hello I’m new here, I’m exploring Lemmy for a class project on online communities. Is this a good place to ask beginner questions?

So I'm assuming most people in the affected areas have free time now due work getting shut down...

So, how's life?

But since the how is asked, why is life? what is life? when is life? who is life? ... okay enough existential crisis...

Really, how is life?

Known as the Standard American Diet (though Wikipedia calls it the Western pattern diet), it is "generally characterized by high intakes of pre-packaged foods, refined grains, red and processed meat, high-sugar drinks, candy and sweets, fried foods, high-fat dairy products (such as butter), eggs, potato products, and corn products (including high-fructose corn syrup). Conversely, there are generally low intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts, and seeds."

It's generally agreed-upon to be unhealthy, but how to move away from it is a much harder question. Capitalism, food deserts, willpower, etc etc all get talked about. But regardless of whether or not it's a good thing, how SAD is your diet?

Photo taken from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Walmart_Wenatchee.jpg

First, yes, I realize "European" covers a wide array of peoples and cultures. However, the same applies to Americans, and the folks across the pond don't seem wiling to extend us the courtesy of acknowledging that.

So that's my response to the post question: They treat us like a mono-culture / Planet of Hats and judge and jury us all based on the loudest and most boorish of us. Newsflash: we're not a mono-culture and are just as diverse as you.

And since there's lots of potshot posts going around just to shit on Americans for the crime of existing, I feel turnabout's fair play.

I was reading Michael Caine autobiography, "The elephant to Hollywood". At a certain point he's in living in LA, and his wife becomes suddenly ill. She had a burst appendix, one of these "you have surgery on a couple hours or you die" situations. The thing is once they get to the hospital and she's properly diagnosed, Caine is asked $5000 beforehand for her operation, and he's literally told; "No money, no operation". Eventually he realizes that he belongs to the actors Gild, so the operation is covered, and everything was alright. But I wondered, does (did) the US health system really work like this? Will a perfectly curable person be left to die just because a forward payment can't be done? For context, this happened in LA probably in the 60s or 70s.

Looking at this Mastodon post (in French) where Europeans explore what would happen if Trump blocked all American services in Europe, I thought it would be a great question to ask the people of Lemmy. So: what do you think would happen if POTUS Donald Trump decided to block all U.S. services to Europeans?

We read a lot of noisy for profit media so it's hard to tell from the outside of your box looking in. I don't consider CNN trustworthy but what about the polling company SSRS?

A lot of "undecided" (about what?) is also interesting. Or are they just scared to say one way or the other?

Who's your provider? I've got fiber to the home from centurylink or q or whatever it is now and it's great downloading stuff faster than my wifi can handle. I have to use a wired connection to the router to see the fastest speeds.

I had comcast before this and had speeds "up to" 1Gbps, but in practice it was garbage. I really wanted to pay "up to" my bill based on how good the service actually was.

Also, what's the slowest internet you've ever used? Have you used dial-up or 2g?

Listen, I know wars are horribly bad. I'm really sorry even asking such a question.

I'm Canadian. It seems that the fascists are set on military action against Greenland. I'm highly afraid that we're next. So I'm hoping the following happens in order:

1. No wars. Somehow, legally the fascist executive is stopped. This unfortunately seems unlikely...
2. They get bogged down in a war elsewhere. This prevents them from coming after Canada. I know this is me being extremely selfish, but whatever.
3. A civil war begins. No one has to worry about being invaded.

So my question is related to the third possibility. What could start a civil war? Could an invasion of Greenland and the following economic collapse (hopefully caused by the EU dropping US treasuries) be the spark?

Coming from this article (HN comments):

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/12/ozempic-changing-foods-americans-buy

Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%. Among higher-income households, the drop is even steeper, at more than 8%. Spending at fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and other limited-service eateries falls by about 8%.

That seems huge to me. There's lots of memes about bad food practices in the US and there's a lot of truth to it. In 10 years, will there be a stereotype of Americans as skinny people that don't eat much?

I don't have a link but I've seen that companies are pushing back on this, like researching how to make drinks that counteract GLP-1 drugs. Will Big Pharma or Big Sugar win out?

Image source, semaglutide molecule

I don't wanna deal with re-entry under this admin so going abroad is a no-no for me personally.

So... domestic travel is the only option...

Where can I go that is fun and that I wouldn't have to encounter ICE?

I'm just bored and depressed and want somewhere to go... I don't wanna just stay at home for 3 more years

I have citizenship btw... but y'all know how crazy this admin is...

Looking for An Official/Expert Website(s)-Discussion of Steven King’s Story ‘It’ & HBO’s Series ‘It: Welcome to Derry’. Does anyone know such website(s)-discussion(s)?

I tried The Steven King’s official Website, but discussions are closed. Then I tried here/PieFed & nothing.
I hate all social media, horrorable people there, tried Reddit!

What are American's doing now to prepare for the next USA government shutdown?

What were pain points from the previous shutdown?

The next possible USA government shutdown is Feb 1, 2026, which is just over 45 days away as I post this.

Here is a countdown clock: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/time/government-shutdown-timer.php

#Posted here for the non-political replies.

I mean, I probably wouldn't have be making so much comments criticizing the government if it weren't for the fact that I have citizenship. Probably wouldn't even dare to make a Lemmy account.

They are basically two questions, but kind of related, so asking in same post

1. What is the normal notice period in US when resigning? And is it an issue if a company is asking for more than couple of months of notice period?

2. What is the legal value of non-compete clause in that agreement? That you will not work in the same industry for a set period of time after leaving the company. For example, if you are a software developer working at Netflix, you won't work on any other streaming service / application for set amount of time after quitting / leaving the job.

Cuz other countries have it...

I remember NYC. I was always afraid of falling in the tracks lol.

Edit: Reworded the question

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who does not like ranch flavoring. To a lesser degree, I don't like apple pie either. Like, if I was served a slice of apple pie and courtesy required me to at least eat a few bites, I would. But I would absolutely not if it was a dish, say, covered in ranch dressing.

I linked to the Oversight Committee's press release and it says there are 20,000 documents they released. I can't find a link to any of the documents besides the 3 included in the press release. Are they for lawyers and press only?

i read that "democrats won everything", but i only understood it as a NYC election where Zohran Mamdani won the post of mayor.

which political elections have happened and which are upcoming?

Pumpkin patches? Apple orchards? Snuggling under a blanket and refusing to come out until spring?

Do you have employer match or anything that helps motivate you to contribute?