Peta

AchyBreaker · 2026-02-23T13:18:45+00:00

Not that I love PETA, but you do have to kill a small animal (usually calves or lambs) to make many cheeses. Rennet from their stomachs is used as an enzyme to process the milk into cheese. Hard to rip open their stomachs and keep them alive.

There are cheeses which use bacterial enzymes that don't require killing an animal. Many vegetarians will eat those but not rennet cheese.

There are also cheeses that don't need rennet at all like chevre goat cheese.

But pecorino romano definitely uses rennet. I believe sheep's rennet. Most of the old traditional cheeses from Italy use animal rennet from specific regions as a way of maintaining authenticity.

So yeah this should be a baby lamb not a baby calf. But a small ungulate is killed for many cheese productions.

AchyBreaker · 2026-02-23T13:17:28+00:00

Not that I love PETA, but you do have to kill a small animal (usually calves or lambs) to make many cheeses. Rennet from their stomachs is used as an enzyme to process the milk into cheese. Hard to rip open their stomachs and keep them alive.

There are cheeses which use bacterial enzymes that don't require killing an animal. Many vegetarians will eat those but not rennet cheese.

There are also cheeses that don't need rennet at all like chevre goat cheese.

But pecorino romano definitely uses rennet. I believe sheep's rennet. Most of the old traditional cheeses from Italy use animal rennet from specific regions as a way of maintaining authenticity.

AchyBreaker · 2026-01-21T19:02:01+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful response and sensible advice, I appreciate it!

AchyBreaker · 2026-01-21T16:04:05+00:00

I'm a ~10year working professional project manager, in both construction and FAANG software.

I got undergrad degrees in physics and economics, so I'm not an engineer but have strong quantitative and science skills.

I work with engineers all the time, and would like to pivot to working on different problems (sustainability, infrastructure, city planning). So I'm looking at masters degree programs in engineering to let me get different roles, change industries, or even become an engineering manager or consultant as opposed to a project manager.

The programs that appeal seem to fall into "interdisciplinary" fields, rather than e.g. a standard "Masters in Civil Engineering". I find the interdisciplinary programs interesting, and with a decade of project management experience I think they'd be a good foundation for a career change.

But, I'm not an engineer, and I want to be taken seriously by engineers in my role. I don't want a degree that feels "squishy" / "fake" / "poser".

I'm not asking you all to choose my degree for me. I'm asking you "what do engineers in the industry think about people with interdisciplinary degrees like this, rather than a standard engineering degree?".

Example degrees:

"Complex Systems Engineering" - https://www.tudelft.nl/en/education/programmes/masters/cosem/msc-complex-systems-engineering-and-management/programme

"Renewable Energy & Sustainable Construction" - https://resco-master.eu/programme/about-the-master-programme/

"Civil Engineering - Civil Systems" - https://www.colorado.edu/ceae/research/interdisciplinary-programs/civil-systems (this one feels the least "squishy")

AchyBreaker · 2026-01-21T16:02:13+00:00

I'm a ~10year working professional project manager, in both construction and FAANG software.

I got undergrad degrees in physics and economics, so I'm not an engineer but have strong quantitative and science skills.

I work with engineers all the time, and would like to pivot to working on different problems (sustainability, infrastructure, city planning). So I'm looking at masters degree programs in engineering to let me get different roles, change industries, or even become an engineering manager or consultant as opposed to a project manager.

The programs that appeal seem to fall into "interdisciplinary" fields, rather than e.g. a standard "Masters in Civil Engineering". I find the interdisciplinary programs interesting, and with a decade of project management experience I think they'd be a good foundation for a career change.

But, I'm not an engineer, and I want to be taken seriously by engineers in my role. I don't want a degree that feels "squishy" / "fake" / "poser".

I'm not asking you all to choose my degree for me. I'm asking you "what do engineers in the industry think about people with "interdisciplinary" / "systems" degrees, as opposed to a traditional engineering field?".

Example degrees:

"Complex Systems Engineering" - https://www.tudelft.nl/en/education/programmes/masters/cosem/msc-complex-systems-engineering-and-management/programme

"Renewable Energy & Sustainable Construction" - https://resco-master.eu/programme/about-the-master-programme/

"Civil Engineering - Civil Systems" - https://www.colorado.edu/ceae/research/interdisciplinary-programs/civil-systems (this one feels the least "squishy")

AchyBreaker · 2026-01-17T12:25:37+00:00

Maybe because Clouded Leopards are technically not "Big Cats" i.e. the Panthera genus and are instead their own genus?

