# Dumb discussions your country has?



## Deleted User (Jan 8, 2021)

Here, ever since 1994 Taxis have had a bulletproof glass separating the front from the back seats, they pose a huge security risk for the passenger as a crash or even just a harsh stop could mean death by blunt impact of the skull, even if wearing a seatbelt (which most taxis by the way dont have properly functioning ones), the Taxi Syndicate says that removing it is out of the question, what's funnier is that they say that Uber is unfair competition because they dont have said glass and therefore, a lot of people preffer it



 
picture of one of said glasses


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## tabzer (Jan 8, 2021)

"Put your money into the ashtray and peacefully leave, before I must call the police."

In Japan, we have a popular actor who was caught cheating on his wife in very obscene ways.  The wife apologized for him.  People argue over this.  I suppose she must be blamed for choosing a bad mate.  I guess that makes sense, if she was a gold digger, maybe she is getting the embarrassment that she deserves.  It's a luxury, to be able to argue about such things.  Both of them must be spoiled.


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## IceyyColdSnipez (Jan 8, 2021)

When the law decides to go full retard mode and banned lootboxes from video games and if they dont make changes to the game such as removing them or make them visible (What destroy the purpose of lootboxes cuz it is random what you get) you will get a bill or you will go to court. Also the fact that 2 Popular games have been altered or even didnt come out in the Netherlands or Belgium.
(Ninjala cuz the gumball machine and resently Tanki Online also cuz the boxes you can earn. but the funny part they disabled the wholes NL and BE servers. thats means that ether you have to use a vpn to play on US or something or else dont play the game but you can still play them but you cant make ANY Purchases so you will miss out on boxes, the battle pass and you cant buy tankions what that means is that all exclusive camos or any profits of that pass you cant have in belguim or the netherlands without the use of a vpn)


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## Deleted User (Jan 8, 2021)

Even before my years growing up in Australia there's always been a big difference between Tomato Sauce and Tomato Ketchup.

For those out of the loop, Tomato Sauce is runnier and sweeter, beloved by anyone who is a child at heart.
Like Vegemite, it can be applied to almost everything to make it taste divine, but my favourite has always been the School Lunch Meat Pies in Sydney, which were run with the Butcher's union of sorts when I was a child.

Tomato Ketchup is what everyone else has in the World, and it could be better.

So the Dumb Discussion I'm actually referring to is by the other Countries I've lived in, when they ask what the difference is and why they should care ...


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## tabzer (Jan 8, 2021)

In America Tomato Sauce is used for cooking and pasta.  Ketchup is for Hamburgers and Hotdogs.  In Japan, Ketchup is for McDonald's and Wendy's.

I'm trying to understand, but I don't.

Can you tell us more?


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 8, 2021)

tomasowa said:


> Even before my years growing up in Australia there's always been a big difference between Tomato Sauce and Tomato Ketchup.
> 
> For those out of the loop, Tomato Sauce is runnier and sweeter, beloved by anyone who is a child at heart.
> Like Vegemite, it can be applied to almost everything to make it taste divine, but my favourite has always been the School Lunch Meat Pies in Sydney, which were run with the Butcher's union of sorts when I was a child.
> ...


Ketchup is already sweet enough and Heinz Ketchup in particular is already very runny. Are those the only differences? I don't see those being an improvement honestly.


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## tabzer (Jan 8, 2021)

The Real Jdbye said:


> Ketchup is already sweet enough and Heinz Ketchup in particular is already very runny. Are those the only differences? I don't see those being an improvement honestly.



Do you not have tomato sauce?  It's like, mashed tomatoes.  Very different from ketchup.


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## Deleted User (Jan 8, 2021)

Unfortunately I can't, because there are already many versions of Tomato Paste and Ketchup, both home-made and from established companies that would colour both of your perceptions of my explanation.



tabzer said:


> Can you tell us more?



It's akin to explaining that Natto is actually quite mild-tasting to those who haven't lived in Japan or why fresh Wasabi tastes better than the powder.



The Real Jdbye said:


> Are those the only differences?



If you have the chance, I would recommend either importing a small bottle from Australia or, if you're passing through, to try and buy it to spread on some Meat Pies, preferably around Sydney Opera House.

