From Iron Curtain to Golden Arches (Fifteen years of Russian happy meals)

The Weekly Standard ^ | February 28, 2004 | Arnold Beichman

[Plutarch]

The potato article is most interesting.

Yes it is. Demographics is destiny, and food production was until recently the engine of demographic change. If you look at that map you'll see where there was more food production, and thus population growth. From the population growth in Northern Europe you'll a prime mover of the history of the 20th Century.

You have to subscribe to the site to get the second part of the article, I am not a subscriber, so I haven't seen the second article.

[jb6]

And in the societies of confucism, human life has low meaning and always has. Observe, a Chinaman looses his top knot and their emperor's order was that he would be put to death. Nothing much has changed with modern day China. Japan was very similar on their outlook upon peasants. The British mean while were busy pushing heroine and its trade, while the Germans were exterminating African tribes in their colonies.

As for your bit of history, it is also a bit of history that until the 1830s (actually later) Tomatoes in the US were considered poisonous weeds.

Your opinions and motivations color your posts and are the driving factor behind them.

[Ciexyz]

The Diet doctors today tell us that potatoes are full of starch and are therefore bad for those who want to lose weight. However, considering all the nutrients that the tubers contain...I'll indulge without guilt next time I'm at Wendy's and want a potato with chives.