Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

Ah, just what the doctor ordered...laughter. 

Thanks, Zinman!

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Oh, BTW, in that Taco Bell video, they're filling up the cup with beer from the bottom. How does that work?

(Feb 28, 2017 06:09 AM)C C Wrote: [ -> ]... check for the first time in ages if anything new has appeared on the prescription medications for insomnia front. With endorsements like this, looks like the occasional couple of melatonin capsules will remain a mainstay.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/.../index.htm

CC
have you changed your diet ?
one of the biggest and easiest ways to(start) manage insomnia is to change your diet and eating patterns.


SS just want to offer my thoughts for you(i cant think of anything to say, just that i wish him, you & your family well)

Today I Found Out…

the waxy substance on apples that is used as a protective layer is not actually BeesWax.
it is the fecal mater of female cicadars that is harvested and made into shellak as well as other organic compounds from plants and trees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_waxing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac#Current

Quote:Shellac is used as a 'wax' coating on citrus fruit to prolong its shelf/storage life. It is also used to replace the natural wax of the apple, which is removed during the cleaning process.[17] When used for this purpose, it has the food additive E number E904.

this shellaking of apples rates them as non vegan ?????

Quote:Production


Lac tubes created by Kerria Lacca


Drawing of the insect Kerria lacca and its shellac tubes, by Harold Maxwell-Lefroy, 1909
Shellac is scraped from the bark of the trees where the female lac bug, Kerria lacca (order Hemiptera, family Kerriidae, also known as Laccifer lacca), secretes it to form a tunnel-like tube as it traverses the branches of the tree.

(Feb 28, 2017 05:49 PM)RainbowUnicorn Wrote: [ -> ]this shellaking of apples rates them as non vegan ?????

Most people I encounter seem to peel them, anyway. Only the "I'm coo coo for Cancer Puffs" crowd like me dares eat the skin and its diversity of contaminants.

There's something about apple skins containing a substance that aids muscle maintenance, being a reason for me to eat them too.

Talk about coincidence....just learned one of my brothers' kids has declared herself/himself transgender. It didn't surprise me because I've always suspected such. Isn't it great when young adults get away from home, university in this case, and feel freer to talk about their own sexuality amongst other things? This kid is amazingly smart and it's my hunch that he/she will do something great that benefits the human race one day. I've already discussed with him/her about investing in whatever company he/she forms in the future. Molecular biology is the area of expertise here. That's how confident I am and now that the declaration is out of the way, who knows what's in store. Can only be good for all of us.

(Mar 3, 2017 07:59 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ]Talk about coincidence....just learned one of my brothers' kids has declared herself/himself transgender. It didn't surprise me because I've always suspected such. Isn't it great when young adults get away from home, university in this case, and feel freer to talk about their own sexuality amongst other things? This kid is amazingly smart and it's my hunch that he/she will do something great that benefits the human race one day. I've already discussed with him/her about investing in whatever company he/she forms in the future. Molecular biology is the area of expertise here. That's how confident I am and now that the declaration is out of the way, who knows what's in store. Can only be good for all of us.

Depending upon whether there's full-blown physiological transformation as a goal or contentment with the outer appearances and behavior of a desired gender... It's probably better when there's the freedom to come out at an even earlier age, before adolescent developments kick-in much and can be counteracted with treatments. Of course, age would probably matter less if born female, but there are still considerations where getting a hormonal "jump" on things might make a difference.

Doubtless there are a few innovative or prematurely ultra-independent kids who figure out how to get access to medical means without the knowledge and approval of their parents / guardians. Even in a field where there are supposed to be strict standards, psychological guidelines, and trial evaluation periods mediating such access. It's amazing how ingenious and what masters of deception youth can be in certain specific areas and yet have the expected inexperience and cluelessness in more important domains.

(Mar 3, 2017 10:57 PM)C C Wrote: [ -> ]

(Mar 3, 2017 07:59 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ]Talk about coincidence....just learned one of my brothers' kids has declared herself/himself transgender. It didn't surprise me because I've always suspected such. Isn't it great when young adults get away from home, university in this case, and feel freer to talk about their own sexuality amongst other things? This kid is amazingly smart and it's my hunch that he/she will do something great that benefits the human race one day. I've already discussed with him/her about investing in whatever company he/she forms in the future. Molecular biology is the area of expertise here. That's how confident I am and now that the declaration is out of the way, who knows what's in store. Can only be good for all of us.