As it stands, according to online product information, the only countries that sell what Australians call Tomato Sauce are South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, so it's a niche compared to the World's Tomato Sauce slash Ketchup market.


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## Deleted member 514389 (Jan 8, 2021)

tabzer said:


> "Put your money into the ashtray and peacefully leave, before I must call the police."
> 
> In Japan, we have a popular actor who was caught cheating on his wife in very obscene ways.  The wife apologized for him.  People argue over this.  I suppose she must be blamed for choosing a bad mate.  I guess that makes sense, if she was a gold digger, maybe she is getting the embarrassment that she deserves.  It's a luxury, to be able to argue about such things.  Both of them must be spoiled.


 More details are required.

As for me:
Germany.
The country basically consists of red tape and stupid law.
Even if you die you can probably be fined by some ridiculous regulation...
That in turn leads to constant blabla and talk... Boring.


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## tabzer (Jan 8, 2021)

notrea11y said:


> More details are required.
> 
> As for me:
> Germany.
> ...



In Japan, if you commit suicide, your family has to pay fines and damages for the disruption it causes.


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 8, 2021)

tabzer said:


> Do you not have tomato sauce?  It's like, mashed tomatoes.  Very different from ketchup.


Yes but... That doesn't sound like the same thing as his tomato sauce.


tomasowa said:


> Unfortunately I can't, because there are already many versions of Tomato Paste and Ketchup, both home-made and from established companies that would colour both of your perceptions of my explanation.
> 
> It's akin to explaining that Natto is actually quite mild-tasting to those who haven't lived in Japan or why fresh Wasabi tastes better than the powder.
> 
> ...


I am more of a Sriracha kind of guy actually. But I love ketchup on eggs and hamburgers.

Also, there's powdered wasabi? Never seen that.
I would like to try Nato some day. I've heard it's the texture that's bad, not the taste. I dunno if I could get over the texture, but I want to try.


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## Deleted member 514389 (Jan 8, 2021)

tabzer said:


> In Japan, if you commit suicide, your family has to pay fines and damages for the disruption it causes.



Ouch.
I knew that the welfare/work associations function similarly harsh in germany/japan. But nothing comparable exists here.
That is quite drastic.
All about image...
(The courts in japan have a similar 'no mercy' attitude it seems)

Has something to do with lost pride etc ?

BTW:
Have you ever heard of a "Hideki Taniuchi" (タニウチ ヒデキ) ?
I always wonder what became of him.


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## tabzer (Jan 8, 2021)

notrea11y said:


> Ouch.
> I knew that the welfare/work associations function similarly harsh in germany/japan. But nothing comparable exists here.
> That is quite drastic.
> All about image...
> ...



It seems that Japan doesn't like to print money as much as its counterparts.  So, I guess the cost cannot be waivered due to compassion.  It's horrible, but I think that is why people who do feel the need to commit suicide, and consider this outcome, go to the forest that Logan Paul exploited.

As for Hideki Taniuchi, I don't know about him on personal level.  What I do know, is that if anyone is caught up on any charges, no matter how insignificant, they are cast out of the media and forgotten about.  We've had a couple Olympians caught playing backgammon and making bets.  They were struck down and will never be Olympians again.  Many people who became famous, but subsequently caught with drugs suffer the same fate.  Marijuanna is the same thing as Cocaine and Heroine as far as Japan is concerned.


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## Deleted User (Jan 8, 2021)

The Real Jdbye said:


> But I love ketchup on eggs and hamburgers.



That is true; it is a condiment and the Rule of Thumb in Australia used to be that Tomato Sauce is what children start off with and Tomato Ketchup is what adults grow into, if they so choose. They're both in bottles but labelled differently as Sauce and Ketchup. Tomato Sauce is runnier than Ketchup but not as much as the mixture you get in a can of Baked Beans nor Spaghetti, because it is made to be a condiment.

Most other countries alternate between the two terms in their association of it as being Ketchup, which was a surprise on my first travel outside of Australia; it then became increasingly clear that Australian Tomato Sauce is in its own small bubble.

So if I were to try and explain the palate, it would be that Sauce has almost none of the sourness that Ketchup has; in that regard, it isn't the same as adding sugar to Tomato Ketchup nor Tomato Paste let alone Dried Tomatoes when you cook at home.

