We are just a group of retired spooks that discuss things that you’ll not find anywhere else. It makes us unique. Take a look around. Learn a thing or two.
“Lithography machines are some of the most complex and expensive used in chip manufacturing. They generate steady beams of light in the ultraviolet spectrum and filter that light until it resembles the inverse of the floorplan of a microprocessor. They focus and point the light at a photosensitive wafer with a degree of precision in the tens of nanometers to carve out the floorplan.
Huawei has patented one component used in EUV lithography systems that is required to make high-end processors on sub-10 nm nodes. It solves the problem of interference patterns created by the ultraviolet light that would otherwise make the wafer uneven.
Huawei has solved an issue in the last step of chip manufacturing that’s caused by the tiny wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. Its patent describes an array of mirrors that split the beam of light into multiple sub-beams that collide with their own microscopic mirrors. Each of those mirrors rotates differently to create different interference patterns in the light so that when they recombine, the interference patterns cancel out to create one uniform beam.
ASML needed more than €6 billion and 17 years to develop the first batch of EUV lithography machines that could be sold. But before they were finished, the US government pressured the Dutch government into banning exports to China, restricting the nation to the older DUV (deep ultraviolet) technology. For now, only five companies are using or have announced plans to use ASML EUV lithography systems: Intel and Micron in the US, Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea, and TSMC in Taiwan.
Chinese companies like Huawei were previously able to send their designs to fabs like TSMC for manufacture with EUV lithography. But since the US imposed sanctions on China that has been decreasingly possible. Huawei needs access to the advanced nodes that use EUV lithography to continue to improve on its custom processors, which target everything from smartphones to data centers. China has a way to go before it can make its own EUV systems but they are receiving plenty of capital and support from the government to get there.
The virus is sweeping through China with unprecedented speed. It has been estimated that each person infects an average of 18 to 20 people, so the rise is phenomenally exponential. Postulates of infection numbers are not going to give any accurate number as most people of our acquaintance are just staying at home and waiting for it to pass – you might as well ask how many people have had a cold this year — but it must be of the order of hundreds of millions.
At home my wife suffered for three days and is now recovering. The boy went down with it just as she was getting better. As for me, the danger point must have passed and it seems I am currently immune: I am of an age that supposedly makes me a soft target, so perhaps that chest infection abroad a few months ago was the real thing.
Most of our circle here have it, or have already had it. Businesses generally are badly affected. At the print works that my wife’s sister runs, of 200 staff only three have evaded infection so far: maybe there are a few malingerers in that number, but it seems to confirm that the wave is going to sweep through and clear up pretty quickly. My sec in the office is at home with a temperature of 40C, and it has been impossible to get a pizza delivered for days. As for deaths, no more have been reported within our friends’ and family circles of contacts. There are as yet no signs of dead bodies lying in the street. (Sarc).
The Hong Kong government has confirmed that the border with the mainland will reopen mid January, that’s just before Chinese new year, families have been separated too long, lots of overdue reunions will take place. It’s yet possible that hassle-free travel abroad (and back!) will be possible then, but as yet there is no announcement of when Chinese citizens can obtain travel documentation. It’s just been announced that quarantine requirement on incomers to the mainland will cease on 8 January, just a negative 48 hour test report needed,
I think we will be celebrating in company on Saturday evening and hoping next year will be a happy return to normality.
Posted by: Walt | Dec 27 2022 1:24 utc
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How do Chinese people view China’s COVID policies?
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More on Covid
For a glance at the national view in China of the Omicron spread, rather than highlight articles, check the home page of Global Times.
We learn that in Beijing people are over it – literally and figuratively. They are no longer afraid, life resumes; the city has had its peak and is declining in cases and anecdotes.
Now the virus is moving to other regions and cities; they too now know what to expect: they will hit the wave, ride it up (a tiny few, alas, will go under), and come to the shore safe.
And so the greatest viral surge perhaps in history is happening and being recorded, as the CPC opens the gate for Omicron to rip through the nation. And perhaps it will all be over by the time people start their crazy in-country traveling.
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I get the impression that the original Chinese vaccinations – which were safe and traditional, made from attenuated viruses – were not proof against some of the variants of Omicron. [In China, they’ve been paying very specific attention to the Omicron sub-variants, I don’t know if anywhere else is.]
So it seems that: the old vaccines wouldn’t cut it against the rampage of Omicron. And they determined that now was the best time to develop natural immunity throughout the population. And spread all the variants naturally throughout the population.
And here we always speculated that Omicron was cooked up in a Chinese lab specifically to outrace and defeat the Delta variant – suspicious as the Omicron was in its provenance, derived as it seemed to be directly from the Alpha, against all laws of evolution.
I’m no expert. But I look forward to the story that shows what has happened here – what is still happening. It seems decidedly finessed to me.
China spends $12,000 million to build railway in Nigeria , just for making friends?
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Ancient Chinese Coin Swords: Demon Fighting Weapons of the East
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One of the most fascinating discoveries from ancient China are coin swords. Coin swords, also known as cash swords, are an ancient type of feng shui talisman that has been around since the Qing dynasty. These unique swords, while large and intricate, were not used in physical fights with others. Instead, Chinese coin swords were used to ward off evil and are frequently still used in Daoist rituals.
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A Chinese coin sword-shaped talisman made from Qing dynasty era cash coins on display at the Museum of Ethnography, Sweden. (Etnografiska Museet / CC BY 2.5 )
Coin Swords: Powerful Daoist Demon Fighters
Although it is not entirely clear when the first Chinese coin sword was crafted, legend holds that the first one was created sometime between the 26th and 24th centuries BC. It is believed that they were created during the reign of the Yellow Emperor , one of China’s mythological emperors and Daoist patron saints. Around the 7th century BC, these fascinating coin swords became associated with the notion that they could be used to fight evil spirits. However, this information was not yet widespread and was only practiced in small communities.
These swords became much more popular over a millennium later, during the Liu Song dynasty . At this point, coin swords were being used regularly in religious rituals. Daoists used these swords in their rituals the most, fully believing that they were the key to driving out evil spirits . Believers in the swords spread the word that demons and other evil entities were scared of the swords thanks to Zhong Kui , a Daoist deity . Zhong Kui was known as the vanquisher of evil beings, and typically wielded a sword to slay these entities. Young Daoists were taught how to handcraft these cash swords quickly to protect themselves and their loved ones from these spirits. Later, swords sometimes had additional elements, such as astrological engravings, to give them more spiritual power.
Daoist rituals still use Chinese coin swords regularly in their practices. In some rituals, a Daoist priest will wrap a red cloth around the hilt of the sword to bring its full spiritual power out. In homes, both real and replica cash swords can be hung up in the home above beds, doors, windows, or any other area of access or vulnerability to keep evil away. Evil spirits that see a coin sword in a building will not enter out of fear that Zhong Kui will use it to destroy them.
Daoists believe that the most powerful swords are those crafted from coins produced during the Qing dynasty . Some of these coins have the name Kangxi Tongbao inscribed on them, as this emperor reigned for an entire cycle of the Chinese calendar (60 years!). Coins swords produced with his name are considered to be stronger, due to their association with longevity. Plus, the name Kangxi translates into ‘prosperity’ and ‘good health,’ which only further strengthens the significance of these swords.
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A coin sword talisman made from Qing Dynasty-based imitation cash coins. (Donald Trung / CC BY SA 4.0 )
What Makes a Powerful Demon-Fighting Coin Sword?
Coin swords have a unique composition to make them work properly. Typically, the sword would be made of coins wrapped around an iron rod as a sturdy foundation. If the coin sword was particularly large, it may have a core of two iron rods to make it stronger. The Chinese coins would then be bound together by string, cord, or wire and wrapped around the iron core. Every detail of the sword matters, including color. Most of the time, the cord or wire holding the coins together would be red or gold, as these were often colors signifying royalty.
Chinese coin swords weren’t just randomly crafted. Most of them were made of a set number of coins, so they could be easily replicated in the future. A general coin sword would typically be made of 18 coins on the blade, 10 on the hilt, 6 on the handle, and 2 around the handle butt. The sword would also be 3 coins thick in all areas to make it sturdier. Doing the math, that means these swords were typically built with at least 108 copper-alloy Chinese coins.
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Close-up of a coin sword hilt (wrea90 / CC BY SA 4.0 )
On average, these coin swords are around 2 feet (0.6 meters) in length and 1-2 pounds (0.45-0.9 kilograms) in weight. However, the weight could be more, depending on the types of coins used and the overall size of the sword. Coin swords that were scaled up to be larger would of course weigh more. Shorter swords took fewer coins to produce and would therefore be lighter. Some Chinese coin swords were made with fake coins, which would sometimes result in a lighter sword.
It is important to note that the types of coin used to make the sword does matter significantly. Those that believe in the power of Chinese coin swords also believe that these swords can only work properly if made using coins produced during the time of a single emperor. Mixing coins between different dynasties is considered bad luck and can result in a faulty sword. It is also believed that ancient coins are more effective than modern coins, as they may have more power to fend off evil spirits due to their age.
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19th century Qing Dynasty coin sword and accessories on display in Munich, Germany (Dr. Meierhofer / CC BY SA 3.0 )
Fight Evil with Your Own Sword, or Visit One Yourself
We’ve all seen items made from money, but Chinese coin swords really take it to the next level. These swords are fascinating to see in real life and are sometimes still made today. There are many artisans, both in and out of China, who specialize in making these cash swords for feng shui or other spiritual purposes. Some of the most ancient Chinese coin swords are also on display at a variety of museums worldwide, so you don’t necessarily have to go to China to see one for yourself. If you ever find yourself needing to fight evil, find yourself a Chinese coin sword to give you a hand.
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Stanford University Bans Long List Of “Harmful” Words
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Notre Dame Sarcophagus Opened Revealing Knight with Elongated Skull!
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Finding the remains of a high priest buried at the most sacred spot in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, and all of medieval France, seems a predictable discovery. However, unearthing a knight with an elongated skull came as something of a shock.
The foundation stone of Notre Dame Cathedral was laid by Pope Alexander III in 1163 AD, but in 2019 a fire almost entirely destroyed it. After having spent the last two years securing its foundations, work began this year on repairing the oak spire that was unveiled on August 18, 1859. This 19th century spire reached a height of 315 feet (96 meters), which was 59 feet (18 meters) higher than the original 12th century spire, but it came crashing down in the aftermath of the 2019 blaze.
It was directly beneath the spire floor, where the transept crosses the nave, that researchers identified several tombs containing hundreds of fragmented hands, feet, faces, and plants from stone statues. It was among these shattered relics that two well-preserved lead sarcophagi were discovered, buried at what represents the holiest site in all of medieval France
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The 2019 fire that engulfed the cathedral indirectly led to the discovery of these Notre Dame sarcophagi (Wandrille de Préville / CC BY SA 4.0 )
Unearthing the Canon and the Knight
In April this year, Professor Christophe Besnier, the leader of the scientific team, told The Guardian that this discovery was both “extraordinary and emotional.” Ancient Origins reported in April that Dominique Garcia, the head of the National Institute of Archaeological Research, speculated that one of the lead sarcophagi “probably belonged to a dignitary from the early 14th century.”
Now, the team of French archaeologists has confirmed that Garcia’s speculations were accurate, as they announce one coffin contains an “elite canon of cathedral ” while the other hosts “a young cavalier (knight).” Dominique Garcia was quick to remind that these human remains “are not archaeological objects,” for they were recovered from within a church, and therefore they “will be treated with respect from beginning to end.”
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Opening of the sarcophagi at the Toulouse forensic medicine laboratory. Credit: DR UT3
Buried at the Heart of the Cathedral
The fragmented statues and two lead coffins were discovered beneath the floor of the transept crossing. The transept of a church separates the nave from the chevet (choir), belonging equally to the main nave axis and to the transept. Eric Crubézy, professor of biological anthropology at the University of Toulouse III, said the two men were “clearly important in their respective eras to have been buried in such prestigious tombs at the heart of the cathedral”.
Described as of “remarkable scientific quality,” both burials were found during a speculative subterranean dig before the installation of the 98 foot (30 meter) high, 600-ton scaffold that is being used to replace the cathedral’s fire-damaged spire. A report in The Guardian stated that one of the bodies belonged to a high priest who, after leading a sedentary life, died in 1710 AD. The second lead coffin was dated to the 14th century and contained “a young, wealthy, and privileged noble.”
Who Were these Elites Buried at the Heart of the Cathedral?
Buried one meter deep, the holy man was found with a brass plaque confirming he was Antoine de la Porte, the canon of Notre Dame Cathedral, who died on Christmas Eve 1710 at the age of 83. De la Porte was a clever, influential, and rich old priest who commissioned several works of art that are now in the Louvre. The second coffin was found to contain the remains of a man in his thirties, and the researchers say his pelvic bones suggest he was an experienced horseman. So, he has been named “ Le Cavalier ” (the knight).
The knight was interred at the foot of a large cross that was once displayed on the now-destroyed rood screen that separated the chancel and nave (clergy and choir) from the congregation (poor people with diseases). Cloths and organic plant materials discovered in this burial suggest the knight was embalmed, which the archaeologists say was “a rare practice in the Middle Ages .” Moreover, the knight was buried with a crown of flowers.
It is speculated that this man was of the upper echelons of the 14th century French elite. This belief stems not from his floral crown, nor the fact that he was embalmed, and not even because he had the power to demand burial at the most sacred spot in Paris – but because the dead knight had a “ skull deformation ,” better known as an elongated skull.
Headbanding for Power, All Over the World
The knight had a “deliberately deformed skull,” resulting from having had a tight cloth band tied around his head during his first three months of life, inducing the shape change. In the 1920s, Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello , the “father of Peruvian archaeology,” uncovered hundreds of elongated Paracas civilization skulls dated to between 750 BC and 100 AD, and they have since been unearthed across the Middle East and Asia.
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Elongated skulls, like the one discovered in the Notre Dame sarcophagus, were characteristic of the Paracas Culture (Didier Descouens / CC BY SA 4.0 )
It is generally agreed that cranial banding and the resulting elongated skulls were symbols of power practiced among controlling families in different countries. However, long after the practice died out in Peru, it continued up to the early 20th century in the region of Deux-Sèvres in western France. Here, too, the practice was a symbol of power among social elites, but it was also practiced among poorer families who tried to align their children with higher social classes.
Top Image: The elongated skull of a knight found in one of two lead-line sarcophagi found interred in Notre Dame Cathedral. Source: Denis Glicksman / INRAP
By Ashley Cowie
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Why I moved here and stayed
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Absolute Best Ever Lasagna
“My family’s favorite. This is a very meaty lasagna. We prefer it with cottage cheese, but you can easily substitute ricotta.”
Add salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, basil, chopped tomatoes with juice, tomato paste; stirring until well mixed.
Cover and simmer 1 hour (or longer,but watch for getting too dry).
Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside.
Spray a 13 x 9″ baking pan with cooking spray.
Combine riccota cheese, eggs, pepper, 2 tablespoons parsley, Parmesan cheese and 1/2 1lb of mozzarella cheese; In a lasagna pan, layer noodles, meat sauce, and cheese mixture; repeat.
Top off with layer of noodles; sprinkle evenly with remaining mozzarella cheese; make sure to cover noodles completely.
Bake at 375F for 40-60 minutes, or until cheese mixture is thoroughly melted. (I cover w/ foil for about 40 minutes, then uncover for 15-20 minutes.
Let sit for 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving.
2022 12 28 09 09
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Let’s Punish these XXX Website Scammers
Skillet Tarragon Chicken
“This delicious chicken and easy creamy tarragon wine sauce cook right on the stove top. People will think you went to culinary school to learn how to make something this good! Do not worry about the cream in here. It is only 1/4 cup divided between 6 people. Just enough to give you that smooth creaminess you have been craving! Oh MY this is so good! We love this over some simple white or brown rice with a green salad on the side. Oh and the rest of that bottle of wine! hehee Enjoy!”
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Set aside remaining flour.
Heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in large skillet and brown chicken on both sides. Remove chicken and keep warm.
Saute onion in same skillet until it begins to become clear.
Add wine and cook until liquid is almost evaporated, stirring to loosen browned bits (deglaze) on bottom of skillet. Watch closely- this happens fast!
Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in reserved flour until it becomes a thick paste.
Add tarragon, chicken broth and the cooked chicken. Cover and cook until tender.
Place chicken on a warm platter.
Add remaining butter and heavy cream to the liquid that is in the skillet and heat through.
Pour sauce over the chicken and garnish with a little more tarragon or some chopped fresh parsley or green onion if desired.
2022 12 28 09 13
NASA can’t believe what China is planning for Space
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The West news media tells us China is having massive deaths and a total mess from lockdown reopening, yet little news is reported in China about it. What is the truth?
First – I dont trust a word the Western Media say.
Tody i trust the Chinese Media far more
The Combination of CGTN, CCTV, CNA, Globaltimes & DouYin, Douban are more trustworthy to me than all of BBC, CNN and every other Western Channel
However i like Logic most of all
A Simple example is the release of Avatar 2
The Movie collected a whopping $ 57 Million in the first Weekend
The Highest Hollywood Collections for 2022 and the Fourth Highest of all times
It was released on 16th December well in the middle of any outbreak
Thats roughly around 16.71 Million Footfalls
You wont be having 17 Million People flocking to watch Avatar 2 if people are dying in such massive numbers
Next – The Hospitals are working 31% to Capacity in Beijing, 24% in Shanghai and 23% in Wuhan
You can literally book your own ward in the Hospital if you download the software on your phone and have google lens
The Hospitals have between 20% – 30% Occupancy to date
For Comparison – when Delta had its outbreak – India had a 371% Occupancy in Delhi and a 163% Occupancy all across India and yet at the end of 30 days we lost 154,000 People officially
Delta is far deadlier than Omicron which while being more infectitious is less deadlier
Delta was against an unvaccinated population while Omicron is against a primarily vaccinated populace
Its logical to assume that there are bound to be far less deaths
The same B7 Strain in India is causing around 6.5 Deaths per Day even today
Next – There is no Rush for Oxygen
First Sign of mass deaths is a rush for Oxygen
Italy in 2020, India in 2021, USA in 2020 are examples
In China there is a mass rush for Ibubrofen, Thermometers, Oseltamivir and the newly patented Chinese Medicines
That alone indicates Body ache and Flu Symptoms rather than breathing difficulties which would mean Pneumonia and Respiratory Failure – the only cause for Covid related direct deaths (Unless there are co-morbidities)
So i can safely conclude that
As on date – there are NO Massive Deaths in China
As on date – there are NO Lockdown Reopening Mess in China
What you have are Shortages of Medications , that too not due to manufacturing supply shortages but rather distribution issues. The Factories are already ramping up medicines and by next week you would have more than enough Medicines to last till plateau time
Unless the Virus Mutates into a Dangerous Form like Delta – there is no issue today in China
The Western media are Liars
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Hipster Nativity: This Year, Give A Hipster Look To Your Christmas Nativity Scene
2022 12 28 09 39
What if this year, you give a hipster look to your Christmas Nativity scene? Here is the Hipster Nativity Set, which adds many modern elements to the traditional nativity scene, such as organic food, glasses, mustaches, Starbucks coffee, smartphone, selfie, or the Magi delivering Amazon Prime packages. I just love it. The Hipster Nativity Set is available on the Modern Nativity store for $129.
Today, my little dog had to be put down. His name was PP, and he was a fine little mini-Bishon. We knew that he would eventually get sick and die, and so we were waiting for the date to arrive. And that date was today.
It wasn’t pleasant. He went into convulsions, and seizures, complete with tossing, and somersaults, whimpering, and foaming at the mouth.
We heard a commotion on the porch where is bed was. He was under the bed, whimpering, tearing at the underside and unable to get out from under it. We lifted the bed up, and tried to comfort him down, but he couldn’t stand up, he kept on collapsing to his side and rolling on the floor with foam in his mouth and an empty stare.
We took him to the nearest vet, and put him down. I can’t stand anyone, let alone a member of my family, being in pain. Mrs MM is in distress and shock, and I’m pretty subdued. And PP, well, he’s GONE.
Perhaps in the future, he will visit me. But for now. He’s completely GONE, as in “off this place”.
We had him cremated, and in all it ran us around 1000 RMB for the end of life hospice and cremation.
Life moves on…
Today will be a short post.
Jo Mama’s Beef Stew
“Hearty and delicious. My family’s favorite stew for over 30 years. If you prefer, you can substitute basil for the rosemary–I fix it both ways. Update: When I originally made this recipe, I would coat the beef pieces with a flour/salt/pepper mix by shaking them in a bag and then brown them in a couple tablespoons of oil. I eliminated this step to simplify and lower the calories and fat, but if you do it that way it makes for a thicker sauce. Good either way!”
Simmer for 30 minutes or more. (I like to simmer until the beef is nice and tender).
Add remaining ingredients and add additional water to cover.
Bring to a boil again.
Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are done, about 15 minutes.
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Based on the video clips available in the internet provided, there is no single oxygen cylinder in the patients rooms or for the patients in Beijing hospitals. Are these clips showing the normal patients instead of the so-called coivd-19 patients?
Questioner took a time machine and arrived here still believing that China is stuck in 1950.
Chinese hospital and clinics do not use oxygen tanks. They use a plug that is built into the wall. This plug supplies three types of gas, of which one is oxygen.
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I swear that the ignorance out of the West is reaching ridiculous lows.
Great news!
Huawei has filed a patent application covering an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanner, according to UDN. If the company builds such a scanner and achieves decent productivity, uptime, and yields, Chinese chipmakers could produce chips on sub-7nm-class technologies. The only question is when.
In mid-November, Huawei filed an application with the State Intellectual Property Office for a patent covering an EUV scanner and its key components. The patent application number is 202110524685X
The patent application appears to cover all crucial components of an EUV scanner, including a 13.5 nm EUV light generator (light source), a set of reflecting mirrors, the lithography system, and ‘control management technologies’, according to descriptions published by several media sources.
However, filing a patent is not equal to being able to build an EUV scanner, which is a highly complex machine featuring numerous state-of-the-art components that have to work perfectly in concert and for prolonged amounts of time. Furthermore, even with an EUV tool at hand, chipmakers still have to figure out the right pellicles for masks, resists, and many other things necessary for high-volume production.
An EUV scanner with a 0.33 numerical aperture is the pinnacle of today’s semiconductor production tools. Numerous companies attempted to develop such a tool, but only ASML succeeded after over ten years of development and with financial support from Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. Today, Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC actively use EUV tools from ASML, but Intel has yet to start high-volume chip production using these tools.
For now, only Intel, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC either use or plan to use EUV scanners. Moreover, only these five companies have developed (or plan to develop) process technologies sophisticated enough to take advantage of EUV scanners. Meanwhile, China-based SMIC could not get an already procured EUV tool to develop its own EUV-based fabrication process due to the Wassenaar arrangement. Therefore, it is evident that demand for EUV scanners potentially exists in China, and apparently, Huawei was eager to address it.
As a world-class high-tech conglomerate with some $100 billion in annual revenue, Huawei pursues different goals and develops many technologies. The company’s semiconductor production ambitions are well known, and they are not limited to chip production but also to building wafer fab equipment. Huawei’s WFE efforts are advancing pretty well.
With the NDAA, Biden Advances Towards Greater Conflict with Russia and China
Biden is doubling down on his pursuit of great power conflict with Russia and China. The international working class will suffer if we don’t exploit the weaknesses in U.S. imperialism.
Sam Carliner
December 23, 2022
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U.S. imperialism under Biden has come a long way since the humiliating military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021. The withdrawal, which constituted the administration’s first big foreign policy move, caused Biden’s approval rating to plummet by 10 percentage points in one month and set off a frenzy of international commentary about declining U.S. hegemony and military power.
Along with this display of U.S. decline and incompetence, Biden’s foreign policy agenda was limited by his difficulty re-establishing key alliances degraded during the Trump years. Then, in March 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the Biden administration’s constant refrain of “democracy vs. authoritarianism” — a line as hypocritical as can be — held more weight. Facilitated by Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration has been able to move forward on one of its main tasks: re-establishing the international power of the United States in service of U.S. capital’s interests.
To restore U.S. global hegemony, the Biden administration is advancing a strategy to pursue long-term conflicts with an eye towards confrontation with China. Escalatory moves against regional powers like Russia can be understood as part of this strategy. This pursuit of long term conflict was advanced by the passage of the $858 billion 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed with bi-partisan support.
The task Biden faces and his successes so far are riddled with limits and contradictions. If 2022 has shown one thing, however, it is that no one should underestimate the survival of U.S. imperialism, or how far its leaders will go to remain dominant.
The War in Ukraine — Already a Victory for U.S. Imperialism
Putin’s invasion of Russia has been a gift for U.S. imperialism. The invasion quickly developed into a proxy war between Russia and NATO. By getting the Zelenskyy regime to lead the war effort, Western imperialist powers have been able to avoid the costs of putting boots on the ground, while still using their overwhelming forces to weaken Russia militarily. According to estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the United States alone has sent more than $30 billion in military aid to Ukraine in what is now the largest arms transfer in U.S. history. Not only has the United States used the invasion to revive NATO, it has achieved a historic expansion of the military alliance.
All signs point to the United States continuing, and even increasing, its involvement in the proxy war. The just-passed NDAA allows the Pentagon to grant noncompetitive, no-bid, multi-year contracts to weapons manufacturers to produce weapons systems specifically for Ukraine. To be clear, this is an uncommon contracting arrangement designed for further militarization of U.S. policy: the Pentagon is eroding existing measures that limit military spending with a stated intention of increasing the military power of Ukraine to fight Russia. The United States has even established a new military command to oversee involvement in Ukraine, understood by military analysts as a sign of long-term commitment to this war.
Even if the war does end sooner, the U.S. advance in Europe will endure. From here on, Russia will neighbor a Ukraine armed to the teeth with NATO weapons. The U.S. military presence throughout Europe will remain, with hundreds of thousands of additional U.S. troops stationed in various European countries, including a new permanent base in Poland established as a result of this war. It is also likely that the war will end with NATO directly at Russia’s border, as Finland and Sweden are on their way to formally entering the alliance.
The Contradictions of Biden’s Ukraine Policy
Of course, NATO has its own weaknesses. From the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States has been unable to win the support of key allies such as India, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. In some cases, the war has even moved strategic partners of U.S. imperialism closer to Russia, most notably India and Saudi Arabia. Strong alliances are not guaranteed even on the European front. Underlying NATO’s presentation of strength and unity are conflicts between the countries of Western Europe like France and Germany — for which a continuation of the war poses a more existential threat — and the United States, which seems interested in going as far as it possibly can to militarily weaken Russia. These conflicts will deepen as Europe heads into winter with Germany, France, and other countries lacking heat now that they cannot rely on Russian gas. Additionally, many analysts predict that winter conditions will strengthen Russia on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy is also emboldened to flex his power, which poses a problem for NATO. This war has enabled Zelenskyy to crush the independence of Ukraine’s working class and achieve international prestige. Wielding this power, he has attempted to escalate the war beyond NATO’s interests. This conflict played out when a Ukrainian misfire hit Poland, killing two civilians. Even after Poland and the United States confirmed that the missile came from Ukraine, Zelenskyy publicly contradicted his allies, insisting the missile was from Russia. Zelesnkyy is also leading Ukraine in a more offensive approach to the war, recently attacking targets deep in Russian territory.
Continuation of the war risks greater conflicts within NATO, escalation beyond Biden’s interests, and greater instability leading to a possible rise in class struggle or the influence of the Far Right — both of which are already on the upswing in Europe. NATO now must also deal with the crisis created by Zelenskyy — the leader NATO tied its war aims to — attempting to drag the alliance into a more aggressive position. All this has sparked debate within U.S. imperialism, with some sectors calling for diplomacy and others urging for the continuation of the war.
However, within the debate among the imperialists, the more escalatory sectors hold the greatest influence over Biden’s Ukraine policy. General Mark Milley, one of the main representatives of the imperialists who prefer de-escalation in Ukraine, recently made public statements in support of negotiations with Russia. His remarks were met with a swift response from hawks, with pro-escalation figures writing a range of criticisms of Milley in the bourgeois press. But Biden does not need to read the bourgeois press to know that de-escalation remains an unpopular position among imperialists. Two of his top advisors, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, oppose the path of de-escalation.
How the war plays out over the coming winter will likely inform what course Biden’s Ukraine policy takes in 2023. But as it stands, the likelihood of the conflict continuing for some years is far greater than a turn to diplomacy. Continuation of war breeds escalation in a vicious cycle. At a certain point, it will be impossible for the United States to back out of this war even if that is more beneficial for imperialist stability. In fact, the United States may have already passed a point of no return.
Whatever happens, the advances already made by U.S. imperialism are emboldening the most hawkish of its sectors. This makes Biden more likely to take aggressive measures not just towards Russia, but also against U.S. imperialism’s primary adversary — China.
China — A Long Confrontation Advances
While different sectors of imperialism continue to debate how the United States should deal with regional adversaries like Russia, they are all in agreement that the United States must focus on containing China’s growth. China was the primary concern in Biden’s National Security Strategy and the Pentagon’s 2023 budget proposal. For the first time, NATO has also listed China as a “challenge,” though this is more a reflection of the United States’ goals than any serious commitment from the European powers. However, it cannot be denied that the United States is moving forward with a long-term strategy to more aggressively confront China. What does such a strategy require?
Before the United States can commit to direct conflict with China, it will need to decouple the two economies. Biden has moved forward on this task, spending billions to establish domestic chip manufacturing for essential economic advantage over China. However, more notable is an escalatory move Biden made this October, when the administration placed unprecedented restrictions on China’s ability to access semiconductors and the equipment used to make them.
The decoupling will be a long, imperfect process. Already, Biden’s economic moves against China have put him in conflict with important allies such as Germany and France, two countries that cannot afford economic conflict with China. Beyond U.S. relations with Europe, any economic instability the decoupling causes will fall on the working class, opening space for greater class struggle in the United States and internationally. There is no way for the United States to decouple without risking a greater crisis, but the Biden administration has chosen to take the risk and likely cannot turn back.
Biden has also pursued a strategy of military containment in the Pacific, relying on strong alliances with governments in Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, and the Philippines to keep China in check. The United Kingdom has also entered into the containment strategy through the AUKUS alliance. In strengthening its own military presence with U.S. forces and proxies in the region, the United States is escalating long-standing tensions that could set the region on an increasingly unpredictable path. A recent example of this dynamic was Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. This was an escalation towards China, breaking U.S. neutrality over Taiwan and signifying open hostility to Beijing. China responded with a series of military exercises around Taiwan.
Pelosi’s move and possible escalations to come can be better understood through the crisis of the two parties in the United States. Democrats and Republicans remain highly polarized; both are going to extremes to present themselves as the best party to serve the interests of capital. Despite the polarization, confronting China is one of the few positions where the two parties are in agreement. In fact, it is partially because of this agreement that the Democrats have taken a more recklessly interventionist posture towards China. They have to demonstrate that they, not the Republicans, are the party most willing to take on China. Since the Republicans became known for their chauvinist anti-China rhetoric and escalatory policies during the Trump years, the Democrats are forced to take even more aggressive positions.
Any weakness seen in China’s domestic political landscape or regional standing could embolden the United States to step up escalations to appease the most hawkish sectors of imperialism. The escalations around Taiwan are set to continue. DefenseOne reports that Taiwan is mentioned 438 times in the NDAA, far more than the 237 mentions of Russia or 159 mentions of Ukraine. In fact, the NDAA includes the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act which provides the island with $10 billion in military aid over five years and includes measures to accelerate Taiwan’s procurement of weapons and develop programs to train its military forces.
Biden’s meeting with Xi Jinping at the G20 summit indicated that despite all these escalations, neither the United States nor China are interested in direct conflict at this point in time. But the two powers cannot continue to grow indefinitely together. They are on a trajectory for greater clashes that would be of world historic proportions. The less the two economies are intertwined over time and the more U.S. militarization of the Pacific fuels regional conflict, the more likely a temporary flare-up like Pelosi’s inflammatory trip to Taiwan could spark another proxy war, or even advance the world towards a hot conflict between the two powers.
Contradictions of Imperialism and Prospects for Class Struggle
It would be a mistake to underestimate U.S. imperialism, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t real weaknesses that Biden will have to navigate. As noted above, every move he makes to escalate conflict comes with risks, some of which are unpredictable.
Already the war in Ukraine has greatly exacerbated the global economic crisis. While the United States has been relatively insulated from the worst impacts, a recession has long been on its way. The midterms demonstrated the Democratic Party’s capacity to recover popular support following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, but voters still noted inflation as their primary concern in exit polling. Republican leaders have already begun moving away (at least rhetorically) from “unlimited” support for Ukraine. Public support for weapons shipments to Ukraine remains high. A recent poll conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, however, indicates that support for indefinite aid is slipping, with 47 percent of Americans surveyed saying Washington should urge Kiev to settle for peace as soon as possible. It is not unlikely that by 2024 the inflation crisis could develop enough in the United States for Republicans to rally voters around opposition to the war and its economic toll.
Even before class anger over the war significantly impacts the political situation in the United States, Biden will have to respond to its consequences internationally. Already we are seeing uprisings against rising cost of living throughout the Global South, with massive protests from Sri Lanka to Haiti, and movements forming around opposition to the imperialist IMF. This state of affairs will create more challenges to broad stability of U.S. interests around the world.
Most notable, however, is the impact the war is having on Europe. The working class of Europe is already suffering, spurring various crises for the traditional parties of capital throughout Europe. In some countries, such as Italy, class anger has been used to strengthen the Far Right. But the war has also given labor movements and Leftists the ability to wage historic fights in some of the strongholds of neoliberalism, such as in the United Kingdom and France. With Western European capital facing its own crises, it is no wonder countries such as Germany and France are attempting to distance themselves from U.S. imperialism and have grown more critical of the United States’ desire to prolong the war in Ukraine and decouple from China.
Biden cannot restore U.S. hegemony without beginning the long process of preparation for conflict now. But this preparation will force him to balance U.S. diplomacy with necessary military and economic alliances, maintain stability for U.S. interests throughout the semi-colonial world, and keep the Democrats ahead within the crisis of the two party regime of the United States.
Under Biden, the United States is in a moment of relative strength compared to its position during the Trump years. However, 2023 leaves plenty of room for crises to develop for the Biden regime. The working class in the United States is growing in consciousness and militancy, and this, more than anything, has the power to disrupt the aims of U.S. imperialism.
Notably, class struggle in the United States, while disruptive to the aims of capital, is not inherently anti-imperialist. In recent history, U.S. labor activity has been chauvinist, with signs on picket lines calling to “Protect American jobs.” By and large, labor has focused on bread and butter issues for the U.S. working class while avoiding fights against systems of oppression at home and abroad. This lack of internationalism emanates, in part, from the traditional labor bureaucracy’s connection to the imperialist Democratic Party. Even “Socialists” like Bernie Sanders and the DSA lean into a U.S.-centric vision of labor power. But it is wrong to believe that the power of the U.S. working class can best advance through a labor movement that is only national in scope. Self-division of the working class by countries and borders undercuts one of its greatest strengths, the sheer numbers it has to fight as an international force.
For workers in the heart of imperialism to take advantage of our full power, we will need to unite with our class siblings mobilizing around the world. This means building solidarity with strikes in other countries, firmly denouncing chauvinist slogans from labor leaders, mobilizing in our workplace and in the streets against U.S. intervention throughout the world, and understanding the international nature of our struggle against inflation.
Because we cannot count on even the most left-wing elements of the Democratic Party or the union bureaucracies connected to the party, we need leaders from our class who put forward an internationalist, anti-imperialist perspective in the U.S. labor movement. Since the two parties of capital are also parties of imperialism and war, the United States needs a working class party that is firmly anti-imperialist and seeks to unite our struggle with workers around the world, especially countries targeted by the United States.
Without such a party or internationalist perspective in the domestic class struggle, it is likely that U.S. imperialism will remain emboldened and take ever more aggressive, destructive actions. However, the weaknesses of the regime are there. It is the task of workers and the Left to use the crises of capital and the weakness of U.S. imperialism to our advantage.
It’s starting, Bill Gates announces the next pandemic date and outbreak location
Medvedev: “World teetering on brink of World War III . . . Nuclear Catastrophe”
Russia’s former president and current deputy chair of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote a lengthy article for Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, in which he summarized his thoughts on how the year 2022 has changed the world order forever.
“The only thing that stops our enemies today is the understanding that Russia will be guided by [the doctrine] on nuclear deterrence. And if there is a real threat, we will act,” Medvedev wrote in his article published on Sunday night – noting that in such a grim scenario there will be nobody left to argue about whether that was “a retaliatory strike or a preventive one.”
“Therefore, the Western world is balancing between a burning desire to maximally humiliate, dismember and destroy Russia, on the one hand, and the desire to avoid a nuclear apocalypse, on the other,” he explained.
Until Russia receives the security guarantees it has demanded, the world “will continue to teeter on the brink of World War III and nuclear catastrophe,” Medvedev wrote, noting that Moscow is doing and will continue to do “everything we can to prevent it.”
Last December, Russia presented a list of security proposals to the US and NATO, among other things urging the West to impose a ban on Ukraine entering the military bloc, while insisting that NATO should retreat to its borders of 1997, before it began to expand.
After the US and NATO flatly refused, saying they would only be interested in limited strategic arms control talks, it became obvious that Moscow has “no one to talk to and nothing to negotiate about” with the West, Medvedev argued. And when in February “Ukrainian junkies announced their desire to revive their nuclear arsenal,” Moscow had no other choice but to act, he added.
“Our world has changed, forever. And the main question remains… what kind of future begins today?” Medvedev wrote.
“New disarmament agreements are currently unrealistic and unnecessary,” the Russian official reiterated. “The sooner the guarantees of maximum security that suit our country are received, the sooner the situation will normalize.”
Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow is willing to discuss the subject of security guarantees again, if the West is serious about it, but until then, Russia will continue to respond appropriately to any further NATO expansion. Since the conflict in Ukraine escalated in February, the bloc has moved to welcome Sweden and Finland into its ranks, though the expansion has yet to be finalized.
I suppose that this is a fitting way to end the year. 2022 has been a year of war, plagues, natural disasters, shortages and severe economic troubles, but up until this month we had not been able to add “an apocalyptic winter storm” to the list yet.
Unfortunately, what we have just been through over the last week definitely qualifies. A “monster storm” that covered almost the entire country at one point brought blizzard conditions to much of the U.S. over the past several days. Temperatures dipped down to minus 50 degrees in some areas, and extremely high winds and heavy snow combined to create truly nightmarish conditions in certain cities. For example, we are being told that this was the “most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long storied history”…
“We had to send specialized rescue crews to go get the rescuers,” Poloncarz told “CNN This Morning” Monday, adding it was the worst storm he could remember. “It was just horrendous, and it was horrendous for 24 hours in a row.”
“We’re used to snow here, we can handle snow,” he said. “But with the wind, the blinding views – it was complete whiteouts – and the extreme cold, it was some of the worst conditions that any of us have ever seen.”
The storm has drawn widespread comparisons to Buffalo’s famous blizzard of 1977. Poloncarz said in Monday’s news conference the current storm’s “ferocity … was worse than the blizzard of ’77.” And in a news conference Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called this storm the “most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long storied history.”
Buffalo has had a lot of really bad storms over the years.
But this one takes the cake.
According to a local news report, Buffalo has already received about 4 feet of snow, and snow is going to continue to fall until the middle of the day on Tuesday…
The blizzard began Friday, dumping nearly 4 feet of snow in the Buffalo area and making many roads impassable.
The snow is still falling. Some parts of the county could see another 8 to 12 inches by 1 p.m. Tuesday.
I have never seen anything quite like this.
Of course I have been using that phrase a lot lately.
So far, at least 27 people have been killed by the storm in Erie County, and the overall national death toll from the storm is up to 55.
But both of those numbers will inevitably go much higher because right now there are countless drivers stranded in their vehicles on highways all over the United States.
What part of “don’t drive during this storm” did people not understand?
Many others are without power and are slowly freezing as they find themselves trapped inside their own homes by colossal mountains of snow.
Those that are in need of rescue could use our prayers right about now.
Sadly, it seems like whenever there is some sort of a major natural disaster in this country there are hordes of looters ready to take advantage of it.
Videos posted online show brazen thieves taking advantage of the chaos, trudging over mounds of snow to get into abandoned storefronts — like a Dollar General where shelves were overturned and items were scattered across the ground.
Residents filmed some of the thieves as they entered the store and left with handfuls of items like paper towels and toilet paper, as one shameless woman even posted a Facebook Live of her and her friends grabbing items from the store.
Others were filmed hauling televisions out of stores, and security footage caught one man breaking the glass of a liquor store door, where he allegedly stole $500 worth of goods.
Zero Hedge has posted lots of videos of the vicious looting, and those videos are prime examples of just how far we have fallen as a society.
As I have said so many times before, the thin veneer of civilization that we all depend upon on a daily basis is rapidly disappearing.
If a truly horrific long-term disaster were to erupt that causes law and order to break down on a widespread basis, we will devolve into a “Mad Max society” very quickly.
Speaking of crime, someone just attacked four more electrical substations in Washington state…
Thousands of homes were left in the dark after four electrical substations in western Washington were vandalized on Christmas Day, local authorities said on Sunday, adding that it was unknown if the incidents were connected.
The attacks on Sunday cut power to more than 14,000 utility customers in south Pierce County, near Tacoma, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.
The burglaries were reported at two substations belonging to Tacoma Public Utilities and two belonging to Puget Sound Energy.
In a previous article, I discussed the fact that the number of these attacks has reached an all-time record high this year, and they are happening all over the nation.
Utility companies are going to have to start hiring 24 hour security to guard their equipment, because this is a problem that isn’t going to go away.
And that will mean even higher utility bills for all of us.
I truly wish that our society was not coming apart at the seams all around us.
But this is where we are at, and denying reality is not going to make things any better.
So why is our society in such bad shape?
And why do so many bad things keep happening to us?
The end of the year is often a time of self-reflection for individuals, and it should also be a time of self-reflection for our nation as a whole.
Because if we stay on the path that we are currently on, the pain that we will experience in the years ahead will be far more severe than what we have been through already.
Good decisions lead to good consequences.
And bad decisions lead to bad consequences.
Wake up America, because time is quickly slipping away.
Why do so many people like China?
Comment from Stewart Morgan. -MM
I’ve lived here for 6 years, and yes, I do love China. Please recognize that ALL my comments reflect that of a foreigner in China – not natives. Here are my top reasons why I (and my wife) love living in China:
#1 – The people are great and the friendliest I have known in my world travels and international residencies. And, people are HAPPY!
#2 – The food is fantastic, fresh, and incredibly cheap! I especially enjoy buying fresh produce, at least 10 types of mushrooms at about 10% of USA prices. Our average precooked takeout 3 course dinner is around $3.00-$4.50 per person. Sometimes it is only about $2.00 per person (again, this is for fresh pre-cooked takeout, not for making our own dinner!).
#3 – There is no violent crime in Beijing, a city of 22 million people. Our teenage daughter attending high school here could be out until 2AM with friends, doing karaoke or whatnot, and we had no worries for her safety!
#4 – Incredible public transportation. Never need a car. My occasional city bus ride costs $.15! The high speed inter-city trains are amazing! This weekend I’m travelling by train from downtown Beijing to downtown Hefei – 1,000 KM by fast train – 4Hrs23Min. You could never make that time by plane!
#5 – The career opportunities are excellent, with salaries comparable or higher than the USA while cost of living is about 35% the cost of the USA. That’s why Chinese are able to save – not because they are so frugal! And, no age discrimination in employment!!
#6 – Vibrant, lively, and endlessly entertaining. Even after 6 years, walking down our street in Beijing is like attending “Cirque du Soleil.”
#7 – Thousands years old and ultra modern Art, culture, history, architecture – FANTASTIC!!
UKRAINE ATTACKS AIR BASE DEEP INSIDE RUSSIA – AGAIN
As of 10:00 PM eastern US time on Christmas Day (December 25) reports are flooding intel circuits saying Ukraine launched a Kamikaze Drone attack upon Russia’s ENGELS Air Base. This base is home of 121st & 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiments.
One TU-95MS Heavy Bomber is reported completely destroyed.
Ukraine used a long-range Kamikaze drone (modified Tu-141 reconnaissance drone) to carry out the attack.
The base is shown on the scalable map below so readers can see how far into Russia the attack took place:
Below is an image of a memo from the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Fellow) to the U.S. Inspector General, outlining that the SARS-CoV-2 is “. . . American-made” — that it’s origin documents have been “concealed,” that Masks and mRNA “don’t work very well” and that “curative” early treatments, were kept secret.
This content is for subscribers and is behind a paywall.
4 scenes that prove Pikey Mickey is Brad Pitt’s best role
Massive Troop and Armor Movements Begin in Belarus – New Combat Designation: “K”
As of 7:12 AM EST here in the USA, troops in Belarus are now on the move toward Ukraine and their tanks and other vehicles bear a new combat group designation: “K”
Word coming out of the region suggests (but does not confirm) that a new invasion of Ukraine will commence on (western) Christmas Day, December 25-into-26.
It is worth noting — in that part of the world, people do not celebrate Christmas on December 25, they celebrate Orthodox Christmas in early January. So what is a solemn and holy day for us in the west, is not yet that same holy day for them.
New Combat Designation K large
It has been speculated for weeks that Russia had been massing troops in Belarus to launch a second offensive into Ukraine, in the areas near the Poland Border, so as to cut-off NATO supplies coming into Ukraine.
Whether or not a secondary invasion will take place, it seems clear from images and information coming out of Belarus, that at least _something_ big seems to be taking place right now.
Convoys of military troops and armor are on the move. Whatever this is, could prove decisive in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine Special Military Operation.
If these troops move southward from Belarus, they would enter northwestern Ukraine in perfect position to halt weapons shipments from Poland.
In a rather unusual early-morning statement, the Russian Ambassador to the USA said early Friday morning “The risk of a clash between Russia and the USA is now high.”
Why a statement like that would be issued so early in the morning is not yet clear. It is, however, unusual.
Chicken Soup and Homemade Noodles
“This is a wonderful homemade chicken soup with a light delicate flavor. My kids LOVE the chewy homemade noodles but you can use egg noodles to save time. This recipe takes time to prepare, but it’s worth the effort!”
In a 5 qt Dutch oven, combine chicken and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Now is a good time to mix the noodles.
Basic Noodles: Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup and level off. In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; blend well. Make a well in the center. Add water, oil, and egg. Gradually work the flour into the liquid to form a dough. On a floured surface, knead the dough 2-3 minutes. Wrap the dough in a plastic bag and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Once the chicken has simmered 15 minutes, skim off any scum that has risen to the surface. Add bouillon cubes, 1/2 cup onion, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Simmer an additional 35 to 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Remove chicken from the broth to remove the meat from the bones; cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Skim the fat from the broth. Return chicken to the pot. Stir in celery, carrots, and 1/4 cup onion. Simmer 15 minutes or until the carrots are tender crisp.
If you are making your own noodles:
While the vegetables are cooking; on a floured surface, roll out the noodle dough as thin as possible keeping the dough in a rectangular shape. Slice the dough into 1/4 inch slices into the length that you want. Hint: fold the rolled dough into thirds and slice through the thickness to save time.
Once the carrots are tender crisp, remove the bay leaf. Bring the soup back to a boil. Drop noodles into boiling soup. Cook uncovered 5 – 10 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.
Enjoy!
2022 12 27 12 24
Why do many Americans think that the economy of China mainly depends on the trade with the Western world?
Are Americans known for their high intelligence?
I’ve been debating them for years in multiple platforms online and my conclusion is that most of them have brain damage.
Now whenever i see someone make a stupid comment online I’ll automatically assume that they’re american, and I’ll be correct 70–80% of the time
You’ll know you’re debating an American when
He ( almost always male) doesnt know anything about the topic, you can see that from his 1st comment.
He’ll call you brainwashed, lol see he doesn’t know anything about the topic but you’re the brainwashed one LoL
He brags about his freedom, especially Freedom of information LoL, see he doesn’t know anything about the topic, he doesn’t bother to google it one bit, then he brags about his freedom of information LoL 😂 even freedom of information doesn’t help when you have a severe brain damage
He thinks that calling someone brainwashed or wumao or CCP shill or whatever ethnic and religious slurs is a valid argument, thia type is pretty common like 50% of them dont even bother to argue they just call names lol 😂
Try Debating them about american domestic issues then everything becomes fake news, CNN is fake news , MSNBC is fake news, fox news is also fake news, NYT, WSJ, ABC, BBC, daily mail every single domestic and foreign media all of them are fake news, LoL then try debating them about China, russia, islam and international stuff then all of those fake news media are now 100% valid news LoL 😂
Suddenly talking about their genitals, this is quite common for american I don’t know why LoL
And lastly severe outdated view of the world, this is perfectly describes by this question, most Americans think that china is dependent on their market, china cant innovate because china is not a democracy, and many other stuff that might be true in early 2000.
Garden war on China.
updated to 12/2022
————————-
1959
CIA to Tibetans You wanna kill some Chinese ?
———————————-
anglophone led white assault on Hans since the days of ENA continues unabated…
—————————————–
Faq
[work in progess]
FUKUS covert/overt wars on China since 1949 with bio war fares highlighted.
[Skipping the Opium wars and ENA]
10 years civil war,
8 years fighting jp invaders.
1950
Korean war forced on a China ravaged by 10 years of civil/defensive war, bioweapons used on NK., Chinese civilians
1955,
CIA/TW attempt at Zhou Enlai’s life airliner with 200+ people onboard plunged into the sea bed of SCS.
1959
CIA/RAW Tibet riot,
CIA recruiter to Tibetans
You wanna kill some Chinese ?
1962
FUKUS instigated Indo./sino war,
1963
CIA funded anti Chinese riots in BaNdung, iNDON.
1965
[CIA/MI6] orchestrated INdon genocide on ethnic Chinese.
2011
21 Killed Before Chinese Bus Burnt Down in Kyrgyzstan
2011
Markets Closed After Chinese Traders Killed In Bishkek kyrg
2011
Kyrgyzstan Chinese-Uigurs Suspected of Consul Killing –
2011
Chinese murdered in angola
2011
Chinese sailors slain in ‘gruesome’ Mekong River murders
9 Thai soldiers charged with killing Chinese sailors subsequently exonerated.
2011
Libya REGIme change,
Tens of thousands Chinese workers forced to evacuate, economic loss hundreds of billions.
2012
Gunmen shot dead 2 Chinese workers in northeast Nigeria, region under assault by radical sect – The Washington Post
2013
Mali terrorism
Russian/Chinese rail executives slaughtered by AQ affiliated terrorists, who left a bunch of juicy gringo unmolested.
2013
TTP aka CIA IN Pak hunted down a group of tourists and executed the Chinese among them, get this….to avenge their bro death at the hand of great satan drone wars !
2013
Bird flu H7N9 hit China, Asia pivot
2014
Sudan balkanised
Chinese operated oil fields jeopardised.
2014
Ebola as pretext to ratchet up militarisation of Aftrica, target China.
2014
Another terrorists attack killed dozens of Hans in Xinjiang, HK riots, Mh370 mass murder, bubonic plague, Ebola, Dengue,
2014
BUbonic plague hit Chinese border town Yumen, barely one year after FUS Bubonic Lab opened in Kazakhstan across the border.
2015
China Demands Answers After 8 Hong Kong Tourists slained in Philippine Bus Hijacking
2015
FUKUS orchested Congo riots against Chinese .
2015
Sri lanka regime change by FUKUSIndia
Chinese investments torpedoed.
2019
CIA ISIS mercs slaughtered 4 Chinese marine engineers in Sri Lanka
2019
HK riots , Xinjiang demonisation, swine flu, army worms, attack on Chinese food chain.
2020
SARS2,[c19] H5N1, locusts, hit China,.
2020
Chinese ambassador to Israel bumped off..
right after Pompass visit to torpedo Chinese investments in Israel
2021
Full spectrum smear campaign over Xinjiang , HK, covid, yellow peril.
FUKUS prepping for
Four fronts attacks at Lakdah, TW Straits, SCS, ECS !
2021 sleepy wily joe turned EU against China, arm twisted LIthuan to switch camp.
SK, Israel forced to join in the UIghur inquisition.
2021
coup in African GUinea,
Chinese investments on infrastructure and minerals in peril.
2021
FUKUSA AKA AUKUS orchestrated another pogrom in Solomon;s China town.
2022
FUKUSA engineered pandemic, lockdown,
fuel and food crisis claimed first sovereign victim in Sri Lanka
anglophone blames it on ‘China debt trap’, WARsj crows ‘our buddy India’s chance to displace China’
2022
FUKUSA AKA AUKUS
TTP and Baloch mercs massacred dozens of Chinese in Pakistan.
2022
Full spectrum provocation in TW straits,
sobs wanna force a Ukraine on the Chinese.
2022
color rev in Mongol, right after the PM visit to Beijing.
2022
Terrorists attack on Chinese in Afghan,
IS [aka CIA] CLAimed credits.
12/2022
2 Chinese workers dead, 5 seriously injured in Jakarta/Banduny railway mishap
foul play cannot be dismissed.
Gwadar port fire: Pakistani oil reserves allegedly blown up by Baloch rebels;
Christmas weekend, and strange things inside of China. We are all on the Coronavirus mend, and a bunch of things moving into place by a crazy insane United States madness. I am going to move the MM site towards new formats, and move away from the “New Beginnings” style, and things are going to be slightly different in the coming year.
Have a great week!
15 Minutes of Ronny Chieng
He has such a great handle on the big social issues. Education. Science. Race. That vaccine bit. “Fuck you we aren’t taking it.” Oh my God! Brilliant!
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said initiatives in Brussels backing a “decoupling” with China are “a huge mistake”, fielding questions at a year-end international press conference on Wednesday, according to a report by news agency MTI.
“We must do everything in the interest of ensuring that economic ties between China and Europe and China and Hungary function as well as possible,” Orbán said, adding that Hungary “firmly backs” cooperation with countries in the East as well as in the West.
He said that China is a producer of “the world’s most modern technologies” and has “know-how that is fresher than what we have”. “Hungary needs that technological knowledge for capabilities and production chains,” he added.
Orbán noted that China and South Korea have alternated as the top foreign investors in Hungary in recent years.
“We not only want [China] to create jobs and value in Hungary, we also want to go to China and invest there,” he said.
Asked if a local campus for China’s Fudan University is still on the agenda, Orbán said Asia is on the rise, and if Hungarians don’t understand the Asian concept of economy, the country won’t be able to cooperate with economies in Asia.
Student Shares Pics From Art Book In Christian College, The Censorship Is Beyond Ridiculous
1 3
Art students at Pensacola Christian College are, according to the college’s website, “equipped to share Christ through the visual arts, music, or dramatic performance.” Fair enough. A rather niche area of study, but each to their own, right?
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Art history features prominently in the curriculum, as students are encouraged to gain a biblically supported understanding of the arts. What a wondrous world awaits the student! Feasting on the fruits of human imagination since the dawn of time, they will learn all about the life and times of some true icons of mankind, from Michelangelo and Da Vinci to Van Gogh, Picasso and Dali. Talk about putting the fun back into fundamentalist Christian schooling!
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However, not is all as it seems. Denial of history is a common tactic among the more hardcore religiously-minded, and while it’s not exactly the Taliban blowing up ancient statues of Buddha in Afghanistan, feeling the need to censor the slightest hint of cleavage on the Mona Lisa is sensitivity bordering on the extreme.
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How are students supposed to learn the history of art when the realities of the times are fastidiously covered up? Someone, somewhere, had the onerous task of ‘clothing’ an entire textbook’s worth of iconic figures deemed too ‘risque’ by the prudish art department, with classical genitals, boobs and bums crudely drawn over in black marker.
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The results are sad for the students, whose worldview is tragically limited by the religious police, but quite hilarious for us, as we see the lengths that some Christians will go to maintain their ideological ‘purity.’
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Pensacola Christian College is located in Pensacola, Florida and was founded in 1974. Their goal is to “train young men and women in higher education for a life of service to Jesus Christ,” and to “promote the cause of Christ by providing a distinctively Christian-traditional, liberal arts education that develops students spiritually, intellectually, morally, culturally, and socially.”
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The school is free to teach as it chooses, but what do you think about this kind of censorship? What do you think that sheltering students from reality like this, hopes to achieve? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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COVID Expert Knows ABSOLUTELY NOTHING About COVID
Macaroni Tomato Soup
“Cheesy Goodness!!! Oh My, is this good! The cheese topping makes this soup! The ingredients make a winning combination for a hearty meal. As a side use crusty bread, ritz crackers or saltine crackers.”
Place onions and browned beef in a large stoup pot with lid. Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, macaroni noodles, worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, brown sugar, salt and water.
Simmer on a low boil covered for 30 minutes until noodles are done.
Place in serving bowls and top with cheese. (Soup must be hot enough to melt cheese.).
Note: A can of diced tomatoes may be used, but the can with the label reading “stewed” is best. Also, noodles may be cooked, then added.
The US: “Yeah, it’s me. We made an appointment for this call. ”
China: “You should not point fingers and challenge our bottom line again and again. We can’t negotiate like this, you knew that’s not working. Our two countries met last time. At least try to make some progress or you’re wasting time here.”
The US: “I only follow the rules I set when I associate with you.”
China: “Huh, the whole world doesn’t want to see that. you had tried and you can’t win.”
The US: “How about this, I’ll keep my way on your Taiwan issue as always, and you’ll sell whatever I want to me as always.”
[China/The US: an embarrassed silence]
[American media: Pretend not to hear all above]
The US: “Oh. At least we should talk something that can be written on newspaper. Good job in environmental protection. We’ll do that too.”
China: “Thanks. We’ll keep it that way.”
The US: “Tell me about Ukraine. Russia is so evil, why don’t you do something with it?”
China: “We are trying to make both sides seek reconciliation in accordance with the United Nations Charter, and not in the mood to make it more troublesome.”
The US: “ We have exaggerated the death toll of China to the American people. We have said that you just had a mess and everyone against you. Cooperate with us so that we can sell you the vaccine.”
China: “sigh…” [hang up the phone]
The US: “Hello? Hello? Damn!”
Are American chip sanctions on China are likely to slow down or will it strangle China in a big way and is China likely to come out of it like sanctions on space technology (ISS) in the form of its own space station just like they have done recently?
Can’t understand why people are still uncertain about it.
China had to do these on its own – develop its nuclear power, its gps and its space program. How long would it take to catch up and produce its own EUV machine?
Will American sanctions “strangle” China? Consider this.
Global semiconductor demand – about 95% – can make do with the 14 nm plus chips. If ever, its a newer and fancier consumer product like a new IPhone delayed. So what? It would really save a lot of people money not to have to “upgrade”.
Semiconductor chips for AI and cloud technologies can actually be designed and produced using alternative technology – like photonics – that are more powerful and energy efficient. Who knows, experts have been claiming current semiconductor technology and Moore’s Law will be reaching its limit within this decade, China might just be able to develop the next generation semiconductor platform to replace silicon wafers. Several alternative materials – like graphene polymer composites – can be integrated into a range of photonic systems. They are exploring all these while also working on replicating a EUV machine.
Advanced chips denied to China military. So what? They’re not competing to overtake the U.S. military. The PLA can make do with the larger chips in the meantime and still be competitive. It’s the U.S. that is trying to catch up – in hypersonic missiles and satellite technology.
Consider this also. China denied the U.S. request to participate in its space program. They can do the same to all the U.S., Taiwanese, Japanese and Dutch companies who may want to be included when China has its own self sufficient semiconductor ecosystem. All these should be happening within this decade.
Who’s willing to bet against this?
China, Russia hold joint military drill in East China Sea
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The naval forces of China and Russia have launched a one-week joint exercise off the coast of the Chinese Zhejiang Province in the East China Sea.
“This joint exercise is directed at demonstrating the determination and capability of the two sides to jointly respond to maritime security threats… and further deepen the China-Russia comprehensive new-era strategic partnership of coordination,” China’s Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said in a short statement posted on Monday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement also posted on Monday that the warships involved in the joint naval exercise included the Varyag missile cruiser, the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer, and two corvette-class ships of Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
The ministry added that the Chinese side would deploy several of its surface warships, plus a submarine to take part in the joint naval exercise.
In addition, military aircraft from both sides will be taking part in the joint exercise from Wednesday until next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, China and Russia have stepped up joint military exercises as part of their aligning of foreign policies to oppose the US hegemony. Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had placed its focus on developing relations with Beijing.
Amid the recent tensions between Beijing and Washington over the US’ political and military interference in Taipei, Russia strongly backed China.
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, described the friendship between the two as having “no limits,” Washington has become more vigilant about the relations between Beijing and Moscow.
The Biden administration has been sending heavy weaponry to Ukraine and shared military intelligence with the embattled government in Kiev since war began in the country, despite warnings by Moscow against US interference.
TERROR ATTACK on Nord Stream pipeline EXPOSED
Is it legal for American COVID vaccine companies to sell vaccines to mainland China? The Chinese vaccine looks ineffective.
The fact speaks the truth.
The covid death rate in Vietnam is 436 per million population while the covid death rate in Cambodia is 178 per million population.
Vietnam and Cambodia are located next to each other. Vietnam practically has used 100% American vaccines while Cambodia used practically 100% Sinovac.
As a side note, the US used American vaccines plus American freedom. And that’s why the covid death rate in the US is 3318. Awesome!
How do you interpret the Chinese government’s decision to limit the number of foreign reporters in the country?
Kanthaswamy Balasubramaniam
A Few days ago something happened in Beijing
Reporter Brett Sutton of Bloomberg wrote a News Article
“Beijing slowly goes back to Normal amidst Covid 19 concerns”
He mentioned clearly that Beijing was going back to normal, Malls were slowly filling up and the People were starting to have a feel of the Pre Pandemic days
The Article was uploaded at 10:43 PM IST (1:13 AM China)
Then BOOM at 4:53 AM IST (7:23 AM China) – the Article disappeared
I searched a lot but it vanished.
Then i realized the Article was still there but the Headline had changed
“Beijing stuck in Rut as Crematoriums and Hospitals flooded”
It was edited by some person sitting in USA (or in the West)
The body of the news was virtually the same but the English text was so subtly modified that a positive news article became a negative one.
Brett had said
The Head of Epidemiology said that they were optimistic about the lower severity of the disease and the far lower hospitalizations compared to the Shanghai outbreak that China managed to contan by breaking the chain of transmission
This was completely deleted
Brett had said
The Crematoriums were working at full capacity owing to a severe staff shortage. The Average waiting time was almost 6 hours compared to less than 90 minutes in the Pre Pandemic Days
Thus clearly demonstrating that the Crematoriums were full because of Staff Shortage and not due to extra deaths
This as modified to
The Crematoriums are working at full capacity and it now takes 6 Hours for a family to finish the formalities due to the place being overrun with families mourning their dead.
Now implying that there were lots of Bodies cleverly bypassing the staff shortage
Finally Brett spoke to someone who was identified by name who said
We were prepared for a wave of infections. We had been warned that it would rise to a peak before it would end and we are ready. We are satisfied with the response with the Government and the Fever Clinics have proved very useful. I am just glad we are going bakc to normal at last.
Instead this was deleted and an unknown Source that “did not wish to be named said”
We are scared and worried about the Efficacy of our Vaccines and that we may never go back to normal again. We dont know how many are dying everyday.
Now the Censors Office decided to Summon Brett to their offices and asked him for an explanation
How is it that an Article that you upload at 1 AM changes so dramatically by 7 AM?
The Reporter looked genuinely embarrassed and said –
The Editors are changing the news!!! They are modifying everything off site
Thus Brett who is on the ground and writes reality is being phased out and his article is openly being manipulated into lies by some people in US who want to shape the news as per their narrative
Their Excuse – China is a Authoritarian Nation and is intimidating everyone and hiding stats
Next Question
Who is this Unnamed Source? Produce the Sound Byte File please or the Video please
There was no Unnamed Source and no Sound Byte
That’s how bad things are
The Western Media is SO VICIOUS that they are ignoring whatever comes from their own reporters back in China
The Excuses they make is that the reporters in China are being intimidated or even worse – that anyone who says he is relieved that the lockdowns are ending – is subject to brutal CPC oppression
How can you fight against such an Enemy?
They will write whatever lies they want to and they will ignore all the truth citing some bogus excuse
So China decided to remove them in large numbers
In 12 Provinces – they have limited the Foreign Pasport Holding Reporters to only 20 maximum and have given a deadline to all Western Outlets and other Outlets to produce a list of these “reporters” by 30 December 2022.
Life in China is optimistic today but as cases rise , you don’t want liars who keep making up propaganda all the time
Whatever number China gives is a Lie
whatever positive a Chinese says is because of Intimidation
Negative news is cooked up without Accountability
So best option is to ensure cast iron censorship and expel the reporters completely and control real news
Its the only way to fight these people
Of course you have a better way – the Hebdo Charlie way but China is too dignified to go about the more efficient route that our Religious Fundamentalists follow.
Rodney Dangerfield Has Dom DeLuise Rolling On the Floor Laughing (1974)
What is the likely outcome of the US advanced semiconductor ban to the PRC?
Most people in the US have no idea what’s really going on here, other than what they see in the news — and depending on your political ideology and what your sources of news might be, for sure that’s going to be colored.
Background
The US runs a continuous political game on its citizens in which the world is painted as zero sum, and there have to be winners and losers, and by god we’re going to win and anyone standing between us and victory is The Enemy. And this is completely side-of-aisle agnostic – D, R, X – doesn’t matter. It’s the game. It’s part of the giant distraction that keeps people from looking around and saying “hold on there… how did things get to this state??”
I digress. And yet, not.
China? They’ve got their own agenda. And it’s not completely inscrutable despite what other may say. It’s pretty easy to find the core thesis document — America Against America. You can find it in dead tree or e-book editions, and it’s required reading to understand China’s view on the US. The author, Wang Huang, really wanted to understand the US and man, did he do a deep dive. It’s slightly dated, as most of the footwork was done in the late 80s, but the core? Solid.
Don’t read this if you actually believe that America is the greatest country in the history of the world. And don’t read it if you are not amenable to taking on serious volumes of disconfirmatory information that will make you question well, everything.
What they’re doing with that? Well…. that’s not completely clear. But they are not playing the same game we are — I talk about this a lot, the US and EU and Russia play chess, proxy for “kill the king”, and China plays Go, which is “surround and absorb”. Different modalities, different timelines, and it looks like you’re losing until that final move when you drop one stone and turn the entire board.
Then we’ve got a classic case of “Law of Large Numbers”. If you think that the US has a lock on genius talent, think again. There are about 331M people in the US; there are about 1.4B people in China. If you want to believe that the statistical distribution of “genius” is uniform, which is a solid bet, then China will have 4x more of them than the US; if that terrifies you and you want to stand on “quality of education” then you’re even more fucked because China outperforms the US in math and science education, and is at even levels with reading and social sciences.
Summary: there are more really smart people in China and they’re better educated, and that’s just table stakes. China is objectively planning for the future; the US is objectively playing games to preserve the glories of the past.
Taxes and Greed and Policy, Oh My!
If you press rewind to the 1970s, China is mostly lower level manufacturing and a lot of agriculture, and the US is sending men to the moon. The difference is stark.
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Shenzhen 1970 vs 2020. My. That’s.. different. That’s approximately NYC 1870 to 2020. How?
Well… China has a planned economy, not pure communism. It’s fine for certain people to take ideas and run with them, with the support of the government, and even make a shit ton of money doing it — as long as you’re coloring inside the lines. (Look at Jack Ma, for example)
They also don’t have a governing body that’s perpetually trying to spend money in ways that makes money for the people that are paying the elected officials to be elected. So when someone says “we should have better houses and more cars” then levers get pushed and if you’re favored, you can get government backed loans to build apartment buildings and car factories and fly to Europe and hit partnership deals with major global manufacturers… Same with power systems, and improvements to agriculture and transportation…. if a need is recognized, the appropriate division of the government more or less points and grunts and says “make it so” and steps back, providing funding and encouragement to those who are successful and compliant and well… not that to those who are not.
Here, if we determined that we were by god going to rectify the mistakes of the past and create safe nuclear power… for starters there would a giant “yes we are” / “no we aren’t” political fight, which means nothing could happen for a long time until enough “pork” was packaged to mollify the supporters of the objectors. And then we’d have un-ending lawsuits by others who objected. And then we’d have regulators changing the rules which increased the costs which would lead to massive budget over-runs at at about 2x original price and 5x the original timeline the annual appropriations bill would fail and that would be that.
Kind of a huge advantage, no? To China.
Technology
Do you remember these?
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circa 1960, super cheaply made, badly designed transistor radios from Japan were one of the hot ticket items for teens and young professionals – you could listen to the radio station you wanted, using an earpiece, rather than whatever was being played in the room you were in. Cheap injection molded plastic, shitty construction, the post-WW2 zeitgeist was “cheap Japanese junk”…. which, by the 1980s had turned into this
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That’s a Nakamichi Dragon, one of the most sophisticated and precise cassette tape units ever made. About a thousand bucks in 1982 money, there’s still and active market and pristine units are pushing $10k.
How did “Japenese electronics” to from $2 three transistor radios to THAT? (And if you don’t like that example, feel free to substitute say a Honda N600 for an Acura NSX, etc)
China was largely, from the US perspective, cheap manufacturing, once the market shifted in Japan. If you wanted to make high volume electronics, and you didn’t want to do that in a union shop in the US, with US EPA regulations and the like… you needed to find someplace else. China saw an opportunity – strategically – and said “How about we fund some factories to build things?”
By the mid-1980s, the path was set. However, there was still institutionalized distrust of China as a partner — and largely well founded. The trademark and patent protections that US companies could count on in most of the rest of the world were largely non-existent, and you “just knew” when you sent products for manufacture in China that they’d be copied and someone else would be making all the money from selling those copies besides you.
The US figured out that it was strategic to try to fix this, and by 2001 China had joined the WPO and it was at least theoretically possible to protect your IP in China, with appropriate levels of effort (and cash). Going to 2005 and the “Great Wall of Patents” position paper, the US policy shifted again, and we decided to openly license just a metric fuck ton of IP to China, or Chinese companies via the central government, as further inducement for them really get their shit together.
There’s a popular view that China “stole” a ton of IP – the reality is that most of it was a gift. Now, mind you — there remains a bunch of industrial (and possibly state) espionage for acquiring trade secrets, but frankly not disproportionate to that happening elsewhere (note: I’ve never had IP stolen by a Chinese company but I can’t say the same about Silicon Valley)
Anyway. As part of a free interchange of IP, and a ton of government support (which can look like “we need to build a 5nm fab” or “we need housing for 2.4M assembly line workers” or “it would be ever so spiffy if kids could do differential calculus by at 13”), China has progressed.
As of this writing, Chinese companies are right at the top in nearly all fields of endeavor in engineering and technology and manufacturing — and in some cases, we can’t catch them they’re so far ahead BECAUSE WE PAID THEM TO DO THAT.
Chips
Arguably, the best chips are from New Mexico and parts of Mexico where the zey mays blue corn is most easily grown. Oh. Damn. I’m thinking about food again. BRB.
Better. As I was saying, the tippy-top leading edge chip fabricatation is in the US and Taiwan. And the leading chip architectures and designs are in the US and the UK.
Apple: chip architecture is ARM (UK), the Mx and Ax chips are designed in California, and the TSMC fabs are in Taiwan. For now.
Samsung: ARM architecture, captive CPU design, captive fabs — but they may be in China as well as Korea.
Huawei: Let’s look at the P30, “phone of the year” in 2019 before the festivities started… ARM Cortex architecture, CPU Kirin 980 captive design, captive fab. And weirdly, the phone was mostly made in Japan(!)
So when the Trump administration decided to “get tough” on China, and cut off key chips from Qualcomm and licenses for ARM chipsets and the like… what would you guess the Chinese response might be? “Ohhhse noooose, take pity upon us Mr Orange Man!” or…. “Fuck those guys”
Mmmm? Anyone? Bueller?
Yeah. So. With one single highly destabilizing move, designed to inflict maximum pressure on the most valuable ecosystem in both countries, a monster was awakened.
That sort of resource allocation I talked about earlier? The new directives are “we want to be independent of Android” and “we want to have all our electronics use CPU architectures that are not subject to licensure from foreign entities”.
Now, those are big wheels, and it’s going to take a while for them to turn… but they’re turning
China has the current 7th fastest supercomputer on the TOP500, the Sunway TaihuLight, and has been a regular in the top ten for a very long time.
They just demoed a 66-qbit quantum computer, the Zuchongchi 2.1 and a 113 detected photo optical quantum computer, the Jiuzhang 2.0. Assertions are that that Zuchongchi is the current fastest quantum computer in the world.
In late 2021, Huawei officially replaced Android with HarmonyOS, and is actively licensing that to other Chinese phone makers. Fully expect that to kill Android in China other than for export within a year or three.
And on chip front… the Loongson architecture, based on MIPS but in a way that didn’t require licenses. is chugging along. We don’t see too much about it, because they’ve mostly been in non-export items, but just in case — exports are now banned. This is not some upstart either, these chips have been around since 2010.
Summary: they’re going to make their own chips, because we cut them off from the easier, and more economically advantageous path of just buying our chips. That we did it once is proof positive that they can’t afford to rely on the US as a partner because we’re clearly not. We, on the other hand, throw everything overboard except “how cheap can it be made and how much can we jack profits up as a result”
Conclusion
At this point the ship has sailed. China will apply much more cash and infinitely more focus to solving the problem of educating the smart people they have (which will then be better educated as well as more numerous than our smart people) and it will be like the US sourced chips never existed by the second turn of the technology wheel.
There will be some Qualcomm and Intel kicking around until they die, but there will be no more ARM architecture chips made except to sell, and Android will be no more. They’ll still allow import and sale of iPhones, because those are luxury items.
But… note that most of the 5G telecom patents are owned by… wait for it… Huawei. And you can bet that they’re well, well into the 6G stuff too. And the “xG” designation only matters insofar as you dance the dance with the ITU… and China *might* just decide to tell those guys to go fuck themselves too and not include their patents in the Standard Essentials Patents package but still litigate for infringement (sidebar: right now if I had to litigate a patent for infringement my number one choice of venue would be Germany, and number two would be China — never would have guessed that 20 years ago!)
So.
We have — by playing chest-beating glory-seeking no-one-ever-beats’-Murica heros over here have created this world in which China DOESN’T TRUST US and the rest of the world is increasingly willing to trust them.
If we’d played this differently and said “you guys pretty much own this precision manufacturing thing and we have a strong lead in innovation, how about we partner?” (sidebar: I was a GP in a fund set to do just that, nuked by the Trump administration rules) then odds are none of this would be happening.
For now? TSMC is going to do a massive, massive lift to start building fabs in Arizona. Foxconn has already made one abortive attempt do do precision manufacturing in the US, and maybe learned something and will be successful the second go-round. Apple is moving manufacturing to India (not a horrible idea in the main since it’s likely cheaper) which is also going to have unforeseen consequences. There’s a massive, massive shuffle – there will be continuing supply chain disruptions, there will be shortages, prices will increase, reliability will go down…
And inside China? The central planners will see all of that as the price of stability. And slowly, they’ll pull away from a US-centric tech world, and create their own, which will expand to their client states, and eventually to Europe which will be even more dependent on them for precision manufacturing.
And I know how this ends. The US has a default state of war – we’ve fought in 12 major wars since 1776. We’ve been at war, major or minor, for 225 years of the 243 years we’ve existed as a country. At some point, some flagwaving asshole will take the G10 extending an offer to China as an act of aggression and then the shooting starts. Maybe it’s over Taiwan. Maybe it’s over oil – I mean Navy bases, yeah that’s it – in the South China Sea.
It’s irrational to expect that the US will not materially decline. We are well under median in almost all the measurable quality of life metrics, and every move the government makes leads to further separation between the haves and have nots, and that trend line leads to authoritarian governments, and well… hey, we’re there, aren’t we?
This chip embargo is just a symptom of a much much bigger issue, and due to not understanding the game that we’re playing, we’ve made it about a thousand times worse for the US than it might have been.
I don’t like giving news like this. And with stuff like this, I don’t like being right. But the track record says… don’t bet against it.
Good luck.
This CONFIRMS everything we thought
What agreements did China and Saudi Arabia sign during President Xi Jinping’s visit to the kingdom?
Oh don’t read too much into that
Those Agreements were signed long ago after constant tireless negotiations between the Saudis and Chinese, various private entities, consultants and public officials.
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There was no actual signing and there never is any actual signing of business documents between two Heads of State or Government.
The Two leaders formally ratify such agreements with a blanket boilerplate “Friendship and Economic Agreement” or any other name where both sides agree that they won’t interfere in the businesses and would support expansion of business in such areas
Here are a list of Ratified Agreements:-
Establishing a Revolving Fund of 75 Billion RMB in Saudi Arabia into three Chinese owned Banks
Signing a CNY 205 Billion ($ 29.3 Billion) contract to integrate the Huawei 5G Cloud with Saudi Public Infrastructure in Six Cities
Establishing the first Yuan (RMB) – Riyal exchange in Four Cities in China and in Saudi Arabia to the limit of all Imports
Agreeing to procurement of stakes between 1.3% to 8% in various Saudi entities by Chinese entities
Extending of the Railways contract by 5 years, now expiring in 2028 and agreeing to a new CNY 7.86 Billion ($ 1.15 Billion) in building two new Railway networks
Agreeing to China providing Cutting Edge Agriculture Technology to cultivate food in a 100 Sq Kilometre area using Laboratory cultivation , Saudi agreeing to invest CNY 4.2 Billion ($ 600 Million)
China guaranteeing a minimum procurement of 240 Million Barrels of Saudi Crude every 12 months , which is 65% of the output of the Jedaiyah Oilfields
China guaranteeing import of a minimum of $ 24 Billion of Petrochemicals from Saudi Arabia, which is around 60% of Chinas market – cutting off Germany & India by more than 25% each.
As I said, these agreements were inked and agreed to long ago (At least 6 months) and were only formally ratified.
Additionally China and Saudi leader each formally acknowledged offers made by the commerce entities in both nations which if agreed to in principle by both Governments could be ratified without another visit being required
These included
Saudi willing to price Oil in Yuan in exchange for a 30 Year Agreement valued at CNY 3 Trillion ($ 450 Billion)
China offering Saudi Arabia a direct export license for Missiles, Choppers and Air Defence which means Saudi simply has to place an order and doesnt need to get any approval from the Chinese Ministry of Defense
All in all – it was an excellent deal
Proof U.S. Government Is 100% Corrupt!
This is hilarious.
The US threatening to go ‘full Tonto on the WTO that it set up to scalp the World but now threatens it for rejecting its Exceptional claims.
‘The US has become a saboteur of the multilateral trading system, a manipulator of double standards in industrial policies, a disruptor of global industrial and supply chains, and a master of unilateral bullying. It must pay for these mistakes. ‘
‘China on Thursday urged the US to respect a WTO panel ruling that rejected a US’ origin labelling requirement on products from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Admonishing the US against politicizing trade issues, China crystallized its stance on upholding a rules-based multilateral trade system.
