2009-12-17

Grad School Bubble?

Both of these articles make convincing arguments, that the high cost and modest rewards simply are not worth it for aspiring MBA's and JD's.  Is grad school, or education in general, the next bubble?

I think so, but I think that the rapid rise in online education will reign in costs to a point at which a decent quality education is attainable to anyone, not just the rich or those who want to be in debt up to their eyeballs.


2009-12-16

More on Grass Fed Bison

Even though Wegmans provided a great response to my questions, I decided to ask the supplier, Great Range Bison, about what goes into their bison.  Here is their response.  It is interesting to note that they are audited by Whole Foods.  Bottom line: it is still probably the best red meat you can buy.

Our buffalo are fed grain as well as grass the last 120 days prior to butchering.  The buffalo are not fed the levels of grain that cattle are during typical cattle feed lot programs.  We do this to produce a premier, high quality, fresh product year round.  It would impossible to produce consistent product given variations in weather patterns, geographic areas, grass species, and seasonal changes that affect grass quality. 
 
By supplemental feeding we are referring to the natural grains and forages that we feed in order to supplement what the animal can't get from pasture feeding. We do not use any antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products on any of the bison. They are raised as naturally as possible. In order to produce a consistent product year round it is necessary that we feed additional forage and grain prior to slaughter - i.e. supplemental feeding.
 
The Bison Meat is still much leaner than beef!
 
All buffalo calves are born in pasture and spend most of their lives in a free range situation.  They are humanely raised on wide open ranches of the Western United States.  We DO NOT have animals in traditional feedlots!  We purchase our buffalo from several different areas; Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Mexico and Oklahoma are just a few of the places. 
 
All ranches and plants are audited by Whole Foods to ensure animal safety.
 
Thank you for your interest in our company and let us know if you have any other questions.

No Grass Fed Bison?

I'm a fan of bison meat.  If i'm going to eat something bovine in nature, its going to be a bison (not technically a buffalo, those are only found in Asia).  The meat itself tastes better and is much leaner.

However, when I was at Wegman's I looked up the supplier of their bison and read on their website that it is "grain fed".  I prefer grass fed meat when I eat it.  I asked Wegman's about their choice of suppliers.  Here is their response, supposedly from one of their buyers:


"There is really no such thing as grass fed meat in America. This is because there is no source for fresh grass in the winter. U.S. grass fed claims are false in that dried hay or dried grass is fed or worse they are left to forage through the snow for what little brush they can find. Bison are not put on feedlots they are given a ration that consists of 60% grain (corn, oats, milo, barley and wheat are all used depending on what is available to the particular ranch) and 40% grass only in the final 110 days or so of their 800-900 day lives. They do this to improve the eating quality of the meat and to give the consumer a consistent, high quality product year round. They do not get the levels of grain fed to beef and so do not get as fat. The animals spend far more of their lives"out" than "in". There is a huge difference between the nutrients in fresh grass and dried grass. Imagine if you went to a restaurant for a salad and they gave you dried lettuce. For truly grass fed beef that is leaner than bison and processed in state of the art facilities, we offer Organic grass fed Angus / Herford beef from Uruguay. We went 7,000 miles south to find a place that had fresh grass all year to substantiate our grass fed claim. The USDA allows hay fed animals to be called grass fed but this was in my opinion not correct to do." 

2009-12-15

Review: Inglorious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds is a great movie, one that I would recommend to any fan of Quentin Tarantino, or of action/western type movies with great dialogue.  I don't want to give too much away, but the premise is a group of American Jewish soldiers who want to kill as many Nazis as possible during World War II.  Brad Pitt is their leader.  Need I say more?

I give it 5 stars.

2009-12-14

Will fear reduce healthcare costs?

Several weeks ago, new guidelines came out calling for a reduced schedule for employing mammograms.  Many citizens groups condemned these decisions, even though it was supported by many doctors and medical groups.  

Today, it is being reported that giving a child a CT scan carries a 1/500 chance of them developing cancer, not a trivial number.  Mammograms carry much lower, but similar risks.  Additionally, 1/3 of CT's are characterized as "unnecessary" but many people are now so scared after the death of Natasha Richardson that they feel any bump on the head merits one.  Perhaps this will scare them the other way, and also reduce medical costs for everyone.