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[Grognard]

[Is it cold in here?]

We just held an election here on Guy Fawkes Day.

[Grognard]

Guy Fawkes: patriot or terrorist?

[Method of Madness]

@Grognard - Yes

@Cold - Because of that, I wrote this earlier today.

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the day we all get out and vote. The polls will be open, then the loser'll be copin' and the victor will have cause to gloat."

[Barmymoo]

Yup, cheese is decidedly un-vegan. The Burger King employee was not engaging her brain, and I was new enough to veganism that I hadn't yet learnt that you have to specify precisely at every stage what you do not want in your food or drink. I learnt that completely after asking whether a cafe had soya milk, and on determining that it did, asking for a latte. Which they made with dairy milk. I couldn't quite imagine why they thought I was asking about soya milk, but it was the last time I didn't say "with soya milk please, no dairy milk".

[Akima]

Be generous, and assume that the BK server didn't understand the distinction between vegetarian and vegan. I have encountered the confusion countless times, in the "opposite direction".

[Barmymoo]

I would assume that, except that we'd just spent five minutes discussing the ingredients list on the burger and what kind of fat they used to cook the chips. I think it was just that she didn't think to pass on the information to the person who made up the order - she just said "veggie burger meal".

[Kugai]

Guy Fawkes: patriot or terrorist?

Or the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions?

[Barmymoo]

My very limited knowledge of the situation suggests that he was being manipulated and taken advantage of by people with more complex motivations than they presented to him. I think he was a scapegoat.

[Kugai]

Oh believe me, Guy knew what he was doing, he was one of the leaders of the group.

[GarandMarine]

Guy Fawkes: patriot or terrorist?

Or the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions?

You take an internet for that.

[Is it cold in here?]

"Hello, I'm here to remodel for under-floor heating".

[Kugai]

[94ssd]

I'm not a vegetarian, but I've cut way back on my meat consumption in an effort to be healthier. A couple weeks ago I was turned away from donating blood due to a low iron count, which has never happened to me before. Since then I've been taking a multivitamin and trying to eat more green vegetables (I'm more of a carrot fan, myself).

Have any of you full time vegan/vegetarians tried to donate or otherwise had your iron levels checked and had problems?

[Grognard]

I used to work for the American Red Cross Blood Services.
I ran the health history and did the iron count testing.
Vegans and vegetarians 95% of the time had hard times with passing the iron count.
Suggestions:
Squash and Pumpkin Seeds
Nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts)
Kidney beans, Chickpeas, Lima beans, Navy, Black Beans, Pinto and Black-eyed Peas
Whole Grains and Fortified Cereals like Wheaties.
Dark Leafy Greens
Dark Chocolate and tofu.

[Barmymoo]

Two things here: firstly, the things which Grognard suggests, especially (in my diet at least) leafy green vegetables. I have a handful of spinach in my breakfast smoothie every day and eat cabbage, broccoli or kale with most meals. A surprisingly large number of things have iron in them, you just need to eat a variety of them and make sure that you are also getting enough vitamin C as this aids iron absorption.

The other thing is that I went to donate blood yesterday for the first time since I became vegan, and the nurse and I were anxiously watching the blood drop in the little tube - the one that is meant to sink within fifteen seconds. It got quite close to the line before dropping at about 13 seconds. The nurse told me that iron from plants seems to have a lower density than iron from animal sources, which means that it might take longer to drop but actually when the iron levels are checked properly, the people who get their iron from plant sources usually have as much or even more iron as the meat-eaters. Was your low iron count determined from the blood drop test, or an actual count?

[94ssd]

I don't know if it's the same test you're referring to, but they prick your finger with a special finger-destroying contraption, squeeze a few drops of blood into a little slide, and put it in a machine.

[Barmymoo]

That is not the same test! The test I had was the finger prick, squeeze out some blood, suck it up in a tiny syringe and drop it into a tube of liquid. It then has to start sinking after 15 seconds or EVERYONE DIES. Or something.

[Carl-E]

94ssd, there are other things that can negatively affect your iron count as well.  How's your sleep schedule?  Sleep deprivation will burn your iron out of your system.  Do you drink coffee (regular or decaf)? 

Seems coffee (both types) has an amino acid in it that reacts with iron, sucking it out of your bloodstream.  It doesn't have a large effect on most people, but it hit me hard - I started drinking coffee in my first year of grad school, 2 cups a day, and when I went to give blood that spring the testing nurse ran the slide, looked at me, and asked, "Why are you still conscious?" 

I switched to tea - lots of tea - and haven't had a problem since. 

There may be other lifestyle issues as well, but increasing the input and burning less will leave you a fine donor. 

[Grognard]

oh, yeah.
forgot that one.
no coffee/no dark colas for at least 24 hours before.
and while being hydrated IS desired, "I've had 5 gallons of water in the past 5 hours" is not.

[Is it cold in here?]

The more uncomfortable the furniture is in a coffee shop, the better the coffee is.

The worse the hours are at a hardware store, the better the selection and service is.

[BeoPuppy]

.|.. ..|.

[Loki]

94ssd, there are other things that can negatively affect your iron count as well.  How's your sleep schedule?  Sleep deprivation will burn your iron out of your system.  Do you drink coffee (regular ordecaf)?  

Ah. That's. Good to know.



*quickly tosses some numbers around in his head*


Excuse me. I need to have some beans *right now*.

[ankhtahr]

I don't know about iron, but I definitely need to take extra folic acid and zinc. Stems from fructose intolerance.