The ruling, the second in half a month in favor of the Chinese side, debunks a rule-breaking US that has indulged itself in the exploitation of national security claims to put its selfishness above universally adopted principles, experts said. ‘
‘since mid-November 2020, the US has required that all Hong Kong-origin items to be imported to the US may no longer be labelled as originating in “Hong Kong”, but must instead be relabelled to indicate “China”. ‘
‘The latest ruling showed that the WTO panel apparently doesn’t support the US argument that the relabelling was necessary to protect its essential security interests, and offered a good precedent to fend off US’ abuse of national security in other cases’
I love to see an Empire in the Fall phase of Decline, doublingdown
The Grim Truth Behind The Massacre of 20,000 Roman Soldiers
Russia, China carry out joint air patrol in Asia-Pacific amid tensions with West
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Russian and Chinese air forces have carried out joint military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Russian defense ministry, demonstrating closer defense ties in the face of increasingly hostile West.
In a statement on Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry said warplanes of both countries conducted patrols over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea for eight hours in drills that kicked off earlier in the day.
“The Russian Air Force and the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army of China conducted another joint air patrol in the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement read, saying Russian strategic missile carriers TU-95 and Chinese Xian H-6 strategic bomber jets participated in the drills.
The ministry also said the Russian and Chinese strategic bombers made cross landings at airfields of both countries for the first time in their joint aerial patrols.
“For the first time in the history of air patrols, Russian planes landed in the people’s Republic of China, and Chinese aircraft landed on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
According to the ministry, Russia’s Su-30SM and Su-35S fighter jets “provided fighter support for the air task force.”
It said the joint drills were conducted as part of the 2022 military cooperation plan and that they were not directed against any third country.
In a statement by China’s Defense Ministry, Wednesday’s patrols were described as a “routine” part of an annual cooperation plan between the two militaries.
Also on Wednesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had scrambled fighter jets as Chinese and Russian warplanes purportedly entered its air defense zone. The aircraft, however, did not violate South Korea’s airspace, the JCS said.
An air defense identification zone (ADIZ) is the airspace of a country plus an additional wider area over land and water in which a country tries to identify, locate, and control any civil aircraft in the interest of its national security. They are declared unilaterally by each country and are not recognized by any international treaty.
Russia and China have carried out several other drills in recent years, including naval exercises in the Sea of Japan and East China Sea. Last year, Russian troops deployed to Chinese territory for maneuvers for the first time.
Monty Python Anticipated Woke Culture 40 YEARS AGO!
Easy Shepherd’s Pie
“My wife had lunch over at a friend’s house the other day and she served this recipe. My wife is still raving about it. I guess now I have to make it. Supposedly it came from a magazine.”
I’m still on the mend. It’s a long slow haul. Please enjoy today’s installment.
Is China an overrated superpower?
China is a highly underrated superpower because it hides every capability it had in lined with its Confucian humility and its Sun Tzu art of war.
The west needs to factor in between double to multiple times it’s capability and weapons availability and capability at the very least and prepare for a thousand surprises waiting for you.
I can confirm that if the U.S. is foolish in Taiwan, China will damaged the U.S. beyond recognition and redemption.
Crock Pot Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells
“I love the spinach in these shells. It makes a good hearty meal.”
It's a little lame, but some things need to be said. eh? -MM
As a parent, few situations can be more frustrating than going out to eat. You want to visit a restaurant and enjoy a peaceful meal with your family, but it can be difficult to do so if the kids aren’t into the menu options or the restaurant frowns upon rowdiness. Finding a restaurant specializing in family dining is key to enjoying your eating experience with the kids.
Although some establishments may feature a children’s menu, these are not necessarily family restaurants. Family dining establishments have specific features that set them apart from other restaurants.
Family Dining: What You Should Expect
Kid-Friendly Menu Options
It’s no secret that kids are picky eaters, and while you may be excited about a chef’s special risotto or sea bass, your child may not share the same enthusiasm. A family restaurant understands these distinctions and tries to meet the needs of parents and kids alike with a full children’s menu. Kid’s menus typically include finger foods and kid-approved options, such as chicken fingers, mac and cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Pricing Specials
A restaurant encouraging family dining will feature pricing specials meant to attract families. These specials vary but commonly include discounted or free meals for kids with the purchase of two adult meals, or a fixed price kid’s menu, including an entree, dessert, and beverage.
Varied Seating Options
One of the most difficult aspects of eating out as a family is figuring out the seating arrangements. If you have small children, you may need a high chair or space for your stroller. With older kids, you want your table situated in an area where your children won’t bother other guests. A family restaurant should accommodate all of your needs without a hassle.
Friendly Staff
Staff members who work in family dining should have a cheerful, pleasant demeanor. You can expect them to be friendly with children and understanding of spills or noisy children.
Welcoming Atmosphere
Overall, a family restaurant should have an inviting atmosphere. If you feel out of place or as though your family is inconveniencing the restaurant, it’s not the family dining experience you’re looking for.
“Oh SH*T, Putin WARNS of direct clash with U.S., NATO readies forces
Wonderful artwork
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Do black cats typically have light grey fur on their nose and mouth area?
Every BLACK cat I have met is black on the nose and the lips. Black as the night from nose to tail.
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Wonderful artwork
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In difficult times of the war we have mastered to perfection the art of survival, to feed the family with almost nothing. In practice, it looked something like this: make a pie from scratch, mayonnaise without eggs, patty without meat … It seemed impossible, but we succeeded, so there are many people who are in the tasting of these specialties have said that they are not much different from the original.
Perhaps it was really so, or it was just another comfort of the struggling, those who were forced to survive on its own way.
Recipes for pies, pastries, sandwiches, patties, you will not find in either the cook or the web sites of culinary advice. These were dishes often made of unknown ingredients, made of nothing, cooked on the stove handmade which initially igniting the wood, and later by a newspaper, at the end by books and wooden furniture.
A special recipe and a story which goes with it I wish to share with you.
I remember as it was yesterday. I got a pumpkin from the mother’s neighbor and kept it for a special dinner At that time pumpkin was great wealth for us. Women could make a real specialty of pumpkin with additions almost nothing, if they had a little imagination and skill.
Well I’ve decided that this a special dinner be just today, when the husband brought from work a package of humanitarian aid that is received instead of salary. There was anything special in the package. It was quite common foods that have been previously treated with all employees in his company: a little flour, a little oil, milk powder, … but also ONE EGG that brought him the colleague who lives in the countryside and has hens. At that time hen eggs were extremely valued because they were not. Only individuals in the country have had the privilege, and keep them for exchange. For one egg they could get min 2 kg of flour.
With a smile on my face, happy because we get humanitarian aid and we will not be hungry at least a few days, and in addition I have a pumpkin that will serve me to this dinner be festive, I exclaimed:
”Today we eat STEAKS!”
Everyone laughed and thought that I rave, and I took to clean the pumpkin. Secretly, that other inmates do not see what I was doing, I was preparing festive dinner.
First I cleaned the pumpkin cut up in very small pieces – planing by plane. After that I added egg, some domestic Vegeta (which I made from carrots and parsley from my mother’s garden, with the addition of corn flour and a pinch of salt), some flour and two bowls of finely sliced onions. I’ve all composed to get a compact mass, and then I created tablespoon steak an fried them in a very small amount of oil. Oil was a luxury at the beginning of the war too, and later even greater because there was no way and we meals made on the water. All the houses smell of. The smell of steaks felt in our stairwell too, and I was almost ashamed that neighbors do not think that we eat meat, but they did not see it for months, let alone eat.
My family, husband and our two daughters, sat at the dining room table covered with colorful plastic oilcloth, just like a real happy family in American film. Thanksgiving Day, they would say. In front of them porcelain plates and meal service. I have joined them with a full dish and saying:
”STEAKS!”
Steaks smelled heavenly. While I put down a dish on the table I said:
”Come on, bring it.”
The older daughter was first consumed and she said:
”It really smells like meat! Where did you get it?!”
The husband looked puzzled, while the younger daughter greedily devoured steaks, and then he added with laughing:
”Are steaks of beef or of veal?”
”It’s really good, isn’t it? What do you say?”
I asked, delighted that I was able to cheer them at least in this way. They did not have to give me answers. Their faces with a smile talked me enough.
However, they could not continue to eat not to say:
”Good, good … ” – they confirmed and continued to empty a dish.
We laughed crazy, each of us with own piece of steakwithout meat in the mouth.
Everything was the same, taste, smell, color, only the meat was gone. It was the best family dinner ever.
–END–
Why does the American government hate Tictok?
Watch this movie…
CGTN Exclusive: UK’s secret betrayal, repatriation of Chinese sailors after WWII
After the British used the Chinese merchants in their war effort, they sailed them to the middle of the ocean, put them in long boats and sailed away. No one knows what happened to these hundreds of thousands of Chinese sailors. Did they make it to other countries, or did they perish?
Karma is going to come swift and hard.
But why isn’t this event well known in the West?
Did CIA Director William Casey really say, “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false”?
Ex-DCI Bill Casey’s quote was attributed online as reported only by Mae Brussell, and so, I bounced it off Barbara Honegger because I knew she worked for Mae B back in the day, and here’s what I got on the ACTUAL SOURCE (talk about luck! – I extracted actual email addresses):
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Barbara Honegger
Date: Sun, Sep 21, 2014 at 11:19 PM
Subject: Re: Conference on THE WARREN REPORT AND THE
JFK ASSASSINATION : FIVE DECADES OF
SIGNIFICANT DISCLOSURES
To: Greg Smith
I told Mae about it when we worked together …
On Sun, Sep 21, 2014 at 10:32 PM, Greg Smith wrote:
Thanks Barbara! That’s priceless. The web attributes it to Mae B only, and therefore, it’s discounted in chat and group conversations on social media. You might want to give it better street cred? Your call!
On Sep 21, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Barbara Honegger wrote:
> Seriously — I personally was the Source
> for that William Casey quote. He said it
> at an early Feb. 1981 meeting in the
> Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of
> the White House which I attended, and
> I immediately told my close friend and
> political godmother Senior White House
> Correspondent Sarah McClendon, who
> then went public with it without naming
> the source …
> On Sat, Sep 20, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Greg Smith wrote:
>
> Love to, but can’t break away. I’ll definitely get the DVD for future very intense scrutiny! On that note, in the words of the infamous William J. Casey, “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”
> On Sep 17, 2014, at 1:25 AM, Barbara Honegger wrote:
>> I’m going to try to go to the historic conference.
>> Please try to as well…
>> Barbara
>> On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 8:34 PM, Jerry Policoff wrote:
>> Re: Conference on THE WARREN REPORT AND THE
>> JFK ASSASSINATION : FIVE DECADES OF
>> SIGNIFICANT DISCLOSURES
Everyone’s Just Trying to Make It in the World
When someone shares too-private information on Instagram in the search for likes. When someone does any kind of dance on TikTok.
When someone excitedly joins a multi-level marketing scheme. When someone swears they’re turning over a new leaf for the sixth time in as many years.
When someone acts like they’re the first person to discover the arguments for atheism. When someone falls down a conspiracy-theory rabbit hole.
When someone marries a red-flag-waving trainwreck. When someone breaks up with a partner who’s perfect for them.
When someone responds to a small setback with tears or rage.
At such times, it’s hard not to cringe, slap your forehead, and wonder, “Geez, why would they do that?!”
At such times, when your cynicism about humanity deepens and your desire to stay connected to loved ones slackens, there’s a mantra — worth regularly repeating — that will help you cultivate greater patience and empathy for others (and more compassion for your own history of cringeworthy moments too).
“Everyone’s just trying to make it in the world.”
Everyone’s born naked and ignorant and never given an entire guidebook to what lies ahead.
Everyone’s seeking to get their needs met without always knowing how to go about it.
Everyone’s yearning to be liked, recognized, and desired.
Everyone’s struggling to accept that no one will ever love them as much as they love themselves.
Everyone’s harboring some childhood insecurity.
Everyone’s worried they’re exactly as uncool as they imagine themselves to be while staring at the ceiling at night.
Everyone’s starving for significance and hungry for joy.
Everyone’s creating hedges against the fear that it’s all meaningless.
Everyone’s striving to make it count while protecting a heart that’s tenderer than they’ll ever let on.
Everyone’s looking for home.
Everyone’s in need of a little grace.
Everyone’s just trying to make it in the world.
Wonderful artwork
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Live Life Drunk
There is evidence for the production of alcohol which dates back more than 11,000 years.
Humans invented booze before they invented metal, agriculture, or the wheel.
This speaks to a fact that has been true from antiquity right up until the present: life is hard. So much so, that we have ever had a desperate need for something to take the edge off.
Rather than fleeing from this truth, denying it, then fulfilling it with guilt, we ought to wholeheartedly embrace it. We ought to, in fact, seek to live as much of life drunk as possible.
Not on alcohol, as incessant inebriation breeds numerous problems that need not be detailed.
But on the many other things in life that create a stimulating, emotion-heightening, inhibition-reducing, confidence-inspiring buzz, and yet leave us healthier, happier, and better able to shoulder the existential pressures of the age.
Intoxicating is the experience of an engrossing, laughter-filled conversation; of romantic love both new and well-seasoned; of music that is transportive and transcendent. Powerful is the high of awakening one’s body from its sedentary slumber and putting it through the heart-pounding, lung-filling paces. Enlivening is the feeling of having a purpose, of knowing exactly who you are and where you’re going.
Humans’ millennia-long history of seeking, tweaking, using, and abusing every mind-altering substance under the sun, tells us that the question is not whether people can deal with the oppressively heavy yet achingly empty weight of unmediated reality, but what they will choose for their sanity-preserving buffer; not whether you should get drunk, but what from.
So daily drink up from the truly good stuff; get thoroughly sotted on friendship and love, art and beauty, exercise and action; for he who is able to endure life’s most difficult burdens, is he who gets thoroughly intoxicated on its most dizzying joys.
15 Facts Which Prove That A Massive Economic Meltdown Is Already Happening Right Now
Economic conditions just keep getting worse. As we prepare to enter 2023, we find ourselves in a high inflation environment at the same time that economic activity is really slowing down. And just like we witnessed in 2008, employers are conducting mass layoffs as a horrifying housing crash sweeps across the nation. Those that have been waiting for the U.S. economy to implode can stop waiting, because an economic implosion has officially arrived. The following are 15 facts that prove that a massive economic meltdown is already happening right now…
#8 Even the biggest names on Wall Street are starting to let workers go. In fact, it is being reported that Goldman Sachs will soon lay off approximately 4,000 employees.
#9 The Federal Reserve is admitting that the number of actual jobs in the United States has been overstated by over a million.
#10 U.S. job cuts were 417 percent higher in November than they were during the same month a year ago.
#11 A recent Wall Street Journal survey found that approximately two-thirds of all Americans expect the economy to get even worse next year.
#12 A newly released Bloomberg survey has discovered that 70 percent of U.S. economists believe that a recession is coming in 2023.
#13 Inflation continues to spiral wildly out of control. At this point, a head of lettuce now costs 11 dollars at one grocery store in California.
#14 Overall, vegetable prices in the United States are more than 80 percent higher than they were at this same time last year.
#15 Thanks to the rapidly rising cost of living, 63 percent of the U.S. population is now living paycheck to paycheck.
In a desperate attempt to get inflation under control, the Federal Reserve has been dramatically increasing interest rates.
Those interest rate hikes are what has caused the housing market to crash, but Fed officials insist that such short-term pain is necessary in order to tame inflation.
But meanwhile our politicians in Washington are busy creating more inflation by borrowing and spending money at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented in our entire history.
This week, an abominable 1.7 trillion dollar omnibus spending bill is being rammed through Congress, but not a single member of Congress has read it.
The bill is 4,155 pages long, and U.S. Senator Rand Paul just held a press briefing during which he wheeled it out on a trolley…
After the grossly bloated $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending bill advanced in the Senate by a vote of 70-25, GOP Senator Rand Paul held a press briefing during which he wheeled in the “abomination” on a trolley and demanded to know how anyone would be able to read it before the end of the week.
Paul, along with the only other dissenting Senate Republicans Mike Braun, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, and Rick Scott highlighted how ludicrous the fast tracking of the bill has been.
Unfortunately, this absurd spending bill has broad support on both sides of the aisle, and that just shows how broken Washington has become.
Our system of government has failed time after time, and our politicians continue to spend money on some of the most ridiculous things imaginable.
The following examples that were pulled out of the 1.7 trillion dollar omnibus spending bill were discovered by the Heritage Foundation…
-$1.2 million for “LGBTQIA+ Pride Centers”
-$1.2 million for “services for DACA recipients” (aka helping illegal aliens with taxpayer funds) at San Diego Community College.
-$477k for the Equity Institute in RI to indoctrinate teachers with “antiracism virtual labs.”
-$1 million for Zora’s House in Ohio, a “coworking and community space” for “women and gender-expansive people of color.”
-$3 million for the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City.
-$3.6 million for a Michelle Obama Trail in Georgia.
-$750k for the for “LGBT and Gender Non-Conforming housing” in Albany, New York.
-$856k for the “LGBT Center” in New York.
And have you noticed that our politicians often prefer to push these types of bills through just before major holidays when hardly anyone is paying attention?
No matter who we send to Washington, the story remains the same.
As long as our politicians are borrowing and spending trillions of dollars that we do not have, Fed officials won’t be able to win their war against inflation.
The Fed can send interest rates into the stratosphere, but inflation will continue to remain high because our politicians insist on showering the nation with giant mountains of cash.
We should all be deeply, deeply offended by what is happening, but most Americans simply do not know enough to care.
Of course things could have turned out much differently if we had made better decisions during the years leading up to this crisis.
Unfortunately, we have run out of time to change course, and that means that a tremendous amount of pain is ahead for all of us.
Wonderful artwork
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Death Of Nuclear Deal With Iran Adds To Biden’s Failures In U.S. Foreign Policy
When the Biden administration came into office it had promised to reenter into the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran. Under Trump the U.S. had left the deal and had reissued sanctions against Iran. Tehran followed up by increasing its enrichment capabilities and by accumulating more enriched Uranium.
It would have been easy for Biden to immediately eliminate the sanctions and to rejoin the deal. Iran would surely have followed up by returning to the enrichment levels the deal allows for.
But Biden bungled the issue. For months nothing happened. Then he send negotiators to Iran who demanded additional concessions by Iran while offering less sanction relief. Iran rejected that. It demanded that Biden guarantees that the U.S. would stick to the deal under future administrations. The negotiations were drawn out and made little progress.
The European Union, which is part of the JCPOA deal, finally wrote a compromise draft agreement which was submitted to the Iranian negotiators in Vienna. Iran made some small changes to the draft and send it back. The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell publicly said that Iran’s changes were “reasonable” and that he hoped for a quick U.S. agreement to the draft. But the Biden administration, which worried about the midterm elections, called the Iranian changes “not constructive” and rejected the draft agreement.
Meanwhile old accusation were re-raised over alleged finds of radioactive substances at two places that had never been part of Iran’s civil nuclear program. U.S. intelligence agrees that Iran never had a military nuclear program though it allegedly once studied how one could be set up. The IAEA demanded that Iran explains how the substances got there. Iran says it does not know. Further IAEA inspection demands were rejected and IAEA inspections of some elements of Iran’s enrichment facilities were limited.
The Biden administration had thought that, under sanction pressure, Iran would eventually succumb to its demands. That was a rather stupid miscalculation. The revolutionary Iran is not a country that succumbs to pressure.
Iran is still ready for a deal but Biden has given up:
President Biden said on the sidelines of a Nov. 4 election rally that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is “dead,” but stressed the U.S. won’t formally announce it, according to a new video that surfaced on social media late Monday.Why it matters: It’s the strongest confirmation so far that the Biden administration believes there’s no path forward for the Iran deal, which leaves key questions about the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.
In late October, U.S. envoy for Iran Rob Malley said that the administration is not going to “waste time” on trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal at this time considering Tehran’s crackdown on protesters, Iranian support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Iran’s positions on its nuclear program.
Driving the news: Biden made the remark in a short conversation with a woman who attended an election rally in Oceanside, California.
The woman asked Biden to announce that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran deal is formally known, is dead.
Biden responded that he would not “for a lot of reasons.”
But then he added: “It is dead, but we are not gonna announce it. Long story.”
The woman replied that the Iranian regime doesn’t represent the people. “I know they don’t represent you. But they will have a nuclear weapon that they’ll represent,” he said.
What they’re saying: “The JCPOA is not our focus right now. It’s not on the agenda,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson told Axios.
“We don’t see a deal coming together anytime soon,” the spokesperson said, pointing to Iran’s crackdown on protesters and support for Russia in the war in Ukraine. “Our focus is on practical ways to confront them in these areas.”
The U.S. has supported the protests and arranged for the attacks on Iranian security personnel by armed ethnic Kurd and Baloch insurgents. It is the U.S. that had kept up the sanctions up. It is the U.S. that pushed the IAEA to investigate the old unfounded claims. Iran is free to sell and buy arms to and from whomever it wants.
If the U.S. really wants ‘practical ways to confront Iran’ over any of those issues it will have to fight against Iran. Without the JCPOA deal there will also be more pressure on Biden and whoever follows him to go to all out war against Iran. But Iran is well protected and its missiles can hurt a lot of U.S. installations and friends in the region. A war would likely end with huge damage to Iran and a U.S. retreat from the Middle East.
Iran will continue to increase its civil nuclear capabilities. But it is unlikely to start a military program to build nuclear weapons. Its religious leaders have decided that weapons of mass destruction are against their religious duties and beliefs.
President Obama had invested quite a lot to get the JCPOA done. One wonders what he thinks of Biden’s decision to not resurrect but to destroy his signature foreign policy achievement.
For other countries the U.S. behavior towards the nuclear deal demonstrates again that the U.S. is not-agreement-capable. That alone is already a huge failure for U.S. foreign policy.
Posted by b on December 20, 2022 at 17:47 UTC | Permalink
Breakfast Burritos
“These burritos are not just for breakfast, they are a great anytime snack, if you desire, these could be fully prepared, and stored in the fridge….just make sure to bake them 10-15 minutes longer, or they may be frozen, just thaw them before baking.”
Very curious. Only a few weeks after the announcement of the latest United States stealth bomber. Very interesting. What a coincidence! -MM
B 2 Crash WhitemanAFB Missouri large
The entire fleet of about twenty B-2 “Spirit” stealth heavy bomber aircraft has been GROUNDED INDEFINITELY by the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command, after a B-2 suffered an in-flight emergency, then had a “mishap” upon landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, shown above.
Not only is the U.S. Air Force’s entire fleet of B-2 Spirits grounded, and the sole runway at their home base remains closed after one of the stealth bombers had a malfunction while flying and was forced to make an emergency landing Dec. 10.
The head of Global Strike Command, Gen. Timothy Ray, directed the “safety pause” to inspect the fleet after the incident, Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio of Bomb Wing Public Affairs told Defense One in an email.
“At this time, there is no speculated end date for the safety pause. Every incident is unique and we are currently evaluating what went wrong and how we can mitigate future risk. We will resume normal operations once a safety investigation has been concluded,” Del Vecchio said.
Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri “manages and employs” the Air Force’s B-2s. Its runway has been closed since the emergency landing; Del Vecchio said teams are “working around the clock” to get it reopened.
A Friday press release from the 509th Bomb Wing alluded to the stand-down, announcing that B-1B Lancer bombers would take the place of B-2s in the Rose Bowl and Rose Bowl Parade flyovers.
“Our No. 1 concern is the safety and security of our personnel and fleet,” the 509th bomber wing’s commander, Col. Daniel Diehl, said in that release. “Although we are not participating in this flyover, we remain steadfast in our commitment to answer our nation’s call.”
The B-2 is the U.S. military’s only stealthy nuclear-capable heavy bomber. The Air Force also operates several dozen nuclear-capable B-52 heavy bombers.
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Wonderful artwork
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What is your opinion? China fired back at Canada on Saturday for criticising Beijing’s national security law for Hong Kong, the second rebuke in a week that has added to strains of their bilateral ties. Do you support Canada’s democracy or China?
USA: China, look man, your recent security law about Hong Kong makes me displeased. I think you owe me an explanation.
China: Umm …US yes. Of course. Of course. Talking about that, how’s BLM going? Read in the papers there’s a lot of rioting and violence going on.
USA: Yah, whatever man. We’d handle it by ourselves. Don’t want your interference. Can we get back to the Hong Kong issue?
China: Oh yes, about that. Read there are cases of violent sexual abuse and even murder in the USA military which are willfully ignored by the seniors. I mean … Lavena Johnson’s case. Quite disturbing, really, on a purely humanitarian basis. What are you doing to solve these critical issues?
USA: I thought we were talking about Hong Kong security bill here! Why do you keep veering off topic?!
China: What? About that. Oh yes. I know where you’re coming from. It’s totally un-democratic and brutal to not respect the desires of a region and ruthlessly impose federal authority over it, right?
USA: Absolutely! That’s my man! So I was saying, we need to sort out that issue. I and UK and Canada here will review your bill and make sure it’s completely transparent and democratic. We good?
China (smiling): Totally bro. Totally! So yes. Heard the northern states beat the shit out of southern states during your civil war and refused them the right of secession. But since it was brave you, it must be completely authentic and de-Mock-rat-ic, right?
USA (visibly agitated): Goddamnit! I swear I’m going to punch you in the teeth right now. It’s bloody you we have to probe, not me. Not any white country at all for that matter!
UK (with a snobbish smug): It’s not about individual achichewds, gentlemen. It’s about the principles and standawds.
China (chuckling): Of course. Of course. So, I was just wondering. Did you grant freedom to Ireland? Or is it still a land of ire?
UK (thumping the desk angrily): That, sir, is MY PHEHSONAL, INTERNAL ISSUE AND I’M AFWAID I DON’T NEED YOUR ADVOICE ON IT, MY GOOD MAN!!
China: Exactly. That’s what I was saying.
Wonderful artwork
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Russia Moving Trainloads into Belarus: S-400, Iskander Missiles, 70+ Tanks
After yesterday’s meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a first in more than 3.5 years, there are noticeable developments. No surprise given that Putin was accompanied by Defense Minister Shoigu, Foreign Minister Lavrov and Kremlin Press Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Attendees from world media outlets took notice at exactly who was in the Russian entourage; the three top men from the Russian government and a rare foreign trip by the top Kremlin spokesman as well. There hasn’t been this level of high-ranking Russian officials to any single foreign meeting since . . . the Cold War.
Today, videos began emerging of trains carrying heavy armor into Belarus from Russia.
To sum this up, within the last 48 hours, Russia has sent AT LEAST 73 additional tanks by trains into Belarus, plus at least 20 Infantry Fighting Vehicles moving southward in Belarus toward Ukraine, and added S-400 air defense missiles and Iskander hypersonic missiles in Belarus near Ukraine.
Retired American colonel: Russia is stronger than all NATO countries combined
US Retired Colonel James W. McConnell is confident that Russia’s military tactics in Ukraine is “just what the doctor ordered.”
"The Russians have begun to destroy the Ukrainian lines of communications — the power grid, bridges, roads and railroads — without which Ukraine's forces can't be resupplied.
Once the destruction of the lines of communication is completed, Russia's army, particularly its extensive artillery, will present Ukrainian forces with the unpleasant reality that they are vastly outgunned and outnumbered,"
James W. McConnell, former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives wrote in an article published on the website of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
The degree of “unpleasant reality” will depend on how far Russia wants to move west, he believes. The most likely option is that the Russians will want to take at least Nikolaev and Odessa regions in addition to the four regions that Russia) has already taken (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions).
When Moscow achieves these goals, NATO will find itself in a difficult situation, in which the alliance will have to either recognize the victory of Russia, or engage in battle with the Russians, the retired colonel wrote in the article.
The North Atlantic Alliance, despite its undoubted military power, has very little chance of winning the war with Russia.
In support of his opinion — quite unexpected for a career US Air Force officer — McConnell admits:
Russia is the world leader in terms of air defense technology.
Russia’s S-400 air defense system is considered to be the world’s best system of this class. Turkey, a NATO member, has such systems at its disposal, but Russia has already modernized them to S-500. Moreover, S-500 systems have already been deployed at critical facilities in Russia.
Russia is five years ahead of the US in the field of hypersonic missile technology.
The United States is defenseless against Russian missiles that travel at hypersonic speeds and are capable of maneuvring during the flight path. The US is still at the stage of hypersonic tests, whereas Russia has already fielded four different hypersonic missiles from its existing families of missile systems — Kinzhal, Kalibr, Iskander and Zircon, let alone the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle.
"Should NATO enter a war with Russia, the US Navy's carrier task force in the Ionian Sea is an obvious Russian target. How can it successfully defend itself against Russia's simultaneous and probably massive hypersonic and conventional missile attack?" McConnell wonders."Should the Russians sink a carrier task force, Taiwan would, for example, have to rethink any illusions it has about the US coming to its aid in a conflict with China and become far more amenable to a soft conquest similar to the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong," he continues.
Pentagon spends too much
McConnell admits that building new aircraft carriers is impossible as “building capable and survivable modern warships is a complex and time consuming process.”
Strangely enough, it is 850 army bases that the USA maintains around the world that have crippled America’s combat capability:
“Boots on the ground give the US influence of a sort the Navy can’t match and are essential to those who see the US as the world’s policeman. Inexcusably, the cost of these bases and the extended (and counterproductive) efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and now Ukraine, have come at the expense of the Navy and America’s defense,” James W. McConnell wrote.
Based on the above, he concluded:
"For the last twenty years, the Russians and the Chinese have sought to strengthen their armed forces while America's leadership has, on a bipartisan basis, been obsessed with the Middle East. As a result, a persuasive argument suggests the US is no longer unbeatable."
Hal Turner Editorial Opinion
Given the remarks of the Colonel above, and the facts reported in the story above that, whatever is coming, is not going to be small.
Will NATO burst-forth and get involved? Who knows?
Will POLAND go off on its own and enter Ukraine on its own? Unknown.
Whatever happens, it appears it will begin quite soon.
All the latest details on tonight’s Hal Turner Radio Show starting at 9:00 PM eastern US time tonight. Click the LISTEN ONLINE links in the menu bar above to tune-in free.
Wonderful artwork
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Wait! They’re admitting the CRAZY TRUTH in this new spending bill
Stop Living Life “Paycheck to Paycheck”
In the realm of personal finance, living “paycheck to paycheck” means that you’re able to just cover your expenses with the money you have coming in, but never save or invest beyond that.
It’s an unfortunate positon to be in financially, and it also describes well the way in which many people live life in general.
When you metaphorically live life “paycheck to paycheck,” you do just enough each week to maintain your current existence. You take care of the urgent and outstanding tasks the neglect of which would disrupt the status quo, but you never take action on things that would improve and progress your situation. You thus remain stuck wherever you are.
Changing this pattern — tackling the proverbial project of “getting one’s life together” — can seem overwhelming. But it needn’t be. All it takes is completing one single to-do — one single task that moves your life forward, even slightly — each week.
Make the doctor’s appointment; choose a workout program; turn off notifications on your phone; send the job inquiry email; order underwear; text the invitation; find a recipe; take the pants to a tailor; replace the lightbulb.
Accomplishing just one task a week may not seem like much, until you realize that at the end of the year, you’ll have moved your life forward in 52 ways. That’s far better than living “paycheck to paycheck”; not only will these small-but-consistent steps put a little something away for you in “savings,” their accumulation will also garner interest, reaping dividends as the weeks become years, and the years become decades.
Russia Takes New Steps To Secures Its Western Border
With NATO expanding and increasing its bellicosity Russia needed to react. One move is the integration Belarus into its defense sphere. The other is an increase of its military force to cover new threats towards its northwest.
Belarus seems to be a small country when compared to Russia.
belru1 s
But its actually of pretty decent sized country, with roughly 500 kilometer (300 miles) diameter from border to border. It has well established heavy industries and some interesting commodities like potash. Its population of 9.5 million people is highly educated. For Russia it is an important buffer state and the supply route to its enclave around Kaliningrad.
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In June of 2020 we saw the first signs of a U.S. engineered ‘color revolution’ in Belarus. At the beginning of August the protests took off. But just two weeks later the attempt to overthrow the long term leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, was ended. Russia had come to the rescue of the Belorussian government after it had agreed to finally implement the Union State:
In 1999 Russia and Belarus signed a treaty to form a Union State out of Russia and Belarus. It would include free movement, a common defense and economic integration as well as a union parliament. But since then Lukashenko has dragged his feet on the issue. At the end of the last year Putin pressed him again to finally execute the deal. When Lukashenko rejected that Putin shut off the country’s economic lifeline from Russia. Belarus did no longer receive subsidized Russian oil that it could refine and sell at market prices to the ‘west’. Lukashenko then tried to make nice with the ‘west’. He bought U.S. fracking oil. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Minsk. In March the U.S. reopened its embassy in Belarus.
But now the ‘west’ which Lukashenko had tried to coddle with is trying to get him killed. Every U.S. embassy is also a U.S. regime change base. He would have been better off without one.
As he was the target of an ongoing U.S. led regime change operation, and with economic pressure in direct sight, Lukashenko obviously needed help. Today he finally wised up and capitulated to Moscow on the Union State issue.
Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the initiative of the Belarusian side.Alexander Lukashenko informed Vladimir Putin about the developments following the presidential election in Belarus. Both sides expressed confidence that all existing problems will be settled soon. The main thing is to prevent destructive forces from using these problems to cause damage to mutually beneficial relations of the two countries within the Union State.
In connection with the return to Russia of 32 people who were previously detained in Belarus, a positive assessment was given to close cooperation of the relevant agencies in this regard.
They also agreed on further regular contacts at various levels, and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening allied relations, which fully meets the core interests of the fraternal nations of Russia and Belarus.
It seems to me that Putin accepted the deal. Lukashenko, and his police, will not hang from a pole. Russia will take care of the problem and the Union State will finally be established.
That does not mean that the color revolution attempt is over. The U.S. and its lackey Poland will not just pack up and leave. But with the full backing from Russia assured, Lukashenko can take the necessary steps to end the riots.
Since then there have been several meetings between Lukashenko and Putin and important parts of Union State agreement have been implemented. Two days ago the latest summit took place in Minsk. In a press conference both leaders empathized their economic cooperation but also mentioned defense issues. With the war in Ukraine ongoing and potential NATO involvement these have become increasingly important.
Belarus has received a number of high end weapon systems and, as Putin announced, will also soon be able to use Russian nukes:
I would like to remind you that, as part of the consistent implementation of the Russia-Belarus military doctrine, we work on joint military planning and have an operational Russia-Belarus regional force grouping. Our countries’ divisions and military units currently undergo coordination training in Belarus. We have created a joint air defence system that is already on combat duty. We have agreed to continue taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of our countries, prioritising training of the troops, improving their combat readiness and continuing the practice of regular joint exercise and other operational and combat training events, mutual supplies of essential weapons and producing new military equipment together.I believe it is also possible to continue implementing President Lukashenko’s proposal on training the Belarusian Army combat aircraft crews that have been re-equipped for potential use of air-launched ammunition with special warheads. I want to stress that this form of cooperation is not our invention. For example, the United States have conducted similar activities with their NATO allies for decades. These coordinated measures are extremely important in view of the tensions at the external borders of the Union State.
Lukashenko was a bit more specific:
A special thank you, and not just on my behalf or on the part of the military, for fulfilling your promise. Today, an S-400 complex you transferred to Belarus was put on combat duty. Even more importantly, we received an Iskander complex you promised us six months ago.You have just raised a very sensitive issue, approaching it with great caution. However, you were right to note that we were not the ones who started it. I am talking about training our air force crews in handling special weapons and special warheads. I must tell you that we have prepared our aircraft. It turns out we have had these planes since the Soviet era. We tested them in the Russian Federation and are now working with the Russians to train our crews to pilot planes carrying special warheads. By doing so we are not threatening anyone. I have informed you on several occasions, including during our meetings in St Petersburg, Moscow and in Sochi, that we have major concerns regarding what you call tension along the borders of the Union State, primarily in the West. We felt the need to ensure the security of the Belarusian state. You have made a resolute and very important step to support Belarus. Once again, thank you very much.
Belarus is now protected by a first class long range air defense system, the S-400. It has medium range precision strike capabilities due to Iskander missiles. The air and ground forces of the two militaries are now under a common command. Belorussian planes will soon be able to use nuclear armed missiles and cruise missiles against NATO ground targets.
The Belorussian military is quite small. Its army has only 40,000 soldiers of which less then half are potential frontline units. This is one reason why Belarus is unlikely to join the war in Ukraine. It has long borders with NATO countries that need protection and, without activating reservists, the number of troops it has are barely enough for that purpose. But an Iskander missile fired from Belarus can cover all of Poland which is now NATO’s main concentration area for an eventual escalation.
With Russia now backing it Belarus can feel secure. To Russia the Union State means that it has secured an additional 500 kilometer of buffer zone between NATO borders and Moscow.
The move will be welcome in Russia but it does not solve all of Russia’s NATO problems. The entering of Sweden and Finland into the U.S. proxy organization has created new ones. It is the reason why the Russian Minister of Defense today announced a significant expansion of the Russian military:
During a Russian Defense Ministry meeting on Wednesday, Shoigu proposed a number of measures to strengthen the security of the Russian Federation, including creating a special grouping of troops on the country’s northwestern border and expanding Russia’s armed forces to amount to 1.5 million servicemen in total, with some 695,000 of them being contract soldiers.Shoigu’s comments come as Helsinki and Stockholm have submitted bids to join NATO, citing a perceived threat from Russia in light of its ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
…
Shoigu went on to suggest creating a number of new military groupings, including five new artillery divisions, eight bomber aviation regiments, and one fighter regiment, as well as six army aviation brigades.
Previously the Russian military had about 1 million soldiers. Altogether this is a very significant increase with a lot of punching power. Such a growth of manpower and the acquiring the necessary equipment will take at least five years.
I seriously doubt that NATO will be able to match it.
Posted by b on December 21, 2022 at 17:25 UTC | Permalink
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The U.S. Has Spawned An Entire Generation Of “Kidults” That Simply Refuse To Grow Up
Do you know any adults that still live at home with their parents? If you are like most Americans, you probably know lots of them. Sadly, that is because the percentage of young adults that are living with at least one parent has been trending upwards for decades. Of course the cost of housing is one factor that is driving this phenomenon. At one point in 2022, housing was more unaffordable than it had ever been in the entire history of our country. So the truth is that many of the multi-generational households that exist today have formed due to economic necessity. But in other cases, “kidults” that simply refuse to grow up have moved back home with Mom and Dad because it is easier than trying to live independently.
Thanks to the “kidult” trend, approximately half of all U.S. adults in the 18 to 29-year-old age bracket are currently living with at least one parent…
In July 2022, half of adults ages 18 to 29 were living with one or both of their parents. This was down from a recent peak of 52% in June 2020 but still significantly higher than the share who were living with their parents in 2010 (44% on average that year) or 2000 (38% on average).
The share of adult children who live with their parents has ticked up in recent years. This just in: The parents don’t like it.
A recent Pew survey found two-fifths of dads believe parents hosting adult children is bad for society, while only 12 percent think it’s a good thing. Moms agree, albeit to a lesser degree.
Overall, the Pew survey discovered that Americans have very mixed feelings about this phenomenon…
Over a third of Americans (36%) say that more young adults living with their parents is bad for society, while 16% say it is good for society. Nearly half of Americans (47%) say it doesn’t make a difference.
Of course every story is different.
Some adults are living at home because they just cannot afford homes of their own.
These days, millions of young people graduate from college with massive amounts of debt, and when all of that debt forces them to go back to living with their parents they are referred to as “boomerang kids”.
If you are a young person that has been financially crippled by student loan debt, I certainly don’t blame you for trying to save money so that you can turn your life around.
Ultimately, trying to get out of debt is a really good thing.
But of course there are millions of other young adults that simply refuse to grow up.
In fact, they have become so numerous that the toy industry has created a special term for them. They are called “kidults”, and these days they are spending billions of dollars on toys…
There are two things keeping the toy industry afloat right now: inflation and a consumer group known as “kidults.”
These kids at heart are responsible for one-fourth of all toy sales annually, around $9 billion worth, and are the biggest driver of growth throughout the industry, according to data from the NPD Group.
Have you ever met an adult that has a special room for all of his Star Wars collectibles?
If so, then you probably have a really good idea of the type of person that I am talking about.
Kidults, who tend to spend more on toys, have a great fondness for cartoons, superheroes and collectibles that remind them of their childhood. They buy merchandise such as action figures, Lego sets and dolls that might typically be considered “for kids.” However, in recent years, toy makers have created product lines just for these consumers, realizing that demand is high for this generation of adults who still want to have fun.
I am all for having fun.
But this is getting ridiculous.
Sadly, men are much more likely to be “kidults” than women are.
Needless to say, this is one of the reasons why many women find it so difficult to find someone suitable to marry.
The labor force participation rate for men has been trending down for decades, and meanwhile the labor force participation rate for women has been trending up for decades.
Of course the systematic emasculation of the male population is another reason why this has been happening, but that is a topic for another article.
Once upon a time, it was extremely unusual for an able-bodied male to be doing nothing if he was capable of working.
But now we have millions upon millions of men that have simply dropped out of the labor force completely.
Some of those men are now living with their parents, and that isn’t good for our society.
Unfortunately, as economic conditions deteriorate, even more young adults will move back home with Mom and Dad. According to a Wall Street Journal poll that was just released, approximately two-thirds of Americans believe that “the nation’s economic trajectory is headed in the wrong direction”…
A majority of voters think the economy will be in worse shape in 2023 than it is now and roughly two-thirds say the nation’s economic trajectory is headed in the wrong direction, the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows.
The survey, conducted Dec. 3-7, suggests a recent burst of positive economic news—moderating gas prices and a slowing pace of inflation—haven’t altered the way many feel about the risk of a recession, something many economists have forecast as likely.
The coming year is definitely going to be quite rough, and the outlook for beyond that is even worse.
As the economy crumbles and global events spiral out of control, we are going to need men to be men.
But a lot of the “kidults” out there simply don’t want to be men, and that is extremely unfortunate.
Take a Homeric Bath
One of the things I love about the Iliad and the Odyssey is that I always notice new things when I re-read them.
During my last read-through, the importance of baths in both Homeric works stuck out to me.
In Homer, the bath serves as a ritual in several ways. In both the Iliad and the Odyssey, warriors returning from the battlefield take baths to wash the gore and grime of battle off themselves physically and spiritually. In this instance, the bath serves as a purification ritual.
We see this most dramatically in the Iliad after Odysseus and Diomedes kill the Thracian king Rhesus in a night operation. They return to the Greek camp, jump in the ocean to wash off their sweat, and then get into a brass bathtub for a soak. After lolling about in the tub, they anoint themselves with oil.
The bath also plays a vital role in the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, or xenia.Xenia required that Greeks accept anyone into their home who came a-knocking — including strangers. Before a host could even ask a guest his name or where he was from, he was to offer the stranger food, drink, and a bath. Only after the guest had supped and soaked could the host inquire about his identity.
We particularly see the bath of hospitality in the Odyssey. Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, gets a welcoming bath from Nestor, and Odysseus receives a pleasant and rejuvenating bath from the Phaeacians after he washes up on shore.
The bath is also a ritual of homecoming and transition. When a Homeric hero returns home, the first thing he does is take a bath. The bath becomes a ritual that allows the warrior or adventurer to transition from the public world of effort, danger, and striving to a private world of personal and domestic interests.
What’s interesting about these Homeric homecoming baths is that they’re often scenes where a hero’s true identity is revealed. The bath becomes a way for a man to take off both his literal helmet and his metaphorical mask and show his closest confidants who he really is. The bath allows a Homeric hero to let down his hair and be himself. It makes him vulnerable.
The vulnerability of the homecoming and transition bath didn’t turn out very well for Agamemnon. His wife murdered him while he was taking his return-home soak.
But a hospitality-turned-homecoming bath worked out great for Odysseus. When he returns to Ithaca, he does so in disguise and encounters his wet nurse, Eurycleia. Practicing good xenia, Eurycleia offers the travel-weary stranger a foot bath. While washing Odysseus’ feet, she notices the scar just above his knee that he got while boar hunting and recognizes the stranger for who he really is: her master Odysseus.
We see the bath as a ritual of homecoming and recognition again in the Odyssey after Odysseus slaughters the freeloading suitors in his palace. He takes a bath to clean the blood from his body, but also as a way to transition back into being the head of his household. Robert Fagles’ translation of the Odyssey describes Odysseus’ last bath as follows:
The great-hearted Odysseus was home again at last.
The maid Eurynome bathed him, rubbed him down with oil
and drew around him a royal cape and choice tunic too.
And Athena crowned the man with beauty, head to foot,
made him taller to all eyes, his build more massive,
yes, and down from his brow the great goddess
ran his curls like thick hyacinth clusters
full of blooms. As a master craftsman washes
gold over beaten silver—a man the god of fire
and Queen Athena trained in every fine technique—
and finishes off his latest effort, handsome work . . .
so she lavished splendor over his head and shoulders now.
He stepped from his bath, glistening like a god,
and back he went to the seat that he had left
Bathed and restored to his former glory, Odysseus has his famous reunion with Penelope, in which she recognizes her long-lost husband.
Taking a Homeric Bath as a Ritual of Homecoming and Transition in Your Own Life
We typically think of women taking baths to unwind. But as discussed above, the bath has been used by dudes for millennia to relax and rejuvenate. It’s time we reclaim it, particularly in its Homeric form.
During the workday, we’re elbowing our way through the hustle and bustle of public life. Work requires us to put on figurative armor to deal with the slings and arrows of demanding customers and co-workers and unforeseen mishaps and friction. While only some of us get physically dirty with our work, most of us probably feel a bit of psychological grime on ourselves after a stressful day at the office.
Even though we don’t want to bring that stress home to our families and friends, we often do, as we don’t make a meaningful transition between wearing one hat for our professional roles and donning another in our private ones. This is particularly true for those who work from home; when you go to the office, you at least have the commute as a kind of passage between work life and home life. For those who WFH, the former and latter completely bleed together.
A bath can serve as a pivot point between the two modes of being — a way to wash off the psychological gunk of acting and behaving for others so you can shift into your private self.
After you come home from the office, or after finishing your at-home work day, take a bath before you head into the rest of the evening.
If taking an end-of-the-workday bath is impractical because you’ve got a family who wants your attention as soon as you walk through the door, take your bath after the kids go to bed to mark the transition between the time you dedicate to others and the couple of hours you get to yourself.
If you don’t have time for a daily bath, take one on Friday nights to decompress from the previous days’ stress and mark the transition from the workweek to the weekend.
As far as what a 21st-century Homeric bath looks like, while you probably aren’t in a position to have a maidservant and goddess on hand to soap you up, you can still turn your bath into an intentional, relaxing ritual.
Fill a tub with hot water. Put in some Epsom salts, scented perhaps with lavender or eucalyptus. Light a candle. Decompress.
After soaking for 15 minutes or so, dry off with a nice towel and put on a cozy bathrobe. Anoint yourself with oil . . . or just some Gold Bond lotion.
Slip into some comfortable non-work clothing and go engage in the personal pursuits of your choosing. Hang out with friends. Spend time with family. Work on your hobbies. You’ve sloughed off the garbage of the workaday world and transitioned to private life.
Life’s hard. We got to find ways to decompress and relax. Exercise, meditation, and sleep should all play a role in that restorative process. But don’t forget the Homeric bath.
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The Unvaxxed Are Horrible Drivers! Claims New Study
The USA is truly fucked up!
Impossible to un-fuck-up.
Braciola – Braciole (Italian Stuffed Beef Rolls)
“Wonderful cheese-stuffed beef rolls simmered in pasta sauce. A great Sunday afternoon meal. I serve with a side of pasta and fresh steamed veggies.”
Place a slice of mozzarella on each piece, then top with parmesan, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Roll each piece up tightly and secure with a string.
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet and brown the rolls evenly on each side.
Drop them in your favorite pasta sauce and allow them to simmer for 2 hours or until tender and cooked through. (The meat will add a wonderful flavor to your sauce!).
Remove the strings and serve.
(Alternative: Assemble and brown the beef rolls the night before and store them in the fridge. Then drop the rolls and the sauce in your crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours the next day).
Christmas holiday. Everyone in China is sick, and most are staying at home. I’m throwing up a very simple post today. Still getting better, over the Coronavirus. Please enjoy this post…
Today we are going to watch a bunch of online scammers (why are all of them out in India?) get “owned” by some hackers. You don’t need to watch all of them, but you will learn a lot from this post.
You will learn about organized smash and grabs in California, and Indian scammers getting “owned”.
Destroying SYSTEM32 on a Scammer’s Computer
Pay back time!
Car Thieves vs the Final GlitterBomb 5.0
Check out this FUN video! If there is a video that you should watch today, then this is it. The only difference, that I would advise is to use Cadaverine. This chemical smells like a rotting corpse.
Cadaverine is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)5(NH2)2. Classified as diamine, it is a colorless liquid with an unpleasant odor. It is present in small quantities in living organisms but is often associated with the putrefaction of animal tissue.
We turned this Scammer’s Webcam ON
https://youtu.be/juErRb4tArQ
Entire 𝙎𝘾𝘼𝙈𝙈𝙀𝙍 Call Center Panic dials Police
Scammer BEGS For His Deleted Files As I Drink His Tears
DESTROYING An ENTIRE Scam Call Center!
I Delete Thousands of This Scammers FILES and Share his Location
Beating Scammers at Their Own Game | Super Users
Pranks Destroy Scam Callers- GlitterBomb Payback
Scammer Boss Panics After His Team Gets Hacked
Hacker turns on Scammers Webcam
We told a 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗢𝗦𝗦 we would find him…so we did
One of the common perceptions that I hear from Westerners is that
"...if you commit a crime in China, China will not sentence you. Instead, they will deport you".
And Lordy! That is so angering to me. It is simply not true.
This belief is a holdover from the past when the United States was big, powerful and strong, and it could “look askance” and China would jump. But that was fifty years ago. And anyone still holding on to that ego-driven narrative is simply a fool.
China will arrest you, sentence you, and if it’s about drugs; it will fucking kill you.
From a fan,
China’s People’s War on Drugs
China launched a “People’s War on Drugs” in 2005, appealing to the public for help and offering awards for catching drug traffickers. The campaign was able to squeeze supplies coming from the Golden Triangle but this success was offset by increases in the supply of heroin coming from Afghanistan. In the operation, 46,000 drug suspects were arrested, 6.9 tons of heroin was seized and the cut in overall drug supply caused prices to rise 30 percent to 35 percent. More than 250,000 tips on drug activity were provided by ordinary people.
The number of drug cases handled by police in Yunnan in 2005 was 98,000, an increase of 4.4 percent from 2004. In the same period the number of drug suspects that were arrested increased 5.1 percent to 67,000. Sometimes people offer large sums of money to police to avoid arrest. The police take the money and arrest the people anyway. Other times drug bosses inform on smugglers carrying small amount of drugs so the police can make bust to maintain face while large drug shipments slip through.
China and the United States have teamed up to battle the drug trade. In May 2003, the countries cooperated to completely dismantle the Fujian-based syndicate. Among the 30 people arrested in Asia and the United States were men labeled as “untouchables” because they had long managed to avoid capture.
Wong was nabbed with 77 kilograms of heroin in China. He was executed. The arrest came after a 20 month investigation that included, for the first time on Chinese soil, an undercover operation by U.S. law enforcement people. The agents posed as drug buyers. The evidence they gathered allowed arrests to be made in China and the United States. Beijing and Washington have showed unusual willingness to cooperate on combating the heroin trade in China. In 1996, the F.B.I. opened an office in Beijing at the invitation of China.
Xi Jinping’s Celebrity Drug Crackdown
In June 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that illegal drugs should be wiped out and that offenders would be severely punished. In Beijing alone, more than 7,800 people have been caught in the crackdown two months after the statement was made. Associated Press reported: “A string of celebrities have been among those detained, including Gao Hu, who acted in Zhang Yimou’s 2011 movie “The Flowers of War.”” [Source: Associated Press, August 18, 2014 ^^^]
In August 2014, “forty-two Beijing performing arts associations and theater companies signed a pledge to not hire any actors connected with drugs in an event organized by the capital’s Narcotics Control Office and the Beijing Cultural Bureau. Pi Yijun, an anti-drug adviser for the Beijing government, said authorities were targeting celebrities because “these people have a large number of fans, so their behavior tends to have a huge influence on young people.” ^^^
China Police Use Helicopters in Bust on Massive Drug “Fortress”
Edward Wong wrote in the New York Times’s Sinosphere: “In December 2013, police officers raided the village of Boshe, in Guangdong, to crack down on what they called a “fortress” of methamphetamine manufacturing. The police detained 182 people suspected of being members of drug rings and shut down 77 methamphetamine labs, officials said at the time. The police said that more than a fifth of the 1,700 households in the village made methamphetamine and other drugs for a living. The village’s Communist Party chief was a former drug maker who had become a protector of the drug gangs, the police said. [Source: Edward Wong, Sinosphere, New York Times, July 7, 2015]
In January 2014, Chinese authorities deployed helicopters, speedboats and paramilitary police and seized three tons of methamphetamine in a massive raid on a single southern village notorious for illegal drugs production. Gillian Wong of Associated Press wrote: “Security forces surrounded and then entered the village of Boshe, where more than a fifth of the households were suspected to be involved in or linked to the production and trafficking of drugs, Guangdong province’s police force said on its website. [Source: Gillian Wong, Associated Press, January 3, 2014 ==]
“Police and paramilitary forces from four cities were mobilized in Sunday’s raid and they arrested 182 suspects who worked for 18 large drug-making rings, the statement late Thursday said. No blood was shed, it said. “The village has made a criminal drug production a ‘clan-based, industrialized operation with local protection,'” police said. “The offenders have for a long time been brazenly committing crimes, avoiding investigations and even ganging up to violently oppose law enforcement,” the statement said. ==
“China routinely carries out operations targeting illicit drug rings but it’s unusual for such wide-ranging law enforcement resources to be deployed at once against a single village. An aerial photo posted on the police website showed dozens of police vans parked in rows outside a walled village of densely built old houses with traditional-style peaked, tiled roofs. Another photo showed a helicopter taking off and another one parked nearby. Speedboats were sent to prevent suspects from fleeing the coastal village by sea. ==
The Yangcheng Evening News, a local newspaper, says the raid involved 3,000 police officers who seized 3 tons of methamphetamine in the raid. Photos showed paramilitary officers in camouflage uniforms and holding rifles stood over large boxes filled with large packets of what is presumably crystal meth. The paper said police first captured the village party secretary who allegedly was protecting the drug operations from authorities. Other officials captured included the local police chief and other police officers. The Boshe raid was part of “Operation Thunder,” an ongoing crackdown on illicit drugs in Guangdong that was launched in July and has resulted in the detention of 11,000 suspects and the seizure of eight tons of drugs. ==
“Boshe’s villagers have resisted Chinese authorities for years, blockading the village entrance with motorcycles when word of a raid spread. The villagers would brandish replica AK-47s, lay nail boards on the road and hurl rocks and homemade grenades at officers, said the paper based in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. The provincial police said the city of Lufeng, which Boshe is in, has in the past three years become the source of a third of the country’s total crystal meth supply.” ==
A Chinese drug enforcement officer linked to the Boshe drug trade was arrested with scores of others as part of the raid. Reuters reported: “Thousands of armed police arrested at least 182 people in a dramatic raid on Boshe, Investigators found that a captain of the drug enforcement squad in surrounding Lufeng city, surnamed Guo, was linked to the former Boshe Communist Party secretary Cai Dongjia, who was arrested in the December 29 raid, the influential Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Sunday.
Guo has been subjected to “shuanggui”, a form of detention imposed on party officials suspected of corruption, the paper said without giving further details.
The report said Cai had used his position to obtain information about the police investigation prior to the raid and notified suspects. [Source: Reuters, January 6, 2014]
Drug Seizures in China in the 1990s and 2000s: Heroin No. 1
In 1999, Chinese police seized 34 percent more drugs than in 1998. The seizures included 40 metric tons of heroin, 17 metric tons of opium, 15 metric tons of marijuana, 23 metric tons of methamphetamine and 1,000 metric tons of illegal chemicals, including ephedrine used to make methamphetamine. In comparison the fabled French Connection bust in the 1960s seized only 110 kilograms of heroin.
In the 1990s more heroin was seized in China than any other country. Between 1989 and 1995 the amount of seizures increased tenfold and more than four tons were seized eatch year in the mid 1990s, twice as much as was taken in Thailand.
Around 80 percent of the heroin seizures are in the Yunnan province. In June 2004, Chinese police seized 501 kilograms of heroin in a single bust in the Yunnan Province city of Dali. The drugs were found in the fuel tanks of modified vehicles. They originated in Myanmar and were bound for Hong Kong and east coast Chinese cities where they would be shipped overseas. It was the largest drug seizure that year.
In 2007, Associated Press reported: “Chinese customs officials caught a heroin smuggler after noticing he was wearing “weird sandals, ” state media reported Monday. Xinhua News Agency said a Nigerian was detained last week in Zhuhai, which borders Macau in southern China, after he was caught carrying more than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of heroin. It said attention was drawn to the man because he was “wearing a pair of weird sandals.” “Police X-rayed his suitcase and found another pair of strange sandals in it, ” Xinhua said. The heroin was hidden in the soles of the two pairs of sandals, it said. Xinhua did not describe the sandals. [Source: Associated Press, October 1, 2007]
Drug Seizures in China in the 2010s: Meth No. 1
Julie Makinen wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “Headline-grabbing busts have happened across the country, though many of the biggest cases have been concentrated in southern provinces such as Guangdong. In January 2015, police arrested 28 suspects and seized more than 2.4 tons of solid and solid-liquid meth in a factory near Guangdong’s Lufeng City that was supplying customers in Shanghai. [Source: Julie Makinen, Los Angeles Times, February 16, 2016]
In January 2016, more than 330 pounds of meth and over a ton of raw materials were seized in the Guangdong city of Panyu, with 10 people arrested. A whistle-blower in the case collected a $69,000 reward from the police — showing up for the ceremony in a Spider-Man mask to conceal his identity.
“A substantial share of the production, however, is heading overseas. This week, Australian police announced that they had discovered 50 gallons of liquid methamphetamine being shipped from China concealed in thousands of gel pads inserted into push-up bras. An additional 140 gallons traced to the same network was found among art supplies in warehouses in Sydney. Australian police put the street value of the drugs at $900 million and said it was the largest-ever haul of liquid meth in Australia’s history. Three Hong Kong residents and one mainland Chinese man were arrested in the case.
$180 Million Worth of Meth Hidden in Kayaks Shipped from China
In February 2014, Australian police seized about 180 million Australian dollars ($170 million) worth of methamphetamine hidden inside kayaks shipped from China, officials have said. Associated Press reported: “Five people were arrested in Sydney after customs officials discovered 183 kilograms (403 pounds) of meth last week while inspecting a shipment of kayaks from China, the Australian Federal Police said. Nineteen of 27 kayaks in the shipment had bags of meth stuffed inside the watertight areas of the boats, said Tim Fitzgerald, regional director for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. [Source: Associated Press, February 12, 2014]
“Four of the five people arrested are from Taiwan, and one is from Sydney. Two were charged with attempting to import drugs, and the others were charged with possessing a commercial quantity of drugs. They each face a maximum of life in prison if convicted. Australian officials have made a series of major drug busts in recent months. In October, police seized about AU$200 million worth of meth hidden in the tires of a truck shipped from China.
North Korean Drugs in China
In July 2011, Kyodo reported: “China has begun cracking down on North Korea’s narcotics trade in China along with South Korean intelligence, having seized 60 million U.S. dollars worth of drugs from the North last year, according to a South Korean government source Monday.”It’s only a fraction. The volume of drug trafficking in China will be much greater than that,” the source said. This is the first time for China to unveil the volume of narcotics made in North Korea.” [Source: Kyodo, July 5, 2011]
“Beijing had been reluctant to raise the matter in public though it found Pyongyang’s increased drug trafficking as a threat. China diplomatically protects the North in nuclear issues but started a crackdown with South Korea apparently because it can no longer tolerate the North’s narcotics, which threatened China’s three northeastern provinces bordering the North.”
“The drugs seized by Beijing are said to have the best quality, going beyond the level individuals can produce. So Pyongyang is considered to be manufacturing narcotics on the national level at factories. “China is pretty much pissed off,” a diplomatic source said, adding, “China believes that North Korea’s drug trafficking has grown more serious since last year.” Though Beijing did not specifically mention the North when it stressed a crackdown on drugs, it implied North Korean-made narcotics.”
China Works with Mekong Countries to Crackdown on Methamphetamine
In 2019, AFP reported: Chinese drug police are working with Mekong countries to strike at the heart of a mega-rich meth syndicate, a senior Beijing drugs tsar said, as the region targets top-level drug traffickers instead of street dealers. The porous lawless border areas of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos have for decades been a hub for heroin production, but the so-called “Golden Triangle” drug trade is now pumping unprecedented quantities of synthetic drugs into the global markets — fuelling a $61 billion drug trade.[Source: AFP, November 16, 2019]
In large part responsible for the dramatic shift to synthetic drugs is a mega-cartel known as “Sam Gor”, which UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) believes is Asia’s biggest crime syndicate led by a Chinese-born Canadian citizen named Tse Chi Lop. China is now stepping up efforts with Mekong countries — Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam — to take down Sam Gor in a “joint operation”, said an official from China’s National Narcotics Control Commission. “They are one of the major threats, ” said deputy commissioner Andy Tsang on the sidelines of a Friday meeting to stamp out a regional plan. “The region as a whole, China included, will do our best to hit it where it hurts the most, ” he told AFP, .
“Law enforcement has long focused on busting low-level dealers and users on the streets, a plan that has proved “static” when faced with the shifting trafficking routes used by Sam Gor, said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC’s regional representative for Southeast Asia. Now drug police from the six countries will share intelligence to target traffickers working at border “choke points” where drugs and precursor chemicals flow are rampant, he said. “You can’t engineer the surge of methamphetamine without the surge of chemicals, ” Douglas told AFP, adding that besides China, the chemicals also come from Thailand, Vietnam and India.
“Sam Gor is also believed to launder its billions in drug money out through businesses springing up along the Mekong — including casinos, hotels and real estate. Thailand in 2018 netted more than 515 million yaba tablets, 17 times the amount for the entire Mekong region a decade ago — and seizures this year have already outpaced that amount, said the UNODC. “Drug hauls feature in near daily headlines in the region, with police finding pills packed in Chinese tea sachets — though traffickers are finding more creative ways to ship out the illicit products.
Drug Penalties in China
People found guilty of trafficking amphetamines or caught smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin and/or 1,000 grams of opium face the death penalty. Some of those are spared the death penalty are sent to re-education camps or given long prison sentences.
Under China’s 2008 anti-drug law, drug users — even first-time users — are locked up three to six years without trial, in “treatment” centers that have a relapse rate as high as 90 percent. Human Right Watch found evidence of drug center guards providing drugs to “patients” and using HIV test to determine which female drug users to have sex with. According to Human Rights China’s roughly 700 compulsory drug detention center are nasty places, . The approximately 500,000 people in these places are routinely beaten for ced to work for up World Health Organization (WHO) 18 hours a day without pay, have no access to drug treatments and denied even basic medical care. Despite all his some NGOs such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria provides money to these centers.
Drug Executions in China
Under Chinese law, producing, carrying or selling 50 grams or more of heroin or methamphetamine can be punishable by death. Drug traffickers are routinely executed. International Anti-Drugs Day on June 26 is popular time to execute people for drug-related crimes. In 2001 and 2002, 43 and 64 people respectively were executed in anti-drug day rallies on that day. In 1995, 22 drug traffickers were shot to death in a single public execution in Mangshi, near the Myanmar border. In 1994, courts ordered 466 executions for 6,000 drug-related arrests. On International Anti-Drugs Day in 1996 1,725 people were convicted on drugs charges. Of these 769 were sentenced to death. In the first six months of 2001, 1,457 people were executed on drug charges.
Global anti-drug day in June 2009 was marked with the execution of at least 20 people, the condemnation of around the same number and putting hundreds on trial. Among those executed was a Nigerian man caught with six kilograms of heroin and a Chinese man caught smuggling 197 grams of methamphetamines from North Korea. In Xinjiang authorities destroyed six tons if heroin, opium and cannabis smuggled in from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The widow of an executed man who occasionally smoked heroin in cigarettes and later was recruited to carry heroin told the New York Times, “Our family was always poor and a guy from the Fujian province said to my husband that he would give him a lot of money if he would transport drugs. Our daughter was very sick and we needed money badly.” His last words were “take care of our daughter and try to avoid heavy work in the fields.” The executions haven’t been much of a deterrent. Many dealers can bribe their way out of trouble if they get caught or purchase protection from Communist Party officials, PLA soldiers or the police. The execution and crackdowns have also had little effect on the drug trade.
Foreigners Executed for Drugs in China
Foreign nationals caught with drugs in China are not spared. In 2004, a Japanese man in his 60s was caught trying to smuggle 1.25 kilograms of stimulant drugs out of China into Japan. He was caught at Shenyang’s airport as he prepared to board a plane to Osaka. He pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to death in 2006. Other Japanese convicted drug smuggling have been given death sentences.
A report on in 2015 China.org.cn, an official state media site, said five Japanese and four South Korean “drug related criminals” were executed in China in 2014. In December 2009, four foreigners were arrested along with five Chinese in connection with the seizure of 144.5 kilograms of heroin found in 289 bags hidden in bales of cotton in Shenzhen. The drugs had come from Pakistan and were found with the help of a tip and tracker dogs. The four foreigners might face execution.
In April 2010, four Japanese men convicted of drug smuggling charges in China were executed. All four men were caught trying to smuggle or sell more than one kilogram of illegal drugs — in most cases, amphetamines. They included 65-year-old Mitsunobu Akano who was caught with 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine as he tried to board a plane to Japan at China’s Dalian airport in September 2006. In China, people caught smuggling over one kilogram of drugs are often executed.
The executions marked the first time that Japanese nationals were executed in Japan since China and Japan normalized diplomatic relations in 1972. The Chinese government went somewhat out of its way to make sure the executions did not harm Japan – China relations. Akano was allowed to meet with his family before he was executed, which normally is not done. All the Japanese are believed to have been killed by lethal injection.
In 2020, an Australian man who had been arrested in 2013 with methamphetamine in his luggage was sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling. The move was seen by some as retaliation by the Chinese government against Australia for criticizing China’s unwillingness to cooperate in coronavirus investigations. The BBC reported: The man was named in Australian media as Karm or Cam Gilespie. He is believed to have been arrested at an airport in 2013 with 7.5 kilograms of methamphetamine in his luggage, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports. “Karm Gilespie is thought to have been arrested seven years ago while trying to board an international flight from Baiyun Airport in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. “Australians have been sentenced to death previously, including Bengali Sherrif in 2015. Sherrif was arrested at Guangzhou airport after trying to smuggle methamphetamine between China and Australia. “At the time, Australia’s public broadcaster said Sherrif’s death sentence could be softened to life in prison after two years of good behaviour. [Source: BBC, June 14, 2020]
Akmal Shaikh, a British Man with Mental Health Issues, Executed for Drugs in China
In December 2009, a British man, Akmal Shaikh, was executed on drugs charges. The first European citizen to be executed China in more than half a century, he was arrested in 2007 for carrying in suitcase with almost four kilograms of heroin on a flight from Tajikistan to China. He told police he did not know about the drugs and the suitcase was not his according to Reprieve, a London-based prisoner advocacy group.
Shaikh was a 53-year-old father of three. His family said he suffered from a bipolar disorder. The protested the execution, , saying Shaikh was mentally unstable and lured into the crime by men taking advantage of his dream to record a pop song about world peace. His trial lasted only half an hour. During his appeal the judges reportedly laughed at his rambling remarks. The incident strained relations between Britain and China. British Prime Minister Gordon voiced his outrage over the execution. [Source: AP]
A medical examination was not held because there was no evidence or history of mental illness and Akmal Shaikh did not have any papers on him to prove it. A simple open and shut case (even his own lawyers admitted that the evidence against him was overwhelming) was converted into something political by the media. [Source: Maitreya, Hidden Harmonies China Blog, July 30, 2012]
Unwitting Filipina Mules Executed in China
In March 2010 — despite intense diplomatic efforts, desperate family pleas and evidence gathered from Philippines police that two of the three were unwitting mules — three Filipinos were executed by lethal injection in Shenzhen and Xiamen after being found guilty of smuggling heroin into China. The diplomatic efforts included three letters from Philippine President Benigno Aquino. Tens of thousands in Manila participated in a candlelight vigil to prayer for a “miracle pardon.” One of those executed was a mother of young children. [Source: Leo Lewis, Times of London, April 2011]
The three victims — 42-year-old Ramon Credo, 38-year-old Elizabeth Batain and 32-year-old Sally Ordinario-Villanueva were all arrested separately in 2008. They didn’t even know they were going to executed until their families were allowed to spend one last hour with them before their executions. When Ordinario-Villanueva saw met her parents in a courtroom she said, “Why are you all crying. Am I going to die? She was denied use of a cell phone to say goodby to her two children. Her last words to her parents were, “make sure they finish their studies.” Her brother said she had been duped into carrying a suitcase with a false bottom by a smuggling syndicate that had promised her a job as a cell phone salesperson in Xiamen.
The three were the first Filipinos to be executed in China but probably will not be the last. As of April 2011 there were 205 other Filipinos in Chinese jails on drug charges.
Conclusion
China does not play around. Don’t allow anyone else to tell you otherwise; if you deal with illegal drugs in China, your life will be over. Do not do it.
I am still recovering. It’s a long slow climb. But I have hope.
Please enjoy today’s post.
HK Protest-related detention: Transforming young offenders into decent citizens
Between June 2019 and September 2020, over 10,000 people were arrested over their involvement in protest-related crimes. The trials of those prosecuted, often students, have now concluded, and many have been convicted. Given the severity of their crimes, sentences of detention, of one sort or another, have often been unavoidable.
In 2020, the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, the largest grouping of secondary school principals, called for students arrested during the protests to be treated leniently. It said it was important for young people who had got into trouble to know that society had not given up on them. Even after conviction, they still had to be educated and cared for, and the Association told the government that leniency facilitates rehabilitation.
However, the sentencing of young offenders is entirely a matter for the courts, not the government, and they exercise their own independent discretion when it comes to penalties. If crimes are grave, the Judiciary may have no choice but to impose condign punishment, youth notwithstanding. As the Court of Appeal has explained, if young offenders are convicted of serious crimes, it means that “the courts must steel themselves, unless there are particularly powerful and peculiar contrary reasons attaching to the circumstances of the offender and his involvement in the offense, to the imposition of substantial prison terms” (CACC 97/2001).
Although the criminal justice system invariably tries to be as merciful as possible to young offenders, there is always a risk that undue leniency sends out the wrong message. If an offender has, for example, thrown petrol bombs at police officers, torched MTR stations or engaged in violent rioting, they cannot expect to get away with a rap across the knuckles. Although alternatives to imprisonment, like detention centers, rehabilitation centers and training centers, can sometimes be deployed, in many cases imprisonment will be necessary, although it may not be as grim as it sounds.
As the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap.383) indicates, young offenders “shall be segregated from adults and be accorded treatment appropriate to their age and legal status” (Art.6). This means they are kept away from the hardened criminals, and are provided with appropriate training. In other words, they do not face the full impact of incarceration, and as much emphasis as possible is placed upon rehabilitation, with skills being taught that will hopefully assist them in their future lives.
On Dec 7, the secretary for security, Chris Tang Ping-keung, told the Legislative Council that up to 1,315 people are currently incarcerated because of their involvement in the “black-clad violence cases” of 2019-20, with 345 of them being aged 21 years or under. When asked what was being done to help young persons in custody, he said the Correctional Services Department (CSD) was providing halfway education for young people.
Although, given security concerns, detainees could not conduct online searches directly, Tang said e-learning corners had been available since 2015, and this enables them to access materials for distance learning courses. The CSD was also planning to introduce an online learning platform for people in custody, and they would be given a tablet to access learning materials through its intranet.
He also indicated that the CSD was helping inmates to enter various public examinations, and that, through liaison with local educational institutions, it was seeking to help them to complete their interrupted studies.
As regards vocational training, Tang said the 13 courses currently available cover business practices, image design, beauty care, coffee shop operation and other industries, and these would be reviewed based on such things as the background of the detainee and the requirements of prospective employers. He assured legislators that the CSD would “continue to actively promote diversified and appropriate services in facilitating the rehabilitation of persons in custody, and their reintegration into society.”
By the end of October, moreover, Tang disclosed that 677 detainees, of whom 474 had been convicted of protest-related crimes, had participated in the Project PATH program, launched in November 2021, and designed to help “rebuild positive values” (this is achieved through the holistic development of young adults). He advised that the program was producing a “satisfactory outcome”, that participants found it useful and were remorseful for past misdeeds, and that none of them had reoffended after release, at least so far.
Earlier, in April, the Security Bureau had also briefed the Legislative Council’s finance committee about the CSD’s voluntary “deradicalization” program for those convicted of involvement in the protests. As of February, 250 people had, it said, participated in the program, which is designed to help inmates to “disengage from radical thoughts, and re-establish correct values”, through lessons about Chinese history, the Basic Law and the National Security Law for Hong Kong. The program, moreover, is allied to related initiatives to help detainees to enhance their sense of national identity and their appreciation of what it means to be law-abiding. Therapy is also available to help those with extreme anti-social and violent mindsets, and, during the sessions, demons will hopefully have been purged.
The CSD says a “core mission” is the successful reintegration of inmates into society, and, after release, the private sector, with job opportunities, then steps up to the plate, and the trends are encouraging. Whereas, between 2009 and 2018, the overall recidivism rate fell from 33 percent to 22.5 percent, the rate for young offenders aged below 21 more than halved, from 23.2 percent to 10.2 percent, and there is every reason to suppose that, once available, future statistics will be equally positive, if not more so.
Tang disagreed with suggestions that local employers are reluctant to offer opportunities to former inmates, and insisted there were numerous openings available. Whereas around 470 corporations had agreed to provide up to 800 job opportunities to released persons, three were also offering employment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. He also pointed out that, apart from promoting diversified vocational training for those in custody, the CSD also monitored the employment status of people after their release with a view to constructive guidance.
What is clear, therefore, is that everything possible is being done by the CSD to rehabilitate young offenders detained because of protest-related crimes, and to assist them once released. It is going the extra mile to correct perverted attitudes, and to provide inmates with rational perspectives. Although there were initially concerns that extremists might try to radicalize them yet further, this has not been a significant problem, and, with the support of business, rehabilitative measures are bearing fruit.
It seems clear that most of those involved in the insurrection are genuinely trying to reform themselves, with many now wanting to help society. The CSD, with Tang’s encouragement, is clearly doing great work, but the community as a whole must also rally round. When sinners repent, it is in everybody’s interest, but they still need maximum support in carving out decent futures for themselves.
No, Higher Taxes DON’T Cause The Wealthy To Move!
Most People Are Simply Not Ready For The Economic Chaos That Is Coming In 2023
Have you noticed that a lot of big companies have been conducting mass layoffs recently? At this point, it has become exceedingly clear that a major economic slowdown has begun, and payrolls are being feverishly slashed at a rate that we haven’t seen in a long time. In fact, the number of job cuts in November 2022 was 417 percent higher than it was in November 2021. Unfortunately, what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning. We are being warned that a couple million more Americans could lose their jobs in 2023, and the vast majority of the population is simply not prepared for such a scenario. In fact, a new survey that was just released found that 63 percent of all Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck…
As of November, 63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a monthly LendingClub report — up from 60% the previous month and near the 64% historic high hit in March.
Even high-income earners are under pressure, LendingClub found. Of those earning more than six figures, 47% reported living paycheck to paycheck, a jump from the previous month’s 43%.
When you are just barely scraping by from month to month, a job loss can be absolutely debilitating.
There is arguably no good time for companies to lay off employees, of course, but as farewell-to-my-job posts continue to populate LinkedIn, many are wondering, why did they have to do this the week before Thanksgiving or right before Christmas?
Despite the job market’s overall strength, big names in tech including Meta Platforms Inc., Salesforce Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have all laid off workers or announced plans to do so in recent months. Thousands of job cuts have also hit other industries, with Ford Motor Co., Walmart Inc. and PepsiCo Inc. all reducing their head counts, leaving many employees to wonder: Could I be next?
Are things really so bad that these giant firms couldn’t have waited a few weeks?
“Happy Thanksgiving! By the way, you’re fired.”
When I was growing up, big companies at least pretended to be compassionate.
Layoffs around the holidays are a relatively recent phenomenon. In the 1970s and 1980s, companies were more cognizant of the optics of putting people out of work during the most wonderful time of the year, says Andy Challenger, a senior vice president with Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a career services and executive-coaching firm.
That sentiment has passed, he says. “Today we tend to see companies making the cuts when they feel like they need to.”
Apparently the Washington Post will also be laying off quite a few workers in the days ahead.
When staff members learned that job cuts would soon be coming, they were not happy.
Needless to say, the Washington Post is far from alone.
Of course, the news of the layoffs comes amid a horrible backdrop for the media industry at large. In recent weeks, CNN has laid off hundreds of staffers, Gannett has cut 200 staffers, NPR has said it needs to find $10 million in savings, and other organizations have implemented moves to slash costs.
Even though so many big names have been slashing workers, the government has continued to insist that everything is just fine.
And each month they have told us that the U.S. economy has continued to gain jobs.
But now the truth of what has really been going on is starting to become quite obvious. In fact, even the Philly Fed is now publicly admitting that the number of jobs in this country has been overstated by the government by at least a million…
Remember what we said in July when we first looked at the March-June divergence between the Household and Establishment survey: we said that “since March, the Establishment Survey shows a gain of 1.124 million jobs while the Household Survey shows an employment loss of 347K!” Said otherwise, we found that payrolls “calculated” by the Establishment Survey were overestimated by 1.5 million. Shockingly, the Philly Fed seems to agree, and reports that instead of the roughly 1.1 million jobs reported by the BLS, only 10,500 new jobs were added!
As the tsunami of layoffs continues to accelerate, it is probably just a matter of time before the U.S. economy starts losing large numbers of jobs every month.
That is exactly what several of the largest financial institutions on Wall Street are now projecting, and we continue to get more evidence that economic conditions are really starting to slow down.
U.S. retail spending and manufacturing weakened in November, signs of a slowing economy as the Federal Reserve continues its battle against high inflation.
November retail sales fell 0.6% from the prior month for the biggest decline this year, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Budget-conscious shoppers pulled back sharply on holiday-related purchases, home projects and autos. Manufacturing output declined 0.6%, the first drop since June, the Fed said in a separate report.
But apparently economic conditions are not yet bad enough for the officials at the Federal Reserve, because they just decided to raise interest rates even higher…
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in 15 years, indicating the fight against inflation is not over despite some promising signs lately.
Keeping with expectations, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted to boost the overnight borrowing rate half a percentage point, taking it to a targeted range between 4.25% and 4.5%. The increase broke a string of four straight three-quarter point hikes, the most aggressive policy moves since the early 1980s.
What the Federal Reserve is doing is absolutely suicidal.
They have just ensured that unemployment will go even higher, that our new housing crash will get even worse and that a very painful economic downturn is coming in 2023.
