Example of a ode peom for food

Pictures of things that look like other things.

2009.08.30 06:52 PlasmaWhore Pictures of things that look like other things.

Pictures of things that are recognizable as other objects. For example, a picture of a cloud that happens to look like a whale sword fighting a leprechaun.
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2010.02.03 15:03 ipit2007 Discussion of nutritious food

This subreddit is for sharing and civil discussion of specified food, akin to /food but for food which may have a more healthful composition. The focus should be solely on the specified food itself. It is not for posts with context involving broad food categories, general nutrition, diet, fitness, or health concerns. There are other subreddits and professionals whose purpose suits those topics. To ensure quality content, spam and promotion are highly restricted in this sub
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2008.01.25 08:33 Welcome to /r/Food on Reddit!

The hub for Food Images and more on Reddit
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2024.05.14 14:37 TheElementOfFyre [Possible Trigger Warning]For those in the Scandinavian/ Northern Europe region, can y’all shed some light on this culture clash?

TL;DR. A leftover mind set from a famine in the 1940's causing hosts not to offer food to guests? Even if they're spending the night?! ‐-----------------------------‐--------------------------------------------- [Possible Trigger Warning] I'm unfiltered. I will be sharing my opinion on a cultural dispute. It may come across rude or disrespectful. If you're not in a mind set to hear something like that, please move on.
I read a post about hosts from Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark not offering food due to a mindset leftover from the 1940’s caused by famine and I want to hear more personal examples of this.
Is this true?
What region of your country are you from? (To get a geographical idea of this)
Is there a term I can use to research it more?
Can you give me some examples of you experiencing this?
Are there other countries that do this?
I'm from the South of the US. Southern hospitality dictates we always offer food and beverage to anyone visiting. Kid has a friend coming over for school? Tell that kid to call their parents and ask if it's OK to stay for dinner. If they say no, that's perfectly fine, it's always offered. Even if the kid comes over for a couple HOURS and their mama is gonna get them soon, snacks. Always snacks.
I guess because of how I was raised, to me this cultural norm is just bizarre. Coming from grandparents (boomers), it makes perfect sense. Coming from parents (gen X) who didn't live through that but whose parents probably raised them with this, it makes a little sense. But for millennial parents to continue this tradition? No sense at all.
Yes. In the 40's if there was a famine, I could understand not offering food or not asking for food. We're all struggling (at that time) so it makes sense. But once the famine is over, I feel like y'all should go back to being more hospitable. Even if it's just a light snack or cold meal like crackers, meat and cheese. Every single culture in the world has experienced famine, you aren't special in that regard, some very recently and this is the first time I've EVER heard of hosts not offering food or straight up eating a full ass dinner while their guest waits in the other room!
I got an ice cream from the ice cream truck once and went to my friend's house while eating it. I was told to eat it outside before coming in because unless I bring some for everyone, it's rude.
Anyway, I apologize if I was too rude here. I really am just confused by this and would love to talk more about it. If I've offended you I am truly very sorry but I did try to warn you.
submitted by TheElementOfFyre to NoStupidQuestions [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 14:31 TimesBlogger Exploring Rishikesh on a Budget: A Thrifty Traveler's Guide

Is it true or not that you are longing for an audacious escape to the tranquil town of Rishikesh without burning through every last dollar? All things considered, this is your lucky day! Rishikesh settled in the lower regions of the Himalayas along the banks of the Ganges Stream, offering plenty of encounters for economic explorers. From yoga retreats and stream boating to investigating old sanctuaries and quiet nature strolls, here's your definitive manual for investigating Rishikesh on a tight spending plan.
Reasonable Facilities
Rishikesh brags a reach spending plan cordial facilities, from comfortable guesthouses to explorer lodgings. Search for guesthouses in regions like Laxman Jhula and Tapovan, which offer agreeable stays at sensible rates. Furthermore, explorer inns give reasonable beds as well as deal with potential chances to interface with individual voyagers.
Heavenly and Practical Diners
Enjoy heavenly neighborhood cooking without begging to be spent. Rishikesh is dabbed with various diners serving healthy veggie lover feasts. Visit the nearby road food joints for scrumptious deals like aloo puri, chole bhature, and delicious chaat. For spending plan amicable feasting, select the numerous roof bistros offering shocking perspectives on the waterway and mountains.
Yoga and Contemplation Retreats
Submerge yourself in the otherworldly vibe of Rishikesh with reasonable yoga and contemplation withdrawal. Numerous ashrams and yoga focuses offer practical bundles for yoga classes, reflection meetings, and even multi-day withdraws. This is an incredible method for reviving your whole self without overspending.
Nature Strolls and Traveling
Investigate Rishikesh's regular excellence by walking. Go for comfortable walks along the riverside or adventure into the encompassing slopes for some light traveling. The Neer Garh Cascade journey and the Beatles Ashram climb are famous decisions among financial plan voyagers, offering stunning perspectives and an opportunity to interface with nature.
Experience Exercises on a Tight spending plan
Try not to pass up exciting experiences Rishikesh is renowned for, for example, wilderness boating and bungee bouncing. Search for spending plan agreeable bundles for waterway boating, which can be delighted in by fledglings and experienced travelers the same. You'll find a few administrators along the riverbanks offering serious rates.
Social and Otherworldly Investigation
Dive into Rishikesh's rich otherworldly legacy by visiting its numerous sanctuaries and ashrams. Investigate the notorious Lakshman Sanctuary, Triveni Ghat for night aarti services, and the popular Parmarth Niketan Ashram. These encounters are socially improving as well as kind with the wallet.
Looking for Gifts
Carry back a piece of Rishikesh with you by shopping at the neighborhood markets. Peruse slows down selling handiworks, gems, dresses, and otherworldly curios. The business sectors around Laxman Jhula and Slam Jhula offer one-of-a-kind things at sensible costs. Make sure to foresee the best arrangements!
Travel Tips for Financial Plan Voyagers
Slow time of year Travel: Think about visiting during the slow time of year (July to September) for lower convenience and movement rates.
Nearby Vehicle: Utilize nearby transports or shared carts for driving inside the town, which are more conservative than private taxicabs.
Pack Light: Keep away from an overabundance of stuff to save money on transportation expenses and make your movement bother-free.
End
Rishikesh, with its mix of otherworldliness, experience, and regular excellence, is an ideal objective for financial plan voyagers. By arranging keenly and investigating the town's contributions decisively, you can partake in an enhancing experience without extending your financial plan. In this way, gather your sacks, set out on an undertaking, and find the wizardry of Rishikesh without burning through every last dollar!

timesblogger

submitted by TimesBlogger to u/TimesBlogger [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 14:16 BeginningSome5930 A Desert Nomad Culture. Feedback is appreciated!

This is for a steampunk-inspired fantasy world where people can manipulate a magical metal called quicksteel at will.
Introduction
While “No Man’s Land” is considered a desert frontier by most, it has been the home of a native population for centuries: The neksut nomads. The neksut travel from oasis to oasis, riding horses and herding sheep and other animals. Though some Neksut have fearsome reputations as warriors, the neksut way of life is under threat from foreign settlers, most of whom see the as unsophisticated.
Recreation
Though outsiders will confidently claim the neksut have no arts to speak of (or even no culture at all), in truth the desert riders have rich musical and storytelling traditions. The neksut are great lovers of song, specializing in throaty chants. Singing is often heard while the tribe is on horseback or around the camp at night, and is typically collaborative, with a lead singer being echoed by several others. The most famous songs are epic historical and mythical tales, such as The Stone Men, Ballad of the Besieger, and Death of Pulcros. Musical instruments include string and woodwind devices, carved from wood and richly decorated.
However perhaps the greatest neksut art is quicksmithing itself. Manipulating quicksteel is vital to the nomads’ way of life, allowing them to effortlessly convert carts into temporary dwellings and back again. But with excess metal, neksut quicksmiths (called shapers in their language) often create temporary sculptures that will be deconstructed when the tribe moves on. Such sculptures are very abstract, often embodying the mood or state of the tribe at the time of construction. To the neksut, the impermanence of this art represents the transient nature of their way of life and of life itself.
Food
The neksut diet is heavily dictated by their nomadic lifestyle, and is fittingly dominated by the products of domesticated animals, principally horses and sheep. Milk is the most important element, and is drank as well as made into cheese, yogurt, or a dry powder. These dairy products are paired with meat from either domestic sheep or from hunted jackalopes or roastritches. Contrary to popular belief, the neksut do not eat their horses, save in rare cases when an animal dies or is too old to keep up with the tribe. Such animals are far too valuable as mounts and sources of milk to be consumed, and in fact an idiom meaning “eating one’s horse” is a neksut expression for one who has not thought things through.
Vegetables and spices (save for salt) are relatively scarce in much of the central desert and thus are scarce in the neksut diet as well. However the nomads make great use of what ingredients they have in a wide variety of dairy and meat meals. Seasoned jackalope jerky with cheese, shredded mutton over yogurt, and roastritch stew are typical. These meals are supplemented with redleaf, roastritch eggs, and whatever foreign ingredients can be traded for. While their cuisine is typically somewhat plain on account of their transient nature, the neksut can put on impressive feasts for special occasions, such as weddings or celebrations. In these cases the traditional meal is the so-called “yogurt table,” in which each participant is given a bowl of yogurt to pair with dozens of small dishes which are passed amongst the tribe.
Gender and Marriage
The neksut are relatively egalitarian in terms of gender. Two reasons for this may be due to their heavy reliance on horses and quicksmithing for their way of life; Mares are actually far superior mounts to stallions (due to their smaller size and milk), and the necessity for quicksmithing to set up camps and carts means that female quicksmiths cannot be disregarded, as all hands are needed. Thus neksut women can be warriors, chieftains, and shamans, with Salaris the Sandstorm and Mist-Eyes being prominent examples. However outside of these important roles, their still is a gendered division of labor in most tribes. Neksut often marry outside the tribe, with young men and women being sent to other tribes as dictated by shamans.
Government
Neksut governance is divided between chieftains and shamans. Chieftains lead tribes from one oasis to another, ultimately ending their journey at a religious site. Shamans oversee religious sites and help select the next route taken by the passing tribes, coordinating movements between different tribes so that resources are given time to replenish. The balance of power between these two roles has varied over time, though currently shamans seemingly hold the dominant role. Shamans serve an important logistical purpose in organizing the travels of tribes and arranging marriages, but they also act as culture repositories, with the shared language, history, and customs of the neksut likely owing to the shamans’ influence. Thus the Neksut are considered one culture and not a dozen.
Religion
Though their mythology purports to explain the origins of humanity, the first mentions of the neksut in the historical record dates to the aftermath of the Great Dying. Some scholars have suggested that the neksut might share common ancestry with some of the people of Tolmika, noting common elements between neksut religion and the Faith of the Heeders.
Neksut religion is centered around the earth and the sky. According to their mythology, the desert was originally a paradise that was the birthplace of the first humans, the Stone Men, who were the children of the earth and the sky. These children crafted a vast civilization from the abundant resources, living like gods for centuries. But over time they forgot their place, abusing the land and ignoring the sky. Eventually, the parents punished their offspring; The earth sent forth earthquakes and eruptions, while the sky whipped up duststorms and withheld the rain. The paradise transformed into the great desert, and most of the children died or fled, leaving their civilization to crumble. But one child, “Neksut”, remained and resolved to repent by living off the land even in these harsh conditions, slaying his fellow stone men. The neksut trace their origins to this figure. They see their own lifestyle as a continuation of that repentance, and view other civilizations as a recreation of their ancestor’s mistakes.
submitted by BeginningSome5930 to worldbuilding [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 14:10 ApprehensivePeace305 Did the War of the Five Kings matter in the face of the Others?

