https://lemmy.world/c/upliftingnews is a good community to add to your subscriptions if you’d like a regular dose of good news! Good news is out there, it’s just much harder to find than bad news these days.

I have been on the hunt for more children’s books written in Ukrainian since I’m learning the language currently. It’s a far lower barrier to entry than full length stories!

I have been disappointed by that as well but this has been astoundingly good as far as debates have gone. The immediate fact checking is long overdue. And frankly I look forward to pointing at Trump’s extra speaking time as a bulwark against the “iT wAs BiAsEd By ThE lIbErAL mOdErAtOrS” complaints.

The problem is not with criticism of Zionism or the majority of the Democratic party being openly pro-Zionism. The problem is with equating the Democratic party with the Republican party and acting like it is somehow “brave” or “righteous” to demonize the only political party in the United States with any shred of decency remaining.

Totally fair point! I think that’s why accompanying the reports with the ability to listen in while I actually play through a session would improve the “spectator” experience. But this is definitely a passion project and not something I anticipate building a large audience for. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Zip is my home instance so that’s why I created it there, but that’s a great point…I’m still getting the hang of the Fediverse.

Understood and completely agreed with your sentiment. Obviously any time of sweetened drink is going to be less healthy than water. It is also undeniable that our corporate funded research papers have frequently resulted in and continue to result in biased and often completely non-credible conclusions.

I still assert that “safe” is a relative term, and one issue I have is the lack of nuance associated with certain headlines. For example, the IARC Group B classification that the WHO cites is the same risk for cancer as “engine exhaust or occupational exposure as a hairdresser.” So yes, excessive aspartame consumption is definitely objectively bad for you compared to drinking water, but the cancer risk is not extensive compared to many other things we are exposed to on a regular basis.

“JECFA concluded that the data evaluated indicated no sufficient reason to change the previously established acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0–40 mg/kg body weight for aspartame. The committee therefore reaffirmed that it is safe for a person to consume within this limit per day. For example, with a can of diet soft drink containing 200 or 300 mg of aspartame, an adult weighing 70kg would need to consume more than 9–14 cans per day to exceed the acceptable daily intake, assuming no other intake from other food sources.”

Also I very much appreciate the great discussion on this!

Don’t know that I agree with your spin that this news is negative in any regard. Also, aspartame is one of the most studied food additives of all time and has been repeatedly proven safe.

Your claim that it “can have an event worse effect on blood sugar than sugar can” has also been proven false. See “Metabolic effects of aspartame in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials” by Santos et al from 2017.

Among other conclusions, the study found that “aspartame consumption was not associated with alterations on blood glucose levels compared to control or to sucrose and on insulin levels compared to control or to sucrose.”

That’s actually the alt code for an en dash. Em dash is Alt+0151!

I got mine last year. I was fully recovered in terms of physical activity within probably 4-5 days but I did get two very uncomfortable sperm granulomas that hung around for several days each. My nuts swelled up and turned purple so that was pretty fucking scary but it wasn’t anything dangerous. Just a lot of aching. But within a month I was completely back to normal.

It’s not a numbers thing, it’s a facts thing. That’s just how criminal justice works (or is supposed to). So to address your second paragraph―the number of people and whether they are men, women, or otherwise is entirely irrelevant. If someone can be proven to have done wrong, they did wrong, period. I’m not stating I agree or disagree with his acquittal, I was just making sure I hadn’t missed some news that he had, in fact, been found guilty. I’m well aware that wealthy people and, in particular, powerful men get unfair advantages in the criminal justice system.

I’m gonna have to go with Adam Savage. I loved Mythbusters and continue to watch his Tested one day build videos today and view him as something of a role model from a creative standpoint.

Also to chime in about your mentioning of Kevin Spacey, the guy is definitely a weirdo and has done some really tone deaf things (coming out as gay in the midst of being involved in sexual abuse accusations, posting videos of himself as Frank Underwood denying charges levied against him on YouTube, etc.), but wasn’t he acquitted of or found not guilty in literally every sexual abuse charge that was brought against him? And in both the US and the UK?

Currently readingA Separate Peace because I was convinced my high school self was just too immature when he labeled it as the worst book he has ever had to read… it’s not the worst book I’ve ever had to read but it’s not a good book either.

Next up will probably be either The Guns of August or Teddy Roosevelt’s autobiography.

I just finished up Red Rising and I really enjoyed it but I can’t bring myself to dive headlong into a series right now. My current read is A Separate Peace and next on the docket will be the autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt.

I tend to struggle to finish books that I start but this year I wanted to get better about reading so I set a very modest goal of 14 books. I’m already finished with five books since the start of the year!

Gilmore Girls. I know the show has some problematic humor but it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever watched as far as characterization is concerned. The writing and the characters have a way of sucking you into the story that I haven’t really found in any other show.

As someone who is brand new to this community as of yesterday (another Reddit convert) I have to say this level of transparency and explanation is a breath of fresh air. It makes me very excited to be a part of this community. Thanks for all the hard work!