Join the weekend episode with Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Sami Winc to analyze the Biden-Trump debate, Biden administration’s Saudi-Israeli “Peace” Deal, China wanting to “crack skulls and spill blood,” and 16 stray economists. In the middle segment, VDH talks about Dante’s “Inferno.”
The post The Debate and Dante’s Inferno appeared first on VDH’s Blade of Perseus.
Eggs are a staple food for many countries around the world, and the U.S. is no exception. Americans eat between 250‒280 eggs a year on average.
Eggs are also easy to cook, protein-dense and supply many daily vitamins needed for healthy living, making them a popular meal or ingredient. So when egg prices rise, people notice.
MetalytIQ charted the rapid rise of egg prices in the U.S. during 2022, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS).
Over the course of 12 months, the national average price for a dozen large Grade A eggs more than doubled, to $4.25 in December from $1.93 in January.
| Egg Prices Per Month (2022) | Price per dozen |
|---|---|
| January | $1.30 |
| February | $2.10 |
| March | $2.50 |
| April | $2.52 |
| May | $2.86 |
| June | $2.71 |
| July | $2.94 |
| August | $3.12 |
| September | $2.90 |
| October | $3.42 |
| November | $3.59 |
| December | $4.25 |
The biggest culprit has been an avian flu outbreak that resulted in 43 million chickens culled to prevent the spread of the disease.
This led to a severe shortfall in egg supply. Egg inventories in December had fallen by one-third compared to January. Combined with increasing demand during the holiday season, prices skyrocketed and empty shelves became apparent in some states.
This is not the first time avian flu has disrupted the industry.. In 2015, a similar outbreak pushed egg prices up 40% in nine months, reaching a high of $2.97 per dozen eggs in September 2015.
Avian flu isn’t the only storm the egg industry has been facing in 2022.
The prices of soybean and corn—the main components of bird feed—account for half of the cost of eggs. They’ve been heavily affected by the war in Ukraine, which has driven grain prices higher.
In the near-term, egg prices are expected to remain high. Containing the avian flu outbreak will remain the biggest factor in determining the prices, but as suppliers increase production, prices may cool off a little in 2023.
The post Charted: U.S. Egg Prices More Than Double in 2022 appeared first on Visual Capitalist.
City officials say they are “appalled” and “disgusted” at destruction caused by the Proud Boys and other pro-Trump demonstrators who damaged church property and burned a Black Lives Matter banner during Saturday’s demonstrations in the District.
In a Monday press conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other District officials also condemned the violent clashes that took place during the weekend’s protests, casting much of the blame on demonstrators who have echoed President Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the presidential election.
Police said demonstrators destroyed property at four churches: Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Asbury United Methodist Church and Luther Place Memorial Church. Police said they are currently investigating destruction at the churches as possible hate crimes.
“That type of thing will not be tolerated here in the District of Columbia,” Police Chief Peter Newsham said at Monday’s news conference.
MPD also released images of a group of men burning a Black Lives Matter banner ripped down from Asbury United Methodist, the oldest Black Methodist church in the District. Police say they are seeking suspects connected with the vandalism.
“To see those men burning a Black Lives Matter sign in the middle of the street that was taken from a Black church is reminiscent of violent acts of racism our country has seen before. And it is disgusting and vile and should be condemned by all Americans,” Bowser said Monday.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson concurred: “I’m appalled, and my colleagues are appalled, and disgusted by the hate and destruction caused by these white nationalists. And I hope that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice. These acts cannot and will not be tolerated in the District.”
Police and District officials also denounced violent skirmishes between the Proud Boys — a group that has been deemed extremist by the FBI — and counter-protesters over the weekend.
Police say they arrested 33 people in connection with Saturday’s protests, including 11 for simple assault, 10 for assault on a police officer, and one for assault with a dangerous weapon. Six others were arrested for disorderly conduct, two for weapons violations, two for release violations and one for resisting arrest, police said. Four people were stabbed in downtown D.C. Saturday night amid a series of clashes; all were transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the stabbings.
Newsham said eight officers were injured, one seriously with multiple face fractures and lacerations after being hit with an unknown object.
Officials did not offer details on how many of those arrested were affiliated with pro-Trump or anti-Trump groups, but Newsham said 26 men and seven women were arrested: 16 from the D.C. region, 14 from other states, and three unknown. The police chief said he thought the Proud Boys outnumbered anti-Trump protesters by about six or seven to one, but he said it appeared that both sides were instigating the day’s clashes.
Newsham said he thought police handled the confrontations well given the volume of people who came downtown to demonstrate and “seemed inclined to get into physical confrontations.”
Pressed on accusations about whether police favored one side over another, Newsham said the officers’ main goal was to try to prevent fighting between groups.
“It’s very difficult when a confrontation like that occurs to determine on who’s on what side,” Newsham said. “The police get involved. they break it up. If people can be appropriately charged, then they’re placed under arrest. So I think it’s unfortunate if somebody feels like somebody was treated differently, but there was no intention by the police department to treat anybody any differently from anybody else. Our intention was to prevent folks from getting hurt.”
Bowser said the conversation needs to change from focusing on police tactics to talking about the “hateful rhetoric” driving such demonstrations.
“…We had people who came here, these Proud Boys are avowed white nationalists, and have been called to stand up against a fair and legal election. And that’s what they’re doing,” Bowser said. “So we can talk about police tactics, but what we really need to be talking about is how as a country, we are allowing people — Proud Boys, to pundits, to members of Congress — to continue to speak against a fair election. This is a symptom. This is a symptom of this hateful rhetoric, anti-science noise, and people who refuse to accept the results of a fair American election.”
The post D.C. Police Detail Arrests, Damage From Weekend Pro-Trump Rally That Turned Violent appeared first on DCist.
The shipwreck wracked the vessel.
What’s the difference between rack and wrack? Let’s take a look at their definitions, how to use them in popular phrases, and a mnemonic device to help you remember which is which.
Rack as a verb means “to torture or cause great suffering.”
Example: Her anxiety racked her mind.
Have you ever heard of the medieval torture device called the rack? It was a wooden frame with a crank attached to it. When a person was placed on the rack, the torturer would crank the device, stretching the person’s limbs until they dislocated them. Sounds like fun times.
Anyway, that’s where we get this usage of rack. And when we use it, we signify torturing, especially stretching.
Wrack as a verb means “to wreck or ruin something.”
Example: They sat back as they watched pollution wrack their planet.
Wrack comes from a word meaning “to be shipwrecked.” Both of these words have pretty gloomy origins, don’t they?
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Now let’s go over a couple common phrases using one of these words.
Rack your brain
When you rack your brain, you are thinking really hard, stretching your brain’s capabilities. This idea of stretching is why we use rack instead of wrack.
Example: I really racked my brain studying for my chemistry final.
Nerve-racking
Something that is nerve-racking tortures your nerves. This idea of torturing is why we use rack instead of wrack.
Example: I found studying for my chemistry final nerve-racking.
Similar meanings
It’s true that rack and wrack have very similar uses. This is why some dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster, are advocating for using the words interchangeably and treating them as spelling variants.
Mnemonic device
To remember the difference between rack and wrack think: wrack = wreck. They are only one letter off.
Erin Servais is the founder of Dot and Dash, LLC, an author-services company focusing on women writers and offering a range of editing, coaching, and social media packages.
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