In the aftermath of the Fed’s decision, the Dow was down 764 points on Thursday…
Investors dumped stocks on Thursday as more headwinds emerge for the U.S. economy as the Federal Reserve stays the course in raising interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 764 points, or 2.2%, as the broader markets faced the worst session since November.
The mood on Wall Street is quite glum right now.
The outlook for 2023 is not good, and the outlook for the years beyond 2023 is even worse.
Our leaders have been making incredibly bad decisions for decades, and now we are starting to pay the price.
There is going to be so much pain during the year ahead, and the vast majority of the population is not prepared for what is coming at all.
Bread – The Guitar Man LIVE FULL HD (with lyrics) 1978
30 Minute Chicken and Dumplings
“This is a Rachel Ray recipe I had in my file for quite awhile, and had to try it recently to satisfy a craving. It turned out really well. I used made from scratch biscuit recipe as I couldn’t locate the jiffy mix in my area, I made about 6 biscuits. Also, I think the refrigerated biscuits would work as well. Otherwise I followed the recipe pretty much exactly.”
Add oil, butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Season mixture with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.
Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes.
Stir broth or stock to the pot and bring to a boil.
Add chicken to the broth and stir.
Place biscuit mix in a bowl.
Combine with 1/2 cup warm water and parsley.
Drop tablespoonfuls of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly.
Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low.
Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit.
Stir peas into the pan, remove chicken and dumplings from heat and serve in shallow bowls.
2022 12 20 15 48
Why is Patient Zero a state secret
Godfree Roberts 20DEC22
“The results of that study showed beyond a reasonable doubt that this virus had been spreading in America by at least November 2019. Lockdowns marketed to “slow” or “stop” the “spread” of this virus could not have achieved this objective”. Bill Rice.
Covid-19 came from Italy in 2019, spread to France, to both US coasts, then to China at the International Military Games, a spreader event in Wuhan.
We won’t know the whole story until we locate Patient Zero and therein lies a problem: after WHO inspectors dated China’s earliest case to September, 2019, Western nations reneged on their promised inspections and shaped our attention on wunderwaffen vaccines. The media, having pinned Covid’s tail on the Chinese donkey, cooperated enthusiastically and there, as far as the general public is concerned, the matter rests.
Revenge of the Geeks
Happily, researchers in government labs dodged the censors and published their findings in medical journals. A CDC team checked the seropositivity of Red Cross blood samples from November, 2019 and concluded, “SARS-CoV-2 may have been introduced into the United States prior to 19 January 2020”. Their figures suggest that millions of Americans were infected in late 2019, but the media evinced zero interest in the findings and their implications.
An NIH team certified Lovell ‘Cookie’ Brown as the first person to die of Covid – in Kansas, on January 9, 2020 – two days before China’s first fatality. Media ignored the story, despite the fact that death doubling times (44-50 days) show Covid established in the US in 2019. The mysterious respiratory deaths of that summer supports the NIH’s date.
index
Over in Italy..
Italian researchers found similar patterns. Initially skeptical, they verified their results with a Netherlands reference lab before concluding, “This study shows an unexpected, very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the first patient was identified, and clarifies the onset and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic”.
National labs found similar patterns in Brazil, Spain, and France: “Analyzing Covid genomes using the k-mer natural vector method, we conclude that the virus likely already existed in France, India, Netherlands, England, and the US before the Wuhan outbreak”.
So why is Patient Zero a state secret? Clearly, the fat lady has yet to sing the final Covid aria.
From this article by Mike Whitney
A section of the 2022 National Defense Strategy :
“These documents, which were not seriously discussed in the US media, make clear the fundamental falsehood that the massive US military buildup this year is a response to “Russian agression.”
In reality, in the thinking of the White House and Pentagon war planners, ***the massive increase in military spending and plans for war with China are created by “dramatic changes in geopolitics, technology, economics, and our environment.”
These documents make clear that the United States sees the economic rise of China as an existential threat, to be responded to with the threat of military force.
The United States sees the subjugation of Russia as a critical stepping stone toward the conflict with China.
From the article by Andre Damon (“Pentagon national strategy targets China” published on Oct 28, 2022 on the World Socialist Web Site/WSWS.ORG) ) quoted in this article by Mike Whitney :
The US military published three strategic documents Thursday (Oct 27, 2022) outlining plans for conflict with China and Russia and declaring that NUCLEAR WEAPONS FORM THE “BEDROCK” OF US MILITARY STRATEGY.
The publication of the NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY, the NUCLEAR POSTURE REVIEW (NPR) and the MISSILE DEFENSE REVIEW comes less than two weeks after the Biden administration published its National Security Strategy, which pledges that the United States will “win” in conflict with Russia and China in what it called a “decisive decade.”
The documents double down on the fundamental assertions of the Trump administration’s 2018 National Defense Strategy, which declared that “INTER-STATE STRATEGIC COMPETITION, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in US National security.” Introducing the National Defense Strategy, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called China America’s “PACING CHALLENGE” while Russia was an “IMMEDIATE AND SHARP THREAT.”
Austin said China remains the one adversary “both with the INTENT to reshape the international order and increasingly the POWER to do so.
The National Defense Strategy calls China the “most comprehensive and serious challenge to US National security” and the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) asserts that “by the 2030s, the United States will, for the first time in its history, face two major nuclear powers as strategic competitors and potential adversaries.”
Commenting on the SIGNIFICANCE of the documents, the Atlantic Council made clear that the documents’ references to “conflict” should be understood as references to “kinetic conflict”-i.e., SHOOTING WAR.
*** CONCLUSION : ***
Diplomacy is always needed of course but SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM (TINA)
My kitty Otter was a dog tamer. My daughter had dripped off a husky mix named Jackson at the house who would have been otherwise euthanized. This happened while I was on a trip. This dog had supposedly killed a cat before (don’t know if that was true) and my cats were on the refrigerator.
Well I let him know the kitties outranked him and gradually Otter would challenge him by walking by. They never were best buds but they tolerated each other.
Fast forward a couple of years. Jackson, who was fairly old when he entered our lives got cancer. His appetite left him. So Otter, who had absolutely NO interest in his food would go over and pretend she wanted to eat it! He would trot right over, get territorial and eat his dinner. It was so sweet. He died a few month later. They were more like buddies at the end. Otter lived until she was 18. She was the best cat I ever had. Owned her from the day she was born. She was always courageous and had a beautiful cat heart.
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Jack Back
2022 12 20 17 02
How Extreme Has The Dumbing Down Of America Become? You Might Want To Brace Yourself For This One
Everyone knows that the quality of education in our American public schools is declining. We continue to fall behind the rest of the world, and this is particularly true in science and in math. Personally, I am a product of the public schools. I attended public schools all the way through high school, and I earned three degrees at public universities. And I have to admit that the quality of the education that I received was terrible. If I had not spent a great deal of time and effort educating myself, I would not be able to do what I do today. Sadly, things have gotten even worse in recent decades. Today, a large proportion of our young people are not even equipped to function on a very basic level in our society once they graduate from high school, and that has huge implications for the future of our country.
When I was growing up, kids would start learning algebra before they even got to high school.
But these days many of our college students can’t even handle algebra. In fact, the Kansas Board of Regents is actually considering dropping algebra as a requirement at the state’s six public universities because so many students are failing the basic algebra course…
The Kansas Board of Regents is considering stripping specific university math requirements after it was found that a significant percentage of college freshmen fail algebra, NPR affiliate KCUR reported.
The Regents, who oversee the system’s six public universities, are considering implementing the Math Pathways approach which matches students to a math course based on their major instead of mandating algebra for all incoming students. While many universities require that all freshmen pass algebra as a prerequisite for graduation, one in three Kansas students reportedly fail the course, which could delay a student’s graduation.
Are they serious?
Apparently they are. One academic official in Kansas insists that for a majority of the students in the system algebra is simply “not relevant for their fields”…
“We’re sending the majority of students down the college algebra road, which is really not necessary,” said Daniel Archer, vice president of academic affairs for the Kansas Board of Regents. “It’s not practical. It’s not really needed. And it’s not relevant for their fields.”
I have an idea.
Instead of having our college students deal with hard stuff like quadratic equations, perhaps we can just design a course where they just watch videos of Count von Count from Sesame Street count things.
Or will that be too difficult for them?
If we aren’t teaching our high school kids the basic math skills that they will need once they get to college, what are they actually learning?
Well, one thing they are learning is how to use all of the new pronouns correctly. This is very important for life after high school, because using the wrong pronoun at the wrong time can get you into all sorts of trouble these days.
For example, just look at what happened to one middle school teacher in Ohio…
A middle school teacher in Ohio alleges in a lawsuit against her former employer that she was forced to resign after refusing to refer to students by their preferred pronouns.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of former Jackson Memorial Middle School teacher Vivian Geraghty by the Alliance Defending Freedom, states that her school district required teachers to participate in the “social transition” of students in her class who have “‘transitioned’ to a gender that was inconsistent with their sex.” Jackson Memorial Middle School is in Massillon, Ohio.
Geraghty, however, refused to participate in the policy because of her Christian religious beliefs. The lawsuit alleges that the school “ejected her” within two hours of Geraghty telling principal Kacy Carter about her reservations to the policy.
In the years ahead, we will have lots of young people that don’t understand math and science, but at least they will be well versed in the intricacies of modern pronoun usage.
Needless to say, many of them will have to be supported by the government because they won’t be of much use to society.
At this point, we truly do live in an “idiocracy”, and every single day we see even more signs of this.
Earlier today, I came across a story about someone that decided to shoot a KFC employee because “the restaurant was out of corn”…
Police in St. Louis are investigating after a KFC employee said a customer shot him because he was angry the restaurant was out of corn.
According to a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department incident report, the shooting took place just after 6 p.m. Monday at the fast food chain in the city’s Central West End.
You would have to be really stupid to do something like that.
If they are out of corn, just ask for an extra biscuit.
Don’t go to jail for the rest of your life just because you are feeling a little frustrated.
Sadly, today we have vast hordes of young people that cannot handle their emotions, and that is because they have never been equipped to handle life.
China says it will make people who support Taiwan independence criminally liable for life, a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has said.
Key points:
China says it will enforce punishment on those on its list of people who are ‘pro-Taiwan independence’
People on the list will also be forbidden from benefiting monetarily from the mainland
China considers Taiwan a wayward province to be reunified with the mainland
This is the first time that China has spelt out concretely punishment for people deemed to be pro-Taiwan independence, as tensions rise between the mainland and the self-ruled island China claims as its own.
The office named Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang, Parliament Speaker You Si-kun and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as people who are “stubbornly pro-Taiwan independence”
, and made public for the first time it has drawn up a list of people who fall into this category.
It says it will enforce punishment on the people on the list by not letting them enter the mainland and China’s Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, said spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian in a statement on Friday.
The blacklisted people will also not be allowed to cooperate with entities or people from the mainland, nor will their companies or entities who fund them be allowed to profit from the mainland, she said.
Taiwanese politicians typically rely on donations from companies to fund their election campaigns.
Many Taiwanese companies derive profits from doing business with the mainland.
China will also take “any other necessary measures” against these people, Zhu said.
She said the message China wants to send to supporters of Taiwan independence is:
"Those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland and split the country, will never end up well and will be spurned by the people and judged by history."
The Chinese government considers Taiwan a wayward province and seeks “peaceful reunification”.
Taiwan has long sought to join the United Nations, but China has blocked the attempt, saying Taiwan is not sovereign but a part of China.
The island is currently self-administered and has complained for over a year of repeated Chinese air force incursions into its Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), many in record numbers
Can I bring my Bible to China?
In fact, you needn’t take such a heavy book with you.
Because you will find that you could get much cheaper and better quality Bible in China everywhere.
1/3 of the world’s Bible were published from China.
Chris Ward said that there was no way to buy the Bible in a bookstore.
“I have lived in China for years, I have never seen one on sale in a book store. You have to go to a government church and give your ID.”
In fact, you can’t buy the Bible directly from online or bookstores, but you can get it for free at any church near your home. The following is a new bible printed in 2018.
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First Reacting To BABYMETAL // HEADBANGER!!
Once he sees the first one minute, he has to restart and get into the music.
https://youtu.be/ro82xwtix9Q
U.S. Vegetable Prices Increased By A Whopping 38 Percent In November, But They Say Inflation Is “Under Control”
The mainstream media is trying really hard to convince all of us that inflation will soon no longer be a problem, but meanwhile food prices continue to soar to absolutely absurd levels. In fact, we just learned that vegetable prices increased by a whopping 38 percent in November. When I originally saw that number, I thought that it must represent the change from 12 months ago. But that is not the case. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, vegetable prices jumped 38.1 percent from October to November, and they are up a total of 80.6 percent over the past 12 months…
The price of vegetables from producers shot up 38% on a monthly basis in November — and jumped over 80% compared to November 2021 — according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics latest Producer Price Index.
Even after reading that, a lot of you are still going to have a very difficult time believing that these figures are actually real.
And over the past 12 months the price of eggs is up an astounding 244 percent.
The bird flu is the primary reason why eggs have become so expensive. More than 50 million chickens and turkeys in the United States are already dead, and it is likely that millions more will die in the months ahead.
As for vegetables, the endless drought in the western half of the nation has absolutely crippled production. In fact, one recent survey discovered that 74 percent of farmers in 15 western states “saw a reduction in harvests” in 2022…
A recent survey about the drought by the American Farm Bureau Federation of more than 650 farmers in 15 Western states found that 74 percent saw a reduction in harvests and 42 percent switched crops.
No matter how high the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates, food prices are going to continue to go up.
We all have to eat, and it appears that food supplies will get even tighter in 2023…
U.S. domestic supplies of key crops including corn, soybeans and wheat are expected to remain snug into 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency is forecasting U.S. corn supplies to fall to a decade low before the 2023 harvest, while soybean stocks were seen at a seven-year low and wheat ending stocks are forecast at the lowest in 15 years.
I am particularly concerned about the outlook for wheat.
The two largest wheat exporters in the world are projected to have very disappointing harvests in the months ahead, and this should deeply alarm all of us…
While flooding in Australia, the world’s second largest wheat exporter, in recent weeks has caused extensive damage to the crop which was ready for harvest, a severe drought is expected shrink Argentina’s wheat crop by almost 40%.
This will reduce global wheat availability in the first half of 2023.
A lack of rainfall in the U.S. Plains, where the winter crop ratings are running at the lowest since 2012, could dent supplies for the second half of the year.
So what does all of this mean?
The bottom line is that the global food crisis that erupted in 2022 is likely to intensify quite a bit more in 2023.
With food prices climbing to record peaks this year, millions of people are suffering across the world, especially poorer nations in Africa and Asia already facing hunger and malnutrition.
Food imports costs are already on course to hit a near $2 trillion record in 2022, forcing poor countries to cut consumption.
Every single day, more precious people are dropping dead from starvation.
Things are particularly bad in nations in eastern Africa such as Somalia…
More than 200,000 Somalis are suffering catastrophic food shortages and many are dying of hunger, with that number set to rise to over 700,000 next year, according to an analysis by an alliance of U.N. agencies and aid groups.
But most Americans don’t even know that this is happening because they don’t see images of people suffering and dying on the nightly news.
If the mainstream media is not making a big deal out of this crisis, it must not be important.
Right?
Here in the United States, our politicians are trying to paper over our impending problems by borrowing and spending colossal mountains of money.
The national debt just crossed the 31 trillion dollar threshold, and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the budget deficit for the month of November alone was a staggering 249 billion dollars…
The monthly federal deficit was a record-setting $249 billion in November, $57 billion wider than the same month last year, as Republican control of the House puts the government’s finances back in the political spotlight.
As the Fed raises interest rates, it is also raising our borrowing costs.
So the Fed can only go so far, because if they push rates too high it will literally collapse the finances of the federal government.
What this means is that the Fed is almost out of ammunition in their war against inflation.
And our politicians in Washington are ensuring that more inflation is on the way by borrowing and spending money at a pace that we have never seen before.
Meanwhile, the bird flu plague, endless droughts and bitterly disappointing harvests all over the planet will continue to suppress global food production.
What all of this means is that food prices are going to go a lot higher than they are now, and many of the famines that we are already witnessing all over the world will become quite serious.
Even though food prices are ridiculously high right now, I would encourage you to stock up while you still can.
Things are only going to get crazier in 2023, and most people will find themselves completely unprepared as conditions deteriorate all around them.
Ukraine – Is There Really A Change Of The Narrative?
The Economist leads with interviews with Zelensky, General Zaluzhny and Ukraine’s military field commander, General Syrsky. All three are interviewed – interviewed in The Economist, no less. Such a thing does not occur by happenstance. It is messaging intended to convey the Ruling Class’ new narrative to the ‘golden billion’ (who will all read and absorb it).
On the surface, it is possible to read The Economist piece as a plea for more money and many more weapons. But the underlying messaging is clear: “Anyone who underestimates Russia is heading for defeat”. The Russian force mobilisation was a success; there is no problem with Russian morale; and Russia is preparing a huge winter offensive that will start soon. Russia has huge reserve forces (of up to 1.2 million men); whereas Ukraine now has 200,000 who are militarily trained for conflict. The ‘writing is on the wall’, in other words. Ukraine cannot win.
…
Scott Ritter, in discussion with Judge Neapolitano, believes that The Economist interviews reveal the West pushing aside Zelensky – as Zaluzhny administers his large dose of reality (that will be shocking to many sherpa loyalists). The Economist interview emphasis thus was unmistakably on General Zaluzhny, with Zelensky pointedly de-emphasised – which Ritter suggests indicates that Washington wishes to ‘switch leadership horses’. Another ‘message’?
Just to be clear, General Zaluzhny once said he considers himself a disciple of Russian General Gerasimov, the Chief of General Staff. Zaluzhny reportedly is familiar with the latter’s writings. In brief, Zaluzhny is known in Moscow as a professional soldier (albeit one committed to the Ukrainian nationalist cause).
So, is the West preparing its narrative to cut from this unwinnable conflict –Ukraine – and to move on?
That might indeed by a possibility. Could the U.S. and NATO just limp out of the situation and leave it to Zaluzhny to negotiated his defeat with Russia?
But haven’t Biden, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and Germany’s chancellor Scholz said that Russia ‘can not be allowed to win’? Sure, theyhave.
But Crooke points to Afghanistan and how fast the chaotic retreat from Kabul has vanished from the media and is now mostly forgotten. The Taliban were another enemy that could not be allowed to win. They won. And no one cares about it.
I dearly hope that the scenario, as Crooke lays it out, will soon come true in Ukraine. But alas I am a realist. Russia will not stop the war without achieving its aims. Zaluzhny will not be allowed to negotiate for peace.
M. K. Bhadrakumar notes that any peace negotiations depend on Biden’s agreement:
The clearest indication that the US is far from in a hurry to negotiate comes from none other than the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan whose visit to Kiev last month (just before the US midterms) had triggered a flurry of speculations that Washington was pressuring President Zelensky to negotiate.
Now, Sullivan’s remarks at an appearance at the Carnegie last weekend made it clear that the US is in Ukraine for the long haul. He said:
“We don’t know when this is going to end up. What we do know is that it is our job to continue to sustain our military support to Ukraine so that they are in their best possible position on the battlefield, that if and when diplomacy is ripe, they will be in the best possible position at the negotiating table.
“That moment is not ripe now, and so, as a result, we’ve gone to Congress and asked for a substantial amount of further resources to be able to continue to ensure that Ukraine has the means to fight this war. We’re confident we will get bipartisan support for that…
“I am not going to precept the future, I’m only going to assure that in the present we are doing everything we can to maximise Ukraine’s chances of defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity… yes, it is likely to go on for quite some time…”
Basically, the US claims to have a winning hand in Ukraine.
The Economist interviews were published on December 15. The Sullivan talk at Carnegie was held a day later. If there had been a change of mind in the White House it would have been part of that interview.
I also think that Zaluzhny is not the kind of leader who is likely to organize, or allow himself to be drawn into a coup. In fact it may well be that the rumors from Kiev are true and that Zelensky and his staff are working to push him out. He would be replaced by the other Ukrainian general The Economisthad interviewed:
On several occasions, [General Syrsky] was actually senior in the chain of command to Valery Zaluzhny, appointed to be the commander-in-chief of the entire armed forces in July 2021. Some political actors behind the scenes may be using that fact in an apparent attempt to foment tensions between the two. Rumours even persist that the presidential administration might be inclined to replace the popular but independent-minded General Zaluzhny with his former boss. Cracks of disunity have high-placed Western military officials worried. The two generals on their part say they fully trust each other and wish to stay out of politics. General Syrsky is uncomfortable with the conversation. “The army is outside of politics,” he says. “It is how it should be, and how the law demands it to be.”
Neither Zaluzhny nor Syrsky are men for a coup. If Zelenski is to go, some other politician, probably a more radical one, is likely to take the lead.
Therefore, in the prevailing circumstances, Russia’s option narrows down to inflicting a crushing defeat on Ukraine in the coming months and installing a government in Kiev that is not under Washington’s control. But that requires a fundamental shift in the Russian military strategy, which would factor in the real possibility of a confrontation with the US and NATO at some point.
Even while they are still deluded about Ukraine’s chance for success, neither NATO nor the White House have shown any appetite for war with Russia. They have likely come to understand the real meaning of General Zaluzhny’s request:
I know that I can beat this enemy. But I need resources. I need 300 tanks, 600-700 IFVs, 500 Howitzers. Then, I think it is completely realistic to get to the lines of February 23rd.
Ukraine has a lot of tanks and is ranked 13th across the globe with 2,430. In terms of armored vehicles, Kiev also ranks high, occupying the seventh spot globally with 11,435. Kiev’s artillery power is also formidable at 2,040 batteries.
That General Zaluzhny requested all that new stuff is a confession that most if not all the old stuff is gone. That includes the weapons he received after the war started. If the 20 percent of the Russian military that was used in Ukraine could do so much material damage in such a short time how long would a NATO army in a war against Russia survive?
Posted by b on December 19, 2022 at 17:15 UTC | Permalink
A Wall Street Bank Is Warning That Millions Of Americans Will Lose Their Jobs In 2023
Is your job secure? Over the past couple of years, American workers generally didn’t need to be concerned about job security. Even if someone got fired unexpectedly, it was just so easy to find new employment because there simply was not enough able-bodied workers out there. But now everything is changing. Some of the largest corporations in the entire country are starting to conduct mass layoffs as the U.S. economy steadily slows down. Unfortunately, it appears that a lot more pain is ahead. In fact, as you will see below, one of Wall Street’s biggest banks is ominously warning that millions of American workers will lose their jobs next year.
Stories about mass layoffs are hitting the news at a fast and furious pace these days. For example, we just learned that a factory that makes Jeep Cherokees in northern Illinois will be laying off 1,350 workers…
The company, which employs about 1,350 workers at the plant in Belvidere, Illinois, said the action will result in indefinite layoffs and it may not resume operations as it considers other options.
Stellantis said the industry ‘has been adversely affected by a multitude of factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the increasing cost related to the electrification of the automotive market.’
I was very sad to see that happen.
Those that work in our automotive factories are some of the hardest working people in the entire nation.
Other types of workers are losing their jobs in very large numbers as well.
Earlier today, I came across a story about layoffs that will affect 1,800 employees that worked in phone kiosks inside Costco stores…
Over 1800 employees were laid off at Wireless Advocate which operates the phone kiosks inside Costco Wholesale stores.
A local Costco representative said staff is just becoming aware that all their phone kiosks abruptly ceased operations at all Costco Warehouses on December 5, 2022.
If you lose your job, I would try to find another one as rapidly as possible, because the longer you wait the more people you are going to be competing against.
As I mentioned earlier, even some of the largest corporations in the U.S. are now laying off large numbers of people. In a previous article I discussed the layoffs that are coming at Amazon, and now it appears that those layoffs will be even larger than originally anticipated…
It appears that Amazon plans to fire 20,000 people, which is twice as many as previously estimated. Workers from distribution centers, IT professionals, and corporate leaders will all be let go by Amazon across a number of areas. According to those with knowledge of the situation, Amazon layoffs will happen in the upcoming months. Staff at all levels are likely to be impacted because Amazon workers are ranked from level 1 to level 7. The NYT originally revealed that Amazon plans layoffs in mid-November, citing sources who said that as many as 10,000 workers would be let go.
Sadly, the truth is that we are still only in the very early stages of this new crisis.
Many more layoff announcements will be coming in the months ahead, and at this point a division of Citibank is projecting that the U.S. economy will lose approximately 2 million jobs next year…
The group said in its latest outlook report published this week that the economy could lose an estimated 2 million jobs in 2023 as the jobless rate climbs to 5.25%.
“We believe that the Fed’s rate hikes and shrinking bond portfolio have been stringent enough to cause an economic contraction within 2023,” the economists said in the report. “And if the Fed does not pause rate hikes until it sees the contraction, a deeper recession may ensue.”
If we actually lose that many jobs, it will be catastrophic.
Part of the reason this is happening is because home values are starting to fall quite rapidly.
And they are going to fall even more if the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates.
Unfortunately, Fed officials just keep telling us that more rate hikes are coming.
Homebuilders are being hit extremely hard as well. They started lots of new houses when times were still good, and now they have lots of inventory and very few buyers…
If a homebuilder cannot sell their ballooning inventory of unsold new houses to households, at current prices and mortgage rates, amid plunging sales and soaring cancellation rates of signed contracts – topping out at 45% in the Southwest and at 38% in Texas – despite aggressive incentives such as mortgage-rate buydowns to stimulate sales and prevent cancellations, well, whom are homebuilders supposed to sell those houses to?
Thanks to the Fed, the entire housing market is a giant mess at this point.
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are now underwater on their mortgages, and the early payment default rate has risen to heights that we saw back during the peak of the last housing crash in 2009…
Digging deeper into the month’s data, Black Knight found that, while still relatively low among conforming loans, the early-payment default (EPD) rate – which captures mortgages that have become delinquent within six months of origination –– has risen among FHA loans for much of the past year to reach its highest level since 2009, excluding the months in the immediate wake of the pandemic.
Economic conditions are already really bad, and they will soon get a whole lot worse.
Signs of trouble are erupting all around us. For instance, I was deeply alarmed when I read that Orlando International Airport is experiencing a very serious fuel shortage…
The Federal Aviation Administration is warning pilots that Orlando International Airport (MCO) is running low on fuel, and that could mean hiccups in the days ahead for travelers.
In an official notice, the agency said that the airport could continue having supply issues through about 7 p.m. Tuesday, and suggests that airlines should be prepared to operate flights into the airport with enough fuel on board to fly back out.
I have never heard of an entire airport being short on fuel for an extended period of time before.
Hopefully this is just a temporary setback.
But what isn’t temporary are the long-term economic trends. They have all been going in the wrong direction for a long time, and now a moment of reckoning has arrived.
Enjoy the next few weeks while you still can, because it appears that 2023 is going to be a very painful year.
A truth
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Hospitals Are Overflowing With Patients As Multiple Pestilences Sweep Across America
Winter hasn’t even begun yet, but cold weather diseases are already spreading like wildfire all over the United States. The flu has returned in 2022 with a vengeance, new strains of COVID are reportedly starting to emerge, and RSV has hit some areas of the nation extremely hard.
I don’t ever remember seeing anything quite like this, and the weather is only going to get colder in the weeks ahead. Normally, most people would be able to fight off such diseases fairly easily, but at this point so many have weakened immune systems after everything that has transpired over the last few years.
As a result, millions of Americans have been getting really sick, and CNN is reporting that U.S. hospitals “are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic”…
Hospitals are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. But as respiratory virus season surges across the US, it’s much more than Covid that’s filling beds this year.
More than 80% of hospital beds are in use nationwide, jumping 8 percentage points in the past two weeks.
Please take the time to read those two paragraphs again.
At no point during the past several years have our hospitals ever been as full as they are right now.
And this has happened even though the proportion of COVID patients in our hospitals has been steadily shrinking…
Back in January, about a quarter of hospital beds were in use for Covid-19 patients. But now, only about 6% of beds are in use for Covid-19 patients, according to the HHS data.
We are being told that some of the new strains of COVID that are now emerging represent a potent threat, but obviously it isn’t COVID that is causing the massive surge in hospitalizations that we are currently witnessing.
Instead, confirmed cases of the flu are absolutely exploding right now. For example, just check out what is going on in Massachusetts…
Illnesses caused by the flu are surging in Massachusetts, according to the latest weekly report from the Department of Public Health.
The report issued Friday, which covers the week from Nov. 27 through Dec. 3, included 5,462 cases that were confirmed by laboratory testing. That’s nearly double the 2,846 cases confirmed during the week covered by the previous report.
Sadly, we are seeing similar numbers nationwide.
In fact, the number of Americans admitted to the hospital with the flu roughly doubled during Thanksgiving week…
The number of people admitted to the hospital for flu during the week of Thanksgiving was nearly double the number of admissions during the week before. And the latest surveillance data probably does not reflect the full effects of holiday gatherings, as it captures only through November 26, two days past Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, RSV continues to rip across America at a breathtaking pace, and very young children are being hit particularly hard.
In some cases, hospitals are actually transferring sick kids out of state because they are so overloaded with patients…
To cope with the flood of young patients sickened by a sweeping convergence of nasty bugs — especially respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and coronavirus — medical centers nationwide have deployed triage tents, delayed elective surgeries, and transferred critically ill children out of state.
Unfortunately, it appears that this is just the beginning.
Winter will officially start later this month, and so it is likely that things will only get worse in the months ahead.
That is not good news at all, because we are already facing significant shortages of key antibiotics all over the country…
“We are so busy we can’t keep up with the phone calls and sick kids,” said Dr. Josie Stone, a pediatrician with Advanced Pediatrics of Boca Raton. While most of the respiratory illnesses Stone sees are viral, children often get complications such as ear, sinus and throat infections that require antibiotics, she said. With children all over the country suffering from the same complications, South Florida pharmacies have a limited supply of many of the most common antibiotics.
The antibiotics in short supply include Amoxicillin and Augmentin to treat ear and skin infections as well as Azithromycin (referred to as a zpack) used to treat certain bacterial infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. It also includes medications such as Albuterol to treat asthma or breathing problems.
As I recently covered in another article, the official FDA website says that more than 100 prescription drugs are in short supply right now.
Of course this is something that is not just happening in the United States. Over in Europe, shortages of many important drugs are also becoming quite widespread…
Countries across Europe are reporting shortages of antibiotics as demand for the medicines rises and manufacturers grapple with supply-chain snags.
Amoxicillin, cephalosporins and other widely used antibiotics are in short supply, data from various countries show, raising concerns among doctors and officials about the availability of drugs that are relied on to treat conditions ranging from ear infections to pneumonia.
If supplies of drugs just keep getting tighter and our hospitals just keep getting fuller, it is probably just a matter of time before authorities in many areas will want to impose new health restrictions.
In fact, officials in New York City are already “strongly urging” residents to wear masks.
I thought all of that was behind us, and I don’t think that any of us want to go back again.
Hopefully, the flu and RSV will be the worst diseases that we have to deal with this winter.
Because the truth is that we have been perfectly primed for more outbreaks, and a truly killer virus could easily sweep through the general population.
As I keep warning, we have now entered an era of great pestilences, and if you are expecting the government to save you from what is coming you are going to be deeply disappointed.
No matter what authorities have tried, multiple diseases just keep spreading all around us.
What we have been through so far is just the tip of the iceberg, and so many people are going to die in 2023 and beyond.
The O’Jays – Back Stabbers (50th Anniversary Concert)
Six B-52 Bombers ‘Shot Down’ In One Night: How Russian Missiles Created Havoc On Mighty US Warplanes
Fifty years ago, 200 American B-52 bombers flew 730 sorties over 12 days. They dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam in what was considered the heaviest aerial bombing by the US since World War II, claiming nearly 1600 Vietnamese lives.
Just over a month before the operation, former US President Richard Nixon had secured a second term of presidency based on a promise to end the American involvement in the Vietnam War that had become very unpopular in the US.
The US had been fighting in Vietnam since 1965, and while the US was engaging in peace negotiations with the USSR and China-backed Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as part of what was known as ‘Paris Peace Negotiations’ but those talks had suddenly fallen apart.
Nixon warned the North Vietnamese government of dangerous consequences if it did not return to the negotiating table and called upon the US Air Force (USAF) to save the situation, which it did so by conducting an 11-day strategic bombing campaign called Operation Linebacker II, which later came to be known by several names such as ‘The December Raids’ and ‘The Christmas Bombings.’
From the start, the USAF had advocated for such a strategic bombing in Vietnam, and the service finally had the chance to execute the strategy.
Until then, US air campaigns in Vietnam were limited to interdicting the overland routes by which North Vietnam was resupplying its forces and Viet Cong forces operating in South Vietnam.
However, Linebacker II was different, as it intended to destroy high-value targets such as vital military installations, railway lines, energy plants, factories, etc., to shake the Vietnamese “to their core,” in the words of the then US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger.
This is precisely what Russia has been trying to do in Ukraine since early October, through repeated missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid and critical infrastructure.
“They’re going to be so god damned surprised,” US President Richard Nixon said to Kissinger on December 17, and the next day, 129 B-52s took off from Guam and Thailand to obliterate the Hanoi and Haiphong areas in North Vietnam.
The Formidable B-52s Vs. The Formidable S-75 Anti-Aircraft Missiles
The legendary B-52 Stratofortress has been a bastion of the USAF’s bomber fleet since it was first introduced in the 1950s during the height of the Cold War. Seventy-six B-52Hs are still in service, with another 12 in reserve storage.
Of late, the nearly 70-year-old bomber has begun to show signs of aging, but the USAF remains determined to continue to fly the B-52s for decades to come, and as part of that, the aircraft has been going through continuing reforms to stay viable.
This is because, despite its age, the B-52 remains the USAF’s leading strategic nuclear and conventional weapons platform. It can carry more weapons than any other USAF jet and fly long-range missions from bases in the Pacific.
The bomber can carry 32,000 kilograms of nuclear or conventional weapons and fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet (15,166.6 meters), beyond the range of naked eyesight, making its attacks both physically and psychologically catastrophic.
“(Nixon) wanted maximum psychological impact on the North Vietnamese, and the B-52 was airpower’s best tool for the job,” TW Beagle wrote in his thesis, dated June 2000, submitted to the faculty of The School of Advanced Airpower Studies, Air University.
However, it was not going to be easy for these B-52s, as what awaited them were the formidable Soviet-made S-75 Dvina (NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) high-altitude air defense systems that could fire a 195-kilogram warhead up to altitudes of 30,000 meters at more than Mach 3 speed – 3 times the speed of sound.
North Vietnam had fielded around 26 S-75 surface-to-air missiles (SAM), of which 21 were employed in the Hanoi/Haiphong area, with a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft artillery and a complex, overlapping radar network.
Also, the radar network had secretly been improved by introducing a new fire-control radar (FCR) that is said to have improved the accuracy of the S-75 weapons.
The B-52 fleet employed in Operation Linebacker II comprised G and D models. All the D models were upgraded with the latest electronic countermeasures modifications, but only half of the G models had been modified until that time which mainly made them vulnerable to SAMs.
Also, the tactics employed by the B-52s had not changed much since World War II, which also proved fatal.
The Operation Linebacker II Commenced…
On December 18, 1972, 87 B-52s took off from the Andersen Air Force Base (AFB) in Guam. They were joined in the attack by 42 additional B-52s flying out of U Tapao Royal Thai Airfield, Thailand, marking the beginning of Linebacker II. This was the largest attacking bomber force assembled since WWII.
From Guam, the mission would run for about 12 hours, and it required in-flight refueling, while from U Tapao, it would take only about three to four hours without the requirement of in-flight refueling.
On the first night of Linebacker II, North Vietnamese forces reportedly fired 200 of S-75 surface-to-air missiles at the attacking B-52s, of which at least five were able to find their targets. Three B-52s were shot down, and two others were damaged.
“It almost felt like you could walk across the tips of those missiles in the sky; there were so many fired at you,” recalled one retired US airman, interviewed by CNN.
The airman said the flak was so bright that you could “read a newspaper in the cockpit.”
The disastrous losses of the B-52s on the first night of the campaign hurt the crews’ morale back at Guam and U Tapao, whereas, in Hanoi, it boosted the confidence of the North Vietnamese forces.
“We all feared the B-52 at first because the US said it was invincible,” Nguyen Van Phiet, a North Vietnamese missile gunner credited with downing four B-52s during Linebacker, told Smithsonian magazine in 2014. “But after the first night, we knew the B-52 could be destroyed just like any other aircraft,” he added.
On the second night, the B-52s performed better, with only two damaged and none lost, out of the total 93 that flew the mission. But by the third night, the North Vietnamese gunners had seen through the US tactics and knew them just as well as the B-52 crew.
The bombers would fly in long columns over predetermined tracks and, following the release of their payloads, make turns – involving the plane inclining, usually toward the inside of the turn – to return home.
While making these banked turns, their electronic jamming equipment would face skyward, leaving them vulnerable to SAMs.
“We were told for the last two minutes of the bomb run to stay straight and level, which means you are a sitting target,” said Wayne Wallingford, an electronic warfare officer based in U Tapao who flew on seven of the 11 raids B-52s undertook over Hanoi.
Wallingford further said that opening the doors to the bomber’s bomb bay increased its radar signature even further.
This meant the raids were “so predictable that any enemy would be able to knock you down kind of like the arcade at the carnival,” Ron Bartlett, another B-52 electronic warfare officer, told a Distinguished Flying Cross Society podcast.
On the third night, six B-52s were shot down. The burgeoning losses infuriated Nixon, who “raised holy hell about the fact that [the B-52s] kept going over the same targets at the same times,” according to Beagle.
Nixon feared that “a heavy loss of B52s—America’s mightiest war planes—would create the antithesis of the psychological impact [he] desired,” Beagle wrote in his thesis.
From the following night, the bombers were instructed to approach their targets from varying altitudes and directions and not to fly single file or over the targets they had just struck. Nevertheless, two B-52s were lost on the fourth night of the 30 bombers that flew.
On the following three nights – 5th, 6th, 7th – the USAF improvised on new tactics, making good use of their experience, and not a single B-52 was lost.
After that, the US bomber forces stood down on Christmas Day to give planners a chance to review events and provide the crews with some rest. In the final four days, only four B-52s were lost, two each on the 8th and 9th nights.
Death And Devastation On Both Sides
A total of fifteen B-52s were lost, with 33 airmen losing their lives.
Because the bombings were conducted at night, and the Bombers that made it back to base would land in darkness, the crew would not realize until the following day who among their colleagues had failed to return.
“You’d see the trailer next to yours with doors open on both ends and airmen loading (the occupant’s) personal belongings into a trunk to be shipped back to their families, so you knew that crew didn’t make it,” said Wallingford.
“It was pretty sobering to see that,” he said.
Over 12 days, that unpleasant ritual was performed 33 times.
The losses suffered by the USAF were unprecedented, and so was the devastation in Vietnam caused by the B-52s.
An estimated 1600 Vietnamese lost their lives in the bombings, of which 287 people were killed in one night alone in Kham Thien, an area in Hanoi, the majority of which were women, children, and elderly, according to the Vietnamese newspaper VN Express International.
An Agence France Presse journalist, who visited Kham Thien shortly after the US bombing, described a scene of “mass ruins … desolation and mourning.”
“On Kham Thien, some houses still stand, but many are without roofs or windows. Dozens of craters, some 12 yards in diameter and three yards deep, pockmark the area,” Jean Leclerc du Sablon wrote in a dispatch in The New York Times on December 29, 1972.
One survivor, in particular, caught his attention.
“On a pile of ruins, an old woman held her hands to her face and chanted hauntingly, in a near-religious tone: ‘Oh, my son, where are you now? May I find you to bury you? Americans, how savage you are.’”
According to Vietnam War historian Pierre Asselin’s book, ‘Vietnam’s American War: A History,’ “1600 military installations, miles of railway lines, hundreds of trucks and railway cars, eighty percent of electrical power plants, and countless factories and other structures were taken out of commission.”
Who Won The War?
Ten days following the end of Operation Linebacker II that is on January 8, 1973, the peace negotiations resumed, which culminated in the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27 between the US government, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), as well as the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG) that represented South Vietnamese communists.
The accords marked the beginning of the end of the US involvement in the war.
However, both Washington and Hanoi claimed to have come out on top, with the former saying that Operation Linebreaker II brought the North Vietnamese back to the table for peace talks, whereas the latter portrayed it as a heroic act of resistance in which it took everything its enemy had and remained standing.
In Hanoi, “the story of the events of late December 1972 was a tale, not of massive loss and destruction, but of heroic resistance by Northerners,” wrote the historian Asselin.
Eventually, as it turned out, all Operation Linebacker II achieved was allowing the US a face-saving exit from the Vietnam war.
Three years down the line, with the majority of US forces out of Vietnam and the Communist forces largely replenished, Hanoi launched a large-scale invasion of South Vietnam which led to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
Therefore, several experts and historians doubt that the operation had any significant influence on the broader conflict, and all the death and destruction inflicted by the “Christmas Bombings” did not bear any gifts for the US strategically.
U.S.-made Missiles SHOT DOWN over Belgorad, Russia
Ukraine is now openly attacking inside Russia. Four US high-speed AGM-88 anti-radiation missiles (HARM) were shot down by Russian air defense systems over Russia’s Belgorod region today. The American-made missiles were fired by Ukraine aircraft.
“Four US HARM anti-radar missiles were shot down in the airspace of the Belgorod region,” the Russian Ministry of Defense confirms.
In mid-August, Washington supplied AGM-88 HARM missiles to Ukraine. According to open sources, the missiles are used by the Ukrainian MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft.
“These missiles showed actually zero effectiveness in the framework of the hostilities in Ukraine – most of them were shot down by Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, another part was suppressed or set aside by means of electronic protection of air defense systems,” a source said, adding that some of these missiles also failed or missed the target.
The source noted that the low efficiency of HARM missiles is due to their mediocre maximum speed, which is a little over 600 meters per second (1342 miles per hour), and high visibility.
According to the source, Ukrainian aviation uses these missiles from a long-range to avoid destroying the aircraft, which allows the Russian military to detect missiles long before they approach the area where Russian air defense systems are located.
At the same time, the source added that HARM missiles create certain difficulties in time-coordinated combined strikes because air defense systems are automatically redirected to them as a priority threat.
“However, Ukrainian troops have not yet been able to hit a single radar of the Russian air defense system, as well as illumination and engagement radars in the area of the special military operation with HARM missiles,” the source said.
The HARM missile was adopted by the US air force in 1983. The maximum speed of the missile is declared at 2,280 kilometers per hour or 630 meters per second, while the launch range is up to 100 kilometers when used from high altitudes.
For comparison, the maximum speed of the Russian AS-17 Krypton and AS-11 Kilter anti-radar missiles exceeds 1,000 and 1,100 meters per second, respectively, and the launch range is over 200 kilometers.
Metallica
2022 12 20 17 00
Another truth…
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Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
“Ready, Set, Cook! Hidden Valley Contest Entry. I love creating my own recipes and menus for people. I have been doing this since I was about 12 years old. I put together a birthday party with lots of freshly prepared food and cake that I prepared for my mom. I had help from my cousins and friends who were my assistants and servers. The party was a great success and I have been doing this ever since. I made this chicken dish 8 years ago and it was the only thing different my mom would eat so I made sure I perfected the dish just for her and of course others. I usually brine my chicken in a mixture of salt, brown sugar and water for at least 45 minutes”
Butterfly chicken breast and drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle chicken breast with Hidden Valley Seasoning and Dressing Mix and set aside.
In a saute’ pan cook spinach until spinach has started to cook down. Remove spinach from heat and add to a medium bowl with Parmesan cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs and beaten egg and olives. Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.
Place a large spoonful of spinach mixture in the middle of each chicken breast and fold over, covering the spinach mixture completely.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese and place on baking sheet and bake on 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until thermometer reaches 165 degrees when chicken is tested.
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BabyMetal Legend of 1997 Headbanger First Reaction
What is the most selfless or caring thing you have ever seen a cat do?
We had a cat named Nova. She was a tortieshell cat and was very much a “love me for 30 seconds and then leave me alone for the rest of the day’ type of cat. She was always very shy around strangers and typically ran and hid when anyone came over. Once we had kids she would tolerate them for a few minutes at a time, but invariably found a hiding spot where she couldn’t be bothered.
One night around my son’s first birthday, he got really sick, which was exceedingly unusual for him. It was the first night that he was up literally ALL night crying, coughing, and just feeling generally miserable. We felt so bad for him as there was nothing we could do for him other than give him meds and be there with him.
After a few hours of him crying, and us feeling like terrible parents for our lack of capacity to help, this extremely anti-social cat jumped up on the bed and crawled on top of him and just sat there with him, purring. As soon as she sat with him, he started petting (slapping and grabbing, more accurately) her and stopped crying. She stayed there for hours comforting him, through all the infant abuse. And it allowed us to get a few winks of sleep here and there.
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I’ve never seen a character-shift so rapidly in an animal like that before but it absolutely made us flabbergasted (and grateful)
The Emotions – Don’t Ask My Neighbor (Live in Concert)
We needed a moment like this. Needless to say, the past several years have not been easy for humanity. 2020 was worse than 2019, and then 2021 was worse than 2020, and then 2022 was worse than 2021. Unfortunately, 2023 is going to be significantly worse than 2022 was. But for a few glorious hours on Sunday we were able to forget about our troubles for a while. The greatest World Cup final ever to be played was watched by more people than any other television program in the history of the world, and it all came down to the very end. When Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty kick hit the back of the net, shouts of exultation erupted literally all over the world.
Argentina had done it.
This was probably Lionel Messi’s last chance to win a World Cup, and they pulled it out.
When it was all over, tears of joy streamed down the faces of the Argentinian players. They had been carrying around the weight of the world on their shoulders, because they knew how much this meant to the people of Argentina.
But this wasn’t just about Argentina.
Other than in France, fans across the globe overwhelmingly wanted Messi to win a World Cup.
And in the stadium in Qatar, the crowd was an overwhelmingly pro-Messi crowd.
It would be difficult to overstate what Messi means to kids all over the planet. To say that he is one of the greatest players of all-time would be stating the obvious. But Messi’s popularity goes far beyond what most other great players ever achieve.
When people watch Messi play, they see pure joy in action. He is an artist, a magician and a maestro all rolled into one. He has done things on the field that we have never seen anyone else do, and no matter what he accomplished over the years he always did it with humility and style.
But now he is 35 years old, and his prime years are well behind him.
And coming into this tournament, I felt like there were several other teams that had more talent than Argentina did.
So even though many of us were strongly rooting for Argentina, it seemed unlikely that Argentina would actually win it all.
After a dramatic penalty shootout victory over France, the No.10 says he knew that God would reward him with the ultimate prize in Qatar.
“It’s impressive that I can finish like this,” Messi told reporters. “I knew that at some point God was going to give it to me and I don’t know why, but I felt it was going to be like this. Once again he made me very happy.”
This certainly was not an easy tournament for Argentina.
There was the first game against Saudi Arabia, there was the near loss to the Netherlands, and then in the final there were moments when it seemed like France was destined to win.
Thankfully, Argentina refused to give up.
For much of the final, France seemed to be asleep. Argentina pulled out to a 2-0 lead, and that lead seemed quite secure.
But then in the 79th minute the French finally woke up.
Nicolas Otamendi has been a tremendous player over the years, but at this point in his career he really lacks pace.
I had been concerned about this throughout the tournament, but it wasn’t until the final that this really became a major issue.
In the 79th minute Randal Kolo Muani threatened to blow past Otamendi, and Otamendi ended up committing a foul in the penalty area as he desperately attempted to stay with the attacker.
Kylian Mbappe converted the penalty, and all of a sudden it was 2-1.
At that point I started to get real nervous.
Then when Mbappe scored again shortly after that, I hurled the ball that I was holding across the room in frustration.
It was 2-2.
I could hardly believe it.
Hundreds of millions of fans (including myself) desperately wanted Messi to win, and now a certain victory had evaporated right in front of our eyes.
I was pleading with Argentinian coach Lionel Scaloni to get some fresh legs in there, because his players were dead tired.
Throughout the game the Argentinian midfielders had played like wild animals, but as the game approached 90 minutes the fatigue was showing.
France had the momentum, and it looked like they might be able to complete a comeback for the ages.
But thankfully the break before the first overtime period seemed to give the Argentinians new energy, and they regained the initiative.
Argentina had more of the ball than France did during the first overtime period, but there were no goals.
In the second overtime period, Argentina threatened numerous times, and then a scramble in front of the French goal in the 108th minute resulted in Messi putting the ball across the line.
At that moment, hundreds of millions of fans started jumping up and down all over the planet.
Messi had done it.
The game was over.
But it wasn’t.
Just prior to the end of the second overtime period, a desperate shot by Kylian Mbappe hit the arm of Gonzalo Montiel.
A penalty shot was awarded, and Mbappe converted once again.
It was 3-3, and it seemed like we were headed for penalty kicks.
Of course the action wasn’t over yet. Both teams raced up and down the field as they attempted to win the game, and there were golden chances at both ends.
But neither team was able to score, and so the game would be settled at the penalty spot.
Ironically, the player that scored the decisive penalty kick for Argentina was also the player that had given France the penalty that had tied the game during the second overtime period.
So Gonzalo Montiel went from being a national scapegoat to a national hero in a matter of just a few minutes.
But this day was not about Gonzalo Montiel.
Ultimately, this day was about Lionel Messi and the hundreds of millions of fans that love him all over the world.
Messi had won every other major trophy that he could have possibly won throughout his career, but he had never won a World Cup.
And if Argentina had not won on Sunday, that fact would have haunted him for the rest of his life.
Messi didn’t just have a monkey on his back. He had a giant gorilla on his back, and the rest of the team could feel it too.
The entire Argentina team wanted to win this one for Messi.
And most of the fans on the entire planet wanted them to win this one for Messi.
Thankfully, they did it.
They pulled off a miracle, and they made a lot of us extremely nervous in the process.
Today was a day that reminded so many of us why we truly love this sport, and this World Cup final was an instant classic that will never be forgotten.
I’m still fighting Coronavirus. This is just going to be a simple post.
INTERVIEW: Is the confirmation British commandoes are in Ukraine a deliberate escalation?
When I lived in New Orleans, I saw an altercation outside this bar called Decatur House. This drunk redneck decided he’s harrass a punk. The punk kept beating him down, and the guy kept coming back for more.Eventually the drunk redneck’s wife came with a cop, begging the cop to arrest her husband before he got killed. She told the cop that the punk was just acting in self defense, but her husband was too dumb to know when to give up.NATO needs a wife like that.
How does it feel knowing China is number 2 in GDP but number 76 in GDP per capita?
How does it feel knowing that the US is number 1 in GDP and 5th in per capita GDP and yet it can’t afford to house all its citizens despite there being more than enough houses to, feed all its people despite there being more than enough food, and to provide universal healthcare despite it being more than capable to?
China solved her housing crisis, food shortages and healthcare accessibility decades ago, back when her GDP per capita rivalled that of your average sub-saharan African nation. Meanwhile, America would rather burn all its money on pointless wars against the poor in foreign states, vying for corporate interests instead of putting its money where its mouth is.
Pan Pizza
pan pizza
If you love pizza, you’re in luck. This pan pizza recipe will give you a super versatile dough that you can make into a fantastically pillowy cast-iron skillet pie, or stretch out by hand into a classic New York style slice to bake on a sheet tray. For those no-frills days when you’re not in the mood for sauce and cheese, you can treat this dough just like you would a traditional focaccia and bake it plain with lots of oil, flakey sea salt, herbs or whatever else you want to throw on top for a jazzed-up piece of crunchy-soft bread.
A dough like no other
There are three things that make this pizza dough unlike any other you’ve made before: a tangzhong paste, a little bit of whole wheat flour, and a very long resting time. The tangzhong method incorporates a water roux into the dough to maximize the tender, moist qualities found in your favorite breads. Often used in Japanese-style milk bread, you can make tangzhong by briefly cooking water and flour together over a medium-low heat until a paste forms. This process gelatinizes the starch content in the flour and helps trap moisture inside the dough, giving you a bite of pizza that is pillowy, fluffy, and soft with a little chew on the inside.
Accounting for about 10% of the total flour weight, the whole wheat flour plays two roles: providing a more hearty flavor to the dough, and giving the moisture-rich dough more structure. While you can use entirely all-purpose or bread flour—just substitute in 1/3 cup of white flour instead of 1/4 cup whole wheat—the higher bran and germ content in whole wheat gives our dough a slight nuttiness and depth of flavor. Because whole wheat flour tends to absorb more moisture than all-purpose or bread flour, its addition also makes our relatively high-hydration dough (ringing in at about 81% hydration!) a little bit easier to handle during the stretch and fold process.
More often than not, more time = more flavor in cooking, and this dough is no exception. This dough takes at least one full day to develop into its best self, but your patience will be rewarded! Thankfully, it is a time-intensive but not labor-intensive dough, requiring less than 5 minutes of kneading. We begin with a brief autolyse stage in which we allow the dough to rest on its own without putting in too much work. 30 minutes to one hour later, we begin a series of quick stretch-and-folds to help develop the gluten in a gentle manner, like we do in our sourdough bread recipe. Four rounds of stretch-and-folds later, we divide the dough into two portions, plop each into a well-oiled bowl, then cover and rest overnight in the fridge to further develop the flavor and gluten network. The longer the cold rest, the more flavorful the dough—go up to 4 days if you’d like to have a little bit of sourdough-like tang to your pizza!
Use it or freeze it.
Save yourself a trip to the grocery store and make a double batch of this dough if you are a pizza fanatic—after developing your desired level of cold-rest tanginess in the fridge, transfer your portioned balls of dough to the freezer (either in a lightly oiled resealable plastic bag or in an airtight container) for extended storage. Prior to use, either defrost overnight in the fridge or take out to defrost on your counter at room temperature 2 hours before your intended baking time.
Cheese first, then sauce.
If you want to avoid a soggy slice, top the pie Detroit-style with cheese underneath the sauce. Assembled this way, the sauce gets slightly caramelized and perfectly reduced when exposed directly to the hot oven heat. It also serves as a protective layer and prevents the cheese from browning too much and overcooking in the 500° oven. Ever have the cheese on your cooling pizza coagulate together into a solid sheet that slides off the slice in one piece when you go in for the bite? Not sexy. Keep it sexy and keep it saucy—just keep it on top.
Bake it hot.
Yup, that oven temp is not a typo—we’re baking this baby at 500° Fahrenheit. That’s about as hot as home ovens go, and it’s the perfect temperature to bake at if you want a crispy-bottomed pie with a soft, tender, pillowy interior. Baking at lower temperatures will mean longer cooking times, resulting in a drier pie with a tough bite. If you’re making this pizza in a cast iron skillet, we’re using a 5-minute stovetop sear before the baking begins to set the crust up for crispy success—don’t skip this step if you want the most gorgeously golden pie bottom even known to mankind.
And to top it off—
You can put whatever you want on your pie! Customize with your favorite ingredients: mushrooms, onions, sausage, pepperoni, peppers, olives, anchovies—nothing is off limits. Live your best life, eat your best pie.
Talk show hosts on Russia-1 TV network, were openly discussing using a SARMAT nuclear missile, with a single “monoblock” 100 Megaton warhead, to target the super volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park, causing a super-eruption, to wipe out western civilization!
The last time the Yellowstone Supervolcano erupted was about 800,000 years ago. That eruption sent volcanic ash over two-thirds of north America, wiping out most of the life at the time. The volcano is already overdue for another eruption, and these Russian TV hosts are openly wondering if a gigantic nuke, striking in the heart of Yellowstone Lake, could trigger another super-eruption to wipe out the United States.
According to the estimates of experts in Russia, “a number of events confirm the direct(!) involvement of the USA and Poland in the massive military-logistical support of the Kiev regime, in the preparation and implementation(!) of joint terrorist attacks on the ground of the Russian Federation”.
Moscow claims that “the drone avionics and control stations were manufactured by American Spektreworks, a company that performed the initial coordination and control of the drones at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.”
In addition, the relevant services emphasized that “the final assembly and flight tests of these drones took place on Polish territory, near the Rzeszow airport, which is used by the US and NATO as the main supply hub for the Ukrainian armed forces . ”
“The installation of the payload, the flight mission and the launch itself were carried out from Odessa and Krivoy Rog,” claim Russian experts.
Ukrainian drones hit the military airfields Engels-2 (Saratov Region) and Diaghilev (Ryazan Region) on December 6. These strikes were followed by the eighth massive missile attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“I Was Made In China” – Funniest EVER AGT Audition?
As a child of two Chinese parents, I can confirm literally every stereotype and fun insult she said in this performance.
DPP Losing Streak Marches on with Most Recent Taiwanese Election Result ……
In the delayed mayoral election in Chiayi City, Taiwan, that just concluded today, the DPP party again lost to the KMT, 64% to 35%! This wrapped up the 2022 Taiwan local election, registering the worst defeat of the DPP since its founding in the 1990s, despite widely reported and proven election fraud under the watch of DPP-controlled Central Election Commission, intervention by the judicial branch in DPP’s favor, and DPP’s monopoly and domination of the news media. It is widely conjectured that DPP loss could have been much more extensive without the above distorting factors.
This final episode of the 2022 Taiwan local election capped a year of Taiwanese popular opinion turning from apathy and cynicism to rage and fury toward the DPP. If anything, the lopsided vote count in Chiayi, in not so staunchly pro-KMT southern Taiwan, could indicate this fury is only growing.
How effective will the US export blacklist be to derail and destroy China’s technology development in semiconductors and aerospace?
In the past 20 years, China and the world’s economy have grown rapidly, mainly driven by the development of information technology. The semiconductor industry has become the core driving force of economic and social development and an important pillar of world economic development with its strong innovation, integration, driving and permeability.
In recent years, with the strong support of national policies, China’s semiconductor industry has achieved great development and basically established a complete industrial chain. However, key areas and key links in the industrial chain are still especially subject to materials and equipment, key technology, etc. and heavily dependent on foreign countries. The foreign export bans have blocked the pace of development of China’s semiconductor industry to leap forward to high-end.
Aiming at the world-class level, the Chinese scientists and engineers have united as one, faced difficulties, and successively conquered key core technologies such as inter-satellite links and high-precision atomic clocks. The components of the Beidou-3 satellite department have achieved 100% localization, and the Chinese scientists and engineers have truly achieved independent control. The service life of Beidou-3 satellite is more than 10 years, the positioning accuracy is better than 10 meters, the speed measurement accuracy is better than 0.2 m/s, the timing accuracy is better than 20 nanoseconds, and the service availability is better than 99%. All performance indicators have reached the world-class leading level. Aerospace-grade chips require more attention to safety and stability. Special production processes for aerospace-grade chips are required to meet strict design standards to adapt to complex space environments, such as strong cosmic rays, impacts of meteorite fragments, and steep drops in temperature. The 28nm and the 22nm process chips of the Beidou system have been mass-produced. Compared with those 180nm in 2015, the Chinese aerospace-grade chips have reached the world-class level.
China has become a new big country in the integrated circuit industry. In the past few decades, through continuous efforts, several integrated circuit industry centers have been formed in the Beijing-Tianjin-Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the central and western regions. Several characteristic integrated circuit industrial parks. China’s integrated circuit is one of the few industries in the world that has five complete sectors: design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment and materials.
China has formed a relatively complete industrial chain and has a huge group of enterprises whose quality is constantly improving. From a global perspective, the size of enterprises is still relatively small, but many enterprises have entered relatively advanced positions in subdivided fields. Even the long-term absence of semiconductor memory has gradually emerged as an emerging force.
The rapid development of China’s semiconductor industry largely benefits from the long-term semiconductor investment mechanism. Although the investment number is not large enough, it has played a huge role in promoting the development of the entire Chinese semiconductor industry. China is a gathering place for the fast-growing integrated circuit industry. In 2021, the revenue of the entire industry exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 1,045.8 billion yuan. In 2004, the largest semiconductor industry in China was the packaging and testing industry, followed by the manufacturing and design industries. In 2009, the design industry surpassed the manufacturing industry to become the second largest industry. In 2016, the design industry surpassed the packaging and testing industry to become the largest Industry. In 2020, the manufacturing industry surpassed the packaging and testing industry and reached the second place.
From the changes in the three-semiconductor links, it can be seen that the industrial structure of China’s semiconductor industry is becoming more and more reasonable. Among them, the design industry is the fastest growing industry, with an average annual compound growth rate of 26.6%. In recent years, China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry has emerged as an important backbone of China’s integrated circuit industry. Although its scale is not large enough, it surpasses the semiconductor packaging and testing industry. It can be said that this is a strategic shift.
China is the largest single semiconductor market. In 2021, the output value of the global semiconductor industry was US$556 billion, and the output value of China’s semiconductor industry was US$192.5 billion, accounting for nearly 35% of the world’s total. According to China Customs data, China imported 432.5 billion US dollars of integrated circuits, accounting for about 78% of the global output value of integrated circuits. At the same time, nearly 35% of the 78% integrated circuits imported by China were used locally, and more than 40% of It is also installed in the whole machines for export. This is an important sign of China’s status as the world’s largest single market.
The competitiveness of China’s integrated circuit products is still improving, especially in the field of high-end general-purpose chips. The achievements of China’s semiconductor industry are the result of long-term investment. China is in a very favorable stage of development, the stage of industrial upgrading and development: from low added value to high added value; from low technology to high technology; from low productivity to high productivity; from the low end to the high end of the industrial chain upgrading.
The status quo of China as the world’s factory will not change in the short term. There are hundreds of products in China that are highly demanded in the world. This has also created very important conditions for the development of China’s semiconductor industry. For a long time, China has deployed manufacturing as the center, and now China should turn to a product-centered industrial development model. The 22 chip design companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board are an example. According to their annual report data, the average gross profit rate of these chip design companies in 2021 was about 47%, which was 15% lower than the average gross profit rate of 62% for American chip design companies. Although the average R&D investment of these companies has reached 25.5%, which is 8.5% higher than the average R&D investment of 17% of American semiconductor companies, the total R&D investment of the 22 chip design companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board was only 1.08 billion US dollars.
The innovation capability of Chinese enterprises is still limited by scale and profitability and is actually very weak. The other better methods need to be adopted to promote the improvement of innovation capabilities of Chinese enterprises. The 5G mobile communication in China has an advantage of an important driving force for the future development of China. The 5G technology is a low-latency, massive machine-type communication technology that is still developing and will promote industrial intelligent transformation in the future, such as autonomous driving and industrial automation.
The development of the integrated circuit industry of China will not be achieved overnight. It requires long-term persistence and continuous efforts, and various preparations must be made. The semiconductor industry of China is still facing great challenges, both external and internal. Based on the situation of chip factories under construction in China and the shipments of chip equipment manufacturers around the world to China, it can be confirmed that the goal of self-sufficiency in domestic semiconductors reaching 70% in 2025 is about to be achieved. In other words, chip production needs to more than double in the last three years, and automotive chips need to double more than 15 times, indicating that the investment logic of domestic substitution still exists, and there is still room for at least doubling in three years.
China’s development will not change because of certain people or things, nor will it stagnate because of external suppression. The Chinese have to make all kinds of preparations while running hard. Relying on China’s huge market and the Chinese colleagues in all industries who are struggling day and night, China’s development is just around the corner, and the other side of victory will be surely reached!
The US export blacklist will not be effective to derail and destroy China’s technology development in semiconductors and aerospace but its own high-tech industries. The high-tech industries of the US will suffer huge losses in the coming years. From Tiangong, Beidou, Chang’e to Tianhe, Tianwen, Xihe, the aerospace and semiconductor high-tech industries of China continue to create new history.
It is too late for the US government and politicians to focus only on meddling in the high-tech industries of China.
What a waste of time and energy. Wake up please.
China’s De-Dollarization Strategy – They Want A Global Dollar Dump
Like what Jeffrey Sachs has said : the greed of a 100 year old empire like capitalism America knows no bounds , Karma strikes hard one day…..
Biden Opens Africa Summit With Sanctioning African Leaders
The Biden administration is holding a summit with some 40 leaders of African countries. The New York Times headline of its reporting on the summit is revealing:
“Bringing Africa’s Leaders to Washington”? Why not “invited African leaders to Washington”? Isn’t this reminiscent to the millions of Africans who had been “brought to America” in past centuries?
The U.S. is late in fostering better relations with Africa:
NAIROBI, Kenya — In Russia, Africa’s leaders were feted at a seaside resort where military aircraft for sale were parked outside the summit hall. In China, they dined with President Xi Jinping, some of them one-on-one, and received promises of investments worth $60 billion. In Turkey, they won support for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.Now they are headed to Washington for a major summit hosted by President Biden — the latest diplomatic drive by a major foreign power seeking to strengthen its ties to Africa, a continent whose geopolitical clout has grown greatly in the past decade.
There is little hope that the U.S. will do better than other nations:
As the planes of over 40 African heads of state descend on Washington, a question looms: What can Mr. Biden offer that they want?“The U.S. has traditionally seen Africa as a problem to be solved,” said Murithi Mutiga, Africa director at the International Crisis Group. “But its competitors see Africa as a place of opportunity, which is why they are pulling ahead. It’s unclear if this conference is going to change that.”
What the leaders from Africa demand is first of all respect:
Africa’s top diplomat says that, first of all, they want to be heard.“When we talk, we’re often not listened to, or in any case, not with enough interest,” President Macky Sall of Senegal, who is president of the African Union, said in an interview in Dakar last Thursday. “This is what we want to change. And let no one tell us no, don’t work with so-and-so, just work with us. We want to work and trade with everyone.”
There is no serious attempt to really get into better relations with African countries:
There will be initiatives to tap the African diaspora for new ideas in higher education, creative industries and the environment and for collaborations with NASA on space programs. A guide for summit delegates, obtained by The New York Times, predicts that Africa’s “space economy” will grow 30 percent by 2024 — an opportunity for the U.S. to help with technologies to solve problems related to climate change, agriculture, security and illegal fishing and mining.But there is little sign that Mr. Biden intends to launch a signature policy initiative like previous American administrations.
In short: it is a sales show and at least partly aimed at one of Biden’s constituent groups – ‘diaspora Africans’.
There is not much to expect from the meeting but empty words and not so empty threats. Yesterday, the day before the first summit meeting is supposed to take place, the Biden administration set the tone by … sanctioning African leaders:
The Biden administration on Monday slapped corruption sanctions on the son of Zimbabwe’s president as the U.S. prepares to host a major summit of African leaders in Washington.The Treasury Department announced it was hitting four Zimbabwean people and two companies with penalties for their roles in undermining democracy and facilitating high-level graft. Those sanctioned include Emmerson Mnangagwa, Jr., the son of the previously sanctioned Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
…
“We urge the Zimbabwean government to take meaningful steps towards creating a peaceful, prosperous, and politically vibrant Zimbabwe, and to address the root causes of many of Zimbabwe’s ills: corrupt elites and their abuse of the country’s institutions for their personal benefit,” Treasury said in a statement.
“The goal of sanctions is behavior change,” it said. “Today’s actions demonstrate our support for a transparent and prosperous Zimbabwe.”
I fail to find a participants list for the summit at the State Department’s Africa Summit page. But I am pretty sure that Zimbabwe as well as ten plus other member states of the African Union will not be present. It would be interesting to learn who those are.
Sanctions are typically reviewed by the National Security Council before they are enacted by the Treasury. That the White House let these pass at this time means that the move is intentional.
Those who are coming will notice this well timed action against the leadership of one of their fellow countries. It is likely supposed to intimidate them: “Watch what could happen to You!”
But times have changed. I doubt that they will fall for such a cheap trick.
Posted by b on December 13, 2022 at 12:37 UTC | Permalink
How I See the US After 15 Years Living Abroad
I lived in Asia for 20 yrs… After coming back to the US… I found that everything is failing in the US… Infrastructure, healthcare, education, law enforcement…. Dems and Rep DO NOT want to make the US a better place, they want to enrich themselves and hold onto power…. Political systems do not last forever because a few will figure out how to game the system…. Media, Money, and politicians have found that way…. Average people just suffer the consequences… But if you say this, you will be banned by YouTube. Better set up a channel on Rumble like most independent journalist do….
Russia Deploys **THIRD** Multi-Nuclear-Warhead Missile
Last week, the Russian Ministry of Defense released videos of two separate “YARS” nuclear ICBM’s being loaded into silos. Turns out, there was a third, in Bologovsky. Russia’s message to the West is clear.
In Bologovsky ,from the Strategic Missile Forces, a missile regiment of mobile “Yars” took up combat duty (third deployment of such system so far in a few days)
The “Yars”, which is being put into combat, is replacing the Topol mobile missile system.
The location in Bologovsky is shown on the map below relative to the rest of Europe.
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Europe and the USA, via their cute little military alliance called NATO, continue to interfere with what Russia is doing inside Ukraine. Russia has warned against such interference at the start, back on February 24, but those warnings have fallen upon deaf ears in the west.
Now, Russia is moving large, multi-warhead nuclear weapons very near the borders of NATO countries in Europe. If the ears of NATO will not hear, then perhaps the eyes of NATO can see?
The writing is on the wall for any rational person to view: Russia seems to be telling the west something like “If you continue to mess with us in Ukraine, we are going to start messing with YOU.”
Why the West doesn’t seem to get the message is unknown. Perhaps they need to start seeing the bright, white, flashes?
How will China’s switch to the yuan affect the US dollar and global economy?
Initially all that China wanted to do was to create a separate trade ecosystem that could guarantee continuous trade from and to China and ensure China had a continuous supply of Energy and Food in return for which China flooded the other countries with everything else from Machinery to Dry Goods to Canned Goods to Paper to Structural Works to Railways to Advanced Communications
This is called the Yuan Ecosystem
Cross Currency Swaps fuel the Ecosystem and a different settlement system that completely by passes the SWIFT was created
This was done to ensure that US could not block Chinese Trade financially.
Later this Yuan Ecosystem became a haven to Nations sanctioned by the United States
Especially Iran
Irans GDP looks like it crashed from $ 420 Billion in 2009 to $ 233 Billion in 2022 but in reality – Iran has flourished economically and its Yuan GDP is CNY 3.14 Trillion in 2014 to CNY 5.05 Trillion in 2022. Thats because Iran has almost completely moved to the Barter Ecosystem & the Yuan Ecosystem (Now they have also incorporated the Ruble Ecosystem)
Adoption of Chinese RMB as foreign reserve currency seen as latest move to bypass US sanctions and revive oil sales
So Iran is actually doing pretty well. It has deviated so much from the US Dollar that its Economic Activity is no longer gauged under USD Terms and its closer to measure it in Yuan.
Russia survived and thrived because of the Yuan Ecosystem
They were able to Bypass the SWIFT in less than 2 months by merely expanding the Chinese Russian Settlement System and simply received more payments in Yuan
Today the Yuan Ecosystem is likely to merge with the Ruble Ecosystem and the Barter Ecosystem of Iran and createa Three Country Exchange Mechanism which could be adopted by BRICS in which case Turkey and Saudi Arabia would willingly make deals under this system.
As the US becomes weaker, it becomes a bigger and bigger despot and frankly the entire world is becoming tired of the Anglosphere (US, Australia and UK) and its regular bullying and baiting.
Now they have an alternate – The Yuan Ecosystem
An Alternate Ecosystem of a Separate Trading System and a Separate Currency that bypasses the West entirely
The Yuan Ecosystem of course is nowhere near the Western Ecosystem
Yet it is now an Option for Nations that have had enough of Bullying by the West
FLAT-OUT LIED! Labor Statistics “REVISED” from Q2 this year . . .
Estimates by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia indicate that the employment changes from March through June 2022 were significantly different in 33 states and the District of Columbia compared with current state estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES). Early benchmark estimates indicated higher changes in four states, lower changes in 29 states and the District of Columbia, and lesser changes in the remaining 17 states.
In the aggregate, 10,500 net new jobs were added during the period rather than the 1,121,500 jobs estimated by the sum of the states; the U.S. CES estimated net growth of 1,047,000 jobs for the period. Payroll jobs in the nation remained essentially flat from March through June 2022 after adjusting for QCEW data.
Hal Turner Analysis and opinion
Well, there you have it, folks. The illegitimate Biden Regime, corrupting almost everything it touches, has now clearly gotten to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to skew the job numbers as propaganda for the masses. Bankers don’t make mistakes like saying there’s 1,121,500 new jobs when, in fact, there were only about 10,500. But Bankers can . . . ahem . . . . lie.
And that is what I think we have here. I( think the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, in “correcting” their numbers, has exposed themselves to be . . . what many people might call . . . liars.
No rational person makes a mistake like that, and no rational person believes that a Bank (never mind the top bank in the country) makes a mistake like that. Thus, it seems probable the bank flat-out lied. On purpose.
From this point on, it seems to me, the Federal Reserve job numbers simply cannot be believed. Oh, and this might help explain why the economy (out here in the real world) is clearly in a catastrophe, despite what the “reports” say.
This is what is meant by asymmetrical warfare:
the United States may be sanctioning Chinese companies and individuals
ban the sales of chip making equipment and chip design software
prevent Americans from working in China
in order to destroy China’s semiconductor and hi-tech industry.
In response, China is swarming the market with mature chips – which incidentally also make up the larger share of the market and is the most widely used chip which they have now mastered and will saturate it in time. Using their far more efficient manufacturing process, they will drive American and other chip manufacturers out of the market by selling at a price the Americans will not be able to match. As American and other manufacturers become unprofitable with less funds to invest in R&D, they will become increasingly uncompetitive. In contrast, the Chinese companies will earned greater revenues and will be able to invest in more R&D. Over time, they will be manufacturing and controlling leading edge semiconductors.
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As the report noted: “The Chinese could just flood the market with these technologies……… Normal companies can’t compete, because they can’t make money at those levels.”
The Americans have screwed themselves to a poorer place. By waging war on Chinese semiconductor industry, they have set the foundation for the destruction of that industry in the United States.
The Americans are now scrambling for a response. They have been out manoeuvred AND that they are NO good pathways out – they have already lost.
French Pizza Bread
french bread pizza1 1655320413
Craving homemade pizza, but don’t want to deal with finicky pizza dough? We get it, that stuff can be tricky. Skip it altogether, and grab the nearest loaf of French bread instead. The loaf makes for a delicious pizza “crust” that will get crispy on the outside, while staying nice and soft on the inside. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
Speaking of being the best of both worlds, we took that idea EVEN further. As we were cutting our French bread for these pizzas, we were reminded of another classic Italian restaurant staple—garlic bread We brushed our French loaf with garlic butter here to combine our two favorites, and it is truly to die for. You could skip the garlic if you’re a purist (but hey, we’re making pizza on bread here, so we say anything goes!), but we still recommend toasting the bread for a few minutes before you put your toppings on to keep it nice and crisp.
As for toppings, we went the classic pepperoni route, but there’s no reason you can’t keep it vegetarian with mushrooms, peppers, and onions, or add in some sausage for a meat lover’s pizza. It’s your pizza night, so go crazy!
Want to take this completely to the next level? Take it outside, and turn it into grilled pizza bread. Simply wrap your French loaf pizzas in aluminum foil, and toss them onto a campfire or grill—in 10-15 minutes you’ll be eating pizza, no 500° oven required.
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Putin just dropped a BOMBSHELL on next steps in Ukraine War
Thank you guys for keeping us updated on real news!
How effective will the US export blacklist be to derail and destroy China’s technology development in semiconductors and aerospace?
Ultimately it’s all about Economics
China had the demand and the demand will grow more and more
As demand grows, so will the efforts for maintaining supplies by any means necessary.
If China had been a saturated market like Japan then yes, these moves would have perhaps succeeded
China however is far from saturated and the Chinese are hungrier than ever for more AI, more Automation and more Technology
The law of Economics is older than Biden or even USA
Nations with a Technological edge have always seen their edge diminish over the years and see the rest of the world catch up.
China has the money, the engineers and the world’s strongest espionage network and fingers in every pie in every nation.
China would already be working on many ways to thwart the policies
Shell companies in Singapore or Europe whose real ownership is buried for minimum 25 years
A handful of Judges cultivated for years and now placed to help China with favorable rulings
Thousands of Chinese origin Engineers working in Korea or Taiwan who have helped China bridge a 30 year gap in 5 years.
Simultaneously China would also be
Bringing up more and more Engineers into Semiconductor Research
Attract Western Talent to China especially Mainland Origin Talent who despite living for years in USA feel the call back home
This will ensure that China doesn’t slip and keeps its pace of technology to around 60–65% of what it was in 2019 when it had full access to US Technology
That would still ensure Chinas sustained growth albeit a bit slower
China already has the potential to develop core technologies and has done so
The Key is commercialization of these core technologies on a large enough scale.
It’s the same as Anti Russian Sanctions
China will come through because THE ECONOMICS IS WITH CHINA
As long as their Energy is uninterrupted.
And trust me if US play with Chinas Food Or Energy – China would handle things very differently indeed.
Calling or writing to our elected officials is literally a waste of time. Over the last two years I have called frequently as well as written them.
I always speak to some staff member who answers the phone and sounds like they are all of 19 years old.
Always the same conversation, "thank you for your call and I will convey to the congressman/senator your concerns".
The following month I received a form letter that often includes items that I did not even talk about.
The only way you get to actually let your elected official to hear what you have to say is to be a relative or a big campaign donor with his cell phone number...otherwise it is a waste of time.
Gone are the days of mountains of telegrams being delivered to the congressional offices, no longer do we hear independent editorials in the newspaper or TV/radio and the reason is they are all corporate controlled by a handful of corporations in the backpocket of the government.
So folks, fate is already written, what will happen will happen and we are powerless just as the peasants of the middle ages against the Lords and Barons.
The last two national elections are that same message.
The news out of the United States is far too distressing. Let’s enjoy elements of “The Maltese Falcon” as we explore the contemporaneous news of our daily fiasco.
Let’s start here…
The US/the UK even don’t cares about their own citizen’s lives, human rights & freedom, but care more about the Chinese lives, human rights & freedom.
Why are lives of Chinese thousands times more important than lives of Americans & British people?
Keep your eyes open when these Anglo-Saxons care about you.
When they cared about some natives, those natives got genocide.
When they cared about Africa, blacks became slaves.
When they cared about the Indian Subcontinent, well, that doesn’t count. Many Indians feel privileged about their colonial past.
When they cared about oil, we saw how many countries were destroyed in the Middle East.
When they cared about Ukraine, it got a coup and civil war lasted 8 years and is still bleeding for Anglo-Saxon interests.
Why do I know this secret?
Because China was cared about by them. Then opium was sold in large quantities in China. They called the Chinese the sick man of East Asia.
Now they care about China again and you see the “evil of China” every day in the media they control.
A few days ago, Americans announced that they are ready to help China on COVID-19 surge if China asks. It really freaked me out.
Maltese Falcon Opening Sequence
The best of the film noirs.
American opinions…
I say bring it.I gave up on this country years ago. It’s all bullshit. The majority of the people are stupid as bricks and the rest just want “normal” back.God’s gonna use our “enemies” (Russia ain’t my enemy) to bring His wrath down on us. Whether it’s EMP, nukes going off over many cities, a bioweapon or whatever doesn’t matter. It’s over.
Summits
There are two erstwhile ‘summits’ going on.
