THE WEEK THAT WAS The week that was in Thailand news: Sugar and mental health are no laughing matter - unlike April 1st!

[ParkerN]

Just now, Never Been Abroad said:

f sugar caused diabetes, diabetes would be rife in Thailand and China. Ask yourself why the countries with the fattest diets have more diabetes.

 

Countless analyses have shown this not to be correct, the USA reportedly produced a report showing that sugar was the major causative factor of obesity and DM2, but the USA government succumbed to lobbyist pressure and their released report pretended it was fat. The consequent reduction in dietary fat in the past 30 years has not resulted an anything like the predicted decline in obesity and DM2, for the simple reason that fat was never the real problem (though it may have been a part of the problem - clarity on this has proven elusive, and has not been helped by the lobbying carried out by the sugar lobby worldwide).

 

I'm afraid the whole sugar/dietary fat debate has been as helpful as the anti-vaccine arguments. It is not a simple equation and there are no easy answers.

[rumak]

21 hours ago, RobMuir said:

I would be much more interested to hear a view and experiences, for example, from a young Chinese woman

 

What a strange coincidence !  I am on my yearly get out of Dodge ( Chiangmai , that is) and this year I decided to take a break from my usual habitat near Prachuap and head over to the Andaman Coast.    Heading west from Chomporn would take me over the mountains to RANONG.     

OK,  maybe nobody will believe me but I looked up the 2019 POTY ...... someone who purported to be a young Thai lady living in that area.   Let me tell you guys.... its true !!

I've been traveling all day so I will not go into details now,  but in a day or two will start a thread :   an honest account of what I discovered.

Stay tuned !

[Never Been Abroad]

23 hours ago, ParkerN said:

The consequent reduction in dietary fat in the past 30 years 

 

Do you really believe that?  We just need to look to see that's not true.

 

Standard American Diet (SAD)=HIGH IN FAT

 

Standard diet of Thailand and neighbouring countries = HIGH IN CARBS, VERY LOW IN FATS. 

[ParkerN]

Just now, Never Been Abroad said:

Do you really believe that?  We just need to look to see that's not true.

 

Standard American Diet (SAD)=HIGH IN FAT

 

Standard diet of Thailand and neighbouring countries = HIGH IN CARBS, VERY LOW IN FATS. 

What you say may be true but has nothing to do with any comment I mage. I widh you wouldn't do that. Please don't..

 

Quote: Standard diet of Thailand and neighbouring countries = HIGH IN CARBS, VERY LOW IN FATS. 

 

Define 'High in CARBS'. What does is mean?

[rumak]

On 4/4/2021 at 10:04 PM, BritManToo said:

and nearly all the well known poster names have gone.

 

well,  you and me are still hanging on !   though just by a "thread"

[Golden Triangle]

After only (close to) 5 years even I've noticed that a certain vibrancy has disappeared, a shame really, it was a great place to while away the odd hour or so, getting information & chatting with like minded souls, now it seems people just snipe at each other & are only concerned with one up manship or trying to humiliate other users.

 

I had some really good information on here, from places to stay at or visit when we've been on a road trip, to stuff in the kitchen - cooking, home improvements etc etc sad really, the new owners probably aren't bothered, it's a non profit making shackle for them probably.

[Mark mark]

Well I started a reply / Well to add to this last weeks  “The Week That Was” at the time that it came out, but well, I was thinking about your sadness of looking back on your teaching career, ... and suggesting that it was a waist ! …  Like this was / IS such a sad subject, that I just span off, in to the technicalities of the questions that also were left in the culmination of my life’s Work, … which, though just a Technical job, … ALSO left me with that sort of feeling. … So I could not finish it at that time, and sorry. But I will have another go at it now. Like, I am in the mood.

 

… I am Retired !!! But my On Line Navigation, on the Technical crews, on some of the world’s most up-to-date, and now Biggest Seismic Exploration ships !!! …  Like doing a hard, 12 hr. and often night shift, steering the vessel, and getting coverage of the Oil Patches and dodging the Rigs, platforms and obstructions,  while most other people were sleeping, …. And doing a 35 Year olds Job through the day, in the Breakdown when it really used to get Physical !!! , … Like doing this up until I was 59, and just about half Dead d/t alcoholism, !!! …. But It WAS the best Time of my Life !!! … 

 

… And quite a good Accomplishment really, me actually not being all that academically smart !!! . …. So it IS very hard to look back at it !!! …  And, But well ... Never hitting anything, always getting the correct Data on Tape, (Well almost always) ... not tangling the Gear up .... OR Loosing a Man either !!! ... What a Great success I had really made out of it ... But to end up so sick I could hardly bend over on the back deck !!! …. Or keep off the Internet when inside, !  … When I should have been working !!! Long haul flight all around the world every month and well, hence being stuck in places that you never even knew existed !!! … (And the Alcoholism) …

 

Yes it IS Hard !!! …. But NO worried Rooster I now also know that … IT is just Life when you get old !!! …

 

This IS just Life when you get Old.