That said, the Tomato Sauce is still quite strong in its Tomato-ness, if that makes sense, so this rich taste is very applicable to anything that you would relish. As an adult nowadays, I also don't think you could add this into your cooking like Ketchup nor Paste because it won't have the same outcome, unless that is what you want.


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## FAST6191 (Jan 8, 2021)

Not having bullet resistant (as a general rule nothing is bullet proof) screen being unfair competition is a new one in taxi cartels/monopolies vs those that would do it off their own back debate, might even be the silliest (though only just -- do find advocates of "the knowledge" in London right up there).

Anyway I don't know what the NIMBY and BANANA set (NIMBY = not in my back year, BANANA = Build absolutely nothing anyway near anybody) are doing right now as they are usually the ones to provide the most amusement at non events.


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## leon315 (Jan 8, 2021)

tabzer said:


> "Put your money into the ashtray and peacefully leave, before I must call the police."
> 
> In Japan, we have a popular actor who was caught cheating on his wife in very obscene ways.  The wife apologized for him.  People argue over this.  I suppose she must be blamed for choosing a bad mate.  I guess that makes sense, if she was a gold digger, maybe she is getting the embarrassment that she deserves.  It's a luxury, to be able to argue about such things.  Both of them must be spoiled.


isn't the wife the offended part who shall receive the apologize? instead she apologized for his husband for cheating on her?

why is this story sounds so weird and twisted?


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## leon315 (Jan 8, 2021)

tabzer said:


> In America Tomato Sauce is used for cooking and pasta.  Ketchup is for Hamburgers and Hotdogs.  In Japan, Ketchup is for McDonald's and Wendy's.
> 
> I'm trying to understand, but I don't.
> 
> Can you tell us more?


Tomato sauce is often not flavored thus almost all categories of tomato sauces here in Italy have lesser or even sugar/salt free, thus one must add those ingredients separately during cooking process (we use to add salt when you boil spaghetti/pasta), the sauce often contains bigger tomato pulps.

Ketchup meanwhile the tomato pulps are always micro filtered with a loooooot of additional flavor like sugar, salts and common (unhealthy) oil and thus ready to be consumed without further processing.

You can obviously use tomato sauce for hotdog or homemade hamburger, but most likely they are tasteless compared to ketchup.


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## Deleted User (Jan 8, 2021)

notrea11y said:


> Ouch.
> I knew that the welfare/work associations function similarly harsh in germany/japan. But nothing comparable exists here.
> That is quite drastic.
> All about image...
> ...


iirc they freed him but no one wants to hire him, which is a shame, because i'd love to hear more music like Death note's, Akagi's and Kaiji's

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



tomasowa said:


> That is true; it is a condiment and the Rule of Thumb in Australia used to be that Tomato Sauce is what children start off with and Tomato Ketchup is what adults grow into, if they so choose. They're both in bottles but labelled differently as Sauce and Ketchup. Tomato Sauce is runnier than Ketchup but not as much as the mixture you get in a can of Baked Beans nor Spaghetti, because it is made to be a condiment.
> 
> Most other countries alternate between the two terms in their association of it as being Ketchup, which was a surprise on my first travel outside of Australia; it then became increasingly clear that Australian Tomato Sauce is in its own small bubble.
> 
> ...


here there's only ketchup, which everyone just calls ketchup (in some other spanish speaking countries they'll say catsup) and pulpa de tomate (lit tomato pulp) which is used for stuff like making pizza sauce (i love drinking a glass or two on it's own, but i'm weird)


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## tabzer (Jan 8, 2021)

leon315 said:


> why is this story sounds so weird and twisted?



Because it kinda is, yet the response is normal in Japan.


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

Azerus_Kun said:


> i love drinking a glass or two on it's own, but i'm weird



I can't blame you - I have a preference for Tomatoes myself and a quintessentially Australian lunch is the Salad Sandwich, which is basically a sandwich comprised of Tomatoes, Carrots, Alfalfa Sprouts and Beetroot; I ate many of them for school lunch, whenever I couldn't get my Meat Pies.

It's always interesting to taste local flavours and I hope to one day visit your neck of the woods and taste some unique cuisine.
If you're ever in South East Asia yourself, then as a regular of the region I would be remiss not to promote the King of Fruits for you to taste.