Lore discussion but also to sound out the effects of the Others, especially in a fic where the Seven Kingdoms are in a better state than at the end of ADWD.
Between reading theories, reading fanfics, and actually reading the series, I've come across so many interpretations of the Others, it would be hard to list them all coherently. But broadly, in some Fics, the combined power of men are able to defeat them, as in the Dragon of Duskendale (Dragons also required). In other interpretations, the others are so powerful normal men have (almost) no chance against them, see Purple days, and Wearing Roberts Crown. In some that follow the show canon, they are Sauron like figures, in others they are either snow elves, or the embodiment of nature. In some theories, the Others are actually just good guys. Preston Jacobs seems to think that the humans broke an ancient peace agreement (though I think his timing is off). Some even posit that the Children of the Forest or the Deep Ones are manipulating both the humans and the Others into the conflict.
In the actual Lore, the Others appear alongside the Long Night. Thousands of years later this reads like an apocalyptic event. They go months without sunlight, with the entire world starved in ice and snow. Depending upon the myth, it took a mythical figure in Azor Ahai or the combined efforts of the Last Hero, the Nights Watch, and the Children of the Forest to defeat them. It's unclear how long the long night lasted, and how it ended. For example, it could've just been that humans didn't know how to defeat the Others, so the long night lasted until they got knowledge of dragon glass.
So far in the series, the White Walkers are kill able. They also seem to have some malevolent purpose that includes killing those beyond the wall. Their dead legion seems to be growing, and if they do get a hold of all the dead animals and humans beyond they wall, it would balloon their forces to the hundred thousands. As their dead legion grows, and winter comes, I would guess that they only get stronger, or at least more bold.
I guess there's also a tangential question related to this. Was the War of the Five Kings all an accident? Was it a series of events set in motion by people trying to fulfill prophecy (like a self-fulfilling doom)? or was it influenced by outside forces that know what is happening in the North? Was this event something necessary in preparing the Seven Kingdoms to fall, or was it all just Summer Suffering that made the Winter worse? Kind of like two bugs fighting over the last scrap of food as giants unknowingly/unwittingly destroy their homes.
Personally, I think that the strife in the Seven Kingdoms, between the WO5K, The Iron Born, Dany's and Aegon's invasions weakened the Kingdom to the point it no longer had the strength to directly face the Others. I'm unsure if it was by design, but this means the Others Conflict will require more than just battles. Whether that be some peace agreement or a "Fellowship" style questing group behind enemy lines, I'm not sure. What I do think, is that the Seven Kingdoms was strong enough under the Targaryens and Robert to defeat the Others on its own.
Discussion is welcome, since I'm mostly looking to see interesting interpretations of the whole thing for future fics.
submitted by ApprehensivePeace305 to TheCitadel [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:50 DueAstronaut1325 My girlfriend (25F) moved in with me and my family (34M) and now everything is a disaster.

Me and my girlfriend have been together in a relationship for three years before she moved in. She wasn't doing very well in the state she was in and was effectively going to be homeless if we didn't do something. Keep in mind she is deaf and I have to text her a lot.
She did have one visit on Christmas before the moved happened. Everything was great during the visit and my family really loved her. So naturally they were excited when they found out she was coming. Since I make very low income my parents offered her the plane ticket. It was a very exciting day when we finally closed the distance.
She was on some medications at the time which helped her with her mood, nightmares and just depression in general. We had no idea at the time that she was coming off these medications which had a drastic change in her personality. There would be drama and conflicts almost on the daily. Since its a multi-generational house its very common for us to share spaces. For example in the current room we have two closets and one of them has my mom/sisters stuff in there. I never complained or touched the stuff in that closet since I knew the situation. My girlfriend out of the blue starts taking all of these clothes and piled them on our bed.
I tried to explain to her that we can't have this closet because it was a shared closet. The other closet we had was much bigger and wasn't used to the best of its potential. After a lot of crying my mom finally managed to calm her down. We then put all of the clothes back into the closet.
The thing is, there was a lot more incidents similar to this that happened in a very short period of time. We managed to get her back on medications and that is when these almost daily melt downs came to a crawl. I thought we were out of the woods between the medication and the therapy. Different problems started to occur, like for example, using my parents kitchen every day to cook. It was an issue at the time because there would be almost dirty dishes constantly unless I did the dishes daily. My parents were nice enough to give us a little island on wheels that we could cook on in our room.
My girlfriend likes to eat some very expensive healthy foods. I am not against people eating healthy but the way she buys food is very expensive. I almost never get what I want at the store since my girlfriend is against these brands that I wanted to get. So our kitchen and food situation is mostly her things. I have become a closet eater like I would eat some fast food somewhere else in the house. My parents have noticed this and expressed that I should be able to eat what I want around her. This is still the current situation with the food sadly.
I pretty much do all of the chores when it comes to maintaining our space. I wish the floors, I change the sheets, I do the laundry / put them away. I wash the dishes and put them away every day. My girlfriend mostly just cooks, manages her garden and plays a video game. I didn't mind doing the chores at first but it just felt so one sided. Also she has gotten into a fight with my parents over the front yard since her garden is also there.
Since we had no "yard" of our own my parent were nice enough to give her a pretty good portion of the yard for gardening. It started off good at first, until she decides to take a shovel and dig to China. She spent a lot of time building a trench that would have bricks around them. Its hard to explain but everything is sunken into the ground basically. My parents were upset because she never told them ( or me ) that she would do any of this. I find it challenging to also approach her with certain things because she was still prone to melt downs.
I have to leave out a lot of things due to this getting lengthy already. Now she wants to move in with her mom in another state and is expecting me to follow behind her. Due to the mountain of problems between her and my family I don't think I am going to do that. I am just so sad every day now knowing how this ended up. What should I do about this situation I am in?
TL;DR: My girlfriend caused so many issues that my family can't stand her.
submitted by DueAstronaut1325 to relationships [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:24 _BreadBoy 2 month in China(s) tips, tricks and answers

If you have questions feel free to ask 😊
So I'll preface this with I don't want to engage in political debates about Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong/Macau. I am treating them as seperate only because they have different visa requirements. I have my own views on the matter but my opinion doesn't matter.
So I am a 27M white european and this was my experience. 5th time solo.
Taiwan (14days) Taipei - north coast - Puli/sun moons lake - Tianan - kaohsiung - Yuli - hualien (taroko gorge)
Opinion Taiwan is incredibly beautiful, the level of English in the north especially is very high. Most people will be able to speak a few words which makes travel around easy. The highlights for me were Taipei/sun moon lake/taroko gorge.
You'll want to get an easy card for general travel. This can be picked up at the airport and reloaded at any station.
The food, like the rest is quite limited in either being big American brands like McDonald's or local noodle shops. If you have dietary requirements please have these translated and saved on your phone beforehand. As a vegetarian I found that people would often just give me fish regardless of how persistent I was. This was common throughout.
The people are very respectful and friendly, but unless you get someone who wants to have a conversation you're interaction will be very surface level. They are happy to just let foreigners be alone.
I would highly recommend anyone who wants to try this culture to go via Taiwan as it is a much more gentle introduction.
Things to be wary of Getting around by walking is quite frankly a nightmare. Every pavement outside of Taipei is covered in bikes and if you are disabled this will be a serious issue without a car.
Everything is ticketed so be sure to carry cash. You can use the easy card but cash is just much simpler for attractions.
There are multiple different train types and they enforce ticketing strictly. The local train can use the easy card as well as the metro. Regional trains are more fancy and require a purchased ticket. Highspeed is treated similarly to flying and you should show up 30minutes before to ensure you get there in time.
Hong Kong/Macau (4days)
Hong Kong city - main island - Macau
Opinion Honestly I was disappointed, Hong Kong just felt very boring in comparison to Taipei. It's very multicultural and due to this I found it hard to see a unique identity for Hong Kong. Macau felt unique but just a bit irrelevant.
The highlight was certainly the hike up Victoria peak and watching the city move in seclusion. When I got to the top people were camping there I had never been so jealous. It's truly an amazing view. Be sure to go past the mall and take the small mountain path. It's well lit and fairly easy incline if you are in relatively good fitness.
Mainland china (48 days) Guangzhou - hengyang - Changsha - Zhangjiajie - Chongqing - Emei Shan - Chengdu - Xian - huashan - luoyang - pingyao - Datong - erlian (visa reset) - Nanjing - Qingdao - Jinan - Beijing
The main part to my trip, there's no pretending. China is difficult. Mostly because of the restrictions and the unwillingness of china to accommodate for foreigners. You need WeChat, you need trip.com and you need to use A map. The people do not speak English. I would go days or weeks without haveing a real conversation. I was often cut off from the outside world due to my VPN struggling to get past the firewall. (Surfshark)
If the above scares you avoid china for any long trips. If like me you see a challenge then you will adore china. It's frustrating, but I've never been in a country that gave me the same kind of highs. The mountains of Huashan rival the dolomites and they are much more accessable for everyone.
This is a large bonus for China, once you adapt everything is very easy to do. And nothing feels off limits. Except that sectioned off my armed police. China is so safe I never once felt in danger of theft or being attacked which I can't say about my own home. There is a reason for this. Anyone who breaks the law will be delt with due to the survalance.
The negatives Be prepared to take a lot of screenshots to translate via WeChat. Menus, metro stations, hotel check in. Anytime you need information you need to translate it yourself. This gets exhausting.
People will stare at you, I always took this as curiosity. Especially in the west and south as there are very few foreigners. Many of the people are very racist however. The things said to me about black people, Japanese and Koreans genuinely upset me. But I want to experience and understand so I would listen. If you speak up in defence you are often ignored. It's ingrained sadly. And it makes me question how many felt similarly towards me.
Banned websites, pretty much all our sites are blocked. It makes it hard as your only option for a search engine is Bing. And who wants to use bing. A VPN is an option but can be spotty and it is illegal so becareful where you use this.
As someone from a country with 8million. There's just so many Chinese people for me to be comfortable with. Everything is packed. All the tourist sites are full. Metro full. Bus full. The worst case for me was the terracotta army which I visited on a normal day and it was hard to just walk around.
Getting searched going into any metro or trainstation. You basically have to go through airport security everytime. It's a real pain when you have a 15kg backpack.
The spitting, it's gross.
The pros China is so cheap, my hotel in Zhangjiajie for example was only 5€ a night. And it was a decent little double bed and bathroom, tv and toiletries supplied. Easy 70€ back home.
Food (for me when I got it) was incredible and very cheap. Average was about 15 yuan or 2€ a meal. Drinks are also very cheap 3yuan for a bottle of coke and 2yuan for a water.
The trains, man did the chinese build an excellent train network. You need to use WeChat or tripmcom to book these. But they are well priced and very efficient.
The apps, there's an app for everything. Want to read a menu? It's a WeChat app, metro line app! Book tickets for the summer palace app! Sometimes you'll need to look up the qr code in advance, especially around high tourist season.
Cashless, you can totally use cash. But you don't need to. If you have wifi or data which is cheap and easy to get (30days unlimited 150yuan China mobile) you just scan your WeChat Code and pay. Similar to contactless but not as convenient.
Overview China is a real solo travelers challenge I think, it's a great way to test how good you are at making split decisions. For short trips I recommend Nanjing, Chengdu, huashan, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie.
Conclusion. (Tldr) I will be going back to both Taiwan and mainland china. Both have got a hold on me. I'm hooked and I'm hoping to get you all hooked too. Taiwan is better if you want a chill holiday to explore Chinese culture. I recommend the north. Mainland is best for the experienced traveler as they will be able to get so much love from this unappreciated country. And my fellow Europeans take advantage of those visa free 15 days.
If you have any questions feel free to ask 😊
submitted by _BreadBoy to solotravel [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:20 Altruistic_Arm_2777 Opinion on Persianisation of North Indian Culture.

