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I personally believe it is morally reprehensible to pass on this colony to sick or healthy friends when, to date, so little is known about its proper use. At present there are no credible, recent studies as to the safety or usefulness of Kombucha, despite decades of hype.

Basically that's where I got that from - I hadn't read the whole article recently, just recalling the original article hosted on Fungi Perfecti from memory.

So, a bit of hyperbole on your part.

I dunno about hyperbolic - he did say he thinks it's morally reprehensible to pass the colony on -

I'll make sure to get my citations in order better to avoid such misunderstandings

*just was interested in anyone else's experience with this live snot in a jar

I personally believe it is morally reprehensible to pass on this colony to sick or healthy friends when, to date, so little is known about its proper use. At present there are no credible, recent studies as to the safety or usefulness of Kombucha, despite decades of hype.

Basically that's where I got that from - I hadn't read the whole article recently, just recalling the original article hosted on Fungi Perfecti from memory.

Where does Stamets claim he wouldn't touch it? I have read a couple of his articles and have not seen anything resembling that phrase.

Personally, I think that it may be a useful digestive, but it's nothing like what the people marketing it claim it to be.

The Fungi Perfecti site recently changed, so the best I could score was a cross link from another blog -
http://www.rootsimple.com/2010/12/is-kombucha-safe.html

Yoghurt, cheese, and other bacteria-fermented processes, I tend to exempt from my whole-food rule, within reason. Like delicious pickles and kimchi. Or beer and wine, as long as they are only consumed moderately.

Speaking of fermented, Anyone familiar with kombucha?

I've been an off & on advocate of drinking it - tons of probiotics, etc. There's some interesting claims made for it, although folks like Paul Stamets claim they wouldn't touch it -

IME the best weight-loss practice is to get a decent amount of outdoor exercise on a daily basis, combined with a pretty strict whole-foods diet. I know that whole (unprocessed, such as recognizable meats, grains, and vegetable) foods are not always the most accessible, but they definitely do the best in terms of curbing food cravings, especially junk-food cravings. They are also goddamn delicious.

This pretty much means, fuck slimfast-type drinks. They're horrifically processed.

Essentially, my asshole diet plan is GO OUTSIDE, EAT FOOD THAT LOOKS LIKE WHAT IT IS.

If you do this, and don't drink a lot, it is very likely that your body will revert to its ideal weight.

Michael Pollen comes to mind here - another easy tip I ran across is to shop the perimeter of the grocery, granted there's exceptions (seasonings, etc). The thought is that the rim has the most "whole" food products while the center is largely where all the processed crap is kept.

there's really no "trick" or secret. it just so happens that tons of what you find in the grocery is crap labeled as food. 

Also, I read somewhere that your intake of carbs is directly related to retention of water - more carbs = more water retained = looking less lean. So if you can change your diet "macros" to have more proteins & less carbs, you'll look leaner.

The only context I feel even marginally okay dropping n-bombs in is "potato nigger." Or telling people that free speech includes the right to say "niggertits" even if it is terribly offensive.

I know several white people who regularly say "What is up, my nigger?" in a context that completely breaks it down to an inoffensive level. Consider this context: You are black. You telephone your close friend. Friend answers the phone with "What is up, my nigger?" in an American business patois. Offensive, or affectionate?

Another: White friend enters a room of mixed race. White friend says (addressing everyone) "HEY NIGGAS!"

Or, white person enters a room of white friends: "HEY NIGGAS!"

As a (legally, LOL) black person in America, these are generally perceived to be non-offensive.

Offensive, or affectionate? Context provides the answers. FFS, me and my friends have a game we call "That's how you know you're really gangster". We do shit like go to the hardware store for a new toilet flush system. Friend texts, "Yo, bitch, just at the hardware store for some home improvement; THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW YOU'RE REALLY GANGSTER".

Is that racist? Or is it just (provided by context) some funny riffing? We all grow up. A guy who was once really punk rock might be at the store buying milk for his kids. You say "MILK, FUCK YEAH! YOU'RE PAF!"