The Durian is the quintessential South East Asian fruit, and my recommendation is to taste those from either Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia; these variants are only harvested naturally as they fall off the tree because the people enjoy the highly alcoholic taste of the ripe fruit. The Thailand version, however, is harvested younger as their people enjoy less alcohol and a crunchy exterior.


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## FAST6191 (Jan 9, 2021)

Of course the obligatory ew tomatoes.



tomasowa said:


> If you're ever in South East Asia yourself, then as a regular of the region I would be remiss not to promote the King of Fruits for you to taste.
> 
> The Durian is the quintessential South East Asian fruit, and my recommendation is to taste those from either Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia; these variants are only harvested naturally as they fall off the tree because the people enjoy the highly alcoholic taste of the ripe fruit. The Thailand version, however, is harvested younger as their people enjoy less alcohol and a crunchy exterior.


That is cruel


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## AmandaRose (Jan 9, 2021)

My countries leader a few years ago thought that it would be a good idea for us to get independence from the rest of the UK. Thank God 55% of us voted not to do something so dumb.

Side note I agree with Fast's hatred of tomatoes.They are bloody evil.


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> That is cruel



To be honest, I've never known anyone who'd eat Durian Jam nor Pudding; I don't even know where they're sold in the countries I've lived in, so my condolences to them. 
The only version of Preserved Durian that I recommend would be an Indonesian snack called Dodol.

That Fermented Durian doesn't look edible; South East Asians don't ferment the fruit because it ferments itself as it ripens.
Once the skin has cracked open by itself, the Durian is at full maturity and should be eaten that day.

As for the rest, the official Western category for Durian is an Acquired Taste, so I'm unsure of whether you'd enjoy it or not.
That said, my recommendation is to try the original fruit before any derivatives.


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## Blaze163 (Jan 9, 2021)

Well I'm British. Do I really need to say what dumb thing we've been obsessing over for the last four/five years? Half a decade of listening to insecure racist gammon-faced football hooligans play at international politics, with all the grace of a hippo trying to play Moonlight Sonata on a burning piano while being electrocuted.


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## JaNDeRPeiCH (Jan 9, 2021)

tomasowa said:


> Even before my years growing up in Australia there's always been a big difference between Tomato Sauce and Tomato Ketchup.
> 
> For those out of the loop, Tomato Sauce is runnier and sweeter, beloved by anyone who is a child at heart.
> Like Vegemite, it can be applied to almost everything to make it taste divine, but my favourite has always been the School Lunch Meat Pies in Sydney, which were run with the Butcher's union of sorts when I was a child.
> ...


Exactly you can apply this to mustard sauce.In my country México everyone likes the classic mustard(some bitternes).Recently some of my family likes the honey mustard in my opinion i dont like the taste.I taste the honey mustard in San Francisco,in México its uncommon to see the honey mustard in any dinner.

Ninja edit xD


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## FAST6191 (Jan 9, 2021)

Re Scottish Independence and Brexit. Are they dumb discussions in the spirit of the thread or just discussions made dumb because politicos got involved? I read it more as wacky news story that most others would point at and go "eh?". I know taxis losing their monopoly is the subject of hot debate in many places, indeed basically everywhere the "ride sharing" services pop up, and even more so where they enjoyed a monopoly in years prior and grew fat and uncompetitive on that.



JaNDeRPeiCH said:


> Exactly you can apply this to mustard sauce.In my country México everyone likes the classic mustard(some bitternes).Recently some of my family likes the honey mustard in my opinion i dont like the taste.I taste the honey mustard in San Francisco,in México its uncommon to see the honey mustard in any dinner.
> 
> Ninja edit xD



Mustard varies dramatically between places/countries of origin.

French and English, though grained and not is also a further subdivision, is the main option here. When talking about the American mustard (which technically does exist but I have never found it in the cupboard of any house I have been in) is usually just said to be yellow, and it is often quite amusing to see American tourists wander over and slather their food in it like they might the American effort before getting a spicy surprise.


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## AmandaRose (Jan 9, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> When talking about the American mustard (which technically does exist but I have never found it in the cupboard of any house I have been in) is usually just said to be yellow, and it is often quite amusing to see American tourists wander over and slather their food in it like they might the American effort before getting a spicy surprise.