The first we can simply note and then let it go because it is of null value. This is the December 13–15 US-Africa Summit, with 49 delegations from African states and one from the African Union (AU). It is clear that this summit was called for one reason only. This reason is to talk, bully and threaten the African states out of working with China and Russia, so, it is not really a summit at all and I get notes from the African side, who reports that there is a deficit of trust. With the rest of the world, Africa saw that the collective west is non-agreement capable and at least in the Mali area, they kicked out the French. The US will not get out of this summit what they hoped for, which is an African shift to the west.
In somewhat of a segue, we see the same trajectory very clearly now in Peru, where the Peruvians are out on the streets, protesting, being killed, and not leaving. The latest is that the military has been called in to try and establish order. There are three demands from the Peruvians: 1) Closure of the right-wing congress 2) New elections 3) Free Pedro Castillo, and also a constitutent assembly to close the loopholes in the Peruvian establishment of congress, because this coup was the result of pure lawfare. The pattern of deficit of trust is clear here as well and these countries. Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia released a joint statement supporting Peru’s elected President Pedro Castillo, saying he is victim of “anti-democratic harassment,” following a US-backed coup.
Back to the main topic. The second 'summit' which cannot be classified as a summit per se, is the end-of-year gathering of the Valdai Club. I've been catching as much of this as is possible. The one paper that really caught my attention is titled: A World Without Superpowers. It can be downloaded here: DOWNLOAD
There are two presentations in this report that I would take issue with. The one is on page three and reads as follows: A new system is bound to take shape in a future stage of global politics, even if this is unlikely to happen any time soon.
I would consider this statement political as it does not really fit the rest of the presentation. It probably was added as a type of soporific because the new system is making strides of progress. I do know this will take time.
From <REDACTED>.
Is it time for the US to decouple from China economically?
It is never time for anyone to decouple from China. Not even the U.S. China represent roughly 18% of world’s population but because of its high marginal propensity to spend and its high investment capacity, its share of world’s consumption is close to 40%. But what is worst is the fact that China is the manufacturing hub of the world!
So for quite a lot of stuff such as semiconductor micro chips, China alone represent 60–70% of the worlds market. I cannot even start to imagine what will happen to the U.S. manufacturer or supplier being told by some US government officials that they have to stop doing business China! I am a businessman and no one wants to lose 60% of the market. Usually it means going bankrupt.
I know that some people here in QUORA still think we are in 1945 and when the US says you are out , you are dead. Today in certain business US is really not a big player at all. In Semiconductor micro chip business the U.S. a a mere player amongst many many players and it is a nation amongst nation contributing towards the chip making. If America decouple with China, essentially it is decoupling from the world almost.
I hope the for the U.S. sake, the U.S. start to make sense soon.
The Maltese Falcon (1/10) Movie CLIP – Help Me, Mr. Spade (1941) HD
U.S. Votes **AGAINST** United Nations Resolution to Combat “Glorification of Nazism”
The United States of America voted today AGAINST a Resolution by the United Nations General Assembly, to “Combat the glorification of Nazism . . .” The Biden Regime now officially supports NAZI ideology.
Out of the 180 countries present for today’s vote, 120 voted in FAVOR of Combatting Nazi ideology, 50 countries, including the USA, Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Germany, and Italy voted AGAINST, and ten nations abstained.
Here is the UN vote total chart:
UN Gen Assmbly Anti Nazi Vote 12 15 2022
The Coming Autogolpe in the USA
This is a video that will set the pace for the rest of the past. Please enjoy.
With the rise of China and other non-Western economies, do you think the days of Western economic dominance are numbered?
Even now, Europeans have clearly realized that their economic problems come from the economic opposition between the US and EU, but the questioner is still trying to shape the atmosphere of economic opposition between the West and China.
I do not remember that China did any economic damage to Europe, but provided a large number of medical personnel and materials to European countries at the beginning of the epidemic. No one thanked us but we don’t care. We did the right thing.
If Europe cannot prevent the US from plundering the European economy from fossil fuels, agricultural products and military industry, then the European economy is indeed facing a fatal threat. If there is another war in Eastern Europe or Central Asia, the refugees will also crush the European economy.
The way out for Europe is not in the west but in the east. I’m not saying only China.
Also, if Europe and China cooperate, European talents will not be lost and economic problems will be alleviated, you can still rise another day. If Europe continues to be plundered by the US, talents will migrate to the US and never return.
American opinions
The United States is on the hit list for annihilation.
Gotta ask yourself a question. Who is the blame for all of this.
The U.S. Gov .and the Pentagon. NATO included.
At this point in time any more rockets or missiles attacks coming from Ukraine.. patriots missiles coming into Ukraine won't change the outcome of this war one bit.add insult to injury.
Russian military will have to make a decision when too use their ICBM's to fire on UK or the U.S. because the U.S. military will have to attack Russia in someway so as for Russia to see it as a direct threat of and attack coming from the United States and Nato.this clearly will be suicidal on Nato and the United States.
Once this attack occurs the east coast will be history .
New York and Washington DC .
And your politicians will be going underground to their military bases . Will have to see how all of this plays out in the coming months ahead .
The Maltese Falcon (2/10) Movie CLIP – Joel Cairo (1941) HD
Is Japan a semicolony of the USA?
What do you call a country that cannot and/or not allowed to protect itself, is occupied by another country and have multiple foreign military bases permanently station there to threaten their country and people ?
Vassal State ? Colony ? Semicolony ? Subordinated ally ? Puppet state ? Or an independent country ?
Your own choice and decision.
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Is the statement that the PLA can “take Taiwan” in days a fiction? Military strategists assert the island could prove virtually impregnable to an attack by China if Taiwan manages it properly.
PLA can take Taiwan in a few days. Taiwan conscripts receive only four months of military training. Its soldiers are nicknamed “Strawberry Soldiers” by its own people for being easily bruised, hardly a heroic designation for an army.
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Pampered Strawberry Soldiers under sunshades at the firing range in Taiwan.
Taiwan is counting on the U.S. to save them from a PLA invasion. Now that TSMC has vacated to Arizona, there is no longer a need for the U.S. to protect the island. Taiwan needs a diplomatic solution.
When You’re Slapped, You’ll Take It & Like It – The Maltese Falcon (3/10) Movie CLIP (1941)
Experts have said that China’s debt is unsustainable, how do they plan to restructure their economy in order to correct this?
How exactly can Chinas Debt be unsustainable?
Their External Debts are around 19% of their GDP
Their Internal Debts are 75% of their GDP
Their Total Debt is 343% of their GDP which means the interest is roughly 19% of their GDP
So where and what Debt is Unsustainable?
Shall we compare this to UK?
UK has nearly 287% of GDP as External Debts
US has 130% of GDP as External Debts
So why do Experts say Chinas debt is Unsustainable?
Simple. They see this 350% of GDP and say that this is unsustainable.
They of course know that firstly all debt is in Local Yuan and secondly that Debt can be restructured infinitely if they are in Yuan.
As long as the interests are paid, Debt which are in local currencies can be rolled over again and again
The Debt of 314 Trillion Yuan is owed by all Chinese Companies , every one of them to it’s Chinese Bondholders and Public
The Interest paid is around 18.7 Trillion Yuan a year that is roughly $ 2.85 Trillion which barely comes to 15% of Chinas GDP.
So even if all these Companies sink overnight, Chinas Government can actually pay interest every year from it’s own coffers at a 15% Contraction of GDP.
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You see these men?
They don’t think like me
They decided to stop the unnecessary burdening of the companies with more and more debt.
Thus they introduced Equity Restructuring
Where Companies offer shares in lieu of Debt.
Real Estate Companies have reduced their debt by 12% so far this way
They introduced Profit linked buyback of Debt
A Company with more profits than their target that year can pay off these profits and retire some of their debt
They did this because they always look at the future and they know that the path ahead must always be smooth.
China can easily maintain this debt for another 20 years but Xi Jingping and the CPC don’t want to burden the leaders of 2042 into hurriedly making decisions without the benefit of hindsight
Rather slow your economy by 50% now and ensure that by 2030, your entire weaknesses are elimainated and then by God you come out roaring and fully strong.
And by 2030, US Debt is expected to be 213% GDP and Social Security payments would be reaching 8.2% GDP
Tucker Carlson: We were shocked to learn this
NOTHING should shock us anymore.
The Maltese Falcon (4/10) Movie CLIP – Kasper Gutman (1941) HD
When and how can China surpass the United States of America (USA) as an economic superpower?
China has surpassed USA a long long time ago as an economic powerhouse.
Today China’s growth alone is bigger than G7 put together.
Today China’s GDP in real purchasing value parity is very close to 1.4 times bigger than the USA.
Today China’s middle income is close to 700 million people or more than twice the size of the USA.
China’s consumption alone is close to 40% of the world, while the U.S. is a shade over 14% now.
When you measure Economy just like when you measure the health of a person you need to measure many different aspects such as BMI, heartbeat, weight, hypertension, blood sugar level….
Sure based on a highly inflated USD GDP, the U.S. is still 15% higher but one need to measure in different aspect and terms. To gauge the various aspect of growth.
For example. The disparity of wealth of the USA is diabolical and plain disaster. Imagine 400 people in America owns half of America while 1% of Americans owned 80% of America while 330’000’000 other Americans share the balance 20% of America. It is a credit to their media spin that there is no massive revolution there!
So anyone who knows basic economics knows that China has overtaken the U.S. for at least a decade by now and it is still growing 3 times the speed of the U.S. for another 3–4 decades to come.
The Maltese Falcon (5/10) Movie CLIP – Mighty Funny (1941) HD
Why doesn’t Taiwan officially declare independence and apply for UN membership since they’re backed up by the US?
It takes at least a week for US’s aircraft carriers to reach Taiwan.
However, it only takes a couple of minutes for missiles from mainland China to reach Taiwan.
Do the math.
Chicken Noodle Soup: A Heartwarming Classic
Chef Jean-Peirre has become my absolute favorite Chef to learn from. I have massive respect for people like Marco Peirre-White, Jacques Pépin, Julia Child, and the long list of other amazing chefs. But there is just something wonderful relative to Chef Jean-Peirre’s style that is comforting. He reminds me of what my father would be like if he was a professional chef.
The Maltese Falcon (6/10) Movie CLIP – There’s Our Fall Guy (1941) HD
What are some reasons why some people say China is not a threat to the world?
To me China is an adult and treats people respectively.
On the other hand we have the US who bullies everyone and works with the principle ‘do as I say not as I do’.
Look at the number of wars the US instigated and involved its allies.
I for one do not agree following the US into anymore wars.
Now look at the number of countries China has destroyed since WW2. None.
Actions always speak louder than words and the US certainly is ‘mouthy’.
The Maltese Falcon (7/10) Movie CLIP – There’s Only One Maltese Falcon (1941) HD
Was China’s high speed railway worth it since it put the country into $1 trillion dollars of debt?
Thats the Biggest Mistake you make
IT IS NOT 1 TRILLION DOLLARS
It is 6 Trillion Yuan!!!!!!
Thats the whole world of difference between $ 1 Trillion and 6 Trillion Yuan
6 Trillion Yuan Debt can be restructured 100 times – until the end of 2122 AD or 2222 AD also.
The Railways are Public Assets owned by the Chinese Public. The Debt is owned by the Chinese Public. So at the end of the day – the Debt is collateralized and even if its not a 1:1 Collateralization- The public have their own Trains, Rail Routes.
Thats the Beauty of Public Sector
Unlike the West and sadly my own country India where a few capitalists borrow from banks and build infrastructure and the Govt pays these capitalists also from Banks – Chinese Debt is entirely public.
As long as China and its economic growth continues -China can happily restructure even 50 Trillion Yuan with no issues whatsoever.
Since everything is Indigenous – all Suppliers , contractors and engineers and workers can be paid in Yuan ensuring the continuous transactional chain of Yuan related debt.
And China are also Upscaling
The Larger the Scale – the more efficient the smaller cogs.
$ 100 Million needs 15% Profitability, $ 1 Billion may need only 7% Profitability and $ 100 Billion may need only 4.25% Profitability.
China is reaching a scale where by 2025–2027 – 3.5% Profitability is sufficient to bring in a massive amount of money and also provide tickets at the cheapest cost.
So again this is Western Propaganda by a Group of Economists who still look at everything from the US angle where Capitalists own stuff and where Debt is always institutional and where Scale of Expansion is non existent.
China is simply doing what Rockefeller and Carnegie did in the early 1900s which US has forgotten
China has absolutely zero issues with this “Debt”
Chinas Railway Expansion is perfect Economics.
What are the major cultural differences between China and Taiwan?
I live in Taiwan and I was in mainland China for several months this summer. I spent most of my time in Yunnan but also visited Beijing, Shanghai and Fujian.
*Major subjective generalizations ahead*
The first thing I noticed in China was that the frequency of ”不好意思“ dropped tremendously. 不好意思(bù hǎo yì si) is a Mandarin phrase that can be loosely translated to mean “excuse me”, “pardon me” or “I’m sorry”. Taiwanese use it when they bump into someone on the street, when they ask for a favor, when they are late, when they offend you, when they interrupt someone or any other time to express shyness, shame, politeness or a mild apology. Chinese seem to reserve this word for more severe offenses such as being very late to a formal meeting or bumping into someone so hard they actually stumble over and fall to the ground.
Chinese tend to be more nationalistic, patriotic and proud of their country. There is something of an identity crisis going on among young Taiwanese. Many young Taiwanese think Taiwan is a poor economic backwater that is not a “cool place to live”. This is very unfortunate because the quality of life here is really quite high and they take things for granted such as the high level of safety(particularly for women) and the affordable national healthcare system. When I told Chinese that I was leading a language immersion course for American high school students to learn Chinese, people were delighted and proud that people wanted to learn their language. When I told Taiwanese, they just asked why would anyone want to learn such a useless language when they already speak the ‘all-powerful’ English.
Chinese people are more likely to boast about China and compare it to other countries. Taiwanese love to complain about Taiwan and praise other countries. Chinese will proudly tell me that China is a very safe country and even make jabs about how America is dangerous with all the mass shootings and gun violence. Meanwhile, my Taiwanese relatives complain to me about how “dangerous” Taiwan is and that they live in debilitating fear riding the subways of Taipei. That is 100% insane because Taiwan is literally one of the safest countries on earth -definitely the safest country I’ve ever lived in. And no, not a single one of my relatives has experienced a single crime, not even a minor one, in the last three decades. (Crime was higher in the 1980s).
Many Chinese are highly critical of Japan, the US and South Korea; Taiwanese love fantasizing about moving to Japan, South Korea or the US. Even Chinese who do want to live abroad are still more critical.
Chinese are much more optimistic about the future of their country and sincerely believe living standards will continue to improve. Taiwanese are much more pessimistic, in fact, they are too pessimistic, saying things like “Taiwan is becoming a third-world country” or “there is absolutely no future here” or “we have the most corrupt government in the history of the human race”. There is indeed corruption in the Taiwanese government, especially during the time of former president Chen Shui-bian, but it is relatively mild by global and historical standards.
Older Chinese men love to pressure and coerce other young men into drinking hard liquor. If your glass if empty, they will pour you another drink and then you are obligated to 乾杯 with them. I’ve never experienced this in Taiwan except in aboriginal villages and even then the pressure was mild compared to rural China. Chinese also drink considerably more than Taiwanese.
Many Chinese men are heavy smokers. They smoke at home and they smoke in public. They smoke in restaurants, bars and markets. I was offered many cigarettes by strangers in China. I’ve never been offered cigarettes in Taiwan and there is less smoking in Taiwan(thank god).
Chinese have less respect for food preferences, diets, vegetarians or food allergies. I have G6PDD which means I could die if I ate fava beans but folks in Yunnan still insisted I eat their home-cooked fava bean meal. They seemed to just think I was being picky. In Taiwan, people understand allergies and will go out of their way to accommodate most food preferences.
I don’t know why this annoyed me but cafes in China always listed green and oolong tea under no-caffeine beverages which is incorrect. In Taiwan, a no-caffeine beverage is an herbal tea like rooibos or lemon ginger.
Chinese, especially in the Yunnan, are okay with eating just about anything. I ate all sorts of bugs and strange meats and fungi in China. I was told that people who are picky or do not eat certain foods, including crickets and worms, are just privileged. Young Taiwanese are appalled at the prospect of eating dog, insects, donkey or larva.
There is a higher percentage of Chinese who are rugged, tough and aggressive. Taiwanese tend to be more sheltered, non-confrontational and ‘nerdy’. I certainly met people in China that I wouldn’t want to mess with. I rarely meet such people in Taiwan.
Southeast Asian cuisines, and foreign food in general, is a lot more popular in Taiwan. There are several dozen pho restaurants in Tainan alone. I could not find a single pho restaurant in Kunming even though Yunnan literally borders Vietnam.
As a half-Asian, half-White person, I was much more likely to be seen as a Chinese or some other Asian in China. Taiwanese usually think I am a non-Asian foreigner – either American, Brazilian or Turkish. People I chatted with on the train in China were surprised I was half-White. Taiwanese, on the other hand, are surprised I am even half-Taiwanese and are often shocked I speak Chinese. My theory for this is that there is a broader spectrum of phenotypes and ‘faces’ in China that are considered Chinese whereas Taiwan essentially has two faces – Han and aboriginal(Austronesian). You can refer to my answer about Chinese minorities to learn more.
Chinese will openly and bluntly talk about people’s physical features. I chatted with two people on the train who began discussing with each other why my “nose was not right” or how my “eyes were abnormal”. Another time, I chatted for a while with an old man. When I mentioned that I was mixed, he looked at me with surprise and said ”你長得像中國人，真的是混血失敗“ which means “your mix was a failure because you look totally Chinese.” LMAO! Taiwanese are generally more polite about this.
Most Chinese do not value democracy, freedom of speech or freedom of the press. While many people I met used VPNs and complained about the censorship, most people still thought the Great Firewall was for the greater good. Taiwanese love their freedom of speech and freedom to demonstrate. Neither really care about privacy or surveillance however.
Despite the censorship and propaganda, I found Chinese to be generally more aware of geopolitics than Taiwanese. Many young Taiwanese are completely apolitical. Taiwanese media often focuses on bizarre things such as how handsome an interpreter is rather than the conference itself.
Blue collar and service jobs are filled by domestic migrant labor from poorer provinces in China. The same jobs are filled by Southeast Asian workers in Taiwan. Consequently, the “dirt cheap but delicious food” throughout China is Sichuanese hot pot whereas the equivalent in Taiwan is Vietnamese pho.
Taiwanese are more open-minded and tolerant of LGBT people compared with Chinese. Taiwanese are also less overtly racist towards Black people and South Asians. Outside the big cities, Chinese will stare shamelessly at foreigners – especially foreigners they see less often such as Black or Indian people. Taiwanese are curious to see foreigners too but will at least try and pretend they aren’t looking. Taiwanese will also smile to be polite whereas Chinese will often just stare blankly and say something like “Look! She’s black.” or “What is an Indian doing here?” or “Why is that guy so fat?”.
Taiwanese are slightly friendlier on average but the margin is not as great as I previously thought. I was told that mainland Chinese are rude and unfriendly but that was not my experience. If Taiwan gets a 9/10 rating for friendliness, then Yunnan and Fujian both get 8/10, Beijing, Singapore and Penang get a 7.5/10 and Shanghai a 6/10 while Hong Kong, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur all get a mere 5/10 – 不好意思!
Chinese have a more positive view of Taiwan than vice versa. I was genuinely surprised by the number of Chinese who had visited Taiwan or were planning to. People liked my Taiwanese accent and thought Taiwanese were cool. They also do not hate the pro-independence Taiwanese politicians but rather just think they are ‘silly’. China is a much more polarizing topic in Taiwan. For obvious reasons, Chinese do not see Taiwan as a threat whereas many Taiwanese see China as their greatest threat.
Finally, Chinese tend to be early-adopters of technology. Everyone from rural fruit vendors to beggars took payment via WeChat or Alipay. Almost every business in Taiwan is cash only, even the higher end places that take card only take certain types of cards and often the machine doesn’t even work. There is an app for everything in China and businesses are more integrated with the internet whereas many businesses in Taiwan are still off line.
Fauci NEEDS To Be Investigated For COVID Lies Says Jeffrey Sachs
Rand Paul has been the sole legislator calling out Fauci from the beginning! Thank you Rand Paul!
American opinions
The USA deserves its fate.
The Maltese Falcon – The Maltese Falcon (8/10) Movie CLIP (1941) HD
Why do some non-Chinese claim to understand China when most Chinese don’t understand their own nation?
Because they haven’t been in China long enough?
There is a joke among expats that goes something like this: Someone who visits China for a week is an expert on China. One who has been in China a year knows a lot about China, one who has been in China 5 years knows a little bit about China, and one who has been in China 10 years or more knows nothing at all about China. (I think this is said about foreigners in any country.)
A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. When people know a little bit about something it is easy to see themselves as an expert, but the longer time they spend, the more they realize they don’t understand.
I’ve been in China 8 years, so I still think I understand just a little bit. Give me a couple of more years to fully realize I am truly completely ignorant.
Proof America Is The Most Corrupt, Evil & Murderous Nation On Earth
The USA is 100% corrupt. Well stated.
What makes China a more productive country than a consuming country?
China is not a consuming country?
If you visit China, you will find that Chinese consume A LOT and very conspicuously, even more conspicuously than Americans. When it comes to electric vehicles, digital services, 5G and other modern amenities, China is WAY AHEAD of everyone else because China and Chinese are not stuck in the past.
This is because the Chinese government does not allow the corporations of the past to dictate the development of the future.
Unlike in the west.
I Won’t Play The Sap For You – The Maltese Falcon (9/10) Movie CLIP (1941) HD
If China’s invasion of Taiwan succeeds, who will be the next to be invaded by China?
Oh we are coming directly for you, the US.
We are not that Hero that beats every henchmen then the boss, nope, we will just go directly for you.
Your first island chain is broken, 2nd island chain is almost broken, and then it’s gonna be Hawaii, then the mainland.
Get ready to be re-educated!
No, in actuality China already told you it’s territory claim from the very beginning, and that will be our claim. We really couldn’t give a fuk about others you see. Why should we take the effort to rule you, feed you and try to make you happy? You think administrating a country is fun? We are already in heavens when we see how incompetently you have ruled yourself for the past decades, you are doing a very good job running it into the ground, why would we help you correct that?
Former Spy Says Biden Is a “Controlled Asset” of the CCP – Biden’s Actions Show This Is the Case
By Joe Hoft
Published December 13, 2022 at 11:00am
..
Can you doubt that the United Stats is corrupt? -MM
Just before the 2020 election, 51 former intelligence officials falsely claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a Russian disinformation operation. Thanks to Elon Musk, we now know that Twitter colluded with Joe Biden’s campaign, the Democratic Party, the mainstream media and the FBI to prevent American voters from learning the truth — namely, that the Democrats’ presidential nominee and his family had knowingly taken millions of dollars from Chinese intelligence officers.A patriotic former U.S. spy named “Sam” Faddis — who recruited and ran foreign agents for America for many years — is convinced that, as a result of this collective betrayal of the public trust, we elected as president a “controlled asset” of Chinese intelligence.The new House of Representatives must make exposing and evaluating the potentially catastrophic national security repercussions of such a dangerous penetration — and taking corrective action — its first order of business.
Biden Hosts Summit of 49 African Leaders to Counter China & Russia’s Growing Power Across Continent
It’s not about helping Africa. It’s about containing China.
Deputy Speaker of Russian Senate: West Faces EXISTENTIAL CHOICE; Continue Suicidal Strategy or Engage Self Preservation
Konstantin Kosachev, the Deputy Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (Senate) said this week the West will soon face an EXISTENTIAL choice: It can continue with a SUICIDAL strategy (in Ukraine) or apply SELF PRESERVATION. He’s talking about us all . . . being killed.
Western countries are standing at a crossroads and must decide whether they want to continue pursuing selfish policies that address only their own security, or recognize that this is a dead-end track, the vice speaker of upper chamber of the Russian parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Tuesday.
Writing on Telegram, Kosachev, who also chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, said that “sooner or later, the West will have to make an existential choice” between catering for only its own interests, “or admitting that this suicidal strategy has exhausted itself.”
The senator noted that a return to the principle of “indivisibility of security architecture” was the only path forward. Kosachev explained that this means a “deliberate refusal to ensure one’s own security at the expense” of other countries, adding that it serves “as a cornerstone” for all complex diplomatic arrangements.
The vice speaker also claimed that there is a rift between Western countries on this issue. He pointed to the statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the need for a new security framework after the Ukraine conflict ends.
According to Kosachev, these remarks “suggest that there are still remnants of common sense and a sense of self-preservation in France and Germany, which are behaving more responsibly.” That sentiment, however, is not shared by a number of other EU countries, including the Baltic nations and Poland, he stated.
Earlier this month, Macron expressed the view that NATO should prepare security guarantees for Russia after the Ukraine conflict is settled. Around the same time, Scholz noted that peace in Europe depends on the revival of post-Cold War security arrangements with Russia.
Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources, that the three Baltic states, along with Poland and Slovakia, had officially lodged their disapproval of the French leader’s remarks on making guarantees to Moscow. The same day, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said that Russia should not expect such promises from other nations, arguing that Moscow has to ensure the safety of the EU, and not the other way around.
Hal Turner Analysis and Opinion
“Existential choice:” Whether we continue to exist.
“Suicidal Strategy” A strategy that is going to get us killed.
“Self Preservation:” Saving our own lives . . . .
The Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council is talking about us existing no more because our strategy is suicidal and that only France and Germany show any sign of self-preservation. These words are from a high ranking official in a country that can actually DO what he is talking about.
US and Western government public servants are leading us into our own deaths with their obsession over Ukraine and what they’re trying to do to Russia. Russia is actually SAYING these words now; that’s how far this situation has gone.
Do YOU want to face the end of your existence because the US government and governments in Europe are acting so badly? Do YOU have any clue their actions are so aggressive that Russia views them as almost being suicidal? Do YOU have any sense of self-Preservation? Because according to Deputy Speaker Kosachev, YOUR self-preservation seems to be at stake.
Words like this are not generally spoken in world affairs. Yet these are, in fact, the precise words now being used by Russian leadership.
Were you even AWARE that the US and European Governments had pushed things this far?
You would do well to get up off your butt and start telling American and European officials their behavior is heading toward getting millions of us killed.
It was just Tuesday that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Russia-1 TV that Russia has arrived at a stop called “confrontation” and they are not shying away from that.
IT was later Tuesday that Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said relations between Russia and the West has past “the point of no return.”
Folks, this is literally Doomsday language. From three top Russian officials – none of whom is Putin.
Things are escalating out of control – fast. Our governments are going to get a whole lot of us killed.
We, as regular citizens, must step-up for our own self preservation, and demand the US government and European governments cease their suicidal strategy. It’s almost too late but there still may be time, if we all take action, now.
LOADING ICBMS INTO SILOS
To demonstrate just how serious the situation actually is, the Russian Ministry of Defense revealed this week that TWO Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) were loaded into new silos in Kozelsk, Russia in the past two days! Each “YARS” missile carries eight (8) nuclear warheads. Each of those warheads has an explosive yield of 800 kilotons. So between those two new missiles, Russia can vaporize sixteen separate targets!
This is not “posturing.” This is not a game. Those are real missiles and Russia is openly telling us in the West, we are coming to an “existential choice.” Our continued existence is rapidly becoming questionable.
Imagine that!
People who skipped their COVID vaccine are at higher risk of traffic accidents, according to a new study | Fortune
I’ve lived here for 6 years, and yes, I do love China. Please recognize that ALL my comments reflect that of a foreigner in China – not natives. Here are my top reasons why I (and my wife) love living in China:
#1 – The people are great and the friendliest I have known in my world travels and international residencies. And, people are HAPPY!
#2 – The food is fantastic, fresh, and incredibly cheap! I especially enjoy buying fresh produce, at least 10 types of mushrooms at about 10% of USA prices. Our average precooked takeout 3 course dinner is around $3.00-$4.50 per person. Sometimes it is only about $2.00 per person (again, this is for fresh pre-cooked takeout, not for making our own dinner!).
#3 – There is no violent crime in Beijing, a city of 22 million people. Our teenage daughter attending high school here could be out until 2AM with friends, doing karaoke or whatnot, and we had no worries for her safety!
#4 – Incredible public transportation. Never need a car. My occasional city bus ride costs $.15! The high speed inter-city trains are amazing! This weekend I’m travelling by train from downtown Beijing to downtown Hefei – 1,000 KM by fast train – 4Hrs23Min. You could never make that time by plane!
#5 – The career opportunities are excellent, with salaries comparable or higher than the USA while cost of living is about 35% the cost of the USA. That’s why Chinese are able to save – not because they are so frugal! And, no age discrimination in employment!!
#6 – Vibrant, lively, and endlessly entertaining. Even after 6 years, walking down our street in Beijing is like attending “Cirque du Soleil.”
#7 – Thousands years old and ultra modern Art, culture, history, architecture – FANTASTIC!!
TikTok C.E.O. Shou Chew on China, the Algorithm and More
He’s a pretty decent CEO. I like listening to him.
Cream of Asparagus Soup
Cue the sound of a triumphant chorus. We love asparagus in all forms, whether its simply steamed, grilled or baked into a cheesy asparagus and bacon casserole, it is one of our favorite greens in the warmer months.
This creamy soup however, is an unsuspecting hit. It is refreshing while providing a bit of richness and some pure asparagus taste. We marry it with a touch of butter and some garlic to soften the grassy notes, simmer it with broth until tender, then blend it until smooth with a healthy dose of cream. What results is a beautiful, soothing green soup that’s rich enough to be a light meal or a satisfying appetizer. It can be served hot, straight off the stove, or cold (if you manage to have any left over). Cheers to spring, and cheers to soup!
If have leftovers they can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Though its totally great by itself, this soup is even better when sprinkled with some homemade breadcrumbs that have been toasted in butter and garlic.
1520876631 asparagus soup delish 1
Ingredients
2tbsp.butter
1clove garlic, minced
2lb.asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into 1″ pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2c.low-sodium chicken broth
1/2c.heavy cream, plus more for garnish
Freshly chopped chives, for garnish
Freshly chopped dill, for garnish
Directions
Step 1In a heavy pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add asparagus, season with salt and pepper, and cook until golden, 5 minutes. Add broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender but still green, 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 2Using an immersion or regular blender, puree soup. If using a regular blender, be sure to stop and remove lid a few times to avoid overheating the soup. Return to pot, stir in cream, then warm over low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3Garnish with more cream and herbs.
Russian Donbass Commander: “nuclear escalation inevitable”; Elite Belarusian Forces begin staging for sweep into Western Ukraine
“Russia is unable to ‘defeat the NATO bloc’ without using nuclear weapons, a Russian commander has admitted.
Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of Russian forces in Donetsk, stressed that Russia is fighting against the entire Western world, so the next escalation of the war in Ukraine ‘can only be one: nuclear‘.
The commander went on to say ‘We know our capabilities. We realize the limits of our resources. If NATO countries exceed certain limits, e.g. dispatch of Leopard tanks. They are very close to crossing the red line.”
Meanwhile, elite Belarusian forces with new tactical markings have been deployed on the border with Ukraine:
“At 8 km from the border with Ukraine, elite Belarusian forces have been deployed, bearing new distinctive tactical markings. This fact and the large transfer of forces to the Ukrainian border has caused alarm in Kyiv.
Belarusian elite forces have marked with red squares the equipment being driven to the border with Ukraine. Usually, tactical signs are drawn up before the start of hostilities.
Everything shows that the first target of the joint Russian-Belarusian attack will be Lviv, Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, these four regions. An attack is also being prepared for Kyiv from a second axis with the aim of besieging it. Without power and with supply routes cut off, the remaining civilians and soldiers in the Ukrainian capital will not last.
According to information so far, the Belarusian military command has deployed the airborne forces of the 38th Brigade to the border with Ukraine.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SahmJMQ33FA
Do you think there are any particular events or changes that mark the end of western dominance?
The Ukraine war will marked to beginning of the end of the lop sided world’s so call rules based international order. History will judge my statement but I am thoroughly convinced that history books in the future will note that the counter actions and arbitrary decisions made by the west on its sanctions and daylight robbery of its foreign currencies reserves marks the end of the blind trust the rest of the world gives to the western financial institutions and the U.S. dollar as a global trading currency.
This has very high consequence since as is the most vital weapon the west has to control and contain the world. Not to mention it benefit tremendously from this lever of control. No nation, not even U.S. very close allies will ever trust the U.S. to control its financial assets ever again. And the usage of the US dollars will reduced substantially from now onwards seeing t what the west did to Russia.
VIDEO: **AMERICAN** Troops Get Lost in Ukraine – Ask **RUSSIAN SPEAKER** for “Map”
Video has emerged from inside Ukraine showing AMERICAN troops, who got lost, going to the private home of a . . . . RUSSIAN SPEAKING CITIZEN . . . to ask for a “map” . . . . so they can go kill . . . . Russians.
This is how half-assed things are going over there.
Question #1: Why are AMERICANS bearing arms in Ukraine?
I thought it was illegal for private American citizens to take up arms on behalf of another country. I thought an American LOST his citizenship for doing so.
Question #2: Why are these “troops” not able to get support from Ukraine? ? ?
If they’re fighting on behalf of Ukraine, where’s the support? Where’s the logistics? Where’s the communications?
Question #3: How long will Russia tolerate AMERICANS killing Russian soldiers, before Russia starts attacking the US for our war-making inside Ukraine?
The US and NATO can only feign “not being party to the conflict” for so long. Clearly, both the US and NATO __are__, in fact, parties to the conflict. This video is proof.
Since Congress has not declared war, or even authorized the use of military force, by virtue of what authority are these Americans waging war in a foreign nation (in our name by the way)?
How long do YOU think Russia will sit-by and do nothing, while American troops kill Russian soldiers?
Get right with God. The federal corporation-in-lieu-of-government is going to get a lot of us killed when Russia has to start lobbing nukes at our port cities to force us to stop supplying the war in Ukraine.
And my commentary on Quora…
Are American troops fighting in Ukraine?
Yes there are.
I do not know the force mix, nor the size of the forces. However, we are getting scattered reports of deployments of special force, technical specialists, entire airborne groups, and others.
I read a report out of Ukraine that claimed that 11,000 American troops have died in Ukraine as of 10DEC22, but I don’t know how accurate it is. It seems rather high, and well above “advisors” and “policing forces” that many of us (on the sidelines) assumed were in place.
These numbers suggest full-scale military intervention.
I can tell you that have watched all sorts of videos showing Americans in Ukraine. Here’s a typical one. In this one we have American Rangers wearing Ukrainian Nazi service patches, speaking in plain-as-day American asking for directions from a Russian!
I suppose that you can argue that if there were actual Americans “on the ground” in Ukraine, that CNN and FOX “news’ would be reporting on it. But, that’s so 1990! Never will happen.
I have watched three American “retired” generals who were leading forces in Ukraine, paraded as captured assets inside of Russia, and their utility and roles are as clear as day.
To me, this absurd funding in billions and billions and billions of dollars and weapons into Ukraine, suggests something far more sinister than simply “helping a friendly country out”. Something ELSE is going on, and it ain’t being reported.
It smacks of Laos in the late 1960’s. It smacks of large scale warfare and if the American people get wind of it, there may be Hell to pay!
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of – The Maltese Falcon (10/10) Movie CLIP (1941) HD
First it was the mysterious deaths of the bankers, then the collapse of the bitcoin miners, and the cryptocurrency billionaires. Now, thanks to Elon Musk with the Twitter files, the entire “woke world” is a tumbling down.
Eh. So much for the American-led social new world order.
We have Americans running the show in Ukraine, and Russia aware of it. As is China.
Russia is getting the BIG GUNS out, and there’s mysterious goings-on in the ‘States. America is making the necessary and needed steps to chill out with China, but is still playing those irritating games with the Proxy nations of Japan and Australia causing some trouble.
Suggesting a plan “B”, “C” and “D” starting to formulate in the Pacific.
Personally, nothing is going to change unless the American leadership dies, and the American system of governance is crushed and torn up completely.
The USA is a “dead man walking”, but it’s walking down a long dimly-lit corridor to death row’ electric chair, and nothing is stopping it as there are no exits available anywhere.
Let’s continue…
Why Elon’s COVID Files could lead to Fauci prosecution
The entire purpose of genetically modifying the original strain of this coronavirus was precisely to make it more contagious and transmissible.
https://youtu.be/G4-0hvxj6CQ . . . .
Buttery Bread Machine Rolls
“These golden, fluffy, butterfy rolls are great hot from the oven. The dough is very easy to shape. This recipe is from a QUICK COOKING magazine”
That claim sounded strange to me. The author of the FP piece is Derek Grossman “a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp., an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, and a former daily intelligence briefer to the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won’t be holding an annual in-person summit with Vladimir Putin after the Russian president threatened to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine, according to people with knowledge of the matter.The relationship between India and Russia remains strong but trumpeting the friendship at this point may not be beneficial for Modi, said a senior official with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Note that Putin does not mention Russia's nuclear weapons. He instead empathizes that Russia has new 'different' weapons that are 'more modern' than those of the 'West'. He means hypersonic missiles which can avoid 'western' air defenses and hit decision centers in Brussels, London and Washington even without nuclear warheads....All the war mongering talk and reports about Russia's alleged threat of nuclear weapon use in Ukraine is totally unfounded. That 'western'mediasuddenlyengageinit shows that it is part of a well directed propaganda campaign.
It is an invention of U.S. propaganda. It is unlikely that the Indian government has fallen for it. So who then made Bloomberg replay that nonsense?
Note that while the Bloomberg report was written by its correspondent in India the nationality of its sources is not given. There are in fact two distinct sources: “people with knowledge of the matter” and “a senior official with knowledge of the matter”. The ‘nuclear’ issue seems to have come from the first ‘people’ source while the ‘official’ second source only gives a general picture of Modi’s potential motivation.
In an updated version of the piece, which kept the lede unchanged, Russian officials rejected the whole story:
“It won’t be this year,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of prospects for a Putin-Modi summit, the state-run Tass news service reported later Friday.India’s decision was clear at a regional summit held in September in Uzbekistan, when Modi urged Putin to seek peace in Ukraine, said a Russian official familiar with the preparations, who asked not to be identified to discuss matters that aren’t public.
There had already been an Indian Russian summit at the side of the Uzbekistan meeting and no further summit was necessary.
In a Reuters piece an Indian source also rejected the claim:
The government source, who declined to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter, said the decision not to hold a summit was taken much earlier and that the nuclear angle was not a factor.Modi and Putin met on the sidelines of a regional security bloc summit in Uzbekistan in September and have spoken on the phone a number of times this year, including on the subject of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Indian Economic Times also debunked the Bloomberg claim:
The annual India Russia Summit could not happen this year due to scheduling issues, according to highly placed sources who dismissed reports of summit being postponed due to threat of nuclear war in Ukraine.Sources dismissed Western media reports that Russian President's “nuclear threat” had any role to play in India-Russia Summit not happening in December.The decision that the summit will not take place due to scheduling issues was taken months ago, sources said.
Relations between India and Russia are lively and excellent:
ET has learnt senior Russian functionaries could visit India in near future to discuss contours of the partnership. Last December the Russian President had travelled to India for the annual summit.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken several times over phone this year and the two met in Samarkand in September to give push to strategic partnership.At the September meeting considerable time was devoted to Russian fertiliser exports to India to meet demands of local farmers.Modi and Putin also discussed energy ties (oil & gas) besides coal, coking & other investments in each other’s country. The two leaders had also discussed predictability of supply of key commodities to India.Later in November Foreign Minister S Jaishankar travelled to Moscow with a intra Ministerial delegation to push economic partnership. Earlier the NSA had travelled to Moscow with a intra Ministerial delegation to push economic partnership. Earlier the NSA had travelled to Moscow.India had withstood Western huge to take sides in the Ukraine conflict and Russia is now India’s biggest oil supplier. Bilateral trade has jumped manifold this year.
The original Bloomberg claim is thereby completely debunked. But the piece is still up and without any correction. The “people with knowledge of the matter” it cited to inject the nuke stuff were likely either from the U.S. or Britain.
Neither the Indian nor the Russian side had planned for another summit this year. They have excellent relations and the nuke stuff was just outright nonsense.
7. True relationship comes when the silence between you two is comfortable.
8. Go where your energy is reciprocated, celebrated, and appreciated.
9. You still haven’t met all of the people who are going to love you.
10. If today is not your day, remember there’re 365 days a year.
What do Chinese communist party members do?
I have a huge family, including myself and some uncles and anuts and my cousins. There are some CCP members in my family.
My father, a former member, when he left his first job in a state owned factory in 1980s, he lost contact with the organization. My older sister and his husband. She is a police officer and her husband is a college teacher. Another sister is a middle school teacher. My aunt and her husband, both used to be civil servants and now opening a small business in a wholesale market. Another uncle opens a small shop selling stationaries. And myself as a Ph.D. Student.
You can see, CCP members come from various sources.
Membership for common people is something like an honor title or knighthood in Europe. Because, it’s not on someone’s will to join in. First you have to apply it, then finish a course about what is CCP, what’s her history, and what should or can a member do both within and outside of the organization. After the course you have to take an test on what you’ve learnt. Then, an one-year probationary period is waiting for you to see if you really can apply CCP’s doctrine—serve the people—into your life. During this period, you have to make report every quarter, and receive talks from inspectors. Only when they thought you’re qualified enough can you be a registered member.
As for me, when I just enrolled in college, my teacher asked us if we want to join the CCP. And everybody said yes, thinking it’s no harm for us. Then I joined a volunteer organization for two years. In the third year, I was elected to join CCP by my class mates according to my daily behavior.
And I can also tell you two stories, one is experienced by myself and another is from live news.
In 2008, a catastrophic grade 8 earthquake hit my hometown, thousands died. Survivors rushed outside, caused a traffic jam, you may see similar scenario from some movies, that’s what it looked like then. When everybody’s trapped, a man in his forties knocked the cars’ windows one by one, calling if there are some CCP members to restore the traffic. About one and a half dozen of CCP members were organized by themselves, including me. We played the role as a temporary traffic police until the real police come to take the control. Then all of us merged into the crowd. Nothing special, just when people need help, I know it’s my time to stand out.
One day later I watched TV and saw a reporter with her cameraman taking a helicopter into remote mountain areas to send food and water to people there, because the road traffic and communication was destroyed, helicopter just flying to stroke luck. In a small village in a valley, pilot find no flat place to land. From the camera, I saw a girl rushed to the chopper, holding a notebook thing in her hand. When he come to the chopper’s side, she showed her notebook thing and yelled to reporter with tears that she is a CCP member, the leader of village was buried under bricks now she’s in charge of the village, she thanked PLA and they just need some water, so PLA can send food to places where really needed.
After decades of western propaganda, especially during Cold War, people tend to think communists are monsters. In Chinese civil war, KMT, who then defeated and fled to Taiwan, spread rumors that communism means share your property and share your wife! Most negative views on China were rumors spread by KMT, or Falungong, or someother groups. But they forgot there was an ancient saying in China, that those who win the hearts of people, will win the world( means China).
Although I’m a CCP member, I don’t intend to say something good for CCP. And I have nothing to do with the organization except paying the party membership dues every year. What makes me and a lot of Chinese annoyed or feel insulted, is that many of you guys always criticize in wrong direction. Really.
Parker House Rolls
“These are rich and full of butter! I recently shaped these rolls in balls. When they were done, I brushed the tops with melted butter and then topped them (a row each) with toasted poppy seeds, toasted sesame seeds, a combo of equal parts dill weed/kosher salt/sugar, and Parmesan cheese. I loved how they turned out.”
VLADIMIR Putin has renewed his nuke threat against the West by appearing to ready a nuclear missile for launch. The missile has been put in Kozelsk, Russia, very near western Europe.
YARS Nuke Missile Readied Outsie Moscow large
Footage shows a huge Russian Yars rocket able to hit the UK and the US being loaded into a silo at a base near Moscow.
Kozelsk Russia
The intercontinental ballistic missile has a 7,500 mile range and when nuclear-armed is reportedly 12 times more destructive than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
It was seen on Russian TV being installed in a launch-pad using a special transport and loading unit – but there is no indication of any order for an imminent launch.
Missile force commander Colonel Alexei Sokolov made clear the latest move was aimed at sending a message to the West, with both the UK and US within range.
“The importance of this operation lies in the fact that the missile will be put on combat duty on schedule,” he said.
U.S. To Send More Wunderwaffen To Ukraine
A new round of Wunderwaffen deliveries to Ukraine is taking place. It is unlikely to change the strategic or even operational picture of the war.
The U.S. and its ‘allies’ are engaged in a boil-the-frog operation in which they steadily increase the lethality and complexity of arms and other support they deliver to Ukraine. At some point in time this process will cross Russian red lines. That’s when it will become really interesting …
The newest gimmick to be deployed is the Patriot air defense system likely soon to be followed by main battle tanks:
The U.S. is poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles, U.S. officials said Tuesday.The approval is likely to come later this week and could be announced as early as Thursday, said three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision is not final and has not been made public. Two of the officials said the Patriot will come from Pentagon stocks and be moved from another country overseas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed Western leaders as recently as Monday to provide more advanced weapons to help his country in its war with Russia. The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine to help repel Russian aerial attacks.
During a video conference on Monday, Zelenskyy told host Germany and other leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers that his country needed long-range missiles, modern tanks, artillery, missile batteries and other high-tech air defense systems to counter Russian attacks that have knocked out electricity and water supplies for millions of Ukrainians.
He acknowledged that, “Unfortunately, Russia still has an advantage in artillery and missiles.”
Well, yes, the artillery advantage the Russian army has in the current battle for Bakhmut is nine to one or even higher:
“For every artillery piece we have, they have nine,” said one soldier.
NATO no longer has the equipment and ammunition reserves to change that.
As for the Patriot, the “Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target”: Training for them takes quite some time and unless Ukrainians have already been secretly trained on them for several months they will have to be deployed with NATO soldiers or ‘former’ soldiers to have any effect:
Asked about training, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that in general the U.S. takes those needs into consideration when providing complicated weapons systems to Ukraine, such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS. Currently U.S. forces are training Ukrainian troops on a number of systems, including the HIMARS, in other European countries, such as Germany.
…
The entire system, which includes a phased array radar, a control station, computers and generators, typically requires about 90 soldiers to operate and maintain, however only three soldiers are needed to actually fire it, according to the Army.
The HIMARS missiles, the previous Wunderwaffen, are now routinely shot down by Russian missile and air defense systems:
The anti-aircraft defence forces shot down two drones in the areas of Zhytlovka and Kremennaya (Lugansk People’s Republic).In addition, two HIMARS MLRS rounds were intercepted near Perovomaysk (Lugansk People’s Republic) and a HARM rocket near Makarovka (Kherson region).
The Patriot battery to be deployed to Ukraine is likely one of those that the U.S. currently has in Poland. A German Patriot unit will be deployed to replace it.
The phased array radar that Patriot systems use are good but they are also a weakness. They are visible from satellites with Synthetic Aperture Radar. As researchers have found some years ago:
Amid a busy few weeks of nuclear-related news, an Israeli researcher made a very surprising OSINT discovery that flew somewhat under the radar. As explained in a Medium article, Israeli GIS analyst Harel Dan noticed that when he accidentally adjusted the noise levels of the imagery produced from the SENTINEL-1 satellite constellation, a bunch of colored Xs suddenly appeared all over the globe.
SENTINEL-1’s C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operates at a centre frequency of 5.405 GHz, which conveniently sits within the range of the military frequency used for land, airborne, and naval radar systems (5.250-5.850 GHz)—including the AN/MPQ-53/65 phased array radars that form the backbone of a Patriot battery’s command and control system. Therefore, Harel correctly hypothesized that some of the Xs that appeared in the SENTINEL-1 images could be triggered by interference from Patriot radar systems.
Using this logic, he was able to use the Xs to pinpoint the locations of Patriot batteries in several Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
sar1
biggerWhile SENTINEL-1 images of Ukraine will now likely be censored there is no need for Russia to use those. It has its own SAR systems:
Process the SAR data, look for ‘noise’ crosses, program the coordinates into a number of suicide drones of Iranian design and send them off. This should take no more than an hour. The Russian Reconnaissance Strike Complex is designed to do that:
The Reconnaissance Strike Complex (разведивательно-ударный комплех-RYK) was designed for the coordinated employment of high-precision, long- range weapons linked to real-time intelligence data and precise targeting provided to a fused intelligence and fire-direction center. The RYK functioned at operational depths using surface-to-surface missile systems and aircraft-delivered “smart” munitions. The Reconnaissance Fire Complex (разведивательно-огновой комплех ROK) was the tactical equivalent.
…
The Reconnaissance Fire System (ROS) is designed to detect, engage and destroy enemy targets in near-real time within the range of tactical units (maneuver battalion and brigade with supporting artillery). On occasion, an artillery brigade or helicopter gunship brigade (a tactical/operational formation) could conduct ROS missions. However, Army Corps and Army Group units normally conduct RYS missions-engaging, detecting and destroying operational targets in near-real time using longer-range reconnaissance and strike systems (especially SSM and aviation systems).
Will the Patriot radar move during the Russian reaction time interval between reconnaissance and strike? I have my doubts.
Wikipedia says that a Patriot battery costs about $1 billion. The radar is the thing that makes these so expensive. Each of its missile costs about $3 million. The suicide drones are maybe $10,000 each. Now do the math …
The most modern missiles Patriot system use have a maximum reach of some 60 kilometer (37 miles). One battery can thus cover a bubble with a 120 kilometer diameter. It may be good for Kiev or Odessa but is nothing that will solve the general military problem Ukraine has.
The Russian forces are superior in technology, personnel and fire power. There is no chance, and never has been, for Ukraine to win that match. No Wunderwaffen, British marines with sea drones or U.S. Patriot systems, will change those basic facts.
Posted by b on December 14, 2022 at 9:47 UTC | Permalink
Why Western totalitarian media which complained for years about Chinese strict lock downs are now in hysterics that Chinese removed those lockdowns?
Is there an element of insanity prevalent in Western media and societies?
When critics clutch at straws, China just can’t do anything right
Over the past week, China has begun to roll back its strictly enforced zero-covid policy. The shifts bring an end to nearly three years of tough lockdowns and comprehensive all-population testing regimes which left access to the country isolated from the outside world. It is of course, about time too. While China successfully kept the disease at bay for so long, the population grew weary of the restrictions as the world simply moved on, and as variants became more transmissible and less deadly, the costs of upkeeping the policy became cumbersome to everyone involved.
main qimg 3dd329ff86d36ea2f254251d0fa0847c pjlq
However, did those who bandwagoned on anti-covid protests in the bid to pushing an anti-government agenda to praise the change in policy? Was it a satisfactory victory for them, if one ought to call it that? Not in the slightest. Rather, as was predictable, Anti-China voices scrambled almost instantly in light of the policy change to find a new narrative and angle to attack the state leader.
As this new narrative takes shape, the decision to scale back zero-covid is not depicted as a pragmatic, common sense and much-needed move by the Chinese government, but rather as one sequential failure after another which will again lead to political catastrophe by the Communist Party and a risk to human life, and therefore is all Xi Jinping’s fault. Yes, the very same sources who decried China’s own lockdowns as a brutal form of oppression are now in fact telling us that the decision to move away from zero-covid is also effectively bad too in its outcomes. It is as if nothing China does can possibly be correct, or seen for that matter in a positive light.
This is of course not an ironic statement, but a matter of fact when it comes to the western mainstream media, who are not remotely interested in applying a balanced, objective, or positive angle pertaining to coverage of China. Every single line of commentary or report with respect to the country is in fact utilized towards pushing a highly ideological and geopolitical agenda against it, transforming every single development, where possible, into either a damning government failure or a conspiracy of sort either aimed at the Chinese people themselves, or against the rest of the world. There is no other side of the argument to be considered, and no praise to be had.
Never, over the past few years, has that been more blatantly obvious through how the mainstream media have treated China with respect to the covid-19 pandemic, from start to finish. While the media did not once praise Beijing’s covid policy, even when it saved scores of lives when the virus was more deadly and rampant throughout the west, it has nonetheless consistently and aptly attacked China throughout every single stage of the entire saga. At first, when covid-19 first broke out in Wuhan, the mainstream media sought to frame it as a political failure of the Chinese government that could not be repeated in the west. As the BBC described it at the time, the pandemic was an “epic political disaster” of “Xi Jinping’s top-down” approach to government.
Then, when covid struck the west, the media (at the instructions of the US) sought to frame a narrative of Chinese culpability against the entire world, weaponizing claims of a political coverup and “responsibility”. Once this wore off, it transitioned into the conspiracy theory of a “lab leak” which was despite having no credibility whatsoever, pushed aggressively by the mainstream media. This was then followed by baseless attacks on China’s vaccines, and then finally as the world moved on from the pandemic, growing criticisms and attacks of China’s zero-covid policy as brutal and inhumane as Beijing persisted with lockdowns. At every stage, there was a new series of attacks leveled, and every time, the conclusion was that it was always, no matter what: Xi Jinping’s fault.
Of course, covid is just one of many China-based topics where this manner of reporting is found, and there are too many to even list at this point. Yet, the intention is clear, the western media have no interest in reporting on China with any kind of good faith or impartiality, that is because there is a vested set of assumptions that when it comes to China, nothing must be portrayed positively or optimistically. Hence no matter what the occasion or the circumstances, China’s economy is always on the “brink” of decline or catastrophe, everything China says is either unreliable or untrustworthy, China’s efforts to defend itself from attacks are always “coercion” or “wolf warrior diplomacy” and so on. In the world of mainstream media coverage, China just can’t do anything right, which is why the narrative of attacking China’s lockdowns shifted almost overnight to now framing Beijing as being culpable or proceeding over a disaster, for actually getting rid of the policy they professed to hate so much.
But it never was really all about lockdowns, was it?
THE FRESHMAN (1990) – Andrew Bergman ~ Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick.
This is my Christmas treat for you all!
This is the FULL MOVIE. Enjoy it, if you have the time.
In November, 2013, archaeologists announced the recovery of a treasure trove of artifacts off the coast of Sicily from the site of the first ancient naval battle ever discovered, including battering rams, helmets, armour and weapons dating back 2,000 years.
artifacts ancient naval battle
They are the remnants of the Battle of the Egadi Islands – the last clash from the first Punic War which took place in 241 BC – in which the Romans fought the Carthaginians in a battle that culminated from more than 20 years of warring as the Romans struggled to gain a foothold in the Mediterranean Sea.
While the Carthaginians were much more powerful on the water, the Romans lay in wait trapping the Carthaginians and blocking off their sea route in a sudden attack. Up to 50 Carthaginian ships were sunk, killing up to 10,000 men.
The Roman victory set them on the road for Europe-wide domination. The priceless horde of artefacts had lain undisturbed on the seabed at a depth of 100 metres for more than two millennia.
A “Pilgrim’s Pride” food processing plant in Mooresville, West Virginia, burned last night. This brings to over a DOZEN large food processing plants to suffer a large fire within the past year. It seems as though someone wants to affect the US food supply – and they are.
’Tis better to give
I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited. I was too old for that. At age eleven, the oldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep my cool. I was in middle school after all. But every chance I got, when I was alone, I checked each present under the tree. I read every tag and felt every package, guessing at the contents within. I had examined each gift so often that I could tell which present went to which person without even looking at the tags.
It had been a tough year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and scattered presents, she would sigh and warn us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be disappointed.” Christmas had traditionally been a time for my parents to spoil us. In years past, the presents would pile up and spill out from under the tree, taking over the living room. I had heard the phrase “giving is better than receiving,” but thought that whoever had said that must have been out of their mind. Getting presents was the whole point! It was the reason I couldn’t get to sleep on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas morning, we eagerly waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and let the wrapping paper fly. We made weak attempts to wait and watch while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our self-control.
“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a package. I looked at it, confused. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I recognized this one. But it had not been mine. It was my mom’s. A new label had been put on it, with my name written in my mother’s handwriting.
“Mom, I can’t…”
I was stopped by my mother’s eager, joyful look—a look I could not really understand. “Let’s see what it is, honey. Hurry and open it.”
It was a blow dryer. Though this may seem but a simple gift, to me it was so much more. Being an eleven-year-old girl, I was stunned. In my world, where receiving outweighed giving by light years, my mom’s act of selflessness was incomprehensible. It was a huge act. Tears filled my eyes and I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to give up her Christmas so I could have a few more presents.
I have always remembered that Christmas fondly. It had such an impact on me. As an adult with children in my life whom I adore, I can now understand my mom’s actions. I see how she was not “giving up her Christmas” as I had thought, but was finding an even greater joy in her Christmas because giving truly is better than receiving. My mom’s simple act meant the world to me.
—Jennifer Yardley Barney
USA Unemployment
Based on the criteria in place a quarter century ago, today’s US unemployment rate is between 9 percent and 12 percent; inflation is 7 or 10 percent; economic growth since the recession of 2001 has been mediocre, despite a huge surge in the wealth and incomes of the super rich, and we are falling back into recession. A picture of our economy today, ex-distortion, would reveal a nation in deep difficulty, not just domestically, but globally.Numbers Racket. Kevin Phillips.
China calculates GDP by summing the value of what it produces. If it builds an airplane it adds the airplane’s wholesale price to its gross domestic product. If it builds a dam, it adds the dam’s cost to its gross domestic product. America calculates GDP by summing the cost of the airplanes it makes–thenadding the imputed cost of services Americans provide for each other.
Most American GDP is generated by people taking in each other’s laundry: rent, tuition, healthcare, commissions, fees, and jailing millions of people. Are accounting, consulting, real estate commissions really ‘products’? Is Bitcoin? (Is prostitution? Britain says ‘yes’).
Services account for 61% of America’s GDP and 11% of China’s largely because of price inflation. Medical costs are 7% of China’s GDP and 19% of America’s because CT scans cost $2,000 in Kansas City, while a full physical in Shenzhen, including CT, cost 580 yuan, $92. My US cellular service, vastly inferior to Shenzhen’s, costs five times more. My San Francisco barber’s $85 haircut is indistinguishable from a $2 Kunming trim.
They find a deserted cabin and take shelter. They find a sleeping bag, a bed, and a pile of blankets. The priest, being a gentleman, offers the nun the bed and takes the sleeping bag for himself.
As they get tucked in for the night the nun calls out, “Father, Father I’m cold!”
So the priest gets up and puts another blanket on the nun. “Is that better Sister?” he asks. “Yes Father, much better,” she replies. So he gets back in his sleeping bag and starts to nod off when she again calls out with, “Father I’m still cold!”
So once again the priest gets up and puts another blanket on her, ensuring she is tucked into the bed well. “Is that better Sister?” he asks.
“Oh yes Father, that’s much better,” she says.
So the priest gets himself back into the sleeping bag and this time is just starting to dream when he wakes up to her call of, “Father, Father I’m just so cold!”
The priest thinks long about this and finally says, “Sister, we are in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard. No one but you, myself, and the lord himself will ever know what happens here this night. How about, just for this night, we act as though we were married?”
The nun thinks on this for a minute, she can’t help but admit to herself she’s been curious, and finally answers with a tentative, “OK Father, just for tonight, we will act as though we are married.”
So the Father replies,
“Get up and get your own damned blanket ya cow!” and rolls over to fall asleep.
Cranberry Orange Muffins
“I love the taste of Cranberry, and these muffins are an excellent combination of cranberries and oranges!”
Bake 400F 15-20 mins until lightly browned and firm to the touch.
2022 12 13 15 44
A mysterious gift
My husband has had dementia for almost a decade. He has almost no short-term memory. He can no longer read, use a phone, or use a credit card. Six years ago when the Christmas catalogs came, I saw a tablecloth I wanted, but it was sold out. On Christmas morning, there was an unwrapped box under the tree. Somehow my husband had found the right catalog, the right tablecloth, called them, and convinced them to find a tablecloth to send in time for Christmas. I won’t ever know how he did it, but it was the best gift ever.
—Roberta Sampere, Dolgeville, New York
NATO is Running Out of Weapons to Send to Ukraine – or Defend Themselves!
Months before Russia launched its counteroffensive against NATO’s crawling encroachment on its western borders, the political West started sending massive amounts of weapons and munitions to the Kiev regime. Now . . . they’re running out!
Initially, the deliveries primarily included tens of thousands of man-portable missiles for various purposes, including ATGM (anti-tank guided missiles) and MANPADS (man-portable air defense systems) weapons. Even then, it already became clear that NATO’s stocks couldn’t provide enough weapons for a long-term conflict, while it would take years to ramp up deliveries by expanding production lines. This was further exacerbated when the Kiev regime started asking for more advanced weapons and systems amid mounting battlefield losses.
Many NATO member states were (and still are) forced to send weapons and munitions which were already in short supply for their own militaries. This is particularly true when it comes to former Warsaw Pact member states of the belligerent alliance, many of whom were forced to give up their Soviet-era weapons. Old NATO powers promised to send their weapons to replace these older arsenals of the alliance’s Eastern European members, although this process proved to be quite slow. On the other hand, the Kiev regime’s ever-growing demands are putting additional pressure. As NATO’s current production capacity simply cannot meet these requests, the Neo-Nazi junta’s battlefield prospects look grimmer by the day. “If this does not happen, we won’t be able to win — as simple as that,” Dmytro Kuleba, the Kiev regime chief diplomat warned during a recent meeting.
On November 26, the New York Times reported that approximately two-thirds of NATO members have effectively run out of weapons by sending them to the Kiev regime. Even the more prominent alliance members with big MICs (Military Industrial Complexes) are having major issues keeping up with the Kiev regime’s demands.
According to an unnamed NATO official, 20 out of 30 member states are “pretty tapped out” in terms of additional weapon and munition supplies to the Neo-Nazi junta. While members such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy still have the ability to arm the Kiev regime with basic weapons, even they are refraining from sending specific weapons systems requested by the junta.
The demands include various types of strategically impactful weapons, including surface-to-surface guided missiles such as ATACMS, a weapon with a 300 km engagement range. The US officially rejected such demands, supposedly “out of concern” the missiles could be used to attack targets deep within Russia. However, the more likely reason is that the Pentagon is fully aware of the fact that it would take years to replace its current stocks of such missiles and it’s not very keen on expending them all without certain replacement. The same is true for many other types of weapons and systems which are equally needed to maintain optimal military power.
Artillery is especially important in this regard. As soon as the Kiev regime started burning through its Soviet-made stocks, many of which were also destroyed in Russia’s long-range strikes, NATO was forced to provide both artillery pieces and shells. As the alliance’s post-(First) Cold War doctrine shifted toward a more interventionist style of warfare, artillery became less important, resulting in ever-shrinking stocks.
According to various reports, the enormous demand for artillery munitions is putting tremendous pressure on NATO members trying to meet the Kiev regime’s requests. At present, the Neo-Nazi junta forces are firing at least five thousand shells per day, but the US, by far the most heavily armed NATO member state, can only produce 15,000 shells per month. Camille Grand, a defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told the New York Times that “[a] day in Ukraine is a month or more in Afghanistan.”
On the other hand, the soaring demand is extremely profitable for the Military Industrial Complexes (MIC) of the political West.
“Taking into account the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the visible attitude of many countries aimed at increased spending in the field of defense budgets, there is a real chance to enter new markets and increase export revenues in the coming years,” according to Sebastian Chwalek, CEO of Poland’s PGZ, a corporation that owns a number of weapons manufacturers.
However, the US MIC has been experiencing by far the largest windfall in this regard. Arms industry giants such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon already made billions in the opening months of the Ukrainian crisis.
Back in May, during a visit to a Lockheed Martin plant, US President Joe Biden stated that the US would ramp up weapons production, but that “this would not come cheap.” However, most US officials and experts agree that this is not only a question of funding, as it will take years to increase production in order to meet the current demand, which is expected to grow exponentially in the foreseeable future.
“If you want to increase the production capability of 155 mm shells. It’s going to be probably four to five years before you start seeing them come out the other end,” according to Mark F. Cancian, a former White House weapons strategist and current senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
I always dreamed of pulling off the surprise prank of a lifetime. You know, the kind you see on TV, or laugh about late at night with friends? Well, thanks to a little determination, some luck, and a generous helping of Christmas Spirit, my dream became a reality.
My family is Canadian, although my sister moved down to Australia a few years ago to study speech pathology. She was graduating just before Christmas, but due to my own scholarly schedule back home, I would not be able to make it down in time for her graduation. She was understandably disappointed, and I felt guilty that I wasn’t able to be there for her on this most special of occasions.
While I was talking to my supervisor the week before my sister’s graduation, the conversation drifted toward Christmas plans. When I mentioned that I would be missing my sister’s graduation by less than forty-eight hours, she commented, “Well, if you want to go, I have no problem with it, so go ahead!” I couldn’t believe my luck! I nearly jumped for joy. “Just make sure you get permission from admin,” she added. My heart sank. The administration at my school was notorious for denying any sort of time-off requests, and last-minute pleas would undoubtedly draw nothing but ire. I almost didn’t bother asking, because I knew it would be a waste of time and I didn’t feel like a thorough chastisement. Plus, I knew the answer already: no. But something in me decided to try, just in case. Maybe it was the hope that the Christmas Spirit would somehow permeate the administrative office at this time of year.
When I returned home to find the Associate Dean’s reply in my inbox, I steeled myself for disappointment. I gritted my teeth, opened the e-mail, and started to read. And re-read. And re-read, just to make sure I’d understood. Approval? I could actually go? I rubbed my eyes—there must be a mistake. But no. I was flabbergasted. There was no logical explanation. I couldn’t believe my luck! The only explanation I could possibly come up with was that the Christmas Spirit had been lurking in the heart of my Associate Dean when she’d read my request.
Immediately, I called the airline. Miraculously, even during the busy Christmas season, I was able to change my ticket to arrive the day before my sister’s graduation.
With news this fantastic, I was bursting to tell my sister. But, fingers on the dial, I paused. Wouldn’t it be so much more fantastic if I could surprise her? I pictured myself just showing up, knocking at her door. What a state of shock she would be in! I laughed gleefully to myself as I pictured her face when she opened the door and saw me. She loves pranks and practical jokes of all sorts. Pulling off a prank like this would certainly be the ultimate gift, and if I were successful, she’d probably be more excited about my unconventional arrival than even my attendance at her graduation.
Slowly the idea evolved in my mind. For a surprise of this grand a scale, I needed a much more dramatic arrival than just a ring of the doorbell. For me, Christmas surprises are epitomized by presents. Or at least boxes. What if I could arrive in a box? I started to plot. Then, brilliance struck. Getting delivered in a box to my sister’s house by couriers! I knew if I pulled this off, my presence at her graduation and my grand arrival would be the best Christmas present I could ever give my sister. No one appreciates a prank like a prankster!
Although I was leaving in less than seventy-two hours, I frantically jumped on my computer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and started Googling courier companies. One of the first I came across, and the only one willing to go along with my Christmas surprise, was CouriersPlease. At first the branch manager said no, pointing out that Christmas was their busiest season and he couldn’t spare a courier for this rather unorthodox request. But he suddenly and inexplicably warmed up to the idea and actually volunteered to dress up and deliver me himself. The Christmas Spirit strikes again!
Upon arrival in Australia, the manager met me in full uniform, but that wasn’t all. He’d brought one of his couriers, plus a CouriersPlease van along for the ride as well! They even had a reinforced box prepared for me that they’d already tested at the office. I’d thought it would be easiest to walk up to the doorway, and then jump in the box while they rang the doorbell. But no, they insisted; my sister might see me through the window and they certainly didn’t want to jeopardize my Christmas surprise. Instead, they parked a few hundred meters up the street, where they loaded me in the box and carried me all the way up to my sister’s, where they rang the doorbell and announced they had a delivery for her.
I couldn’t see the look on my sister’s face as she opened the door to couriers with a surprise delivery, but I could tell from her voice that she was more than a little perplexed. This soon morphed into utter disbelief and shock when the box was opened and she saw her older sister sitting inside smiling up at her. She was at a complete loss for words, and I will never forget the look on her face as she opened those flaps on the box.
It was such a gift to be able to attend my sister’s graduation, and to show her my love by giving her the most unique, unconventional Christmas present in the history of our family. It was a memory both she and I will cherish forever. It also served as a lesson for me: never, ever underestimate the power of the Christmas Spirit. It can move hearts, minds, and yes, even people in boxes.
—Heather Thompson
How can trade policy changes impact costs?
Welcome to Geo-politics 101.
Let’s suppose you went to a local restaurant, sat down, and ordered a Denver omelette and a cup of coffee. The price of that meal will depend on the cost to make the meal, and the ingredients involved.
If the cost for ground coffee goes up, the cost of that cup of coffee will be more.
If the cost for eggs, go up, so too will the cost of the omelette.
If the cost of electricity / gas for the stove goes up so will the omelette and the coffee both.
This is how tariffs work. This is one of the techniques that the United States uses to “suppress” other nations.
…
If the cook cannot get eggs, no omelettes can be made.
If the cook cannot get coffee, no coffee can be brewed.
This is how sanctions work. This is one of the techniques that the United States uses to “suppress” other nations.
…
If the cook stays home, there is no one to make the food, and the restaurant must close.
If a customer goes in and starts breaking plates, and throwing food everywhere, the store must close.
If the customer goes into the bathroom, and makes a mess, the restaurant will need to close the bathroom.
This is how NED color revolutions work. This is one of the techniques that the United States uses to “suppress” other nations.
…
If all the chickens get sick, eggs will be harder to get, and so the cost of the eggs will go up.
If the cows are sick, the milk will get harder to obtain, and the cost of the omelette will go up.
If the cook is sick, there won’t be anyone to make the omelettes, and the restaurant will close.
This is how bio-weapons work. This is one of the techniques that the United States uses to “suppress” other nations.
…
If someone shoots the cook. No one can make the food.
If someone burns down the restaurant building, the restaurant goes out of business.
If someone shoots and kills the chickens, and the cows, there will be no food that can be served.
This is how wars work. This is one of the techniques that the United States uses to “suppress” other nations.
…
Now, let’s summarize these key ideas and concepts with a simple mind-exercise.
We can observe that the United States has used all of these techniques over the last 100 years against many nations. Mostly it’s been accomplished through a great combination of techniques above. The harder it is for a nation to suppress, the more complete the techniques used.
In a similar fashion, we can see that the hardest nation of all to suppress is China. What techniques do you all suppose that the United States is currently using against that behemoth?
“POINT OF NO RETURN” – Kremlin: Russia and the West Have Reached the “Confrontation” Stage
The relationship between Russia and the West has reached the confrontation stage, and the sides will have to live in this environment further on, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Pavel Zarubin’s Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.
“Well, we are not moving. We have already arrived at a station named ‘Confrontation’, and we have to be reserved, strong, to have underlying strength, because we will have to live in the environment of this confrontation,” he said when asked where the relationship between Russia and the West is moving.
UPDATE 8:41 AM EST —
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said just moments ago…
"US hostile actions & [1] arrogant disregard for Russia’s legitimate demands for security guarantees, incl [2] non-deployment of strike weapons near the Russian border, [3] non-expansion of NATO, [4] return of its military potential to 1997 level, have brought relations between the USA and Russia to a point of no return."
Rebecca died for the Nazis. A female name has been added to US losses in Ukraine
Recently, an interesting trend has emerged – in line with the increase in the number of US financial injections into the Kiev regime, the number of American citizens dying in Ukraine is also growing.
Volunteer for military conflicts
This time a female name appeared on this list. 28-year-old resident of Tennessee Rebecca Maciorovsky was killed during the fighting in Ukraine. The death of an American woman in social networks is confirmed by her friends and acquaintances.
The Colorado native grew up in a religious family. Her parents gave her a home education, not trusting public schools. From 2014 to 2021, Maciorowski trained as a nurse and received a professional diploma with a specialization in general surgery.
During her studies, she trained in the ranks of volunteer organizations, acting in the conditions of military conflicts in different countries of the world. According to other sources, Maciorowski gained experience as a military medic directly in the ranks of the US Army.
“Extreme tourism” with a fatal outcome
In 2022, through structures recruiting mercenaries to participate in hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Maziorovsky came to Ukraine, entering the foreign group of the Hospitallers medical battalion. This structure is part of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, formed on the basis of the Right Sector terrorist organization recognized in Russia.
Initially, Maciorowski, like other foreigners from the Hospitallers, was tried to be kept away from the front line, therefore, judging by the records and photos on social networks, the American treated what was happening as a form of extreme tourism.
In early autumn, Maciorowski left for the United States, where she campaigned for her compatriots to help Ukraine, and also called for them to go to the war zone.
A month later, she again came to Nezalezhnaya, but this time the foreigners were thrown into the thick of it. According to some reports, Maciorowski could have died in battles in the Artemovsk area.
The further, the more
In April 2022, Washington acknowledged the death of 22-year-old Willie Joseph Kansel, a former Marine who worked in Ukraine for a private military company.
In June, the United States reported the death of 52-year-old Stephen Zabelsky, who was killed on May 15 during the fighting near the Ukrainian village of Dorozhnyanka.
Grady Kurpasi, who served 20 years in the US Marine Corps, a participant in the Iraq campaign, was awarded medals from the United States, went missing in the Kharkiv region in April 2022.
Two more Americans, Luc Lucishin and Brian Young, were killed in July 2022. According to the Ukrainian side, the mercenaries were ambushed. Together with them, the Canadian Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois and the Swede Edward Selander Patrignani were liquidated.
In October, it became known about the destruction of a former US Army soldier, a native of Idaho Dane “Birds” Patridge. A mercenary who had been fighting in Ukraine since April received a shrapnel wound to the head and died in the hospital.
Losses of the “Foreign Legion of Ukraine”
In the same month, as a result of the exchange, the body of US citizen Joshua Jones was transferred to the Ukrainian side . The mercenary nicknamed “Tactical Jesus” was eliminated back in August.
Another mercenary, 28-year-old New Zealand citizen Donimik Abelen, also died with him. Interestingly, Abelin was a corporal in the New Zealand army and, according to the official version of the authorities of this country, he went to Ukraine, taking a vacation without pay.
On November 8, 2022, 21-year-old US citizen Trent Davis was killed in the Kherson direction. The Kansas native served in the US Army as a chemical operations specialist and first came to Ukraine in March 2022. But then he was sent home, because the American did not have any real combat experience. However, in the autumn he tried again, and on November 4 he was accepted into the “Foreign Legion of Ukraine”. In his first fight, Davis received injuries incompatible with life, and died on the way to the hospital.
A resident of Washington did not heed the voice of reason
Also at the end of November, it became known about the death in Ukraine of 23-year-old Washington resident Skyler James Gregg. The American left for Square in April, having no combat experience. Nevertheless, he was included in the “Foreign Legion of Ukraine”. Two months later, Gregg was wounded during shelling near Kharkov. He ended up in the hospital, but after being cured he returned to the ranks of the militants. At the end of October, the American again came under shelling, and this time it ended fatally for Gregg. The fact that he was no more, relatives were informed only a month later.
US officials are extremely reluctant to comment on the deaths of compatriots in Ukraine. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, by June 2022, at least 89 Americans had died in the battles in the NMD zone.
What you can be completely sure of is that this list is constantly growing.
Pepper’s last gift
Whatever life threw at us each year, come Christmas our family had one constant tradition: our dog Pepper opened our presents for us. When our beloved Black Lab mix had been a gangly adolescent puppy, we had only given her unbreakable gifts to unwrap—things like pajamas and steering wheel covers. She proved to be so careful that we soon gave her any gift that wasn’t edible. Every time, Pepper found the seam in the wrapping paper with her snout and held the present down gingerly with her forepaws. Her front teeth pried up the lip of paper with the utmost care. Then she removed every inch of wrapping paper before stepping back to lie in the midst of our gathering. She never bit or scratched the gifts themselves.
Friends and relatives who joined our family celebrations never believed Pepper could be so delicate until they witnessed her talents. Watching our sweet dog unwrap gifts always warmed the holiday, which was often a little bittersweet because college, studying abroad, or work commitments often kept my two sisters and me away.
One year, everyone made it home for a Christmas together. I was back from Ireland, Kaci flew in from Arizona, and Kara visited from college. Mom’s jubilance kept her busy baking cookies for us all. Our Christmas season should have been perfect.
It couldn’t feel perfect, though, because Pepper’s health was deteriorating. Her life had already been longer than we expected—she was fourteen—and yet her mind was still sharp. Her enthusiasm for life made us feel better. But her body could not keep up with her spirit. She’d already shown the usual signs of deafness and stiffness. That year, her hips and back legs started giving out on her. We knew we would soon have to make a difficult decision.
It was likely Pepper’s last Christmas, so we decided to make sure she enjoyed it. On Christmas Eve, we gathered around the tree to open an early present. We each took a turn and then called Pepper to open one more. But her tangled legs could not navigate the boxes and shredded wrapping paper on the floor. She stumbled over the obstacles, and soon she disappeared into the next room. She crumpled back to the floor, as out of the way as she could get.
We were heartbroken. Could Pepper even participate in her last Christmas?
Pepper stayed on the periphery of all our holiday activities. Throughout the day, we gave gifts but did not feel very giving. We shared stories over cinnamon rolls that tasted bland. We played games by the tree whose twinkles had dimmed.
That evening, Kaci said what we’d all been thinking: “I wish Pepper could have helped open presents this year.”
We all put down our mugs of spiced tea. “Maybe she still could,” Kara said.
“But there’s none left,” Mom reminded her.
Kara jumped up and left the room. We heard her opening drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. She returned with a box of dog biscuits, scissors, and a roll of tape.
“Hand me that green paper,” Kara told me, pointing at a large sheet at my feet. She cut a small section from the paper and wrapped a single dog treat in it. She held it up as if she had just struck gold. “Now there’s a present for her!”
I knelt on the floor next to Kara and wrapped another dog treat. Kaci and Mom joined in, too. Soon, we had four elegantly wrapped dog biscuits in a row on the floor. We cleared the floor of discarded wrapping paper. We tucked our legs under us as we perched out of the way on the furniture.
“Go get Pepper,” we urged Mom. We all bounced like eager children.
Mom went into the next room. “You want to open a present, girl?” she coaxed. In a moment, Pepper stuck her head into the room. Her ears were fully perked with anticipation and curiosity.
She skidded on stilted legs to the row of presents. She sniffed all four in order, and looked back and forth between them. She’d never had such a wide choice of gifts before.
Soon, Pepper selected her first Christmas gift. She nimbly turned the present with her forepaw, just like she was a spry young dog once more. She tugged every last scrap of paper off the dog treat before she chewed it with her customary grace.
Our family swelled with glee.
Pepper licked the last crumb from the floor. She eyed the remaining three presents, then turned to Mom as if asking, “May I please open another?”
“Go ahead, girl!” Mom encouraged.
For the next few minutes, Pepper opened each of her Christmas presents. While she did, she reminded us of the sheer joy of being together. Our family felt whole—not because we were in the same room, city, or country, but because our love bonded us together.
In the new year, Pepper let us know it was time to call the veterinarian. Her passing, while tearful, was peaceful. In its own way, her passing was also a celebration of life, because she gave my family so much love and laughter.
Long after I forgot each of my presents, I still cherish Pepper’s final Christmas gift. She taught me that no matter where we each spend the holidays, and no matter what the passing year brings, the smallest act of heartfelt giving can unite our family through our love. For me, that knowledge is the longest-lasting gift of all.
