Dumb discussions your country has?

[tabzer]

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.

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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.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

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.

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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.

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.

 

[Jayro]

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.

 

[Deleted User]

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.

 

[tabzer]

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?

 

[Deleted User]

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.

 

[leon315]

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

dunno, how that word operates, mind to explain?

 

[Taleweaver]

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.

 

[Deleted User]

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.

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

 

[FAST6191]

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.

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...

 

[The Catboy]

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

 

[Viri]

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.

 

[AmandaRose]

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

 

[Viri]

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.

 

[The Catboy]

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.)

 

[FAST6191]

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?

 

[The Catboy]

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.