I have American mustard in my cupboard lol


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

Too many to list, and I can't stand listening to those incompetents (whom make decisions whether people agree or don't).

Democracy.


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> Mustard varies dramatically between places/countries of origin.
> 
> French and English, though grained and not is also a further subdivision, is the main option here. When talking about the American mustard (which technically does exist but I have never found it in the cupboard of any house I have been in) is usually just said to be yellow, and it is often quite amusing to see American tourists wander over and slather their food in it like they might the American effort before getting a spicy surprise.


Agreed, here's a pic of my favorite mustard


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## Seliph (Jan 9, 2021)

I find that in areas bordering the south and midwest of the United States there are heated debates on whether tea should have 50 gallons of sugar in it or not


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## tabzer (Jan 9, 2021)

Since we are posting photos of mustard.  Japanese mustard tends to be more dry and pasty compared to American counterparts.  It's also very spicy, like wasabi is, but it is a whole different kind of spice.  It's used very sparingly as it's very easy to overwhelm the taste of whatever you dip into it.


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## AmandaRose (Jan 9, 2021)

Seliph said:


> I find that in areas bordering the south and midwest of the United States there are heated debates on whether or not tea should have 50 gallons of sugar in it or not


Two spoonfuls of sugars at most and no milk should be put in it lol.


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## Seliph (Jan 9, 2021)

AmandaRose said:


> Two spoonfuls of sugars at most and no milk should be put in it lol.


See some people would kill you for that opinion, it's a rough and lawless world out there among tea fans


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## tabzer (Jan 9, 2021)

AmandaRose said:


> Two spoonfuls of sugars at most and no milk should be put in it lol.



I'm not a tea drinker, but milk tea is very popular here, and I prefer it sweet.  In the states, the south has their famous concoction of sweat tea which uses sooo much sugar but no milk.


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## Seliph (Jan 9, 2021)

tabzer said:


> I'm not a tea drinker, but milk tea is very popular here, and I prefer it sweet.  In the states, the south has their famous concoction of sweat tea which uses sooo much sugar but no milk.


I second that opinion on milk tea, we make boba tea at the place I work and I love making it. Of course, I'll still take some stronger herbal tea on occasion if I want to feel posh or whatever


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## Benja81 (Jan 9, 2021)

tabzer said:


> "Put your money into the ashtray and peacefully leave, before I must call the police."
> 
> In Japan, we have a popular actor who was caught cheating on his wife in very obscene ways.  The wife apologized for him.  People argue over this.  I suppose she must be blamed for choosing a bad mate.  I guess that makes sense, if she was a gold digger, maybe she is getting the embarrassment that she deserves.  It's a luxury, to be able to argue about such things.  Both of them must be spoiled.


WOW. So the only logic I can come to is that this custom was made by a man. End O' story


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## AmandaRose (Jan 9, 2021)

In Scotland milk tea is called baby tea


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## tabzer (Jan 9, 2021)

Benja81 said:


> WOW. So the only logic I can come to is that this custom was made by a man. End O' story


Japan is very patriarchal--but everybody, as a society, tend to be very submissive.


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

AmandaRose said:


> Two spoonfuls of sugars at most and no milk should be put in it lol.


i personally find myself putting between 4 or 6 depending on the type of sugar, though in the past i've put up to 10 (like i said previously, i'm fully aware i'm weird)


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 9, 2021)

tomasowa said:


> I can't blame you - I have a preference for Tomatoes myself and a quintessentially Australian lunch is the Salad Sandwich, which is basically a sandwich comprised of Tomatoes, Carrots, Alfalfa Sprouts and Beetroot; I ate many of them for school lunch, whenever I couldn't get my Meat Pies.
> 
> It's always interesting to taste local flavours and I hope to one day visit your neck of the woods and taste some unique cuisine.
> If you're ever in South East Asia yourself, then as a regular of the region I would be remiss not to promote the King of Fruits for you to taste.
> ...


The quintessential South East Asian fruit for me is Mangosteen. Durians you can find across the world because it's such a famous fruit. Mangosteen is a lot more unique, because it spoils incredibly quickly, so you can only get it straight from the source and if you find it in a country which is far away from the source it's probably already rotten.
But when they are fresh they are *so* tasty. Super sweet, sweeter than even ripe mangos.



leon315 said:


> isn't the wife the offended part who shall receive the apologize? instead she apologized for his husband for cheating on her?
> 
> why is this story sounds so weird and twisted?


