Friday Hodgepodge

Four Things

It's time for some interesting answers to questions you probably didn't have...

1. If you like Thai food, as I do, but have wondered why Thai restaurants are so common relative to the size of the Thai community, Vice has you covered:

Using a tactic now known as gastrodiplomacy or culinary diplomacy, the government of Thailand has intentionally bolstered the presence of Thai cuisine outside of Thailand to increase its export and tourism revenues, as well as its prominence on the cultural and diplomatic stages. In 2001, the Thai government established the Global Thai Restaurant Company, Ltd., in an effort to establish at least 3,000 Thai restaurants worldwide. At the time, Thai deputy commerce minister Goanpot Asvinvichit told the Wall Street Journal that the government hoped the chain would be "like the McDonald's of Thai food." Apparently, the government had been training chefs at its culinary training facilities to send abroad for the previous decade, but this project formalized and enhanced these efforts significantly.

I can think of far worse mis-uses of government than gastrodiplomacy...

2. I embraced Thai cuisine back in my Houston days, when I could find any kind of cuisine under the sun, so the question above never occurred to me. Another question that never occurred to me, but for which I have an answer is this: What's a McRefugee? The South China Morning Post reports on that phenomenon:

Researchers were able to interview 53 McRefugees aged between 19 and 79 in depth, and found 57 per cent of them had a job and 71 per cent of them had flats that they rented or owned, contrary to the common belief that these people tended to be jobless and homeless.

Saving on air conditioning costs, as well as comfort and security, topped a list of reasons given by these interviewees, followed by high rents, conflict with family members, the ability to develop social relations at the chain and substandard housing.

This brings to mind a story I ran into a while back in the British press about lower-income Americans eschewing government and charity-run community centers in favor of finding companionship at their neighborhood McDonald's restaurants.

Pumpkin was quite upset to learn that Maryland was once underwater, and could end up there again!

3. And now, for a question I have had: What did the earth look like X million years ago? This interactive globe can show you, and with current political divisions outlined when possible. The question came up when I was talking to my daughter about dinosaurs, and ended up telling her how the earth changes slowly over time. This is my reminder to myself to show her this already.

4. Back in grad school, I encountered a very odd-looking name on a scientific paper. The web was young enough then that it never occurred to me to ask it, What's up with the double, lower-case f at the beginning of "ffrench-Constant"? Well, that name bubbled back into memory a week or so ago, and, naturally, I quickly learned the answer from Grammarphobia, in a post appropriately titled, That's all, ffoulkes!

-- CAV