What are your opinion on North India’s elite, dominant, and high culture showing massive tendencies towards Persianisation. Take the dominance of Urdu in Bollywood, Prominence of giving Persianisation and Islam majority credit for most of India’s development (examples include architecture, Sufism, and our food and clothing). Persian influence is everywhere from use of common vocabulary like Sabzi, Zameen, etc to the songs in Bollywood to Art and Culture.
I personally find it to be a major part of my identity crisis and feel that India lost its character as a consequence of the invasions and dominance of Muslims in our public sphere. I for a fact know that many feel the same too. Unlike some people who share my opinion, I am a liberal left leaning individual who believes in freedom of religion and dismantling of caste system. But I also don’t think I prefer that our entire history is credited to people who came from outside and only attempt to remake india into their own image, whims and fancies. Do you think that we lost our Indianness due to this process?
Edit: appropriating the resistance on this. I came here for guidance and would appreciate if the post is treated as such.
submitted by Altruistic_Arm_2777 to IndianModerate [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:07 Omologist Delicious Double Quarter Pounder Burger

Delicious Double Quarter Pounder Burger
Delicious Double Quarter Pounder Burger If you’re a fan of juicy, delicious burgers, you’ll love this recipe for a double quarter pounder. This burger has been a mainstay at McDonald’s for many years and is a typical example of a fast food dish. It has lettuce, tomato, onion, American cheese, two quarter-pound meat patties, and a special sauce. This recipe will show you how to make a mouthwatering double quarter pounder burger that will tickle your taste buds and compete with (or perhaps outdo!) those sold in fast food restaurants. Starting with forming the patties and ending with assembling the burger with your chosen toppings,… Recipe in the first comment
submitted by Omologist to mincerecipes [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:05 VanillaDayZExpPlus Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus US Xbox Chernarus Vanilla+ Survival PvE/PvP, 1PP, Dark Nights, More Infected, Unique Custom POIs, Gas Zone Bunker, Lovecraftian Survival Horror Experience, and more! Strive to survive on VDEP.

Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus US Xbox Chernarus Vanilla+ Survival PvE/PvP, 1PP, Dark Nights, More Infected, Unique Custom POIs, Gas Zone Bunker, Lovecraftian Survival Horror Experience, and more! Strive to survive on VDEP.
Do you have what it take to survive the Zompocalypse? Can you scavenge the supplies you need to make it to the next day? Will you fight off the infected, or die trying? Nothing is given, everything is earned. Join VDEP, The Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus Xbox Server and find out! Lone wolves, Squads, and Factions welcomed! Make this server your server! Be what you want! Play how you want to play as long as you’re not toxic! Are you a Bandit, a Hero, a Survivor? Every life is a story, what’s yours?
VDEP is a Vanilla+ Survival server with Dark Nights and MORE INFECTED. We offer a fresh take on the Vanilla Survival Experience, with a few QoL changes as well as some additions. We are a First Person (1PP) PvE/PvP server with 3 hour Days and 40 minute DARK nights, restarting every 3 hours. We only wipe every 3 months, providing a home for long term base building and extended survival game play. VDEP also features hand crafted lore and POIs unique to our server. These make up a new and different story for those who want a more immersive and optional lore driven experience.
We look to create a unique, immersive, and diverse server while staying true to the Vanilla feel of DayZ. The VDEP team works to make the best possible Vanilla+ Survival server available! We are constantly working to improve our servers, offering our survivors an ever evolving VDEP.
We are a fun, friendly, and interactive community for all types of players who are looking for that true Vanilla+ DayZ Survival Experience. We want to populate the server with mature people who like to have a good time and have fun!
32 slots can increase to more! Admin/Coder always looking to improve and update! Active Admin and Mod Team Mature Rated community
There is no kill feed, There is no safe zone, There is no admin backed trader. Raid 24/7.
Here's a few things VDEP offer:
+Vehicles spawn fully built - just find water to fill the radiator!
+Loot is vanilla condition - badly damaged to pristine loot to be found
+Custom Loot Economy and Tiers - A unique CLE offers a progressive journey and balanced Vanilla and Hardcore survival gameplay. Slightly less food, military guns, and slightly more civilian guns, building supplies for example!
+Unique Custom POIs - New locations exclusive to VDEP. Military, Civilian, and Horror Inspired locations to explore and discover!
+Unique Server Lore - A unique and custom backstory to the server incorporating the custom POIs, offering details and insight to the secrets of the map. For those who enjoy a more immersive play.
+VDEP Exclusive Survival Horror Experience 1 & 2 - In “Relics of the Old Ones” fight the cult, find the relics, save humanity! In the ALL NEW “Return of Akivasha” it’s up to you once again to save the world and your own soul! NOT FOR THE WEAK WILLED OR FAINT OF HEART!
+Gas Zone Bunker - VDEP Exclusive Bunker Facility 237 has been exposed by artillery fire. Grab your NBC suit, find the keycard at Rify or Pavlovo MB, and discovered what Weyland-Yutani is trying to cover up.
+More Zombies - Zombies are abundant. Where there’s one, there’s more. No easily running through towns.
+More Animals - As food dwindles, you’ll need to hunt the ever growing animal population to survive. Be warned tho; with more prey, come more predators.
+Dark Nights - Afraid of the dark? You should be!
+Stashed items dont affect the loot economy - Find it, stash it, find another!
+Added Unreleased Items - Gun Attachments, Melee Weapons, Colored Gun Variants, and more!
For a full list, as well as the Rules, join our discord! It’s not required but will help you enjoy everything VDEP has to offer!
We have Punch and Pie!
Search VDEP to find Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus
https://discord.gg/SATQXKf75c
submitted by VanillaDayZExpPlus to DayZServersPlusPlus [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:04 VanillaDayZExpPlus Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus US Xbox Chernarus Vanilla+ Survival PvE/PvP, 1PP, Dark Nights, More Infected, Unique Custom POIs, Gas Zone Bunker, Lovecraftian Survival Horror Experience, and more! Strive to survive on VDEP.

Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus US Xbox Chernarus Vanilla+ Survival PvE/PvP, 1PP, Dark Nights, More Infected, Unique Custom POIs, Gas Zone Bunker, Lovecraftian Survival Horror Experience, and more! Strive to survive on VDEP.
Do you have what it take to survive the Zompocalypse? Can you scavenge the supplies you need to make it to the next day? Will you fight off the infected, or die trying? Nothing is given, everything is earned. Join VDEP, The Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus Xbox Server and find out! Lone wolves, Squads, and Factions welcomed! Make this server your server! Be what you want! Play how you want to play as long as you’re not toxic! Are you a Bandit, a Hero, a Survivor? Every life is a story, what’s yours?
VDEP is a Vanilla+ Survival server with Dark Nights and MORE INFECTED. We offer a fresh take on the Vanilla Survival Experience, with a few QoL changes as well as some additions. We are a First Person (1PP) PvE/PvP server with 3 hour Days and 40 minute DARK nights, restarting every 3 hours. We only wipe every 3 months, providing a home for long term base building and extended survival game play. VDEP also features hand crafted lore and POIs unique to our server. These make up a new and different story for those who want a more immersive and optional lore driven experience.
We look to create a unique, immersive, and diverse server while staying true to the Vanilla feel of DayZ. The VDEP team works to make the best possible Vanilla+ Survival server available! We are constantly working to improve our servers, offering our survivors an ever evolving VDEP.
We are a fun, friendly, and interactive community for all types of players who are looking for that true Vanilla+ DayZ Survival Experience. We want to populate the server with mature people who like to have a good time and have fun!
32 slots can increase to more! Admin/Coder always looking to improve and update! Active Admin and Mod Team Mature Rated community
There is no kill feed, There is no safe zone, There is no admin backed trader. Raid 24/7.
Here's a few things VDEP offer:
+Vehicles spawn fully built - just find water to fill the radiator!
+Loot is vanilla condition - badly damaged to pristine loot to be found
+Custom Loot Economy and Tiers - A unique CLE offers a progressive journey and balanced Vanilla and Hardcore survival gameplay. Slightly less food, military guns, and slightly more civilian guns, building supplies for example!
+Unique Custom POIs - New locations exclusive to VDEP. Military, Civilian, and Horror Inspired locations to explore and discover!
+Unique Server Lore - A unique and custom backstory to the server incorporating the custom POIs, offering details and insight to the secrets of the map. For those who enjoy a more immersive play.
+VDEP Exclusive Survival Horror Experience 1 & 2 - In “Relics of the Old Ones” fight the cult, find the relics, save humanity! In the ALL NEW “Return of Akivasha” it’s up to you once again to save the world and your own soul! NOT FOR THE WEAK WILLED OR FAINT OF HEART!
+Gas Zone Bunker - VDEP Exclusive Bunker Facility 237 has been exposed by artillery fire. Grab your NBC suit, find the keycard at Rify or Pavlovo MB, and discovered what Weyland-Yutani is trying to cover up.
+More Zombies - Zombies are abundant. Where there’s one, there’s more. No easily running through towns.
+More Animals - As food dwindles, you’ll need to hunt the ever growing animal population to survive. Be warned tho; with more prey, come more predators.
+Dark Nights - Afraid of the dark? You should be!
+Stashed items dont affect the loot economy - Find it, stash it, find another!
+Added Unreleased Items - Gun Attachments, Melee Weapons, Colored Gun Variants, and more!
For a full list, as well as the Rules, join our discord! It’s not required but will help you enjoy everything VDEP has to offer!
We have Punch and Pie!
Search VDEP to find Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus
https://discord.gg/SATQXKf75c
submitted by VanillaDayZExpPlus to DayZ_Community [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:02 VanillaDayZExpPlus Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus US Xbox Chernarus Vanilla+ Survival PvE/PvP, 1PP, Dark Nights, More Infected, Unique Custom POIs, Gas Zone Bunker, Lovecraftian Survival Horror Experience, and more! Strive to survive on VDEP.

Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus US Xbox Chernarus Vanilla+ Survival PvE/PvP, 1PP, Dark Nights, More Infected, Unique Custom POIs, Gas Zone Bunker, Lovecraftian Survival Horror Experience, and more! Strive to survive on VDEP.
Do you have what it take to survive the Zompocalypse? Can you scavenge the supplies you need to make it to the next day? Will you fight off the infected, or die trying? Nothing is given, everything is earned. Join VDEP, The Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus Xbox Server and find out! Lone wolves, Squads, and Factions welcomed! Make this server your server! Be what you want! Play how you want to play as long as you’re not toxic! Are you a Bandit, a Hero, a Survivor? Every life is a story, what’s yours?
VDEP is a Vanilla+ Survival server with Dark Nights and MORE INFECTED. We offer a fresh take on the Vanilla Survival Experience, with a few QoL changes as well as some additions. We are a First Person (1PP) PvE/PvP server with 3 hour Days and 40 minute DARK nights, restarting every 3 hours. We only wipe every 3 months, providing a home for long term base building and extended survival game play. VDEP also features hand crafted lore and POIs unique to our server. These make up a new and different story for those who want a more immersive and optional lore driven experience.
We look to create a unique, immersive, and diverse server while staying true to the Vanilla feel of DayZ. The VDEP team works to make the best possible Vanilla+ Survival server available! We are constantly working to improve our servers, offering our survivors an ever evolving VDEP.
We are a fun, friendly, and interactive community for all types of players who are looking for that true Vanilla+ DayZ Survival Experience. We want to populate the server with mature people who like to have a good time and have fun!
32 slots can increase to more! Admin/Coder always looking to improve and update! Active Admin and Mod Team Mature Rated community
There is no kill feed, There is no safe zone, There is no admin backed trader. Raid 24/7.
Here's a few things VDEP offer:
+Vehicles spawn fully built - just find water to fill the radiator!
+Loot is vanilla condition - badly damaged to pristine loot to be found
+Custom Loot Economy and Tiers - A unique CLE offers a progressive journey and balanced Vanilla and Hardcore survival gameplay. Slightly less food, military guns, and slightly more civilian guns, building supplies for example!
+Unique Custom POIs - New locations exclusive to VDEP. Military, Civilian, and Horror Inspired locations to explore and discover!
+Unique Server Lore - A unique and custom backstory to the server incorporating the custom POIs, offering details and insight to the secrets of the map. For those who enjoy a more immersive play.
+VDEP Exclusive Survival Horror Experience 1 & 2 - In “Relics of the Old Ones” fight the cult, find the relics, save humanity! In the ALL NEW “Return of Akivasha” it’s up to you once again to save the world and your own soul! NOT FOR THE WEAK WILLED OR FAINT OF HEART!
+Gas Zone Bunker - VDEP Exclusive Bunker Facility 237 has been exposed by artillery fire. Grab your NBC suit, find the keycard at Rify or Pavlovo MB, and discovered what Weyland-Yutani is trying to cover up.
+More Zombies - Zombies are abundant. Where there’s one, there’s more. No easily running through towns.
+More Animals - As food dwindles, you’ll need to hunt the ever growing animal population to survive. Be warned tho; with more prey, come more predators.
+Dark Nights - Afraid of the dark? You should be!
+Stashed items dont affect the loot economy - Find it, stash it, find another!
+Added Unreleased Items - Gun Attachments, Melee Weapons, Colored Gun Variants, and more!
For a full list, as well as the Rules, join our discord! It’s not required but will help you enjoy everything VDEP has to offer!
We have Punch and Pie!
Search VDEP to find Vanilla DayZ Experience Plus
https://discord.gg/SATQXKf75c
submitted by VanillaDayZExpPlus to DayZServers [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:00 Wauwaiiiiiii You get a new wish every day woth a 50% chance of backfiring and shitting yourself.

You’re sitting in an exam. You didn’t study the night before, you now wish to ace the test, but wait…what’s wrong with your stom- diabolical wet fart
-The shit is loud enough to always alert bystanders
-The stench is absolutely horrible
-It is hot
(This does not empty your bowel, whatever food your body was processing before is still in you)
Making your wish on the toilet does not count
EDIT: After noticing the potential of the power, I have decided to nerf it.
-You can NOT wish for physical objects/ wishes that last longer than a day. For example: If you wish for a new sports car or super speed etc. you lose them after 24 hours. (Changes brought into your life thanks to the wish stay, for example speeding tickets for your new car or leg strain from running around the world with superspeed.
-You can NOT wish for money
-In case of backfire the stench of the shit stays with you for 24 hours.
-Wish can not be made with pants off and there must be poeple in a 20 meter radius of you to smell the fart.
-Everyone instantly knows it was you whi farted
submitted by Wauwaiiiiiii to shittysuperpowers [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:54 Thin-Experience4984 Pub Licensing review - anyone experienced it

A pub has recently re-opened up that backs onto a set of terraced houses. The pub shut 20+ years ago and was being used by a charity to store food etc. 99% of the people bought in the area not aware it was ever a pub as all signage etc had been removed. It just looked like a beautiful historical building. Since re-opening the landlord is refusing to do anything to help the issues of the noise. For example he deliberately opens all windows and doors to allow maximum noise escape when they have bands/djs on. He allows customers to stay passed the closing time and they are often outside till 5am with music blaring. The noise is so bad you cant hear the TV even though we have double glazing and secondary glazing
The council have been made aware but when they turn up he is being tipped off so he is good as gold the days they turn up. We have a mountain of evidence - over 100 breaches to the license etc but the council are struggling to pin him down.
Their suggestion was that we apply for a license review. This way, they can without his input effectively change the license to respect the neighbourhood.
My question is - has anyone ever done an appeal and won. We are looking for any suggestions that would help.
Edit. we are not trying to close him down or stop the live music. Just make it suitable for the built-up neighbourhood we live in. Most didn't know it held a license. Plus, we want the pub to work in the area - but no one can really justify lockins in the garden till 5am on school nights
submitted by Thin-Experience4984 to LegalAdviceUK [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:40 Specialist_Bake6514 Vapiano P3: Italian Food Made in Germany