I think "sexist" is the word you're looking for.


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## tabzer (Jan 9, 2021)

I haven't seen any mangosteen in Japan, and I rarely see Durian.  I like both btw.  In Hawaii, both seem to be very prevalent, as is soursop, breadfruit, starfruit and almost any tropical fruit you can imagine.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



The Real Jdbye said:


> I think "sexist" is the word you're looking for.



I think there is a nuanced difference between gender roles and sexism.  But, I can see, from a western point of view, that it's the same.


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## The Real Jdbye (Jan 9, 2021)

tabzer said:


> I haven't seen any mangosteen in Japan, and I rarely see Durian.  I like both btw.  In Hawaii, both seem to be very prevalent, as is soursop, breadfruit, starfruit and almost any tropical fruit you can imagine.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


Oh yes, I'm well aware there are genuine cultural differences and I know not everything that makes sense for one culture makes sense for another. We pretty much judge it like we see it though.


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## Jayro (Jan 9, 2021)

as an American, we can't even get decent health care without the middle-man-scam known as "health insurance". It's bullshit. Staying healthy in America is a LUXURY, instead of a right... and it shouldn't be that way. We just need to cut out the cancerous middle-man-scam, and lower medical prices to match the rest of the world. I'm embarrassed for my country.


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

AmandaRose said:


> In Scotland milk tea is called baby tea


The U.K. (and neighbor countries) really likes their tea and I'll never understand why. I've tried it and at best, it's drinkable.

Give me coffee or give me nothing.


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## tabzer (Jan 9, 2021)

Boesy said:


> The U.K. (and neighbor countries) really likes their tea and I'll never understand why. I've tried it and at best, it's drinkable.
> 
> Give me coffee or give me nothing.


How do you have your coffee?


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

The Real Jdbye said:


> The quintessential South East Asian fruit for me is Mangosteen.



Part of the reason for the title of King is the amount of invested time to cultivate.

My Family Home in the region happens to have several trees of both Durian and Mangosteen growing in our yard.
For those who haven't had the opportunity to grow their own fruit trees, the first few Harvest are usually when the tree starts to develop, so fruits will start off small for their initial Harvest and then grow into full-sized, full-flavoured ones as the years go by.

So the difference between their cultivation is decades; Mangosteen trees only take a few years to grow into its own and start producing their sweet taste. They're also not too particular with the changing of climates or excessive Wet Seasons.

Durian, however, take over a decade to grow and each of our trees took over 12 years; we've worked closely with Agricultural Research Departments that brought a few of their Super Durian saplings, which were promised to give better yield and larger fruits for their individual types. None of them grew past 2 years, but the seeds of a passing Durian Saleswoman we planted randomly did. Go figure.

Their taste also changes with the amount of heat and rain that arrives each year. 
They are also temperamental to pruning, so it's done with the utmost care and sparingly.
Finally, they have to at least be planted in pairs to cross-pollinate and bear fruit, which is a gamble of a decade per tree.

In that sense, each Durian harvest is more like a celebration of the soil and environment, and that's the feeling for most in the region.
And yes, I realise I'm starting to sound like a Farmer.


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## leon315 (Jan 9, 2021)

The Real Jdbye said:


> I think "sexist" is the word you're looking for.


dunno, how that word operates, mind to explain?


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## Taleweaver (Jan 9, 2021)

Dumb discussions in Belgium? How about "how to fucking govern the country" ?

Okay, I admit having a northern (Dutch) side and a southern (French) side isn't exactly easy linguisticly, but it's doable. It is (or at least should be) our strength. But instead...?

Look...most if not all other countries have a hierarchical government. Your local town or city might have laws, then province or state laws and then federal laws. Strictly hierarchical.
In Belgium, provinces are barely talked about, but instead we've got the Flanders and Wallonian "regions" crammed in there as well (oh, and Brussels as well right in the middle, because why not  ).

And in Belgium, they all have governments. And there's a never-ending discussion about which government gets which responsibilities. So we overlap and work more next to each other than complement one another. The most absurd (and in more than one way tragic) example was that our own prime minister COULDN'T RECALL BY HEART ALL BELGIUM'S MINISTERS OF HEALTH!
Though I guess it's somehow in his defense that we had nine at that point.


