How Hot is Hot?

Who would have thought there was a Chile Pepper Institute? I sure never would have guessed. The Chile Pepper Institute "is a non-profit, science-based organization dedicated to everything chile pepper. It conducts research on disease resistance, higher yield and better flavor of the crop. It also fields hundreds of questions a week from growers, producers, researchers and home gardeners" (Joshi 1). Each year the Chile Pepper Institute declares a new worlds hottest pepper. In 2007, the Guiness Book of World Records certified the Bhut Jolokia as the hottest pepper. However, in February the Moruga Scorpion was declared the new hottest pepper. In order to determine the world's hottest pepper, a mathematical formula is used containing, Scoville heat units (SHU). The Moruga Scorpion received a score of 2 million SHU. The Moruga Scorpion has been used in everything from salsa to brownie mixes but it is recommended to eat in very small servings. 

I enjoyed reading this article because it was new and interesting to me. I had never heard of anything like a Chile Pepper Institute but it definitely sounds like a fun job to have. The author, Monika Joshi used mainly logos in her article. She described how SHU's work and kept straight to the facts. She included a little pathos when she interviewed people who had sampled the Moruga Scorpion, "the heat builds after the initial bite, resulting in an all-over-the-mouth-and-throat burn that lasts at least eight minutes" (John Hard, owner of Chile Pepper Institute).


Chile Pepper Institute Studies What's Hot by Monika Joshi
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/story/2012-03-11/Chile-Pepper-Institute-studies-whats-hot/53490214/1

The Pink Slime is Back

The pink slime is back. Although McDonalds and Taco Bell have banned it from their meats, the government is now using pink slime in lunch meat at public schools. The United States Department of Agriculture just bought "7 million pounds of beef containing ammonium hydroxide-treated ground connective tissue and meat scraps and serving it up to America's school kids" (Weir 1). Pink slimes official name is "Lean Beef Trimmings." It is not nutritious as it is filled with connective tissues instead of muscles, it is not the same thing as real ground meat. Aside from it not being nutritious, the ammonium hydroxide in it is a concern. Aside from being found in pink slime, ammonium hydroxide is used to kill pathogens such as E. coli, eww. It is estimated that it is found in about 70% of ground beef in the United States. Food advocates are beginning to ask for meat containing pink slime to be labeled so the buyers know what they are consuming. I think if you knew one pack of ground beef contained pink slime and another didn't, you would definitely opt for the one with out pink slime.

Sarah Weir, the author of this article, used many logos when writing. She included a lot of statistics about ammonium hydroxide, pink slime, and the meat safety in the U.S. However, I wish she gave a better definition to pink slime, she never formerly defined it, she assumed her readers knew what it was. After reading this, I am still a little confused as to what pink slime truly is. Whatever it is though, it seems disgusting and if I did eat meat I would definitely want to know what was in it, just to be on the safe side.

Seven Million Pounds of “Pink Slime” Beef Destined for National School Lunch Program by Sarah Weir
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/seven-million-tons-8220-pink-slime-8221-beef-180500764.html

"School Shootings Are Gun Crimes"

Last week, a teen gunman entered his high school and open fired in the cafeteria. He killed three students and injured two more. If it wasn't for the heroic high school teacher and football coach who led the gunman away from the school where he was later arrested, the event would have been much more fatal. Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio will be forever scarred of that day's events. They join Columbine and Virginia Tech in the group of deadly school shootings. This group can not get any larger than it is not, these events are much too tragic and extremely preventable. In an editorial, the Akron Beacon Journal said,"...What led a young man to gather a gun and fire at classmates will come later, if at all. First, there is the fate of the victims, hoping for recoveries, mourning the loss. Then, there is Chardon, looking to restore that precious feeling of security." Frank Ochberg of CNN believes that events such as school shootings are preventable. He said, "But the reason we have an American school shooting problem that exceeds other nations has to do with access to loaded weapons by kids who should not have that access." In an editorial, The Blade mentioned that they believe the problem with school shootings traces all the way back to bullying, "But doing all the right things won't get rid of all bullies. And as long as there are bullies and victims, tragedy can result." In the Huffington Post, Gabriel Lerner said, "The truth is there is more violence in our schools than we realize." She was the first person in the enter article to talk of reality, she knows there is a problem and it needs to be changed.

I felt this article to be very fitting with our recent class discussions, especially with the Patterns readings about hate crimes. The article used mainly pathos especially in the quotes included. All of the quotes were personal opinions on school shootings. However, there was ethos in it as well. Ethos was used when it came down to analyzing school shootings, how wrong are they? Ethos was very prominent at the beginning of the article when author Sharon Broussard spoke of the shooting, "It was a reminder that no place is sacrosanct in a society where guns are far too common and available to vengeful, emotionally unstable or just plain cruel people."

School Shootings Are Gun Crimes, various authors

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-03-01/ohio-school-shooting-chardon-gun/53323810/1

Thank You Global Warming

This winter certainly did not feel like a typical north east one. Many scientists believe that global warming has contributed the warm temperatures we had this winter. Only twice did snow accumulate, and it added up to barley two inches here in New England. We haven't had any snow days or delays, no snowmen or sledding fun. While the majority of north easterners feel deprived of the winter season this year, one thing that nobody has missed is flu season. Last year, the official flu season started in October. This year, it began in late February. Although many may not think it, the flu can be deadly. Last year, 122 children died from the flu, this year only three. Also, statistics show that for everyone who has been hospitalized this season, 22 were last year. Scientists who believe global warming is connected to flu season proved their thesis with studies that show the influenza virus thrives in low humidity and low temperatures. So this season, with the warm temperatures the flu has not been as strong as it has been in past years.

Author Charles Finch seemed to be a someone who was not too upset about the lack of snow this year. While he did admit that sledding is a fun tradition, he seemed more relieved to be able to avoid the flu season and spend more time outside, without being dressed for snow. I was surprised at the amount of logos he used. Before I read the article, I figured it would be more of an opinion piece, being in the opinion section and all, but he included many facts. While his article was one sided, I do not think it was intended to be argumentative. He only included statistics from scientists who support global warming. He used logos when informing his audience of the facts that relate global warming and flu season. He also used some pathos at the end when he talked about how he was glad he made it through season without getting sick. I have to agree with Finch in that I did not miss the snow at all this year. I am looking forward to summer!

The Best Part About Global Warming by Charles Finch
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/opinion/sunday/the-best-part-about-global-warming.html?ref=opinion