The quake

Earthquakes are measured in strength via the Richter Scale and on devastation via the death count. The Guardian’s data blog has a chart of the past century’s greatest quakes:

The United States Geological Survey keeps track of the deadliest earthquakes around the world since 1900. According to their data, the most deadly earthquake to strike over the past 110 years hit Tangshan in China in July 1976. Measuring 7.5, the quake caused 255,000 deaths.

TRIPE: There’s a mouth-watering photograph of tripe (photo by Bon Appetit/Alamy) here in an article that questions the item as a good food source. It’s cheap, nutritious, low-fat – and difficult to swallow. At least that’s how Susan Smillie sees it. She has some problems with the wobble. I’ve never tried it, myself:

I’ve tried with tripe. Really, I have. I want to embrace it, but it’s so very hard to love. I persevered, trying it a couple of different ways last year before finally giving up.

Determined to get over the psychological barrier I felt I had foolishly created, I handed over a few euros to the trippaio who slopped the boiled tripe onto a board, sliced it, chucked it on to a roll along with some broth for extra sloppiness and hot sauce, which I planned to take refuge in. Taking it over to a corner of the market I steadied my nerves, sat down … and managed about four bites.

There was just no pleasure there.