Interesting items from my inbox and elsewhere:
Kiwi cows are changing color for the butter … er, better
How’s this for a sign that sanity about fats is finally prevailing? As you’ll recall, a recent study concluded that dairy fat doesn’t cause heart disease and may even protect against strokes. According to an article in NewsHub, the public in New Zealand already knows as much:
The colour of New Zealand’s cattle herds is changing, and it’s all because of fat.
Fawn-coloured Jersey cows produce more fat in their milk than black and white Holstein Friesians, and farmers are getting paid more for fat because consumers no longer believe it’s so bad.
What have I been saying for nine years? Change won’t happen because governments change their dietary advice; it will happen because people no longer believe that advice.
“All cows produce fat in their milk, but Jerseys do produce more – that’s what they’re renowned for,” says Alison Gibb, the president of Jersey NZ.
Ms Gibb been farming Jerseys since they were last in vogue, roughly 40 years ago.
Let’s see, that would be around 1978. And of course, we all remember what a problem we had with childhood obesity and diabetes before then.
Then came the 1950s and 1960s, when saturated fat was established as an enemy of public health. Consumers didn’t want fat in their milk and farmers were paid more for protein.
Actually, they were paid for less fat.
Now consumers want fat again, on the back of recent trends such as the paleo diet – and dairy companies are responding.
Uh … strict paleo dieters don’t consume dairy products, but we’ll let that one slide.
Professor Keith Woodford says there’ll be a gradual transition of farmers choosing to introduce more Jersey into their bloodlines.
This trend is all down to the consumer.
“Consumers have said rightly or wrongly that butter’s back in favour, so the price of butter is at an all-time record,” Professor Woodford says.
And now let’s hear from one of the usual idiots … uh, I mean experts.
But health experts say consumers are wrong, and not all fat is good.
“Butter is pure, unadulterated saturated fat – and saturated fat is the main cause of heart disease,” Rodney Jackson says.
Hey professor, did you happen to hear about the latest study concluding that saturated dairy fat has nothing to do with heart disease?
This one of the many ways media reports annoy the hell out of me. They’ll write experts say this, or scientists say that. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now set the record straight by quoting THE EXPERTS AND THE SCIENTISTS. As if they all agree — which they almost never do. The accurate statement would be some experts say this, or some scientists say that. Anyway …
The University of Auckland health science professor believes the fat fad won’t last.
No, it will last. Humans ate saturated fat without harm or guilt for hundreds of thousands of years. What won’t last is the true fad diet – the one that requires people to remove perfectly healthy fats from foods.
Keto dieters are a menace to diabetics?
Boy, doncha just hate it when demand for your product shoots up? I know if we saw a sudden spike in sales for the Fat Head DVD, I’d be all in a panic. I mean, how do we know we’ll have enough copies for the people who really need it?
That’s the apparent logic behind an article from ABC in Australia:
Diabetics across Australia are struggling to source an essential piece of equipment used to monitor their health, as urine-testing strips that measure the level of ketones in the body are being purchased in bulk by followers of the ketogenic diet.
Dang, if only there were an economic system that allowed production to rise when demand rises.
They measure their ketones by using urine or blood-testing strips available in most pharmacies.
However the testing strips are also used by diabetics like Craig Johnson who can slip into a life-threatening condition called ketoacidosis when their ketone levels are too high.
Mr Johnson was recently hospitalised with ketoacidosis, which he believes he could have detected earlier with keto strips.
However, there were no strips available at his local pharmacist in the northern New South Wales town of Byron Bay.
South Grafton pharmacist, Michael Troy, who is also a member of the Pharmaceutical Society and Pharmacy Guild of Australia, said the shortage of ketone-testing strips had become widespread since the keto diet returned to popularity.
Mr Troy said he had been unable to buy keto strips in bulk for almost six months.
“It’s a supply issue. We just cannot physically get our hands on the stock from any of our wholesalers, so we’ve not been able to get the products to keep them in stock on the shelves,” Mr Troy said.
He is urging other pharmacists to follow his lead and keep keto strips aside only for diabetics.
I certainly don’t want diabetics to run short of keto strips. But blaming other people for buying them seems a bit odd. Normally, selling more of a product is considered a positive development. So someone from Down Under tell me: are these things regulated? Are they purchased and distributed by a branch of government? Because when supply and demand get all out of whack and stay out of whack for months, it’s a good bet government regulators are involved somewhere.