Loki: Your post made me lol.

[Pilchard123]

.|.. ..|.

ELE?

[Barmymoo]

Periodically checking that you're getting the recommended amount of your basic nutrition elements is a good idea even if your diet is "normal" (as opposed to vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, fructose-free or whatever).

[94ssd]

The more uncomfortable the furniture is in a coffee shop, the better the coffee is.

The worse the hours are at a hardware store, the better the selection and service is.

Cheaper fuel can be found farther away from town.

Much cheaper gas can be found in Tennessee because of the lower fuel tax, but no one has had the foresight to set up a gas station right at the border the way they've set up fireworks shops there.

I wish there was some kind of website that can calculate your point of diminishing returns on driving further for cheaper gas.

Related the fuel tax, most gas pumps in NC have a little information sticker on the tax, included in it is a map showing how much higher NC's is than the surrounding states. I am almost certain that this isn't for information purposes but instead a ploy to get you to be upset about the higher tax.

[Barmymoo]

There's some weird one-upmanship going on with poppies this year. The Queen looked to be wearing about five of them to the service this morning and I've seen huge blowsy ones and glittery ones. It's become a type of fashion statement.

[Carl-E]

Well, it was a good year for poppies (and associated products) in Afghanistan...

[GarandMarine]

Carl I think you might be thinking of the wrong kind of poppy...

[Thrillho]

I've never done heroin, nor will I ever, but I am now in the mood to get high.

[GarandMarine]

And now, a poem.

The wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
The love of a staunch true man,
The love of a baby, unafraid,
Have existed since time began.

But the greatest of loves, The quintessence of loves.
even greater than that of a mother,
Is the tender, passionate, infinite love,
of one drunken Marine for another.

"Semper Fidelis"


General Louis H. Wilson
Commandant of the Marine Corps

[Barmymoo]

I've split and moved the discussion on poppies to the Discuss forum since that's the best place for it!

[94ssd]

Apparently people calling their parent's close friends "aunt/uncle" is a common thing, I thought that was just me.

There's also some cousins "once-removed" that I always grew up calling that.

[mtmerrick]

Extreme bordem has driven me back to the forum. You may commence rejoicing.

[pwhodges]

So we're better than extreme boredom, eh?  Well, I suppose that's a sort of endorsement...

[mtmerrick]

Eh, I've just been feeling quite antisocial and lonely (bizzare combo, I know) and this haven't felt like foruming.

But now I'm back. So, Yay, I guess.

[LeeC]

if I was to make a clone army, would it be cheaper to make them female since we are using two X chromosomes. or would it be cheaper to have them all males because the Y chromosome is an incomplete X chromosome?

[snalin]

I've always thought that if you have the tech to do clones, you probably have the tech to make cyborgs or straight up robots that's not limited by the the human body.

[Thrillho]

But now I'm back. So, Yay, I guess.

Good to have you back, buddy.

[LTK]

I've always thought that if you have the tech to do clones, you probably have the tech to make cyborgs or straight up robots that's not limited by the the human body.

Nah, if we put our minds to it (and disregarded ethical considerations) we could easily produce a sizeable number of genetically identical babies with a few years of preparation. Just get your surrogate mothers from IVF clinics, and you won't even have to kidnap them or anything. If you want the clone's genes to be close to perfect for combat, you'll need maybe three generations of tinkering to get it right. The biggest problem with cloning is the high failure rate, so you'd need a lot of surrogate mothers, but eventually you might find a way to refine the process so that doesn't happen.

It depends on what you want to do with a clone army, though. There is no robot in existence that even comes close to a human's full range of capabilities, but if you just want obedient slaves, human clones are a pretty poor fit, given the whole individual agency thing. You can erode it, but that may be more trouble than it's worth. Without some proper mind-control abilities, getting your hands on some military hardware would be the more sensible course of action.

How large the chromosomes are is basically the single most irrelevant thing about the entire question.

[mtmerrick]

Hence, why cyborgs would be better, with this hypothetical level of technology.

[GarandMarine]

Last thing I need is my army of ferocious killing machines suddently developing a concious or getting a bloody cold.

[snalin]

Is there any realism to the star wars idea of altering the human genetic buildup to make the clones grow to maturity quicker, and be more inclined to obey orders?

[mtmerrick]

Growth hormones and mental conditioning. No genetic altering needed.

Anyone want to start a clone army vs battle droids thread?

[LTK]

No amount of growth hormones is able to shorten the time it takes for a baby to grow into a functioning human being. Not only is that time required to incorporate nutrients into the body for physical growth, during that time a human is also developing mentally, and gains the skill to control their body and interact with the environment. Those are the absolute basics of animal behaviour, and for us it takes about five years to achieve that naturally.

[GarandMarine]

That alone is why machines are superior, one clone soldier might be more lethal then four of my droids, but I can manufacture four replacements for my cybernetic deathmachines in the blink of an eye, the space of time it took to write this paragraph an entire platoon marched off the assembly line. In short, your clones are screwed based on sheer attrition.

[LeeC]

Just don't network them like skynet...or cylons...or geth...

OMG yes! Next weekend I get pants!

[Thrillho]

Well, it is a random thread I guess 

[LTK]

Just don't network them like skynet...or cylons...or geth...

The belief that intelligent robots automatically develop motivation, agency and a sense of self-preservation is baseless and is one of the most pervasive examples of anthropomorphisation in science fiction.