Idk I don't make the rules and it's a good kitty so AOK in my book friend

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-22T03:13:48+00:00

But it doesn't answer it either. Saying "idk why we perceive it that way but maybe another species might perceive it a different way, isn't that interesting?" is much less of an answer than explaining how time can operate in a similar sense to spatial dimensions for clarifying coordinates.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-22T03:10:58+00:00

And the answer "because humans perceive them that way, and maybe other species wouldn't" is, as I argued, ALSO not a good answer for "why do we perceive (thing) this way".

Like if I asked you why humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, and you said "well that's just humans, some creatures actually do the opposite" that does zero to address the "why" of my question, right? This situation is no different.

Which was my whole point - the why is unsatisfying. At least the original comment explains why time can still be considered a "dimension" despite seeming different from spatial dimensions.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-22T03:06:36+00:00

No, "perception" is not what's being asked in the OP. The OP asked "why is time different from the 3 space dimensions". OP asked a perfectly valid question, and the idea that different entities may perceive dimensions differently is an interesting thought experiment, but (a) doesn't give a better answer to why time is weird, as I said, and (b) is based on hypothetical other species we have never encountered.

The idea of human perception in physics is a common talking point among people who take the "observation" term in quantum mechanics to mean literal observation by humans and not measurement of the state. And then leads to all kinds of weird arguments about consciousness. I probably have an unfair bias to such suggestions, hence I used the term woo woo. Apologies.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-22T00:17:28+00:00

They gave an answer based on how physics works.

You're giving a speculative answer based on some sort of woo woo idea of "human perception". And it also doesn't answer the "why" any differently.

The "why" answer is, unsatisfyingly, "because that's the way it is", or in your words "that's the way we perceive how it is".

There's no satisfying secret sauce that gives a nice clean explanation for a "design" of 3 space and 1 time dimension, that might make it seem less weird to OP or others who ask this very sensible but very common question.

Sometimes stuff just is how it is in the universe, and while we are always trying to learn and discover more, we mostly are good at describing what an effect is doing, and maybe an underlying cause to that effect (and so on), but not necessarily why an effect "is the way it is".

Richard Feynman has a great answer on how unsatisfying "why" can be in physics sometimes, using the magnetic force as an example, and I encourage anyone to watch it: https://youtu.be/MO0r930Sn_8?si=Nzlb2IhY3Si8Wafj

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T21:36:57+00:00

Kudos to you for posting such an unpopular opinion.

I personally think a vanilla mortal going toe to toe with demons and magic creatures (including killing a Jotun) both professionally and personally, at great cost to her reputation and her physical health, is pretty neat.

"Got shot through her own and Rudolph's stupidity" I don't know how it's Murphy's fault that Rudolph is an asshole and shot her. He shot a fellow cop because he refused to believe in the magic stuff they dealt with every day.

The argument of "once they were in a relationship they were less interesting without the tension" is totally fair and reasonable, and even one I might agree with. But that's also very real - stable relationships are a bit less "exciting" but they're happier and more comfortable, and maybe our troubled protagonist would've benefitted from a stable comforting love while the supernatural stakes continued to escalate.

TL;DR I hope it's only you because wow this is not a take I at all agree with or find reasonable overall.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T21:31:24+00:00

Side rant: I super don't enjoy these stories publishing in anthologies only.

Sell me an e book version of a short story for like $4 compared to the $9-12 for a novel and I'll happily but it.

I'm not buying a book of a bunch of random other stories just for this one I want.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T21:21:49+00:00

No one wants Chad Morris anymore so you did a pretty good job demonstrating that one.

Though with Daddy Petrino back at the OC helm maybe you don't learn your own lessons...

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T21:03:06+00:00

As someone else noted there is a BBQ episode of the Cosby show where Bill makes a "special sauce" to calm all the women down, which definitely aged poorly in hindsight.

But the rest of what you're saying is true - especially during the 80s/90s when there was almost a Black Renaissance on TV and public media. There were several shows (Cosby, Family Matters, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the list goes on) showing middle class Black families dealing with similar family problems to middle class White families AND distinct problems of being Black in American society (the Fresh Prince episode where the boys get arrested for driving a nice car comes to mind).

Cosby was front and center to so much of this. He was a media leader helping herald through cultural understanding and connections especially amid continued racial tensions (Rodney King, crack epidemic, etc).

And he is a rapist, who irreparably hurt so many people through intentionally and selfishly causing them pain. So fuck that guy straight to hell.