Kellogg’s exposed for cereal bribery
You ever wonder why “experts” recommend cereal as a healthy breakfast? Other than pure ignorance, I mean? Turns out being paid helps, as recounted in a Daily Mail article:
Breakfast cereal giant Kellogg’s paid ‘independent experts’ to praise the nutritional value and taste of the company’s products on social media, it has emerged.
On its website, Kellogg’s touted a distinguished-sounding ‘Breakfast Council’ of ‘independent experts’ who helped guide its nutritional efforts.
And of course, those independent experts would let Kellogg’s know if they did some research and found that starting the morning with a big bowl of refined carbohydrates is a lousy idea.
However a contract and emails obtained by the Associated Press show that the maker of Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies paid the experts to engage in ‘nutrition influencer outreach’ and avoid offering their services to products that were ‘competitive or negative to cereal.’
Hmmm, not so independent after all. Wonder how much it costs to buy praise from “experts” on nutrition.
The company paid the experts an average of $13,000 a year to claim that Kellogg’s was their favorite brand on social media, or so they would tout the cereal during TV or other public appearances.
Goodness. What kind of “expert” would sell out like that?
‘I’m still feeling great from my bowl of cereal & milk this morning! Mini-Wheats are my fave,’ said Sylvia Klinger, a dietitian and council member who shared a photo of the cereal during a Twitter chat with Kellogg about the benefits of its product. Kellogg introduced the dietitian as a ‘Breakfast Council Member.’
Without noting her relationship with the company, another council member and dietitian chimed in to say Mini-Wheats were her favorite, too. She included a photo of Frosted Mini-Wheats.
The company used the council to teach a continuing education class for dietitians, publish an academic paper on breakfast, and try to influence the government’s dietary guidelines.
The Kellogg’s Breakfast Council included a professor of nutrition, a pediatrician and dietitians.
Yeah, that pretty much sums up what I think of dietitians – most of them, anyway.
Are you threatened by vegetarianism?
You know how it is … you’re sitting at a restaurant, enjoying a steak, and then you hear some guy at the next table order the vegetarian special. Your mouth goes dry. Your heart begins to pound. The hand holding your fork begins to quiver. Why? Because you feel threatened by vegetarianism. That’s why meat-eaters are constantly picketing in front of vegetarian restaurants and occasionally invade grocery stores to trash the vegetable counter.
Fortunately, someone is studying the reasons behind this pervasive fear of vegetarianism, as reported by the University of Kent:
Researchers from the University’s School of Psychology and Brock University in Canada studied the impact of human supremacy beliefs and vegetarianism on whether people feel moral concern for animals, ranging from those normally considered to be pets, such as cats and dogs, through to those reared for eating, such as pigs and cows, and wild animals.
The study, involving participants in the US, found that both human supremacy beliefs and a perceived vegetarianism threat are important in explaining why some people morally exclude animals.
The results demonstrated that stronger human supremacy beliefs and vegetarianism threat predicted the inclusion of fewer animals in individuals’ moral circles over a reasonably large time interval.
Boy, it’s like they were studying me personally. I include few animals in my individual moral circle over a reasonably large time interval. Now I know it’s because I’m threatened by vegetarianism.
However, the effects of vegetarianism threat were more specific and only emerged for certain animal categories. Stronger vegetarianism threat predicted lesser moral inclusion of food animals, but not of companion animals and unappealing animals.
I take that to mean that even if I’m really threatened by vegetarianism, I won’t eat dogs even if they’re not attractive. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But I’m glad my Rottweilers are adorable, just in case.
Why people really feel ‘threatened’ by vegetarianism
Meat-eaters don’t give a rat’s ass if some people choose not to eat meat. That leaves more for us. We only feel “threatened” when they decide we shouldn’t eat meat either. Take the doofuses running this company – please.
Co-working giant WeWork Cos. thinks it can save the environment quicker than Elon Musk.
The startup has told its 6,000 global staff that they will no longer be able to expense meals including meat, and that it won’t pay for any red meat, poultry or pork at WeWork events. In an email to employees this week outlining the new policy, co-founder Miguel McKelvey said the firm’s upcoming internal “Summer Camp” retreat would offer no meat options for attendees.
WeWork is a private company, and if the bigwigs choose to adopt that policy, that’s their business. But the policy ranks high on the dumbassery scale. No expensing meals that include meat? What if you’re taking a potential client out to dinner and client happens to order chicken?