Vapiano P3: Italian Food Made in Germany
The kitchen is on fire. Welcome to the final part of the Vapiano story where the tables are turning. In the first two episodes we followed Mark Korzilius' journey from setbacks to founding Vapiano, a groundbreaking restaurant concept, highlighting its fresh ingredients, dynamic atmosphere, and data-driven operations that drove rapid success. While achieving initial profitability and garnering attention from industry giants like McDonald's, Vapiano's global expansion has led to stellar revenue growth. However, it has also resulted in the emergence of numerous side projects (or distractions), operational challenges, increased costs, significant investments, and a notable accumulation of debt. This underscores the prioritization of top-line growth over profitable growth. We will continue on this thread and see how the story ends, but I would encourage you to read part one and two for better context. Vapiano P1: Italian Food Made in Germany (substack.com). Let's dig in.
Before Going Public
We are now in 2015 and the year is a disaster for Vapiano's PR department. Employee time stamps are being manipulated, endless overtime for employees and high turnover in managerial roles are reported; mice in the kitchen and even rotten food allegedly found.
The company is confronted with allegations of exceeding working hours among trainees in an article published by Welt am Sonntag, while the same outlet accuses Vapiano of manipulating punch times. The auditing firm PwC is commissioned to investigate the allegations and finds that there is no systematic approach but rather misconduct by individual employees, a mistake that’s being corrected. Internal however, investigations into stamp times are carried out regularly now and beyond its obvious reputational impact, this sucks up valuable management time and attention.
In the summer of 2015 CEO, co-founder and investor Gregor Gerlach, who has been running the group since 2011 is stepping down and Jochen Halfmann is taking over. A new Vapiano People Program with an App is being developed with the aim to better interact with customers that will incorporate innovate features such as mobile pay. The German website sees a launch of new magazine to further promote the brand and there is now a full inhouse blogger and Instagram team being installed. In October the company buys seven restaurants from original co-founder, former co-investor and ex-president previously responsible for internation expansion Kent Hahne (2x Bonn, 3x Cologne, 1x Koblenz and one in Cologne that’s under construction). This package of Vapiano restaurants is very successful and generates net sales of more than 20 million euros in 2014. Hahne opened his first Vapiano restaurant in Cologne in August 2006 and in 2015 with his company apeiron AG, Hahne operates six L'Osteria franchise restaurants, a direct Vapiano competitor, and two self-owned restaurants GinYuu.
Then in November of 2015, the next public relations bomb goes off with allegations regarding the company's quality standards. The company immediately investigates the issue through internal and external specialists but finds no evidence of any quality issues. Nevertheless, knowing that the group is now being closely watched, the company’s already in place hygiene standards are being reinforced. Additional audits and inspections are performed nationally. Further, all Vapianos worldwide are being audited twice by the partners SGS Institut Fresenius and SAI Global. Auditing software is purchased to simplify the implementation of the audits and the resulting measures. Apart from the external examinations, there is a food sampling plan in place being performed continuously. Again, all of this sucks up costs, management time and attention. With all these tumultuous developments the company’s growth engine is undeterred. Revenue grows by a whopping 50 million euros to 202 million euros, an increase of 33%. Impressive. While average spent per customer increases in all countries, the number of customers per day in Germany decreases by 3.3% partially due to the negative press towards the end of the year. Five own, four JV and 19 new franchise restaurants are added that year to the group, the total number of own managed restaurants grows to 51, there are 31 JVs and 84 franchises which bringing the total to 166 Vapiano restaurants. Global restaurant sales are now above 400 million euros.
But while revenue grows by an astronomical 50 million euros, operating profits, alarmingly, shrink again. Gross margins are staying perfectly healthy above 75% but operating costs keep growing disproportionately fast. The Company’s outstanding debt jumps by almost 30 million, close to 85 million euros by the end of the year. With operating profits at 9.5 million euros, alarm bells should be going off right now.
In Q4 of 2015, new CEO Jochen Halfmann introduces Strategy 2020. The new strategy includes five essential points. One, profitable growth in the newly defined core markets of Germany and Austria as well as in the UK, Netherlands, France and USA. Two, operational excellence through strict “best practice” management. Three, further development and digitalization of the concept considering guest feedback. Four, greater focus on long-term employee retention and five, building a modern and sustainable IT landscape. Sound’s good on paper but let’s see how things pan out.
Vapiano's investments (capital expenditures) that year are primarily directed towards new restaurant openings, renovations of existing establishments, and share acquisitions in other Vapiano restaurants from franchisees or JV partners. A significant portion of funds is allocated to the digitalization of the guest experience, including the development of a new app scheduled for market release in 2016 and the implementation of a time recording system across all group restaurants. The world's first standalone Vapiano restaurant with a delivery service that year is built in Fürth, Germany. The company keeps expanding its presence in both inner-city locations and international markets, such as Shanghai, China.
To finance all of this, the group has its own operating cash flow which comes in at 18 million while capital expenditures are 26 million euros plus 14 million for acquisitions. The funding gab is filled with 26 million euros of new debt and a seven-million-euro equity raise. At that end of the year and after the equity raise Gregor Gerlach (through his AP Leipzig GmbH & Co. KG entity) holds 30.1%, Hans-Joachim and Gisa Sander through their Exchange Bio GmbH hold 25.5% and the Tchibo heirs, Herz through their Mayfair Beteiligungsfonds II GmbH & Co. KG hold 44,4%.
But for the first time the restaurant’s concept that was so successful to date is being questioned. Some customers are starting to mislike the operational flow of the concept itself. If you want pasta, you must queue for pasta. If you want pizza you stand in a different queue. A small side salad, yet another queue. "You spend more time carrying trays than an actress in Berlin-Mitte. The audience in the pasta limbo can only consist of people who have worked for an insurance company for a long time and, like Stockholm syndrome, they can no longer get away from the industrial canteen feeling," writes TV host Beisenherz provocatively. While overly harsh in his assessment he's not entirely wrong judging by customers venting their frustrations in forums and social media channels. It isn’t uncommon for those who ordered pizza to have already finished eating while there is little movement in the pasta queue. Long term that doesn't go down well, QSRs competitors like L’Osteria are handling this process differently, with much success.
https://preview.redd.it/6cas01oked0d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=2da6e0b4bc0e07dbee558de412feb414cd598d4a

Tipping Point

Where are now in the year 2016 and things start to deteriorate visibility. Perhaps not for the leman’s eye but any business minded observer can see that there are problems under the hood. Yes, revenue grows yet another whopping 50 million to almost 250 million euros but half of that growth, comes from acquisitions of restaurants that the group didn’t already own 100%, which is now being fully consolidated within the group’s accounts. Here is a concrete example. In the past, Vapiano SE, the group’s top holding company held an indirect 50% stake in a French subgroup via the subsidiary VAP Restaurants SA, based in Luxembourg, and included this as an associated company in the Vapiano SE consolidated financial statements using the equity method. Due to the acquisition of additional shares in September of 2016, Vapiano SE's indirect share in the French subgroup increased to 75%. This means that Vapiano SE takes control of the French subgroup, which is therefore included in the group’s financial statements as part of the full consolidation. The revenue from the acquired subsidiary now recorded in the consolidated income statement amounts to 12.8 million euros. While that’s great for the top line, the loss of the fully consolidated entity equates to 0.2 million euros. Yes, you are buying revenue, but there are losses attached to them, not profits. A similar case is the Swedish entity that runs eight restaurants with revenue of 11.5 million euros but has losses of 235 thousand euros. So much for Strategy 2020 and “profitable” growth.
That year the group’s operating profits are absolutely tanking, halving to 3.5 million euros. Operating profits are now a mere 1,4% of revenue. Remember original founder Mark Korzilius who talked about operating margins of 25% to 28% at the restaurant level? Yes, there are overhead costs for the organization that sits above the chain of restaurants, but operating margins that low indicates a course correction is needed. What’s telling is that in the annual report, in the management discussion section, the company starts talking about EBITDA as a proxy measure of profitability, rather than operating profit or net income. This wasn’t the case in the years before. Is this window dressing for an upcoming IPO? EBITDA is short for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. How can you measure profitability of a restaurant chain that absolutely and unequivocally needs capital investment to maintain its restaurant operations, the very source of cash generation, by simply excluding this maintenance charge (depreciation in the income statement)? Vapiano’s own annual report talks about the fact that existing restaurants must be rejuvenated from time to time and that new interior designs have to be implemented every few years. These things wear and tear, they go out of style, kitchen equipment breaks and needs replacement. This business absolutely needs maintenance capital expenditure, why anyone talks of profits before these maintenance costs is beyond me. Fun fact: in the previous annual report EBITDA is mentioned seven times, mostly around restaurant acquisitions and financing, not however as a profit indication for the group. In the new annual report, EBITDA is mentioned 28 times. Maybe it’s just me but belated Charlie Munger liked to call EBITDA: bullsh*t earnings. When in doubt I stick with Charlie. Interestingly, EBITDA for Vapiano keeps growing while operating and net profits keep falling.
Operating cashflow for the group that year is about 21 million euros, but capital expenditure is 30 million and acquisitions for subsidiaries another 20 million. To finance these expenditures another 28 million euros of debt and 16 million of equity is raised. Net debt rises above 130 million euro. The operating cashflow of the group before any capital expenditures is 21 million euros. I am not sure free cash flow would be significantly positive after maintenance capex is paid out; it’s not broken out so we can’t be sure. Granted, I am not on the ground during this time, and I am not in the board room, I am simply reading what’s in front of me, but to me this is starting to look like a distressed situation. Regardless, the following year the company goes public.

