How The U.S. Government Engineered The Current Economic Crisis
by Michael Arrington on September 26, 2008

These people (the U.S. government) need to be stopped. Every time we get ourselves into an economic mess, there’s usually some milestone idiocy we can point back to as the government action that made the meltdown inevitable.

Take the current housing crisis that has now spread to the financial markets in general. The cause was too-easy credit that fueled a massive increase in housing prices as people bought houses they couldn’t afford with mortgages they weren’t able to pay off.

In 1999 there was roughly $5 trillion in total U.S. mortgage debt. That number ballooned to $12 trillion by 2007, and we know what happened from there (data is from the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight). To put this into perspective, total U.S. GDP is about $11 trillion annually, and U.S. government debt is around …

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Sweet Tango apples will make you smile.

As a Washington born guy who also spent a couple years living in Yakima and even worked on a fruit ranch for one harvest – I’ve had my fair share of apples. Whereas in my youth the market was moving toward the classic shapes, colors and bland-tasting Red & Golden Delicious varieties, over the past decade or so the interest and subsequent planting of varieties with more interesting flavors, textures and shapes has become the norm.

Today I read online at Epicurious.com that a new variety is being introduced in Fall 2009. I recall hearing an ‘apple variety expert’ from the University of Minnesota on the radio a few months back – discussing how long it takes to develop, test and eventually bring to market a new apple variety. More than 20 years, if I remember correctly. His example was the Honey Crisp, which hit the market in the last 5 or so and was developed in Minnesota.

So take a look at Epicurious.com and read the article, with more information on how to purchase a few of the new apples this fall.

Other online resources that mention this new apple:

Hungry Magazine – All Things Tasty
Chicago Reader – The Next ‘it” Apple

“I’ve never met a French person whose face didn’t soften and melt at the mere utterance of the word, and le cheesecake is always spoken of with a reverence normally reserved for the finest cheeses and most exclusive wines.” – david lebovits

This is a re-posted excerpt from david lebovits – living the sweet life in paris web log.
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