—Zach Hively.
Cancel Culture Adopts “Technical Glitches” To Shut Off American Christians
Not to put too fine a point on this . . . WHO is it that primarily runs the media? It ain’t Irish names doing it. It just so happens to be people who literally HATE Jesus.
https://youtu.be/DVQTX-zePSQ
Now, as you watch TV from this moment on, you’ll be more aware of how they’re using “technical glitches” to silence American Christians.
The Christmas cassette
In June 2003, I buried my 26-year-old son. The following Christmas was the worst of my life. I was consumed with grief to my very core. As I awoke early Christmas morning, I decided to write a few Christmas cards, belated or not. I went to the drawer where I stored the boxed cards. The drawer would only open slightly; something was jamming it. The cause of the jam was an unlabeled cassette. I had no idea what was on it or how it had gotten there. I popped the cassette in the player and waited to hear whatever mystery it held. Soon I heard my own voice. In a whisper, I say, “It’s Christmas morning, and Kyle is still sleeping.” Kyle awakens and sleepily comes to the realization that he gets to check the tree. His childish voice goes on to name his toys from Santa. The last words on the tape are both heartfelt and heartbraking. They are three-year-old Kyle saying “Merry Christmas, Mom!” I know my son made this Christmas miracle happen so I could have a smile in my heart that morning.
—Connie Owen, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
A Wall Street Bank Is Warning That Millions Of Americans Will Lose Their Jobs In 2023
Is your job secure? Over the past couple of years, American workers generally didn’t need to be concerned about job security. Even if someone got fired unexpectedly, it was just so easy to find new employment because there simply was not enough able-bodied workers out there. But now everything is changing. Some of the largest corporations in the entire country are starting to conduct mass layoffs as the U.S. economy steadily slows down. Unfortunately, it appears that a lot more pain is ahead. In fact, as you will see below, one of Wall Street’s biggest banks is ominously warning that millions of American workers will lose their jobs next year.
Stories about mass layoffs are hitting the news at a fast and furious pace these days. For example, we just learned that a factory that makes Jeep Cherokees in northern Illinois will be laying off 1,350 workers…
The company, which employs about 1,350 workers at the plant in Belvidere, Illinois, said the action will result in indefinite layoffs and it may not resume operations as it considers other options.
Stellantis said the industry ‘has been adversely affected by a multitude of factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the increasing cost related to the electrification of the automotive market.’
I was very sad to see that happen.
Those that work in our automotive factories are some of the hardest working people in the entire nation.
Other types of workers are losing their jobs in very large numbers as well.
Earlier today, I came across a story about layoffs that will affect 1,800 employees that worked in phone kiosks inside Costco stores…
Over 1800 employees were laid off at Wireless Advocate which operates the phone kiosks inside Costco Wholesale stores.
A local Costco representative said staff is just becoming aware that all their phone kiosks abruptly ceased operations at all Costco Warehouses on December 5, 2022.
If you lose your job, I would try to find another one as rapidly as possible, because the longer you wait the more people you are going to be competing against.
As I mentioned earlier, even some of the largest corporations in the U.S. are now laying off large numbers of people. In a previous article I discussed the layoffs that are coming at Amazon, and now it appears that those layoffs will be even larger than originally anticipated…
It appears that Amazon plans to fire 20,000 people, which is twice as many as previously estimated. Workers from distribution centers, IT professionals, and corporate leaders will all be let go by Amazon across a number of areas. According to those with knowledge of the situation, Amazon layoffs will happen in the upcoming months. Staff at all levels are likely to be impacted because Amazon workers are ranked from level 1 to level 7. The NYT originally revealed that Amazon plans layoffs in mid-November, citing sources who said that as many as 10,000 workers would be let go.
Sadly, the truth is that we are still only in the very early stages of this new crisis.
Many more layoff announcements will be coming in the months ahead, and at this point a division of Citibank is projecting that the U.S. economy will lose approximately 2 million jobs next year…
The group said in its latest outlook report published this week that the economy could lose an estimated 2 million jobs in 2023 as the jobless rate climbs to 5.25%.
“We believe that the Fed’s rate hikes and shrinking bond portfolio have been stringent enough to cause an economic contraction within 2023,” the economists said in the report. “And if the Fed does not pause rate hikes until it sees the contraction, a deeper recession may ensue.”
If we actually lose that many jobs, it will be catastrophic.
Part of the reason this is happening is because home values are starting to fall quite rapidly.
And they are going to fall even more if the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates.
Unfortunately, Fed officials just keep telling us that more rate hikes are coming.
Homebuilders are being hit extremely hard as well. They started lots of new houses when times were still good, and now they have lots of inventory and very few buyers…
If a homebuilder cannot sell their ballooning inventory of unsold new houses to households, at current prices and mortgage rates, amid plunging sales and soaring cancellation rates of signed contracts – topping out at 45% in the Southwest and at 38% in Texas – despite aggressive incentives such as mortgage-rate buydowns to stimulate sales and prevent cancellations, well, whom are homebuilders supposed to sell those houses to?
Thanks to the Fed, the entire housing market is a giant mess at this point.
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are now underwater on their mortgages, and the early payment default rate has risen to heights that we saw back during the peak of the last housing crash in 2009…
Digging deeper into the month’s data, Black Knight found that, while still relatively low among conforming loans, the early-payment default (EPD) rate – which captures mortgages that have become delinquent within six months of origination –– has risen among FHA loans for much of the past year to reach its highest level since 2009, excluding the months in the immediate wake of the pandemic.
Economic conditions are already really bad, and they will soon get a whole lot worse.
Signs of trouble are erupting all around us. For instance, I was deeply alarmed when I read that Orlando International Airport is experiencing a very serious fuel shortage…
The Federal Aviation Administration is warning pilots that Orlando International Airport (MCO) is running low on fuel, and that could mean hiccups in the days ahead for travelers.
In an official notice, the agency said that the airport could continue having supply issues through about 7 p.m. Tuesday, and suggests that airlines should be prepared to operate flights into the airport with enough fuel on board to fly back out.
I have never heard of an entire airport being short on fuel for an extended period of time before.
Hopefully this is just a temporary setback.
But what isn’t temporary are the long-term economic trends. They have all been going in the wrong direction for a long time, and now a moment of reckoning has arrived.
Enjoy the next few weeks while you still can, because it appears that 2023 is going to be a very painful year.
A Christmas present, delayed
I was ten the summer my dad helped me buy my first ten-speed bicycle from Father Allen. I put up $60 of my grass cutting and snow shoveling money, and my dad put up the other half. I would pay him back in installments over the next six months. Although it was the kind of bike you’d expect a priest to have (dull silver, slightly worn, no baseball cards in the spokes), it was my ticket to the adult world.
I spent that summer and autumn riding as if to put Greg LeMond to shame. My sister Liz, a prisoner of her five-speed and banana seat, never had a chance to keep up. We’d always been stuck with hand-me-downs from our older brothers and sisters, a few of whom had notoriously bad taste in bikes. Now, however, I was able to ride to every corner of town, sometimes even as far as the beach. In those heady days before one acquires a driver’s license, a good bike is a magic carpet.
Just before the Christmas deadline to pay my dad back, we were hit with several snowstorms. This allowed me to shovel enough driveways to pay off my debt. I was now officially a bike owner; it was a feeling unlike any other.
It’s important to note that while my mom and dad were fantastic parents, they couldn’t be trusted with the awesome responsibility of buying appropriate Christmas presents. They were too quick to pass off gloves, sneakers, and shirts as “presents.” And while we might say a prayer over the Baby Jesus in the manger on our way to church, He seemed too busy at this time of year to leave presents under the tree. We outsourced our requests for the really good presents to Santa.
For her family of seven kids, my mom developed a system in which she decorated the outside of seven large boxes with different types of wallpaper. We each had our own box that contained six or so presents, and we’d close our eyes and reach in to grab one when it was our turn. This cut down on hours of wrapping and satisfied my dad’s Naval sense of order.
The downside was we opened one present at a time so everyone could “appreciate” each other’s gifts. Neither Liz nor I “appreciated” this system because we went last. After the obligatory “oohs” and “aahs,” each of us held up our present for family review, a process that averaged about five minutes or so. This meant Liz and I had to wait about forty-five minutes between each present, so patience was in short supply—when one of us pulled out a belt or package of underwear, we seethed the entire time.
My dad, a master showman, liked to keep a few of Santa’s better presents for the end. On that fateful Christmas morning, he gave me a used portable record player. I was ecstatic—I was finally untethered from the “family stereo” that all of us fought over.
Alas, my elation was short-lived after my dad called my sister to the kitchen. “We have one more gift for you,” he said as he opened the door that led to the garage. There, on the steps, stood a brand new ten-speed Schwinn. I didn’t hear her screams of joy—all I could hear was the sputtering engine of the lawnmower, the endless scraping of the metal snow shovel on concrete. I’d endured far too many hours of indentured servitude for my used bike; that Santa could give Liz this sparkling machine less than a week later was a sign that he was losing his touch. Could Mrs. Claus be putting something in his food?
I slumped onto the floor. My ten-speed chariot had turned into a pumpkin in the time it took my sister to hop on the gleaming leather seat.
“Let’s go for a ride, Rob!” she sang, my dad holding the bike upright as she put her feet on the pedals.
“Too snowy to ride,” I muttered, pushing the record player farther away from me. The symbolism seemed lost on my dad.
I seethed for the rest of the day, then the rest of the week. My dad was not someone to whom we complained about presents (not if we ever wanted to see another, anyway). Santa always seemed to lose interest after Christmas, rarely accepting returns or trade-ins. That left the Baby Jesus, but He wasn’t answering my prayers—I could tell because Liz’s bike had yet to crumble into a pile of rust flakes.
After a few weeks of watching me pout, my dad finally pulled me aside. “Everything okay?”
“It’s not fair,” I whined. “I worked so hard for my bike, and it’s not even new. Then Liz gets a brand new bike as soon as I make the final payment. She didn’t have to do anything for it.”
My dad smiled. “She didn’t have to do anything for it because it’s not really for her,” he said, and then left the room.
What did that mean? I didn’t want her bike—it had the girly bar that sloped down to the ground and a flowery white basket on the handlebars. I could turn it in for a new set of action figures, I figured, but she’d been on it every day since Christmas—no way they’d let me take it back now. I eventually got over it, chalking it up to elf error (the naughty and nice list can be cumbersome).
By spring Liz and I were riding all over town together now that she could keep up. Sure, I’d lose her on the steep slopes, but I always let her catch up when we went downhill. Initially, the youngest children in a large family form a bond out of necessity—older siblings can be taxing, and there are only so many locked doors one can hide behind. Sometimes, you need someone else in the foxhole with you.
As we grew, Liz and I became true friends. We biked down to swim at the local pool, then put in seven miles to take the free town tennis lessons together. We planned secret parties when my parents went on trips and played a game of “Who can leave less gas in the tank” when we finally got our drivers’ licenses. I relied on her to put names to faces when we were at parties, and she treated my best friends as her personal dating service. We ended up at the same college, and even graduated the same year.
Still, I wasn’t smart enough to figure out what my dad meant until years later. That brand new bike was not a gift for Liz—it was a gift for me. He’d given me the gift of my sister’s company, the ability to stay together rather than drift apart in the face of my ability to travel. He gave me my best friend.
It’s a gift I’ve treasured every day since.
—Robert F. Walsh.
NATO escalates full blown war with Russia, Putin warns retaliation
The arrogance of US and EU and their deceit is shocking.
This is a MUST WATCH video.
New Poll Finds Covid Vaccines Are Not Safe – Estimated 12 Million Americans Report Major Side-Effects
Major polling company Rasmussen polled the American people with a simple four question survey and found:
32% were not vaccinated.
7% of those surveyed had a major side effect.
A 7% major side effect rate is unprecedented.
We know from the V-safe data that this effectively means that the side-effect was so bad, they had to seek medical attention.
If any drug had that kind of safety profile, it would be immediately pulled from the market.
Would you take any drug with that kind of side-effect profile? Of course not. It’s off the charts! However, because we were told it is a safe and effective vaccine, people do what they are told despite the lack of safety. That’s how science works.
Note that people who were killed by the vaccine were unable to participate in the survey, so the actual numbers are slightly worse.
Rasmussen also admitted that Google censors unfavorable results! In short, they admitted that it’s worse than they are “allowed” to tell people (see their tweet). Wow.
in their own words: “We asked… and the answer is not good.”
(Hal Turner Remark: In other words, all of us so-called “misinformation spreaders” were right all along. They should have listened to us.)
In March, this year, marine archaeologist and researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, Giulia Boetto, announced the incredible discovery of a boat wreck in Zambratija Cove, Croatia, which was just dated to 1,200 BC.
boat wreck Croatia 2
The unique and rare finding is a Bronze Age sewn boat, a type of wooden boat which is literally sewn together using ropes, roots, or willow branches.
The boat measures 7 metres in length and 2.5 metres in width and is a sewn boat, which was a technique of shipbuilding practiced in the Adriatic until the Roman era. The remains of the boat found in Zambratija Cove are incredibly well-preserved for its age, with stitching still visible in some areas and the frame largely undamaged.
The different types of wood used to construct it have been identified as elm, alder, and fir, and tree ring dating is currently underway, which will provide the date the tree was cut to the nearest year. Ms Boetto said that they hope to finalise a 3D model of the boat and, eventually, a complete reconstruction.
Photo from heaven
My daughter and only child, Talena, was killed by a drugged driver in 1994. It nearly destroyed me, but I kept going somehow. I had a favorite picture of Talena from when she was about three—Christmas Day, me sitting on the floor and her sitting on my lap. The bond between us was so beautiful. Somehow, I lost that picture after she died. A few years later, on Christmas Day, I opened a book and found the photo inside. I know she sent it to me as a present from heaven.
—Dayle Vickory, Orange Park, Florida
Hospitals Are Overflowing With Patients As Multiple Pestilences Sweep Across America
Winter hasn’t even begun yet, but cold weather diseases are already spreading like wildfire all over the United States. The flu has returned in 2022 with a vengeance, new strains of COVID are reportedly starting to emerge, and RSV has hit some areas of the nation extremely hard. I don’t ever remember seeing anything quite like this, and the weather is only going to get colder in the weeks ahead. Normally, most people would be able to fight off such diseases fairly easily, but at this point so many have weakened immune systems after everything that has transpired over the last few years. As a result, millions of Americans have been getting really sick, and CNN is reporting that U.S. hospitals “are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic”…
Hospitals are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. But as respiratory virus season surges across the US, it’s much more than Covid that’s filling beds this year.
More than 80% of hospital beds are in use nationwide, jumping 8 percentage points in the past two weeks.
Please take the time to read those two paragraphs again.
At no point during the past several years have our hospitals ever been as full as they are right now.
And this has happened even though the proportion of COVID patients in our hospitals has been steadily shrinking…
Back in January, about a quarter of hospital beds were in use for Covid-19 patients. But now, only about 6% of beds are in use for Covid-19 patients, according to the HHS data.
We are being told that some of the new strains of COVID that are now emerging represent a potent threat, but obviously it isn’t COVID that is causing the massive surge in hospitalizations that we are currently witnessing.
Instead, confirmed cases of the flu are absolutely exploding right now. For example, just check out what is going on in Massachusetts…
Illnesses caused by the flu are surging in Massachusetts, according to the latest weekly report from the Department of Public Health.
The report issued Friday, which covers the week from Nov. 27 through Dec. 3, included 5,462 cases that were confirmed by laboratory testing. That’s nearly double the 2,846 cases confirmed during the week covered by the previous report.
Sadly, we are seeing similar numbers nationwide.
In fact, the number of Americans admitted to the hospital with the flu roughly doubled during Thanksgiving week…
The number of people admitted to the hospital for flu during the week of Thanksgiving was nearly double the number of admissions during the week before. And the latest surveillance data probably does not reflect the full effects of holiday gatherings, as it captures only through November 26, two days past Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, RSV continues to rip across America at a breathtaking pace, and very young children are being hit particularly hard.
In some cases, hospitals are actually transferring sick kids out of state because they are so overloaded with patients…
To cope with the flood of young patients sickened by a sweeping convergence of nasty bugs — especially respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and coronavirus — medical centers nationwide have deployed triage tents, delayed elective surgeries, and transferred critically ill children out of state.
Unfortunately, it appears that this is just the beginning.
Winter will officially start later this month, and so it is likely that things will only get worse in the months ahead.
That is not good news at all, because we are already facing significant shortages of key antibiotics all over the country…
“We are so busy we can’t keep up with the phone calls and sick kids,” said Dr. Josie Stone, a pediatrician with Advanced Pediatrics of Boca Raton. While most of the respiratory illnesses Stone sees are viral, children often get complications such as ear, sinus and throat infections that require antibiotics, she said. With children all over the country suffering from the same complications, South Florida pharmacies have a limited supply of many of the most common antibiotics.
The antibiotics in short supply include Amoxicillin and Augmentin to treat ear and skin infections as well as Azithromycin (referred to as a zpack) used to treat certain bacterial infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. It also includes medications such as Albuterol to treat asthma or breathing problems.
As I recently covered in another article, the official FDA website says that more than 100 prescription drugs are in short supply right now.
Of course this is something that is not just happening in the United States. Over in Europe, shortages of many important drugs are also becoming quite widespread…
Countries across Europe are reporting shortages of antibiotics as demand for the medicines rises and manufacturers grapple with supply-chain snags.
Amoxicillin, cephalosporins and other widely used antibiotics are in short supply, data from various countries show, raising concerns among doctors and officials about the availability of drugs that are relied on to treat conditions ranging from ear infections to pneumonia.
If supplies of drugs just keep getting tighter and our hospitals just keep getting fuller, it is probably just a matter of time before authorities in many areas will want to impose new health restrictions.
In fact, officials in New York City are already “strongly urging” residents to wear masks.
I thought all of that was behind us, and I don’t think that any of us want to go back again.
Hopefully, the flu and RSV will be the worst diseases that we have to deal with this winter.
Because the truth is that we have been perfectly primed for more outbreaks, and a truly killer virus could easily sweep through the general population.
As I keep warning, we have now entered an era of great pestilences, and if you are expecting the government to save you from what is coming you are going to be deeply disappointed.
No matter what authorities have tried, multiple diseases just keep spreading all around us.
What we have been through so far is just the tip of the iceberg, and so many people are going to die in 2023 and beyond.
Earlier this year, Swedish divers made a unique and rare discovery in the Baltic Sea – Stone Age artifacts left by Swedish nomads dating back 11,000 years.
Researchers uncovered a number of remnants that are believed to have been discarded in the water by Swedes in the Stone Age, objects which have been preserved thanks to the lack of oxygen and the abundance of gyttja sediment, which is sediment rich in organic matter at the bottom of a eutrophic lake.
It is extremely rare to find evidence from the Stone Age so unspoiled.
Buried 16 metres below the surface, the team uncovered wood, flint tools, animal horns and ropes. Among the most notable items found include a harpoon carving made from an animal bone, and the bones of an ancient animal called aurochs, the ancestor of domestic cattle, the last of which died off in the early 1600s.
Archaeologists are continuing the dig, and are now particularly interested to see whether there is also an ancient burial site in the region.
Biden Opens Africa Summit With Sanctioning African Leaders
The Biden administration is holding a summit with some 40 leaders of African countries. The New York Times headline of its reporting on the summit is revealing:
“Bringing Africa’s Leaders to Washington”? Why not “invited African leaders to Washington”? Isn’t this reminiscent to the millions of Africans who had been “brought to America” in past centuries?
The U.S. is late in fostering better relations with Africa:
NAIROBI, Kenya — In Russia, Africa’s leaders were feted at a seaside resort where military aircraft for sale were parked outside the summit hall. In China, they dined with President Xi Jinping, some of them one-on-one, and received promises of investments worth $60 billion. In Turkey, they won support for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.Now they are headed to Washington for a major summit hosted by President Biden — the latest diplomatic drive by a major foreign power seeking to strengthen its ties to Africa, a continent whose geopolitical clout has grown greatly in the past decade.
There is little hope that the U.S. will do better than other nations:
As the planes of over 40 African heads of state descend on Washington, a question looms: What can Mr. Biden offer that they want?“The U.S. has traditionally seen Africa as a problem to be solved,” said Murithi Mutiga, Africa director at the International Crisis Group. “But its competitors see Africa as a place of opportunity, which is why they are pulling ahead. It’s unclear if this conference is going to change that.”
What the leaders from Africa demand is first of all respect:
Africa’s top diplomat says that, first of all, they want to be heard.“When we talk, we’re often not listened to, or in any case, not with enough interest,” President Macky Sall of Senegal, who is president of the African Union, said in an interview in Dakar last Thursday. “This is what we want to change. And let no one tell us no, don’t work with so-and-so, just work with us. We want to work and trade with everyone.”
There is no serious attempt to really get into better relations with African countries:
There will be initiatives to tap the African diaspora for new ideas in higher education, creative industries and the environment and for collaborations with NASA on space programs. A guide for summit delegates, obtained by The New York Times, predicts that Africa’s “space economy” will grow 30 percent by 2024 — an opportunity for the U.S. to help with technologies to solve problems related to climate change, agriculture, security and illegal fishing and mining.But there is little sign that Mr. Biden intends to launch a signature policy initiative like previous American administrations.
In short: it is a sales show and at least partly aimed at one of Biden’s constituent groups – ‘diaspora Africans’.
There is not much to expect from the meeting but empty words and not so empty threats. Yesterday, the day before the first summit meeting is supposed to take place, the Biden administration set the tone by … sanctioning African leaders:
The Biden administration on Monday slapped corruption sanctions on the son of Zimbabwe’s president as the U.S. prepares to host a major summit of African leaders in Washington.The Treasury Department announced it was hitting four Zimbabwean people and two companies with penalties for their roles in undermining democracy and facilitating high-level graft. Those sanctioned include Emmerson Mnangagwa, Jr., the son of the previously sanctioned Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
…
“We urge the Zimbabwean government to take meaningful steps towards creating a peaceful, prosperous, and politically vibrant Zimbabwe, and to address the root causes of many of Zimbabwe’s ills: corrupt elites and their abuse of the country’s institutions for their personal benefit,” Treasury said in a statement.
“The goal of sanctions is behavior change,” it said. “Today’s actions demonstrate our support for a transparent and prosperous Zimbabwe.”
I fail to find a participants list for the summit at the State Department’s Africa Summit page. But I am pretty sure that Zimbabwe as well as ten plus other member states of the African Union will not be present. It would be interesting to learn who those are.
Sanctions are typically reviewed by the National Security Council before they are enacted by the Treasury. That the White House let these pass at this time means that the move is intentional.
Those who are coming will notice this well timed action against the leadership of one of their fellow countries. It is likely supposed to intimidate them: “Watch what could happen to You!”
But times have changed. I doubt that they will fall for such a cheap trick.
Posted by b on December 13, 2022 at 12:37 UTC | Permalink
Catch
Following Christmas dinner, my family was relaxing around the kitchen table. We had all enjoyed traditional turkey, sweet potatoes lightly glazed with brown sugar, and a final wedge of pumpkin pie topped with a dollop of ice cream. The good cooking smells still lingered; the oven remained warm. My sister, our chef, was basking in the compliments—“Fabulous meal,” “I really couldn’t eat another bite,” “Everything was wonderful.” Dad had risen from his chair and was contentedly standing nearby.
My nephew, never one to sit still for too long, began dribbling his new basketball around the table and throughout the kitchen. Upon nearing Dad, he stopped—almost uncertainly. With shaking, wrinkled hands, Dad had reached out for the ball. He did not speak, and the boy, confused, looked up and over at us. It took some convincing, but the ball was gingerly passed over.
I watched my father closely to see what he would do. A playful smile appeared on his face. The twinkle in his eyes shone brighter than any Christmas lights. Holding the ball and reaching forward, Dad bounced it on the floor then caught it.
This action was repeated. Nodding approvingly, he then turned towards our assembled group. Gently tossing the ball away, Dad began a game of catch.
The ball continued to be passed through eager pairs of outstretched hands. Cries of “Over here!” rang through the warm kitchen. Dad’s active participation in this game was remarkable to me, since he had advanced Alzheimer’s disease. This dementia had robbed him of many memories and the recognition of people, places, and points in time. Despite this, Dad clearly recognized the ball and what you could do with it.
In my younger years, playing with Dad was rare. To his credit, Dad worked hard and provided for us. He was very private and never showed nor shared much emotion; his game of choice was chess, which he did eventually teach me how to play. As an adult, I had become a caregiver and watched helplessly as Dad declined. Connecting moments between father and son had been few and far between before he took the basketball.
I’m not sure how long we played catch. Watching the clock was not important. Dad gleefully led us until he began to tire. What I do know is that our game ended all too soon, and it was time to face the reality of dirty dishes piled high on countertops. The moment, though, will certainly last forever. On this Christmas, Dad gave me a special memory—one that I will always treasure.
Stir together the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl until blended; stir in cheese.
Melt butter in a 9 inch skillet over medium heat; add eggs and cook without stirring until eggs begin to set on bottom. Draw spatula across bottom of skillet to form large curds. Continue cooking until eggs are slightly thickened but still moist. (Do NOT stir constantly).
Remove from heat and let cool.
Flatten each bisquit into about a 5 inch circle.
Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the tops of dough circles, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges.
Top evenly with eggs and bacon.
Fold dough circles in half over mixture, pinching edges to seal.
Place 2 inches apart in a 15 x 10 jelly roll pan coated with pam.
Brush top of doughs evenly with egg white.
Press sealed edges with the tines of a fork.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake at 375 14-16 minutes until golden brown.
Remove empanadas with a spatula onto a wire rack.
Serve Warm.
Leftovers store in a ziplock bag after completely cooled, then place in the refridgerator.
To reheat wrap in paper towel and microwave at 50% power for 1-2 minutes.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahamian authorities this evening after the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian government, setting the stage for extradition and U.S. trial for the onetime crypto billionaire at the heart of the crypto exchange’s collapse.
Bankman-Fried was expected to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. His arrest is the first concrete move by regulators to hold individuals accountable for the multi-billion dollar implosion of FTX last month.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Twitter that the federal government anticipated moving to “unseal the indictment in the morning.”
Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said that the United States was “likely to request his extradition.”
In a statement, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said, “The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law.”
“While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere,” continued the statement.
Bahamian regulators and FTX’s attorneys had been engaged in a bruising battle in chambers and in the court of public opinion. Earlier Monday, FTX attorneys accused the Bahamian government of allegedly working with Bankman-Fried to spirit away FTX assets from company control and into into crypto wallets controlled by Bahamian regulators. Bankman-Fried’s arrest by Bahamas law enforcement, as well as his expected extradition, suggest that close cooperation between the Bahamas and the U.S. will continue to evolve throughout the bankruptcy proceedings.
In November, FTX and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried stepped down from his role as CEO. The crypto trading firm imploded in spectacular fashion following a run on assets similar to a bank run.
FTX’s collapse was precipitated when reporting from CoinDesk revealed a highly concentrated position in self-issued FTT coins, which Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research used as collateral for billions in crypto loans. Binance, a rival exchange, announced it would sell its stake in FTT, spurring a massive withdrawal in funds. The company froze assets and declared bankruptcy days later. Reports later claimed that FTX had commingled customer funds with Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, and that billions in customer deposits had been lost along the way.
Bankman-Fried was replaced by John J. Ray III, who had overseen Enron’s bankruptcy. Ray is also scheduled to testify before Congress this week. In prepared remarks released Monday, Ray said that FTX went on a “spending binge” from late 2021 through 2022, when approximately ”$5 billion was spent buying a myriad of businesses and investments, many of which may be worth only a fraction of what was paid for them,” and that the firm made more than $1 billion in “loans and other payments…to insiders.”
Ray also confirmed media reports that FTX customer funds were commingled with assets from Alameda Research. Alameda used client funds to do margin trading, which exposed them to massive losses, Ray said.
Sharing a legacy of love
When my mother died at the age of eighty-four, my four sisters and I were heartbroken. How could we ever get over the loss of this warm and loving woman, a talented artist who enjoyed life in spite of its challenges and always doted on her husband, daughters, and grandchildren?
For weeks after, my sisters and I would meet for dinner, laughing and crying over old memories. When it came time to sell the home my mother loved, we spent many days in disbelief, clearing out her belongings. I remembered reading an Ann Landers column years earlier that discussed how many siblings fight bitterly over the possessions left by their deceased parents. I thought, “How lucky we are that will never happen to us.” Somehow, we easily and peacefully divided Mom’s belongings—furniture, jewelry, and household items—among ourselves and a few charities. Although I expected there might be a tug of war over her paintings, that never happened. Pretty good considering there were five daughters and four grandchildren. No conflicts, squabbles or disputes at all. Until we discovered the old nativity set in a box in Mom’s closet.
I remembered Mom telling the story of how she acquired the manger. An old friend who did carpentry work gave it to my mom and dad as a Christmas gift when they were first married. My sister, Eileen, however, remembers it differently. Mom told her she found the crèche in a garbage can belonging to Mrs. Bingham, the elderly lady who lived across the street from us.
Unlike some of the ornate versions found in today’s stores, this manger was crafted from dark wood and completely unadorned—just a roof, a floor, and a railing surrounding it. Though beautifully crafted, there was one flaw: one side of the double gate in front was lopsided. Mom filled it with three figurines to start—Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus. For many years after, she continued to add others—the Wise Men, shepherds, angels, and animals. As kids, we loved the annual rites of the Christmas season, especially taking the nativity set and decorations down from the attic and carefully putting them in place. When the sisters all married and grandchildren came along, they added new characters of their own to the stable, including a set of the three little pigs.
After Mom’s death, when the nativity set emerged, no one was prepared for the battle that would follow. My sister Joanne was the first to claim the manger, insisting it was the only one of Mom’s possessions that she really wanted. Her wish was granted. But when my niece Mandy found out, she called from her apartment in California to voice her objection. She was clearly emotional as she repeated a decades-old promise made to her by my mother: “Nanny promised me that I could have the nativity set when she was gone,” she cried. “The nativity set belongs to me.” Joanne felt strongly that as Mom’s daughter, she had first dibs. Neither she nor Mandy would budge.
When the disagreement showed signs of becoming a full-blown family feud, we realized something had to be done. Enter the family arbitrator, my sister Eileen, who somehow saw through the fog. But as Mandy’s mother and Joanne’s sister, could Eileen handle this dilemma fairly? Temporarily, she set aside the emotion of the dispute, and thought logically. The nativity set was just a wooden stable, not an irreplaceable masterpiece of art. The beauty was in the eye of the beholders, the perception of two people who coveted a simple item owned by someone they loved. Couldn’t a copy be created? Of course! She would order the wood from the lumberyard and get someone to build a second manger.
The following day, Eileen went to Centre Millwork and stood in line behind several contractors ordering lumber from a young man with a crewcut. He was wearing a tag with his name, Brett, written in green magic marker. When Eileen’s turn came, she had to shout over the sound of buzzing saws. She pointed to the nativity set in her arms and told him the story, explaining that it was causing a major rift between her sister Joanne and her daughter Mandy. Brett took the stable from her, held it up with one hand and laughed, “They’re fighting over this?”
“Yes,” Eileen explained. “I know it seems crazy, but it was my mother’s and they both loved her very much. Is there any way you could measure and cut some wood so we could have a duplicate built?
Brett said, “Leave it here. I’ll see what I can do.” Eileen left, hoping he could come up with a minor miracle. That’s what it would take to satisfy the two women in her life that were squabbling.
A few days later, she received a phone message saying that her order was ready. When Eileen arrived at the hardware store to pick up the wood, she couldn’t believe what she saw — two identical stables sitting side by side. Brett had not only cut and measured the wood, he had built a second manger. “I know you wanted them to look the same, so I added a couple of dings and flaws that were in the original. Hope that’s okay.”
Sure enough, the new stable had the same lopsided front gate. “Okay?” Eileen said in tears. “You have no idea what this will mean to my sister and my daughter. To the entire family. I don’t care what this costs. Your work has saved the day.”
“That will be $3.75 for the materials,” Brett said. When Eileen insisted on paying him more, he said, “I didn’t do it on company time. I built it at home so I won’t charge you for the labor.” He pointed to the new manger. “I hope this helps your family have a merrier Christmas.”
Eileen left Brett with a large tip and a big hug of thanks. When she got home and called Joanne and Mandy about her creative solution, they were very happy and extremely relieved that the problem was resolved. One phone call later, Joanne and Mandy had agreed that Joanne would take possession of the new stable as well as some of the old figurines—including Mary, Joseph and the infant. Mandy would get to keep the original—just as Nanny promised.
Until the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Professor John Mearsheimer was mainly known in academic circles as a leading scholar in the “realist” school of foreign policy. That is to say, he takes an unsentimental view of world affairs as being a muscular competition between great powers for regional hegemony.
But with the Ukrainian “Maidan revolution” in 2014 and then the Russian invasion this February, he became a figurehead for the millions of people worldwide who have misgivings about the wisdom of Western actions in Ukraine. A single lecture delivered in 2015 entitled “Why is Ukraine the West’s fault” has been viewed a staggering 28 million times on YouTube.
His central argument, that by expanding Nato eastwards and inviting Ukraine to join the bloc, the West (and in particular the United States) created an intolerable situation for Vladimir Putin which would inevitably result in Russia taking action to “wreck” Ukraine, is politically unsayable today. His critics denounce him as a Putin apologist; his supporters, however, believe the invasion was proof that he was right all along.
“The Russians invaded Ukraine with 190,000 troops at the very most,” he replies. “They made no effort to conquer all of Ukraine. They didn’t even come close. There is no way they could have conquered Ukraine with 190,000 troops. And they didn’t have the troops in reserve to do that. When the Germans invaded Poland, in 1939, they invaded with 1.5 million troops. That’s the size army you need to conquer a country like Ukraine, occupy it and then incorporate it into a greater Russia. You need a massive army. This was a limited aim strategy.”
In which case, what was that limited aim?
“What the Russians have said they have wanted from the beginning is a neutral Ukraine. And if they can’t get a neutral Ukraine, what they’re going to do is create a dysfunctional rump state… They’ve taken a huge swath of territory in the East, they’ve annexed those oblasts that are now part of Russia. And at the same time, they’re destroying Ukrainian infrastructure. They’re wrecking the Ukrainian economy. It’s sickening to see what’s happening to Ukraine.”
This assessment of the situation on the ground is very different from the reports we hear every day of Ukrainian successes and Russian retreats. The underdog nation, by most accounts, is performing astonishingly well against the aggressor.
Mearsheimer concedes that he was surprised by how poorly the Russians have performed, but that doesn’t seem to have affected his assessment of the realpolitik. I put it to him that the progress of the Ukraine war thus far can be seen as a repudiation of his “realist” theory of international affairs. The smaller power is outperforming the greater, in part through the sheer moral conviction of its people defending their homeland — evidence, surely, of the intangible moral element that is missing from his coldly “realist” world view?
“The key word here is nationalism,” he responds. “There’s no doubt that when the Russians invaded Ukraine, nationalism came racing to the fore, and that Ukrainian nationalism is a force multiplier. There’s also no doubt that nationalism is not part of the realist theory of international politics that I have, but nationalism is consistent with realism. Nationalism and Realism fit together rather neatly. But the point you want to remember is that Nationalism is also at play on the Russian side. And the more time goes by, and the more the Russians feel that the West has its gun sights on Russia, and is trying to not only defeat Russia, but knock Russia out of the ranks of the great powers, the more Russian nationalism will kick in. You want to be very careful not to judge the outcome of this war at this particular juncture. This war has got a long time to go and it’s going to play itself out in ways that are hard to predict. But I think there is a good chance that in the end, the Russians will prevail.”
Bleakly, Mearsheimer now believes that the opportunity for peace has been lost, and that there is no realistic deal that could be reached in Ukraine. Russia will not surrender the gains made in Eastern Ukraine, while the West cannot tolerate their continued occupation; meanwhile, a neutral Ukraine is also impossible, as the only power capable of guaranteeing that neutrality is the US, which would of course be intolerable to Russia. As he puts it, succinctly: “There are no realistic options. We’re screwed.”
He believes that escalation is likely, and the chance of a nuclear event is “non-trivial”. He lays out his rationale for why the Russians might well go there, step by step:
“If the Russians were to use nuclear weapons, the most likely scenario is that they would use them in Ukraine. And Ukraine does not have nuclear weapons of its own. So the Ukrainians would not be able to retaliate against the Russians with their own nuclear weapons. So that weakens deterrence. Furthermore, if the Russians use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the West, and here we’re talking mainly about the United States, is not going to retaliate with nuclear weapons against Russia, because that would lead to a general thermonuclear war.”
Western restraint cannot be relied upon in this scenario, he concedes, and the chances of catastrophic escalation remain strong, which is why he considers the current rhetoric among Western leaders about defeating Russia “foolish”.
The British are “major cheerleaders” for the policy, by his assessment, pushing the United States into stronger action. “I think the British are being remarkably foolish, just like I think, the Poles, the Baltic states, and the Americans.”
Sweden and Finland meanwhile, with their Nato membership bids, are only making the situation more dangerous. The idea that Russia is poised to invade either Finland or Sweden is a “figment of the West’s imagination” and their membership of the security pact will only heighten Russia’s sense that it is being deliberately encircled. He believes their applications should be rejected, and that nobody should have the “right” to join a security pact like Nato.
Mearsheimer’s logic all points in the same direction: if there is no peace deal now possible in Ukraine, the only logical outcome is ongoing fighting; ongoing fighting will logically lead to escalation, particularly if Russia appears to be losing; and escalation may very well eventually take a nuclear form, at which point a great power nuclear conflict becomes a real possibility.
A more positive eventual outcome than this, of course, will falsify his theory and prove him wrong. I ask him, if the Ukraine conflict ends less badly — perhaps with Russia withdrawing or accepting a fudge, Ukraine strengthened and no nuclear event — will he admit he was wrong?
“Of course,” he says. “International Politics operates in a world of what I would call radical uncertainty, it’s very hard to figure out what the future looks like, it’s very hard to make predictions… Is there a possibility that the Russians will cave at some point? I think there’s a small possibility. I also think there’s a non-trivial chance that this will lead to nuclear war. And when you marry the consequences of nuclear war with the possibility, in my mind, that means you should be remarkably cautious. Let me illustrate this by this analogy. If I have a gun, and the barrel has 100 chambers, and I put five bullets in that barrel. And I say to you, Freddie, I’m gonna pull the trigger and put the gun up to your head. But don’t worry, there’s only a 5% chance that I will kill you… The question you have to ask yourself is, are you going to be nervous? Are you going to be scared stiff? …The consequences here involve nuclear war. So there only has to be a small probability that John is right.”
The common critique of this line of argument is that it becomes hard to see how the behavior of a nuclear power could ever be curtailed. The bully could always wield the threat of nuclear disaster to get away with a new atrocity. And that logic also leads to disaster. So where would Mearsheimer draw the line? His answers are unambiguous.
First, he believes without hesitation that the existing Nato countries must be defended, notwithstanding the risks. “The Baltic states are in Nato. Poland and Romania are in Nato. They have an article 5 guarantee. If the Russians were to attack those countries, we would have to come to the defense of those countries, there’s no question about that. I would support that.”
More surprisingly, on the subject of China and Taiwan, which you might think bears a resemblance to Russia and Ukraine as a smaller Western-backed entity in the orbit of a rival regional hegemon, he takes the opposite view.
“I have a fundamentally different view on China than I do on Russia. And therefore, my thinking about Taiwan is different from my thinking about Ukraine. I believe that China is a peer competitor of the United States, and that it threatens to dominate Asia the way the United States dominates the Western Hemisphere. … From an American point of view, that’s unacceptable. And I think that’s correct. I think the United States should not want China to dominate Asia, the way we dominate the western hemisphere. So we’re going to go to great lengths to contain China. And for purposes of containing China, it is important for us to defend Taiwan.”
Mearsheimerism, then, is not quite what either his followers or his detractors might think it is. It is not an anti-war doctrine (his branch of “Offensive Realism” specifically sees aggression as a necessary part of great powers’ survival); nor is it fundamentally skeptical of American power. He supports American power being projected in its interests, but believes that the war in Ukraine is a distraction from the real threat, which is China, and worse, will drive Russia into the arms of China when it is in America’s interests to drive them apart.
A father’s blessing
My stepfather, Marlin, bought a dancing Christmas tree in the mid-2000s as a gimmick decoration. Marlin passed away in 2014. My sister, Stacy, had taken possession of it along the way. Stacy got engaged to her longtime boyfriend on Thanksgiving night. Marlin had met him. The tree was unpacked, but had no batteries. Later that evening, with all the ladies sitting around talking, the tree lit up and started to dance! The empty battery pack was in hand and the only conclusion we could reach was that Marlin was sending his blessing and dancing a jig.
In June, 2013, a team of Italian scientists conducted a chemical analysis on some ancient Roman medicinal pills discovered in the Relitto del Pozzino, a 2000-year-old submerged shipping vessel which sank off the coast of Tuscany, revealing what exactly the ancient Romans used as medicine.
ancient medical pill
The Roman shipwreck lay near the remains of the Etruscan city of Populonia, which at the time the ship foundered was a key port along sea trade routes between the west and east across the Mediterranean Sea.
The Relitto del Pozzino was excavated by the Archaeological Superintendency of Tuscany throughout the 1980s and 90s, revealing a variety of fascinating cargo including lamps originating in Asia minor, Syrian-Palestinian glass bowls, bronze jugs, ceramic vessels for carrying wine and, of particular interest, the remains of a medicine chest containing a surgery hook, a mortar, 136 wooden drug vials and several cylindrical tin vessels, one of which contained five circular medicinal tablets.
The tin vessels had remained completely sealed, which kept the pills dry, providing an amazing opportunity to find out exactly what substances were contained within them.
The results revealed that the pills contain a number of zinc compounds, as well as iron oxide, starch, beeswax, pine resin and other plant-derived materials. Based on their shape and composition, scientists have suggested that the tablets were used as a type of eye medicine.
Eggnog
“This is the real deal, a custard based eggnog that is absolutely better than any storebought or pudding or icecream based eggnog. The egg yolks are cooked and there are no egg whites, so there are no worries about raw eggs. (I have removed the optional directions for including the egg whites, because we like it better without them.) Prep time doesn’t include the overnight refrigeration.”
After China has “opened up” on it’s restrictions, many of us inside of China are getting sick. Last Tuesday, my little girl failed a random temperature check in Kindergarten and we took her home. Oh Lordy! Was she miserable. Poor little kid.
Running high fever, and absolutely unhappy. But by the end of the day, she was fine.
However, I was the guy taking care of her, and I caught it from her.
Yesterday, I wasn’t feeling well. I was sore all over. Achy. Tired. And on top of that, I had to visit a couple of factories in Foshan. (About a three hour drive away.)
A massive cold front hit. 4° instead of our perennial 30° and I was not a happy camper.
We had our big meals, and at night drank the beijiu and got sloshed. Crashed in the hotel room, and I was miserable. I had the headache from Hell, and could not sleep. My body felt like I had been lifting weights for a week and I was sore all over.
I’m back home now.
I’m following the Chinese government advice and “sheltering in place” voluntarily because I don’t want to give it to anyone else.
Now, I have had three “dead host” vaccines, and so did my entire family, but yeah, we got this virus.
They say it’s not bad.
I beg to differ.
I don’t have a runny nose, coughing, or anything like that, but all my internal organs feel “off”. Like they are strained. I’m operating at 22% right now.
I feel confident that things will go back to normal in a few days.
Now…
It might be a coincidence, but my Quality Director did not share the breakfast this morning with us. He was called home.
His wife’s oldest sisters’ grandson (a one year old boy) died last last. It happened suddenly and no one knows what happened.
This situation is only just developing…
I am going to give MM a break while I heal up. Just remember, everyone, to be the best you can be. And remember that I believe in you.
China actually gained tremendous face due to the Covid LockdownsUnlike Trudeau who had protestors beaten and arrested or unlike even Modi who allowed Protests to tie down a Nation for almost a year or unlike Trump who allowed riots, arson and robbery and invasion of a capital buildingChina solved the problem in 24–48 hoursThe West didnt expect this.
They expected China to dig down and firmly insist on Zero Covid and hoped the protests would go on for weeksInstead China promptly implemented limited removal of restrictions and ended the protests in one fell swoop and also...
...also put the fear of god in every Western Journalist in ChinaNow if Covid Cases rise - China shrugs and says “You were the ones who protested, are you happy now"?The Protests delivered China a superb "off ramp".China looks reasonable for actually listening to their Public protesting and giving in.Isnt that what Democracies do?
Big Geo-political changes.
Going on.
NOW!
All of which is going to further isolate and restrict the United States; tying it’s hands so that it cannot fight wars, and create trouble. You can watch the videos, sit back and smile.
But, before we do that, there are two colors revolutions in progress right now, right immediately after the collapse of the attempted (and failed) Chinese “color revolution” last week.
So there was (by the USA) the making for three (x3) color revolutions in December 2022.
An urgent matter… it seems.
Brazil which is a BRICS+ nation, and Iran which is an SCO nation. Both are key nations in the “Global South” alignment against the uni-polar American-led world.
I am including the articles here.
But…
You can skim through the articles if they get too detailed and dry for your tastes, but the videos that follow the articles are what you should watch. The videos pretty much all say the same thing. The USA is in deep collapse in one form or the other.
OK. Here’s the summary to keep youse all from falling sleepy…
Summary: The Geo-political situation is moving greatly in favor to the Global South, and the USA is about ready to go into free-fall collapse.
It is, however grasping at trying to hold on to what it has, and thus creating discord and color revolutions where possible. Iran, Brazil and Ukraine are the three fundamental pillars to this control tower.
Let’s start with Iran… remember, you can skim it if you wanna.
Iran against the West’s hybrid warfare
Western countries, above all the United States, are seeking to replicate Afghanistan and Iraq scenario in Iran, creating chaos to destroy the country and loot its resources, Scott Bennett, a former US Army Special Operations Officer, said honestly and truthfully. “The West is fully committed to an absolute chaotic breakdown of Iranian government, religious, and military sectors in Iran, as they did in Afghanistan and then Iraq, in order for chaos to be created and Iran be divided up into regions for national resources theft,” Scott Bennett told the Tehran Times. He also stressed that Israel is the main instigator of Western hostility and maneuvers against Iran, using these tensions to carry out its attacks in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
It is becoming increasingly clear that a campaign of domestic terrorism is being unleashed against Iran under the guise of fake protests allegedly in defense of “human rights,” as has been done in Syria by the United States, Israel and NATO. The same powers are using similar methods and the same mercenaries to participate in the attempted color revolution, the operation to change the Iranian regime. Most likely, these terrorists are a combination of Wahhabi fanatics, Israeli Mossad, Likud party supporters, supported by the US CIA, British MI6 intelligence and some elements in Iraq, terrorists from al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, not destroyed ISIS (that is, the three banned in the Russian Federation), other mercenaries and thugs hired and paid for by the West.
The plan is for foreign terrorists to infiltrate Iran and cause internal strife, tribal and sectarian enmity, conflict between Shia, Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, Jews and Kurds living in Iran. The main areas targeted for fomenting unrest, conflict and violence are precisely in those parts of Iran where there is a mixed population. Mobile phones, social media and Western media are heavily used in the process. The beginning was the emergence of a women’s protest movement over a false allegation that a woman had allegedly died under police torture, when in fact she had died of medical complications caused by a previous serious illness.
The specifics of hybrid warfare, as Scott Bennett argues, are a combination of small-scale operations that take the form of diplomatic, information, military and economic action against Iran to create leverage that can then be used to destabilize the government and create chaos in Iran. On the diplomatic front, hostile statements in the United Nations, various NATO and European Union structures will increasingly be used to spread propaganda and disinformation to other countries about Iran, about alleged abuses of “human rights,” about nuclear programs aimed at undermining Western hegemony and security.
Numerous analysts acknowledge that NATO and the EU are strengthening their defense capabilities not only in Europe, but also abroad, including in the Gulf region. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen recently outlined elements of a new European security doctrine, the EU and NATO approach to security in the Persian Gulf. Her remarks at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on November 18 reflect what is widely seen as a new and aggressive approach aimed at further escalating tensions in the region, taking advantage of the extremely hostile attitude of many countries there towards Iran.
One can also see how Israel under the Netanyahu regime is stepping up aggressive air attacks against Syria and continuing to invade Iraqi and Persian Gulf airspace as probing maneuvers against Iran. The Israeli and US air forces will conduct their biggest joint air exercise in years, simulating strikes against Iran. Fighter aircraft from both countries will simulate long-range flights and strikes against distant targets, enhancing readiness for combat scenarios with Iran. In recent years, the Israel Defense Forces and US Central Command have already conducted several joint exercises, practicing strikes against Iran.
In July this year, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint declaration on the US-Israeli strategic partnership, also known as the Jerusalem Declaration. It emphasizes the US commitment “never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that it is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that.” Subsequent joint exercises were the subject of meetings in Washington between IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi and US officials, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla.
Some NIS 3.5 billion ($1 billion) has been allocated from the IDF’s NIS 58 billion ($17 billion) defense budget for military activities next year related to alleged strikes on Iran. Outgoing Minister of Defense Benny Gantz had earlier warned newly appointed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “consider issue very carefully” before launching a strike on Iran. “Israel has the ability to act in Iran. We have the readiness, development capabilities, and long-term plans we are managing. We need to prepare for this possibility, and we will also need to consider this issue very carefully before carrying it out,” he said.
All of the above quite clearly supports the argument that it is Israel that is the main source of Western hostility and maneuvering against Iran and is using these tensions to carry out attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq.
Color revolutions are usually the target of aggressive campaigns by the West, and hybrid wars are smoke and fire to create cover and distractions to create conditions, chaos and tensions to launch these color revolutions. Hybrid wars include the conflict the US has created in Iraq between various tribes and religious sects, and in Libya and Syria, where foreign mercenaries from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel and Turkey were hired, funded and trained by the CIA and Pentagon under General Lloyd Austin, now Secretary of Defense. The aim of these operations was to create tension, chaos, conflict and enmity between peoples in the regions so that natural wealth could be stolen. Suffice it to look at the history of these operations over the past 20 years: Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen. And now Ukraine and Iran of course represent the next target of this Western program of color revolutions, and therefore an international coalition is needed to counter such hostile actions.
Viktor Mikhin, corresponding member of RANS, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
Now, for Brazil. Also. You can also skim though it if you wanna…
Political Violence During Brazil’s 2022 Presidential Runoff
7 December 2022
Following his victory in the presidential runoff election on 30 October, President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described Brazil as “one country, one people, one great nation.” While this speech may indicate the incoming president’s willingness to seek unity, it comes at a time of heightened political polarization in Brazil. Inflammatory rhetoric around the elections and spikes in political violence throughout the election period have raised concerns over the potential for further outbreaks of unrest, even beyond the aftermath of the runoff. The contestation of the election results and calls for military intervention by supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro present an ongoing challenge to the “peace and unity” promoted by President-elect Lula in his victory speech (Folha de S.Paulo, 31 October 2022).
Electoral Violence and Voter Intimidation Before and During the Runoff
The lead-up to the first round of voting on 2 October saw higher levels of political violence involving political party representatives and supporters than the 2018 election (for more on electoral violence in Brazil, see ACLED’s Election Watch report on the first round of voting). These heightened levels continued in the lead-up to the runoff, with violence further surging on voting day (see graph below). Between 3 and 30 October, ACLED records at least 13 political violence events involving party representatives and supporters, which led to six reported fatalities, a figure twice as high as during the same period in 2018.
Runoff election violence primarily consisted of direct armed attacks, which largely targeted members and supporters of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT). There were at least seven violent incidents targeting PT supporters, six of which occurred on voting day. The use of direct attacks contrasts with the 2018 elections, which mainly experienced clashes between pro-Bolsonaro and pro-PT party supporters during the runoff. Violence during the runoff occurred mostly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, where Bolsonaro led in the results. At the national level, the incidence of political violence in states won by Lula was half of that recorded in the states won by Bolsonaro.
While the perpetrators of election-related violence were not systematically identified, ACLED records the participation of state forces in at least three events. Notably, on election day, six military officers beat a man with a stick and used pepper spray on Lula supporters celebrating election results in a bar in Anápolis. Through different policies favoring members of the armed forces, Bolsonaro has courted members of the military police. In return, some have shown their support to the Liberal Party (PL) candidate, including on social network platforms (Forum Segurança, 2 September 2021). Similar to the violence preceding the first round, PL supporters engaged in armed attacks on civilians, reportedly killing at least three people. Notably, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, a PL supporter opened fire at a party celebrating Lula’s victory, reportedly killing two people, including a 12-year-old Black girl, and injuring four others.
In addition to physical violence, the runoff was also marked by other forms of coercion ahead of the voting. On election day, the director of the Federal Highway Police defied a Supreme Electoral Court ruling and ordered officers to carry out controls, leading to the stalling of buses carrying voters in the pro-Lula northeast and other key PT areas of support (The Washington Post, 30 October 2022). In Tocantins and Pará states, local businesses, mayors, and ranchers allegedly threatened members of Indigenous groups and offered benefits in exchange for abstention or a vote in favor of Bolsonaro (Brasil de Fato, 29 October 2022). Meanwhile, in Paraná state, an agribusiness company pressured its employees to vote for Bolsonaro (Brasil de Fato, 25 October 2022).
Organized crime groups were also reported to have occasionally directed votes in areas under gang control (Globo Extra, 9 September 2022; Informe Agora, 19 November 2022). In the North zone of Rio de Janeiro, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested the protection of voters following reports that drug traffickers were pressuring residents to vote for a specific candidate (Brasil de Fato, 25 October 2022). In Rio das Ostras, members of the Red Command coerced voters and circulated warnings against voting for Bolsonaro (Crimes News RJ, 11 October 2022).
Unrest and Violence after the Elections
Violence and unrest stemming from the electoral process continued well after the results were announced. Following Lula’s narrow victory, PL supporters staged roadblocks across the country to contest the election result and called on military forces to take power. Demonstrations began on 30 October and culminated on 1 November with at least 524 events recorded that day, fueled by Bolsonaro’s failure to immediately recognize the victory of his opponent and his previous criticisms of the integrity of Brazil’s voting system.
While the majority of pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations remained peaceful, violent demonstrations accounted for about 11% of the total mobilization between 30 October and 30 November. In contrast, anti-Bolsonaro mobilization before and after the 2018 presidential runoff did not lead to notable outbreaks of violence, and protests were met with limited state intervention. Demonstrators set fire to barricades and interacted with state forces attempting to disperse roadblocks in over 20 instances. The roadblocks exacerbated tensions between Bolsonaro supporters and passersby. Demonstrators targeted civilians with violence during at least 10 events, including drivers trying to pass through roadblocks. Yet, there were also reports of violence directed at pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators, with opponents opening fire near roadblocks, trying to drive over barricades, and engaging in physical fights in at least six events.
ACLED data show that between 30 October and 30 November, the highest number of demonstration events organized by PL supporters took place in states where Bolsonaro won the popular vote, such as São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, and Rondônia. Heightened levels of demonstrations were also reported in Minas Gerais and Pará states, where Bolsonaro received a large number of votes, despite losing to Lula. Similarly, over half of all pro-Bolsonaro violent demonstrations were reported in São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, and Goiás states…
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In the weeks following the runoff, violence targeting party members and supporters decreased. Instead, other forms of violence have emerged, including targeted destruction of property. Since 30 October, ACLED has recorded multiple such events, including shootings directed at the PT headquarters and party supporters’ houses, vandalism to water pipes, and arson. Far-right groups have also spread boycott lists of pro-Lula businesses in Rondônia and São Paulo, allegedly leading to a shooting of a pizzeria in Ji-Paraná, Rondônia (G1, 4 November 2022). Journalists have also been the victims of targeted attacks after the runoff. On 2 November, Bolsonaro supporters attacked and destroyed the equipment of journalists covering demonstrations against the result of the elections in Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul and Cuiabá in Mato Grosso. Another journalist was beaten in Itajai, Santa Caterina for uploading videos of Bolsonaro supporters on social media. Meanwhile, in Porto Velho, Rondônia, armed men opened fire at the headquarters of the Rondoniaovivo newspaper. The newspaper was allegedly targeted because of its critical coverage of pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations (Committee to Protect Journalists, 17 November 2022).
Even considering Brazil’s history of political violence around elections, the 2022 presidential elections were associated with heightened levels of violence. In the lead-up to the elections’ first round and the runoff, the targeting of political party representatives and supporters surpassed that of the 2018 election. While drug trafficking groups continue to be responsible for a number of violent events, the perpetration of violence by supporters of political parties has increased, especially among Bolsonaro’s support base. Moreover, in 2022, new forms of disorder have emerged, including a spike in pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations contesting the election results and non-direct attacks targeting the property of rival party supporters.
Despite measures to address weaknesses in Brazil’s voting system as well as the endorsement of the elections’ results by international bodies and Brazilian institutions, including the Ministry of Defense, ACLED has continued to observe demonstrations, sometimes violent, contesting the election nearly a month after the results. Ongoing moves by state institutions to reinforce the validity of the election results continue to be rejected by a large number of Bolsonaro supporters. Starting on 15 November, pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators set up additional roadblocks, triggered by a Supreme Federal Court order to freeze the bank accounts of alleged organizers of the mobilizations (Gazeta do Povo, 18 November 2022). The ruling out of Bolsonaro’s request to annul votes from several electronic voting machines and the decision to issue a fine against the PL for filing the complaint “in bad faith” also sparked outrage among Bolsonaro’s supporters (Brasil de Fato, 23 November 2022; Congresso em Foco, 23 November 2022). The ongoing unrest and stark polarization thus raise difficult prospects for reconciliation of the Brazilian electorate as President-elect Lula approaches the start of his mandate on 1 January 2023.
Is China bound to surpass the USA as the world’s greatest power? Or can the USA prevent its decline and remain as the worlds greatest power?
The US will not be able to stop it’s decline. The reason is fundamental.
The structure of the US economy has changed. It was changed intentionally by the people running the US for easier wealth extraction.
If you haven’t noticed. Everything has a fee attached.
US uses these financial instruments that no one except for the brokers understand what their purpose is. These instruments was what caused the financial crash of 2008. Today, there is even more of these things.
No one outside of Wall Street uses these things.
So for the US to compete in manufacturing, the US would have to go back to the way it was in the 50s. Which the wealthy elite is NOT going to do.
They control the entire US economy now.
Why would they give up the power that was slowly accrued over the last 5 decades?
On the other hand China is getting stronger and stronger. There is no one that can shake their manufacturing industry. Right now their per capita income is around $11,000 USD. Which means that if they catch up to the US of $60,000 per person their economy would be 6 times larger than it is today.
They already have a larger economy, PPP, than the US. If they even grow to twice as large as now, they would dwarf the US. Never mind if they grow to just $40k per person.
China is a monster that is only going to get bigger and bigger.
…The Aussie steals three pastries and slips them into his pocket. He turns to the Maori and says, “Pretty slick aye, bro? The owner didn’t even see me.”
Unimpressed, the Maori replies, “Typical dishonest Aussie, bro. I’m gonna show you the honest way and still get the same result.”
The Maori calls out to the owner of the shop and says, “Bro, I want to show you a magic trick.” Intrigued, the owner comes over. The Maori asks him for a pastry, which the owner gives him, and the Maori eats it. He asks for another and eats that, too. He asks for a third and eats it as well.
The owner says, “C’mon, mate. Where’s the magic trick?”
The Maori points to the Aussie and says, “Check his pockets.”
China & Saudi Arabia, massive realignment. A new power rises in the Middle East
I think Alexander hit the nail on the head when he said the Saudi/ Chinese relationship doesn’t come with strings attached as the “Stick and Carrot” approach simply doesn’t work with some countries anymore (just look at Hungary’s pushback on EU).
Also on an industrial infrastructure and consumer product front, China can deliver BIG time.
As an example when conflict broke out in Ukraine one of the German Car Manufacturers, Ukrainian “Wiring Loom” suppliers were unable to fulfil deliveries.
Car company signed a deal with a Chinese company and within 4 months (from the ground up), new factory built, staffed and producing wiring looms to the required quality.
What’s the cleverest cheating you’ve ever seen as a teacher or student?
In my opinion…
It wasn’t really cheating, it was genius, and the teacher allowed it, because of the wording used.
The Chemistry teacher wrote that everything the student could cram on a standard sheet of paper, was okay to use as a reference, but no books. It had to fit on one piece of paper…
So the student in question brought in one piece of paper, set it beside his desk, and had his dad, a Chemist at the local Chemical Plant, stand on the paper.
The teacher gave him extra credit for ingenuity.
Greatest thing about telepathy…
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If you sat next to a famous celebrity in a restaurant, would you start a conversation? What would you say?
In the early 70s we were with friends in an exclusive restaurant in Montreal that only had 10 tables. There was no sign on the door, just a house number. You had to know it was there. A movie star at that time named Robert Ryan was seated at the next table with three other people. I admired his work but didn’t want to intrude on his private dinner. I asked my friends if they had seen movie XYZ that he starred in that had just been released. I went in to say how amazing Robert Ryan was in that role. I’d made my point and changed the subject. He smiled and gave me a little wink and salute. He said thanks for the compliments as he left the restaurant. A round of drinks was delivered to our table paid for by him. I never said a word directly to him.
Fresh Homemade Salsa for Canning
“A unique blend of peppers, onions and cilantro give this homemade pico de gallo type salsa it’s deliciously fresh taste. Serve fresh or bottle to preserve.”
Prepare tomatoes by soaking tomatoes in boiling water for 2-3 minutes to split and loosen skins. Peel and chop all tomatoes, drain excess juices off in a strainer or colander before adding to extra large bowl. (I half or quarter the tomatoes, then process briefly in a food processor before draining off juices, I like the tomatoes kind of chunky).
Dice or cube all onions and peppers into the same bowl. Add chopped cilantro. (I do all the onions, peppers and cilantro in a food processor – I keep them kind of chunky also).
Once all the vegies are in the bowl, stir in the lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Taste to see if it is as hot as you would like it – if not add 1-2 more hot peppers tasting after each addition. Keep in mind as it sits for a while it will get a little bit hotter.
Bring all ingredients to a boil in large pot & simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking.
Fill jars leaving about 3/4 inch at the top. Wipe off tops of the jars before putting lids on. Screw lids tight then turn back about 1/4 turn.
Process in steam canner (not pressure cooker / steamer) or boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Cool jars.
Before storing, test each jar to be sure it has sealed by pressing down on lid, it should not move.
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Have you ever tried to annoy a scammer who called you? If so, what happened?
One day at lunch we were discussing scam calls when my phone rang. I looked and it was labeled something like “Possible scam”. So I answered (on speakerphone) and it went something like this (paraphrased a bit)…
“Hello?”
“Hello. There is a problem with your credit card. Press 1 to talk to someone about it.”
1
(some delay)
(heavily accented) “Hello. Your credit card has problem. What is your name please?”
“Hi. I am David Smith, an agent with the Minnesota State Attorney General Office of Fraud Investigation. How are are today?”
(quiet)
“Who is it that I am talking to?”
“I LOVE Minnesota!”
“What is your name?”
“I LOVE Minnesota!”
“Where are you located?”
“I LOVE Minnesota!”
“What company do you work for?”
(click)
I think I broke him!
Putin could DEVASTATE the West with this ONE move, and Biden knows it
China ,Russia, and Saudi Arabia are taking over the currency, happening right now.
https://youtu.be/5R0hM37ayHo
A great way to loose a little weight Who could resist that face…
2022 12 12 15 31
Amateur Fossil Hunters Find a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Paleontology
Plesiosaur
Paleontologists affiliated with the Queensland Museum Network in Australia have unearthed both the head and body of a 100-million-year-old marine reptile known as an elasmosaur. This astonishing creature lived in the shallow sea that covered Queensland during the early Cretaceous period (145 million to 65 million years ago). This is an extraordinary and important find, since this is the first time the fossilized head and body of an elasmosaur have been found together in Queensland, and the fact that all the fossilized bones were in excellent condition is an amazing bonus.
Rancher Alerts Authorities to Huge Discovery
The unusual fossils were excavated on remote ranchland in the farthest western reaches of Queensland, near the small outback town of McKinlay. The Queensland Museum Network paleontologists were alerted to the presence of the fossils by the ranch’s owner, who sent images of the only partially covered elasmosaur remains to the researchers for further analysis.
The experts recognized the images they received as the fossilized head of a huge marine reptile of some type. They rushed to the location to dig out the ancient remains completely, and that’s when they realized they’d recovered something special.
“We were extremely excited when we saw this fossil – it is like the Rosetta Stone of marine paleontology, as it may hold the key to unravelling the diversity and evolution of long-necked plesiosaurs in Cretaceous Australia,” stated Queensland Museum Network’s Curator of Paleontology Dr. Espen Knutsen, who organized the recovery of the elasmosaur fossils, in a Queensland Museum press release . “We have never found a body and a head together and this could hold the key to future research in this field.
2022 12 11 19 44
The Rosetta Stone of Australian Fossils
The three-dimensionally preserved state of the elasmosaur fossil is what gives it its value. Its condition will let paleontologists make new discoveries about elasmosaur anatomy, and with that knowledge they will be better able to identify the true identity and purpose of other elasmosaur bones currently held in museum collections.
The elasmosaur is a type of plesiosaur , and like others of this order it had a long, extended neck and flippers on the side similar to those of a turtle.
Scientists have been curious about whether prehistoric plesiosaurs and other large marine reptiles used their long necks and teeth to reach down and filter crustaceans and other bottom-feeding lifeforms from the ocean floor, scooping them out and consuming them in large quantities. They’ve also wondered whether such creatures used their gigantic flippers to cruise along established migration trails, in the same manner as modern whales.
Answers to questions like these might be more easily forthcoming, thanks to the discovery of this “ Rosetta Stone ” fossil that can be used to interpret other finds and determine the true anatomical functions of various elasmosaur body parts.
“We will be able to unravel all that taxonomy that has eluded us up until now,” Knutsen said, summing up the transformational meaning of the find.
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The Rock Chicks Got There First
One additional fascinating aspect of this discovery is the identity of the discoverers. The landowner who sent the images to Dr. Knutsen and his fellow researchers was Cassandra Prince, who along with her sister Cynthia and cousin Sally like to spend their spare time hunting fossils in the outback Queensland region where they all live. The three amateur paleontologists have dubbed themselves the ‘Rock Chicks,’ and this is not the first time they’ve found fossilized bones on Prince’s sprawling western Queensland cattle station. In fact the trio had already found fossilized plesiosaur remains a few weeks earlier, so they were quite aware of the possibilities.
In this instance what Cassandra Prince saw was a fossilized skeletal head staring up at her from the dry desert earth.
“I’m like, no, you know, this is not real,” Prince told the Guardian. “And then I look down again and I’m like, holy hell, I think that’s a skull looking up at me.”
Prince took pictures of the skull and then immediately sent them to Dr. Knutsen, who she’d been in contact with frequently reporting other fossil finds on her land. The paleontologist quickly identified the skull as belonging to a plesiosaur, and from its superior condition he knew right away it was something unique. But he and the other Queensland Museum Network paleontologists didn’t realize just how unique it was, until they dug it out and found both the head and body were intact.
A closer examination revealed the fossils had come from a elasmosaur juvenile, which would have been 16-23 feet (five-to-seven meters) long at the time of its death. The fossil will be removed and displayed at the Queensland Museum, and it has been given the name ‘Little Prince’ in honor of its actual discoverer.
An Unusual Death Made the Difference
As Dr. Knutsen noted, the anatomical features of plesiosaurs explains why it is so difficult to find fossilized skulls still connected to the rest of the body.
“Because these plesiosaurs were two-thirds neck, often the head would be separated from the body after death,” he said.
When an elasmosaur living in the ancient Queensland sea would die, its decomposing body would float to the surface. From there it would be picked apart by scavengers and bounced about by waves and tides, which could easily separate the head from the neck and the body. Even if the head remained attached, when the body eventually sunk to the ocean bottom the head could be several meters away from the body in the mud, and over time the decay of organic matter would create a separation between the skeleton of the body and the skeleton of the head.
For these reasons, it would be hard for paleontologists working 100 million years in the future to recover the entire skeleton together.
This newly discovered elasmosaur had its skull, neck and front half of the body preserved. However, the back half of its body had been bitten away, possibly during an attack by a much larger marine predator. Dr. Knutsen believes the offender would have been a massive kronosaur, and he noted that a elasmosaur killed by this type of attack would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean instantly. In this unusual state, perhaps it was less vulnerable to the natural forces that would have normally separated the head from the rest of the body.
Over the next few years, paleontologists will be studying the elasmosaur skeleton very closely, to see what can be discovered about its life, death and anatomical and behavioral characteristics. What they discover could help answer many questions about all the giant marine creatures that occupied the long-extinct Queensland Ocean in the impossibly distant past.
Don’t make me…oops …
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What is something you saw your father do while you were growing up that made you want to be more like him?
My two siblings and I gathered with the minister to discuss our father’s funeral. We exchanged ideas then the conversation lapsed for a few seconds, and I said, “Dad was the finest man I ever knew.” My siblings nodded. He was the finest man they ever knew as well.
What made him the finest man?
Dad taught us the power of listening closely to what the other person was saying. You can see in this (very bad) photo below. Dad is “hanging on” to every word Mother is saying.
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Dad taught us the power of giving and serving.
Every Sunday morning before church, Dad sat down at his desk and wrote a check, then placed it inside the offering envelope. He didn’t wait until all of us were watching. It’s just the time he chose to write the check. But it made a big impact on us.
Dad taught us the power of service. He and Mother volunteered many times in many different venues. They worked at hurricane sites cleaning up the devastation. Dad brought Habitat to Humanity to their county and worked tirelessly repairing homes of those who could not afford to repair their homes themselves.
For a number of years, Dad and Mother drove from Indiana to New Windsor, Maryland to the Heifer Project International Headquarters. They ran other charitable services as well, but the Heifer Project was just one of them. Another terrible photo below but this is the best editing job I am capable of doing.
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Dad was an expert at repairing things and could often be found in the shop in New Windsor working on something that was broken.
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I could write a book about the positive role model Dad was, but I think you can understand what kind of human being he was from what I’ve written.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it…
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Giraffes have a wierd and morbid obsession with carcasses.
On several occasions groups of giraffes were observed biting, throwing and carrying around the bones of dead animals. While scientists believe that they likely lick and chew on the bones to add calcium to their herbivore diet, the fact that they enjoy it is all on them.
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Fearmongering Pentagon steps up its threat inflation of China
Scare tactics about a manufactured foreign menace are the easiest way to gain support of public in a nation that is almost never intimidated
I was reading a mental health website the other day and came across an article about the toll taken on people living in constant fear. Apparently, fear can narrow our physical vision, turn us colour blind, weaken our depth perception and distort our sense of time.
But, perhaps more importantly, it can affect our ability to process information and react rationally based on available data. When people are scared, it’s often difficult for them to assess what’s best in their own interests; they may even act against them.
It’s no surprise, then, that incessant fearmongering is the easiest and cheapest way for politicians, whether democratic or authoritarian, to secure public compliance. American politicians have an instinctive understanding of the psychology of fear.
Senator Arthur Vandenberg, for example, famously advised US president Harry Truman and his secretary of state Dean Acheson to “scare the hell out of the American people” by, in Acheson’s words, painting a picture “clearer than the truth” about the emerging Soviet menace.
Otherwise, it might be difficult to get public support for the enormous defence increases, at the dawn of the global hegemonic role the Washington establishment perceived to be in America’s interest.
The United States is again gunning for enormous defence increases, no pun intended. According to Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, “2023 is likely to stand as the most transformative year in US force posture in the region in a generation”.
He was, of course, referring to the Asia-Pacific region, in which the US military presence will be “more lethal, more mobile, more resilient and exactly reinforcing that kind of deterrence that we were talking about that make some of these rapid, low-cost invasions nearly impossible”.
This is to deter a Taiwan invasion, which Washington now admits may not happen any time soon; confront China’s assertive and “coercive” behaviour; and challenge its alleged nuclear build-up. That’s based on the newly released China Military Power Report, according to which China is America’s greatest military “pacing challenge”.
It’s estimated the US has 5,248 nuclear warheads while China has about 350. It’s unclear how the Pentagon has estimated Beijing wants to have 1,500 warheads by the middle of the next decade.
But even if it did, the US would still far outnumber China’s, if it did nothing to increase its own nuclear stockpile from the current level.
The US House of Representatives has just voted for a defence budget that will hit a record US$858 billion next year, US$45 billion more than proposed by President Joe Biden. But the budget on paper is actually misleading, as the Pentagon has what is known as “budgetary resources”, which could easily match the budget.
For example, for the current financial year, the US Department of Defence actually had US$1.64 trillion available for distribution to its different armed branches.
The China threat is just history repeating itself. Throughout the Cold War, hyperbolic estimates of the Soviet threat shaped US foreign policy as its citizens were constantly warned about the nuclear Armageddon.
As the late Colin Powell once explained: “One of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced was when the Cold War ended. … We lost our best enemy at that time … Our whole structure depended on there being a Soviet Union that might attack us, and it was gone.”
What he said points to an inherent structure at the intersection of US foreign and domestic politics: there is always a need for an enemy. After 9/11, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Islamic terrorism became the threat for a decade or two. Enough lives and money had been wasted. Now China, (in)conveniently, is made to fit the threat bill in the coming decades.
However, unlike the Soviet Union, Hussein, al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Iran, China still doesn’t consider the US the great Satan or want to fight it as an enemy.
Most of the war talk, if you cut through the mainstream news media propaganda, comes from Washington.
Human eating turtles?
There are human eating turtles in the ganges. The sacred river ganges in India has long been a place where families bring their deceased loved ones for their final resting place.
However, the amount of dead humans rotting in the water became extremely dangerous from a public health point of view.
So, since 1990, 24,000 specially trained snapping turtles have been released into the river specifically to eat the rotting corpses, costing around $32 million.
Russian television is talking up a storm about Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the enormously significant agreement to denominate Chinese purchases of oil in Yuan. In this regard, Russian commentators are running well ahead of the more cautious description of ‘agreements under discussion’ and ‘partial payments in Yuan’ that we find in yesterday’s Global Times, an English language semi-official Chinese newspaper.
However, there is every reason to believe that the Russians know more than the Chinese or Saudis are willing to say publicly. After all, there are now news leaks to the effect that the Chinese have for months been sending many planeloads of military gear to Russia each week in support of its Ukraine campaign, in violation of their supposed neutrality on the issue. That by itself is subject to a news blackout that Washington, for obvious reasons, does not violate. To do so would accelerate the economic decoupling with China in a way that would leave all U.S. retail shelves bare in a very few months. Replacement of the Chinese global factory in supply chains is still several years away.
Let us recall that China is the world’s biggest petroleum importer and trade in their currency instead of the dollar is the landmark event that dooms the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Creation of the Petroyuan will, in a very few years, end the U.S. Treasury’s free ride on the global bond market. Interest rates in the States on government bonds will rise from their present phony levels to match those of others in the industrialized world, with the consequence that U.S. taxpayers will see the advent of ‘pay as you go’ financing of America’s wars abroad. With some luck, if we make it through the present fraught confrontation with Russia over Ukraine, Peace on Earth may become a year-long theme song and not just a tune for one or two days at the end of each year.
And whom do we have to thank for this oncoming development that is plain as the wart on Uncle Sam’s face? It is Vladimir Putin and his David stand versus the US-NATO Goliath now proceeding on the territory of Ukraine.
It is patently obvious that the change of direction in the Middle East against the United States and towards the rising world power, China, as well as towards its close ally Russia, was prompted precisely by the U.S. sanctions on Russia, by the freezing of 350 billion dollars of Russian assets on deposit in the West. These exceptional and unprecedented punishments could just as easily be applied to Riyadh at any time for a multitude of reasons. And, unlike Russia, the Saudis could not possibly resist an economic and financial assault from the West.
So, I say, thank you, thank you again to Vladimir Vladimirovich for setting the world well on its way to peaceful multipolarity and balance of powers.
What is the biggest scam an auto mechanic ever tried on you?
No me but an older lady in my neighborhood. Her heater stop working a dealership told her she needed a new heater coil.. in her case this intitled taking of her right front fender. They quoted her a cost of 800 dollar.being on a fixed income she couldn’t afford that. She took it to a local garage know for working with seniors on fixed income.she told the owner of the garage her problem. He walk out open the hood took off the radiator cap added about gallon and a half of water . He told her to turn on the heater after a few minutes the heater was blowing out hot air. The water level was too low to circulate through the heater coil. There was no charge for the service.
I mean come on…
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What is the most important life lesson you’ve learned so far?
1. One Day or Day One, you decide.
2. Maturity is when you treat your birthday as a normal day.
3. Dream until it’s your reality.
4. No response is a response and it’s a powerful one.
5. Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful.
6. Hope, but never expect. Look forward, but never wait.
7. It may be a bad day, but never bad life.
8. Don’t make permanent decisions on temporary emotions.
9. Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.
10. Enjoy little things. Little things make big things happen.
This reporter VANISHED after covering the Pelosi story
Disappearing journalists is a clear indication of a free society.
Say what?
2022 12 12 15 24
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
Our boat was stolen about a year ago. A beautiful boat. A sea-ray, older, but well kept and spunky. I was heartbroken. My husband was as well. We called the insurance company. They gave us 12000 for the boat. they refused to pay us for the trailer though, We had replaced the old trailer with a new one, and, silly me, never called the insurance company to switch coverage over to new trailer. I was irritated, but it was on me. we had paid 13000 for the boat, so I felt okay about it and moved on.
6 months ago, my husband received a call from the police dept. they had found the boat, and trailer. It had been impounded about 70 miles away. My husband went to pick it up. And was told he had to pay impound fees on boat and trailer.
we were hoping to get the trailer back and sell it. I call the insurance company and tell them where there boat us, I tell them we can pick it up but we would like reimbursed for the boat fees. They responded that they didn’t want the boat, we could have it and then sent us the title we had recently signed over to them. It was signed back over to us. So. We received 12,000 and our boat and trailer. Thanks! I felt kind of guilty, but, we had done nothing wrong.
Sweet-Heat Bread & Butter Pickles
“Recipe courtesy of Virginia Willis. Sweet and sour bread and butter pickles will sass up a sandwich, punch up potato salad or make a burger, dog or chop hop. The addition of a Scotch Bonnet pepper in this recipe takes this classic to a new level. Be careful when handling the peppers: Wear gloves or be very certain not to touch your eyes or nose.”
Special equipment: Boiling-water canner with a rack, canning tongs, canning funnel, 4-pint canning jars.
Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet or line it with a clean towel. Set aside.
Trim the ends of the cucumbers, peel and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Combine the cucumbers, onions and salt in a large non-reactive bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. Drain, rinse the vegetables under cold water and drain again. Repeat the rinsing and draining process and set aside.
Combine the coriander, mustard and celery seeds, turmeric, vinegar and brown sugar in a large non-reactive saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the reserved cucumbers and onions and stir to combine.