Depending upon whether there's full-blown physiological transformation as a goal or contentment with the outer appearances and behavior of a desired gender...  It's probably better when there's the freedom to come out at an even earlier age, before adolescent developments kick-in much and can be counteracted with treatments. Of course, age would probably matter less if born female, but there are still considerations where getting a hormonal "jump" on things might make a difference.

Doubtless there are a few innovative or prematurely ultra-independent kids who figure out how to get access to medical means without the knowledge and approval of their parents / guardians. Even in a field where there are supposed to be strict standards, psychological guidelines, and trial evaluation periods mediating such access. It's amazing how ingenious and what masters of deception youth can be in certain specific areas and yet have the expected inexperience and cluelessness in more important domains.

The kid was just letting everyone know. I have no idea what's transpired before that. My bro & his wife are an understanding couple so I'm sure they handled things accordingly throughout the years. I think the declaration was meant for all friends and relatives. Something I guess you have to do in these situations.

(Mar 4, 2017 01:54 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ]The kid was just letting everyone know. I have no idea what's transpired before that. My bro & his wife are an understanding couple so I'm sure they handled things accordingly throughout the years. I think the declaration was meant for all friends and relatives. Something I guess you have to do in these situations.

Kind of like a debutante ceremony or a bar mitzvah -- but instead a loose, informal "rites of passage" or declaration of some aspect of identity. It may eventually develop into a formal ritual with its own general name for covering the specific applications, if that's not already the case in the LGBTIQ+ community.

Today I discovered the pilot translation ear buds.  Very cool! I need these.

I also learned about the brazen bull, it’s possible links to Carthaginian sacrifice, and how Tophet became a theological or poetic synonym for hell within Christendom.  

Damn! We can be extremely evil. Scary!

Is barbarism a part of human nature?

Quote:The most disturbing book published in recent memory is Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, by Daniel Jonah Goldenhagen. With overwhelming evidence and logic, Goldenhagen debunks the myth that the Holocaust was the creation of an evil man who terrorized the German people into “following orders.” Rather, he postulates it was the logical endpoint of centuries of German anti-Semitism and intolerance.

Goldenhagen reports that Hitler did not need to coerce the Germans into participating in the unspeakable barbarities in what became humanity’s darkest hour. There were plenty of volunteers. His thesis has unleashed a raging debate in academe: do humans engage in such barbarism because of conditioning, or is it part of our nature. The answer, sadly, is both.

(Jul 15, 2017 08:09 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: [ -> ]Today I discovered the pilot translation ear buds.  Very cool!  I need these.

I also learned about the brazen bull, it’s possible links to Carthaginian sacrifice, and how Tophet became a theological or poetic synonym for hell within Christendom.  

Damn! We can be extremely evil. Scary!

Is barbarism a part of human nature?

Quote:The most disturbing book published in recent memory is Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, by Daniel Jonah Goldenhagen. With overwhelming evidence and logic, Goldenhagen debunks the myth that the Holocaust was the creation of an evil man who terrorized the German people into “following orders.” Rather, he postulates it was the logical endpoint of centuries of German anti-Semitism and intolerance.

Goldenhagen reports that Hitler did not need to coerce the Germans into participating in the unspeakable barbarities in what became humanity’s darkest hour. There were plenty of volunteers. His thesis has unleashed a raging debate in academe: do humans engage in such barbarism because of conditioning, or is it part of our nature. The answer, sadly, is both.

My mother (born 1921) had a German friend (H*) so let's guess H* is about the same vintage. So... H* was a mainstream German Aryan and her father was surgeon. I'm getting to the point. My mother reported that H*'s father had taken out her tonsils (H*'s not my mothers) or possibly appendix  (I forget which) without an anesthetic. A tiny glimpse into the possibility that pre 1942 German culture and my post 1954 English culture might be radically different.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."
John Donne


I'm heading in the direction of suggesting that empathy is part cultural and part learned and not so much innate.