Upvote the fermented fish!
It tastes way better than it smells - and the smell from a freshly opened tin is the strongest and most pungent.
In Norway we settle for a more palatable version - "rakfisk" made from freshwater fish like trout, instead of herring. It is also is fermented and smelly, but far from the same level as the Surströmming.

I hope you're not as uncritical when looking for libertarian literature as you are when looking for health information. That page is written by a HuffPo grade misinformer. Unpasteurized milk has no nutritional benefits over pasteurized milk, no matter how much some California hippies bleat about "natural".

Of course, I'm not here to judge those who choose to drink raw milk for some reason. I come after all from a country where half-rotten fish is considered haute cuisine (Although properly made rakfisk has no infectuous risks. And is delicious! And is a great excuse to drink lots of aquavit! Errm, I digress.). If you absolutely want some dysentery with your milk, that's your problem. I just want to warn people that we pasteurize milk for a very good reason.

On a larger scale though, I find it alarming that Ron Paul has to pay lip service to the health and nutrition wackos to garner votes. What will be next? The same type of west coast hippies also campaign actively against childhood vaccination. Will he, if he is elected president, abandon childhood vaccination programs in the name of freedom, when we know for a fact that the disappearance of group immunity in some areas of California has resulted in deadly outbreaks of measles and whooping cough?

>> ^blankfist:

>> ^Ornthoron:
Having a food and drugs administration that makes sure foodstuffs on sale do not cause serious infectuous diseases is hardly impinging on anyone's freedom.

It does if it keeps those things from being offered or used. I'm curious what you think freedom means, because I hear a lot of people make arguments similar to the one you just made. How is restricting people's ability to ingest raw milk - which some claim is healthier than pasteurized milk - a testament to freedom?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Rakfisk party ... mmmm. Raw fish fermented for 3 months or a bag of candy ... Tough call.

(no, I'm sure it's lovely)

Speaking from another country in USA's sphere of influence, I can attest that quite a few people here are annoyed that this obviously over-commercialized holiday has been imported without them having a say. They find it rude that kids suddenly demand candy under threat of vandalism due to a foreign tradition that they themselves do not observe.

I personally am a little ambivalent about this sneak implementation by commercial interests, but in the end I can appreciate another excuse to throw a party. I also like that the imported tradition is so obviously pagan in origin, to offset all the christian holidays in my country. If a little candy to the kids is the price I have to pay, so be it.

Nevertheless, I will forgo tonight's celebration in favor of a Rakfisk party. Yum yum!

Woohoo! Congratulations! Free aquavit and rakfisk all around!