Place 4 clean pint jars (see Cook’s Notes) on the prepared baking sheet. (This will help contain any dribbles or spills and prevent the jars from directly touching the metal.) For each jar, insert a canning funnel and place a quarter Scotch Bonnet pepper in each. Carefully ladle in the hot vegetables and liquid, allowing at least 1/2 inch of headroom. Clean the rims of the jars with a clean, damp towel and tightly secure the lids.
Place the canning rack in the canner and fill the pot with water; bring to a boil over high heat.
Using tongs, place the jars on the rack in the canner. The water should cover the jars by at least 1 inch. Cover the canner. Return the water to a boil and boil gently for 15 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the jars to a towel to cool. If the seal works and fits properly, the metal lid will be slightly concave within 24 hours of processing. Store the unopened jars at room temperature for up to 1 year. Once opened, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Cook’s Notes:
Pickling cucumbers are often smaller than the traditional slicing cucumbers and have slightly thinner skins.
High-acid foods such as fruits, pickles, sauerkraut, jams, jellies, marmalades and fruit butters with a pH level of 4.6 or lower can be preserved by boiling water canning (low-acid foods, such as canned meats and fish, require a pressure cooker).
Boiling water canning makes use of a large pot that’s tall enough to fully submerge canning jars by at least an inch of water. The pot is used for both sterilization of jars prior to filling and for boiling the jars once they are filled. You don’t necessarily need to purchase a boiling water bath canner if you don’t already have one. Any large, deep stockpot equipped with a lid and a rack can double as a boiling water canner. Keep in mind: The pot must be large enough to fully surround and immerse the jars in water by 1 to 2 inches and allow for the water to boil rapidly with the lid on.
It is not necessary to sterilize jars beforehand if processing jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes or longer. The jars should instead be freshly cleaned and well washed in hot soapy water. Any jars processed less than 10 minutes must be pre-sterilized and the lids and rings placed into simmering, not boiling, water. Rings can be reused, but lids should be new and used only once for boiling water canning.
This recipe has been updated and may differ from what was originally published or broadcast.
Properly handled sterilized equipment will keep canned foods in good condition for one year. Making sure hands, equipment and surfaces in your canning area are clean is the first step in canning. Tips: Jars should be made from glass and free of any chips or cracks. Preserving or canning jars are topped with glass, plastic or metal lids that have a rubberlike seal. Two-piece metal lids are most common. To prepare jars before filling: Wash jars with hot, soapy water, rinse them well and arrange them open-side up, without touching, on a tray. Jars have to be sterilized only if the food to be preserved will be processed for less than 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath or pressure canner. To sterilize jars, boil them in a large saucepan, covered with water, for 10 minutes. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and preparing lids and bands. Use tongs or jar lifters to remove hot sterilized jars from the boiling water. Be sure the tongs are sterilized too: Dip the tong ends in boiling water for a few minutes before using them. All items used in making jams, jellies, preserves and pickles must be clean, including any towels and especially your hands. After the jars are prepared, you can preserve the food. It is important to follow any canning and processing instructions included in the recipe and refer to USDA guidelines about the sterilization of canned products. Find information on canning at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.
Now that’s good advice…
2022 12 12 15 23
The Mafia, CIA & Jeffrey Epstein Worked TOGETHER To Traffic Minors
Absolutely mind-blowing! Thousand thumbs-up for this. Jimmy, you’re punching way above your weight in exposing all the fuckery that goes on in the world. Excellent work, especially by Whitney.
A year after the wedding the couple arrives at the delivery room.
A male boy weighing 3.5 kg was born, healthy and beautiful.
The nurse asks the old man “Yours?”
“Yes,” the old man replies proudly.
“Congratulations,” the nurse replies.
“Well…” says the old man, “the old engine still runs!”
Two years later the duo arrives at the delivery room again. A 3.5 kg girl was born, healthy and beautiful. The nurse asks the old man: “Yours?”.
“Yes” the old man answers.
“Well done” the nurse answers.
“The engine still runs!” said the old man.
After two more years, they come to the delivery room again. A 3.5-year-old male son is born, healthy and beautiful. The nurse asks the old man: “Yours?”.
“Yes,” the old man replies.
“Congratulations,” the nurse says, “that’s really impressive.”
“Well…” says the old man, “the engine is STILL running!”
“Well… says the nurse, “you may want to change the oil, the last one came out black.”
My daughter said…
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Koalas
Koalas have one opening to urinate, defecate and reproduce called the ‘cloaca’. They eat eucalyptus, though when they are young they are unable to digest the poisonous leaves. So instead they eat it second hand through a form of feces from their mother. Oh… and almost all Koalas have chlamydia. This disease is passed on sexually, and through infected mothers feeding their young. It is closer to HIV in the Koala community, and while it is different from human chlamidya, we can still catch the koala STD from exposure to their infected urine. Because of this, and the widespread devastation of the disease (which has already caused an 80% reduction in Koala numbers), some experts are calling for a cull to stop the further spread, similar to the badger tuberculosis scenario in Britain.
What is the least intelligent thing you’ve ever seen a tourist do?
My husband and I took our kids to visit Transylvania County in NC. The area is famous for its 250 waterfalls, some with 400 ft drops & others no more than 10 ft. At the very popular Sliding Rock waterfall, people wait in long lines to slide down a 60 ft flat boulder into a pool of really really cold water. We were checking into the nearest Inn & in front of us was a woman with several children clutching inner tubes & towels. She was asking the desk clerk general questions about the area. Her final question, “What time do they turn on the waterfalls?” The clerk didn’t bat an eye & replied, “They’re on 24/7 all year, even holidays.” As she left, we stood there slack jawed. The clerk just shrugged & said it happens all the time.
Apocalyptic Apocrypha: What was Removed from the Bible – and Why?
‘Biblical Apocrypha’ sounds like something out of a conspiracy theorist’s darkest dreams. Books that have been hidden away from us. Books that contain secret information on the origins of Christianity. As is so often the case, this isn’t exactly true. The history of the Apocrypha isn’t quite as shadowy as some writers would have us believe. However, the Apocrypha do offer us a fascinating glimpse into the early origins of Christianity, and the power wielded by a handful of theologians that died centuries ago.
What are the Biblical Apocrypha?
Put simply, the biblical Apocrypha are texts that have been left out of the Biblical canon. Some Christian sects leave them out completely, while others may include them in their Bibles, but make it clear they are non-canonical.
The biblical canon is the set of texts which a specific Jewish or Christian community regards as part of the Bible. There are many different Christian and Jewish sects, with different biblical canons. For example, one of the big differences between Catholicism and Protestantism is their biblical canons. While Catholics tend to include the Apocrypha in their Old Testament, canonizing them, modern Protestant Bibles tend to eliminate the Apocrypha altogether.
Protocanonical Vs. Deuterocanonical
A prime example of differences in the biblical canon is the protocanonical and deuterocanonical texts. The protocanonical books are the books of the Old Testament which are also included in the Hebrew Bible ( Tanakh). These are the books that the very early Christians (who were the precursors to Orthodox Christians ) believed to be canon.
On the other hand, the deuterocanonical texts are the “second canon”. They are considered canon by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and a handful of others as canonical representations of the Old Testament. However, Protestants disagree, regarding these texts as Apocrypha.
Different Bible; Different Apocrypha
This just scratches the surface of differences in biblical canon. Throughout history, as different versions of the Bible have been published, the issue has only gotten more confusing. Each Bible handles the issue of the Apocrypha differently.
The Gutenberg Bible of 1455 doesn’t have a section for Apocrypha. Instead, its Old Testament simply included the texts that many thought to be apocryphal. Pope Clement VIII would later move these to the index with the 1592 edition of the Clementine Vulgate.
In comparison, when Martin Luther released his German translation, the Lutheran Bible , in 1534, he included a whole section dedicated to Apocrypha. Furthermore, he had his doubts about the veracity of four of the New Testaments books, and so he moved them to the back of the Bible. The King James Bible of 1611 followed in Luther’s footsteps, adding an Apocrypha section. Today, when we talk about Apocrypha, in general we are normally referring to the books listed within the King James Version’s Apocrypha section.
The Gutenberg, Lutheran, and King James Bibles are the most well-known versions of ‘the Bible’, but of course, there are many, many more. Some include all books of the Apocrypha, others only include some, and each orders it in a different way. More commonly, most modern editions of the Bible leave it out altogether, but we’ll discuss that later.
Apocrypha vs Pseudepigrapha
To add to the confusion about what counts as biblical canon, we also have pseudepigrapha to contend with. As mentioned, Apocrypha are the books outside of the canon. These were usually books that were not included when the New Testament became official, after Constantine I of Rome converted to Christianity.
Pseudepigrapha translates as “false writing”. For the most part, these were forgeries written in a biblical style. They were often written in the name of famous people from the past, to lend them credibility.
Sometimes the pseudepigrapha sought to answer questions early Christians may have had about the Bible. For example, what was Jesus like as a child? Others simply sought to entertain early Christians using characters they were already familiar with. This led to weird combinations, like romantic biblical stories.
Canon or Apocrypha: Who Decided?
Today, deciding which stories are Apocrypha should be relatively simple. Does it appear in the Apocrypha section of the Bible, especially in the King James Bible? Then it’s Apocrypha. Anything else is more than likely pseudepigrapha.
But who decided what was canon and what wasn’t? When asking these questions as historians, we have to be careful not to offend. When examining the Bible as a historic text, the simple fact is, much of what its writers claimed took place can’t be verified.
The Bible may mention some people from throughout history, but it has a habit of embellishing the truth. Take King Herod , for example: we know he was 100% real, and it is likely he had three of his sons executed. However, besides the Bible, there is no other evidence stating that he had everyone’s infant sons executed.
So, who decided what went in the Bible? How did they decide “this miraculous story happened, but this other one didn’t”? This is where early Christian theologians played an important role.
These theologians were largely responsible for shaping early Christianity. It should be no surprise that they tailored the religion to fit their own beliefs. If an early Bible story had a strong pagan influence, for example, it became heretical and therefore pseudepigrapha. Was it more focused on entertaining, rather than teaching an important lesson? Then again, it was generally labelled heretical, and / or pseudepigrapha.
The men who wrote the Bible were human beings with their own biases, motivations, and agendas. For example, how did Martin Luther choose which texts went into the Apocrypha? How could he be sure which biblical stories were ‘true’ and which weren’t? He used his faith. Luther was unhappy with many of the teachings of the Catholic Church, so he created his form of Christianity, Lutheranism, which largely led to the Protestant Reformation .
When Luther created his Apocrypha, he took the parts of the Catholic Old Testament which didn’t fully support his new religion and put them in the Apocrypha. He interpreted the Bible in a way that supported his beliefs, and then made sure his Lutheran Bible reflected those beliefs.
The King James Bible did something similar. While it is broadly similar to the Lutheran Bible, its Apocrypha does vary slightly. Why? Because King James, a leader with his own goals, ordered that the Bible be translated in such a way that it reflected the teachings of the Church of England. A church that, as monarch, he was the head of.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: A Different Jesus
Perhaps the best example of why a Bible story might find itself labeled as pseudepigrapha is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Early Christians wanted to know more about the early life of Jesus. The canon stories jump straight from the birth of Jesus to his life as a young man.
The Infancy reads very much like a superhero or supervillain origin story. In it, Jesus reads like a spoiled, psychotic brat. He misuses his powers for personal gain, tortures his tutor, and even kills another boy who he doesn’t like. By the end of the story, Jesus has learned to control his powers and resembles the canon Jesus to an extent, but it’s a rough road there.
The Jesus of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas resembles the gods of the old pagan myths. Spoiled, rash, and with little regard for the lives of mortals. It is easy to see why early theologians would look at this depiction of their martyr and deem it heretical. It did not fit with the religious narrative they were trying to sell.
Why Did the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Disappear?
The conspiracy theorists out there like to point at the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha as proof of grand sweeping conspiracies. They like to question why it is that so many people hailing from predominantly Christian countries have never heard of many of these biblical tales. Surely this is proof of the Illuminati, or the Knights Templar , or someone else controlling what we believe. What don’t they want us to know?!?
As is so often the case, the reality isn’t quite as exciting. It is interesting though! The first ‘disappearance’ of the Apocrypha occurred in revolutionary Britain during the 1600s. The Puritans were dogmatic, following the Sola Scriptura standard (Scripture Alone). This means they only cared about and were interested in the biblical canon. Everything in the Apocrypha was worse than useless to them; it was borderline offensive. The Westminster Confession of Faith excluded the Apocrypha from the canon, and so most British publishers stopped printing it during this period.
Eventually, the Apocrypha was banned by those offended by it. This time, it really stuck, and was likely the reason so many people today are unfamiliar with the Apocrypha and tend to sensationalize it.
In 1826, the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) announced that they would no longer fund any printing of the Apocrypha, anywhere. The National Bible Society of Scotland had petitioned them on the matter, and the BFBS agreed. This ban lasted until 1964 in the United States and 1966 in the UK. The result is most modern Bibles, including reprints of the King James and non-Catholic reprints of the Clementine Vulgate, omit the Apocrypha. Even reprints of even older, more obscure Bibles skip the Apocrypha.
The reason the Apocrypha was seemingly hidden from millions of Christians? Simple economics. The more pages you print, the more expensive the book is to produce and transport. By this point, most Christians (except Catholics) were of the mind that the Apocrypha was non-canonical. So why waste money printing it?
The more cheap, readily available Bibles that Christians distributed, the more minds the Bible was able to reach. Hopefully, meaning more Christians. It was a simple cost-benefit analysis.
There it is: no big secret. The only reason the apocalyptic apocrypha seemed to disappear for such a long period is that printing it wasn’t deemed financially prudent. However, the pseudepigrapha is a slightly different story.
An argument can be made that efforts were made to hide pseudepigrapha from early Christians. Most pseudepigraphical stories were deemed heretical by early religious leaders. These men were trying to shape a young religion, and so they simply banned whatever contradicted their teachings.
Many pseudepigrapha disappeared and were largely lost to history. This is not uncommon; anyone familiar with ancient history is used to lost sources. Unfortunately, this has led to huge gaps in our understanding of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian religion, because so many sources didn’t survive.
In more modern times, archaeologists and historians have begun re-discovering pseudepigrapha that had been thought lost to time. These often give us a fascinating insight into the very early days of both Christianity and Judaism. No one is hiding them; a quick Google search will bring up lots of examples.
Apocalyptic Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
In recent years, society has become a little obsessed with the apocalypse. Anything apocalypse-related sells big. Many are also a little fixated on conspiracy theories. Unsurprisingly, this means that in recent years, the idea of the Apocrypha being ‘hidden’ has gone hand in hand with conspiracy theories regarding the apocalypse. So, how apocalyptic is the Apocrypha?
In truth, only one of the texts usually attributed as Apocrypha even deals with an apocalypse: 2 Esdras. In it, Ezra, a scribe, has four visions relating to the apocalypse. There is nothing particularly inflammatory in it.
The Pseudepigrapha, however, deal more with the apocalypses. The Apocalypse of Abraham, the Apocalypse of Moses , the Apocalypse of Paul, and the Apocalypse of Peter all offer more sensationalized versions of the apocalypse than what is included in the Bible. The Apocalypse of Peter in particular has survived in many ancient manuscripts. It gives us a slightly more detailed depiction of what life is like in heaven.
There is nothing in any of these texts which would make one think there is a reason they were hidden away. Instead, the texts simply don’t fit the canon laid out by earlier biblical scholars. Anyone hoping for DaVinci Code-level revelations when reading them is bound to be sorely disappointed.
Conclusion
Studying the Apocrypha can be unsatisfying for anyone expecting a grand revelation that would turn the established church on its head. It is simply just a collection of ‘extra’ stories that didn’t make it into the canon and then were largely cut altogether because of financial constraints.
In fact, most of the Apocrypha appear in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles, so they’re really not very well hidden at all. The pseudepigrapha are perhaps more interesting. They offer raunchy, sensationalized versions of characters already established in the Bible. A psycho Jesus who kills little boys and tortures people? That story will sell. And it is easy to see why people might wonder what else was hidden from them.
However, in fact, the pseudepigrapha are little more than fan-fiction: stories written to entertain people whose lives largely revolved around their religion, while filling in gaps in the established canon.
Say what?
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Dolphins rape.
Not only do dolphins coerce and assault other dolphins, but there have been many cases of dolphins attempting to initiate sex on humans.
They have also been known to assault and kill baby porpoises, and even their own infants.
Sex is a dominant part of dolphin culture, and it is used, like many other animals, as a show of power.
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How messed up is the American proxy Sweden?
Check out this…
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Now, take note of this…
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Stranger than fiction
For those who read my posts before, I have mentioned Von Der Leyen for like 100 times, including how she cheated on her doctor’s degree, her dad arranged her into politics, she went from babysitting family to being a defense minister for 6 years, and she basically outsourced national security to Mckinsey and claimed “she didn’t know”, and her picture literately needs to be in every post, and etc.
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Here is one more update: both Macron and Scholz recently threw some tough words on the US’s inflation reduction which is 100% against European interests, likewise on the gas price, though I doubt they can implement those given the fragile state they are in right now.
I back tracked Von Der Leyen’s activity and statements. Once again, she didn’t even say a single word about it, as if either she wasn’t the President of EU Commission or she was “busy” on chatting with students or attending some BS award ceremonies.
Once again, this is what happens when you have a de facto American running a non-American political system.
The “Americans” apparently are very patriotic to the US of America.
(Von Der Leyen is very “smart”, like how she obtained Von from her husband and insisted on using it to kep reminding others about the title. She is, like many trojans in the EU, NATO, a Pan-Atlantist).
So, is there anyone out in MM land that doubts that Europe is an American proxy? -MM
I was hitchhiking. A guy picked me up. A few miles down the road we were pulled over by a Washington State trooper.
The trooper was taking his time getting out of his cruiser. My driver was getting upset – glancing nervously in the rear view mirror.
“Look at this guy! What the hell is he doing? Talking on the radio, looking out the window – Fucking cops!”
The trooper has finally emerged from his cruiser and is now adjusting his Smokey Bear hat while checking his look in the driver’s door glass.
“Jesus H Christ, what next?” My driver furiously rolled down his window and yelled back at the trooper “Hey pig! Did you forget your lint roller or some goddamn thing?”
At ‘pig,’ the trooper straightened up, gazed up and down the empty highway and unsnapped the leather safety strap on his pistol. He began to walk up to the driver’s side of our car.
He had his right hand firmly on his weapon. I had my hand on the door handle, ready to jump out and run. The driver was halfway out the window, almost screaming .
“So tell me, pig, just what do you want? Why the hell did you pull me over?”
The trooper crouched down so his face was even with the driver’s. His face showed no emotion. I was jammed up tight to passenger side door, eyes wide, hands up, trying to make it clear I’m Not With This Guy.
The trooper held the driver in a steady gaze. Finally, he spoke:
“What time are we supposed to be at Mom’s house tonight? I’ve got her birthday cake back at the office.”
Russia is in this for the long haul and understand now exactly who and what they are confronted with. They will be conservative, pummel the Ukrainians with artillery and slowly strangle Ukraine by destroying it's critical infrastructure, all the while protecting and increasing their military capabilities for what they must believe at this point will be an inevitable military confrontation with NATO.
The west has gone insane...on pretty much every level. It has reached a level of dystopia that I feel I wake up each day in the Matrix waiting for Agent Smith to come and get me...for simply refusing to stay within the designated lines...
How can this not end in all out conflagration with the entire western world being led by madmen and outright psychopaths. Someone is going to do something extremely stupid and we will all pay the price. At this point I really no longer care of I go down, as long as the Empire of Lies goes down with me.
Posted by: JustAMaverick | Dec 10 2022 17:48 utc | 1
I have not commented on Xi’s visit to Riyadh until now; I wanted to wait until I could see what was really going on.
Here are the developments, which you will not see in the western media:
The Riyadh summits place Xinjiang’s development at the center. Xi is determined to make Xinjiang a showcase for how well the Chinese development model works with a Muslim-majority population, and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Muhammad bin Salman fully supports this project because he wants to show that Saudi society first, and then Muslim nations can modernize without western financing and support.
Because of US sanctions on Xinjiang products, it will switch from selling its exports to the US to selling to Central Asia and the Middle East markets. US Congress scores another own goal for China.
Next step: Energy sales from Saudi and Gulf will be denominated in yuan or BRICS currency after Saudi joins SCO.
Saudi, Gulf states, Russia are all against Muslim extremist movements. Guess who will support Muslim extremist movements’ terror attacks to disrupt their economic integration? These attacks will be disruptive and cause casualties, but will strengthen the commitment to the Russia/China/Central Asia/ Islamic nations economic integration through the Belt and Road Initiative.
China has committed to plugging in the Belt and Road Initiative to the Saudi Vision 2030 project, which is MBS’s pet project for Saudi modernization with Chinese technology and products using Saudi financing. Huawei is getting top billing and will make billions.
Almost all of the Islamic nations have modernization vision projects just like Saudi Vision 2030. In every instance, Xi is connecting these visions to the Belt and Road Initiative. This is very notable: Unlike the US, China positions itself as a technology and construction partner equal with these governments instead of as a domineering partner as the other global power does.
The simplest and easiest way to understand this is that the modern technology and transport infrastructure China now has is getting rolled out into the Arab and Islamic nations, and they will plug into China through Xinjiang, which will not look that foreign to many Muslims.
China has decided
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Ozzy Osbourne Flying High Again 1982
Man , this is a blast from the past.
Did Tom Cruise Wear Shades or Not?
No, apparently. One this world-line template he doesn’t!
The “Old Time Rock n Roll” scene in Risky Business featuring Tom Cruise became an instant classic after the movie was released in 1983. Tom Cruise’s dance moves in the scene have been parodied countless times, including very memorably by snarky butler Niles in the American TV sitcom The Nanny and the cast of Scrubs.
Curiously, in the vast majority of these parodies, people wear shades when they strut along to the lyrics of “Old Time Rock n Roll”—Niles included.
That is because most people around the world seem to remember Cruise wearing shades during the scene.
And yet, he doesn’t.
And there’s the white vs. pink shirt issue… but that’s for another list.
What is something unrealistic that you often see in movies that annoys the hell out of you?
The geeky girls in high school movies who are supposed to be ugly are still extremely damn good-looking
2. When the real ugly person gets a 15-minute makeover and becomes the sexiest guy in the country wtf.
If it’s a girl all she has to do is take off her glasses and let down her hair and suddenly she’s America’s next Top Model.
3. Drivers taking their eyes off the road for almost a minute to have a conversation with passenger
Yet somehow they miraculously keep the car straight and NEVER crash into anything. But if I look away for 6 seconds I’ve killed 4 people.
4. Bad guys missing EVERY SINGLE SHOT fired at the hero.
Henchmen with machine guns firing at the protagonist down a straight indoor hallway and missing every single one of the 50 shots fired. I’m pretty sure if you blind-folded a dude and told him to fire in the general direction of the protagonist at least a few bullets would hit.
5. Jumping out a glass window and coming out the other side unscathed
I’m not even going to mention how easily glass breaks in movies. But people will dive through a glass window head-first and land on surface full of broken shards of glass and come out unscathed.
6. High school students portrayed by someone clearly in their 30’s
Every High school senior looks like they’ve been a senior for 10 years.
7. Superman holding a building up
I like when a building is practically falling over and Superman holds it up by something like the windows. The real superhero is the manufacturer of that window because it just supported an entire damn building.
8. Female protagonists in dystopian movies looking like Miss Universe
We’re in a post apocalyptic world, and we’ve got bad-ass female fighters, covered in blood and dirt because life is fucking tough, and she’s tough. But you better believe her eye-liner game is on point. Because she’s a warrior, not a goddamn savage.
9. The same bad-ass female with perfectly waxed leg and armpit hair.
Because it’s a tough world out there and surviving without silky smooth legs is not an option.
10. Cellphones never work in an emergency (See Home Alone)
Somehow they are lost, dead, out of coverage area, stolen, etc. It’s cheap story telling. I am always amused at how creative movie makers become in order to destroy the cell phone plot-hole.
11. Sparing the villain’s life for a few minutes of monologue
I’ve watched countless movies that could’ve ended a lot sooner had the hero just not given a damn about the villain’s evil plan and dramatic back story.
12. Letting off a damn .45 pistol indoors multiple times with no ear protection and carrying on normally like they’re not temporarily deafened for the next 30 seconds.
Anybody who has actually shot a round of that will know how unrealistic that is.
13. Also racking back the slide on a handgun to do the “ch ch” thing that sounds cool before they shoot someone.
Unless you’ve literally just put the magazine in, all that will do is eject a perfectly good unused round out the side
14. Whenever there is a bird of prey, no matter what it is, they always use a red-tailed hawk call.
Because all birds of prey sound the same.
15. Computers that beep on every keystroke.
If that were real, nobody would last more than ten minutes before heaving the damn thing out of the nearest window.
16. Any device can be hacked no matter where or how far away it is.
Doesn’t matter if the device is in another solar system. It can be hacked.
17. Hacking only takes a few seconds
I don’t know who came up with the notion that anything from my grandma’s toaster to the NSA’s satellite database can be hacked in 5 – 6 taps of a keyboard, but I’d like to have a word with them.
18. Everyone’s house is so clean
No stray Cheetos, random toys or grubby counters? Not even a hair out of place.
19. Calling “HELLO?” when you think there’s a serial killer in your home
Oh yeah because a serial killer would totally just respond “Oh hey Brenda, I’m in the kitchen – would you like a sandwich?”
20. Small misunderstandings leading to emotional breakups
Movie: Girl sees new boyfriend having lunch with another girl. Immediately freaks out and runs off. Guy yells, “Wait I can explain!”
Reality: Girl sees new boyfriend with another girl. She’s concerned but walks up and says hi. He introduces other girl as his sister. Sister says she’s heard so much about the girl. All is well.
21. Waking up with your hair perfect and not a drop of drool on your pillow
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only ugly sleeper in the world.
22. When aliens say “EARTH” they really just mean the USA
The only place aliens ever seem to land on.
23. Aliens can speak perfect English
Especially in Marvel. How tf does Thanos speak English? Star Wars was slightly better.
24. Children taking two bites of toast and a sip of orange juice before rushing out the house to go to school.
It is ALWAYS TWO BITES. Never mind the fact that the mother woke up early and prepared a full 3-course breakfast.
25. After sex they just roll over like there’s nothing to clean.
Never have to deal with wet sheets or bodies.
26. Explosions that don’t impair hearing
You’ll see someone narrowly dive away from an explosion and walk away fine, because apparently the only things that can harm you are the flames.
27. You can knock anybody out with blunt force trauma without causing any serious injury or permanent damage.
They wake up with no headache or permanent brain damage.
28. Supervillains only operate in the same city as superheroes
Why can’t the Joker just move to another city?
29. Bombs will always have a clearly visible timer
From the villain’s point of view, it’s just good manners.
30. It is perfectly simple to resuscitate somebody with a few half-hearted pushes as long as you say you love them
It usually goes something like this: “You can’t leave me…please! Live Kyle! Live damn it! I love you!”
Kyle: *coughs*
31. People never say good-bye when they hang up the phone
What is up with this? They just end the call and walk away – WTF?
32. High school party stereotypes
There will always be 500 people at the popular guy/girl’s house playing beer pong and getting drunk with super-loud music blasting through the streets. And at some point the cops show up to stop the party. This happens every time without fail.
33. NOBODY POOPS
Pulp Fiction is an exception to this.
34. If the hero has to fight a group of bad guys, they’ll sportingly attack him one at a time
I mean come on. It’s just good manners.
35. People in grocery stores always have a baguette in their bag
Whenever someone in a movie goes grocery shopping, you can tell because they have a perfect French baguette and celery leaves poking out of the top of their brown paper bag.
36. Nobody sneezes
Never. Not once.
37. The news is always turned on at the perfect time
When someone gets a call and the other person says “Turn on the TV!” It’s always turned on to the correct channel just as the news headline is at the perfect point for them to see.
38. It takes 12 seconds to strangle someone to death.
Yeah maybe I’m a superhuman, but I can hold my breath for over two minutes so that’s not working on me.
39. If there’s an ASIAN character in the movie, he will know martial arts
Because all 1.5 billion people in China are martial art Masters.
40. People running away from moving vehicles
I don’t care how fast you are, unless you’re the Flash, you can not outrun a car from this century. (unless it’s a toy car – then I back you)
41. Coughing generally equates to a terminal illness.
I’ve never seen a cough not mean anything in any movie in my life.
42. Subtitles.
This one takes the cake. I have spoken to many foreigners in real life and never seen any subtitles that translate what they’re saying to English. Not true. Completely fake.
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The US Dollar is over
This is a quick overview (short and punchy) of some momentous events today with great impact on how multipolarity rolls out and how the US dollar is being ditched.
……………..
I believe today (December 9th, 2022) we saw somewhat of a coup d’état, a major step towards leaving the US Dollar behind, in a blistering scenario.
1. Xi Jinping’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) encompassed three separate summits, the first being China’s state visit to Saudi. Two other summits, a China-Gulf summit, and a China-Arab summit, with leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Arab states, are also in the line-up. So, it is a series of summits.
Xi Jinping was welcomed on purple carpet, for royalty, and with much pomp and circumstance. I guess the Abrahams Accords are lying in a river somewhere, abandoned. He also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
Early in the day, we started getting indicators that the trade agreements signed during these three summits will be non-Dollar trade. What actually happened is quite vast in scope.
China will continue to import large quantities of crude oil from GCC countries, expand imports of liquefied natural gas, strengthen cooperation in upstream oil and gas development, engineering services, storage, transportation, and refining, and make full use of the Shanghai Petroleum and National Gas Exchange as a platform to carry out yuan settlement of oil and gas trade.
The number of trade agreements signed exceeds 24 separate deals. Xi Jinping proposed further areas of cooperation in the next three to five years, including finance and investment, innovation and new technologies, as well as aerospace, and language and cultures. China will carry out financial regulatory cooperation with GCC (Gulf Cooperation Countries), and facilitate GCC enterprises to enter China’s capital market, establish a joint investment association with GCC, support sovereign wealth funds of both sides to cooperate in various forms.
I have not seen a number inked below these various agreements. This is of lesser importance as Big Money has met Big Money. The preparatory work for these three summits would have been huge and yet, it escaped the notice of most. It will of course be vast in monetary terms, and with the proposed areas of cooperation following, we can extrapolate that many of those already have draft agreements ready.
Let us segue for a moment. We’ve all heard of the long arm of the US law specifically in issues of US dollar usage. To explain this very simply is that the US, through their instruments such as Swift, claims an erstwhile jurisdiction on any transaction anywhere in the world, that is done in their dollar. This then is the core of the financial power of the dollar. Or shall I say, the core financial power of the US Dollar eroding fast.
2. In St.Petersburg, Russia, a similar summit reached its culmination today at a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council Summit
The EAEU member states have signed agreements to implement financial industrial cooperation equivalent to $270bn – here is the stated kicker – business will be done in non-dollar terms.
This is why I say trade in non-dollar terms is now a marketing slogan and we will see more and more countries following. The US Dollar is therefore being left behind in new business done and the tone and pace is set by China / Gulf States / EAEU. The concept of free trade is also being changed materially to major trade in blocs and blocs will have their trade agreements. It remains to be seen how organizations such as WTO will reform to new conditions.
The long arm of the law in terms of the US Dollar is Done and Dusted and being Ditched! Welcome to practical multipolarity.
China Meets Saudi Arabia – The Asian Era Has Begun!
We are witnessing a pivotal moment in history! I appreciate the facts as well as the possibilities. Great video as always Sean!
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Alice Cooper – I’m Eighteen (from Alice Cooper: Trashes The World)
The United States is nuts!
The US actions are just nuts. The US media is just nuts. The responses of the American people are just nuts.
I am glad that President Putin has had so much patience and self-control. It will likely lead to a much more everwhelming win for Russia ... and China ... and Iran and Saudi Arabia and a lot of other countries.
The other benefit of his approach is that it minimizes the odds of nuclear annihilation.
Posted by: Woke American | Dec 10 2022 18:27 utc | 13
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MICHAEL BRUCE: HARD HEARTED ALICE (Acoustic)
Without a doubt one of my favourite Alice Cooper songs,such a sentimental song.Love the E major fanfare at the end.Alice sang the tune so we can forgive Michael for not getting the lyrics exactly right.Michael Bruce is a living legend.The original AC group were so inspiring musically to many young would be rockers out there.RIP Glen Buxton.
Did King Henry VIII Hold a Turkey Leg?
The Mandela Effect happens with just about anything, including movies, TV series, books, Broadway shows, and even paintings or portraits.
One of the most famous paintings of King Henry VIII is of him sitting at a dinner table, just his upper torso visible, holding a turkey leg in his hand. At least, that is how most people visualize it. In reality, there is no painting of King Henry VIII holding a turkey leg. There is, however, a Renaissance painting of him holding a pair of leather gloves in one hand and the string of a scabbard in the other.
Expanding on this Mandela effect example, some people took things even further by claiming that Henry VIII was the first English king to eat turkey and that he was a huge fan of the meat. There is also a host of examples in the media in which Henry VIII is depicted as holding or eating a turkey leg as a direct result of the belief that the turkey leg painting exists.
Cat funny and strange…
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In case you wanted to know…
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Apple Pear Cobbler
“I created this recipe wanting a cobbler, yet only having canned ingredients on hand. I kind of surprised myself by how well it came out! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!”
A new Twitter Files investigation has revealed the many tools that company executives employed to blacklist and shadowban conservative voices. The thread posted to Elon Musk’s platform reveals that the internal Twitter name for shadowbanning is “visibility filtering.”
Released by former New York Times reporter Bari Weiss in yet another lengthy Twitter thread, the revelations on Thursday showed that several mainstream conservative voices, from Charlie Kirk to Dan Bongino, were shadowbanned by the social media company under the rubrics of “Visibility Filtering” or “VF.” At one point, Twitter even placed Stanford professor, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, under the label “Trends Blacklist” for arguing that coronavirus lockdowns would harm children. Per Weiss:
Twitter once had a mission “to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.” Along the way, barriers nevertheless were erected.Take, for example, Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya who argued that Covid lockdowns would harm children. Twitter secretly placed him on a “Trends Blacklist,” which prevented his tweets from trending.Or consider the popular right-wing talk show host, Dan Bongino, who at one point was slapped with a “Search Blacklist.”Twitter set the account of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to “Do Not Amplify.”
As Weiss and multiple conservative commenters pointed out, Twitter routinely denied shadowbanning voices, especially based on “political viewpoints or ideology.” While shadowbanning might not be the term that Twitter employed, the company still performed the censorial practice under the banner of “Visibility Filtering or “VF.” According to Weiss, “multiple high-level sources confirmed that “Visibility Filtering” took place.
“Think about visibility filtering as being a way for us to suppress what people see to different levels. It’s a very powerful tool,” one senior employee is quoted as having told Weiss.
“We control visibility quite a bit. And we control the amplification of your content quite a bit. And normal people do not know how much we do,” said one anonymous engineer, which two other Twitter employees confirmed.
Bari Weiss further profiled efforts by Twitter executives to censor accounts like Libs of TikTok, which Breitbart News will cover more extensively as the investigation unfolds. Recently, former Twitter safety executive Yoel Roth, who quit after billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company, defended the platform’s fateful decision to censor the Christian satire site The Babylon Bee for calling transgender HHS assistant secretary Dr. Rachel Levine a “man.”
“We have seen from a number of Twitter accounts, including Libs of TikTok, notably, that there are orchestrated campaigns, that particularly single out a a group that is already particularly vulnerable within society,” Roth told New York magazine editor Kara Swisher at the Informed conference last week. “So, not only is not funny, but it is dangerous and it does contribute to an environment that makes people unsafe in the world.”
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Van Halen – Jump [Best version ever!]
What can America learn from Xi Jinping anti-corruption campaigns?
America’s biggest problem isn’t “corruption”, China’s is. So, China solves it. (Or, at least try to)
America’s biggest problem is almost no one knows where the real problem is, and 99% of the people is either not intelligent enough, or don’t have the motivation to point it out.
And the worst part is, it’s a democracy.
On one hand, you got politicians hiring extremely smart people studying what kind of words voters like to hear, analysing opinion trendings like a business model.
(Imagine this kind of effort devoted to actually solving the problems)
On the other hands, your average joes know absolutely zero about anything complicated beyond their 20 feet yard. When you talk to these folks, they repeat the narrative their subscribed media feed tells them. Over and over again. It’s tedious and boring, but these people think they are so original and cool to be like this.
Urgh…
If you are a voter, and you are actually not smart enough, you are susceptible to the rich and powerful people’s manipulation. It literally seeps through every corner of your life.
And if you are smart enough, you’d realize these political problems are complicated beyond comprehension, and it won’t have mattered either way you vote, you’d not show up at the booth at all (which, to my comfort, a large portion of Americans do choose not to vote).
Americans are intentionally divided by the politicians and big money. Two groups are too caught up in their heated debate and bickering, they don’t even need censorship to keep the country intact — flooding the media with random information every which way is just as effective as a censorship… or perhaps even more effective.
Back in the days when America’s education system wasn’t about who throw balls far, American capitalists did not monopolize everything, politicians still cared about the people, and media still had a sliver of integrity left, and its international competitions are either caught up cleaning a bunch of communist rebels and failing, trying to collect dead relatives from a nuclear aftermath, scavengeing for factory parts after Ally bombing, or trying to fend off soviet invasion in the vast desolate mountain ranges, yes, democracy in America worked well.
It worked so well, that Americans started to genuinely believe it was the other way around: Democracy gave all of those good things to them.
Now? It’s a sad entertainment business. At best. A comedy that fails to make me laugh.
Let’s not forget the challenges, missions, and the level of development for the two countries are entirely different.
If China does something and it is effective (somewhat), it doesn’t mean America learns and does it, it would be effective as well.
So no, there is nothing to learn from the Chinese government cleaning up corruption for the American government.
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China set to shake up energy market. Mongolia gas pipelines
The fire spread across an area of around 7,000 square meters (75,000 square feet) at the Mega shopping mall in the town of Khimki on the outskirts of Moscow and just seven kilometers (four miles) from the capital’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Comments?
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Sammy Hagar & the Circle “Why Can’t This Be Love” on the Howard Stern Show
Tan Youhui and the Dirty Half-Dozen
Outsourcing is common nowadays. Unfortunately, this often means you don’t get what you pay for. Chinese real estate investor Tan Youhui learned this the hard way back in 2013. The mogul paid hitman Xi Guangan approximately $282,600 to kill a plaintiff in a lawsuit against him named Wei. But instead of completing the job, Xi Guangan outsourced it to another hitman.
The second killer then outsourced it to a third, who outsourced it to a fourth. The fourth killer then hired Ling Xiansi to commit the murder. Instead of killing Wei, Ling Xiansi contacted him for a meeting. The two conspired to fake Wei’s death. They used false photographic evidence to fool Tan Youhui into thinking Wei was dead. Wei then called the police, who launched a full investigation. According to Chinese court records, all six men involved were found guilty and sentenced to prison.
Full text of Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at China-GCC Summit
Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2022-12-10 03:08:30
RIYADH, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech here Friday at the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit.
The following is the full text of the speech:
Building on Past Achievements and Jointly Creating a Brighter Future of China-GCC Relations
Riyadh, Dec. 9, 2022
Distinguished Colleagues,
Secretary General Dr. Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf,
Good afternoon!
At the outset, I wish to express heartfelt appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit. It gives me great pleasure to join you in planning for the future of China-GCC relations.
The friendly exchange between China and GCC countries goes back nearly two millennia in history. Throughout those years, the two peoples interacted with each other continuously along the ancient Silk Road inspired by the “Eastern wisdom” of peace, harmony and truth. In 1981, China established contact with the GCC upon its inception. Forty plus years on, the two sides have written together a splendid chapter of solidarity, mutual assistance and win-win cooperation.
The leapfrog growth of China-GCC relations is attributed to the profound mutual trust. China and GCC countries have all along supported each other’s sovereignty and independence, respected each other’s development paths, upheld equality between countries regardless of their size, and stood firm in defending multilateralism.
The leapfrog growth is attributed to the high degree of complementarity. China has a vast consumer market and a complete industrial system, while the GCC, with rich energy and resources, is embracing diversified economic development. This makes the two sides natural partners of cooperation.
The leapfrog growth is attributed to the empathy of the two peoples. Both belonging to the family of Eastern civilizations, China and GCC countries have similar culture and values. And the peoples enjoy close bonds of friendship.
The leapfrog growth is also attributed to the solidarity between the two sides in times of adversity. Against regional and international uncertainties as well as challenges such as the financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and major natural disasters, the two sides have come to each other’s aid and navigated through the difficulties together.
Colleagues,
In response to the profound changes unseen in a century, GCC countries have strengthened themselves through unity, achieved economic growth despite COVID-19, and worked vigorously for political settlement of regional hotspots and thorny issues. They have made the GCC the most dynamic regional organization in the Middle East and the Gulf. China highly commends you for all this. Standing at a historical crossroads, we should carry forward the tradition of China-GCC friendship, and take the establishment of the China-GCC strategic partnership as an opportunity to enrich the strategic substance of this relationship.
– We should be partners for greater solidarity. We need to further consolidate political mutual trust and firmly support each other’s core interests. We need to jointly uphold the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, practice true multilateralism, and defend the common interests of all developing countries.
– We should be partners for common development. We need to better synergize development strategies and leverage our respective strengths to cultivate driving forces for development. China looks forward to working with all parties to advance and implement the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and follow through on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a view to promoting regional development and prosperity.
– We should be partners for common security. China will continue to firmly support GCC countries in safeguarding their security, and support the efforts by regional countries to resolve differences through dialogue and consultation and to build a Gulf collective security architecture. China welcomes the participation of GCC countries in the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in a joint effort to uphold regional peace and stability.
– We should be partners for cultural prosperity. We need to enhance interactions between our peoples, increase cultural exchanges, draw on each other’s fine cultural achievements, and promote the rich values of Eastern civilizations, so as to contribute our share to the development and progress of human civilizations.
Colleagues,
In the next three to five years, China is ready to work with GCC countries in the following priority areas:
First, setting up a new paradigm of all-dimensional energy cooperation. China will continue to import large quantities of crude oil on a long-term basis from GCC countries, and purchase more LNG. We will strengthen our cooperation in the upstream sector, engineering services, as well as storage, transportation and refinery of oil and gas. The Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange platform will be fully utilized for RMB settlement in oil and gas trade. The two sides will work more closely on clean and low-carbon technologies involving hydrogen, energy storage, wind and photovoltaic power and smart power grids, as well as localized production of new energy equipment. We will jointly establish a China-GCC forum on peaceful use of nuclear technology and a China-GCC nuclear security demonstration center. China will provide 300 training opportunities to GCC countries on peaceful use of nuclear energy and technology.
Second, making new progress in finance and investment cooperation. China and GCC countries could collaborate on financial regulation and facilitate the entry into China’s capital market for GCC companies. China will work with the GCC to set up a joint investment commission and support cooperation between sovereign wealth funds from both sides in various forms. The two sides could explore setting up a China-GCC forum on industrial and investment cooperation, strengthen investment cooperation on digital economy and green development, and build a working mechanism on investment and economic cooperation. The two sides could start currency swap cooperation, deepen digital currency cooperation and advance the m-CBDC Bridge project.
Third, expanding new areas of cooperation on innovation, science and technology. China is ready to build big data and cloud computing centers with GCC countries, strengthen 5G and 6G technology cooperation, build together innovation and entrepreneurship incubators, and implement ten digital economy projects in such areas as cross-border e-commerce and communications network. A China-GCC cooperation mechanism in meteorological science and technology will be set up, and the two sides could convene a seminar on climate response.
Fourth, seeking new breakthroughs in aerospace cooperation. China will carry out a string of cooperation projects with GCC countries in remote sensing and communications satellite, space utilization, and aerospace infrastructure. The two sides could select and train astronauts together, and China welcomes GCC astronauts to its space station for joint missions and space science experiments with their Chinese colleagues. China welcomes GCC countries’ participation in payloads cooperation in its aerospace missions including Chang’e and Tianwen, and will consider establishing a China-GCC joint center for lunar and deep space exploration.
Fifth, nurturing new highlights in language and cultural cooperation. China will cooperate with 300 universities, middle and primary schools in GCC countries on Chinese language education, work with GCC countries to set up 300 Chinese language smart classrooms, provide 3,000 “Chinese Bridge” summer/winter camp opportunities, and set up Chinese language learning and testing centers and online Chinese classes. The two sides could hold a China-GCC language and culture forum, and compile a bilingual library for people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual learning.
Colleagues,
China and GCC countries share the glorious mission of developing and revitalizing our nations. Our relations are both time-honored and young. Let us build on our achievements and work together to deliver an even brighter future of China-GCC relations.
Thank you. ■
What are your thoughts on Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption push? Over 100,000 Chinese officials have been indicted under it.
I don’t know for sure if corruption has been totally eradicated by I can share my personal experience as follows:
– 20 years ago when I was running a business in China, corruption was rather rampant. A high level official with a power company (i.e. lots of $ to purchase goods) that was my customer flaunted his wealth and status, admitting he had several mistresses. We as a supplier had to kiss his ass and give him a cut (through a 3rd party as we were not allowed to touch it directly) of the sales deal. A few months later I heard he got arrested. Obviously whoever he was leaning on one level up for support also got caught himself.
A few years back when I went to ShiJiaZhuang for a business visit with my Canadian friend, we were treated to lunch after the morning meeting. The receiving party was very apologetic and said with Xi’s new directive they are not allowed to be lavish even when entertaining foreign visitors. Very different from the days when I was working there. We were taken to a modest restaurant for lunch but the food was good though inexpensive, and I had no complaint at all.
If you look at the way infrastructure is built in China, the speed and the quality, you have to draw the conclusion that low-level, wide-spread corruption simply cannot be there. For if it was, progress would have been at a snail’s pace. So I do believe this problem is at least contained, if not totally solved, by Xi’s measure.
Xi Jinping’s Visit to Saudi Arabia and the overthrow of Atlanticism
As Atlanticists continue their commitment to a future shaped by energy scarcity, food scarcity, and war with their nuclear-capable neighbors, most states in the Persian Gulf that have long been trusted allies of the west have quickly come to realize that their interests are best assured by cooperating with Eurasian states like China and Russia who don’t think in those zero-sum terms.
With Chinese President Xi Jinping’s long-awaited three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, a powerful shift by the Persian Gulf’s most strategic Arab state toward the multipolar alliance is being consolidated. Depending on which side of the ideological fence you sit on, this consolidation is being viewed closely with great hope or rage.
Xi’s visit stands in stark contrast to US President Joe Biden’s underwhelming ‘fist bump’ meeting this summer, which saw the self-professed leader of the free world falling asleep at a conference table and demanding more Saudi oil production while offering nothing durable in return.
In contrast, Xi’s arrival was greeted by a multi-cannon salute and Saudi jets painting the red and yellow colors of China’s flag in the skies over Riyadh. Beijing’s delegation of political and business elites, in the following days, will continue to meet with Saudi counterparts to strike long-term strategic deals in cultural, economic and scientific domains.
The visit will culminate in the first ever China-Arab Summit on Friday, 9 December, where Xi will meet with 30 heads of state. The Chinese foreign ministry described this as “an epoch-making milestone in the history of the development of China-Arab relations.”
While $30 billion in deals will be signed between Beijing and Riyadh, something much bigger is at play which too few have come to properly appreciate.
Riyadh’s steps toward the BRI since 2016
Xi Jinping last visited the kingdom in 2016, to advance Riyadh’s participation in China’s newly unveiled Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A January 2016 policy report by the Chinese government to all Arab states reads:
“In the process of jointly pursuing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, China is willing to coordinate development strategies with Arab states, put into play each other’s advantages and potentials, promote international production capacity cooperation and enhance cooperation in the fields of infrastructure construction, trade and investment facilitation, nuclear power, space satellite, new energy, agriculture and finance, so as to achieve common progress and development and benefit our two peoples.”
It was only three months later that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) inaugurated Saudi Vision 2030 which firmly outlined a new foreign policy agenda much more compatible with China’s “peaceful development” spirit.
After decades serving as an Atlanticist client state with no viable manufacturing prospects or autonomy beyond its role in supporting western-managed terror operations, Saudi Vision 2030 demonstrated the first signs of creative thinking in years, with an outlook toward a post-oil age.
On the energy front, China Energy Corp is building a sprawling 2.6 GW solar power station in Saudi Arabia, and Chinese nuclear developers are helping Riyadh develop its vast uranium resources while also mastering all branches of the nuclear fuel cycle.
In 2016, both nations signed an MoU to build fourth generation gas-cooled nuclear reactors. This follows the UAE’s recent leap into the 21st century with 2.7 GW of energy now constructed.
By early 2017, Riyadh had firmly bought its ticket on the New Silk Road with a $65 billion agreement integrating the Saudi Vision 2030 and BRI with a focus on petrochemical integration, engineering, refining, procurement, construction, carbon capture, and upstream/downstream development.
In the new post-American epoch, signs of this spirit of cooperation and bridge building have increasingly come to be felt, even while its effects have been forcibly restrained – as millions of Yemenis suffering under seven years of war can testify.
Unlike the Atlanticist fixation on Green New Deals which threaten to annihilate industry and farming, Riyadh’s post-oil outlook is much more synergistic with China’s idea of “sustained growth” that demands nuclear power, continued hydrocarbons, and robust agro-industrial development.
China’s trade with Saudi Arabia rose to $87.3 billion in 2021, which saw a 39 percent increase over 2020, while US-Saudi trade has collapsed from $76 billion in 2012 to only $29 billion in 2021.
Some of this Beijing-Riyadh trade may now be conducted in the Chinese Yuan, which will only undermine the US-Saudi relationship further.
In the first 10 months of 2022, China’s imports from Saudi Arabia were $57 billion and exports to the kingdom rose to $30.3 billion. China is additionally building 5G systems and cultivating a vast technology hub with a focus on selling electronic goods, all while helping Saudi Arabia build up an indigenous manufacturing sector.
A trend of Harmonization
Despite the continued chaos in Yemen, and economic devastation in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, Beijing’s subtle trend has nonetheless been one of healing with Saudi Arabia – and regional power Turkiye.
Saudi Arabia and Turkiye have often acted as rivals, and front two distinct foreign agendas with broad regional ambitions that overlap on many fronts. But despite this competitive past, higher necessities have induced both nations to harmonize their foreign policy outlooks with a new “look east” focus.
This was expressed during the Saudi crown prince’s visit to Ankara in June 2022 where the two heads of state called for “a new era of cooperation” with a focus on political, economic, military and cultural cooperation outlined in a joint communique.
Only days after MbS’s return from Turkiye, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited Jeddah to promote regional stability stating in a press release “they changed points of view on a number of issues that would contribute to supporting and strengthening regional security and stability.”
Iraq and Saudi Arabia had only re-established diplomatic ties in November 2020 due to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait 30 years earlier.
Between 2021-2022, Iraq had worked hard to host bilateral talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran with five rounds of talks held and Kadhimi stating his belief that “reconciliation is near.” Tehran-Riyadh diplomatic ties were cut in the aftermath of the 2016 execution of outspoken Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, prompting the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran by angry protestors.
In March 2022, MbS stated that Iran and Saudi Arabia “were neighbors forever” and stated that it is “better for both of us to working it out and to look for ways in which we can co-exist.”
By August 23, 2022, the UAE and Kuwait created a new milestone by restarting diplomatic relations with Iran. And although nearly every Persian Gulf state (plus Turkiye) had devoted years to supporting regime change in Syria, a new reality has imposed itself with all Arab parties veering toward the Chinese BRI model of regional integration and economic development.
The Key Role of Iran
Not only is Iran a key player in the Greater Eurasian Partnership serving as a strategic hub for the southern route of China’s BRI, but it is also a keystone of the Russia-Iran-India-led International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) which has become a major force synergizing with the BRI.
Iraq and Iran themselves are in the final stages of building the long-awaited Shalamcheh-Basra railway which will unite the two nations by rail for the first time in decades while also offering a potential extension to the already existent 1500 km railway through Iraq to Syria’s border.
The climate for cooperation was undoubtedly made possible by the presence of Chinese economic diplomacy which established a 25 year, $400 billion energy and security deal with Iran – but also Russia, whose similar but smaller $25 billion, twenty-year deal with Tehran may easily expand to $40 billion in Russian investments in Iran’s vast oil and natural gas fields in the coming years.
Saudi Arabia and Russia’s relationship with OPEC+ demonstrated its potency this summer when Riyadh won the ire of Washington by not only denying Biden’s requests for increased oil production, but cutting overall oil production and driving up global prices of oil. Saudi Arabia benefited by vastly increased imports of discounted Russian oil which were then sold to a desperate Europe.
Furthermore, Saudi plans to join the global hub of multipolarity itself, BRICS+ (alongside Turkiye, Egypt, and Algeria), in addition to recently becoming a full-fledged Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) dialogue partner, have placed its destiny ever deeper into the growing Multipolar Alliance.
With the increased potential for stability and harmonization of interests across various power blocs, an atmosphere more conducive to long-term economic investments is finally presenting itself to Chinese investors who had long looked upon conflict-ridden West Asia with justifiable trepidation.
In August 2022, the Saudi state oil company Aramco and China’s Petroleum and Chemical Corporation Ltd signed an MOU expanding on the aforementioned $65 billion cooperation deal of 2017, which involves the construction of Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Company (FREP) and Sinopec Senmei Petroleum Company (SSPC) in Fujian, China, and Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) in Saudi Arabia.
Rail and interconnectivity
Perhaps most exciting are prospects for interconnectivity that play directly into the development corridors tied to the BRI. In Saudi Arabia, this train has moved steadily apace with the 450 km high speed Haramain Railway built by China Railway Construction Company connecting Mecca to Medina completed in 2018.
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Photo Credit: The Cradle
Discussions are well underway to extend this line to the 2400 km North South Railway from Riyadh to Al Haditha completed in 2015. Meanwhile, 460 km of rail connecting all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members is currently under construction, which is driving reforms in engineering, trade schools, and manufacturing hubs across the Arabian Peninsula.
In 2021, all GCC states gave their full support to a $200 billion Persian Gulf-Red Sea high speed railway dubbed “The Saudi Landbridge,” which also dovetails another $500 billion megaproject with vast Chinese investments, dubbed the futuristic NEOM mega-city on the Red Sea.
The Eurasianists stand to gain
It can only be hoped that this new chemistry of harmonization and win-win cooperation may soon provide a key to ending the fires of conflict in Yemen and other regional states.
Further, with Russia and China both helping to broker diplomatic backchannels, and with Iran playing an active role within this process, perhaps negotiations for reconstruction can begin in this war-torn zone of conflict.
It is not an extreme stretch of the imagination to see the new Persian Gulf-Red Sea rail project extending north into Egypt and south into Yemen.
Looking at a map of the region, one can imagine the reactivation of the “Bridge of the Horn of Africa” first unveiled in 2009, that would have extended rail across the 25 km Bab el Mandeb strait connecting pipelines and rail lines into Djibouti and East Africa, more broadly.
While a western-manipulated Arab Spring derailed that concept in 2011, and the Saudi war against Yemen drove it further under ground since 2015, perhaps this new spirit of inter-civilizational cooperation under a new economic architecture liberated from the Atlanticist-dominated dollar system may provide just what it takes to revive the idea once again.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel Admits: Minsk Agreements were only to “Buy Time” for Future Ukraine-Russia War
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday admitted that her participation in the Minsk Agreements between Ukraine and Russia in 2014 and 2015, was a deliberate deception; designed only to “buy time” for Ukraine to build its army for war with Russia. A war that is now presently taking place.
All this was PLANNED . . .
It is widely known that so-called “Conspiracy Theorists” believe almost all of the things going on politically in the world are “theater.” They claim that the upheaval, dislocation, troubles are “all planned” long in advance. Most folks discount such claims as being too fantastic to believe, yet now we have actual proof that the present Ukraine-Russia war, was, in fact, planned as far back as 2014. All the troubles we have today from that war . . . were, in fact, planned.
In public remarks this week, Angela Merkel quite casually revealed that the Minsk Agreements of 2014 and 2015 were not signed with the intention of achieving lasting peace. Instead, they were signed, according to Merkel, “to buy time” for Ukraine during which it would strengthen for new conflicts with Russia.
She also admitted that at the time “NATO was not able to provide military support to the Kiev regime to the extent to which it does so today.”
Merkel went on to point out that “Ukraine used that time to get stronger” and event went so far as to say “the Ukraine from 2014-2015 is not the Ukraine we see today” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin “would have easily run over” Ukraine back then.
Bear in mind that the Minsk Agreements were hammered-out during what were described as “marathon negotiations” in one case, lasting a non-stop nineteen hours, between then-Ukraine-President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Merkel, French President Francois Holland, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It was only this past June, 2022, when the world found out that Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko publicly admitted he deliberately LIED at the Minsk agreements, participating in them even though he already knew he had no intentional at all of implementing them.
In an interview with German Television Deutche Welle, Poroshenko said the Minsk agreements “meant nothing” and claimed credit for giving Kiev enough time to militarize
Petro Poroshenko admitted that the 2015 ceasefire in Donbass, which he negotiated with Russia, France and Germany as president of Ukraine, was merely a distraction intended to buy time for Kiev to rebuild its military.
He made the comments in interviews with several news outlets back in June of this year, including to Germany’s Deutsche Welle television and to the Ukrainian branch of the US state-run Radio Free Europe. Poroshenko also defended his record as president between 2014 and 2019.
“We had achieved everything we wanted,” he said of the peace deal. “Our goal was to, first, stop the threat, or at least to delay the war – to secure eight years to restore economic growth and create powerful armed forces.”
He cited Sun Tzu’s stratagems as an inspiration for the deception. Winning a war does not necessarily require winning military engagements, Poroshenko said, calling the deal he made a win for Ukraine in that regard.
In the interviews, Poroshenko spoke about his role in negotiating the Minsk agreements, a roadmap for reconciliation between his government and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The former president apparently confirmed that Kiev hadn’t come to the talks in good faith, but simply wanted a reprieve after suffering a military defeat.
Now, with the comments made by former German Chancellor Angela Merekel, the world finds out that she, too, was “in on it.” She KNEW the entire Minsk Agreement meetings were nothing more than a farce, yet she sat through those meetings, face-to-face with the President of Russia, and deliberately, willfully, LIED right to his face.
What kind of people must Merkel and Poroshenko be, that, as heads of state, (or even just as plain, ordinary people) they could willfully sit at a serious negotiation for peace, when in reality, they were simply planning for a much worse war, years later? Does that make Merkel and Poroshenko Sociopaths? Psychopaths?
Based on web definitions of sociopath and psychopath, both people may very well qualify for those diagnosis.
FROM WEB MD:
You may have heard people call someone else a “psychopath” or a “sociopath.” But what do those words really mean?
You won’t find the definitions in mental health’s official handbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Doctors don’t officially diagnose people as psychopaths or sociopaths. They use a different term instead: antisocial personality disorder.
Most experts believe psychopaths and sociopaths share a similar set of traits. People like this have a poor inner sense of right and wrong. They also can’t seem to understand or share another person’s feelings. But there are some differences, too.
Do They Have a Conscience?
A key difference between a psychopath and a sociopath is whether he has a conscience, the little voice inside that lets us know when we’re doing something wrong, says L. Michael Tompkins, EdD. He’s a psychologist at the Sacramento County Mental Health Treatment Center.
A psychopath doesn’t have a conscience. If he lies to you so he can steal your money, he won’t feel any moral qualms, though he may pretend to. He may observe others and then act the way they do so he’s not “found out,” Tompkins says.
A sociopath typically has a conscience, but it’s weak. They may know that taking your money is wrong, and they might feel some guilt or remorse, but that won’t stop their behavior.
Both lack empathy, the ability to stand in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel. But a psychopath has less regard for others, says Aaron Kipnis, PhD, author of The Midas Complex. Someone with this personality type sees others as objects he can use for his own benefit.
They’re Not Always Violent
In movies and TV shows, psychopaths and sociopaths are usually the villains who kill or torture innocent people. In real life, some people with antisocial personality disorder can be violent, but most are not. Instead they use manipulation and reckless behavior to get what they want.
“At worst, they’re cold, calculating killers,” Kipnis says. Others, he says, are skilled at climbing their way up the corporate ladder, even if they have to hurt someone to get there.
If you recognize some of these traits in a family member or coworker, you may be tempted to think you’re living or working with a psychopath or sociopath. But just because a person is mean or selfish, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have a disorder.
‘Cold-Hearted Psychopath, Hot-Headed Sociopath’
It’s not easy to spot a psychopath. They can be intelligent, charming, and good at mimicking emotions. They may pretend to be interested in you, but in reality, they probably don’t care.
“They’re skilled actors whose sole mission is to manipulate people for personal gain,” Tompkins says.
Sociopaths are less able to play along. They make it plain that they’re not interested in anyone but themselves. They often blame others and have excuses for their behavior.
Some experts see sociopaths as “hot-headed.” They act without thinking how others will be affected.
Psychopaths are more “cold-hearted” and calculating. They carefully plot their moves, and use aggression in a planned-out way to get what they want. If they’re after more money or status in the office, for example, they’ll make a plan to take out any barriers that stand in the way, even if it’s another person’s job or reputation.
Brain Differences
Recent research suggests a psychopath’s brain is not like other people’s. It may have physical differences that make it hard for the person to identify with someone else’s distress.
The differences can even change basic body functions. For example, when most people see blood or violence in a movie, their hearts beat faster, their breathing quickens, and their palms get sweaty.
A psychopath has the opposite reaction. He gets calmer. Kipnis says that quality helps psychopaths be fearless and engage in risky behavior.
“They don’t fear the consequences of their actions,” he says.
Draw your own conclusion if Merkel and Poroshenko meet the definitions of sociopath or psychopath cited above.
Which brings us all back to the “Conspiracy Theorists” who warn us that all the things going on in the world are carefully planned and scripted “theater.” Clearly, since we now know that the Minsk Agreements were a farce, entered into willingly by Poroshenko and Merkel, that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine __was__ actually planned, as far back as 2014!
The other participant in the Minsk Agreements, Francois Holland of France, has not said if he, too, was aware that the effort was a farce, but since both France and Germany are NATO members and allies, it seems logical to believe President Holland of France would have known too.
Which leaves President Vladimir Putin, of the Russian Federation. We now find out he was deliberately deceived by both Ukraine and Germany during both the Minsk one and Minsk two meetings.
What is he to do?
Clearly, Ukraine cannot ever be believed again; it’s very top leader willfully lied – twice – for the express purpose of building an army to fight a war with Russia.
Clearly Germany cannot ever be believed again; it’s leader participated in the willful deception.
France . . . it’s likely they were “in on it” but we just don’t know right now.
Oh, and the most important party regarding the Minsk Agreements -a party who was NOT ACTUALLY PARTICIPATING — the United States . . . under then President Barak Obama, HAD TO KNOW the meetings were a deception. It seems impossible that the largest, most important member of NATO, the USA, did not know.
So how can Russia believe __anything__ the United States says, when it, too, seems to have been part of the deliberate deception?
The major “takeaway” from all this is the simple reality that the present Ukraine-Russia war __was__ planned . . . as far back as the year 2014. Ukraine INTENDED to have a war. YEt now that they have gotten what they planned, WE in the US and NATO, are expected to cough up tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons, to “help” them.
“Poor Ukraine” we hear. “They’ve been invaded by Russia” we hear. Yet it turns out, they PLANNED this confrontation as far back as 2014.
I say, since Ukraine planned it, let Ukraine fight it. Since Ukraine planned it, let Ukraine PAY FOR IT.
All US Military aid and cash to Ukraine should stop immediately. They built this treehouse, let them sit in it.
Of course, I might be missing one important aspect. What if it was the US and NATO that actually planned this? Maybe THAT is why the US and NATO are so heavily invested in it?
If that’s true, then I’d like to find out the names of the people in the US and NATO who came up with this plan. I’d like to send them the $195 bill I just got to fill-up my diesel pick-up truck that took 32 gallons and cost me $195 for ONE tank full. I’d like to send them the $400+ food bill from the supermarket every couple weeks to feed my family. I’d like to send them my now $400-$500 electric bill for my small, 1200 square foot condo.
I am suffering all these increased costs because of a war THEY planned. Let THEM pay for it.
The more serious part of this deception, is that since they clearly PLANNED the Ukraine-Russia War, then they clearly knew all these economic hardships would come with that war – and they did it anyway.
The absolute worst part of this is that their deception, may actually result in a nuclear war. They must have considered this as well, since they planned it so many years ago.
If the ongoing troubles result in a nuclear exchange, I want to know the names of the people here in America who planned this all the way back in 2014 and 2015, so they can be held personally accountable, on the spot. Their “Qualified Immunity,” only works in court. It doesn’t work out in the real world, out in the streets.
No, their “Immunity” doesn’t work at all out here.
.
Unrelenting propaganda: we hear speculation of Putin is dying as well….now flee to America backyard waiting for US to arrest him?
The West is truly BAT-SHIT crazy! -MM
Vladimir Putin’s former aide suggests he will flee to South America if he loses Russia’s war with Ukraine
Dubbed Operation Noah’s ark, a former aide of Vladimir Putin has shared the plan the President could take in the advent that he begins to lose the war.
Evan Dando – Drug Buddy live 01/30/10 New York, NY Lemonheads
Been there. (nod)
The Fishmobile
Can fish avoid obstacles on land? Okay, fish and land don’t gel. But this didn’t stop researchers in Israel from building a car for goldfish. Kind of like an aquarium on wheels. The goal was to understand how fish learn to navigate and if their brains could handle a trip on land.
Six goldfish were trained to pilot the fish-operated vehicle or FOV. At first, the fish swam erratically but then seemed to grasp the situation and their movements became more deliberate and relaxed. Indeed, the goldfish quickly learned how to make the FOV drive forward, but it was harder to teach them to think outside the tank, so to speak.
But with simple obstacle training and a lot of treats, the fish stopped driving aimlessly around the room and headed straight for targets. Once they reached a target, they were rewarded with a snack. When obstacles were placed in their path, the fish learned to drive around them to get to the target—and something yummy. This proved that fish can be remarkably resourceful in challenging environments in order to find food.
Cat funny and strange…
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Don Henley – The Boys Of Summer (Official Music Video)
This song is quintessential 80’s, absolutely one of the coolest and best songs by Don and of the 80’s. Takes me back to growing up in the 80’s. What an awesome time.
Brazil in Chaos Over Stolen Election; Emergency Broadcast System Activated, Military Says MARTIAL LAW Coming
Color Revolution in process to break Brazil off from the BRICS+ alignment with the Global South. You can be assured that the United States is involved somehow. -MM
The country of Brazil is in chaos this morning after weeks of citizen protest of the “stolen” Presidential Elections. The Emergency Boradcast System is Activated. Citizens are being told to stock up on food and water for 21-30 days. MARTIAL LAW will be implemented and troops given SHOOT TO KILL Orders for anyone found out on the streets.
This is a fast developing situation, check back.
Cat funny and strange…
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Ukraine SitRep – Catastrophic Losses, Failing Wonder Weapons, NATO Escalation
The Russian military is still integrating most of the mobilized 300,000+ men and volunteers. According to Putin 25% of the mobilized forces are in combat units, 25% in rear positions, while 50% train in Russia. It does not look like an imminent all out attack on the Ukrainian front lines is in the cards. The expected large winter attack may not be coming at all. Instead the new forces will rotate through the frontline and only attack locally whenever they see an opportunity.
The Russian do not need to attack. Their task is to demilitarize Ukraine. As long as the Ukrainians come to the front lines and attack the Russians their is no need to launch a large attack on them.
The map from a months ago versus today shows only a few small changes of the front lines.
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Every day all of the frontline sections are full of artillery/bombing symbols. That is mostly Russian artillery mowing the grass and killing Ukrainian soldiers.
Over the last month it was mostly the Ukrainians who attacked all along the front only to run into walls of steel and explosions. They did not manage to break the Russian lines. They tried again and again but failed with high losses.
Russian offenses were mostly confined to the Bakhmut/Artemovsk front where the Wagner private military contractor group has captured multiple Ukrainian trench lines and villages. This usually comes only after the artillery has cleaned the area and the few surviving Ukrainians moved out. The map from a months ago versus today shows small but important differences in that front line.
There must be a Ukrainian high order to hold onto Bakhmut at any price. The Ukrainian army has again and again moved reserve brigades into the area. Its hold operation is extremely costly:
Tony @Cyberspec1 – 5:46 UTC · Dec 10, 2022Polish newspaper NDP (Independent Political Journal) believes that without the support of NATO, the fighting in 🇺🇦 would end within a week.
NDP: daily losses of the AFU near Bakhmut reach a battalion (500-800 soldiers), hospitals in the city of Konstantinovka are overcrowded,
The above is not the only source which made that claim.
Big Serge @witte_sergei – 18:32 UTC · Dec 8, 2022LPR officials claim that Ukraine is transferring up to 500 men *per day* to Bakhmut to replenish losses. Even Arestovych admitted that Russian artillery strength in the sector has a 9 to 1 advantage. Bakhmut is becoming the largest and most costly battle of the war for Ukraine.
Newsweek spoke with a ‘former’ U.S. Colonel who, together with ‘volunteers’, trains Ukrainian soldiers. Here is what he says about Ukrainian losses:
“Bakhmut is like Dresden, and the countryside looks like Passchendaele,” he said, referring to the German city destroyed by allied bombing in World War II and the infamously muddy and bloody World War I battlefield. “It’s just a horrible and miserable place.”Ukraine closely guards its casualty figures, but its forces are believed to be suffering badly around Bakhmut.
“They’ve been taking extraordinarily high casualties,” Milburn said of the units training with Mozart. “The numbers you are reading in the media about 70 percent and above casualties being routine are not exaggerated.”
Despite their “tremendous morale,” Milburn said the defenders “have an acute ‘regeneration problem,’ which means getting new recruits into the line as quickly as possible.” This means those being thrown into the fight have little beyond basic training.
“Typically about 80 percent of our intake who are coming off of the line have never even fired a weapon before,” Milburn said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
A unit that has 50% casualties is usually no longer able to fight and must be replaced. But the Ukrainians leave their units on the frontline until nearly nobody is left in them.
So the number of 500 casualties per day on the Bakhmut front seems realistic. Over the last months the daily report of the Russian ministry of defense listed on average some 300 Ukrainian casualties per day. But the ministry does not report the casualties from Bakhmut as the operations of the private military contractor Wagner are not included in it. So the daily total over the last month, despite little movement of the front lines, must have been some 800 dead Ukrainians. In the 30 days between the two maps at the top at least 24,000 Ukrainian soldiers have left the battle field.
It is no wonder that such high numbers can not be replaced.
The mix of dead or wounded will likely be 1 to 1 as medical evacuation from the frontline trenches is extremely difficult. Most wounded will just die there.
It is not only the men that are lost. The equipment they used is mostly lost with them. 24,000 men are the equivalent of 6 to 7 NATO brigades. The German army has now only 8 of those. When I was it that army it had 36 brigades plus significant reserve units. The same large downgrade happened with the general state of NATO. It is not ready for a war with Russia.
The western wounder weapons have done little for Ukraine. The Russians have update their air defense systems to now detect and shoot down HIMARS missiles. They report some 10 to 20 of such kills per day. The shooting down of small and medium sized Ukrainian drones has dropped from 20-30 per day in the summer to 2-3 per day. Either the Ukrainians have run out of drones or the weather has made theirs unusable. Russian drones continue to fly and they help with artillery targeting. The western artillery systems can not be repaired in the field as the Ukrainians lack the training and tools to do that. The Wall Street Journalreports:
Less than 50% of the self-propelled Panzerhaubitze — a class of mobile, long-barreled battlefield guns officially known as PzH2000 howitzers that are widely considered to be among the best-performing weapons of their kind — are on the battlefield at any given time, because they must be taken to Lithuania for repairs, nearly 900 miles from the Kherson front in southern Ukraine, senior German officials said. Germany has so far delivered 14 such weapons, and the Netherlands another five.Other allies, such as the U.S. and Britain, service the arms they donated to Ukraine in Poland, near the Ukrainian border. But Warsaw has refused to allow Berlin to set up a servicing center in Poland, requesting instead that the German manufacturers provide confidential technical information in order for a Polish state-controlled company to do the work, according to German officials involved in the talks.
There was also a spat over Patriot air defense missiles. Germany offered to station these in east Poland but with German crews. Poland first accepted the offer, then rejected it and said the missiles should go to Ukraine. It then retracted again and will now accept the offer.
The international relation within Europe are getting worse. The German chancellor Olaf Scholz has declared that he wants Germany to be the leading power in Europe. Germany’s neighbors, and most of its own population, are not happy with that.
Over the last five months Latvia has hosted the Russian opposition TV station TVrain. It has now shot it down because TVrain, sending for a Russian audience, also had some positive things to say about Russia. TVrain had survived in Russia for 12 years. In Latvia it lasted only four and a half months.
Alec Luhn @ASLuhn – 19:24 UTC · Dec 9, 2022.@tvrain journalists have been blacklisted in Latvia & declared a foreign agent in Russia on the same day 🤔 link
What these anecdotes show is that NATO is slowly falling apart. NATO is losing the proxy war in Ukraine and it is losing it badly. The people know it and it will have consequences. An increasingly authoritarian EU will follow the same path.
But there are powers in NATO that want to prevent that downfall. They will try to get NATO directly into the fight:
NATO’s secretary general warned on Friday that Russia’s war in Ukraine could expand into a wider war with the Atlantic alliance.The official, Jens Stoltenberg, repeatedly cautioned in news media interviews this week against underestimating the situation in Ukraine and emphasized the wider threat President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia could pose to Europe.
“If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong,” Mr. Stoltenberg said in an interview released on Friday with the Norwegian journalist Anne Lindmo, in which he added that there was “no doubt” a full-blown war against NATO was a “real possibility.”
“I understand everyone who is tired of supporting Ukraine. I understand everyone who thinks that food prices and the electricity bills are far too high,” he said. “But we have to pay a much higher price if our freedom and peace are threatened through Putin winning in Ukraine.”
Reread that last sentence:
“But we have to pay a much higher price if our freedom and peace are threatened through Putin winning in Ukraine.”
Putin wining in Ukraine, which he is doing, will threaten our freedom and peace?
Russia has no interest in Europe beyond Ukraine’s borders. So how is that suppose to endanger us?
It is bullshit but it is designed to push for NATO entering the war when it becomes obvious to everyone that Russia is wining it.
NATO countries are increasingly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, with the United States intentionally proceeding with an escalation on this track, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Thursday.”NATO members are increasingly and directly involved in this conflict. Their support for Kiev is now much diversified than it was a few months ago. This is a reflection of Washington’s intentional policy, obediently pursued by the Europeans, of escalating the conflict. They are playing with fire. The risks are soaring,” Ryabkov said.
Mr. Stoltenberg’s comments came two days after he said that Russia was intentionally stalling the war in order to prepare a renewed onslaught against Ukrainian forces next year.
Let us assume that Russia waits until March for its all out attack on Ukraine. In the meantime it continues to grind the Ukrainian army down without itself having significant casualties. The Ukrainian army will by then have lost another 72,000 men. That is probably a third of its current strength. By then its acute ‘regeneration problem’ will have become even more acute. It means that it will then be much weaker.
What plans may Russia have for an all out spring attack?
Dr. Michael Vlahos and Col. Douglas Macgregor are military historians. They have watched the war in Ukraine and recently discussed it. They have come to their own conclusions. Neither believes in the nonsense of a winning Ukraine that the ‘western’ media are trying to sell us. They have ideas how Russia may want to attack.
Each of those videos is some 30-50 minutes long. But it is content on a higher level than what you will see in other talk shows. I highly recommend these.
Posted by b on December 10, 2022 at 17:24 UTC | Permalink
Norman Feller
Despite his name, Norman Feller is far from a “normal fella” (sorry, I had to).
Like many people at the time, Feller was extremely concerned about the coming of the new millennium and the potential Y2K disaster. Feller took it a few steps farther than others, though. He built an underground bunker before 2000 and stayed in the bunker. Not for just a few days, but for 14 years. He only emerged in September 2014.
I can only assume that fear and paranoia played a major part in his underground living for over a decade! Despite that, Feller was in good health and spirits.
“She’s Gone” – Yacht Rock Revue featuring John Oates
Cat funny and strange…
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Does The Thinker Hold His Hand against His Head or His Chin?
The bronze sculpture The Thinker stands in the Musee Rodin in Paris. The sculpture depicts a nude male figure sitting on a rock and leaning over with his right elbow on his left thigh. The weight of his chin rests on the back of his right hand, according to many tourists.
But several people who have visited the statue believe that the statue’s right fist is pressed against his forehead. The frontal view of the statue reveals that the knuckles of the right hand are actually pressed up against his mouth—and his hand is not in a fist.
Several books, both fiction and non-fiction, describe the statue as having his right fist to his forehead, though, confusing the issue even more.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said minutes ago today (Wednesday) that “the threat of a nuclear war is on the rise” over NATO’s interference in Ukraine.
The Russian President also said:
“Russia will defend its allies with all available means.”
“Russia does NOT have tactical nuclear weapons in other countries unlike the United States.”
Means; they have the BIG PLANET BUSTER NUKES. Not the smaller bombs based on precision nuclear strikes. - MM
“We didn’t speak about usage of nuclear weapons.”
“Russia has not gone mad.”
“We have most advanced weapons, but do not want to wave them around.”
“Russia considers such weapons as deterrent.”
…
Developing, check back . . .
Cat funny and strange…
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Jimmy Buffett performs MARGARITAVILLE with special guest JJ Watt
Tiny kitty couches
crocheted cat couches8
Pear and Gruyere Omelet
“Pears and creamy Swiss Gruyere fill this easy omelet.”
Russia is officially considering adding to their military Doctrine a “Preventive Nuclear First-Strike”
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Why do so many foreigners go to China and think China is good?
I’ve lived for substantial time in 3 Asian cities (Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen), and they all surprised me on the upside. In the case of China, here’s why I like it:
it’s modern, and continues to develop all the time. They have modern cities, excellent transport infrastructure (highways, airports, high-speed trains network which is unmatched in the world, excellent public transport and taxis), excellent hotels, malls, restaurants and cafes, beautiful parks, etc.
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There’s a feeling of safety and freedom in Chinese cities, which impress with their size. There’s no one to tell you what to do, and you can see from the behavior of the diverse crowd, people just do what they want. In most places you won’t see any police. In some others they are present in security posts. They just do their job, i.e. sit there silently and behave reasonably, adding to the security and order. Do you know that police in China doesn’t have firearms? They are just like a part of the crowd, only doing their job.
friendliness of Chinese people. You will always get help, no matter that you can’t speak a word in Chinese besides 你好, or they can’t speak English. They’ll spend their time and go out of their way to explain you how to get somewhere, or how to buy a train ticket, they’ll patiently and enthusiastically explain how to get what you need. They’ll be positive and practical all the time while helping you.
they are non-dogmatic. The people are simply pragmatic and hardworking, they want to live good lives, and feel responsible for their well-being. They are not brainwashed (something which is actually more typical to Western countries, and you can see it on Quora too). The main philosophy of China is just common sense and being a good person.
business is in the genes of Chinese. Small shops and restaurants are ubiquitous, which makes me think self employment and small business must be a major kind of employment. The government creates excellent business infrastructure. For example, the hi tech city area in Shenzhen is very impressive and has lots of spaces to support innovations and startups. China hosts some of world’s biggest trade shows and exhibitions. It’s easy to see trends in the world economy here.
