The Off Topic Topic

[grumbler]

What is "General Positive"? 

I think that was the Korean general who commanded the troops aboard the Turtle Ships. He was an upbeat guy, even when they were outnumbered.

[crazy canuck]

Turns out faith is just a rhetorical tool of the American Right.

Fuck off.  It would've made my top 5.

You are not part of the American Right - unless something has changed.  And your one result would not change the results of that poll even if you were part of the American Right.

But your self identification with the American Right is noted.

[Josquius]

Weird Italy would be the one not to put family far and away first.

I have to guess the pleasing factor was at play with the respondents here though. You have to say family is firsf even if you don't think so.

Depressing society only ranks in a few Chinesey places.

[Razgovory]

Turns out faith is just a rhetorical tool of the American Right.

Fuck off.  It would've made my top 5.

You are not part of the American Right - unless something has changed.  And your one result would not change the results of that poll even if you were part of the American Right.

But your self identification with the American Right is noted.

Man, you have been in a bad mood since civilization started collapsing.

[Sheilbh]

TikTokers are shipping two random Dutch politicians
https://www.insider.com/rob-jetten-jesse-klaver-resse-tiktok-dutch-politicians-love-fake-2021-10

[Eddie Teach]

Life has meaning? 

[Zanza]

Terrible social mobility in Germany.  Had not expected it to be this bad.

[Syt]

Well, if you look at the stats for academics (i.e. how many children from of acadamics vs children of non-academics go to university) ....



Also, keep in mind the main way of acquiring wealth in Germany is through inheritance, so of course children of rich (grand-)parents will continue to dominate that bracket.

[garbon]

TikTokers are shipping two random Dutch politicians
https://www.insider.com/rob-jetten-jesse-klaver-resse-tiktok-dutch-politicians-love-fake-2021-10

Seems a bit shady. Two men are friends and one is gay? Let's write stories about how they are in a relationship.

[Josquius]

TikTokers are shipping two random Dutch politicians
https://www.insider.com/rob-jetten-jesse-klaver-resse-tiktok-dutch-politicians-love-fake-2021-10

This is where the generation app becomes apparent.
And earlier talk of the young being more security conscious is rubbished. I refuse to install tikkity tok

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/nov/18/mans-severe-migraines-completely-eliminated-on-plant-based-diet

Man's severe migraines 'completely eliminated' on plant-based diet
Migraines disappeared after man started diet that included lots of dark-green leafy vegetables, study shows

Health experts are calling for more research into diet and migraines after doctors revealed a patient who had suffered severe and debilitating headaches for more than a decade completely eliminated them after adopting a plant-based diet.

He had tried prescribed medication, yoga and meditation, and cut out potential trigger foods in an effort to reduce the severity and frequency of his severe headaches – but nothing worked. The migraines made it almost impossible to perform his job, he said.

But within a month of starting a plant-based diet that included lots of dark-green leafy vegetables, his migraines disappeared. The man has not had a migraine in more than seven years, and cannot remember the last time he had a headache. The case was reported in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

Doctors in the US who treated the photographer suggested it might be worth adopting a plant-based diet to ease the symptoms of chronic migraine.

But other independent experts cautioned that because the report was a single case it was impossible to generalise the finding and should not be taken as a solution for all people with migraines.

More than a billion people worldwide experience migraines. While drugs can help prevent and treat them, a growing body of evidence suggests diet may also offer an effective alternative without any of the side effects associated with some of the drugs, the report's authors said.

Writing in BMJ Case Reports, the 60-year-old patient, whose identity was not disclosed, said: "Before I changed my diet, I was suffering six to eight debilitating migraines a month, each lasting up to 72 hours. Most days, I was either having a migraine or recovering from one."

After 12 years of migraines, nothing had made a difference. "I was desperate," he said.

Six months before his referral to a lifestyle medicine clinic in New York, the man's migraines had become chronic, occurring on between 18 and 24 days of every month.

"However, within one month of beginning a nutrient-dense plant-based diet that included primarily lots of dark-green leafy vegetables, fruits, beans, oatmeal, and a daily green smoothie, I was able to get off both medications.

"Now the migraine medications have expired, and I have not had a migraine in seven years. I can't even remember the last time I had a headache. I am no longer a prisoner in my own body. I have my life back."

The report's authors advised the man to adopt the Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday (Life) diet, a nutrient-dense, whole food, plant-based diet.

It includes eating at least five ounces (142g) by weight of raw or cooked dark green leafy vegetables every day, drinking one 32-ounce (946ml) daily green smoothie, and limiting intake of whole grains, starchy vegetables, oils, and animal protein, particularly dairy and red meat.

Within two months, the frequency of his migraine attacks had fallen to just one day a month. The length and severity of the attacks had also lessened. After three months his migraines stopped completely. They haven't returned in over seven years.

Prof Gunter Kuhnle, a professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Reading, who was not involved in the case, said: "This is a case report and therefore it is impossible to generalise the finding. Migraine is a debilitating condition and it is important to find ways to treat and manage it. Diet can play an important role in the management of many diseases, and some foods are known to trigger migraine.

"Bioactive compounds found in dark-green leafy vegetables and other foods might have an important role in the management of many diseases, but in order to make definitive statements and recommendations, considerably more research is needed."

Dr Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston University's medical school, said the report was "interesting" but "cannot be taken as a solution for all people with migraines".

"The diet that was used was one which is largely in line with many countries' dietary recommendations and included eating more vegetables – especially dark-green leafy vegetables.

"The problem with this type of report is that there is no control or comparison intervention, it could be an effect of the diet which was started, but also it could be a response to something they were no longer eating or even just the behavioural effect of a change in diet which may have led to the reduction in migraines."

A separate analysis published in the journal BMJ Global Health on Thursday shows the global rise in the red and processed meat trade over the past 30 years is linked to a sharp increase in diet-related ill-health.

This feels like an article generated just to encourage content on fb about how an all plant diet is a cure-all.  There is content about how we shouldn't make any generalization based on this one case but headline and first few paragraphs seem to suggest otherwise.

[garbon]

The man has not had a migraine in more than seven years, and cannot remember the last time he had a headache.

There seems to be some side effects.

[celedhring]

English language question: the whole using "they" as denoting neutral singular gender. How widespread/accepted is it? Will it look weird if I start using it in formal writing?

[Josquius]

English language question: the whole using "they" as denoting neutral singular gender. How widespread/accepted is it? Will it look weird if I start using it in formal writing?

Pretty normal. Usually used when you don't know somebody's gender.
Only triggers people when they're anti-woke cultists and they smell feminism or somebody being polite with trans people.

[The Brain]

Almost all my formal writing is on the subject of Them.