IPO

Where are now in the year 2017 and its Vapiano’s first year as public company. The company’s annual report reads the following “Sales revenue, like-for-like growth (LfL) and the earnings figures EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are used as the most important financial performance indicators for controlling operational business activities.” The very same report however also says: “The majority of the group's investments regularly go towards opening new restaurant locations and modernizing existing restaurants. The latter are differentiated into regular replacement investments that occur during ongoing operations (Maintenance CAPEX) and fundamental investments in the renovation of a restaurant (Remodeling CAPEX). On average, a restaurant remodeling takes place nine years after opening.” It says it right there in their own report; every nine years a remodeling is taking place. Remodeling and updating is not cost free, so why exclude depreciation charges which reflect capital expenditures? I understand that perhaps you would want to strip out one-off opening costs, that’s fine and fair, but don’t go overboard.
The number of restaurants increases by 26 (previous year: 13) to a total of 205. The increase consists of 27 new openings and one closure. Group revenue grows to an astonishing 325 million euros but here comes the shocker, operating profits turn negative to 25 million. Fine, strip out foreign exchange losses of 3 million, IPO costs of 5.8 million and new opening costs of 6.1 million and you still have 10 million euros of operational losses. All the while the debt load of almost 130 million hasn’t materially changed, so those operating losses are before a six-million-euro interest payment. 184 million euros are raised through the IPO of which 85 million go to the company. This money is earmarked for further expansion as the group has ambitions to almost double the footprint to 330 restaurants by the end of 2020. The company is currently not profitable on an operating basis, and still wants to expand aggressively? I don’t get it. The remaining 100 million euros of the IPO money raised is distributed to co-founder Gregor Gerlach and Wella heirs Hans-Joachim and Gisa Sander. The family office of the former Tchibo owners Günter and Daniela Herz with a 44% stake, don’t sell a single share. After the IPO, 32% of all the company’s shares are now in free float.
One year later, in 2018, things get even worse. Revenue grows to 371 million, but operating losses mount to 85 million euros, that’s before interest expenses of 9 million. Even the beloved EBITDA figure turns negative, meaning the operating business before any expansionary or even maintenance capital expenditures is loss making. All regions are experiencing significant deterioration in their earnings profiles. Like for like sales are down 1% across the board. That’s revenue, not profitability. The question naturally arises: is the Group approaching its natural saturation point here or this operational by nature? The operating cash flow is now 9 million while financing cost are close to 7 million. That leaves 2 million for maintenance capital for 74 own restaurants and 76 joint ventures ones. Describing this as financially tight, would be an understatement.
Things are not looking good at this point. Yet the company still grows restaurants by 26 new sites. 64 million euros are spent on acquisitions, new openings, and maintenance costs, financed through a 20 million-euro equity raise and 72 million of new debt. The Company now has net debt outstanding of over 160 million euros. After the equity raise and by the end of the year 2018, Mayfair owns 47.4%, VAP Leipzig, Gregor Gerlach’s entity owns 18.9% and the Sander couple own 15.5% of the company. Yes, the Sanders and Gerlach may have taken 100 million euros off the table, but they still have substantial skin in the game. Plus, Mayfair hasn’t sold a single share and instead injects more money into the company through the equity round. The stock has now fallen from its IPO price of 23 euros per share to under 6 euros by the end of 2018. Something must be done here. And indeed, there is pivot in strategy and a hard push for change. At last, the management team abandons its aggressive growth plan and curtails new openings significantly. Additionally, the team wants to run a thorough analysis of weak locations to then either discontinue or sell sites. In Europe, the operating focus will be put on corporate restaurants and joint ventures in major cities to ensure the ideal size and location to match the respective demographic target group. Outside of Europe, the franchising business is being expanded and at the same time a consolidation of the existing corporate and joint venture markets is being sought. All future investments will be reviewed to achieve higher rates of returns on new openings. Investments are also being made in the renovation of older restaurants. The goal in the future is to also open smaller formats, like Mini-Vapianos (less than 400 square meters) or Freestander at prominent transportation hubs outside city centers (currently in Fürth and Toulouse) to cater to individual location requirements, and to enter new partnerships. I am not sure why management hasn’t stopped all expansion altogether, bringing the ship in order first, getting profitable, clean up, all hands-on deck before considering any further expansions whatsoever. But again, it’s easy to comment from the sidelines; maybe they saw white spaces that would be covered by competing concepts if they weren’t moving fast and aggressively enough. Although pushing internationally means competing with local players such as Jamie's Italian, Prezzo, Pizza Express, Wagamama, Nando's and many more which brings in its own dynamic.
Management also aims to enhance guest satisfaction. This involves refining operational processes, reorganizing the support center, and refocusing on the core offering: providing fresh and high-quality Italian food at affordable prices for a broad audience. The group also aims to reduce waiting times, especially during lunch, while also improving the evening atmosphere. There is even what I would call an evolution, away from Vapiano’s original concept, reorientating the customer journey. The ordering flow is being changed, offering guests synchronized preparations of all dishes while eliminating wait times at the cooking stations. The open show kitchen remains, staying true to original mantra of freshness and transparency but now guests can choose their preferred method of ordering through a mobile app, using a digital order point (kiosk), or by personally placing an order with a waiter. Guests can still freely choose their table and are then informed about the complete preparation of their order through a pager or their smartphone. This is a substantial deviation from the original concept, but a needed one. The group is also exploring and implementing the expansion of take-away and home delivery services but only at suitable locations, not universally across new openings. I am not sure why home delivery is even a priority here; it adds operational complexity. It’s better to clean up shop first and get back to the basics before adding new complexities. To be fair management does try to simplify. There are 49 different permanent dishes on the menu and additional 10 seasonal ones. Customers can choose from eleven different types of pasta. There is simply too much choice, and it makes orders complicated. The company announced to slim the menu down to its most popular and typical Vapiano dishes. There’s no need for an Asian salad at an Italian restaurant. "We have to go back to the roots, i.e. classic, honest Italian cuisine" says COO Everke. Regardless, in November of 2018, the supervisory board pulls the plug on CEO Jochen Halfmann and replaces him with Cornelius Everke. Everke himself has just become COO five months ago. Since 2017 he was responsible for international expansion. From 2011 to 2017 that role was filled by Mario Bauer – put a pin in that name, he’ll play a key role in the groups fate later. Then nine months later, in the middle of 2019, Cornelius Everke quits. He essentially concludes that his skillset and experience in the areas of internation expansion is no longer needed in the foreseeable future. To put it differently: Vapiano has moved from a growth story and has become a restructuring case, and other skills are required for that job. In June of 2019 Everke says the following “(we’ve) made a bit of a mistake when it came to foreign expansion”. No sh#t. Vapiano postpones the presentation of the 2018 annual financial statements three times in the spring of 2019, citing negotiations over an urgently needed loan of 30 million euros. It’s not until the end of May that a binding loan commitment comes through from the financing banks and major shareholders.
We are now in August of 2019 and the corona pandemic is just around the corner. Supervisory board chief Vanessa Hall takes over as interim-CEO and things are unravelling. Visitor numbers are declining; originally, it was planned to sell the US business but halfway through the year the buyer cannot come up with the money. But not all restaurants are performing poorly. The group's poor figures contrast starkly as an example with the experiences of the Swiss-German franchisee, who runs six restaurants. The Sodano family in Switzerland pays Vapiano a royalty of 6% of sales for the use of the brand. Enrico Sodano explains in an interview that they operate largely autonomously from the licensor. If an “accident” were to occur, he could immediately replace the Vapiano sign with Sodano, he says. The family concluded the rents and contracts with employees and suppliers independently. The Sodano family have six locations in Bern, Basel and Zurich, around one million guests every year and 350 employees. Things are going well on the ground. The delivery service they’ve built is offering them a second income stream. Expansion into Winterthur, St. Gallen and Lucerne are being planned; small locations with 150 to 250 square meters and an attached delivery service. Originally, Vapiano restaurants used to be huge but for such a large restaurant to be profitable, 800 to 1,000 guests per day are needed. That’s possible in medium-sized cities, but not in smaller towns which is why the Vapiano group now also supports smaller formats. Back to our corporate drama. The 2019 annual report would be the last report the group files. By the end 2019 the outstanding debt of the company is at an astronomical 450 million euros. Revenue has grown by another 7%, produced by four net new openings through two JVs and two franchise restaurants but operating losses come in at 317 million euros. That sound like an absolute shocker at first but depreciation and amortization charges are 345 million, so that operating cash flow is actually positive but unfortunately capital expenditures and interest payments are so large that they are eating up all of the company’s operating cash flow. Then in the beginning of 2020 Corona hits with full force and the world shuts down. As a result of the measures to prevent further spreading of the virus, the group is forced to cease all global business operations (except in Sweden). While all these shutdowns are happening, the group is the middle of negotiating with its lending banks and main shareholders. There are additional financing needs for restructuring measures, even without a pandemic happening in the background. The situation is so dire that the company starts pleading to the German government to roll out the package of financial help more quickly. Unfortunately, it’s to no end. The rapid closure of restaurants and the resulting lack of operating cash inflows in conjunction with the additional financing requirements, lead to the company’s final knockout punch. In April of 2020, the Vapiano group officially files for insolvency proceedings. The end of an era.

New Beginnings

Because of the pandemic, the majority of the group's subsidiaries in Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United States, Sweden, and China also file for insolvency or seek liquidation. The US business never gets sold in the end and is wound down. In the summer of 2020, significant group divestments occur, including the sale of 75% shares in the group's French subsidiaries, shares in franchisor companies, Australian subsidiaries, German subsidiaries, associated companies, self-managed restaurants in Germany, and insolvency-related sales in the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Sweden. The buyer of the Vapiano brand and one of these bundles of Vapiano restaurants is company named Love & Food Restaurant Holding, a consortium led by Mario C. Bauer – a name I told you to remember. Bauer was a former Vapiano board member and led the national and international expansion, opening 200 sites in 33 countries from 2011 to 2017 until he was succeeded by Cornelius Everke. Bauer didn’t feel comfortable with the IPO at the time but clearly has a lot of managerial and entrepreneurial talent.
The buyer consortium is an absolute A-Team comprised of European QSR top league hitters, including the founder of the Pret A Manger chain Sinclair Beecham; Henry McGovern, the founder and Ex-CEO of the giant international restaurant and foodservice operator AmRest; the Van der Valk Family that runs hotels and Vapiano restaurants in the Netherlands, and co-founder and ex-CEO Gregor Gerlach. The acquisition value is 15 million euros and entails 30 Vapiano restaurants in Germany, albeit that’s just the purchase price which comes on top of any capital investment needed to refresh and return the sites to its former glory. Nevertheless, just as a thought experiment, if you can get each site to 2 million euros of revenue and 400,000 euros in operating profit on average, which wouldn’t be an overly aggressively assumption given the company’s history, you’ve got yourself a package that can deliver restaurant-level operating profits of 12 million euros or more. It’s not disclosed how much capex was needed to refresh the operations, just that fact that the overall investment plus purchase price was a middle double-digit million-euro figure. Stil, it probably was a decent purchase. The same consortium buys Vapiano’s French business for 25 million euros just two weeks prior. After the transaction concludes, the master franchise is given to Delf Neumann and his Gastro & Soul GmbH. Neumann is an experienced operator, and he is ambitious to revitalise the brand with new services and products. For example, instead of pizza, the restaurants will be serving pinsa - a flatbread made from sourdough, wheat and rice flour, topped similarly to a pizza. It targets a more health-oriented customer base looking for a less calory heavy option. The menu overall is expanded by including a variety of vegan and vegetarian dishes.
https://preview.redd.it/kpt7ea6red0d1.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9930ced85ee364e9df414547cae06b47a03fc19
Today Neumann’s Gastro & Soul GmbH operates 18 Vapianos on its own account and has 29 franchise sites, amongst other brands. By the year 2021, Vapiano operates 191 restaurants in 34 countries. This is around 50 fewer sites than before the bankruptcy. The number of branches is particularly thinned out in Germany – from 80 to 55. Nevertheless, Vapiano's home country remains by far the largest market, followed by France with 35 restaurants and Austria with 15 locations. “We have shrunk ourselves to health,” says Bauer in the aftermath and there is no further shrinking planned. Quite the opposite, the smell of expansion is in the air again – pun intended. Not as aggressively as before and with a new menu and ordering process.
Overall, the team around Bauer is filled with industry experts with knowledge and networks gained over decades who have a great track record, a long-term view, and the staying power to let Vapiano breath and finds its way back to success. The pressure of being a public company with all the associated quarterly, half-year and yearly disincentives have been removed. The menu is changed and extended with new types of pasta and sauces with significantly more vegetarian and vegan dishes available. Guests can order with restaurant staff, at terminals or on their phones and there are barcodes attached to the tables identify the respective seat. The food is brought to your table, all at the same time if you are in a group, no more annoyances with waiting in line. There is a plan for smaller, 350 square meter locations, with half the number of guests and significantly fewer staff and less set-up costs required to make the economics work. Locations that capitalize on remote work and increased demand for local lunch options, higher population density with shorter delivery routes and therefore cost-effective in house delivery services are targeted. And Bauer is testing the concept of ghost kitchens, which operate without a dining room or service staff, focusing solely on preparing food for delivery services, which for obvious reasons have a very different operational set up and footprint. Original founder Mark Korzilius however is not entirely convinced. He is not a fan of the pinsa for instance and he considers Vapiano's pizza as its cash cow, flagship product and believes that the core Vapiano proposition of Pizza, Pasta, Bar that has given the company its original success is being diluted. He instead admires the competitor L'Osteria, saying they’ve done a better job by focusing on Italian classics, especially the impressively large pizzas that sticks out beyond the plate is leaving every customer in awe. The guys who run L’Osteria are the same guys who have built Vapiano with him in the first place. Bauer on the other hand, like a true business leader, remains undeterred, stating that he is frequently asked whether Vapiano's restart was bold or foolish. He believes in entrepreneurship, franchising, in his experienced fellow partners and importantly the Vapiano concept. By the year 2024 you can find over 140 Vapiano branded restaurant in 27 countries across the globe, including locations far away from its birthplace like Australia, USA, Columbia, Chile, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. And why not? Italian food is, and will remain to be, incredibly popular. Vapiano offers fresh and tasty food at affordable prices in a good atmosphere. This combination of attributes should attract a lot of customers. It certainly has in the past.
For more stories: WIP Thomas Weitzendoerfer Substack
submitted by Specialist_Bake6514 to unpackbusinesses [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:34 No-Psychology5571 Did Jesus Die ?

