ForestBoard

Nation of ecologists wrote:

Errinundera please just start the election cycle, Well they seem to have been active lately, if they're losing interest in the game then they should most likely just drop the writ for the elections as their final act as founder. It doesn't seem to be too hard.

I mean Errinundera did lead Forest to where it is now after Devdan CTE’d, so we shouldn’t be this quick to dismiss them. They’re still important and should still have power, we just perhaps need ways to move forward when they’re inactive.

Nattily dressed anarchists on bicycles wrote:

As far as I'm aware, studies consistently fail to find a link between MSG and purported ill effects of consuming it. And if the info on Wiki is correct, the LD50 (lethal dose, 50% of population) is triple that of plain old table salt in rats.

I also understand that glutamic acid is a natural component of basically all proteins, and is present in a free and tastable form in a wide variety of "natural" foods. So between soy and mozzarella, the lasagna in my fridge is, supposedly, a toxic waste dump.

At any rate, if the works cited on the Wikipedia page are accurate, then reports as to the harmfulness of MSG in Chinese takeout is largely due to a joke in poor taste getting somewhat out of hand.

Good summary here:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151106-is-msg-as-bad-as-its-made-out-to-be

Worth noting that KFC uses MSG and MSG-like ingredients in most of its menu, in particular in the fried chicken "secret recipe" coating. And KFC does taste really, really good.

As a Chinese person, I'd note that the common Chinese stereotype of MSG is that its that ingredient that gets added to food a lot in America, thought admittedly to Chinese food there. A proper Chinese chef in China wouldn't dream of using it, is the idea.

From a personal point of view, I don't cook with it, but we've often bought processed foods where it is an ingredient. Subjectively, I find it makes me very thirsty, though no more so than ordinary salt.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:

Good summary here:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151106-is-msg-as-bad-as-its-made-out-to-be

Worth noting that KFC uses MSG and MSG-like ingredients in most of its menu, in particular in the fried chicken "secret recipe" coating. And KFC does taste really, really good.

As a Chinese person, I'd note that the common Chinese stereotype of MSG is that its that ingredient that gets added to food a lot in America, thought admittedly to Chinese food there. A proper Chinese chef in China wouldn't dream of using it, is the idea.

From a personal point of view, I don't cook with it, but we've often bought processed foods where it is an ingredient. Subjectively, I find it makes me very thirsty, though no more so than ordinary salt.

Nattily dressed anarchists on bicycles wrote:

If David Chang is correct, then basically anything fermented has relatively large amounts of naturally occurring MSG. Presumably, the more proteinaceous the stuff being fermented, the more MSG. I wonder how many MSG sensitive people have a big bottle of soy sauce in their fridge, so they can add a splash of liquid MSG to basically anything they want to taste good. I just took a straight spoonful for the first time ever, and yeah, that's a big salty dose of mushroomy meaty cheesy awesomeness.

There is a Turkish spice mix called "Tuzot" (which is literally the combination of the Turkish words for 'salt' and 'herb'). When used to season foods, it gives them a nice umami taste, and it is rich in MSG.

I had bought a pack and used it in foods when I was in Turkey, and it made a big difference (in the positive direction). Then I remember reading an article supposedly on all the negative effects of MSG and I panicked and discarded the rest.

I regret it now, and it is hard for me to find this mixed seasoning in the US (perhaps even impossible).

I highly recommend that you try it if it is available where you live, though. Unless you are afraid of MSG, haha.

Middle Barael wrote:

I mean Errinundera did lead Forest to where it is now after Devdan CTE’d, so we shouldn’t be this quick to dismiss them. They’re still important and should still have power, we just perhaps need ways to move forward when they’re inactive.

While I agree that they shouldn't be dismissed, I think Forest is large enough for an executive WA delegate, and still be reasonably safe.

The Photo Contest was scheduled to close yesterday, but I think it makes sense to extend it by a few days since we've just had several more submissions (and I'm a bit too busy to deal with setting up the voting this week). You can still submit photos until January 21 -- and please do so! We've gotten a lot of great submissions so far, but there are also a number of you who have still not sent in anything!

Sixth Annual Forest Photo Contest 2020!

by The Pacific Alpine Commonwealth of Mount Seymour

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Forest Photo Contest 2020

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2020 has undoubtedly been a year like no other. The general consensus is that it’s been crazy if not outright terrible. But with the holidays and the new year just around the corner, 2020 is finally coming to an end. Before we move on to a hopefully smoother 2021, though, there’s one last thing that needs to be done: the sixth annual Forest Photo Contest!

Here's what you need to know:

🌲 We have four categories once again this year:

• Trees (this category is permanent each year)

• Light & Dark (photos that display astounding lights and/or shades)

• Seasons (photos that represent one of the seasons or a certain time of year)

• 2020 (any photo that resonates with or represents this crazy year)

🌲 You may submit up to 12 photos total. You may choose how to divide those among the different categories, but please do not submit more than 12.

🌲 Please post your photos in the appropriate thread on our forums, located here. You may also submit photos via a link to an image hosting site in a telegram to Mount Seymour.

🌲 The photos must be taken by you, but can be taken at any time (not just during the contest).