“Uh, no, sorry. If you order that, I’ll have to pay for this meal out of my own pocket. Boy, doesn’t that spinach pie look delicious?”
“New research indicates that avoiding meat is one of the biggest things an individual can do to reduce their personal environmental impact,” said McKelvey in the memo, “even more than switching to a hybrid car.”
Yeah, because raising corn, wheat and soybeans in the same fields year after year by pumping the soil full of fossil-fuel fertilizers and then spraying the crops with Monstanto’s herbicides is so good for the planet.
Individuals requiring “medical or religious” allowances are being referred to the company’s policy team to discuss options.
And then they’re never heard from again.
Although the anti-meat stance is significant for the New York-based company, it’s far from the first startup to promote alternatives to animals. Juicero, a failed maker of high-priced juice machines, had instituted a similar ban on reimbursing employee expenses for meals at non-vegan restaurants.
Well, sure, when I’m searching for policies to emulate, I always look to failed companies for inspiration.
I guess if the employees don’t want to give up meat, WeWork can always bribe some dietitians to come in and discuss the health benefits of eating Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats.
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‘Breakfast Council’
LOL.
WOW! Not allowing employees to expense meals with meat in them. Until the restaurants catch on and up the price of salads, this will be a real money saver for the company. But, they need to be careful. What if the plat-du-jour for $10.95 is chicken fried steak?
Could be worse. What if a WeWork employee is having a company-approved vegetarian meal at a restaurant and people threatened by vegetarianism run in and trash the salad bar?
Poor Mr. Johnson in Australia. He went to the store and there were no keto strips! And he desperately needs keto strips because he has gone into keto acidosis before, so he knows he is susceptible. If only keto strips were, like, good for at least a year if unopened and good for six months once opened, and came in containers that held about 50 or so, and were fairly inexpensive. Then he would be able to always have a supply of keto strips on hand and be able to regularly test his blood or urine a few times every week instead of waiting until he thinks he’s feeling poorly and then trekking to, evidently, the only place in his town that carries them. And it’s all because of those dastardly ketogenic dieters!
What is that old saying about lack of planning on your part?
Well, I don’t want to come down too hard on Mr. Johnson. He probably gut used to them always being available. I still want to know why the spike in demand isn’t being met with a corresponding rise in supply. I have to think Bayer is capable of producing more them.
Trust me. Retired nurse here. If he has a history of multiple episodes of keto acidosis, his doctor has been on him to check his urine at least once a week if not every day, not just when he feels iffy. Of course, his doctor has probably also been recommending that he have orange juice and pancakes for breakfast as part of a diabetic diet, so…..
A quick search for “keto” on the Australian amazon site shows a top result for 200 strips for 12.54 +50 cents for shipping.
Pretty cheap. I still wonder what’s causing the shortage.
If 30 seconds of searching can find a supply of strips, can it actually be considered a shortage?
Not really, no.
If vegans used them they would up the production PDQ.
“Then came the 1950s and 1960s, when saturated fat was established as an enemy of public health. Consumers didn’t want fat in their milk and farmers were paid more for protein.”
I don’t know the whys or wherefors, but it is my theory that the “disease” of lactose intolerance was born out of creating low-fat and skim milk. In my own N=1, I have no gut issues with full fat milk. Get a cup of skim in me and I get bloated, gassy and bowel issues. I truly believe that when they remove or reduce the fat, there is something about that the creates the intolerance. Perhaps it has something to do with fat slowing down the break down of the lactose?
Interesting.
Not sure about that. My husband drinks full-fat milk only and still has some lactose intolerance issues.
As I said, N=1. And how do you know it isn’t what he is drinking it with during his meals?
Interestingly, I just found out there is a fairly simple test to see if you are really lactose intolerant. Since lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, you do a blood sugar test. Take your fasting blood sugar in the morning, drink two cups of milk, and see if your blood sugar rises over the next two hours. If it does, it’s because your body is digesting the lactose. If not, you are probably actually lactose intolerant. It would be interesting to do it with milk of different fat contents.
Firebird7478 wrote: «…it is my theory that the “disease” of lactose intolerance was born out of creating low-fat and skim milk.»
That would conform to USDA MyPlateOfMetabolicSyndrome math:
Low_fat = High_what?