 

Those thoughts !!! THEY do just come. Like back in the old days many working men, … like us … Just worked, got old and then died !!! … Hence No time to consider whether it was a success or Failure !!!

 

It WAS and still IS, Just Life !!! 

 

Like I was an On Line Navigator, and also Surveyor ON LINE on the Seismic exploration ships ... not working with Humans, and Young Impressionable ones like you were !!!  ... But well, having your life threatened by a gun mechanic from Glasgow, who had an Irish name any way, … over an accidental picture of a younger Cambodian girl on your Computer, that you had got by accident by just pushing “Find Friends”  ....YES I should have Noticed the 15 on her birthday cake … Right !!! …. Even if she looked about 21 !!! … You know how they are in Cambodia !!! Right ! … And Big People also ! ... But the guy could not see past the current Hype, and the unconnected image on the screen. … The new Life right … Like Teachers must see all of the time now, in their efforts to train young people how to think !!!

 

… Yes for our Whole time out there … like for 20 years we had one RGPS pod per gun string positioning it relative to the ship, for every job ... Just One, on every string !!! ... So well, when we started doing Stag Seis for a French Seismic Contactor, in the Gulf of Mexico ... We had 2 for the first time. !

 

Like Stag Seis, ... never say the French are not Innovative also, ... you put 5 large exploration ships together, about 2 k each apart, in a 45 Degree staggered Line, over Oh ? over 10 km of sea bed, and use a very modern and fast radio networking to slowly shoot with all 5 vessels taking it in turn as you file past all of the shot points, … recording all of the Huge amount of Shots, recordings Gun (Energy Source) and positioning data, back to the outside Mother Boat !!!  …

 

The outside two boats towing 10 x 100m spaced 7.6 K streamer recording cables ... and though you cover about 5k of sea bed in the 5 shots the 5 vessels Guns would provide ... You only move over 1 line each time ... Hence eventually when all done, you provide a 360 Degrees direction of coverage on every 3D shot point, right throughout the whole prospect area, hence you can see under Hard Rock structures, like in Salt Domes, where Oil and Gas … Like to congregate !!! …  Hence where the shot would normally bounce of the hard structure ... We were actually shooting in and under it, by this method, on surveys where the Oil and Gas might be underneath it !!! ... But no one up to date had ever been able to pin point accurately where it was !!! But WE could !!! … Stag Seis developed by ??? CGG probably ? ... Well that was who I was contracting for any way.

 

But well, they wanted to have better Gun separation accuracy !!! Hence we had 2 Rgps pods on every string ! ... Like after 20 years of only ever having one .... 

 

So well, Low and Behold, we could not always get both pods to read the same separations !!! (Deleted) ...  Especially as we had flexible sausage Buoy Gun floats, which ran through the water, flipping back and forth with the swells, like 4 great black snakes !!! ….

 

So the Mother ship would always be on the radio or text having a go at us … telling us to just "Fix up the <Deleted> Gun separations up !!! ... Like the Gun Mechanics, the Boots on the ground, Salt of our operation, had made separation ropes, all splice exactly to the correct length ... inclosing taking in to account, sag, and stretch coefficients, to get exactly 10 - 10 - 10 Separation !!! ...Nice ! … But well ... as one of the Pods was Reading wrong, it was coming out 12 - 8 - 10 on the screen ... e.g. String 2 was being positioned incorrectly, as One pod was Reading wrong ....

 

And I was so fried at the time I never did say it, BUT I should have just said "Well if you give us pods that only calibrate up to 2.4m accuracy !!! … Then you NEVER are going to get 1m accuracy, as you would like !!! .. Are You !!! ??? …. So what do you do ....

 

Phone the Gun shack, and ask the Good gunners to move string 2 over 2m towards String 3 ? ??? So that in Reality they are actually running at 12 - 8 - 10 ??? … But looking like 10 - 10 - 10 on the screen !!! .... Well “I” never did that. ... But what about the 20 Years before then,  when we only had one on every string ??? Like no wonders they called us all Armature Rocket Scientists some times !!! ???

 

So well Rooster. ... Teaching, … Or Technical jobs !!! ….  Life is NEVER going to be Perfect Mannn !!!

 

Like this is the Problem that the whole world has now !!! Everyone only cares about the figures ? News ? People ! ? … That they see on the screen !!! ….  And Reality is pretty well mostly forgotten, … while they can get away with that. … Like up until someone dies because of it ??? Right ??? … Well Maybe. … Your Students were all just being trained to work in this way also you know … and you would have been ploughed in to the Kitchen garden for Fertilizer if you had complained about it !!! …  And I DO know about schools, and the education system also.

 

… But it is just great to read your Great Column honestly about it as well. ..With Good Humor also !!!!!!!

 

Thanks Mate.

 

Mark Mark.