God (without bylines), I can’t corner and harass the actual journalist.” So, this blogger […]
retail therapy
DHL doesn’t trust consumers to pay their customs tariff bills.
“Effective Monday, April 21st, 2025, and until further notice, we will temporarily suspend the collection and shipping of business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments to private individuals in the United States where the declared customs value exceeds USD 800.” ~ learn more
big ideas
10 new US cities.
Tomas Pueyo has written a lot of insightful articles on cities around the world. Now he’s taking on a challenge proposing 10 new US cities to get us back to building and growth. “So I asked myself: Where could we […]
retail therapy
Temu’s takeover is now complete.
“Launched in late 2022, the Chinese-owned ecommerce site, known for selling a vast array of astonishingly affordable goods, took only two years to become a household name in the US. … Temu is projected to earn more than $50 billion […]
fun facts
What is in fire retardants dropped from planes?
“In the United States, firefighting strategies range from the ground to the air. Aerial firefighting is one of these strategies. It involves dropping water and fire retardant from planes to slow or stop the spread of a wildfire. But what […]
on the blockchain
Tether, the preferred money laundering tool of drug traffickers.
“A money laundering organization allegedly connected to large seizures of cocaine inside the United States and works with cartels in Mexico and Colombia has moved at least tens of millions of dollars using a string of front businesses, cash drop-offs, […]
fun facts
People are having less sex.
I didn’t want to believe it, but it may be true. About the study: “We used data from 14- to 49-year-old participants in the 2009 and 2018 waves of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), a confidential […]
fun facts
Why the US can’t build icebreaking ships.
I don’t want to overstate it, but it does seem like the inability to build important infrastructure is a pattern in the United States. “The Coast Guard has handled all U.S. icebreaking since 1966, and estimates that it needs 8-9 […]