Hint: probably not protein
Bovine dairy presents a number of potential problems for human consumption, usually taken to be lactose intolerance, but my theory is that it’s at least as likely to be one or more of the others, in no particular order:
• Lactose intolerance
Could be real, or could be dysbiosis (an unfavorable microbiome population that reacts adversely to this particular sugar). Fermented dairy usually dodges this problem, because the culture consumes the sugars. Watch out for added sugars, tho, and the Nutrition Facts labels tend to overstate net carbs, thanks to FDA label guidance.
• Casein beta A1
Human, goat, sheep, and some cow milk is A2, but the majority of North American bovine dairy herds express the A1 form of this protein. Many humans react poorly to A1. Solutions include simply avoiding A1, and fermented dairy (where much of this protein is converted). Branded A2 milk is now appearing in U.S. markets. This may not be a food fad.
• Whey fraction
This is insulinotrophic in a non-trivial fraction of the population. That that’s more of a weight management thing in terms of reaction presentation. Whey is avoided, again, by seeking fermented dairy, where it’s often removed (esp. cheeses). In home yogurt making, we often get stratification, allowing the whey to be strained out, perhaps saved as starter.
• General AI
With unresolved leaky gut, possibly including actual gut wall damage, lots of food components are getting into the blood which should not be there. Various dairy proteins (even from A2 herds) could easily provoke an autoimmune reaction. Dairy elimination, until the pathway is close, and the antibody titer unwinds, is apt to be indicated. Weeks to months.
• Second-hand toxins
Go for pastured and organic to minimize added hormones, second-hand antimicrobials, and field toxin uptake in the CAFO feedlot chow. Avoiding CAFO also makes the fatty acid profile more favorable.
• The Ingredients list
needs to say only “milk”, or perhaps “cream”, period. Way too often nowadays, it’s apt to include the usual nonsense found in industrial food-like substances; of principal concern: emulsifiers. Polysorbate 80 and carrageenan are the most troubling, but even the natural gums can be gut wall antagonists. Watch out also for preservatives and “vitamins” which are probably there for shelf life, and not your life.
re: «Get a cup of skim in me and I get bloated, gassy and bowel issues.»
How do you respond to prebiotic fiber (aka resistant starch, soluble fiber)? A prompt (minutes) reaction of the sort you describe often implies SIBO, which is pandemic, but treatable (although not by most PCPs, endos or gastros).
re: «Perhaps it has something to do with fat slowing down the break down of the lactose?»
Fat can blunt response to carbs, but many, perhaps most people who think themselves lactose intolerant, are not, or not just, and have some other optional ailment that needs to be addressed. Just shunning dairy might be dodging, but not fixing, the root problem.
I think resistant starch is BS. Not sold on it. I do not have SIBO.
Firebird7478 wrote: «I think resistant starch is BS. Not sold on it.»
Two separate issues there, and #1 is not on the table:
1. purported benefits of higher levels of mixed/varied prebiotic fibers, and
2. implications of prompt adverse reactions to consuming any, for any reason.
re: «I do not have SIBO.»
Cool. Then my remarks are addressed to anyone else who might detect something to look into. In addition to the lack of intestinal distress, and no prompt adverse response to prebiotic fibers/RS/solubles, an H2 breath test is also helpful in ruling out SIBO (and a home meter may reach market next month, although it’s apt to be an off-schedule use of the device). Other consensus med diagnostics (scoping) tend to be less dispositive.
On the prebiotic fiber (RS) test … Human enzymes don’t promptly cleave this class of carbohydrates (hence the “resistant” often used to describe them. Gut microbes, however, can metabolize them. Gut microbes are supposed to be largely confined to the colon (large intestine). It takes a couple of hours after consumption before food starts reaching the colon, during which time resistant carbs would be expected to be inert, and provoke no reaction (if the gut wall is in decent shape). The upper GI should treat it just like insoluble fiber/roughage, i.e. ignore it.
If there is a prompt reaction, that strongly suggests that metabolizing microbes have ascended into the small intestine, if not the duodenum and stomach. That needs to be dealt with, and it’s a bit of a conundrum, because it’s probably going to require anti-microbials to eradicate or suppress the unwanted species, and that’s further going to distort the entire microbiome (even the herbal antibiotics). Subsequent remediation steps are essential, and the state of human knowledge on what constitutes eubiosis is in its infancy.
I stopped drinking milk for a few years. Then had a hankering. The first few times I drank it I had all the intolerance symptoms. Then after a few weeks I could drink half a gallon without issue.
As Bob points out below, the problem may be A1 vs A2 milk.