So recently I’ve came across a verse in the Quran which says that Allah killed Jesus (read it in arabic, not the English translations that don’t translate it accurately).
مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلَّا مَآ أَمَرْتَنِى بِهِۦٓ أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ رَبِّى وَرَبَّكُمْ ۚ وَكُنتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًۭا مَّا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ ۖ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِى كُنتَ أَنتَ ٱلرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنتَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ شَهِيدٌ ١١٧
Quran 5:117
I never told them anything except what You ordered me to say: “Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord!” And I was witness over them as long as I remained among them. But when You took me [The Arabic Word Tawaffani Actually Means When You Caused Me To Die / Killed Me - Very Clear), You were the Witness over them—and You are a Witness over all things.
This reminded me of the verse in the Quran where the Prophet is commanded to ask for proof from the Torah when they claimed certain things about God’s law:
ll food was lawful for the children of Israel, except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was revealed. Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Bring the Torah and read it, if your claims are true.” [3:93-95]
(QUESTIONS: Is the prophet’s example one we should follow here ? If someone claims something is Haram, should we ask for proof from the scripture or from outside of it ? Have we made things unlawful for ourselves that Allah did not ?)
Is the narrative that we have become accustomed to as Muslims actually supported in the Quran itself ? Or are we adding our own inferences to it and following our logic rather than the text ?
I watched this video for further context, very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=TR3NSX3UFy8
I’ll pull up all verses related to Jesus’ death ‘ resurrection so that we can have a discussion on it.
submitted by No-Psychology5571 to IslamReason [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:28 AdviceAndFunOnly How to not be alone?

I don't know if it's my fault that I'm alone or not. I actually try to do things to spend time with others but just can't. Especially since I need to spend time with others to feel motivated and also concentrated, because now, often times I literally feel like I live on my phone while my studies don't matter.
Well first of all, I don't even have many possibilities to spend time with people in the first place. For example here in university for some reason everyone goes their own way during recess and we don't have a common recess or a room for everyone to come together.
Of course I could start a sport or another activity, and I already did in the past, but the issue here is that I'll only spend a limited amount of time in the activity too unfortunately. And even say I'll have to pay a lot.
And another problem is that even when I do meet people and I like them and they seem to like me too, it's impossible to see them outside and organise stuff with them. And that's even worse when I don't even see them in university for example THAT much, it's not like I spend every day with them.
But the thing is that everyone does want to hang out and meet but only in specifically organised events every few months where you need to spend money and bring food. And not like meet even once a week and regularly hang out and have fun. And especially I don't understand this cuz in this university we have more free time than usual. What will happen if I'll go to college the next year where I'll have much less free time?
And somehow people do have free time for spending their lives on social media apparently.
Maybe I'm annoying them too much cuz I ask to hang out too much in group chats and don't say that much anything else? But the thing is that I want to see them irl, not to talk infinitely and send memes and only see each other once a year. I want real socialisation not Internet one.
And also the thing is that I do it cuz I know that in the next year maybe I won't see them again. If I'll switch to another university and study something else then I won't really see them that much. And often time that's exactly what happened. I had "friends" from high school that I've never seen even once time since high school even if I would've loved to.
It was even worse when I met a nice group only at a one time event. Afterwards, I have all their contacts on Instagram, I have 1000 friends there but I don't see any of them anymore.
Maybe I'm too annoying sometimes, talking about stuff that interests me and disregarding the other person. Honestly, I don't know. I try to not be annoying and to be nice and funny. Don't know if this works tho.
I'm kinda depressed cuz I would've loved to have a group of friends, either to have fun and laugh together, or to help each other and do creative stuff. This would've made me more down to earth, actually feel whatever is happening, I would've done more sports, etc. And the main reason why I'm so distracted and living on my phone is because it seems like I have no other option.
Like I wanna have a group of friends like in series. Why can't this be the case? If anything, it seems like series are so popular because we don't have that many friendships in real life anymore, we only hang out online.
I don't know whether it's my fault or rather the fault of the society. Maybe I should move to another country, idk. I live in France and I've heard Italy is better but idk.
Keep in mind I can't actually have to get along with literally everyone, for example I'm Jewish and I won't tolerate anyone who doesn't like Jews.
But even tho this does limit my circle of friends, I don't think that's the main reason why I'm lonely, because even with people who have no problem with that and who are Jewish themselves and who even say that we both get along, even with them there's literally the same problem.
Maybe I'm kinda lonely cuz I'm not such a fan of going to bars and drinking? And yeah I'm not a fan of alcohol but I can still go to a bar if I were with my friends so idk.
submitted by AdviceAndFunOnly to selfimprovement [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:28 AdviceAndFunOnly How to not be alone?

I don't know if it's my fault that I'm alone or not. I actually try to do things to spend time with others but just can't. Especially since I need to spend time with others to feel motivated and also concentrated, because now, often times I literally feel like I live on my phone while my studies don't matter.
Well first of all, I don't even have many possibilities to spend time with people in the first place. For example here in university for some reason everyone goes their own way during recess and we don't have a common recess or a room for everyone to come together.
Of course I could start a sport or another activity, and I already did in the past, but the issue here is that I'll only spend a limited amount of time in the activity too unfortunately. And even say I'll have to pay a lot.
And another problem is that even when I do meet people and I like them and they seem to like me too, it's impossible to see them outside and organise stuff with them. And that's even worse when I don't even see them in university for example THAT much, it's not like I spend every day with them.
But the thing is that everyone does want to hang out and meet but only in specifically organised events every few months where you need to spend money and bring food. And not like meet even once a week and regularly hang out and have fun. And especially I don't understand this cuz in this university we have more free time than usual. What will happen if I'll go to college the next year where I'll have much less free time?
And somehow people do have free time for spending their lives on social media apparently.
Maybe I'm annoying them too much cuz I ask to hang out too much in group chats and don't say that much anything else? But the thing is that I want to see them irl, not to talk infinitely and send memes and only see each other once a year. I want real socialisation not Internet one.
And also the thing is that I do it cuz I know that in the next year maybe I won't see them again. If I'll switch to another university and study something else then I won't really see them that much. And often time that's exactly what happened. I had "friends" from high school that I've never seen even once time since high school even if I would've loved to.
It was even worse when I met a nice group only at a one time event. Afterwards, I have all their contacts on Instagram, I have 1000 friends there but I don't see any of them anymore.
Maybe I'm too annoying sometimes, talking about stuff that interests me and disregarding the other person. Honestly, I don't know. I try to not be annoying and to be nice and funny. Don't know if this works tho.
I'm kinda depressed cuz I would've loved to have a group of friends, either to have fun and laugh together, or to help each other and do creative stuff. This would've made me more down to earth, actually feel whatever is happening, I would've done more sports, etc. And the main reason why I'm so distracted and living on my phone is because it seems like I have no other option.
Like I wanna have a group of friends like in series. Why can't this be the case? If anything, it seems like series are so popular because we don't have that many friendships in real life anymore, we only hang out online.
I don't know whether it's my fault or rather the fault of the society. Maybe I should move to another country, idk. I live in France and I've heard Italy is better but idk.
Keep in mind I can't actually have to get along with literally everyone, for example I'm Jewish and I won't tolerate anyone who doesn't like Jews.
But even tho this does limit my circle of friends, I don't think that's the main reason why I'm lonely, because even with people who have no problem with that and who are Jewish themselves and who even say that we both get along, even with them there's literally the same problem.
submitted by AdviceAndFunOnly to ENFP [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:20 -stumondo- Advice on what to avoid

I've just started to ease myself off carbs and into carnivore. I was looking for advice on mistakes to avoid. I've read plenty on this subreddit with the likes of not eating enough fat etc, but I'm looking for a bit more specifics.
I've seen people talk about only using salt. Is pepper or other spices off the table, or even just avoided by some people for some reason?
I see coffee is the drink of choice, as it is in most of the world. Is there a reason for that rather than tea? And is it super important to ignore milk?
What's the opinion on artificial sweeteners?
And are there foods out there that someone might easily think it's great, and not think to look into, but end up being surprised they shouldn't have. For example, I imagine sausages are filled will all sorts of stuff that isn't meat.
Thanks
submitted by -stumondo- to carnivorediet [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 11:59 tunaflix Moving to Stockholm as a Researcher: your best tips

Good Morning Stockholm!
I (Italian, M23) will move to Stockholm in September for one or two years to work as a researcher. I am looking for general tips about the city and about life in Sweden. Opinions and tips from both locals and other students are more than welcome. For example, I would like to know:
Any other tip or idea that you might consider useful is welcomed! I apologize for the long message but I want my experience to be as smooth as possible.
submitted by tunaflix to TillSverige [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 11:56 DharmaBaller Polarization and Tribalism

