Assessment Conference Debrief

The ongoing MSG discourse

It seems like the pro-MSG camp is really ramping up their Discourse again lately, and it’s getting really frustrating. Yes, it sucks that MSG sensitivity was labeled “Chinese restaurant syndrome.” Yes, it is probably the case that a lot of supposed MSG sensitivity was psychosomatic and due specifically to that name. And yes, glutamic acid does exist in a lot of things naturally and does in fact contribute to the “umami” flavor. I don’t disagree with any of those things. What I do disagree with, however, is the mischaracterization that everyone who has an MSG sensitivity is just faking it or being “racist” or whatever, with the same strawman “gotchas” like “Did you know it’s also in Pringles and Doritos?!” (Yes, I do. It was Doritos which first gave me a reaction, for that matter. Long before I’d ever heard of MSG or “Chinese restaurant syndrome.”) It turns out that there’s a high correlation between MSG sensitivity and fibromyalgia. And like many things that cause fibro problems, it’s not a single isolated incident that causes problems, but an accumulation of issues. If I have something with a low-ish amount of MSG on its own, I probably won’t have a problem. But if I have something with a lot of it, or if I’ve had it several times over the course of a week, I will have a problem and it will ruin the rest of my day. And yes, glutamic acid occurs in a lot of things, but not bound to sodium and not in the high quantities that it occurs in with processed foods! Several studies have shown MSG to be safe for the general population. And I do not doubt that it is. But these studies don’t include people with nerve disorders like fibromyalgia or epilepsy, or with a general history of migraines or the like. MSG actively amplifies the action of the pleasure centers in the brain. Fibromyalgia’s main issue is an inability to downregulate nerve receptors. Can you possibly see how this might cause a problem for some? These fucking thinkpieces completely ignore the very real problems that a lot of people encounter, and also encourage people to actively put MSG into their food and not disclose it to be a “gotcha” for people with problems. It’s like putting gluten into the food of someone who has celiac disease because of the backlash against fad gluten-free diets. It’s like giving someone sugar-based Coke when they ask for diet, because they think it’s funny. Or giving someone diet Coke when they ask for normal, because they think they should “lose some weight.” Both are disastrous for diabetics who have planned their glucose intake for the day. (And incidentally, artificial sweeteners are also a major migraine trigger for me.) It’s like “testing” someone’s stated food allergy by putting that thing in on purpose. Or not worrying about cross-contamination, or thinking, “Oh, it’s only a little bit.” Which can cause people to die or at least have a very bad time. Don’t FUCKING do that. Generally: if someone has a food sensitivity, believe them. Even if you think it’s made up, there’s no harm in believing them, while pretending you know better than them for their own issue can be incredibly harmful. Even fatal.

RSVP to Indie Web Summit

[Notes] Instant Pot Italian Sunday Gravy with Sausage

👓 Can “Indie” Social Media Save Us? | The New Yorker

#indieweb #read #social-stream #facebook #mastodon #micro-blog #twitter

The Perfect Meetup Recording Kit

#video #livestream #meetup #kit

Together looks great as a PWA on the iPad Pro

An Invitation to IndieWeb Summit 2019

#oer #edtech #education #events #indieweb #technology #digital-pedagogy #domainofonesown #dooo #indieweb-summit #indieweb-summit-2019 #indiewebcamp

How Humans Learn: Curiosity

Nice place to spend the weekend! #earthship

iPad Pro Impressions

Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2019

New haircut, who dis?

Just pushed a new release of Yarns Microsub Server, which I’m very happy with.  Significantly better UI for managing feeds, greatly improved endpoint code (contributed by https://david.shanske.com/ @dshanske).  Still some work to go, but this marks a big step forward.

 

 

Also on:
US Customs Border Patrol
No checked bags and Global Entry means 3 minutes from landing to being thru customs 🛃
Portland International Airport (PDX)
Back in Portland!
Ready to head home after a fun week of #IndieWebCamp, #BTConf, #a11yClub, and teaching two #OAuth workshops. ⁣
⁣Thanks so much to everyone who helped make all of that happen!

⁣Had a great time back in Düsseldorf and looking forward to coming back next year! ⁣
⁣#travel #condor #lufthansa #longhaulflight #frankfurtairport
#IndieWebCamp #BTConf #a11yClub #OAuth #condor #lufthansa #longhaulflight #frankfurtairport #indiewebcamp #btconf #a11yclub #oauth #travel beyondtellerrand.com indieweb.org
Security Check (Sicherheitskontrolle)
Going thru the short security line for B gates to get to A gates
U Oberbilker Markt/Warschauer Straße

at U Oberbilker Markt/Warschauer Straße



Lastly I would say to any tech person trying to change the world—we already changed it quite a bit. Maybe take your foot off the gas and look around first. The tech startups that came up in the 1990s and 2000s had really excellent intentions and pure motives. It's not enough.
https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1128857953937907714