When I was young we had milk delivered by Jersey Dairies. The good stuff was Gold Top – genuine Jersey milk with a premium price. Next was Red Top with less of a fatty layer at the top of the bottle, not sure what type of cow they used.
The cheap stuff was Silver Top, almost certainly from Friesians, the black and white cows as on the cover of Atom Heart Mother (there, that dates me!)
Holsteins are basically Friesians with a turbocharger, they produce such a high milk yield that they often fail to maintain their bodies properly and the vets’ bills are much higher. A farmer made me laugh by describing “them kipper-arsed Holsteins”. The male calves are effectively useless for beef production though I think some have used them for veal.
Older breeds are more dual purpose, the milk yield is lower but the quality higher (A2) plus you can eat them, and they are more robust. Also, Jerseys have eye makeup to die for.
If I worked for a company like WeWork, with a policy of vegetarian food only, I would simply not eat anything at work (unless I were allowed to bring in my own meat) – and at company events or meals I would sit and sip a glass of water (or wine, if that were allowed). Especially if you are a low-carber, skipping meals is no trouble. And I could dig into a good meaty feast once I got home.
The people who wrote the US Constitution didn’t put in an amendment guaranteeing the right to eat what you like – but only because it probably seemed too obvious to mention.
If I worked at a company like WeWork and they instituted that policy, I’d leave.
I once turned down a programming gig because the company owners demanded all new employees take a drug test. I told them that as a private company, they have every right to make that a condition of employment. I also told them I’d pass the test with flying colors, but I refuse to work for people who think it’s their business what I do or don’t smoke on weekends.
I think ghee is even strict Paleo® friendly as the protein is removed, leaving only the fat behind. Of course addressing the unwashed Primal would not be understood.
I’m not sure about We Work, but normally companies are run by executives who have little or no ownership in the company aside from stock options and the company belongs to the stockholders. The bigwigs frequently make decisions based on what is good for them and not necessarily what is good for the stockholders.
This is known in the general case as the agency problem.
I read your excerpt from the University of Kent study 3 times, and I still can’t figure out what it is saying.
Question: Was this study paid for directly by the U.K. taxpayers, or indirectly thro’ a grant from the European Union.
No idea. A lot of academics just seem to vomit words onto the page and expect them to make sense.
Yeah, I had to Google around to even understand what “vegetarianism threat” was. My interpretation was the academic types used “threat” in place of “find annoying” to make it sound more science-y.
The whole premise is that being around overt vegetarian types (again, think “annoying” instead of fearful) tends to make non-believers adopt more callous attitudes towards animals.
Like that time a guy asked if I wanted a falafel so I punched his cat.
Being around annoying vegetarians tends to make me adopt a more callous attitude towards vegetarians.
“vegetarianism threat” is for example, when Vegans picket a restaurant and the owner carves up a deer in their sight. They are frightened by being told they are idiots.
Threats of vegetarianism…homeless people pooing in the streets…people calling the cops on lemonade stands..the news has ceased to make sense to me.
It stopped making sense to me years ago.
Food fanatics are so funny. I’ve been reading up on the carnivore diet, and it turns out that just as vegan purists won’t eat butter or wear leather shoes, a carnivore purist won’t eat ANYTHING sourced from plants – not herbs, not spices, not even coffee or tea for the real hard-liners. But if the author of my book on how to do the carnivore diet thinks I’m going to make my meatloaf without any sage or pepper or dry mustard, she’s got another think coming! Her meatloaf just contains ground beef, eggs and salt. She does admit to drinking coffee, but I seem to recall that she said something about weaning herself off. As I came to the end of the book she mentioned that she’d started the carnivore diet in January 2018. Almost Instant Authority?
Good grief. Even if there were minor benefits, I wouldn’t want to live that way. Pretty sure I can add herbs and spices and vegetables to my meals and still live to a ripe old age.
I was having some problems that turned out to be related to oxalates that are higher in some veggies than in others (higher in my favorites, of course), so I thought I’d try the carnivore diet for a while as an elimination diet. Only three days in, and while I feel great right now I’m not shooting off any fireworks yet — whether for physical or psychological reasons, you always feel terrific when you have a radical change of diet.
Yup, that’s a point Paul Jaminet made in the Perfect Health Diet book. Often when we adopt a new diet, we’re either getting nutrients we were missing before or removing foods that trigger negative reactions. But if the new diet is missing other nutrients or includes foods that trigger eventually negative reactions, it’s lather, rinse, repeat.