Does that mean you are displaying bigotry against punks?

Those all sound pretty inoffensive, but like someone said earlier it's all about the participants in the conversation. Since I can't say those words comfortably in most contexts (even objectively non-offensive ones) it comes off as offensive if I attempt it.

It seems to be a somewhat regional thing as well - not going for the whole deep south thing, more like just a difference in cultures. As you move around the country, just as if you move around the world- different words hold different values for different people. For instance "niggerrig" - I grew up hearing it & never really thought it to be derogatory until later in life & a subsequent move to a different area.

Like what I mentioned about intended vs unintended audience, its a gray area - there's no defined line. Especially when you're out in a public setting - like for instance a sporting event, joking around "you're retarded" in jest. Say there's a special needs kid or parent behind you...

as far as any fighting goes, the assertions of pedantry in this case call for counter assertions of myopia -
http://www.specialolympics.org/coalition.aspx
http://r-word.org/


Is this some sort of, for lack of better term, an ownership issue?

I don't know if I can word that correctly, but it seems like certain words lose there bite when the groups that are attached to the pejorative usage basically say it's OK.

Yes, white people can use "nigga" or "nigger" without it being offensive, in the right context. I know several white people who use it regularly as part of their greeting between friends, and is it non-offensive.

For that matter, I have a friend who regularly addresses her friends as "bitches and homosexuals", and it is non-offensive.

Context is important. If you want to play amateur anthropologist, that's a pretty crucial thing to be aware of.

Yeah - even with context taken into account amongst speaker and intended audience, variances in just location can make or break offensiveness as well. There's the whole aspect of intended vs. unintented audience - passers-by, etc.

Pretty much every queer I know uses the word "fag", usually affectionately. "What are you up to, ya fag?" "I was hanging out with a bunch of fags last night..."

Another one is "gay". It CAN be used offensively, but so much depends on context. Something can be gay (pejorative, meaning it's dumb... a word which no longer means "silent", btw) or someone can be gay (non-judgmental, meaning homosexual) or, a person can be gay for someone/something, which has positive connotations. I am totally gay for cones.

If you can't interpret language using context, you are failing at using that language.

Context is key, but is there a rationale or methodology as to who makes the decision over insulting or not? Can white people use the word "nigga" for instance? What is this "can"?

How am I trolling?

I bring up using the word "retarded". It wasn't directly addressed in the original post, but used later. As someone that is around the disabled community, I happen to know that "retarded" isn't cool - despite what you may think. It may be changing - language is constantly evolving.

In the spirit of the OP - I just wanted to start the conversation about it & was quickly told to fuck off.

So, to get back to it, It's not really up to me to police everyone else for this or that, but as we're talking about speaking up when you hear misogynist jokes or racial quips, I spoke up for something else.

I'm interested to see if the OP follows this - since somewhere this shit got way lost....

I see that it only counts if the degredation is in the approved categories

So, yeah. "suck" began as fag bashing. But you're ok with that.

yeah  - fuck 'em - I don't know any fags anyway. so why should I care

By that same token, these things do evolve over time.  I know black people who hate the term African-American because they feel little to no connection to Africa.  But a couple of decades ago, that was the 'correct' PC term.  It's interesting how these things change.

Right - they do evolve over time.

Is it up to white people to decide if it's black or african-american? Is it up to Germans to decide if Polish people are Poles or Polacks(sp?)? Is it up to the fully functioning to decide if retard is insulting?

Yeah, I've heard the same thing from the people I work with who work with special needs kids.  It is still considered to be a derogatory term by many, particularly people who have special needs children.

Exactly -

So, is your next move going to be claiming that "you suck" is homophobic?

Just curious how far you want to go down this sewer pipe.

but yeah - I'll bite:

"You suck" - eh - not homophobic, could be insulting, could just be an observation

"you suck dick" - could be homophobic or it also could just be an observation