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they are connected and communal. It’s easy to talk with people and make friends, especially if you are open and respectful.
technologically, China is of course advanced in many ways. For example, electric transport has been very developed here for years. You can find electric bikes, personal transportation vehicles (like kick scooters or mono wheels), electric taxis and cars, even electric buses (the photo below is a bus charging station).
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some things are convenient. The Chinese messenger app (WeChat) is very advanced and makes it easy to make payments and much more; it’s a technology marvel. For example, in some cafes you can scan QR code on your table, which brings up the menu on your phone; you can make an order and it will be sent to your table. You can pay with your mobile phone almost everywhere, you don’t need cash or credit card. It’s fine to leave your wallet at home if you have a phone with you.
still kept (and in some cases even exaggerated) some of its sweet traditions. Well, their language itself is ancient to begin with. In the very developed Chinese cities you’ll see many people still trying to live simple ways. Outdoor tai chi, dragon boat festivals, traditional medicine, etc., add charm to the urban culture.
it’s vast and intellectually stimulating. It’s very geographically diverse, has rich history, and Chinese are passionate about learning and self development, they’re smart and focused. I love book shops here and book cafes; Shenzhen’s central book store claims to be the largest in the world.
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To give a more balanced answer, I’ll mention a few negatives. They are not big, but are a part of life, too:
air pollution in some cities and regions. People are used to it. Most of the time it’s not terribly bad, and unfortunately air is more or less polluted in most (if not all) cities of the world. I take break from cities and travel once in a while to other countries or areas in China (such as Yunnan, Hainan) where the air is clean.
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internet problems. Although the networks are fast, but due to traffic monitoring some Western sites are blocked (Google, popular social networks, and some news sites).
you shouldn’t be lazy and start learning the language and culture. It is very worthy. Although you always get help and generally friendly attitude, you need to do your part and learn at least the basics of Mandarin. Unlike in HK, in the mainland little effort is made to translate anything into English (beyond road signs and metro announcements). It pays a lot to know at least common phrases and basics of characters writing (汉字). It is a lot of fun actually.
Overall, China is fast pace, generally efficient, straightforward, but you need to get used to it and learn ways of doing things. They may be not what you are used to coming from another country.
In ten years all of this is going to be a distant memory, but for now, we are all sitting on pins and needles while the big-time crazy plays out.
You all have no idea what’s “next” for China.
After lifting up most of China out of poverty, the next two decades will be towards making the resulting middle class, a solid and long-duration class, and that means that the Chinese standard of living will surpass the upper middle class currently defined by the wealthy in the United States.
It’s gonna be brutal.
Of course, the USA is still playing the same old “games”. And we have endure this period of uncertainty…
The United States is “asking for it”
In response to the change in US nuclear weapons doctrine signed by POTUS on “No Fist Use, in a speech yesterday, Russian President Putin stated that the Russian Federation will change its defense doctrine and now will consider using nuclear weapons, even if only attacked by conventional weapons.
E.g. if we “detect that you are preparing to attack us, we will strike first with strategic atomic weapons.”
Navajo Ute Blanket
Sometimes, it is the simplest-looking objects that have the most astounding stories—and prices to match. This Navajo Ute blanket is finely woven with bands of white, black, and blue. Many people would walk right by it. But these so-called “chief blankets” can raise high prices.
The owner of the blanket seen on Antiques Roadshow had inherited it from his grandmother. As a young child, it was simply put on his bed and occasionally thrown over him on chilly nights. The experts on the Roadshow immediately recognized it for what it was. As an amazing example of Navajo weaving, it was estimated to be worth at least $350,000. The owner was left in tears because his grandparents had merely been poor farmers.
Another example of a blanket like this, which had once been used by a cat to give birth on, sold for $1.5 million. The owner of that blanket had been struggling to get by on $200 a month. So maybe check your attic for one of these.
The USA is rushing to secure South America…
Two coups in two days.
1. The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, has been arrested and is being held in the police station located on Avenida España in the city of Lima. This is following a vote by the majority right-wing congress to oust him in a legislative coup. Vice President Dina Boluarte is sworn in as President of Peru.
2. Argentina’s corrupt, heavily politicized judicial system absurdly sentenced left-wing former President and current VP Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to 6 years in prison on ridiculous “corruption” charges
2 coups in Latin America in 2 days: Argentina’s Kirchner was banned from office on bogus charges by corrupt judges conspiring with right-wing media oligarchs Peru’s Castillo was overthrown by the right-wing-controlled congress Plan Condor 2.0 The capitalist class never sleeps
Apologists will make excuses for these coups. They always do
Sure, not every coup is as simple as a blatant Pinochet-style military coupBut these are a new kind of coups, using hybrid war, lawfare, 4th Generation WarfareDon't let disingenuous appeals to "nuance" distract you— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 8, 2022
Operation Condor is (was … and is now re-implemented by the looks of things) a criminal conspiracy to forcibly disappear people across international borders. Operation Condor coordinated repression among the countries of the Southern Cone. There were court hearings in Rome and in Buenos Aires. Eventually one of these ruled that Operation Condor was a criminal conspiracy and the Operation’s scope was proven in its full magnitude.
Only the methods by which to disappear people have changed. Now we create new leaders out of thin air and remove others via lawfare. Why now? you may ask. Simple, they could not get to Lula so they chose an area destabilization.
Let’s first take a look at the comments from other Latin American leaders. Leaders that resist a coup every day. Thanks to Ben Norton and Ollie Vargas for pulling this together so quickly.
Bolivia's leftist President Arce: "From the beginning the Peruvian right wing tried to overthrow a government that was democratically elected by the people, by the humble classes that sought more inclusion and social justice" "We send all our solidarity", and The constant harassment of anti-democratic elites against progressive, popular and legitimately constituted governments must be condemned by all. We advocate that democracy, peace and respect for Human Rights prevail for the benefit of the Peruvian people.Bolivia's ex President Evo stresses: "The political crisis" in Peru "was provoked by the endless conspiring of the Fujimori-supporting right and right-wing media outlets against an elected government whose 'unpardonable crime' was representing the poorest"Mexico's President AMLO says of Peru: It is "unfortunate that because of the interests of economic and political elites, since the beginning of the legitimate presidency of Pedro Castillo, there was an environment of confrontation & hostility against him"Honduras' ex President Manuel Zelaya (who was himself overthrown in a US-backed right-wing military coup in 2009) says: "We energetically condemn the coup d'etat in Peru violating the sovereign will of the people, represented by President Pedro Castillo"Lucho Arce, Bolivia: The constant harassment of anti-democratic elites against progressive, popular and legitimately constituted governments must be condemned by all. We advocate that democracy, peace and respect for Human Rights prevail for the benefit of the Peruvian people.Dilma Rousseff, previous leader of Brazil on Cristina Kirchner: The sentence, ultimately, is unfair and falls on Cristina Kirchner, who is one of the most important leaders in Latin America. Undoubtedly, it is a demand from the extreme right in Argentina, just as the condemnation of President Lula had a similar meaning in Brazil. She expressed solidarity with Kitchner as well as with all progressive leaders, militants and activists persecuted and unjustly condemned in recent history on our continent.Lula da Silva: "My solidarity with Argentina's VP Cristina Kirchner. I saw your statement that you are a victim of lawfare. Here in Brazil we know how much this practice can damage democracy. I support an impartial, independent justice system for all and for the people of Argentina."
It is fair to say that each of these people understands what has happened, understands how it happened, and knows with certainty that they are but a hair’s width away from similar action.
This is then the state of the fight in Latin America.
Peru is in chaos as the people actually voted for Pedro Castillo. As I said in my writing on Building Conflict , chaos is an acceptable outcome for the hegemon. If they cannot rule, chaos works for them while they attempt to snatch some victory out of chaos.
I posted some of the outlandish press on Brazil in the commentary. Take a look at the outcome of that press. It appears in Latin America, that we are now fighting the US Right and the crazy QAnon as well.
So much disinformation is spamming through US social media apps on Brazil that it's creating QAnon-like mass hysteria in Bolsonaro's most fanatical followers. I'm calling it #BRAnon. Here, a group of "patriots" reacts to a fake story on the arrest of a Supreme Court Justice. + pic.twitter.com/h1lZQLOT8Z— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) November 9, 2022
This is then the state of the fight in Latin America.
Every good leader is threatened with a coup on a daily basis and we fight the American right, convinced of their own manifest destiny, unable to do anything in their own country, and now they join the hegemon to destabilize Latin America. They have failed the political fight in their own countries, and now they want to carry it to the Latin American countries to continue the tenets of the Monroe Doctrine and to keep pillaging the Latin Americas.
The Latin American left brings change 'from below' through mass participation of majorities urban & rural. The pro-US right force change 'from above' through backroom deals among a select few in the capital city.— Ollie Vargas 🧉 (@OVargas52) December 7, 2022
This is then the state of the fight in Latin America.
The Peruvian right-wing majority congress, who have just ousted Pedro Castillo, have an 85% disapproval rating. One of the worst in the region.
The decision of the Peruvian Congress to dismiss Pedro Castillo has been rejected by leaders and governments in Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia and Chile.
Chile is a surprise. Of course, reactions are still pouring in and we will hear from Cuba, Caricom, and most everyone else in our ‘zone’.
Thing is, this is a little weird. Pedro Castillo was not highly regarded in the rest of the Latin American pink tide. He was known to be so centrist that he could not truly unite his cabinet. This is a lesson – internal stability must be there, otherwise the rot creeps in. And this is so much more relevant for Latin America. They have been harassed, couped, raped and plundered probably more than African countries. This is then why I say that they could not get to Lula da Silva, and decided that chaos in the region is called for.
Bolivia’s former President Evo warns of a “new assault by imperialism” against the Latin American left: “The right-wing enemies of the people don’t accept anti-imperialist governments”. “We must remain united and never surrender”.
Diego Rivera Painting
Diego Rivera was one of the most important Mexican painters of the 20th century. His large murals sparked a new style of artwork. His third wife, Frida Kahlo, may be better known today, but when an article was written about her in 1933, it was headlined “Wife of master mural painter gleefully dabbles in art.” Today their reputations may have reversed, but Rivera’s works are still highly sought after.
One of his early paintings was thought lost for decades. It was only when a man brought it into the Antiques Roadshow that it was recognized and brought back into public awareness. Called “El Albañil,” or “The Laborer,” it was estimated to be worth around $800,000 to $1 million. Not bad for a piece of art that was just hanging up behind a door in a family home.
Fauci just dropped a BOMBSHELL in his covid collusion testimony
It’s all smoke and mirrors for the public to give us the impression that they care. They don’t, never have and never will. The corruption is so entrenched, we have no real idea how deep and connected these scumbags are.
Fearless – Jet Li vs Nathan Jones Cool Fight Scene HD !!!
What an honorable fighter, accepts defeat, acknowledges the winner asking the audience to cheer even more for the winner! Love that!
Walt Whitman Letter
Walt Whitman was among the most influential poets that America has ever produced. His works were celebrated and vilified in his own time, but his stature has grown. Today, he is now recognized as part of the American literary canon.
What was brought into the Antiques Roadshow was not a rare copy of his literary works but something more personal. During the Civil War, Whitman helped wounded soldiers by taking dictation so that they could send letters back to their families. He apparently wrote many such letters, but few have survived, and even fewer where Whitman signed his name on them.
The letter was brought into the Roadshow not for its own merits but because it was part of a family’s store of Civil War-era items. However, when the experts saw it, they recognized how rare it was. The price put on it was $8,000-$12,000. After later speaking to a specialist on Whitman, the price was revised to maybe as much as $20,000.
For local communities, the opening of an Amazon warehouse causes a bunch of problems, including lower wages, fewer jobs, and more local businesses closing. But the issues local residents tend to be the loudest and most upset about, particularly in the short term, are increases in traffic, noise, and pollution that necessarily come with such facilities, especially for those who live closest to it.
Indeed, the spike in e-commerce, not just from Amazon, but across the board — and of course exacerbated by the pandemic — has driven up traffic congestion and pollution, not just in the U.S. but across the world. According to the World Economic Forum, in order to meet e-commerce demands, “the number of delivery vehicles in the top 100 cities globally will increase by 36% until 2030. Consequently, emissions from delivery traffic will increase by 32% and congestion will rise by over 21%, equalling an additional 11 minutes of commute time for each passenger every day.”
But traffic isn’t the only concern. The pace Amazon demands of its drivers makes them a danger to both themselves and others: Nearly one in five Amazon drivers was injured on the job last year, and they causes loads of accidents (for which Amazon itself can often avoid legal liability).
Finally, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been more than a little annoyed about having to navigate around a seemingly endless supply of Amazon vans double-parked in my neighborhood.
All in all, it’s bad news, even factoring in the consumer convenience of ordering something and having it arrive at your door the next day.
I’ve written quite a bit here about why its foolhardy for states and localities to subsidize the warehousing and logistics networks of big retailers, Amazon most prominently among them. But what about actually making them pay for some of these harms?
For a look at how to do that, we can look across the Atlantic to Spain, where one city is intending to take a delivery platform tax out for a spin.
Barcelona’s city council this week took the initial step toward implementing a tax next year on dominant delivery platforms. These are the large corporations, mostly in the e-commerce space, that deliver packages right to a consumer’s door. It has been dubbed the “Amazon tax” locally.
My Spanish knowledge is limited to what a few years of Duolingo can teach, so I may be mangling some details here (though at least some of the press coverage was in English), but it seems the tax will be applied to dominant delivery corporations above a certain revenue threshold, with exemptions for those that drop packages off at central locations where consumers can come pick them up, as well as those that deliver to other businesses. The goal is to levy a fee on the big corporations doing home delivery.
The city expects to raise 2.6 million euros, and says this would be the first such fee introduced at the local level in Europe.
Barcelona’s administration has given two rationales for the policy. First, it’s meant cut down on both damage to public spaces and emissions. “This planet cannot allow for a 300 gram package to be transported to your home in a vehicle that weighs more than a ton,” said city councillor Jordi Martí.
But second is to incentivize consumers to shop at local stores, since presumably the fee is going to, at least in part, be passed on to them in the form of higher prices. “We want local traders to have equal fiscal conditions compared to the major e-commerce platforms, who have a very high market share,” said Deputy Mayor Jaume Collboni, who added that the city wants consumers to “avoid the dominance of some platforms” and “favor local trade.” (Again, apologies for any mangled translations.)
There have been some nods at doing something similar in the U.S. — most prominently in New York City, where a $3 fee would have been applied on all packages and was thus a non-starter, and in San Francisco, where a ballot referendum to implement a delivery platform tax was scrapped this year due to drafting errors that would have applied the tax to many more businesses than intended — but as far as I know, no jurisdiction has actually gone ahead and done it. Seattle also had a tax that was derogatorily dubbed the “Amazon tax,” but that was levied per employee, and referred to that city’s dominant employer.
But a delivery platform tax is a good idea!
Here in the U.S., Amazon alone has received more than $5 billion in state and local subsidies, most of which has gone toward its warehousing and logistics network. And other big retailers and food corporations have also gotten into the game, having the state and the public build out their necessary infrastructure, and therefore receiving a leg up over local businesses that aren’t getting the same level of public support.
That should obviously be cut off, and there’s legislation out there for state leaders who want to deny subsidies to e-commerce corporations generally.
Meanwhile, at the local level, leaders can absolutely look for ways to make giant corporations pay for some of the harms they’re causing, and boost their own local businesses at the same time by levying a fee on the corporations that want to clog streets and belch fumes. Wins all around.
Lincoln Assassination Eyewitness Letter
There are few moments in American history as famous as the assassination of President Lincoln. Everyone knows how John Wilkes Booth entered the box in Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln and his wife were watching a performance of Our American Cousin. During a moment when the audience was laughing at a joke, he pulled out a pistol and shot the president. Wilkes then leaped from the box, landed awkwardly on stage, held up a dagger, and proclaimed, “Sic semper tyrannis!”—”Thus ever for tyrants!”
That’s the accepted version of events, but to people in the theatre at the time, it was a moment of confusion. That is why the letter brought into the Antiques Roadshow by one lady was so important. It is a contemporary eyewitness account of the assassination by her grandfather, who was there. He had gone to the theatre after hearing General Grant would be present. Instead, he saw one of the most momentous events of the 19th century.
According to the account given, Booth also announced from the stage, “I have done it!” and “The South’s avenged!” The letter was valued at $10,000-$15,000.
Lemon Chicken
“This is like the lemon chicken you get from your Chinese take-out place. The egg, cornstarch, and baking powder coating is extra light and crispy. No msg or flour involved! And remember, Zaar calculates fat and calories from the ingredient list…you won’t consume all the oil listed in the recipe! Note: Marinating time is included in prep time.”
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large zip-lock bag. Add chicken, and seal bag. Marinate for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
Combine eggs, 1/4 cup cornstarch, and baking powder in a large bowl; stir well. Dip chicken into batter, coating well.
Pour 2 cups oil into a large heavy skillet. Fry chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat until golden, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels. Cut chicken into 1 1/2 inch X 1 inch pieces. Arrange on a serving platter.
Combine chicken broth and next 4 ingredients; set aside. Place 2 tbsp oil in a large non-stick skillet; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add lemon slices, and stir fry 30 seconds. Add broth mixture, and stir fry 3 additional minutes or until sauce is thickened and clear. Pour over chicken. Serve immediately.
2022 12 08 11 56
Jeff J. Brown on Press TV: Pentagon chief says China has both will and power to reshape US-dominated order-but now we have the B21 Raider bomber. Seriously?
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin on China: pivotal point in 21st century | Fortune
After rolling out new stealth bomber, Pentagon chief warns of pivotal point: ‘We’re aligning our budget as never before to the China challenge’. China is the only country with the will and power to “reshape its region and the international order to suit its authoritarian preferences,” Lloyd Austin said
Zero-sum mentality and single-way thinking is scary: whoever (white/black/yellow/brown) in the position of power in those lands control of the crusaders, their behaviour tend to be the same, if this is not culture/DNA? What is? The me-only, self-centered, dictatorial, and barbaric doomsday threats of the Bible culture must go, before the west can learn to coexist with the rest of the world and enter the civilised stage of human civilisation. Christianity is the most divisive forces in this world. They are used by the crusaders to destroy culture, and to divide a population. South Sudan, East Timor seperatists moment are just some examples. These brainless believer are blinded by the brutality of their God in the old testament, and their GOD disrespect for women and his own mother in the New testament. As a result, these brainwashed people failed to respect their parents dislike of Christianity and make prayer on dinner table while eating food prepared by their parents.
As usual, Eric A. brings up many important questions to the table relating to the great tasks facing humanity these days, a humanity unfortunately still mired in the ugly muck of Western colonialist momentum, whose main global anchor remains the Anglo-American empire.
I say “momentum” because ideologies—including “manifest destiny”, “national exceptionalism” and “raw racism”—can persist for a long and highly dangerous time, and lose their grip on the shaping of history only when the underlying material forces that gave them currency at one point are no longer capable of supporting the visible edifice. This is of course, as you all know, an old Marxian insight.
The US as the globe’s citadel of capitalism is clearly facing its terminal decline. Much of this mess is—curiously some would say, but logical when closely examined—self-inflicted. America’s industrial infrastructure is shot, in critical sectors weak or nonexistent, and generally ridiculously overextended. The once resplendent garments are now a beggar’s attire, rags covered in pitiful patches.
Hard to believe, many would say, but we know why this happened. The ruling elites myopically offshored and destroyed the onetime awesome American industrial base through short-term thinking, “boardroom hyper-individualism”, and the unchecked pursuit of profit—all natural and inherent offshoots of the capitalist dynamic.
Since this process took years if not decades, it is necessary to ask, how did these people get away with this slo-mo industrial suicide without a popular backlash? After all, as city after city saw its core gutted, with millions deprived of a decent livelihood, this is a question that deserves a proper answer, but suffice it to say here that the ruling oligarchy used its tested mechanisms of social control via instigated social divisions, absence and denial of genuine representative leadership, and pervasive, unrelenting manipulation via a globalised media that shamelessly served only massive disinformation.
In this context, it’s useful to recall that the US ruling elites commenced this new phase of their old class war right after the end of WW2, when they launched their McCarthyite persecution of communists and populists across all possible spheres of political importance. This “purged” the nation of true agents of change while depriving the working class of all forms of effective self-defense organizations, starting with combative labor unions.
Quite ironically, the US elites very triumph in controlling the population via massive propaganda and clever forms of repression ended up insulating them from reality. This “soft” US-style totalitarianism built on lies and corruption eventually removed all the necessary and healthy social limits to their actions, at home and abroad. As a class, they got no penalties for their mistakes or even high crimes. Thus, like the person who no longer feels his feet due to neuropathy and thereby loses a limb due to an otherwise avoidable injury, the US ruling class grew accustomed—especially since the end of the USSR in 1991—to acting in what the French might call “capitalism a outrance”, a capitalism without limits, savage and irresponsible, uncooperative and fragmented at its core, and above all short-term thinking, consummately hypocritical, and therefore unwise. This is the beast that eventually spawned this latest brand of imperialism, “Woke imperialism”, the pathetic culmination of the Western liberals’ war on real class struggle. The hegemony’s rulers have always wanted to “freeze history”, for capitalism always reaches a point where it can advance no further, and is finally overwhelmed by its own innumerable ills, product of its incurable contradictions, of which the first and foremost remains the crisis of overproduction.
Given the above, it’s no surprise that when we look about, things look the same, albeit in a worsened, coarser iteration. The first major crisis of overproduction (brought about by “Fordism”) detonated the Great Depression, a period the US ruling class survived due to FDR’s coping socialistic measures and eventually a world war. The current great crisis—which engulfs the entire “West”—is, as we know so well, caused by ceaseless technological innovations aggravated by the computer revolution and the shenanigans of a reckless financial class for whom the well-being of society is at best a minor consideration.
Under such conditions, the US economy remains almost completely dependent on its “Pentagon sector”, a form of military Keynesianism evermore aggravated by unchecked, unquenchable greed, a lethal God that requires constant blood offerings, the latest being, of course, the Ukraine adventure.
Domestically, on the financial side, the capitalist deficits and gross imbalances in income distribution have been papered over by the extension of near universal retail credit, created in the postwar as a great “invention” to neutralise the dangerous effects of overproduction. The problem here is that consumer credit depends for its stability on stable jobs which in turn require a stable economy, but this economy cannot exist because by its very nature is unstable. So we are dealing here with the old house of cards dilemma. Incidentally, bourgeois economists like to insist that successive waves of invention create more job opportunities to compensate for job losses stemming from the efficiency of new technologies. This was their answer to “Luddite” critics, for example, but the facts speak otherwise. Today the world witnesses throughout the West a growing glut of “unneeded workers”, while the ruling class toys at its highest levels (i.e., WEF), with options such as massive “degrowth” and “depopulation”. A whole industry of lies and excuses (and probably biological tools) is also being created to justify such eventual measures.
Externally, an elaborate financial edifice grounded in the petrodollar is now crumbling—faster than anyone expected, especially among the the empire’s select counsellors—precisely due to the ineptitude and blind arrogance of the imperial mandarins. It’s a house of cards, a magic trick kept alive only by the implicit blackmail of a supposedly almighty military, but this last trick in the wizard’s bag is now also being exposed as a fraud by the war in Ukraine, where the West and and the Russian people are locked in an existential struggle.
Despite some early mistakes and miscalculations, in the pursuit of their intervention in Ukraine, the Russians are showing the rest of humanity (to their delight), that the arrogant, oppressive West—except for its nuclear submarine force—is, as Mao said, a paper tiger. Russia is showing the world what a real military superpower is capable of, one, to put it in technical terms, that possesses real “strategic depth”, something the West and its NATO mafia, can only dream of. Andrei Martyanov, a leading military expert, has repeatedly mentioned this sobering fact in his efforts to cool down the reckless hubris of Washington elites in their pursuit of imperialist dominance.
On Dec 5, 2022, the editor of Moon of Alabama published a piece confirming (again) this very point, the incapability of the West’s industrial base to produce and deliver on short order the massive level of ammunitions needed in a modern war between peer powers:
The Ukrainian war machine is running on empty because the ‘west’ can no longer provide weapons and ammunition in meaningful quantities. The chance to change that in any reasonable time frame is low:
“High-end conflict consumes a lot of munitions and a lot of weaponry,” Mike McCord, the Pentagon’s top budget official, said in an interview. “We are also looking at the supply chain limitations. We haven’t got this figured out just yet.”
Top Pentagon and industry officials maintain that efforts are finally ramping up to replace the weapons that the United States and its allies have shipped to Ukraine — depleting stockpiles that are deemed crucial to deterring China or other potential adversaries for years to come.
…
She cited recent deals for tens of thousands of 155mm artillery rounds that the Ukrainians are using up almost as soon as they arrive. By the spring, “we will be able to do 20,000 rounds a month,” she said.
But it will take time to manufacture enough of them, she said, adding that the U.S. will get that rate up to 40,000 rounds a month in the spring of 2025.
20,000 rounds is what the Russian army uses in Ukraine on a quiet day. 40,000 rounds per day may be the average consumption, 60,000 rounds per day are fired when things get hot. It also produces enough to replace those rounds.
That after so much huffing and puffing and so many expectations of a quick Russian collapse we have come to this realisation must be humiliating in some quarters in Washington. And this is perhaps the greatest irony in the current situation: the political hubris that has long dominated the thinking of London/Washington elites made their hegemonic impulse irresistible. So they picked what looks now like the empire’s “last war of choice”. Never mind this is still formal a “proxy war”. They forgot that this is not 1945 but 2022, and the world has changed, and, above all, they forgot that ganging up on Russia, that underestimating her, is an unpardonable error.
As things stand today, and no matter what the Western media say, there is no way the West can “win” the Ukraine war, let alone consign Russia to the status of a vassal nation. In fact, for a variety of quite sensible reasons, and because of the high level of toxic chauvinism that still permeates the American mind, Moscow is now probably engaged in NOT giving Washington too bad of a beating. Hence the slow pace of the military campaign, the underplaying of their own victories, and the gradual way in which they are introducing a new reality on Eastern Europe and the world at large. It’s more like a “slow gradual descent into the ground” instead of a brutal crash. The former spares the losing contender some of the humiliation.
Going now back to Eric A.’s questions.
I think it will be hard to make faster progress in the West, especially America, until we devise ways of neutralizing and defeating Washington’s massive propaganda power. Many things we wish to accomplish require us to “walk with both legs at once” as Mao once said, for there are many circumstances when one item’s presence determines the survival of another, both reinforcing each other.
As well, as long as the culture is bathed in narcissism, many things will escape proper examination.
In the war or clash of ideas, liberalism, for example, and one of its offshoots economic liberalism (aka libertarianism) has clearly run its course, historically speaking, that is. Liberalism was and remains an intrinsic part and pillar of the capitalist matrix; it gives rise, by normal evolution, to forms of extreme antisocial individualism. And while I appreciate that some libertarians clearly and bravely oppose the US criminal/imperialist foreign policy, I doubt they have seriously pondered the contradictions implicit in their favorite social and economic model.
For example, to this day, I have never found a libertarian that can accept how competition literally eats itself in a regime of perfect market freedom, yielding eventually enormous monopolies. Nor, how these monopolies eventually corrupt everything in sight, from the political class to all other major cultural institutions, including the press, the arts, academia, and so on. The proof is irrefutable and it exists in abundance in the history of the West, especially its Nirvana, that is, The United States. Finally, no libertarian that I know of has ever solved the problem of capitalist overproduction.
The bottom line is that, as the Ukrainian War has demonstrated, the stranglehold of hybrid power is choking history and may spell our demise as a species, along with much of the rest of life on this planet.
I think it is our duty to debate and exchange ideas on how to weaken and break this ideological wall. Difficult? By all means. Impossible? Not by a long shot.
Confessions of a Woman in an Arraigned Marriage
Where are you from and is it common in your culture?
I’m from Kuwait and yes its really common. Its even rare to find someone not in one.
Would you have rather chosen a husband yourself?
Well I don’t because I never dated but I think I got really lucky with my husband.
And I think it have saved me a lot of time and effort.
Did you have the choice to say “No dad, not this one, find someone else”?
Well I did the same thing with another guy before.
What made you decide to reject that man before your husband? How did your father react?
The three 3 times we met he just kept saying nice things about me. It was a marriage interview and he said nothing about marriage or our responsibility or children or anything important.
My husband understands the “ways” to get married.
Did you ever wanted to have a boyfriend or date someone you like?
Having a boyfriend? No never, I find it disgusting and gross. How could I sleep with a man who doesn’t hold an responsibility towards me and I don’t have responsibility towards him and I find it a risky thing.
How did the process work? Did you know your husband before you were arranged to marry?
Ofcourse, I had to know everything that happened.
He was the son of my father boss and I saw him couple times at events but never talked to him.
But afte my father came to me to tell me that I have marriage proposal and then I met him for coffee couple of time before we got engaged.
Was there any money exchange? Or any sort of exchange as sign of arrangement?
Yes there were a money exchange. The man had to pay the woman family a (jeza) and mine was 80k dollars .
A business contract? No but I had to sign a marriage certificate ( it means that I the woman approve of that man to be my husband)
How long have you been married?
4 years
Are you happy? Getting a good life?
Yes I am really happy and life have been treating me good.
Do you love him?
Do you love him?
What are the positive and negative aspects of your situation?
Positives: it was straight forward and it was good communication.
Negatives: that it felt like a job and he was at first like a business partner ( before we got engaged) and it felt like people was expecting something out of it.
Do you have a proper education or have you just been raised to be a wife?
Well a lot of girls are raised as future wives and to have education at the same time . So I was expected to study a lot and be a good caretaker.
But yes I have a master degree in math.
What are your career goals?
I stopped working after I got married.
But my life goal is to raise my son as best as possible and treat my husband with the most respect and make him feel like a king.
Will you push your children to be in arranged marriages?
Yes but I won’t be against him if come and tell me that he loves someone and wants to marry them.
What if ur daughter doesn’t want an arranged marriage
And that my friend a problem for future me
Would you want the same for your daughter, knowing the risk of choosing someone she would not be happy with?
I knew the risks when I first got on the “market” but I think it’s safer choice then the “western way”.
And yes her opinion matters.
To answer your question yes I want her to do the same
What do you think is unsafe about the Western way?
Like if my husband cheated on me I have to take half his money but in the west with dating he can cheat and nothing bad would happen to him. We have responsibility give by god to be a team.
And also what if i became pregnant with a man I don’t know who would take care of the baby. Those are my reasons.
Do you feel that you are judge by western people for being in such an arrangement. If so do you think there is any validity to their judgment?
Yes I do but i understand why. They want maximum Freedom to their life even if its lead to bad or good thing and what I did goes against what they believe. and they see me take part of it as the same as promoting it. But its human nature and I do the same. Like with drinking, you think drinking is working and not effecting you but it ruined alot of lifes. So I judge you for drinking because I see you promoting it.
I hope I explain it ( sorry my English is not good).
What will you do if your husband turns out to be physically abusive, does your father resolve that or it’s up to you? Are you allowed to file for divorce?
No it’s my father responsibility and mine to solve this maybe I can forgive him or I can go to the police or divorce him.
And yes physically abuse is one of the reasons for a divorce.
Is he allowed to have other wives?
Yes he is allowed to have more wives but we had an agreement that if he brings another woman I’m out.
When you and your husband have intercourse is it for enjoyment and pleasure, reproduction purposes, because your husband wants it, or all of the above?
It’s for lust on both sides. But I think in Christianity you do it for reproductive reasons only ( correct me if I’m wrong).
Johnny Hallyday Gabrielle Live Parc Des Princes 1993 HD
Bohdisattva Statue
Bronze statues can command high prices, but typically, they have to be in mint condition if they are to be truly valuable. When a slightly damaged bronze statue of a bodhisattva turned up on the Antiques Roadshow, it might not have been immediately obvious that it was worth much at all. The experts in Asian art, however, got very excited—even though it had lost one arm.
The owner of the piece had been shopping in an estate sale when she spotted it. Several antique dealers had already snapped up many of the best objects, but this statue had been ignored. The owner was able to buy it for around $100. The experts agreed she had got a bargain. They dated it to the early 15th century and suggested a retail estimate of $100,000-$150,000. It turned out they were wrong… on both counts.
When the statue was later auctioned, it was described as coming from the earlier Tang Dynasty. It eventually sold for $2 million at Sotheby’s.
This shows CORRUPTION at the highest level as new Twitter files drop
Jesus. This is amazing.
China’s new 10 measures against COVID-19 are adherence to original intention, logic
By Global Times editorial (Global Times) 08:45, December 08, 2022
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After the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting on Tuesday to set the tone for the economic work for 2023 and proposed to better coordinate COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council announced on Wednesday 10 prevention and control measures to further optimize COVID-19 response. This was widely recognized by the public. These new measures include lifting COVID testing and health code requirements for domestic cross-regional travelers and scrapping negative nucleic acid results and health code requirements for entering public places except for designated locations such as nursing homes, medical institutions and schools. They also clarify that asymptomatic carriers and mild COVID-19 patients are allowed to quarantine at home. Once again, China’s epidemic prevention and control work has again taken an important step toward precision and science.
We can say that we have come through the most difficult times. Nearly three years of an exceptionally difficult “national fight against the epidemic,” countless people have made sacrifices, endured hardships and paid an effort to win this battle. From the Alpha to Omicron variant, in these three years, we were forced to fight the “war to protect Wuhan” at one point. But step by step, today we can take the strategic initiative against the virus. We have ushered in a time for adjustment where the virus becomes weaker, but we grow stronger.
Looking back when the virus was at the most aggressive stage, China built a strong defense line against the virus again and again, becoming the country with the lowest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among the world’s major powers. A report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that life expectancy at birth for the total US population was 78.8 years in 2019. It reduced to 77 years in 2020 and further to 76.1 years in 2021. In contrast, despite the large gap between China’s average level of medical resources and technology compared to developed countries, we have achieved a steady increase in average life expectancy, reaching 77.93 years in 2020 and increasing to 78.2 years in 2021. In the past two days, a large number of netizens have left messages to thank the country from the heart for three years of protection.
From a global perspective, China’s contribution to the world during the epidemic is also unparalleled. In 2020, China became the world’s first major economy to achieve positive economic growth. In 2021, China’s economy exceeded 110 trillion yuan ($17.3 trillion), with an average growth rate of 5.1 percent over the previous two years. In 2022, the Chinese economy has withstood pressure and is progressing stably. As China has effectively controlled the spread of the epidemic, the country’s manufacturing industry has not been greatly affected. Made-in-China products continue to dominate globally, and China’s strong supply capacity has significantly stabilized the fragile global supply chain. Meanwhile, China has also selflessly provided anti-epidemic supplies, including vaccines, to a vast number of developing countries, which has strongly supported the global joint efforts to fight against the epidemic. The international community is watching all of this.
China is a large country with a population of over 1.4 billion. Such a population base determines that the course of this enormous ship must be very stable, and a slight deviation may cause irreparable and heavy losses.
In the past three years, China has issued nine versions of epidemic prevention and control plans and diagnosis and treatment plans. Each revision reflects the country’s pragmatic attitude of seeking truth from facts and being proactive and prudent. It keeps progressing by taking small steps, with the starting point of being “people-centered.” China’s prevention and control policy has constantly been adjusted in the past three years, but its logic and original intention have never changed.
Our ability and confidence to fight the epidemic have also been strengthened during the process. Ability is the foundation of confidence, and confidence is the source which inspires ability. The virulence of the Omicron variant is greatly weakened. We have effective technologies and drugs for diagnosis and treatment, and our capablities, such as medical treatment, pathogen detection and epidemiological investigation, continue to improve. The complete vaccination rate of the whole population exceeds 90 percent. All these give us the confidence to face the virus directly and lay a solid foundation for further optimizing the epidemic prevention and control measures.
For the next step, we still need to make persistent efforts on how to implement the new 10 measures, concentrate resources to protect vulnerable groups in society, and obtain the optimal solution for coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic development, so that this huge society can continue to move forward adapting to the new situation.
The rainbow comes after the storm. We have all expected a long time for this day to come out of the haze of the epidemic. To be more precise, every step we have taken in the past three years, no matter how difficult it is, is a step closer to this day or a preparation for this day. They are all meaningful.
Jet Li vs. Nakamura Shidō Fight | Jet Li’s Fearless | All Action
In my opinion this is Jets finest movie! Some of the best fight scenes ever filmed and a truly heartbreaking ending! A truly beautiful film.
BBQ Marmalade Chicken
“This is a simple dish to make, very tasty. It can be made in a crock pot or the oven. This is delicious served with steamed broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes.”
In a medium-size microwave-safe bowl, stir marmalade with soy sauce. Microwave, uncovered, on high until softened, 1 minute.
OR melt in a saucepan, stirring often.
Stir in barbecue sauce.
Place chicken in crock pot. Pour in sauce. Stir to coat.
Cover and cook on high setting 4 hours or low 6 hours.
To bake, preheat oven to 350F (180C). Place chicken in a large, ovenproof casserole dish that will hold at least 16 cups (4 L). Pour sauce over chicken. Stir to evenly coat. Set on a baking sheet to catch any drips if it bubbles over.
Bake, covered, in centre of preheated oven until chicken feels springy when pressed and sauce is bubbly, about 1 3/4 hours.
To thicken sauce, remove cooked chicken to a large serving bowl.
In a small bowl, stir cornstarch with water until dissolved.
Carefully ladle liquid from slow cooker or casserole into a medium-size saucepan.
Set over high heat. Bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch mixture.
Reduce heat to medium. Stir until sauce thickens, 2 minutes. Pour over chicken.
Note: I prefer orange marmalade, ginger marmalade can be substituted. Recipe yields approximately 3 cups of sauce.
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DeSanits: Pfizer and Moderna CAN’T hide this anymore, and we’re coming for you
Yes crimes against humanity.
As a teacher, what is the harshest truth a student has ever taught you?
I was giving a lecture to around 50 international high school students in my college at Oxford University.
I got drunk before the lecture. I just wanted the paycheck.
The lecture was called ‘Shakespeare 101’ or ‘An Introduction to Shakespeare’ or something equally uninspiring.
I arrived in the hall. Saw a bunch of faces beaming up at me. I put my feet up on a desk and began reading from my notes in a dull monotone. Completely shameless.
The students tolerated about 10 minutes of this crap before one Chinese girl put her hand up and said this:
“Excuse me, Teacher? I have a question. Can you make it less boring?”
Wow.
She was right. It was boring as hell.
Teaching is not about collecting a paycheck.
The onus is NOT on the students to make it interesting.
Good teaching is not just rattling off a bunch of facts while the students scribble down notes.
“You’re right,” I said. “This is boring. I’m so sorry. Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’ve got a script here for Hamlet. We’re all going to act this out line by line.”
I handed out a bunch of sheets and got the whole class up and acting. Actually acting. Saying the words with feeling.
The class livened up. The shy ones came out of their shells. We all laughed. We all became super enthusiastic. They asked me endless questions and I asked them questions back and we all had a great time.
Then at the end of the class, about 20 of them stayed behind for a photo and they all queued up to swap phone numbers with me.
So thank you to that girl who asked me to make my lesson less boring.
I then went on to make my living from teaching for the next couple of years and was never again told that my lessons were boring. In fact, my students all raved about how much fun they had and how I helped them to stay committed to their studies.
Teaching can be a hard gig but it’s damn rewarding when you do it properly.
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China now accorded Highest Honors in Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy
2022 12 09 12 25
Chinas growing stature as a Global Power was confirmed in Riyadh when Supreme Leader and President Xi Jingping was greeted by the Three Royal Party
A Three Royal Party consists of the Three Highest Ranking Royals below the King and Princes
So far only USA had a 3 Royal greeting while every other nation had either a 2 Royal greeting (UK) or a 1 Royal greeting (India) or a 0 Royal Greeting (Pakistan post 2013, Israel)
This was a subtle message from Saudi Arabia that China picked up and were grateful for.
A Second sign was when Four Saudi Jets flew to escort the Air China carrying the President. The Jets formally performed no loops indicate absolute trust in the incoming arrival into their airspace
They performed two loops when Bidens Aircraft came into Saudi Airspace.
In all earlier visits China had had a 2/1 Royal Party welcome into Saudi
Tang Marble Lion
The Chinese market for antiques and antiquities has never been higher. A newly wealthy generation of Chinese investors is spending their money to acquire art and artifacts that have left their country over the centuries. Objects that were once picked up by tourists have suddenly become hugely valuable.
One woman might have been somewhat disappointed when told that a marble lion that she had inherited from her grandparents was not from the Ming Dynasty as she had thought. But she should not have worried. The expert on the Antiques Roadshow realized that the exquisitely carved animal was actually from another golden period in Chinese history—the earlier Tang Dynasty. The expert was so impressed with the statue that he became emotional.
The marble lion was valued at $120,000-$180,000.
The European Union is Going to Split
President Xi is making an epic state visit to Saudi Arabia and other friendly countries, the biggy before the year is over, wa !
Thrift Store Vase
2022 12 09 12 28
Going to second-hand shops, thrift stores, and charity shops is always exciting because you never know what you might come home with. Plus, there is always the chance that you might stumble on something hugely valuable that was cheap.
One man on the British Antiques Roadshow brought in his small collection of ceramics to find out whether they had any age. Most had been picked up cheaply in charity shops. One, a square vase in pale green with a pierced pattern on the sides, had cost him just £7.99. It was this vase that got the expert most excited because it was an old Chinese design. It was also a technical masterpiece because the vase was actually two vases joined together during production. Having examined the object, the expert was in no doubt. This was a vase dating from the Ming Dynasty.
The owner was stunned. “Ming, really Ming?” he asked. His joyful reaction when told that it was worth between £5000 and £10,000 was one shared by viewers.
Putin and China just scored a MAJOR victory over Europe and the U.S.
OPEC selling oil via BRICS currency…would leave the dollar in the dust.The EU would have no choice but to abandon the dollar..or come to a grinding & freezing halt.We have $35 trillion debt plus the ‘newly discovered’ $65 trillion in derivatives.I expect a black swan event soon to cover up the collapse.
Charlotte Brontë Ring
Charlotte Bronte Ring Roadshow
When a woman was rifling around in her attic, she found a grimy old locked box. After searching for the key, she was contacted by a relative who had found it. Once opened, she discovered a small ring inside. The ring was decorated on the outside, but the most remarkable thing was that there was a hinge on the edge. What was inside was even stranger—a braid of what looked like hair.
When taken to the Antiques Roadshow, the puzzle of the ring was uncovered. An inscription inside the ring bore the name Charlotte Brontë and a date—the date of the author’s death. The hair inside? Probably hair belonging to Charlotte Brontë. This would not have been uncommon in the 19th century. Mourning jewelry was often made to commemorate loved ones who had died. Other examples of mourning jewelry made of hair were known to have belonged to the Brontë family.
This ring was valued at around £20,000. Never leave a locked box unopened.
The Chinese market for antiques and antiquities has never been higher. A newly wealthy generation of Chinese investors is spending their money to acquire art and artifacts that have left their country over the centuries. Objects that were once picked up by tourists have suddenly become hugely valuable.
One woman might have been somewhat disappointed when told that a marble lion that she had inherited from her grandparents was not from the Ming Dynasty as she had thought. But she should not have worried. The expert on the Antiques Roadshow realized that the exquisitely carved animal was actually from another golden period in Chinese history—the earlier Tang Dynasty. The expert was so impressed with the statue that he became emotional.
The marble lion was valued at $120,000-$180,000.
2 Fabergé Flowers
Magical Faberge flower valued at £1 million – Antiques Roadshow – BBC One
Just like the word “Ming” sets the hearts of antique collectors racing, so does the name Fabergé. The master jeweler of the early 20th century worked extensively with the Russian royal family, including making Easter egg gifts for them. The jewelry expert Geoffrey Munn is famously a fan of Fabergé objects. He once mentioned on an episode that he had been informed that watchers who play a drinking game while Antiques Roadshow is on have to take a shot every time he mentions Fabergé.
Those drinkers must have been very drunk by the time he stopped talking about a delicate spray of blossoms he was shown. These were no ordinary flowers, however. The vase was made of solid rock crystal, the stem of gold, the petals were enamel, and a tiny drop of water on each bloom was a diamond. All were made by Fabergé.
When considering what such an object might be worth, the expert was forced to suggest that it could be worth over £1 million.
1 Bohdisattva Statue
Early 15th-C Chinese Bodhisattva Gilt Bronze | Extraordinary Finds: Extras | ANTIQUES ROADSHOW | PBS
Bronze statues can command high prices, but typically, they have to be in mint condition if they are to be truly valuable. When a slightly damaged bronze statue of a bodhisattva turned up on the Antiques Roadshow, it might not have been immediately obvious that it was worth much at all. The experts in Asian art, however, got very excited—even though it had lost one arm.
The owner of the piece had been shopping in an estate sale when she spotted it. Several antique dealers had already snapped up many of the best objects, but this statue had been ignored. The owner was able to buy it for around $100. The experts agreed she had got a bargain. They dated it to the early 15th century and suggested a retail estimate of $100,000-$150,000. It turned out they were wrong… on both counts.
When the statue was later auctioned, it was described as coming from the earlier Tang Dynasty. It eventually sold for $2 million at Sotheby’s.
The country has reportedly been welcomed into the financial structure, further expanding the lender’s global reach
Egypt has officially become a member of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS group of major emerging economies, the country’s government announced on Wednesday.
The NDB was established by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in 2014 to finance infrastructure and sustainable development in member states and other emerging economies. Since 2016, the bank has invested in multiple projects, including $7.2 billion in India alone, according to the NDB.
Egypt, which has so far not joined BRICS, expressed an interest in becoming a member in July, along with Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It is now preparing to apply for membership, BRICS International Forum President Purnima Anand earlier said.
Card Table
John and Thomas Seymour were master furniture makers in the late 18th and early 18th century working in Boston. Their “Federal” furniture, made with expensive wood and richly decorated, can be found in museums across the country. This made it all the more unexpected when a table made by the pair was wheeled into the Antiques Roadshow upside down on a cart.
The owner of the table had picked it up at a yard sale for just $25 after haggling the price down from $30. Even then, she might not have purchased the table as her friend thought it was too wobbly to support a lamp. It was also filthy and covered in mold. The demi-lune mahogany card table was more than worth the price she paid and the effort of cleaning it. The experts estimated it might be worth $225,000. Had the owner given it too thorough a cleaning and destroyed the original patina, the price would have plummeted.
When the table was auctioned soon afterward, it sold for $490,000. With the buyer’s premium that is paid to the auction house, this made the final sale price $541,000.
My MM video on Hive and Matrix souls…
From my restricted archives. If you all haven’t seen this one yet, give it a chance.
Confessions of a 5-Star Hotel Concierge
What are some things we can use your services for without being assholes?
We can literally do anything! Don’t feel like you’re being an asshole we are there to make your stay as effortless as possible.
The best way to utilise us is restaurant recommendations, theatre tickets and taxis. We will get you the cheapest prices with VIP service!
Also if you want something different to do ask about local walks. We know all the local hidden treasures you wouldn’t find otherwise.
Do you guys have “training” for all the hidden stuff or are you hired specifically for your knowledge of the area?
No we learn as we go. It does help if you’re local! But more often than not it’s just experience. We have endless files on our computer though we don’t work entirely from memory! Don’t be too impressed!
What’s the craziest thing someone’s requested?
I had to get an elderly gentleman a toupee. He had never worn one before but decided he wanted one to go to dinner that night… not an easy task but we did it! (And he actually looked pretty good!)
How do you deal with illegal requests?
It depends on the request. Usually it’s just a case of turning a blind eye.. after all it’s up to the individual. Prostitutes are somewhat of a grey area! We will never advise a guest on where to find an escort nor will we arrange it for them. However if they ask us to send a car for ‘their guest’ we will!
So if I need some hash can you help a guy out or just hotel/travel stuff? Movies make it seem like you can ask you guys for seriously whatever they wanted.
No we can’t put you in contact with anyone but we will facilitate delivery.
I haven’t ever been asked personally but I was rooming someone once when a bag of white powder fell out of their pocket. They didn’t notice and I didn’t know what to do! When he turned round I just said ‘I think you dropped that’ bit awkward!
Say someone is staying at your hotel and on a whim wants to go to a sold out concert at a local venue. Can you get them in, and if so, do your connections get them regular ticket prices, or are they paying for crazy VIP rates? For something like that does the hotel buy the tix and then charge the guest room?
So we can usually get tickets for a sell out but in actual fact the venue was never really sold out. They have a certain amount of tickets for things like radio competitions or whatever. And of course for us to sell. We always try to negotiate the best price for the guest but the price is the price. The guest doesn’t have to pay upfront they can pay on check out. Money to the venue gets sorted through the accounts department I don’t know exactly how it works.
I’m not impressed with the restaurant and quite fancy a Gregg’s Sausage Roll or four, but all the local Gregg’s are all closed for the evening. What do you do?
Find the nearest Iceland store and buy the frozen greggs sausage rolls. Get the kitchen to bake them in the oven (not the bloody microwave) and send it to your room!
What’s the best way a regular person can enjoy things at the hotel only the rich and famous get?
Simply just ask! Always speak to the concierge not the reception staff. Reception can only do so much but the concierge team can get away with a lot of things.
When you arrive ask us about upgrading your room. If we can we will. If you’re eating in one of the hotel restaurants ask us if we could recommend a table, we’ll get you on a great table and and make sure the wait staff look after you well.
My best tip, though, to really feel like a VIP is call down from your room and ask us to run your bath! You might feel daft but we’ll run an awesome bath and we’ll bring you a bottle of wine to enjoy on the house! Do it! Just ask!
I would feel like such an asshole if I asked someone to come up to my room to run my bath. I mean it’s right there…
Haha yeah and we know you could run it yourself… you can also pour your own beer but you let the barman do it for you! It isn’t just running a bath it’s enjoying a bit of luxury and indulging yourself!
Are any of these people actually embarrassed or sheepish about some of their more outrageous or outlandish requests or demands? Examples?
Nope. The regular money just don’t care they ask for what they want and expect to get it.. the young couples who have saved up for a treat or the elderly couple coming in for afternoon tea.. they get embarrassed making the simplest request, because they don’t want to make work for anyone, they don’t want to be a pest! I’ll do everything I can to make their visit special! It’s a one off for them
How do I figure out what to tip the concierge? Is it a set price or do I do a percentage of what I’m getting etc?
Yeah it’s a bit different. We are built in with the price of your room. You wouldn’t tip us same as you wouldn’t tip reception staff. Save your tips for the bell hop and or wait staff. Of course it’s always nice to receive a tip and we appreciate the gesture but it isn’t expected like it might be in other roles in the hotel
Have there been times when you wanted to smack someone for being an ass/petty?
Yes! We hosted an Aston Martin car show a few summers ago. One guys Aston broke down on the hotels driveway. We called a local garage and left them to it. About an hour later he called the hotel and asked me to meet him at the garage… which I did. He expected us to pay for the repairs and when I told him that wasn’t possible he gave me a proper dressing down infront of everyone. I just had to suck it up and politely nod but I could have quite happily nutted him! Money does funny things to people
Are there any particular celebrities that were especially nice and easy to deal with?
Yeah. To be honest most of them are. It’s very rare you get a ‘diva’ that said TV personalities are generally nicer than pop stars. I’m not sure if you’ll know him but the nicest guy I ever met was Derren Brown! That’s my one name drop!
Who’s the most famous person you have ever met?
So i want to be as transparent as possible but discretion is rule 1 so I can’t give names. The two big ones though was a Prince in the British royal family and an American actor who made my missions quite impossible!
Worst thing a famous/rich person did?
One couple paid to stay in two separate rooms. The excuse ‘he’ gave was that his wife snored… the two nights they were there I showed three different women to his room, all at least half his age!
What is the protocol for handling the wife, when the husband is already checked in with his mistress?
So we never share that information. If the wife turns up and says ‘which room is my husband John smith in’ we say ‘sorry I can’t confirm that we have a John smith staying here tonight’ inevitably she says ‘ I know he’s here’ we say ‘have you tried calling him?’ And on it goes.
We will never tell another soul that you’re in our hotel we wouldn’t tell your own mother. We won’t even put a call through to your room unless you’ve ok’d it
How did you get into the business? how long did it take to work up to 5 star service?
I was really lucky tbh. I did all my training in the hotel I currently work at so I didn’t build up to it as such. I was barman in a different hotel before that. I’m currently working towards my golden keys though which will be a proud moment for me
Jet Li’s Fearless Fight Scene – The Tower
This movie is so great. Not just the fighting, but the lessons Jin learns through this movie. Just amazing.
https://youtu.be/24Uwl360r78
What Is The Biggest No-No When Being Arrested?
Criminal defense attorney here. Allow me to share with you my personal top ten “don’t do these when being arrested” moments, all of which I have personally had to deal with from clients.
Don’t resist arrest. When the handcuffs come out, you cannot talk your way out of the situation any more; cooperate, and things will be much better for you.
Resist the temptation to “explain yourself” to the officer on your drive to the station. They are recording you — and this can be used against you. Just be quiet.
And some more…
If you are being arrested for drunk driving, don’t refuse the intoxilyzer test. You will likely be much worse off for a refusal than a bad test number. Implied consent will screw you.
Please remember to exercise your right to remain silent. There is nothing you can say that will help you in a meaningful way. Just stop talking.
No one likes the guy who threatens to sue everyone in sight. Just request an attorney and stop talking.
Routine booking questions don’t fall into the category of custodial interrogations, so please don’t refuse to give officers your real name. In many jurisdictions this can be a separate offense.
For the love of all that is holy, do not use the following phrase when interacting with the police: “I’m drunk.” It is even less helpful when shouted at the top of your lungs.
Do not, under any circumstance, ask the officer if he or she can “look the other way just this once” while holding out money in your hand.
Sadly, most officers do not appreciate sarcastic remarks or observations about their weight or intelligence. Surprisingly, sentencing judges don’t particularly care for it either.
Officers are not scared of attorneys. Don’t think that name dropping or threats of lawsuits will get an officer to leave you alone. Pro tip: it won’t.
The world today is falling into an Abyss that was created by the United States, and many world “leaders” are deciding to either follow the United States, or to get the Hell out of the way.
So we start with today’s installment…
Emperor Caligula the Sadist
Emperor Caligula of Rome is bound to top any list of crazy rulers. Caligula was a leader whose sadism and depravity seemed to have known no bounds. For a start, Caligula tried to instate his horse, Incitatus, as a consul. He appointed a priest to serve the horse and had a stunning marble stable built, complete with chairs and a sofa. This was more than a little eccentric.
Then there are the multiple tales of his sadism. For example, one day at the Circus Maximus, Caligula was enjoying the spectacle when suddenly it became apparent the organizers had run out of criminals to feed to the lions. Caligula simply had the first five rows of spectators dragged from their seats and thrown into the arena. Hundreds died.
Another time, when someone insulted Caligula to his face, he responded by having the man’s family executed in front of a crowd. It began with the man and his wife. Then the children followed, one by one. Eventually, only the youngest daughter, a 12-year-old, was left alive.
The crowd was outraged but had stayed out of morbid curiosity. Before the young girl could be killed, a spectator cried out that she must be spared as she was a virgin. The girl was crying hysterically, having watched her family dispatched one by one. Caligula responded by ordering the executioner to rape the young girl in front of the crowd before strangling her to death.
Caligula was also said to have been beyond debauched. He publicly had sex with his three sisters at public banquets and games, sometimes on the banquet table itself. It has also been claimed that he prostituted his sisters out to other men for his entertainment and slept with his brother-in-law.
Historically, much has been made of Caligula’s sadism. Some historians have claimed that some of the worst tales about Caligula were exaggerated or made up in an attempt to discredit him after his death. However, enough sources exist to paint a picture of an emperor who was mad, bad, and totally insane.
Caligula 0
What’s the dumbest case you’ve ever had on jury duty?
A young lady was at her parents, and the parents were fighting. Yelling, not anything physical. The wife says if the husband doesn’t shut up she was going to call the police. So, evidently he kept on, and she picks up the phone and dials 911. The daughter grabs the phone and puts it down, and told them both to behave like you would with your children. So, they do, and everything is back to normal when they hear the police knocking on the door. The daughter is arrested for interfering with a 911 call. When this went to court the state wanted her to get six months. We are all looking at each other, shaking our heads that something this stupid made it to court. Deliberation was very short, and of course she was found not guilty.
Soros has a deep hatred for China.
Because China has cost him billions of dollars twice.
2022 12 07 06 53
Soros is a speculator who makes his money by shorting and other means of financial leverage.
Back in 1998, his speculation triggered the East Asian economic crisis.But during this economic crisis, China held out and managed to snipe Soros in Hong Kong, inflicting huge losses on Soros.In mid-July 1997, January and May 1998, the Hong Kong dollar was subjected to three massive speculative sell-offs, the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate was hit, the Hang Seng and futures market indices plunged by more than 4,000 points and the market was in a state of extreme panic. Western public opinion jokingly claimed that Hong Kong had become an ATM for international speculators.According to the plan of Soros and others, they will first short the Hong Kong dollar in the currency market, forcing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to resort to the old trick of pulling up interest rates, which will inevitably lead to a fall in the stock market and a parallel decline in HSI futures. The speculators could then sell short HSI futures at a lower price in the futures market, making both the currency market and the stock market profitable, with the intention of getting drunk on HSI futures.In August 1998, after several trials, Soros came back with his strongest men and firepower. Vowing to end Hong Kong in one battle.On August 14, the Hong Kong government suddenly took action, using the Exchange Fund and the Land Fund to enter the stock market and the Hang Seng Index futures market at the same time, causing the Hang Seng Index to rally by more than 560 points that day, up 8%, to close at 7224 points; Soros's army was instantly surprised, they did not expect the Hong Kong government, which has always boasted a free market, to really enter the market and fight.Subsequently until the 24th, the Hong Kong government and Soros's speculator group has been back and forth between you and me, a short fight. But the Hang Seng Index slowly dampened the momentum of its previous wild slide and began to be in a state of oscillation.27 August, the day before the settlement day. At 10am, the Hong Kong stock market opened. As soon as it started, speculators' selling orders came in like a mountain. Within the first 15 minutes, turnover reached HK$1.9 billion; in the second 15 minutes, it was HK$1 billion. And in the 15 minutes before the market closed, the battle went into a frenzy, with turnover reaching HK$8.2 billion! The state of affairs was so gruesome that it dazzled all the traders on the floor.On this day, the Hong Kong Government used HK$20 billion to commission 10 brokerage houses to hound the 33 HSI constituent stocks. The Hang Seng Index closed at 7,922 points, up 88 points from the previous trading day, the highest since 4 Nov 97.28 August, the settlement day of the HSI futures. This was Soros's last chance to short the Hang Seng Index, and it was up to this wave to see if the large amount of bearish futures he had previously purchased would make a profit.At 10am, the duel was fought. The Hong Kong government and the short-selling group immediately engaged in a fierce battle over HSBC Holdings and HKT. While the speculators' sell-offs were rampant and overwhelming, the government's forces were able to buy all the shares without leaving a single one. In only 5 minutes after the market opened, the turnover was as high as HK$3 billion!Before the market closed at 12 noon, the battle became fierce again, "Cheung Kong Holdings", "China Telecom" and many other blue-chip stocks were sold by speculators, the sea of stocks, the Hong Kong Government's frenzied efforts to save. The turnover at the close of the afternoon market was HK$40.9 billion. As the market opened in the afternoon, the battle became even tougher. As the speculators' sell-offs rolled in, the Hong Kong government used almost all the foreign exchange reserves it could muster to eat up the entire stock market and hold the entire line, with an average of $350 million worth of stocks changing hands every minute.At exactly 4 p.m., the Hang Seng Index finally settled at 7,829!Four thrilling hours later, the day's trading volume reached an all-time high for the Hong Kong stock market - HK$79 billion! HSI futures finally settled at 7851 points. In a total of 10 trading days back, the HKSAR Government used approximately the equivalent of HK$120 billion of foreign exchange reserves to pull the Hang Seng Index up by 1,169 points.HKSAR Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen then declared that the Hong Kong government had won the battle against international speculators and in defence of the Hong Kong stock market and the Hong Kong currency.On this "dueling day" in defence of Hong Kong, the stock market traded at a volume of HK$79 billion, about 10 times the usual volume.Soros tried to move back into the fray in September, but on 7 September, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued new rules on foreign exchange, securities trading and settlement, which greatly restricted speculation by speculators. On the same day, the Hang Seng Index soared 588 points to the 8,000-point mark. The international speculators' losses were further exacerbated and they eventually had to retreat from Hong Kong in defeat.The story further on is well known, as the Hong Kong market gradually recovered and the Hang Seng Index returned to above 10,000 points in 1999, with the Hong Kong government making billions of dollars by exiting the stock market altogether.
In 2019, Soros tried to short Hong Kong again while fomenting unrest in Hong Kong through the Open Society Foundations, but was once again sniped. Soros has been “shut down”.
Because of the turmoil in Hong Kong at the time, Hong Kong stocks fell and Soros bought a large number of short positions, expected to be no less than 200,000, to start shorting Hong Kong.Data show that on August 13, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange futures and options total turnover and small Hang Seng Index futures turnover record high. At the same time, the Hang Seng Index experienced a sharp drop of more than 10% in a round of more than 3,000 points.What Soros did not expect was the Hong Kong Government's move on 4 September which led to a single day gain of 4.3% for Hong Kong stocks, leaving Soros on the losing end of his first battle!On September 5, the reluctant Soros again chose to throw a large number of short orders to fight to the death. As a result of this the Hang Seng Index took a dive in the afternoon and fell sharply.But what Soros didn't expect this time was the suspension of trading in all derivatives markets in Hong Kong from 2pm that day, disrupting all his plans! Regarding this emergency closure of the HKEx, HKEx Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Li Xiaojia, said in an interview: "In any market, a market closure is a big decision, a decision that cannot be taken lightly, and the decision to suspend the market will only be made if we judge that the market is no longer operating in an orderly manner. orderly and therefore made the decision to suspend the market. Such judgements are never easy. We are continuing to investigate the root cause of the incident and will make an announcement to the market as soon as possible."As a result, there was talk that the HKEx's move was to "shut the door" and give Soros nowhere to go!The following day, when the HKEx resumed normal trading, the continued rise in Hong Kong stocks caused Soros, who had been a big player for many years, to "close the door on the dog", as expected, and to suffer heavy losses of over HK$2.4 billion!
After reading this, I think we understand why Soros is targeting China, right?
The reason is that he can’t benefit from the current China.
I think there are some “philanthropists” in support of the overthrow of the Chinese government, but not on the scale of Soros.
Tsar Peter III and his Toy Soldiers
Some rulers lose their minds over time, and some never had them in the first place. Tsar Peter III of Russia seems to have suffered from a kind of Peter Pan syndrome; he never grew up! Today, he is mainly remembered as the ruler whose wife, Catherine the Great , deposed him and ruled in his stead. But how did Catherine manage to get rid of her husband?
Well, it was widely believed that Peter was obsessed with toy soldiers. Catherine claimed that on their wedding night she was left disappointed when Peter had plans other than consummating their marriage.
Instead of undressing, Peter pulled a box of toy soldiers out from under his bed and forced his bride to play with them until 2am. Another time, Peter spent a substantial amount of time setting up a toy fort ready for a mock battle. He was left enraged when a rat happened to walk past and knocked over his toys. The rat was soon hung from the wall for ‘breaching military discipline’.
Catherine may indeed have exaggerated the stories of Peter and his toys as a way of discrediting and ultimately deposing him. However, there are enough sources that corroborate her claims to safely say that Peter was a few soldiers short of a full platoon.
Tsar
Attack in Russia: Get ready, this is the last straw for Putin
US Secretary of State’s quote about Russia is so much bullshit. “Russians are not winterized.” That’s like saying Jamaicans can’t handle hot weather.
2022 12 07 10 42
Gingerbread Cake (Spicy)
“Adapted from a Gourmet recipe, this spicy gingerbread originated from the Gramercy Tavern. It’s excellent warm, and even better after one day. If you like a deep, spicy gingerbread, you might try this one!”
Butter a 10-inch (10- to 12-cup) bundt pan well and dust with flour, shaking out excess.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat.
Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.
Sift flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl.
Whisk together eggs and both sugars.
Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture.
Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and bang pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles.
Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes.
Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes.
Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
You can serve the gingerbread immediately, dusting lightly with confectioners sugar, and/or adding whipped cream.
You can also hold the gingerbread for a day before serving, as the flavors develop with some time.
2022 12 07 16 42
What did someone say to you that instantly made you realize their life was in danger?
“Can you please get me a cup of coffee?”
Innocuous and innocent, right? But it was the code word.
I worked in the Dean of Students office at a local college and my boss, the Dean, didn’t drink coffee. She did handle the occasionally out of control students. She told us that if we ever heard her ask for coffee, we needed to call security, police and lockdown the east side of campus. We did.
The student had her at knife point shortly after her cryptic message but the confrontation didn’t last long because she was able to get the innocuous warning to us. To this day, I don’t know if the irate student ever figured out how we knew.
What if China turn left after the 20th National Congress of CPC?
This is an exceptional chat.
Excellent analysis by Charles Liu on China’s peaceful rise to help the Global South from poverty with its BRI policy.
CPC has a paternalistic inclination. Like looking after a large family, you’re motivated to help the extremely poor members and inculcate the responsibility of the very wealthy to share a bit. No man is an island, common prosperity is a common good, and nobody can claim to have generated their wealth alone external to the society
We Are Being Warned That The Global Economy Is Having “One Of Its Worst Years In Three Decades”
Will 2022 go down in history as one of the most important economic turning points that we have ever seen? All over the planet, economic activity is beginning to decelerate and uncertainty about the future is in the air. Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to escalate and a very painful energy crisis has begun. Unless there is some sort of an economic miracle, it appears that 2023 will be a very difficult year, and the long-term outlook beyond next year is even more ominous. Suddenly, many of the talking heads on television are openly speculating about the hard times that are coming, and the word “recession” is being thrown around quite frequently.
But will we only be dealing with a “recession” in the months ahead, or will it be much worse than that?
The world economy is facing one of its worst years in three decades as the energy shocks unleashed by the war in Ukraine continue to reverberate, according to Bloomberg Economics.
In a new analysis, economist Scott Johnson forecasts growth of just 2.4% in 2023. That’s down from an estimated 3.2% this year and the lowest — excluding the crisis years of 2009 and 2020 — since 1993.
The global economy is more interconnected than ever before, and so pain experienced on one side of the globe is often keenly felt on the other side.
BuzzFeed is axing 12% of its workforce, or around 180 staffers, in a bid to cut costs as the digital media company faces headwinds including an ad-spending pullback and the completion of its integration of Complex Media.
The company informed affected employees via email Tuesday that they were being terminated. “In order for BuzzFeed to weather an economic downturn that I believe will extend well into 2023, we must adapt, invest in our strategy to serve our audience best, and readjust our cost structure,” CEO Jonah Peretti wrote in a memo to employees about the job cuts.
As the housing market crashes, the financial industry is being hit really hard as well.
Morgan Stanley cut about 2% of its staff on Tuesday, according to people with knowledge of the layoffs.
The moves, reported first by CNBC, impacted about 1,600 of the company’s 81,567 employees and touched nearly every corner of the global investment bank, said the people, who declined to be identified speaking about terminations.
Speaking of the housing market, we are being told that somewhere around 270,000 recent homebuyers in the U.S. are already underwater on their mortgages.
We haven’t seen anything like this since 2008 and 2009, but this is just the beginning.
If the Federal Reserve insists on hiking interest rates even higher, it won’t be too long before millions of homeowners will be underwater on their mortgages, and that will definitely be a nightmare scenario.
So many families are living on the edge of financial disaster in late 2022. If you can believe it, approximately 20 million U.S. households are currently behind on their utility bills…
According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), roughly 20 million households in the U.S. — one out of six homes — are behind on their utility bills.
As of August, these families owe about $16.1 billion in total, with an average amount owed of $788 — and the consequences of this could be dire, especially as home heat costs are expected to reach their highest level in over 10 years.
We are already in a state of economic crisis right now.
But don’t expect the White House to admit that any time soon.
Meanwhile, the cost of living just continues to go higher and higher. Earlier today, I was stunned to learn that Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is actually admitting that double-digit price increases on packaged foods “are going to be with us for a while”…
Walmart (WMT) is the largest retailer in the United States and has a gauge into consumer habits and a wide array of products.
McMillon said that inflation was “most stubborn” on packaged food. Double-digit price increases on these essentials “are going to be with us for a while,” he said.
So we are going to have rapidly rising prices and an imploding economy at the same time.
Yes, 2023 is going to be a whole lot of fun.
At this point, even the mood on Wall Street is shifting.
The S&P 500 shed 1.44% to close at 3,941.26, while the Nasdaq Composite sank 2% to finish at 11,014.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 350.76 points, or 1.03%, to settle at 33,596.34.
Stocks added to Monday’s declines, with the S&P falling for a fourth straight day and its seventh negative session in eight. Tuesday’s moves bring the Dow’s two-day losses to more than 830 points.
Just a few weeks from now, 2022 will mercifully be over.
But if this year has been “one of its worst years in three decades”, what will the global economy look like a year from now?
As I have detailed above, the U.S. economy is really starting to deteriorate quite rapidly.
So how bad will things eventually get?
Let us hope for a “recession”, but let us also prepare for an economic nightmare.
Is it possible that the US is headed in the direction of a dictatorship?
Certainly.
In 1935, the great American novelist Sinclair Lewis (lived 1885 – 1951) wrote a classic novel titled It Can’t Happen Here. In the novel, a charismatic politician named Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip runs for president of the United States on a radical populist platform, promising to give every American family $5,000 a year.
Windrip portrays himself as the champion of traditional American values, a true patriot, a lover of liberty and justice, and a pious Christian. He holds massive, energetic rallies. He portrays himself as a “man of the people” standing up for the “forgotten men” of the working class. He demonizes immigrants, minorities, intellectuals, and the press. He laments the decline of the United States and promises to restore the United States to her former glory. In chapter nine, he is described as follows:
“The Senator [i.e. Windrip] was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected, and in his ‘ideas’ almost idiotic, while his celebrated piety was that of a traveling salesman for church furniture, and his yet more celebrated humor the sly cynicism of a country store.”“Certainly there was nothing exhilarating in the actual words of his speeches, nor anything convincing in his philosophy. His political platforms were only wings of a windmill.”
On the platform I have described, Windrip wins a landslide victory and sails right into the presidency. As president, he declares Congress an “advisory” organization and strips it of all its powers. Any members of Congress who object are promptly thrown in prison. Windrip then creates, arms, and trains a paramilitary force called “the Minute Men,” named after the militiamen who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Windrip’s Minute Men work to enforce his agenda and force anyone who does not support Windrip into submission. Despite everything Windrip is doing, the vast majority of Americans continue to support him, insisting that everything he does is necessary for the restoration of American military power and economic prosperity. When confronted with the notion that Windrip’s regime may be fascistic, they say, “It [i.e. fascism] can’t happen here.”
You may notice some interesting parallels to certain contemporary politicians. Nonetheless, it is important to emphasize that Trump is not Buzz Windrip. They may bear an uncanny resemblance to each other, but they are still different. The character of Buzz Windrip was modeled in part on Adolf Hitler, who was at the height of his power when the book was published, and in part on the Louisiana Democratic Senator Huey Long, who was at the time running for president on a populist platform.
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ABOVE: Image of an early edition of Lewis Sinclair’s novel It Can’t Happen Here
The truth is, I think it is possible for any country on Earth with any form of government to turn into a dictatorship. No country is completely immune to the charms of authoritarianism, not even the United States. We may pride ourselves on our love of freedom, but saying that you love freedom means nothing if your actions do not show it. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to recognize authoritarianism when it rears its ugly head and it is certainly possible for even the most ardent believer in democracy to support an authoritarian figure.
The only real question is not “Is it possible the U.S. will have a dictator?” but rather “How likely is it for the U.S. to become a dictatorship given the present circumstances?” Just because the United States could become a dictatorship does not necessarily mean that it will. If our institutions are upheld and all the powers of the presidency are held in check like they are supposed to be, then we can avert dictatorship.
There is nothing unrealistic about the United States electing a populist demagogue with authoritarian leanings; it has already happened. What I think is somewhat less realistic about Sinclair Lewis’s novel is his portrayal of the conversion of the United States from representative democracy to dictatorship. This conversion—if it does happen—probably will not happen overnight. It will only happen after years and years of norms being flouted and institutions undermined.
If the United States turns into an autocracy, it will probably happen a way similar to the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was not overturned by one man; it took well over a century for the Republic to fully transform into the autocracy of Augustus.
Furthermore, even as late as the reign of the emperor Diocletian (ruled 284 – 305 AD), people were still pretending like “the Republic” was still a thing, even though it really had not meaningfully existed in any sense for over three hundred years. For those interested in the history of the decline of the Roman Republic, the 2018 book Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny by the American classical historian Edward J. Watts is an excellent and startlingly contemporary history of that time period. On page 281—the very last page—Watts offers this brilliant paragraph, which feels as close to home as any news report:
“Rome’s republic, then, died because it was allowed to. Its death was not inevitable. It could have been avoided. Over the course of a century, thousands of average men, talented men, and middling men all willingly undercut the power of the Republic to restrict and channel the ambitions of the individual, doing so in the interest of their own shortsighted gains. Every time Cato misused a political procedure, or Clodius intimidated a political opponent, or a Roman citizen took a bribe in exchange for his vote, they wounded the Republic. And the wounds festered whenever ordinary Romans either supported or refused to condemn men who took such actions. Sulla, Marius, Caesar, and Augustus all inflicted mighty blows on the Republic, but its death was caused as much by the thousands of small injuries inflicted by Romans who did not think it could really die. When citizens take the health and durability of their republic for granted, that republic is at risk. This was as true in 133 BC or 82 BC or 44 BC as it is in AD 2018. In ancient Rome and in the modern world, a republic is a thing to be cherished, protected, and respected. If it falls, an uncertain, dangerous, and destructive future lies on the other side.”
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ABOVE: Cicero Denounces Catiline, painted between 1882 and 1888 by the Italian painter Cesare Maccari. If the United States ever falls into dictatorship, it will probably happen gradually. Over time, norms and institutions will be undermined until dictatorship simply feels normal and natural to most people.
I must end this answer with a question mark. I do not know if the United States will become a dictatorship. If the United States does become a dictatorship, I cannot say how soon it will happen. It could happen a century and half from now or it could happen a decade from now. All I am certain of is that it will take time. Gradually, norms and institutions will be undermined until dictatorship simply feels normal and natural to most people. At first, few will even recognize it as a dictatorship, but the truth of the matter will be made clear by time.
Unless, of course, we stop it from happening altogether.
4 People Describe What’s It Like To Have Bipolar
1. It’s the most amazing pile of beautiful misery to grace the hell of my divine existence! When your good, things are FANTASTIC! the other %80 of the time is spent trying to prevent your (percieved) justifiable suicide.
2. I have bipolar disorder type 2. It has affected me my whole life, though I didn’t realize it and didn’t get diagnosed until my late 30s.
I’m afraid of my own brain. I hyper analyze every mood and feeling, worried that I may be sliding into yet another episode of mania or bone crushing depression.
It sucks. I feel like so much of my life’s potential has been eaten up by the alternating bouts of depression, mania, and the guilt and shame I felt (and still feel) when I do have clarity. I lost my job, my marriage, and very nearly lost my life to bipolar. My ex tried to get my partial custody revoked because I am “crazy” but thankfully in my state that doesn’t hold water unless I demonstrate an inability to care for my kids.
I’ve also lost almost all of my friends, either due to manic or depressed behavior that alienated me from them, my ex’s embellishment of how insane I am, or my isolating myself after my last nervous breakdown. It took 18 months to be well enough to try working again, and every day at work seems like the day I will quit because I can’t take the stress and anxiety of it. But I go. And I keep going every day.
I can’t handle this illness anymore. But I take it a day, an hour, a minute at a time if I have to. And I take my medication religiously. At least I know without a doubt that I have done everything in my power to control this thing rather than let it control me.
3. Sometimes I’m very happy all of the time and I don’t need much sleep. I will start a lot of things and take up many new hobbies which rapidly develop into an obsession and then I’ll move onto something else.
It takes a lot of effort to get things complete because I will work on multiple tasks simultaneously. I was once cleaning the 2 bathrooms, sorting through laundry, cleaning the cooker and dishwasher, cleaning the patio doors, washing the floors, dusting bookshelves and sorting out the drawers under the bed all at once. I was running from task to task and became convinced my slippers were slowing me down. Our apartment at the time had a long, open plan living/dining room and kitchen. I grew convinced my slippers were slowing me down and kicked them across from the living room and into the kitchen.
I also suffer from memory problems during hypomanic episodes, which means that I only remember brief things once the episode has passed. An example of this is with my medication. I had gone to the pharmacy to collect my prescription, but they didn’t have enough and I said I’d call back in for the rest another day. They gave me a slip of paper and I went back a week later after running out of the meds I’d got the week before.
The pharmacist had said I’d been in the day after and collected the rest of my prescription, which I have absolutely no memory of, nor did I know where I would have put my medication if I had. She ended up doubting herself and went back to check the records and could show me that I’d been back in to collect the pills. Not even the time or date jogged any memory. I left to go back to my doctor and ask for another prescription but I had to go home for something. I got to the entrance of my apartment building and I couldn’t find my keys in my pockets and went hunting into my bag. While digging around I found a paper bag and found the remainder of my prescription that I’d picked the following day. I went back and told the pharmacist I’d found them and apologised for taking her away from her other jobs.
I also avoid going outside when I’m hypomanic. When I’m in large crowded areas, I pick up on people’s emotions and start feeling them as if they were my own. And it’s not just a single emotion I’ll feel at once, but a mixture of all emotions. Because people with bipolar’s emotions are already extremely elevated, this becomes intoxicating and I’ll end up very hyperactive and happy, but I’m also more prone to getting angry too. Because I’m hyperactive, I am doing everything faster and it feels like time around me has slowed down, so people walking in front of me, or having my way somewhere blocked makes me very angry.
If I do need to go into a crowded area, I’ll have to spend a few hours mentally preparing myself to go out. So I’ll make a mental map of the places I need to go, the route I’ll need to take to get the things I need in the most efficient way and I can’t deviate from that route as I’m more easily distracted when hypomanic and if I deviate from my route, then I’ll end up spending all my money on cheap tat because I felt like it would make my life a lot better at that time, and then not know why I got it.
My memory problems have also got me into debt several times too. I can buy things and forget I’ve purchased them, then remember I was wanting to buy it and go and buy it again. It’s not uncommon for me to buy 2 – 3 copies of the same thing, and shops rarely allow you to return them, so I end up just giving the multiples away to people.
I’m also prone to making rash, snap decisions. It’s not uncommon for me to randomly quit a job or take a sudden dislike to a close friend and remove them from my life. Due to the way bipolar works (depression and hypomania/mania), your job performance will drop while depressed, and then you can suddenly snap into a hypomanic/manic episode without knowing it and start irritating those around you. Because of how work places tend to treat those with mental health problems, they often won’t take you back if you quit because they see you as a liability.