I’ve not tried it, but the anecdotal n=1 story told by Dr. Jordan Peterson shows that some people can really benefit from the carnivore diet. Not everyone, but some people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGikB-54Lwk
I don’t doubt that at all.
So do the carnivores only wear leather or fur? That would get super hot in the summer.
The experts are at it again, as this op-ed fails to recognize that obesity rates began skyrocketing around the time the feds introduced the first dietary guidelines. Of course these authors want government to step in and address said obesity epidemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/opinion/cost-diabetes-obesity-budget.html?WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&action=click&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&pgtype=Homepage®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region
Dr. Ludwig understands the causes of obesity — sugar, refined carbs, processed junk foods — but of course I mostly disagree with the solutions. Stop subsidizing cheap carbs? Hell, yes. Get rid of farm subsidies, period. Then get rid of all federal involvement in setting dietary policies and let people figure it out for themselves. We used to be pretty good at it.
On one of his videos he was suggesting a tax on salt, which is a necessary not to say vital nutrient. 20% of the population is salt intolerant and he asks if that is enough to restrict salt. He apparently imagine how restricting salt could be bad, just like the people who wanted to restrict fat could imagine how that could be bad.
I figure some people leak salt like crazy and of course no one is checking for that condition as doesn’t show up as long as that person can get enough salt. Dr, Jason Fung talks about why cutting salt to reduce high blood pressure is a bad trade off as for one thing it raises insulin resistance and a bunch of other things.
Good lord. Here’s my solution: don’t subsidize any foods, and don’t tax any foods because they’re “bad.” Let people make their own decisions.
Oops I meant Lustig, not Ludwig. Sorry. I thought I had mentioned the correct name first.
Oh well, it’s not the first time their names have been confused.
If my employer did not allow meat based meals to be expensed I would be telling the server there would be a little extra to write my ribeye up as a big-a$$ed tofu patty. 🙂
Now that’s a solution I can endorse.
My supermarket sells three kinds of full-fat milk, two of which are premium higher-fat milks from Jersey cows. They also sell at least ten brands of quality butter and six full-fat yoghurts. This is in a poor part of the UK.
Yes, the supermarket still sells lots of low-fat sugary rubbish, still endorsed by many dietitians, but the return to full-fat diary is well established and seems to be growing.
Yup, sure is. I saw recently that consumers purchased more full-fat dairy products than low-fat versions for the first time in decades.
That’s good news.
Every pound or dollar we spend is a way to exert a little influence. Even Heinz are now making beans with no added sugar, although they’re still making tomato soup with six or seven tea spoons of added sugar. I’ve seen sugar added to tuna. Clearer labelling is being fought by all the producers.
And the price of my Kerrygold butter has gone up. We buy it at Costco and freeze it. The packaging has changed as of our Costco trip yesterday. Used to be 3 8oz blocks, now 4. Before I realized the change, I was shocked at the price increase. Still an increase, but also still way cheaper at Costco.
I generally alternate between Kerrygold (Irish), President (French) and Anchor (English, used to be New Zealand). Other brands are available, but they are all more expensive than they were, and it must be years since any were on special offer. There’s still a profusion of margarine and “spreads” though, all much cheaper. Come to think, although I don’t really look, I can’t remember any of them being on special offer for a while either.
Would be nice if some of the increased price went back to the farmers but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
So that’s why the price of my Kerrygold butter has gone up.
Sorry for the extra post. I couldn’t find the “pending” one so thought I messed up.
No worries. I don’t think they’re visible until I approve them.
Used to be you’d see your post with a note saying that your comment was awaiting approval. Haven’t seen that the last few comments I made. It was nice because you at least knew that your computer hadn’t swallowed your comment instead of sending it. These days I’m also being asked for my name and email address each time I comment, too — hadn’t had to do that in years.
I’ll check WordPress. Maybe it has something to do with the new template.
It looks like it was some sort of recent WordPress-wide default tweak. Both of Dr. Davis’ blogs went mod-silent recently.
Someone didn’t think this through. It’s apt to result in needless re-post attempts, mod queues filling up with duplicates, and perhaps discouraging participation. With all the shadow-banning going on at pretend-free-speech social media sites, blogs need to be as open as possible on the mod front.
Dang, that’s annoying. I don’t want WordPress to create a disincentive to commment.
Thank you! I’m not losing my mind after all. 😉
I made a change in the WordPress settings. Hope it does the trick.