Have you noticed that we usually debate only the bad things in life.

In this thread anyone can put down current news that they think is good (can be on any subject but not nasty, please, or so controversial that it provokes arguments). We can debate it and then move on when someone else posts some more happiness!

So I'll start with this gem, which will brings tears of joy to many, I am sure.

Chocolate is Good for you

Yes - it's official
Dark chocolate may be healthier

It's good for a cough and it's good for your heart.

Today's good news is that it's snowing again and the roads are slippery, as is my driveway, up which I have to roll two trash containers. Almost forgot...yesterday I slipped and fell while attempting to fill the bird feeder. The local squirrels rolled on their little backs and laughed to see such a human misfortune.

I'm not sure how good this news is, but it's certainly interesting.

Rob Ford the mayor of Toronto, Canada, is an admitted drunk and crack cocaine user.

In a recent poll Ford's popularity rating is at 45%, just one point lower than that of President Obama.

I have nothing more to say. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXpwflzSF4M

I have to admit that in my mind, Rwanda still lingered as one of the most war-torn countries on earth. Clearly a lot has changed and improved.

In this sense it is good news. War breaks out, frontline news. Peace breaks out, nobody notices. That gives the impression that the world is a more violent place that it is.

It isn't all yay! though, the bloody conflict in Eastern Congo is partially fuelled by spillovers from Rwanda (and other states). However, I see improvements rather than attaining perfection as good news, so this is good news (maybe not for CAR needing AU peacekeepers though).

It's not really news, but I always thought this was really sad: http://xkcd.com/695/

But then today, I saw this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/spirit_rewrite_unknown_author.png

It isn't all yay! though, the bloody conflict in Eastern Congo is partially fuelled by spillovers from Rwanda (and other states). However, I see improvements rather than attaining perfection as good news, so this is good news (maybe not for CAR needing AU peacekeepers though).

Yup. Rome wasn't built in a day.

South Korea will publish a guideline on the correct translations for 200 popular dishes. So no more fresh crap.*

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Food/Features/2014/01/28/Korea-to-standardise-food-translations/

* That's from the US, not Asia? Hush!

Want some nice fresh Korean crap...kimchee! It'll take the rust off the hinges of your outhouse.

Don't forget that Kim jong Jimbro recommended it.

Kim jong Jimbro

In my ignorance that sounds remarkably authentic.

In Romanian, and I think in a couple more languages, the word for carp is crap. Rather fitting, especially based on the way that bottom feeder is usually cooked in Europe.

Slate had an entry on kimchi in China. It seems to have missed that Han refers to both the Han river, running through Seoul, and to the Han dynasty that later gave the name to the Chinese ethnicity (particularly default non-minority Chinese). Han refers to anything and everything Chinese, except when it refers to Korea and everything Korean. That is pretty confusing.

As far as I can trace it the Han river for unknown reasons gave name to an area near Xi'an, Hanzhong (Central Han), far away from Seoul, and the first Han emperor claimed it as his origin, and hence the dynasty was named for it. During this dynasty much of what is known today as Chinese culture was disseminated and created, so Han became synonymous with Chinese culture and ethnicity. Meanwhile, back in Korea, the Han river became a metonym to refer to Korea itself.

In my ignorance that sounds remarkably authentic.

It is. I worked in S. Korea for two years. That's what my Korean friends called me.

Interesting story. I worked with a Korean Air Force captain who had been to the states with his wife for training. She had picked up some recipes that she wanted to inflict on me. A traditional Korean meal consist of many dishes, so she combined US and Korean kitchen practices and came up with beef stew and chili and hamburger steak.

Obviously not me, but you get the idea. One of the dishes on that table is kimchi, the killer cabbage dish.

That's an awful lot of food for just four people!

In Romanian, and I think in a couple more languages, the word for carp is crap.

Barbate, stii si romaneste? Incepi sa ma uimesti 

That's an awful lot of food for just four people!

I'm sure that they didn't eat it all. I ate out frequently with Korean friends who ran midsize to tiny and packed away quite a bit. However, it wasn't heavy in carbs overall...a little bit of rice and lots of veggies.

Go veggies!

Go veggies!

Are you a vegetarian? I like veggies, but also a bloody steak.

Yesterday we had some white asparagus, and the cooking instructions I found were conflicting. In spite of that, it turned out well because I ignored all the help I found.

And I'm a grain person, too. Sadly, my very recent bout with brown rice was a drastic fail. The instructions on the package were woefully wrong, and the dish turned out bitey, so I turned to the internet for assistance and came up with over a dozen conflicting instructions.

I'm in need of help...in more than one way.

Are you a vegetarian?

If a vegetarian were a person who loves vegetables, sure. But sicne a vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat, no. I ate some smoked trout just a few days ago.

just a few days ago

If you don't eat meat every day, somehow you are vegetarian... 

I think real vegetarians would beg to differ.

And here I always thought that Vegans were aliens from the planet Vega.

The difference between a vegan and a vegetarian is that vegans eliminate all animal products from their diet, including dairy and eggs. Those following a vegan lifestyle generally do not wear leather and avoid products made from animals such as wool, silk and down. Vegans' tremendous compassion for animals is an abiding, overriding conviction in their lives.
Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or poultry but they tend to consume dairy products and eggs. Lacto-vegetarians consume dairy products but not eggs, ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but not dairy products and lacto-ovo-vegetarians eat eggs as well as dairy products. Vegetarians also do not eat products that contain gelatine or other meat-based products.

If you don't eat meat every day, somehow you are vegetarian... 

Hardly surprising from somebody who hails from the second largest beef producing country in the world. In Brazil people who don't eat beef every day are subject to arrest. Mr. Barulheira is a vaqueiro in spirit.

sicne

I knew you were a Pole - by your father's side, eh?

.......But sicne a vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat, no. I ate some smoked trout just a few days ago.......

Was it Friday, because then the Pope    wouldn't have a problem with that .... 'cuz any good Catholic knows Fish       ain't meat.

In Brazil people who don't eat beef every day are subject to arrest.

You got it. But it annoys me that everybody here is so used to eat beef. A Spanish teacher from Chile told me that she wonders how, in a country with such a huge seaside, the people almost doesn't eat fish - unlike in her country. Personally, I prefer fish, vegetables, and a little piece of meat (which I don't require).

"Used to eating". Nothing "personal".
(It can be seen as a case of paronymy: alike phrases which are not the same.)

Was it Friday, because then the Pope    wouldn't have a problem with that ....

I have no idea, but I didn't eat the entire filet in one day.

When we came down out of the trees and added more meat to our diet, it caused our brains to grow bigger at a much faster evolutionary pace.  The protein in the meat was, of course, the cause of this and it has made us the wonderful and marvelous creatures we are today.    I wonder what we would look like if we had remained mostly vegan?