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## Deleted User (Jan 9, 2021)

Taleweaver said:


> Dumb discussions in Belgium? How about "how to fucking govern the country" ?
> 
> Okay, I admit having a northern (Dutch) side and a southern (French) side isn't exactly easy linguisticly, but it's doable. It is (or at least should be) our strength. But instead...?
> 
> ...


here it's not a discussion, but the land has too many divisions for how small it is, and it makes you wonder why there are divisions in the first place since there arent even many different laws between them


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## FAST6191 (Jan 10, 2021)

Taleweaver said:


> Dumb discussions in Belgium? How about "how to fucking govern the country" ?
> 
> Okay, I admit having a northern (Dutch) side and a southern (French) side isn't exactly easy linguisticly, but it's doable. It is (or at least should be) our strength. But instead...?
> 
> ...



Is that not common everywhere?
In the US you will tend to find it being the "state's rights" discussion. Usually who gets to pay for it, or allow it to happen if they can tax it/generate revenue from it.
In the UK then counties vie for things and there is also the whole devolved parliaments mess to consider (never mind overseas territories and commonwealth)
Canada has provinces and territories.
France has districts (never mind Basque separatism).
While China likes to pose itself as a unified country... hahaha
Australia might as well be separate countries for many purposes (certainly flying is how you get between them as driving is a nightmare and there are all of 5 trains).
Do we need to cover the whole Yugoslavia thing?
This could go on for a while but has been the case for every country I have ever studied.

Belgium has a fairly extreme case as these things go (India probably being one of the few worse options in a semi developed nation) but hardly unique or all that dumb when it comes down to it. Also are you ignoring the German interest in those groups? Seems to be a common theme when discussing Belgian politics with Belgians, bit like Northern Ireland is an afterthought for most UK politics really.

Generally though it is always going to be the case -- the human mind does not care much about what happens beyond the horizon which makes running a country hard and thus you will devolve it into individual issues. Or if you prefer your neighbour falls down a manhole cover and dies and "someone sort this out", might even dip into your wallet to chuck a sheet of ply over it until someone comes. Same happens in Thailand...


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## The Catboy (Jan 11, 2021)

I can’t even take a piss in a public bathroom without running the risk of being arrested in many states of US.


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## Viri (Jan 11, 2021)

Since we already know the obvious about American laws. I'll choose a dumb law in my state. Apparently they're banning bullet proof glass from corner stores, and diners, because it's racist. As you can imagine, the people who operate their business in a bad neighborhood aren't too happy about this. I live in a sketchy neighborhood, and if I opened a store in my area, I'd want bullet proof glass too.



Spoiler











You've probably seen these in stores. Apparently they're now racist. The amusing part is, most stores that actually have these glasses in their stores near me are Hispanic and black.


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## AmandaRose (Jan 11, 2021)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I can’t even take a piss in a public bathroom without running the risk of being arrested in many states of US.


Don't worry America will catch up with the rest of the world. You guys are only about 30 to 40 years behind


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## Viri (Jan 11, 2021)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I can’t even take a piss in a public bathroom without running the risk of being arrested in many states of US.


I try my best to avoid them in the first place. I don't think I've ever seen a clean public rest room.


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## The Catboy (Jan 11, 2021)

Viri said:


> I try my best to avoid them in the first place. I don't think I've ever seen a clean public rest room.


Same but one of my medications makes me piss all the time, so it’s either hold it (which is a bad time,) or get used to public restrooms (also a bad time but less bad than holding it.)


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## FAST6191 (Jan 11, 2021)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I can’t even take a piss in a public bathroom without running the risk of being arrested in many states of US.


Actually arrested or just one of those laws on the books type deals?


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## The Catboy (Jan 11, 2021)

FAST6191 said:


> Actually arrested or just one of those laws on the books type deals?


Although I’ve never heard of anyone being arrested just thrown out of bathrooms, the risk of arrest or at least being barred from a location is still an issue. According to my research, no one has been arrested due to bathroom bills but a lot have been thrown out of the bathroom and barred from them as a result of bathroom bills. So arrest was a bit hyperbolic, but my point mostly being that bathroom laws are extreme and dumb.


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