cockroaches, smog, and food

Today I learned that by eating a live Madagascar hissing cockroach, you can get a pass that allows you and three friends to cut to the front of lines at an amusement park in Illinois. I remember reading that some people voluntarily eat cicadas, but they cook them, so I got to wondering about these cockroaches. It says here (warning: graphic bug pictures) that people keep Madagascar hissing cockroaches as pets, and they are described as docile and good at being handled by groups of school children.

Believe it or not, I used up all my controversy energy yesterday attempting (poorly) to imitate vituperative, foul-mouthed bloggers on the left, so I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the worthiness of snacking on live cockroaches.

I'm also not going to tell you what I learned about the fog in London in 1952 because that's not good news either. This site listing supposedly edible products that were popular in the 1980s is probably a better bet.

Happy New Year to all of you who have your computers off because it's Rosh Hashanah.