• LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

Random questions thread - shit you wonder about

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yo,

I been wondering this.

NIcaragua and Haiti and Ethiopia and shit like that, why is it a ''third-world country?''

Whats a second-world country? (shit, prolly australia. ;) )

Is the US a first world country?
 
Third world countries are poor, not technologically advanced, and have a lot of civil unrest. Unstable governments.

Is the term 2nd-world country even used?
 
1st world: Developed nations, Canada, USA, Western Europe for the most part, Japan, Australia, etc...
2nd world: Developing nations, eastern european countries
3rd world: Undeveloped nations, you know the type
 
Wikipedia:
After World War II, people began to speak of the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries as two major blocs, often using such terms as the "Western bloc" and the "Eastern bloc". The two "worlds" were not numbered. It was eventually pointed out that there were a great many countries that fit into neither category, and in the 1950s this latter group came to be called the Third World. It then began to seem that there ought to be a "First World" and a "Second World".

Eventually, it became common practice (though not in the United Kingdom) to refer to nations within the Soviet Union's sphere of influence (e.g. the Warsaw Pact countries) as the Second World. Besides the Soviet Union proper, most of Eastern Europe was run by satellite governments working closely with Moscow. The term "Second world" may or may not also refer to Communist countries whose leadership were at odds with Moscow, e.g. China and Yugoslavia.
Alternatively, First World countries may be defined as having developed market economies, Second World as having developed planned economies, and Third World as having developing economies that may follow either the market or (less often) the planned model.
 
What is the deal with those itches that you get, and then when you scratch them it feels like theyre somewhere else?

Like you have a itch, but you keep scratcing all around it and cant find exactly where it is, and it keeps itching? then you scrath it somewhere completely else and its stops? is that like the acupuncture nerves or some shit?
 
i hate those. i sometimes get an itch inside my knee and it just doesnt go away, or in my toe. no matter how much i scratch or rub the skin it doesnt do it, then magically in a min its gone!
 
lacey k said:
What is the deal with those itches that you get, and then when you scratch them it feels like theyre somewhere else?

Like you have a itch, but you keep scratcing all around it and cant find exactly where it is, and it keeps itching? then you scrath it somewhere completely else and its stops? is that like the acupuncture nerves or some shit?

Yeah I totally know what you mean Lacey. They are really fucking weird. Like, I'll have an itch that feels like its on my finger, scratch it and nothing happens. I'll keep scratching all around the area until I hit it, usually a long way off (like my forearm or something). The absolute worst is when you can't find the sucker at all and the itch won't go and can't be sated! :X
 
What is the greater machine..... ipod video, or ipod nano?

Buying it in 6hours so quick response please :)
 
"So how do they get Teflon to stick to the pan? First they sandblast the pan to create a lot of microscratches on its surface. Then they spray on a coat of Teflon primer. This primer, like most primers, is thin, enabling it to flow into the the micro-scratches. The primed surface is then baked at high heat, causing the Teflon to solidify and get a reasonably secure mechanical grip. Next you spray on a finish coat and bake that. (The Teflon finish coat will stick to the Teflon primer coat just fine.) "

from some random website
 
thsi thread is the shit. i never thought ppls quesions would acutally get answered but ive got a couple of those annoying questions outta my mind just from postin and reading here.
 
so when they pump out all these billions upon billions of barrels of oil, does the ground above it collapse?
 
Teflon is a very dangerous substance - not that DuPont would bother to tell anyone that.

Beware when using a teflon coated pan that you must not increase it above 230 degrees celsius - otherwise it releases toxic particles.

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Teflon/Canary-Teflon-ToxicosisAug03.htm

Remember, there are better non-chemical pans that provide the same non-stick characteristics.
 
Last edited:
^^
which is why any cook will tell you that if you want to pan sear anything, or properly stir fry, you should be using cast iron, or stainless steel. 230 celcius is a temprature at which just about anything you put in a pan is going to char past the point of deliciousness, anyway. So teflon isn't really that dangerous.

When cooking at typical tempratures (170 degrees Celcius and lower), teflon, and its derivatives are perfectly safe, and provide a considerably better cooking surface that steel, cast iron, corningware, or copper. What are these wonder materials that are "all natural" and as slick as teflon?
 
It should also be pointed out, now that I've looked over your link, a couple other obfuscations the author has inserted.

"1,500° Broiling temperature for high-end ovens" "CF4 (carbon tetrafluoride): Global warming gas; affects heart, lungs, and nervous system"

When one broils something, it stays in the over for no more than 20 minutes. That is not long enough to damage the food, and it isnt long enough to damage your cookware, or release toxic gas.

1,000° Drip pans in stovetop burner Gas flame on range top

drip pans are made of pressed tin or aluminum, and they aren't coated with teflon. I suppose this, along with the other temp reading they have, for gas flames, and electric coils, is meant to imply that your food, and your pots are also reaching those heats. That simply isn't true. This is mainly by virtue of the water that resides in just about everything we cook. The food acts as an excellent conductor of heat, moving it away from the pan, and releasing it through steam, and radiant heat from the pan and food. If you've ever made candy from sugar, or caramel, or heated oil for frying, or done anything else that requires a candy/oil thermometer, you'd see that on the highest setting, with material in the pan, its very hard to break 300C, let alone 500C.

The lower temps cited on the webpage either apply to birds (what doesn't kill them ;)), or apply to situations that are contrary to Dupont's reccomendations for teflon. Notice that grills aren't made with teflon, neither are broiling racks, nor are woks.

Teflon loaf pans, muffin tins, cookie sheets, et cetera are fine in an oven set to a baking temp (325-425). It is not advised to use a teflon pan when roasting something in an oven (a standing rib roast, a turkey, a ham). For that, use enamel, steel, aluminum disposable [my personal favorite], or earthenware).

Using a non roasting pan to roast with is one of the only two mistakes one can make with teflon. The other is more common. When cooking with teflon, say, frying an egg, don't allow the pan to reach full heat (moreover, what are you doing frying an egg on high heat in the first place?). When frying with teflon, or anything else, where the goal isn't to blacken the food, add the food as the pan is warming. Its easier to control the heat that way, anyway.

=D
 
I haven't thoroughly researched that link and am in no state to do so now but will provide further, perhaps more appropriate, evidence at a later date ;)
 
Well to your, and the corporation-phobics' credit, dupont did try to hid the fact that teflon actually produced these gasses, back in the day. That still doesn't change the fact (nor will more interweb sites), that normal cooking with teflon is no more dangerous than a walk outside.

This reminds me of the great clash between some bluelighters (myself included) against mynameisnotdeja and Beanergirl over the safety of microwave ovens. :)

One last observation before i try to sleep again. The first thing that comes to mind when I read Mindfully.org is watchtower magazine (the Jehova's Witnesses thingie). They take this alarmist tone, worry you, and tell you they have all the answers. The whole place stinks like propoganda; its very un-zen, contrary to what appear to be teachings from the buddha on the front page. I'll concede that there are horrible things out there, trans-fats, bleached, processed flour, biomagnification of heavy metals in fish, the contemporary western diet and lifestyle. Teflon and the DuPont boogey man, however, ranks waaaay below all that, and all those rank waaay below smoking and drinking (which I engage in :)).

Do you read/believe in a lot of this sort of stuff? Do you find it helps you make sense of an illogical world? (i'm not being condescending, I'm interested,
 
It's been proven that at high temperatures your average pan will go over 230 degrees, particularly with gas cooking. It's not naive, it's fact. Obviously it depends on the dish but if you cook a dish at high temperatures, it is quite easy to go over that heat.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top