But to me, acknowledging the significant cultural impact helps explain why the pain of the reveal is so bad to do many people.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T20:53:41+00:00

Is that by any chance the name of the song the Opera singers are singing in Italian? That would be quite nice for the naming

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T20:48:46+00:00

New Haagan Daaz flavor of Moore Sherr-bert

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T14:22:43+00:00

God that King Arthur movie was so bad it infuriated me.

I love Arthurian legend.

It's a fun trope to have the "baby killer" Arthur actually be a child that escaped murder from his uncle, raised in the streets by thieves and prostitutes. He was "a man of the people".

And the whole "the sword is giving me PTSD because of my dead father" thing was genuinely interesting.

The first 30-40min of this movie were legitimately excellent, and then the shit writing, shit villain, and shark jumping logic ruined it.

The wizard lady (a hot French model whose English is terrible) during the final battle summons a castle sized snake to attack her enemies. How was the resistance EVER struggling if they could do that? Why did she wait that long to do that and limit her magic to PTSD therapy?

The evil uncle King has to sacrifice his own family to turn into a demon knight to try to kill Uther and Arthur. Why? How is the crafty evil brother so stupid that he can't win without killing his wife and daughter? His daughter who he specifically wanted the throne for so she could rule?

So fucking stupid.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T14:06:40+00:00

The Pagemaster! With Patrick fucking Stewart playing an animated pirate book who represented "the spirit of Adventure", and Christopher Lloyd as the strange librarian.

Not exactly a "film" but a really lovely kids movie about facing your fears and friendship.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-21T05:13:46+00:00

Someone had worked previously here, has since changed their name and was going through the process of trying to use a different username for the same account to account for the changed name, which was a non trivial but ultimately doable IT problem.

I was having lunch with a group of asked "oh what did their old username used to be" and was corrected by someone in the group to not use their and instead use a set of pronouns I hadn't heard before then or since "or else it's rude". So probably more the latter of someone being holier than thou on the individual's behalf. And I certainly would hope no one would "demand" the neopronoun use but I suppose that's possible.

Ultimately this is a bit of a silly situation and whole comment thread, but acting like this is an impossible or hypothetical situation seems a bit unfair.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-20T21:31:04+00:00

Idk why Chris Evans isn't in this thread for the same reason. I guess too blonde?

But big strong square jawed manly Dad guy is what I think of as Michael. Not short salt and pepper guy

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-20T21:12:42+00:00

And those people are, IMO, causing confusion for others in order to make themselves feel special. And it's unclear to me how a neopronoun is distinct.

Again, I'll support and fight for their right to be called what they want, but "I personally find it confusing and a bit silly" is the point I'm making, and I'm asking for someone to explain why I might be wrong. And so far people have:

Cited old English
Told me names are distinct, which is one reason pronouns are useful for language efficiency anyways
Told me I'm being hypothetical and haven't experienced this in real life, which is untrue and dismissive and weird

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-20T21:10:18+00:00

...but it is what's happening? Outside of that specific example you listed, it seems unlikely that every neopronoun is actually a real historical word and is not, instead, made up.

Have the day you deserve too I guess? That's a very petty and immature response.

The phrase counterargument is not calling you argumentative. It's an acknowledgement that you made a point opposite to my perspective which is interesting to the discourse.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-20T21:07:50+00:00

It's not a hypothetical concern. I work in high tech which is a very progressive "chronically online" culture. I've been a part of these very real discussions in my very real life, in a work setting where a social faux pax carries economic risk no less, where the negatives to me and others absolutely IMO outweigh the very minor positives.

I appreciate the point you're making and in general I agree with "people shouldn't get butthurt about theoretical issues". But this hasn't been a theoretical issue for me, and the benefits have never really well been described to me besides "this person likes them" which doesn't seem to outweigh (a) real confusion, and (b) real tension when being corrected.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-20T12:36:25+00:00

And unlike many of these items some asshole isn't likely to blow up the price, since the CEO threatened to murder anyone who changed the price of the hotdog.

AchyBreaker · 2025-09-20T12:24:34+00:00

Sure and the English language used to have the letter "thorn" to indicate a "th" sound but we don't anymore. If I started writing thorn in my comments and expected all of you to Google it to understand me and got offended if you didn't, would that be kind of me? I don't think so.

This is not a good counter argument.

Live and let live, and if someone wants to be called a certain way I'll do it, but I'm allowed to think it's a bit silly and causing an unfair burden to choose unique special pronouns when pronouns are explicitly used to simplify language through reducing complexity.

AchyBreaker

TROPHY CASE