🌲 Anyone in Forest or in a region which has an embassy with Forest may submit photographs for the Contest.

🌲 Timing:

• Submissions will be open from December 18 at 00:00 GMT (7:00pm Dec 18 EST) to January 23rd at 23:59 GMT.

• Voting will begin on January 23rd at 23:59 GMT and end January 30th at 23:59 GMT.

🌲 Voting will take place on a Google Form. Needless to say, please no puppeteering!

🌲 The photographers with the top three photographs in each category will have their photos acknowledged on our RMB, on our World Factbook Entry, and potentially in our next foreign update. A banner will also be created with a collage of the top photos to applaud the winners, and participants in the competition will be encouraged to add it as their nation's custom banner. Forest's flag will also be changed to the 1st place photos in each category for a week after the Contest.

Now it's time to head out and start photographing! Good luck to everyone!

Any questions about the Contest should be directed to Mount Seymour.

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Read dispatch

Love and Nature wrote:

Have you heard about this? It's like taking NS to another level:

"Asgardia, also known as the Space Kingdom of Asgardia and "Asgardia the Space Nation", is a micronation formed by a group of people who have launched a satellite into Earth orbit.[5] They refer to themselves as "Asgardians" and they have given their satellite the name "Asgardia-1". They have declared sovereignty over the space occupied by and contained within Asgardia -1. The Asgardians have adopted a constitution[6] and they intend to access outer space free of the control of existing nations and establish a permanent settlement on the Moon by 2043.[7]

Igor Ashurbeyli, the founder of the Asgardia Independent Research Center, proposed the establishment of Asgardia on 12 October 2016. The Constitution of the Space Kingdom of Asgardia was adopted on 18 June 2017 and it became effective on 9 September 2017.[8] Asgardia's administrative center is located in Vienna, Austria.The Constitution of the Space Kingdom of Asgardia.

The Cygnus spacecraft that carried Asgardia-1 into space released Asgardia-1 and two other satellites on 12 November 2017. The Space Kingdom of Asgardia has claimed that it is now "the first nation to have all of its territory in space." Legal scholars doubt that Asgardia-1 can be regarded as a sovereign territory and Asgardia has not yet attained the goal of being recognised as a nation state.[9][10] "

https://asgardia.space/en/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asgardia

It is just a scam that tells me never to trust anything that comes from Russia.

I signed up for it when it first started several years ago. I got lots of emails from them initially, like "Vote for the flag of Asgardia," "Vote for the National Anthem of Asgardia," "Ratify the Constitution," "Elect your representatives," etc. Then there was radio silence.

Several months ago I visited their website again, because I was curious. And they now ask you to pay money to become an actual citizen. (I wonder what that makes of my previous citizenship, but I suppose they would just dismiss it by saying that it had been a preliminary approval, etc.) Moreover you are not done after paying that citizenship fee, because you will have to continue making monthly payments. Heaven knows where the money goes. (Though, of course, Igor Ashurbeyli would certainly bring up things like administrative costs to explain it.)

It has nothing to do with having a space nation (except for launching a lousy satellite, and heck, we won't live on the satellite), it is just a scam.

Forest,
We are back to ask for a favor. Would anyone review our WA resolution?
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=490062&p=37542037#p37542037

Garbelia wrote:

It appears to be along the right lines, but all I can see it doing is creating a committee (illegal if it is the only thing enacted) and imposing tax changes (illegal in all forms). If it has a second operative clause doing something other than creating a committee, then it should be legal.

Thank you for reviewing my resolution. I looked over the document and could not see either of the thing you point out. For your first observation, besides creating a committee, it also charges WA nations to monitor the companies that create sapient beings. For imposing tax changes, that was edited out in prior versions unless I made a mistake somewhere, in which case place please point out where to me.

Please join this vexillology contest!

Ruinenlust wrote:

Folks, we are living through the last 24 hours of Donald Trump's presidency. The last Trump-presidency-free day was Jan. 19th, 2017, but by the weekend, we'll have two of those and counting, and on to forever.

From my heart, to yours:
It.
Gets.
Better.

It's been a wild ride, but it turns out that Mr Bones was lying to you. The ride does end, and soon there will be a president in charge who isn't a deranged lunatic.

Or so we hope. Anything could happen in the next 24 hours.

I for one though will go out of my way to watch that inauguration.

Ruinenlust wrote:

Folks, we are living through the last 24 hours of Donald Trump's presidency. The last Trump-presidency-free day was Jan. 19th, 2017, but by the weekend, we'll have two of those and counting, and on to forever.

From my heart, to yours:
It.
Gets.
Better.

I definitely don't like Biden and he's way too moderate for me, however he is far, far better then Trump and he actually god damn recognizes climate change! Maybe he can actually help the environment for once. He's gonna have a tough presidency and we shouldn't rule out Kamala Harris becoming President because of Biden passing away. In any case, Trumps gonna have to actually contribute something to society now.

Superguyana wrote:

BOURGEOIS

Say what you want, but I just tried some of that "short-term capital loss" stuff on my taxes for this year, and I'm going to save a full three dollars. Scoff if you wish, but that's one cup of Starbucks.

Nice. I should do like Trump, and fail miserably more often.