I think to me what's most disheartening about this Quagmire of a situation is that most people are just aligning with their historical patterns of political/religious/racial/national identities and biases.
Which is not surprising because I just basically described the entire history of the human race and how we generally lean one way or another when it comes to conflicts and beliefs.
I think you know true impartiality is pretty much impossible and that's probably a whole super long discussion about how we even arrive at truth and reality and what pushes us in different directions.
I just it really makes you very depressed and forelorned at times just to see most people reacting as you would expect.
Like most of my social media friend circles are Lefty anarchist types and they pretty much are like fully on board free Palestine movements and busting out the watermelon emojis and all the all these kinds of things which to me is like the the 2024 version of the BLM black/blank profile support solidarity thing.
Of course now that you read that last paragraph you probably already thinking oh this guy is already revealing his cards of where he stands.
Basically my position is leaning pro Israel pro peace pro equilibrium pro stability in the region. This is a departure from my long held leanings of free Palestine because of all of my radical backgrounds and volunteering for things like food not bombs and all this sorts of things in Portland.
I basically am leaning this way and open to shifting of course at any time given new information and new insights, but the two main sticking points for me are what follows:
1.) Wary of the regressive left element within the free Palestine movement that is and on par for the course given the conflict. What worries me is the toxic othering prejudice and often scary anti-Semitic rhetoric coming out because of this. The narrative of the support for the "brown Arab oppressed people versus the white facing European ancestry colonizer Jewish people Israelis". It's alarming.
2.) Wary of extremist radical Islam jihadist intifada sentiments messaging and direct calls to eradicate and harm a people group and a nation. This last point I think doesn't get enough airtime in some circles and this is nothing new and has been a concern of mine for many years, and is often maybe overlooked or people are afraid to bring it up even because it looks like it's bigoted or racist or whatever. But to me it seems like this is why we are in this position most assuredly. You swap out Hamas with some other Hardline Fringe religious group and I don't think you get the same results. There is something uniquely dangerous about a religious Fringe element that promotes martyrdom and jihadism. Ain't nobody ever had issues with Buddhist extremists on this level. Or even Christian extremists on this kind of level, although there have been pockets of hate and othering of course from almost every group of people/ideology in our sordid human history.
Like even I've been trying to track just in the comment sections of let's say various kinds of YouTube videos from all different perspectives and I keep coming back to this weird unsettling feeling when I see a lot of pro Islamic things and from accounts that seem like they come from an Arab origin. Like I just don't know if you can reach common cause and common ground with that sort of extremist ideology, it seems pretty baked in on a deep level. And that's the the real issue in many ways because religious fundamentalism just breathes a kind of lack of discourse and lack of understanding because you can just refer to your book and what all the people around you are saying and shut down your critical thinking skills.
I think a case example of someone like Salman Rushdie.
Dude wrote a book in the late '80s and he got a fatwa set against him...(Which speaking of that it was hilariously satirized in Curb, I'm surprised Larry David also doesn't have a Target on his back at this point).
Then apparently the state sponsored assassins were called off in the late 90s and Rushdie return to some kind of normalcy and interacting with the world.
But then last year he was stabbed on stage at a talk in Chataqua New York, and was almost killed. He actually lost his eye as a result. And the use of his hand.
And as you can imagine the guy who stabbed him wasn't just a random crazy person.. he had Islamic background. He's a Shi'ite Muslim from New Jersey, just 24 years old. Gen Z generation of extremist.
Put another way.. what is the percentage or total number of folks that have a Islamic Arab Middle eastern background that are actually pro Israel?
And then along the same lines how many folks with a Jewish background or connections are actually pro Palestine?
Cuz to me one is not like the other in this regard, and my hypothesis is that the Muslim Arab tribalist group would skew predominantly one way that I think we all can assume is for the free Palestine movement.
Whereas I think the Jewish Community has definitely some elements within it that is more peaceful negotiation and not so caught up in their religiously motivated perspective. This could be because you know maybe a lot of the Jewish Community is leaning more secular or they come from Western countries and all this sort of thing but like I just I don't think people are realizing the fundamentalists difference here in the factions.
I guess my question is how many people have switched historical sides over this conflict right now in the spring of 2024?
Is there something from either side that made you go oh man I need to reevaluate my whole position on this and lean one way or the other?
Or even when I think what is probably more profound and supportive of the general conflict would be to be also aimed at a third way out above The fray if that's even possible. because a third way out often makes me feel like I just need to stay out all together and let people that have a much better idea of what's going on engage.
That last part is really key I think because all these folks are throwing in their positions when they may only have an understanding of like 5% of this thousands of year old conflict. The more I dig into it and ask questions and talk to people the more I feel even more lost and it seems like an unwinnable and unknowable thing.
🙏🕊️🙏
submitted by DharmaBaller to IsraelPalestine [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 11:51 ryota_kise07 Oko, Thief of Crowns is (a bit) overrated

Everyone calls him "Oko the broko" but (alone) he is definitely not THAT powerfull at all. Even if you manage to cast him on turn 2, if you don't have an efficient way of generating ton of food (without him) and protect him without having to sacrifice the 3/3 token you just generated. Well he is just a very hard to kill planeswalker and nothing else.
Points that make oko not that broken :
Conclusion : oko thief of crowns is broken when played in a meta deck just, as a threat removal, and in ADDITION of your original gameplan. But he is definitely "meh" when you try to build a deck around him and his food mechanic.
submitted by ryota_kise07 to magicTCG [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 11:47 digital_bijoy This Mindset Shift Was Key To Finally Building Muscle And Strength

This Mindset Shift Was Key To Finally Building Muscle And Strength
Women's Health
Growing up in Puerto Rico, I was an active child and fell in love with volleyball. When I was 10, my mother and I picked up and moved to New York. While adjusting to my new home and my mom's long work hours, I had to take care of myself more. As a result, I started gaining weight.
By age 21, I was dealing with lower back pain from a car accident and became pregnant with my daughter. I weighed 250 pounds, which caused sciatica pain and made carrying my pregnancy harder. At one point, it was even difficult to walk. My self-image took a hit, I was depressed, and I felt like I lost myself.

My daughter inspired me to make major changes in my health and start a fitness routine.

After I gave birth to my daughter, I hit a turning point.
In 2018, I decided to sign up for XSport, a local gym facility, and started using YouTube to teach myself different workouts. I also worked with a personal trainer for a month to learn the basics of equipment and exercises in the gym and get a meal plan started. My mom was always big on working out, so we would go together as well.
I started seeing results, but at that point, I was only focused on losing weight, not strength or building muscle. I did cardio-heavy workouts seven days a week. It was mostly the treadmill and elliptical.
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When I saw the number on the scale continue to drop, it sparked my curiosity for the machines and weights.

Luckily, my boyfriend at the time was a bodybuilder and taught me a lot. He gave me the tools I needed to build muscle and challenge myself on my own.
Transitioning out of cardio-focused workouts and light weights and into a new routine was challenging. It was exciting to know that I was taking the right steps to see the results I wanted.
Learning so many new things at once and then putting it into action was also intimidating. I felt overwhelmed. Between early morning gym sessions, measuring my meals, creating enough time to stretch, and hitting my water goals, it was a lot.
I knew I had a foundation of fitness, but I needed to put the pieces together in a way that worked for me and for my goals. Things didn't start to click for me until waking up at 4 a.m. for cardio became second nature.

Now, I approach my training like a bodybuilder and often do two workouts a day.

I currently train at a bodybuilding gym (Xtreme Fitness) six days a week and do cardio about seven days a week. Generally, I do my cardio in the morning and go back to the gym in the evening to strength train. I used to have push and pull days, but now I have four leg days and one upper-body day once a week. On my rest days, I'm usually working, so it’s more of an active recovery day.
Some of my go-to exercises include Bulgarian split squats, goblet squats, leg curls, and leg extensions. I try to stay away from squatting because of my sciatica. For upper body, I’ll do side and front lateral raises, lat pulldowns, and seated cable rows.
I usually do four sets of 15 to 20 reps for every exercise. Each week, I’ll try to up the weights and test myself, and if I feel like I can’t hit my usual goal, then I’ll max out at 12 reps instead.
I’m preparing to compete in my first bodybuilding competition later this year in the women’s wellness division, which focuses on bigger legs and glutes and a leaner upper body. I’m also in the process of becoming a certified personal trainer.
Bodybuilding is less about numbers and PR’s, but a few years ago I was able to leg press 675 pounds for 12 reps. We call that “ego lifting,” because it’s not necessary. While I still lift heavy from time to time, I’d rather avoid injuring myself. For example, for leg extensions, I’ll stick to around 135 pounds for 20 reps. And for an RDL, I won’t go heavier than 115 pounds.
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I learned what worked and what didn't trying different diets until I found a sustainable plan and started measuring out my meals.

Before I started hitting the gym, I tried Herbalife and lost 25 pounds. Eventually, it got expensive, so I had to stop. I ended up gaining the weight back. Once I started training, I tried the keto diet for about five months and lost 50 pounds. With that, I hit 170 pounds.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was actually doing dirty keto, which I found out thanks to my ex-boyfriend. With his help, we restructured my meals, and I got off keto. Not long after making the switch, I had better energy levels, improved focus, and noticeable progress in the gym.
Now, my new bodybuilding coach has me eat 1,400 calories a day. (Reminder: That's what works for me, but you should always work with an expert before making big calorie or diet changes.) For breakfast, I have two whole eggs with lean brown beef and some pineapple. For lunch, I’ll have grilled chicken with any green vegetable.
My pre-workout is 30 grams of cashews, and my post-workout is 30 grams of cream of rice with one scoop of protein and water mixed together. For dinner, I usually eat salmon and sweet potato. I measure all my meals beforehand and drink a gallon of water a day.

I had to reframe my mindset around changes in my weight to enable muscle gain.

One of the biggest blocks I had to overcome was accepting that building muscle also came with gaining weight. People explained the science to me, but I still wasn't processing it. I was so focused on losing weight for so long that I found myself frustrated about working hard at the gym and not seeing more weight coming off.
At the same time, I started to finally see my muscles coming through. That's when I began to understand weight in a new way. It was challenging to think of gaining weight as my new goal. I even had to give myself pep talks to help myself lean into what was needed in order to see progress. Once I let the fear go, everything started falling into place.

Learning the importance of discipline made a huge difference in and out of the gym.

Of all my goals, I’m most proud of my ability to stay disciplined. There are still days I wake up and don’t want to train or eat the same foods. But I feel like I’ve mastered the discipline that was needed to get me to where I’m at. I learned that motivation comes and goes—it’s not consistent. But it’s about showing up for yourself. Discipline has had a positive affect on my work life and at-home life as a mom. I can apply it to everything.
I want women to know how important mindset is. You really have to think about what you're getting into before an attempt at your goal is even made. You have to be willing to dedicate the time and remind yourself that this for you and nobody else. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, and in the end, it will always be worth it.
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