But you tend to crash into one of the deepest depressions you can have when it ends. Like the saying goes “the higher you go, the further you have to fall”.
4. Some people say stupid things “yesterday I was feeling great and today I just feel normal, omg I’m like so bipolar lol”, don’t say this, it’s hard enough being a victim of it, and it becomes infuriating when people say things like this (this is pretty much true for all mental illnesses).
So what is it like being bipolar? Imagine swimming, swimming forever, you are not a particularly talented swimmer and to make things worse you have weights on your wrists and ankles. The heaviness of these weights change, with no real pattern, sometimes the weights are light enough for you to swim along with everyone else and it’s manageable and life is bearable. But sometimes the weights are heavy and just staying afloat becomes incredibly difficult, and sometimes the weights become even heavier than that, when the weights become too heavy you will eventually slip below the surface.
When you are under it seems like getting back up is impossible, sometimes the weights are so heavy you can’t get back up and you have to hold your breath until they get lighter but the longer you hold your breath the harder it is to not sink further leaving you to be in constant hope the weights become light enough to cope and get back up. For most the thought of giving up and letting go crosses their minds, once you’ve drowned you don’t have to struggle and cope anymore, because of this some people do. For some people the weights do get lighter and they can get back above the surface and continue swimming, some people don’t.
Friends are other swimmers, some have their own weights some don’t and it’s your friends who will rescue you when you sink under, they will help you swim carrying you along but they are also swimming and have to carry themselves, the more they help you the harder their own swimming becomes, some will move on and leave you, some will stay, and you will encounter more, replacing the ones lost.
Some use drugs to help with the struggle, drugs will temporarily make the weights lighter and it will be easier until they wear off but when they do wear off the weights will be heavier than before. Some people hurt themselves, doing this makes the weights slightly lighter but it makes the wearer weaker.
I can’t say bipolar does get better, certain medication will lighten the weights as will positive things in your life but you will always wear your weights. So why keep swimming? Everyone drowns at some point anyway so what’s the point? You want to get as far as you can during your swim, you want to experience the good things and you want to keep going, you want to beat your weights, you want to help carry others, you only get one swim, some people have it easier than others but it’s best not to waste it.
How China’s Nuclear Arsenals Leaving The US Ones Behind
The true and actual number of weapons systems; nuclear and other is absolutely unknown. It’s useless to guess. What the pentagon thinks is probably incorrect.
https://youtu.be/ZLU6n9FyOSY
A Therapist Reveals Unusually Common Things They Often Hear, That People Are Hesitant To Disclose
1. I work in an older adults service for people with dementia and mental health problems. I see a lot of family members/Carers feeling ashamed of the fact that they are finding it incredibly difficult to care for someone that has dementia or a chronic mental health problem.
Carer burnout is a real issue and people need to know that it’s not easy to see someone you love struggling every day, or slowly fading away month by month. Carers and family members desperately need time for themselves and need to know that it’s okay to feel the way that they do.
No one is superhuman and we all have our own needs. It’s why we have therapy groups for Carers. It’s okay to struggle to look after someone and you should in no way feel ashamed of having those feelings.
2. Unwanted intrusive thoughts are normal and do not mean you are a bad person (yes, even intrusions of sexual/religious/moral themes).
By definition, these are thoughts that are unwanted bc they go against your own values and highlight what you don’t want to do (eg, a religious person having unwanted blasphemous images pop into their mind, or a new parent having unwanted sexual thoughts about their new baby).
However normal these thoughts are (over 90% of the population), the moral nature of these thoughts mean that often people experience a lot of shame and take many years before they first tell someone about them.
3. That they “hear voices”. I’ve found that a lot of people aren’t familiar with their own internal dialogue or “self talk” and that this is typically “normal” internal processing. A lot of people think that they are “hearing voices” and hallucinating. There are some pretty simple questions we can ask to determine if it’s hallucinating or just internal dialogue, and most often it’s the latter.
4. Clients become quite fearful of admitting that they weren’t successful since the last time they had a session. This could include not succeeding in using a coping skill that they’re learning about, or not being able to complete a homework assignment I gave them. Humans aren’t robots, and therapy is a lot of work.
That being said, I don’t expect people to be perfect as they start to work on themselves in a positive way. It takes time to really commit to change, especially in relation to trauma or conflicted views that an individual holds. I feel as if the client doesn’t want to let me down as their therapist, but these “failure” events are just as important to talk about as successful moments!
5. Intrusive thoughts about sex with family members or (in their mind ) “nymphomania” as a result of childhood sexual trauma (and adult). Hyper sexuality isn’t often discussed as one of the PTSD symptoms, so people walk around with so much shame about it.
6. A common one in the time I was a therapist was simply “I don’t know”.
You’d be surprised how reluctant people are to admit that they don’t know why they’re feeling how they are. But that’s exactly why you’re (or were, I’m not a therapist any more) sat there with me; so we can figure out why together.
It always put me in mind of a line from America by Simon and Garfunkel:
“Kathy, ‘I’m lost’ I said, though I knew she was sleeping. ‘I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why’.”
7. Some of the most common ones have been visual and/or auditory hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. I usually hear “I don’t want to be put in the hospital” or “I don’t want you to think I’m crazy”. Also, basically anything sexual. I’m not going to judge you for being into BDSM, fetishes, etc. Honestly, I’ve probably heard it before and I’m not here to judge you. Same goes with any non-consensual experiences (especially if we’re working through trauma).
8. Basically, anything having to do with sex. There’s so much shame. Sexual abuse. Sexual fantasies and fetishes. Erectile dysfunction. Infidelity. Becoming sexually assertive. I’ve been told that I have a good “psychologist’s face.” I try not to have a strong reaction to normalize the discussion. With adolescents, they are extremely anxious to tell me if they’ve relapsed or aren’t doing well. They cut one night or they were suicidal. They’re having a lot of negative self-talk or panic attacks. They’ll come in, pretending everything is okay. It’s usually in the last 10-15 minutes that they’ll say something. They’ll reveal that they worried they’d let me down. That I’d be disappointed in them. It usually turns into a discussion about policing other people’s feelings and tolerating emotions. I explain that I care about their well-being and it’s my job to monitor my emotions and reactions, not their role.
9. I’d say a common one is believing that there’s something innately, irreparably wrong with them that makes them unable to ever truly ‘fit in’. For a lot of people it’s such a deeply ingrained belief that it can be extremely painful to acknowledge or express, regardless of the level of personal success in their lives.
10. Two topics come up with regularity: when someone discloses to me that they were sexually abused as a kid, and/or when some is experiencing suicidal ideation. Both are something I hear from clients every single day, and so I don’t find it weird at all. But, when I have someone in front of me who’s talking about it for the first time, I know it’s important to validate the fact that even though I might be talking about this for like the fifth time that day, they have never talked about this EVER, and are in need of gentle care to feel safe.
11. That they haven’t had sex with their partner in years and don’t know how/if they will ever have sex with their partner again. There is so much shame around sex in the USA that a lot of people are scared to talk to their partner about their sexual needs. Time goes by, and suddenly they haven’t had sex in 3, 5, 10 years. It starts for a lot of people in their 40s and 50s.
A lot of people (falsely) believe there is something wrong with their marriage because they fantasize about people other than their partner.
12. I do a lot of trauma work. Many people who have experienced molestation or sexual assault feel ashamed and confused because their bodies responded.
Having an erection/lubrication or even an orgasm does not mean you wanted the sexual contact and it is still assault. Clients often hold a lot of shame and confusion about this.
They wonder if it means they wanted it or if there is something wrong with them. It is a tough thing to work through because of this. Assault is assault. Sometimes human bodies respond to sexual touch even when we don’t want that touch.
13. To name a few: “compulsive” masturbation, fears of being a pedophile/rapist (this is a common OCD fear), hoarding, sexual performance difficulties, history of sexual abuse or sexual assault (unfortunately it is VERY common), drug use, amount of money spent on various things, having an ASD diagnosis, going back to an abusive relationship / staying in an abusive relationship, grieving years and years after a loss, self-harm of all sorts, wanting to abandon their current lifestyle (for example, to have more sex, to escape responsibility or expectations), history of gang violence / crime, their sexuality (or asexuality), gender identity, the impact of racism / racial trauma, paranoia, hallucinations, feeling uncomfortable in therapy, not believing in therapy, difficulty trusting a therapist, fear of psychiatric medication, fear of doctors in general.
14. Recurring intrusive thoughts about harming others. Can be hurting/killing someone or sexual fantasies about children or relatives. Usually people take a while to admit those.
The reality is that if you are having them frequently you aren’t dangerous. You probably have OCD and are terrified that you might be dangerous.
Charles VI of France Believed He Was Made of Glass
Charles VI of France is remembered for two things: his crushing defeat at Agincourt against the British and the fact that he was really quite mad.
Charles’s bouts of psychosis are numerous and well-documented. In 1393, he forgot his name and the fact that he was king. When his wife came to visit in an attempt to help, he had no idea who she was either. He ordered his servants to look after her but also get rid of her.
Then from 1395-96, he began claiming he was Saint George . He recognized his servants and officers, but could not remember his wife or children. Around the same time, he took to running wildly around the corridors of his residence, Hotel Saint-Pol. It became such a problem that to keep him inside and safe, entrances had to be walled up.
Then in 1405, he refused to bathe or wear clean clothes for five months. After this last bout of madness, records of his mental illness become scarcer. It is believed this is not because he recovered but because his bouts of insanity became so numerous that people gave up keeping track of them.
Thanks to Pope Pius II , we know that at some point Charles began to believe he was made of glass . He became terrified of breaking and would let no one touch him. He would sit still for hours and even went as far as having iron rods sewn into his clothing to protect him. It’s common for powerful men to have fragile egos, but Charles took it one step further.
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Could 65 Trillion Dollars In “Hidden” Derivatives Cause The Entire Global Financial System To Crash?
If you thought that the collapse of FTX was something, just wait until the entire global financial system comes crashing down all around us. Most people just assume that the system is being managed by rational people that behave in rational ways, but of course countless investors assumed the same things about FTX. Sadly, the global financial system has slowly but surely been transformed into the largest casino in the history of the world. It is a colossal Ponzi scheme, and once in a while authorities give us a little peek into what is really going on behind the curtain.
For example, this week the Bank for International Settlements released a report that warned that 65 trillion dollars in “hidden” currency derivatives could potentially be a major threat to the stability of the entire system…
There’s a hidden risk to the global financial system embedded in the $65 trillion of dollar debt being held by non-US institutions via currency derivatives, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
In a paper with the title “huge, missing and growing,” the BIS said a lack of information is making it harder for policy makers to anticipate the next financial crisis. In particular, they raised concern with the fact that the debt is going unrecorded on balance sheets because of accounting conventions on how to track derivative positions.
Last year, the total value of all goods and services produced in the entire world was just 96 trillion dollars.
So we are talking about an amount of money that is almost unimaginable.
Everything will be okay as long as financial conditions remain relatively stable.
“Off-balance-sheet dollar debt may remain out of sight and out of mind—but only until the next time dollar funding liquidity is squeezed,” the analysts write. “Then, the hidden leverage in pension funds and insurance companies’ portfolios . . . could pose a policy challenge.”
So let’s hope that such a scenario does not materialize any time soon.
For researchers at the BIS, it’s the sheer scale of the swaps that’s worrying. They estimate that banks headquartered outside the US carry $39 trillion of this debt — more than double their on-balance sheet obligations and ten times their capital. Accounting conventions only require derivatives to be booked on a net basis, so the full extent of the cash involved isn’t recorded on a balance sheet.
“There is a staggering volume of off-balance sheet dollar debt that is partly hidden, and FX risk settlement remains stubbornly high,” said Borio, head of the monetary and economic department at the BIS.
When this thing finally implodes, there isn’t going to be enough money in the entire world to fix it all.
But don’t worry.
The “experts” are telling us that everything is fine.
Meanwhile, more of our largest corporations are planning layoffs. According to the Wall Street Journal, this even includes PepsiCo…
PepsiCo is reported laying off headquarter workers, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A person familiar with the matter told the Journal that hundreds of jobs are being cut in the head office of the North American snacks and beverages divisions.
Employees in Purchase, N.Y., Chicago, Ill. and Plano, Tex. are said to be impacted.
I thought that PepsiCo was doing well.
I guess not.
But don’t worry.
The “experts” are telling us that everything is fine.
Hundreds of media industry staffers were laid off this week during a brutal period that saw Warner Bros. Discovery, Gannett and others slash headcount as economic uncertainty plagues news organizations.
Gannett, a newspaper juggernaut that owns dozens of local media outlets along with USA Today, began its latest round of layoffs on Thursday. The cost-cutting effort impacted roughly 6% of the company’s news workforce of about 3,440 employees.
I can’t remember ever seeing such a wave of layoffs at our largest media companies.
But don’t worry.
The “experts” are telling us that everything is fine.
Of course the truth is that everything is not fine.
Economic conditions are deteriorating all around us, and the ripple effects are being felt everywhere.
According to Fox Business, even Las Vegas is feeling the pain…
Inflation is taking its toll on Sin City as fewer tourists are visiting the gambling Mecca, and those who do spend less than usual, according to a new report.
The University of Las Vegas business school released a report forecasting the city’s economic outlook between 2022 and 2024 and noted that its economy turned grim in June of this year, according to Fox 5.
“Interest rates have gone up. And we know that we know that prices are going up as well. And that’s what the Fed is trying to get their hands around and solve. So it may be that the Fed’s policies is having an effect not only nationally, but it’s also affecting our economy locally,” one of the study’s authors, Professor Stephen Miller, told the outlet.
2008 and 2009 were incredibly difficult years for Las Vegas.
Now those that run businesses in Sin City are bracing for another extended downturn.
In all my years of writing, I have never been more concerned about the short-term economic outlook them I am right now.
It is very likely that 2023 will be a really hard year for the U.S. economy, and of course this comes at a time when the entire globe is being hit by crisis after crisis.
For ages we have been warned that a day of reckoning would eventually be coming, and now it appears that day of reckoning has already arrived.
There is certainly nothing wrong with hoping for the best. But there is also wisdom in getting prepared for the worst.
What’s something that seemed innocent when you were a child, but now that you’re an adult it’s actually inappropriate or creepy?
I was at a family gathering the other day. My brother was tickling my 4 year old daughter. She was giggling, and as kids do when tickled, saying stop. She was being loud (as she was being tickled. That’s what kids do). Grandma then scolded my daughter for being loud. I said “She said stop”, my brother said, “She’s laughing, she likes it.”
Now, I am not saying anybody in my family was doing anything inappropriate. I suspect zero foul play, it was innocent fun. Still, objectively, I saw this happen:
I saw a girl, being touched, and saying stop.
Then, a man saying, see, she likes it.
Then another woman, a trusted adult, blaming the child for being to loud, silencing her protests.
Again, totally innocent situation.
But knowing what goes on in the world, I don’t like it. I don’t like the normalizing of “see, she liked it”.
How many molesters start with the tickling game. Get the kid used to you touching their arm. Then the shoulder. Then move inwards. That’s called grooming, and I’d bet a lot of that starts innocently enough.
Again, I am not saying the Uncle was doing anything wrong. But the actions that happened, in another context, could be very wrong.
We don’t play the tickling game anymore. And when my daughters say no, they will be heard.
Nero the Mother Killer
To be honest, you could write an entire list just of crazy rulers of Rome. The most famous of them is probably Nero. Nero appears to have begun his reign relatively sane, but increasingly fell into a paranoia that left him a little crazy.
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Much has been made of Nero’s violent tendencies, but Nero had a softer side (which was also crazy). By the time Nero became the emperor of Rome at the age of seventeen, he had been trained in the arts and was a talented singer, musician, and reciter of poetry.
In Roman culture, professional actors and musicians were, socially speaking, barely higher than whores or slaves. But Nero loved to perform. As emperor, he hosted a range of events and competitions to play in public. He even went as far as entering the Olympic Games and forcing the organizers to include artistic competitions. Unsurprisingly, he won every event he entered.
He loved performing so much and played for so long that audience members came up with inventive means of escape. Old men would feign death and women would fake going into labor just to escape. When Nero died he stated, “What an artist dies in me.”
Also, he had a habit of killing the people close to him. It all began with his mother, whom he had killed. His reasons for having his mother killed are unclear, but it seems after her death Nero began to suffer from paranoia. If his own mother could turn on him, anyone could.
It is widely believed Nero had his first wife killed and killed his second wife himself. After his second wife, Poppaea, died, he had a young commoner who resembled his deceased wife castrated. He then dressed the young man as his wife and married him – truly the actions of a crazy ruler.
French ambassador: US ‘rules-based order’ means Western domination, violating international law
That’s right, China is not rising, China is regaining its former position it’s been having for at least 2000 years prior to Western aggression and colonization.
The West’s 200 years of domination is coming to an end whether it accepts it or not. The sooner the West learns to live and deal properly with the new multipolar world the better is for everyone.
If the West is not able to compete within its own trade platforms and continue to abuse its own financial systems, then they really shouldn’t blame China or other countries for creating new trade and financial platforms that would better serve the people of the developing world.
Qin Shi Huang’s Search for Immortality
Qin Shi Huang was a ruler who believed his own hype. At least in his case, it was somewhat earned. Qin Shi Huang rose to power as the first emperor of a unified China in the 3rd century BC.
Once Huang gained power, he rapidly became obsessed with keeping it. He had many enemies, and over the years he faced several assassination attempts. The idea that death was the only thing that could separate him from power caused him to lose his mind. He became obsessed with gaining immortality. He consulted doctors who prescribed him a healthy regimen of sex to maintain his vitality.
When this failed, he began taking pills full of mercury. These had the opposite effect. His health declined, and so did his sanity. As Huang lost more and more of his marbles, he turned to mysticism. His greatest adventurers were sent out to the ‘Islands of the Immortals’ to find a magical elixir that would allow him to live forever. Fearing evil spirits, he had a complex system of tunnels built that connected his 200 palaces.
Huang is best remembered for his magnificent tomb filled with its army of terracotta soldiers. They were meant to be an immortal army that would protect their supposedly immortal emperor. Huang died in 210 BC..
thought
Eggnog Fudge
“Instead of giving away fudge, make the fudge look like a wrapped present!”
In a large pot on medium high heat, mix sugar, eggnog and vanilla. Stir until it begins to boil. Stop stirring and place candy thermometer along pots edge and allow to heat to 238 degrees. Once this occurs remove from heat and stir in butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until just combined and then pour into a parchment lined 10X10 inch tin and allow to cool completely.
Cut into various shapes and smooth any rough edges with a potato peeler. Pierce one end with a toothpick. Coat shapes in the candy melt color of your choosing and allow to set completely before decorating .
Mix frosting and scoop into a medium piping bag. Pipe decorative final ribbons. Paint after completely dry if desired. I found a small star tip makes for a perfect ruffle ribbon with one little squeeze.
Putin Balks At West Imposing Oil Price Cap
Alex and Alexander are the best geopolitical analysts out there. Great to see them on your show Jimmy.
What’s It Like To have Narcissistic Personality Disorder
As an actual narcissist, I’m writing anonymously to avoid being exposed. I may not be officially diagnosed with NPD (nor I’d ever want to be), but two of my psychologists, including the current one, described me as “a narcissist”, and being a psychology student myself, I think it’s unfortunately accurate.
My self-image, it’s quite inconsistent. Sometimes, I do feel grandiose, but in many aspects I am objectively above-average, at least.
Since I’ve had episodes of serious depression, I’ll explain it in comparison to that.
When you are depressed, you view yourself as horrible by cherry-picking your worst qualities and experiences. It might be accurate – if a bit exaggerated – but you forget about the good things.
Now, narcissistic grandiosity feels like the opposite of that. You cherry-pick your best qualities and experiences. When you think of yourself, only your successes and capabilities come to your mind. (Part accurate, part exaggerated)
Now how does being a narcissist feel? I think the feeling i could most strongly attribute to being a narcissist, is the constant need to be important, respected and powerful. If people treat you with just a tiny little bit less respect, than you think you deserve, you get angry. And by angry, I mean internally consumed by rage.
That awful, bitter feeling started in my childhood (obviously). I’ll describe the process as well as I can.
So… I used to be a very kind, intelligent, but a bit spirited, and more than a bit aggressive child until my early teens. While I was always in the top quarter of the class, and pretty responsible for my age, there were those times, when I was told off, called cheeky, punished, ect…
For most people, this is a normal part of their childhood, but for me, it increasingly felt like being unfair to me, and I couldn’t accept that. I resented adults (and I still do) more than anything. Every mistake seemed bigger in their eyes when I made them, than when they did.
Swearing, wanting too much, becoming angry, speaking my mind had much more consequences for me, than for them. (I know, this is true for all minor mistakes of children, compared to that of their parents, but still. I couldn’t accept. I can’t.)
They spotted all my mistakes so well, so I began to spot theirs.
My parents were relatively sensible people, as far as parents go, but they were certainly no angels. They often shouted at each other, swore all the time, and talked to me and each other in a pretty rude way.
They smoked. They lied. (Who doesn’t?) They didn’t always do well in their jobs. Basically no serious, abusive stuff. But they (and other adults) were of course scandalized, if we, kids did any of that. I always asked them why, and they always reasoned with things like “It’s not your house, You live on your parents’ money, We know better, You should respect your elders…”.
And I just felt desperate and powerless. I was too young to work and unqualified anyway.
I couldn’t grow up instantly, but I often fantasized about that when we’ll get older, they would get it all back. They would be dependent on ME! And I would tell them off! I would be the boss. And most of all, I’d be BETTER than them. I’d show them that I’ve ALWAYS been!
But well, meanwhile I had to get my way somehow. I knew by that time that kindness and logic don’t convince everyone, honesty just gets you into trouble, and obedience makes your superiors have even higher expectations towards you. And that is where the narcissist’s best friend, manipulation comes into the picture.
I had to learn how different kinds of people react to different approaches. To use my words as a means to an end, rather than wearing my heart on my sleeve.
In some situations, i needed to tone my tactless, aggressive personality down. That was pretty difficult, but worth it. I genuinely became more patient because of this little self-control exercise.
In others, I needed to exaggerate my emotions. That came pretty naturally.
And by my late teens, I tended to switch from nice to furious in seconds. (It can baffle people into compliance.)
Guilt-tripping and directing the blame at others came as a family legacy. (Heh.)
All of this for that sweet, sweet feeling of power.
Still, I empathize with other people, and will be benevolent towards them, as long as they at least treat me like an equal.
But I’ll be hell-bent on humiliating those, who are condescending towards me.
Despite all of this, I think it’s possible to channel all these possibly harmful urges into something positive.
If you want to be admired and feel powerful, you can deceive yourself and others into thinking that you are, OR you can work towards being actually admired and powerful. That’s what I’m trying to do.
I used to go to a therapy group, where I realized that helping people gives me a rush of power that is much more satisfying than simple, selfish manipulation.
Honestly grateful “admirers” are much better than mislead ones. Thus, I found my place in the field of psychology….So that’s all.
You can be disgusted by me or think I’m a horrible person, but these are the feelings of a certain narcissist. And hey, at least I’m self-aware, and trying to better myself. And wrote this long text for your entertainment.
(So feel free to feel thankful and praise me. 😛 )
What should I absolutely not do when visiting your country?
Rwanda, a tiny country in the eastern central part of Africa (it is there, in red) Rwanda
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When visiting Rwanda, don’t bring any plastic bags as they are prohibited in the country. When you try to bring them, they will be confiscated right at the airport. Same goes with throwing waste in the environment, our country is very clean, and throwing any waste would be a shame for you, and the authorities can punish you for that.
Don’t openly discuss ethnic issues. 22 years ago our country had seen one of the most atrocious tragedies in human history 1994 Genocide Rwandan genocide
you shouldn’t go around asking everyone what? where? how? who are you? The good way to learn this history is to try and visit some memorials which are rich in that history and it’s near the main city, Kigali and almost in every other city across the country.
Don’t try to take pictures of everything you see especially people even young kids in the street without first asking. Yes, our country is still under development, you might see poor neighborhood, young street kids or some funny things you can make out of those pictures – taking photos of those vulnerable people without their permission is a sensitive issue in our culture.
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You shouldn’t be annoyed or irritated if someone didn’t make it on time. For many people being late “is just okay” one hour or 4 hours would still be okay 😉 so if you are meeting someone either for business or personal affairs just bear this in mind and be patient.
Restaurant and other service businesses. You will be treated really well, in fact a special treatment will be given to you if you are a foreigner (Rwandans are very welcoming and we are naturally good to our neighbours), but don’t take advantage of it or think that they want something from you (i.e. don’t shout or raise your voice when you are not satisfied with the service, there is a good manner to bring the issue at hand).
Rwanda is very safe and secure. Contrary to the popular belief or some perception of a country which has been in Genocide 22 years ago, you can move around anytime you want; even midnight. Don’t expect anyone to understand what you are talking about, even if you speak English or French, the majority of people only know one language; Kinyarwanda. Taxis, local traders, waiters, service providers, etc. they try hard to understand you but make sure when you are traveling to have a local guide with you (this will also help you pay less for everything, because you will not be overcharged cause you are a foreigner)
Don’t bring cats or dogs to public places or smoke in public. This doesn’t mean Rwandans hate animals, it means they respect other people’s views almost on anything. There are also special places reserved for smokers.
When you are a guest to someone’s home, don’t pay (or contribute) for the food or drinks offered unless asked to, this is rude or in some cases disrespectful.
Don’t get annoyed if you are being called ‘muzungu’ everywhere. Literally muzungu means ‘a traveler’ but it is widely known as ‘white people’, even Asians are called ‘muzungu’ 😉 😉 Don’t think they are being racists or are they trying to insult you.
Welcome to Rwanda! The land of thousand hills.
This Rare Battle-Sword Just Found in Sweden Is “An Evolutionary Leap”
Kalmar battle sword
Researchers in Sweden were excavating a 400-year-old cellar floor when they came across this “rare” battle-sword from the Military Revolution.
Archaeologists from Arkeologerna were digging at the intersection of the Kungsgatan and Västerlnggatan roads in the city of Kalmar, in the southeast of Sweden on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
Best known for its Renaissance-style Kalmar Castle , with turrets and a drawbridge, in the old town cobbled streets lead visitors along corridors of well-preserved 17th- and 18th-century buildings.
The Arkeologerna researchers discovered a cellar floor which records suggested was part of a medieval farm that belonged to “Gotskalk Hulskede in 1368 AD”. The farm property was again mentioned in a 1483 AD text and it is known that it burned down in the summer of 1611 AD during the Kalmar War.
A report in Heritage Daily says the archaeologists discovered “two severely burned hand grinders, a pile of charred grains, and broken brick, stone, and wood” most probably from the top floors of the houses covering the cellar’s floor. And it was while they were removing collapsed roofing material that the “rare” Danish sword was discovered.
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Two heavily fire-damaged hand grinders. ( Arkeologerna)
You Can Only Poke The Bear So Often!
The Kalmar War/Conflict was fought between Sweden and Denmark-Norway from 1611 AD to 1613 AD. Tensions began back in 1607 AD when King Charles IX of Sweden declared himself King of the Lapps, then taxed them, in what was traditionally Norwegian territory. Then, to get around paying tolls to Denmark and Norway for using the Øresund “Sound” strait, which separates the Baltic Sea and the North Sea , Sweden forged a new route via Lapland.
According to a report in TechTimes, this one toll “constituted up to two thirds of Denmark’s state income in the 16th and 17th centuries”. Not at all chuffed, i n April 1611 AD King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway declared war upon Sweden and invaded from the south with 6,000 Danish soldiers.
The city and castle of Kalmar were known as the “key to Sweden,” because they controlled the Kalmar Straight and all shipping access to the northern trade routes on the Swedish east coast, and Stockholm. The 6,000 invaders had their weapons trained on first taking control of Kalmar’s castle, then the entire city, but things didn’t go according to plan.
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The excavated stone cellar in a Kalmar street, where the battle sword was found. ( Arkeologerna)
Lost in the Smoke of War
After several months of sieging, Danish forces successfully penetrated Kalmar’s city walls, but they failed to crush the Swedish forces and skirmishes continued until the death toll got to around 900 men (700 Swedish and 200 Danes). Eventually, England drew up peace terms which were guaranteed by King James I of England and VI of Scotland and the Peace of Knäred was signed on 21 January 1613 AD, bringing the Kalmar War to a close.
King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden’s victory over Denmark set him on the path that would see him build his territory and army into a major regional power. This is why historians regard the conflict as a turning point in the history of armed conflict in Scandinavia. And it was in the aftermath of this war that the cellar burned causing its roof to collapse, covering the “rare” Swedish sword.
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Excavations in Kalmar revealed, in the now exposed 17th century basement, lay the lost weapons of a Danish soldier. ( Arkeologerna)
This Weapon Is ‘An Evolutionary Leap’
Arkeologerna said in a statement that at the time of the Kalmar War armies across Europe were experiencing “the military revolution.” An article in the defense publication, The Forge , explains the term ‘Military Revolution’ was originally coined in a paper delivered by Michael Roberts in 1955 to describe the period between 1560 AD and 1660 AD which saw new tactics and weapon systems being tested. These military changes brought about “significant transformation in warfare that contributed to the elevation of Western Europe as a center of world power,” according to Roberts.
Arkeologerna describes the rare sword as “an evolutionary leap” from the medieval sword , to more modern designs that would eventually dominate the 17th century battlefield. And symbolically, perhaps no better of an artifact could have been discovered to mark the Kalmar War, and Sweden’s first steps into the military revolution, than a broken and defeated Danish sword.
Top image: The Kalmar sword in situ where it was found. The tip is broken. Maybe in connection with battle? Source: Arkeologerna
By Ashley Cowie
How many Flat-Earthers are there in the United States?
Too many.
A friend’s daughter is a flat-earther. I have another friend who is a U2/ER2 pilot. The pilot gave me pictures that he took from the cockpit at 65,000 feet that clearly shows the curvature of the Earth. The flat-earther immediately went into the “He’s lying.” “The cockpit is distorting the view making it look curved when it’s not.” and “It’s lens distortion.”
It’s like arguing with a log.
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Confessions of a Man Who Shot Himself In The Head And Survived
What pushed you to do it?
A lot. Losing my girlfriend, the savings account we worked at for years, the business we created. Just exacerbated my anxiety and depression.
My ex really pushed me to get help in the times where I wasn’t struggling, so I became defensive and put it off. I shouldn’t have, because it would have given me the skills to get through the times I was struggling. Therapy is a bitch. I keep learning things about myself that I’m not proud of. Things I could have managed better for years. The more I learn, the more confident I become that I can better myself.
How long did you take to decide that you were ready to end it?
I decided the night before. It took about 12 hours for me to finalize it.
Did you think about your girlfriend before you did it?
She was in the house. I yelled that I loved her. Then I said Im sorry to my mom, and that I loved her (she wasn’t in the house). But yeah. For years, she was/is constantly my first thought.
What did it feel like when you shot yourself?
Nobody prepares you for what getting shot feels like. It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t sting. It doesn’t ache. It just burns. Like fire in my head. And blood pouring from my mouth.
I think I was still in shock when I arrived at the hospital, but when they pushed the fentanyl, all that burning went away and I could recognize how much burning pain I was in.
I remember not being able to talk because my tongue hurt.
My pain the first month in the hospital got progressively worse, but high amounts of painkillers will trick you into that.
How did the shot not kill you? How did it “miss”?
I don’t fucking know. It went in by the corner of my left jaw, and came out above my forehead on the right side, taking most of the orbit of my eye with it. I fucked up.
What caliber did you use?
9mm Luger.
Maybe it wasn’t your time?
I wish. I don’t really believe in that mentality. Someone close to me said something along the lines of, “God wasn’t ready for you yet.” And my first thought was, “thousands of years of medicine research and a team of excellent doctors is the reason I’m here, but ok.”
I’ve read stories about how people who jumped off bridges (and survived) immediately regretted doing so and wanted to live more than anything as they were falling. Right after the moment, did you have regrets about doing it with a desire to live or maybe have disappointments that it didn’t work? Or maybe no feelings at all right after?
I woke up with a “what the fuck?” Mentality. I was more confused that I woke up. I didn’t really have feelings about it until a few months later when the drugs wore off.
What was the first thing your mom said to you afterwards?
I’m not sure what my mom said. I woke up post surgery and my whole family was there (they all had to fly in). I was very confused. (Now I know I was in surgery for 10 hours).
What was the road to recovery like for you?
It’s still ongoing. 2 months in the hospital/rehab, lots of follow up appointments, physical therapy, mental/emotional therapy.
Legal battles for custody and household items.
Lots of reintegration with my parents and immediate family, which has been great. It fortunately brought us all closer.
Before I did it, I can’t remember the last time my brother and I spoke on the phone even. It really shook my brother the most. I’m super grateful for his presence in my life now.
Physically, what are the long term consequences to your face and skull from shooting your self?
Physically, I lost my right eye. And I have a plate in my jaw forever. And my forehead is missing a piece of bone they took out during a bifrontal craniotomy. Beyond that, I’m pretty healthy.
Is your face messed up?
Pretty normal for a dude with one eye.
Are you dealing with chronic pain, nerve damage, headaches, etc.?
It’s alright. Headaches suck, mostly because only morphine is enough to dull them. Nerve damage is only in my jaw/tongue/cheek, which is frustrating, but I started vaping because it makes my tongue tingle, and I don’t bite it accidentally anymore.
Is she okay?
Probably not. But she won’t talk to me. I truly hope she is. Of all the negativity between us, I only hope that she’s doing well and that someday, sooner than later, we can sit down and have an honest discussion about it.
What’s something you would want to say to your ex-girlfriend?
This is something I think about all the time. Previously, I was very concerned with myself, and put myself into context when I didn’t need to. That’s something I’d change if I had an hour to sit down with her.
I’d really like her to know that I love her. To this day, nothing has changed. I’d like to have the conversation that I don’t hold anything against her, except for the fact that she knew and didn’t drag me to get help and stand by me, in ways I did for her, and leaving me in the worst of times.
I’d really like the opportunity to listen to her. I don’t know what she has to say, and I don’t need to hear anything. I wasn’t a very effective communicator during our relationship, and I’d like the opportunity to really hear her out, and share those emotions.
Do you still harbor thoughts about suicide?
They’ve mostly gone away. There are times I ponder it, but it’s more the idea of, whereas previously I was fantasizing the roadmap.
Did anything change about your personality or preferences on things as a result of the trauma? Something you would never expect that would change?
Not particularly in personality or preferences. I became a hell of a lot more forgiving and patient, which wasn’t much existent (except with my kids) before.
I think the thing that changed the most was having my emotional brain available. I wasn’t very capable of connecting with my emotions before, I genuinely thought I was broken. I really got down on myself when it came to my ex, because I couldn’t empathize with her when she experienced heightened emotions, and it put a wedge between us, or I did. Now I’m empathizing with commercials, and it’s really bizarre when I become mindful of it, even still.
Do you regret doing it?
I think a lot about regret. I don’t regret shooting myself. I regret the way I proposed to my ex. I regret the way I treated her and other people when they needed me. I regret losing sight of myself because I wanted to be someone else. I regret spending so much time looking for escape instead of looking inward. But I don’t regret shooting myself. It changed my world.
How are things going for you now?
It’s not really going better. I spent years developing a family and life. It’s going about exactly as I predicted before putting a gun to my head. But! On the other side of that, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about love, myself, and bettering myself mentally that I never could have without experiencing tragedy in my previous lifestyle.
And I get to share my story and hopefully help others, which is something I never cared much about.
Ivan the Terribly Crazy
So far, most of the crazy leaders discussed above, lived lives of luxury. Their madness was either the result of an insatiable ego or in Charles’s case, genetic. But Ivan IV, or Ivan the Terrible as he would come to be known, was different. He lost his mind due to the abuse he had suffered as a young man.
Ivan lost both of his parents at a young age. After the loss of his mother at the tender age of seven, Ivan was left defenseless. The elite members of the Russian government tormented and abused him. At an early age, Ivan began torturing small animals as a coping mechanism.
In 1544, at the age of 14, Ivan had had enough. He seized control of his country by having the head of the government fed to a pack of hungry dogs. He was crowned tsar two years later at the age of 16.
At first, it appeared being made ruler cured him of his insanity. He made a public confession and apologized for his various cruel acts. In the beginning, he was a good tsar. For example, he created laws aimed at creating class equality, so that no one would suffer as he had.
But it didn’t last long. He soon began massacring his own people, especially anyone who dared challenge his autocratic tendencies. As he got older, he became more unhinged and the paranoia and rage of his youth reappeared. This culminated in the murder of his eldest son, heir, and favorite, Ivan Ivanovich.
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12 Guys Reveal The Red Flags They Ignored, For The Sake of Getting Laid
1. She legit stole my wallet the first time we hooked up. It had $200 in it
Sex was so damn good I just made sure I hid my wallet and valuables for rounds 2-4
2. That she was crazy. One of the first things she said to me while making out at a party was “they all say I’m crazy, but I’m really not.”
3. She said she had thousands of kids that telepathically communicate with her all at once.
I only talked to her for a few more weeks and slowly faded myself out since I was too afraid to just ghost her. That’s the type of crazy I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. I didn’t pry too much more into it due to how uncomfortable I got.
4. The last girl I dated told me she liked holding a knife to her ex’s neck while he slept because she fantasized about murder and wanted to see what it felt like.
5. She showed up to my apartment without directions or asking. She was a friend of a friend, and knew the complex itself from talking with her earlier. Never crossed my mind to ask how she figured out my building or apartment until later, and when you wake up to a cute girl knocking on your door at 2 AM, it doesn’t really cross your mind.
We saw each other for a few months, til I figured our what was cute at first was stalkers and became upsetting when I need to sleep. Lesson learned, now I use an alias and safe house when I meet people.
6. 20 year old stripper whose husband was in jail. Husband got out and fire bombed my car in her driveway.
7. She told me she was a manipulative, emotionally unavailable, and controlling person. I still went in. She wasn’t lying lol but I think I maneuvered it well.
8. First day, she fell in love. Day two, she slapped me in the face. Day three, she broke into my house. Day 4, I learned she could squirt across the room. Day 5, she told me she had chlamydia. Day 6, I smashed one last time and didn’t pull out. Day 7, she brought me the pill that treats chlamydia and sucked my soul out right after. Day 8 and beyond, I ignored the rest of her calls and left her on read. I’m surprised my house didn’t get burnt down as it still stands today.
9. Hooked up with a girl near DC who was very into SpongeBob, which is cool I am too, but she was like SUPER into SpongeBob. Throw pillows, posters, stuffed animals everywhere. When we hooked up she made me do the laugh so she’d get off
10. Family gang ties. She would use that as a threat to prevent me from breaking up, cheating, or making her upset in general.
11. I met a girl on a bus and on our first date she told me that her father is always present and she can see him sitting right next to me. I thought she was joking or used a metaphor of him always watching her but she pointed where he was sitting (I should mention that he is alive and well). I proceeded to have a 2 year long relationship with her with lots of weird things happening in it.
English wasnt her first language neither was mine but we communicated in english. Sometimes she would say “we” when talking about what she did on a day and refuse to elaborate. Any kind of argument would end up with her trying to gaslight me about unimportant details (like she would say something and I would quote it back to her and she would say: “no thats what you said.”
She married a 60 year old man when she was 25. Really mysterious person – to this day I cant say how crazy she really is.
12. I get to her place, and it is like 4 things away from a trash heap. Seriously, piles of trash, clothes, dishes, books, etc. EVERYWHERE! Her couch looked like it was rescued from a dump. I have no sense of smell (luckily) and was down baaaaad so I was like whatever.
Then I hear a small critter noise, look over and she’s got a massive cage FULL of mice/rats. Like a ceiling to floor length cage, the kind you’d keep several toucans in. I cannot tell you the level of uncomfortable it is making out on a filthy couch, next to a pile of trash while being able to hear mice. Sex was amazing though, but I just couldn’t deal. She was a PhD student or something and the mice were retired lab rats, even still… Clean your place.
13. That she was 100% bat shit insane.
Met online. She opened with saying “wow what a dirty old white man. Whats with you white men?” She, herself, was white.
I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. She was dead ass serious about having a heated racial argument against her own race. I played along. Turns out, she does that as a “test” to see if people can “handle her”. Red flag, but she was one of the hottest people I’ve ever talked to. We continue on.
She is an artist/engineer. She tells me how big her house is and how she would LOVE to support me. She’d pay all my bills, etc. This seemed odd, as I just met her.
She insisted I come out to Detroit to see her. I was in Ohio. I have known her a day. Well, as my blood wasn’t in the right area of my body, I decided to go. I drove the few hours and showed up at what could only be described as a house used in movies to depict a trailer trash, dirty individual.
Her front yard was covered in an array of random objects. It looked like a bomb went off in the middle of a yard sale for stuff a goodwill wouldn’t accept. There was so much random stuff, I has to step on a chair and over a fence to get from her driveway to the front door. We continued on.
Her house was a mess. It was like a homeless person got a home and moved all their homeless essence into it. It wasn’t dirty, per say, just…so so so much clutter. We went to her room and i laid down. We proceeded to talk for a while, and we wound up in a moment of silence.
I brought up something I’d seen in a documentary recently and she got super serious, super fast. She looked at me and said “okay, and the point of that sentence was…?” I replied that I was just trying to make small talk. “Who fuckin cares about a documentary. Why do I give a shit?”.
I wasn’t sure how to respond , so I went with just explaining the concept of small talk. She interrupted me and said “you are boring as fuck. Why bother opening your mouth?”
I couldn’t understand what was happening. I never had an interaction like that before. She was now nitpicking everything I said and getting angrier by the minute. I tried so much to change the subject to something she’d like but I couldn’t manage.
I still decided to sleep over. The worst part was, no matter how I tried to initiate the sex that she was talking nonstop about having over text when we met, it never happened. We just..went to sleep. I spent the entire night staring at her ceiling instead of leaving because, well, tomorrow exists.
The last straw was when she got up, pretended I didn’t exist, walked to the bathroom and took the loudest, nastiest shit ive ever heard come out of a woman…with the door open. She didn’t wash her hands, or flush.
All that for a set of blue balls and hours and hours of wasted driving.
The only good thing about this world is that’s it’s a kitty world.
How do you bring a nervous cat into a new home?
Patience, grasshopper.
Tess, pictured below, was put outside by the meth heads next door when she was just a few months old and no longer a cute kitten. Her ‘owners’ would put a handful of Kit and Kaboodle on their porch twice a day (please NEVER buy that food, the first three ingredients are corn, it’s disgusting) , and that was it. No food bowl, no water, no love.
Tess (they called her Princess, and I said fuck that) was an extremely shy cat who was easily frightened and spent most of her time hiding under a nearby house. I regularly put food out for local strays as there are so many of them, and she soon realized she could come to my front steps for better food.
When Tess was 8 or so, the meth heads moved out and left her behind. It took months of feeding her and talking to her to finally get close enough to pet her, and one day I had a cat carrier with me and I scooped her up, kept her isolated in her own room until I my vet could test her for kitty aids and leukemia (so there was no risk to my other cats), and then began the slow integration into my home.
This was Tess in May of 2015. I could finally get close enough to pet her and take her picture, but you can see the wariness and sadness in her eyes. At this point the House next door was empty.
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Shortly after that I grabbed her and brought her inside. She was filthy and covered in fleas.
And this was Tess just two months later in July 2015. Amazing what a little love, good food and a safe place to sleep can do.
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It took me 2 or 3 months to go from being a face behind a screen door to actually touching her, and about as long again for her to realize my home was now her home too.
And now I’m going through that all over again with a skinny, battle scarred little cat who comes to me for food but still won’t let me pet him, even after 6 months. I haven’t named it and don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but I’m hoping I can help make its life better some day soon.
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The above photo was taken a month ago and I still can’t get any closer. I think this little one has been through rough times.
Be patient. It can be frustrating at times, but the reward of knowing you helped save a life, even a small and insignificant one, is priceless.
Now about the Chinese “one child policy”…
Yeah. The policy ended ten years ago, but suddenly my Quora feed is all about a million questions about this 12-year old policy. Then when I initially complained questioned repeated themselves, but changed to the “new two-child” policy. Eh?
If you look at the date when the questions were asked, it seems that there’s some jackass, just pumping out these questions over a period of every five minutes for the last four days.
Or, perhaps a ‘Bot was set on “auto harass”.
Western social media is a real mess. I don’t even know where to begin.
Lets’ continue on…
Tears of the Sun: Killing the rebels responsible for the massacre
I can’t believe this movie has negative reviews. Seen this so many times and I’m never bored, and god did I cry at this scene, not ashamed to admit it.
Cats are in control
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The Numbers Are Screaming That A Giant Tsunami Of U.S. Layoffs Has Now Begun
We knew that economic conditions were deteriorating, but this is getting ridiculous. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the number of layoffs in November was 127 percent higher than it was in October. That isn’t just a trend, that is an avalanche. And compared to the same month in 2021, the number of layoffs in November was 417 percent higher. Please take a moment and let that figure sink in. A 417 percent increase is a colossal shift. Essentially, these numbers are telling us that a giant tsunami of U.S. layoffs has now begun, and I believe that things will get even worse in 2023 and beyond. Our leaders have pursued policies that have been extremely destructive to the U.S. economy, and many of us have been warning that a day of reckoning would arrive. Well, it appears that a day of reckoning for America’s workers is now here, and the months ahead are not going to be pretty.
There is no way to spin these numbers to make them look good. Major layoff announcements are popping up in the news every single day, and what we have witnessed over the past several weeks is nothing short of staggering…
The pace of job cuts by U.S. employers accelerated in November, with the number of layoffs climbing 127% from just one month ago, according to a report published on Thursday by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Companies announced 76,835 job cuts in November, led by the technology sector, the analysis showed. That is 417% higher than the same time one year ago.
And these numbers don’t even include the latest layoffs that have just happened.
As our new housing crash continues to accelerate, Wells Fargo has decided that now is the time to lay off “hundreds more mortgage employees”…
Wells Fargo & Co. cut hundreds more mortgage employees Thursday, the latest in a series of reductions across the industry after higher interest rates brought the pandemic-era home-lending boom to halt.
The reductions took place across the country, according to people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The latest wave comes amid ongoing Federal Reserve rate hikes to tame persistent inflation, pushing mortgage rates toward their highest levels in two decades. Refinancings have dried up and some potential homebuyers have been sidelined in the process.
Normally, big companies would be compassionate enough to at least wait until after the holiday season to let people go.
But now times have changed and a lot of these large firms are really feeling a sense of urgency to reduce payrolls.
FedEx Freight, the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carrier, will begin furloughing an undetermined number of drivers on Sunday, the FedEx Corp. unit confirmed Wednesday.
The voluntary furloughs will run until March 6, with drivers getting a guarantee to return to work, the unit confirmed.
FedEx Freight is offering drivers a $300 weekly incentive to accept a furlough. The total payments will be made when the drivers return to work, according to the FedEx unit.
Have you ever heard of FedEx getting rid of workers prior to the holidays before?
I haven’t either.
This is nuts.
If we are seeing this many layoffs now, what will things look like once the holidays are over?
At this point, even the Federal Reserve is admitting that more layoffs are coming. In fact, Fed officials are now estimating that about a million Americans will lose their jobs by the end of 2023…
Updated projections from the Fed’s meeting showed unemployment rising to 4.4% by the end of next year, up from the current rate of 3.5%. That is significantly higher than in June when policymakers saw the jobless rate inching up to 3.7%. That could mean roughly 1 million Americans lose their jobs between now and the end of 2023.
Of course Fed projections are almost always way too optimistic.
If Fed projections were accurate, we would still be in a low inflation environment right now.
Let’s be honest. If we get to next December and only a million Americans have lost their jobs, we should have a massive national celebration because that would definitely represent the sort of “soft landing” that Jerome Powell has been hoping for.
Needless to say, that sort of wildly optimistic scenario is not likely to play out.
As I discussed a few days ago, 41 percent of all small business owners in America could not pay rent in the month of November.
When more than four out of every 10 small businesses cannot even pay rent, your economy is in serious trouble.
I warned that we would soon be facing a severe downturn if the Fed kept aggressively hiking interest rates, and many others issued similar warnings.
But the Fed didn’t listen to any of us.
In fact, Fed officials keep telling us that rates are going to go even higher.
So what will their excuse be when the economy completely crashes?
But will the millions of Americans that will soon lose their jobs be in any mood to accept such apologies?
Losing a good paying job that you absolutely love can be absolutely devastating.
Sadly, countless Americans are going to have to endure the sudden loss of a job in the months ahead, and no amount of babbling from our leaders will make the pain go away.
What is the best toy you have ever gotten for your cats?
Cardboard boxes . . .
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Cats love them . . .
They hide in them . . scratch at them . . . listen to you scratch at them from inside the box with your fingernails while they’re outside . . . then leap inside to see what all the noise was about.
And they’ll do it all over again the next day . . .
If you have a new kitten, as I’ve had often, save the cardboard boxes that accumulate in your daily life and leave them around on the floor about the house.
Cut a few cat-sized holes in them with a pocket knife, a cat window or two, at cat eye level, or leave them as is . . .
You, and they, have never had such low cost fun . . .
As reported in Reuters in Nov 2022, people in Shanghai, China chant “Down with the Communist Party and Xi Jinping”. Why do they do that?
Most of them, the so called protesters, speak with very strong HK accent.
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The US sent CIA agents and Ukrainian Nazis to HK to teach locals how to riot.
It’s just the 1989 once again.
The US has been trying what they had been doing during the cold war, because they believe that’s how they won it.
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“It feels like that CIA is just pretenting to work hard in order to spend its budget at the end of year. The localization work is really bad by sending a bunch of HK accent people to fool the locals. It just doesn’t work in such localized city like Chengdu.
It’s time to develop some local rogues. It would solve job positions for some young people. @US embassy in China, thumb up to you.”
2022 12 05 14 30
Chengdu Branch:
They yelled “(we) want freedom” in mandarin. Local people yelled back with Sichuan accent saying “(you) want your mothers ass freedom”.
Leader of the protest has very strong HK accent. A aunt said while recording: “why HK again? Can’t they be from somewhere else?”
Locals surrounded the protesters and began to sing Unity Is Power. Protesters couldn’t follow up.
Rioters went to a community and yelled “(we) want lifting lockdown!”, residents in the buildings yelled back saying “lifting your mothers’s ass lockdown! It’s none of your fucking business!”
Rioters yelled “freedom!”. Locals yelled back “viva la commnuist party of China!”
Chengdu netizens speeches: 1) John Smith, “Asking me to cooperate? How? Even my wife won’t give me freedom. Why would I ask for it from the country? You think too much.” 2) Jane Smith, “They fucking write “women lives matter” in Chengdu. Do some background check, in Chengdu it’s “henpecked husband lives matter”.
It’s a show for the westerners.
SOME people in the west would be like “OH! IT’S THE END OF CCP’S EVIL REGIME!”
Just to be clear about 1 thing: We do have many complains against the Communist Party of China, but that doesn’t mean most of us wanting a regime change.
What we want is the CPC to revolute itself, and do better.
Putin just scored a KNOCKOUT blow to Europe and the WEF
"The economy of imaginary wealth is being inevitably replaced by the economy of real and hard assets." - Vladimir Putin
The road ahead certainly does not look promising. For much of 2022, there has been a lot of debate about whether or not the U.S. economy is in a recession, is headed for a recession, or is about to turn in a positive direction. Unfortunately, virtually all of the numbers are now telling us that economic conditions are starting to deteriorate quite rapidly as we approach the beginning of 2023, and even rabidly optimistic business leaders such as Jeff Bezos are warning us to prepare for harder times. So now the framework for the debate over our economic future has shifted. At this point, there are some that expect a relatively minor recession and then a recovery, and there are those such as myself that expect immense pain in the years ahead. There are so many warning signs that indicate that the entire system is starting to crack and crumble, but a lot of the “experts” are still hoping that our leaders will find a way to turn things around somehow.
On Wednesday, those of us that closely watch the economic numbers received quite a shock.
The latest figure for the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index came in way, way below expectations, and that is really bad news.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) determines the economic health of the manufacturing sector in Chicago region. A reading above 50 indicates expansion of the manufacturing sector; a reading below indicates contraction. The Chicago PMI can be of some help in forecasting the ISM manufacturing PMI.
Economists were expecting the survey to come in at around 47, but instead the final number came in at just 37.2…
In a massive downside surprise, the Chicago PMI survey just printed 37.2 (vs 47.0 expectations), plunging to its lowest level since the peak of the COVID lockdowns in 2020. This was below the lowest estimate of 25 economists surveyed.
In the entire history of the survey, the Chicago PMI has only plunged below 40 during times when the U.S. economy has been in a recession.
Other data points are also telling us that the U.S. economy is clearly trending in the wrong direction…
The housing industry has not been in this much of a mess since the last housing crash.
According to the NAR, home sales were way down all over the nation last month…
“From a year ago, all four regions had double-digit declines in sales in October. The West had the most significant dip at 37.5%, followed by the South, which fell 27.2%. The Midwest decreased by 25.5%, followed by the Northeast, down 23.0%.”
And if the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, things are only going to get worse.
Even now, we are beginning to see layoffs in the industry that once would have been unimaginable. For example, Reverse Mortgage Funding “laid off 80% of its staff on Tuesday”…
One week after deciding to “pause” all of its mortgage originations, Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC (RMF) laid off 80% of its staff on Tuesday.
Various social media posts by former employees maintained that the company, based in Bloomfield, N.J., had closed, but that is not the case, according to someone familiar with Tuesday’s events who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Countless others will be laid off in the months ahead.
Of course other industries are starting to feel quite a bit of pain as well. Earlier today, I was surprised to learn that CNN has decided that a large wave of layoffs has become necessary…
Cable news giant CNN will be hit by layoffs Wednesday and Thursday, part of continued cost-cutting by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which is trying to integrate the legacy WarnerMedia businesses (like CNN) and the Discovery businesses.
In a memo Wednesday morning, CNN CEO Chris Licht wrote that the channel will inform paid contributors Wednesday as part of a new reporting strategy, with full-time employees being informed of their status on Thursday.
I don’t wish ill on anyone, but the truth is that CNN brought this on themselves.
CNN has lied over and over again in recent years, and those lies have deeply hurt millions upon millions of people.
Elsewhere, the stunning layoffs in the tech industry just continue to accelerate. On Wednesday, DoorDash announced that it would be eliminating approximately 1,250 corporate jobs…
DoorDash on Wednesday said it will lay off about 1,250 corporate employees after growing its team too quickly during the pandemic, making it the latest tech company to cut staff in recent weeks.
The cuts represent about 6% of DoorDash’s staff, according to a company spokesperson.
Just within the past few weeks, we have seen so many prominent tech companies lay off workers.
In fact, CNBC is reporting that over 50,000 tech workers lost their jobs during the month of November alone…
Within weeks, mass layoffs primarily in tech, including at Twitter, Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, HP, Lyft, Doordash and more, have flooded headlines. More than 50,000 workers in tech lost their jobs in November, up from 12,600 in October, according to Layoffs.fyi.
Sadly, most American workers are not in a position to handle a job loss.
As the Republicans in the House of Representatives recently noted, more than 60 percent of the country is currently living paycheck to paycheck…
Over 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck in Joe Biden’s economy.
Nearly 40% of workers are considering a second job to stay afloat.
When you are living paycheck to paycheck, it can be extremely difficult to keep paying the bills once you lose a job.
And in the months ahead, we are going to see many more people suddenly get the axe.
Our leaders have pursued policies that have made the coming economic nightmare inevitable, and now we are all going to pay a very great price for their foolishness.
Prince & The New Power Generation – Cream (Extended Version)
Hey today's kids, This is what we call a MASTERPIECE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How will the 50 Cent Army explain away the protests in China?
Both my brother and my brother-in-law died of Covid this year. I spent three months in the hospital on a ventilator and in a coma because of Covid. I recently started a new nursing job and toured the Covid ward last week. It broke my heart. So quite honestly, people who protest China’s zero Covid policies anger me. China was right to have a zero Covid policy, but some cities didn’t handle it as well as they could’ve. That doesn’t mean zero Covid should end. I’d rather see them just improve their ability to implement it.
I’ve made people in the US angry because of how strongly I feel about it. I think it’s utterly irresponsible to leave your home if you have Covid. And don’t bother trying to change my mind in the comments. You literally won’t. Because your opinions on freedom and democracy won’t bring my younger brother back or my brother-in-law. Or the millions of others who died so needlessly.
That being said, people in China have the right to protest according to their constitution. And their government listened. Which is more than I can say for government in my country. In fact, as Khengchat Ng pointed out the other day, the fact that the Chinese people protest at all is proof that they aren’t oppressed automatons with no voice. Clearly they don’t fear their government like the West always makes out that they do.
If they are indeed rioting as seen on social media, then it is an indication that the Chinese are free to voice their views, as opposed to being automatons blindly following the government.—Khengchat Ng
I do, however, believe their legitimate protests were hijacked by non-mainlanders. Reports surfaced instructing people to contact their embassy in the event of an arrest—Chinese citizens wouldn’t need to do that. Chinese citizens also don’t say “CCP” or “CPC”. It’s “the Party” or “the grand Party” in Chinese. Chinese citizens also don’t use traditional Chinese characters, but simplified instead. So while some protesting may have been legitimate, much of what was shown on international news were some puppets shilling for the West. Whether you think I’m a wumao or not, I wish we would learn to stay out of the affairs of sovereign nations.
Is Media Lying About China COVID Protests?
“Is the media lying about…” – Yes
Gloomy December: Manufacturing Orders From China Are Down 40 Percent As Companies Brace For A Brutal Holiday Season
We continue to get more evidence that the U.S. economy is really slowing down. As you will see below, the amount of stuff that we are ordering from manufacturers in China is plunging dramatically. I have never seen a dip of this magnitude before, and I think that it is a really bad sign for 2023. Based on all of the economic numbers that have been released in recent weeks, I anticipate that economic conditions in 2023 and beyond will be worse than anything that we have experienced since the Great Recession. So I would encourage you to enjoy the next few weeks while you still can, because once 2023 arrives we will want to brace ourselves for an extremely harsh economic environment.
Normally, U.S. consumers have an insatiable appetite for cheap plastic goods from China.
But now something has changed.
According to CNBC, manufacturing orders from China have fallen by a whopping 40 percent, and as a result many Chinese factories will be closing much earlier in January than usual…
U.S. manufacturing orders in China are down 40 percent, according to the latest CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data. As a result of the decrease in orders, Worldwide Logistics tells CNBC it is expecting Chinese factories to shut down two weeks earlier than usual for the Chinese Lunar New Year — Chinese New Year’s Eve falls on Jan. 21 next year. The seven days after the holiday are considered a national holiday.
“Many of the manufacturers will be closed in early January for the holiday, which is much earlier than last year,” Monaghan said.
As with so many other numbers that we have been getting lately, there is no way to possibly spin this to make it look good.
What we are facing is truly “a collapse in demand”, and as a result container freight rates are absolutely plummeting…
Carriers have been executing on an active capacity management strategy by announcing more blank sailings and suspending services to balance supply with demand. “The unrelenting decline in container freight rates from Asia, caused by a collapse in demand, is compelling ocean carriers to blank more sailings than ever before as vessel utilization hits new lows,” said Joe Monaghan, CEO of Worldwide Logistics Group.
The bottom line is that U.S. consumers are simply not buying as much stuff as retailers originally anticipated.
And survey after survey has shown that Americans plan to spend less during the holiday season this year. Here is just one recent example…
Inflation is weighing heavily on the holidays this year.
Roughly half of shoppers will buy fewer things due to higher prices, and more than one-third said they will rely on coupons to cut down on the cost, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 adults by RetailMeNot.
Of course consumers over in western Europe are suffering right now as well.
In fact, economic conditions are deteriorating even faster over there.
Two-thirds of adults are worried that they will not be able to afford Christmas dinner, according to a survey.
The survey, commissioned by the Salvation Army, calculated the cost of Christmas dinner at £7.50 per head but – as the price of food is continuing to rise – the cost has increased since the survey was carried out on 22 October.
All over the western world, we are facing an unprecedented cost of living crisis.
Inflation has been rising much faster than our paychecks have, and that is causing a tremendous amount of financial pain.
Meanwhile, a lot of people have seen the value of their investments go down substantially over the past 12 months.
Already reeling from the so-called crypto winter, investors were dealt a major blow with the high-profile collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange in early November, which sent Bitcoin tumbling. To top it off, BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said this week that he expects most crypto companies will fold after FTX’s demise. A Schwab index tracking crypto-linked stocks is coming off its worst month since June, and is down 63% this year.
“Questions about whether crypto has a future have become prevalent after a year during which many tokens lost more than 70% of their value and the collapse of FTX has exacerbated a crisis of confidence that had started in the spring,” said Mark Palmer, an analyst at BTIG LLC.
At the same time, home values have been falling and falling.
As I have covered in previous articles, U.S. homeowners lost a record high 1.3 trillion dollars in home equity during the third quarter alone.
But at least the latest employment number that the government gave us was good, right?
Actually, it wasn’t so good. It turns out that the Household and Establishment surveys are telling two completely different stories. Zero Hedge has posted an absolutely outstanding article that breaks this down in great detail…
Recall that back in August, September, and October we showed that a stark divergence had opened between the Household and Establishment surveys that comprise the monthly jobs report, and since March the former has been stagnant while the latter has been rising every single month. In addition to that, full-time jobs were plunging while part-time jobs were surging and the number of multiple-jobholders soared.
Fast forward to today when the inconsistencies not only continue to grow, but have become downright grotesque.
I would encourage you to read the entire article. Since March, the gap between the Household and Establishment surveys has ballooned to nearly 2.7 million workers, and some are suggesting that this is being done for political purposes…
What is even more perplexing, is that despite the continued rise in nonfarm payrolls, the Household survey continues to telegraph growing weakness, and as of Nov 30, the gap that opened in March has since grown to a whopping 2.7 million “workers” which may or may not exist anywhere besides the spreadsheet model of some BLS (or is that BLM) political activist.
Of course the truth is that the employment market is not in good shape.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the number of layoffs in November 2022 was 417 percent higher than it was in November 2021.
A tsunami of layoffs has begun, and I expect to see a whole lot more in the months ahead.
So it is quite likely that this will be a really gloomy month, but I expect that 2023 will be even gloomier.
Elon Drops BOMBSHELL about secret government Twitter partnership program
I am amazed how few people know about the Twitter Files. I was looking forward to conversing with people about them and was surprised how many I had to educate about what is going on before being able to celebrate their release.
If you adopted your cat from a shelter, how did your cat signal you that he/she was the right cat for you?
I adopted Sheneneh from a house full of college students that had taken in the cats from the next-door-neighbor-cat-lady retired to Greece. She took every cat that could be herded into carriers home with her. (she had like 70 cats).
Sheneneh’s mama had run and eluded capture. She gave birth next door in the college kids’ backyard. They took her in. They took in her, her litter and a son from the previous litter who stayed with his mama and tended to the litter he just adored.
Every cat was calico except one.
Sheneneh stuck out like a sore thumb being a black tuxie. Of all the cats Sheneneh came right over to my chair and immediately did her little squirm around on the floor dance at my feet. It’s her expression of uncontainable joy – a feeling she gave me every day for 19 years.❤
Are some of the cryptocurrency industry’s most important pioneers being targeted by someone? We just learned that a 53-year-old cryptocurrency billionaire named Vyacheslav Taran has died, and he is the third big name to suddenly meet his maker in recent weeks. So is this just one giant coincidence, or is there some common denominator that links all three of them? There is so much that we don’t know right now, but it is interesting to note that all three of these deaths have happened at a time when the cryptocurrency community is going through an unprecedented amount of turmoil. The collapse of FTX is threatening the legitimacy of the entire industry, and many that were once crypto millionaires on paper have had their fortunes completely wiped out.
Vyacheslav Taran died when the helicopter that he was riding in suddenly slammed into a hillside. He was the co-founder of a trading platform known as Libertex, and his involvement in the cryptocurrency industry had made him a very wealthy man.
Unfortunately for Taran, he won’t be able to spend any more of that wealth because his life is now over…
A Russian billionaire has become the third top cryptocurrency trader to die suddenly in recent weeks.
Vyacheslav Taran, 53, the co-founder of trading and investing platform Libertex, died after his helicopter mysteriously crashed in a resort town near Monaco.
The vehicle plummeted on November 25 afternoon, killing Mr Taran, who had lived in Monaco for a decade, as well as a veteran pilot.
As we have seen so many times over the years, riding in helicopters can be extremely dangerous.
The finance titan was flying with an experienced pilot, 35, from the city on the shores of Lake Geneva after another passenger allegedly cancelled last minute.
The single-engine light helicopter Eurocopter EC130 operated by Monacair collided with a hillside near Eze village at around 2pm, Monaco Life reported
Hopefully we will find out the identity of the “other passenger” that decided not to go at the last minute .
That may give us a clue about what really happened.
In the end, this may have just been a tragic accident, or Taran may have been targeted for a reason that does not involve cryptocurrency.
A lot of prominent Russians have been dying lately, and so this could just be another instance where wealthy Russians are being targeted.
We just don’t know.
But what we do know is that another co-founder of a prominent cryptocurrency company was suddenly found dead last week.
It is being reported that 30-year-old Tiantian Kullander died unexpectedly while he was sleeping…
Tiantian Kullander, co-founder of Hong Kong-based digital asset company Amber Group, died unexpectedly last week in his sleep. He was 30 years old.
The company confirmed the news in a statement, saying that Tiantian, also known as “TT,” had “passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on November 23, 2022.”
Once again, it is certainly possible that this death could have absolutely nothing to do with the cryptocurrency industry.
Throughout 2022, lots of seemingly healthy young people have been dropping dead, and Kullander may just be another to add to the list.
But just like Taran, Kullander was one of the cryptocurrency industry’s most important pioneers…
“Besides co-founding Amber and building it into a multi-billion fintech unicorn, TT sat on the Board of Fnatic (one of the world’s most successful e-sports organizations) and founded KeeperDAO (the first on-chain liquidity underwriter) before giving it back to its community,” the company’s statement continued. “TT was a devoted husband, a loving father and a fierce friend. His passing is a tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with his family. He is survived by his wife and their beloved son. We kindly request that you respect their privacy during this difficult time.”
It is often said that two is a coincidence, but three is a trend.
Well, there is one more mysterious cryptocurrency industry death that I would like to discuss in this article.
On October 28th, 29-year-old Nikolai Mushegian was found dead on a Puerto Rico beach.
A brilliant young cryptocurrency pioneer named Nikolai Mushegian tweeted on Oct. 28 that intelligence agencies were going to murder him — and was found dead on a Puerto Rico beach hours later.
“CIA and Mossad and pedo elite are running some kind of sex trafficking entrapment blackmail ring out of Puerto Rico and Caribbean islands,” Mushegian, a developer of blockchain-based decentralized finance platforms who wanted to end global banking corruption, tweeted at 4:57 a.m. “They are going to frame me with a laptop planted by my ex [girlfriend] who was a spy. They will torture me to death.”
Of course we can’t actually prove that shadowy forces killed him.
All we know is that just hours after his ominous tweet his body was found in the waves on Ashford Beach. Interestingly, he still “had his wallet on him”…
The 29-year-old then left his $6 million beach house in the luxe Condado area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a walk. A little after 9 a.m., a surfer off Ashford Beach, a spot considered so rife with riptides that local hotels warn against ocean swimming, discovered Mushegian’s body in the waves. He was wearing his clothes and had his wallet on him, sources told The Post.
If some criminals jumped him on the beach, they would have certainly taken his wallet.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he was murdered.
He could have simply drowned after going for a swim, and there is also the possibility that he could have killed himself.
According to those that knew him, he had very serious mental health issues that he was dealing with, and it appears that he was also a heavy drug user…
A person who knew Mushegian very well for years until they had a falling-out two years ago said that the developer was “very very smart” but also suffered from extreme bouts of paranoia.
“He had mental problems,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He saw a psychiatrist at times. He smoked a lot of pot. A tremendous amount.”
Ultimately, we may never know if all three of these deaths are connected somehow.
But I find it very interesting that all three of these men were key pioneers in the industry.
And now they are all gone.
Life is so short, and for some it ends far sooner than they were anticipating.
What A Feeling | The Final Audition | Flashdance
I had tears in my eyes watching this. What a fantastic performance. R.I.P Irene Cara.
Relic Hunting – Discover a Piece of History
By Candy L Lindsey
Besides coin shooting, gold detecting, or the many other things you can do with your metal detector, there is a large group of people who take their metal detector out looking for old stuff. Not just any old stuff, but memorabilia from the past. This is called relic hunting.
If you’re thinking about doing some relic hunting, be careful. Relic Hunting can become addictive. Finding items from long ago, like a button from a confederate soldier’s jacket or a belt buckle from the Union army’s General is so rewarding. There is such a thrill that you feel when finding these items. It can be absolutely mind-blowing.
If you’re a romantic like me you imagine images of the men and women who fought on this land; the horses and oxen and cattle that came along with the settlers. The farmers that tilled the ground and the merchants that sold the goods. It takes you back to a historical time. It brings back long-forgotten relics from a time of conflict or a time of hope. Recalling a time when settlers struggled to make a life on the new frontier. It’s not just an old button or hat pin, or a piece of metal used or worn; sewn or hammered by our ancestors and the people who settled and built our country. It’s a piece of history, and you found it.
In every country in this beautiful world, items have been left behind, lost or forgotten only to be found again and remembered. To me, it’s finding a bit of history and holding it in your hand. I dream up stories of where a particular button came from. What really happened is probably not as dramatic nor as romantic as I can conjure up, but, it’s a fun thing to do.
Relic hunters are enthusiasts who hunt for artifacts and memorabilia from past events, primarily battles and wars through the years. They spend a lot of time researching and finding out the history of a given area. Then they go hunting.
The great thing about relic hunting is there is a vast amount of areas you can go hunting. Old road or paths. Many paths in wooded areas have been there for centuries. Take the long way home and discover Rural America. Old home foundations, old schoolhouses, abandoned stores are great places to take your detector. Look for indentations where there may have been an old cellar. Old cellars can be a wealth of artifacts. Look along river banks or dried-up creek beds. Long ago people followed the river to get from one place to another. Ever notice how many small towns are along the rivers of the United States? The river was the source of travel and commerce. The rivers were the lifeline of the people.
Old railroad tracks can be a great source of artifacts. Look around your area. I’m sure you can come up with a wealth of ideas on where to go. Look on the internet or go to your local library. There is information that can help you find where to go.
As always, don’t forget to get permission from the landowner and leave any area as you found it. Don’t dig up holes and leave them gaping. Always fill your digs in when you’re done. Be careful, be courteous and have fun!
@Candy Lindsey, Ezine, added October 2012, updated June 2021.
Xi Jinping Is Going to Saudi Arabia…What’s Next for the US Dollar?
The trading in a basket of currencies or creating a new trade dollars apart from the US dollar is also a response to the draconian sanctions to so many nations. So many people have died in countries that have been sanctioned by the USA so it makes sense to get out of being obliged to use USD for trade to other countries other than the hegemon.
What are some unwritten social rules everyone should know?
20 Unspoken Rules For Men:
1. Never shake a hand sitting down.
2. Protect who is behind you, and respect who is beside you.
3. Never insult the cooking when you are the guest.
4. Never eat the last piece of something you didn’t buy.
5. Never make the first offer in a negotiation.
6. Don’t take credit for work you didn’t do.
7. Take blame, and give credit when due.
8. If you are not invited, don’t ask to go.
9. Always aim for the head.
10. Don’t beg for a relationship.
11. Dress well no matter what the occasion.
12. Always carry cash.
13. Listen, nod, and most of all make eye contact.
14. Show restraint in expressing anger, no matter what. Being angry is a waste of energy.
15. Weather is dinner, drinks, or both, avoid placing your phone on the dinner table.
16. Never pose with alcohol.
17. Proper grammar will get you far in life. Leave the foul language for the less educated.
18. Ask more than you answer.
19. You can tell a great deal about a person by their handshake, so make your strong and firm.
20. Speak honestly. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl save the day
We can watch a little girl get shot at and nearly blown up by a SMAW. We can watch a guy on a jet pack with miniguns shred three men. We can watch a grown man kick the shit out of a little girl. But God FORBID we hear some swearing.
https://youtu.be/PMKRlWf4JJg
Panera’s Cream Cheese Potato Soup
“This is my favorite recipe for potato soup. It’s a copycat of the one they use to serve at the St. Louis Bread Company (Panera). The recipe originally called for shredding your potatoes, but I never could get them to cook that way. I know they should cook faster, but I never could get it to work.”
I’ve been busy all day, and am just trying to squeeze this post in. Hope you all enjoy it.
Will the Chinese government back down because of the protests?
Interestingly, the policy that people claimed they wanted to fight for in this “protest” was actually released a month ago.
And before the “protest”, this policy was already being implemented.
You can claim a victory for those anti China spies. Before the cowboy shot, the enemy was injured and fell to the ground. Good marksmanship!
Syrniki (Russia)
If regular old pancakes just aren’t cutting it for you anymore, then it may be time to ask Mother Russia for her go-to syrniki recipe. Derived from the Slavic word syr, meaning “soft curd cheese,” syrniki are hand-sized girdle cakes stuffed with a type of soft, mild farmer’s cheese known as quark. The batter is made from eggs, flour, and sugar, sometimes mixed with vanilla extract before both sides are browned evenly on a griddle, maintaining a slightly creamy consistency.
Raisins, chopped dried apricot, apples, and pears can be added to the batter, while more savory versions call for adding onions or sour cream. When plated, it’s not uncommon to find syrniki paired with a side of fresh berries, honey, or jam. One taste of this Eastern European favorite, and you’ll have a new whole word for pancakes: syrniki!
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Syrniki are sweet, cheesy Russian pancakes that are soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. They’re especially delicious when topped with homemade blueberry syrup and sour cream, but also good with your favorite maple syrup, butter, or whipped cream. They’re easy to make but feel like a breakfast treat, and are a great way to mix up your classic pancakes.
The pancakes are made with farmer’s cheese, which is the closest thing we have in the U.S. to a Russian cheese called tvorog. It’s similar to ricotta cheese but has less water content, making it is drier. You can usually find farmer’s cheese in the deli section or where the ricotta and sour cream are stocked. You can also try your hand at making your own farmer’s cheese if you’re feeling ambitious.
Oh yes, the idea of searching for and finding a buried treasure has been thought about and dreamed by both young and old. Some have followed their hearts and have gone on treasure hunts that have resulted in locating buried treasures both beneath the ground and under the water. Others have located caches of all sizes inside homes and barns. Treasures are out there, just waiting to be found, and some of them may be closer to you than you think. Older homes that date back one hundred years or more have a very good chance of holding a treasure; and these old homes are in cities and towns across America.
Many people did not trust banks. Also, many of our first settlers were very independent individuals, they wanted total control of their lives, and their possessions, including their money and valuables. It was common for those individuals to bury their valuables for safekeeping.
This practice of hiding their possessions was a constant as this country moved into the nineteenth and twentieth century. The stock market crash of the 1920’s only bolstered the lack of confidence people had with financial institutions, and to this day, people are still hiding their money. And the safest place to hide their money and possessions was in and around their home.
However, oftentimes the person doing the hiding would not tell the family. Husbands and wives many times never told their spouse that they buried a cache beneath the old oak tree. Therefore, when the spouse who did the burying dies, the other has no idea of the stash. And when both spouses are gone, or the family, not knowing of a hidden cache on the property moves away, the house with the treasure becomes the property of a new owner. There is buried treasure in old homes across the U.S.
Whether you live in an older home that you purchased from someone else, or if you want to search for a treasure on the property of an old home, here are three places that have proved to be popular hiding places around old home sites.
Beneath The Old Oak Tree
The old oak tree, or any large tree for that matter, has been a popular hiding place for buried treasure. Perhaps the reasons why are shade and a marking.
Burying a treasure large or small requires work. It’s easier to dig a hole while doing so beneath the shade of a large tree. Also, many people used trees as a marker for their cache. You may not think a marker would be needed. After all, what person would forget where they buried their valuables. However, markers for treasures were also used at times to lead a family member to a buried treasure upon a death. So if you live in an old home, and there is an old tree on the property, especially behind the home, it’s a good place to begin your search.
Near The Well
Another popular area where treasures have been located is near the well. The well was used often and it was a perfect place to bury a treasure. Most wells were also located behind the homes, so it would be secretive and easy to hide valuables time and time again.
The Outhouse
I love digging in old outhouses. Yes, I’ve been called crazy for climbing into these old cesspools. However, they hold a wealth of valuables from old pottery, bottles, buttons, coins, and yes even treasures.
There have been treasures found inside the outhouse, and beneath the wooden thrones. One individual located an old metal container fastened beneath the throne, held there by a few nails and a metal strip. Inside the container was hundreds of silver dollars dating from the mid-1800s.
Think about all of the old abandoned homes you drive by on a weekly basis. Then think about how many of those old homes have a treasure lurking on its property. All you need to do is ask for permission from the owner to search the property. Of course, you will tell them that any buried treasure you may find, will be shared with them.
A metal detector is a useful tool for locating buried treasure. You don’t have to spend a lot of money for one. A good detector costs between three hundred and four hundred dollars. It could end up paying for itself.
I had my first opportunity to ride the high-speed trains last week when I had a business meeting in Zhengzhou.
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As someone who grew up with a disdain for public transportation (not sure why the US hates it so much), I was dreading the experience. I pushed hard to fly, but was told that it would be much better if I took the train.
The train was amazing. I had traveled on an Amtrak train before in the US, and hated how slow it was and how many stops there were. Chinese high-speed trains are on a different level.
First, when I say they are high-speed, I mean they are high-speed.
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This was taken on my ride back to Beijing.
The trains are clean and the seats are huge. There are ample power outlets and you can’t even feel how fast the train is moving. If there were no windows, I wouldn’t be able to tell when we were stopped or when we were traveling at 300 km/h—it is that smooth.
My train wasn’t full, so on the ride back, I had an entire row to myself. You can use your cellphone on the train (looking at you Chinese flights—you need to learn from the trains) and you generally have full service.
The trains are very advanced and the stations are new. The terminal in Zhengzhou looked like you could fit a million people in it even though it isn’t a Tier-1 city. It had shops and a food court and the trains would silently pull in and out of the station perfectly on schedule.
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I’m traveling again this week by train and I’m excited.
The high-speed trains are incredible.
Are the current protests going on all throughout China a sign that people are tired of Xi and the CCP?
Actually from my resources in China, the operation Sunday Night was a total disaster, not even wrong.
The first thing is when they were asking how much got paid to walk on the street, they found the walkers in Beijing got paid for 1000, while Shanghai pays 500 and Chendu got 300, but Canton walkers only get 200 each; and very soon everyone was mocking on Canton people for getting only 200.
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And the walk in Beijing soon turns to a completely opposite way, that people were calling things like “we want nucleic test” and “we want healthy QR code”. And very soon the scene became an anti-US walk and people started blaming the States for releasing COVID-19, and demanding a pay from the US. People even started supporting Irish and Texas free and BLM and I don’t know why but there were people calling for free Pikachu; and some how people started taking pictures with dogs, this is the most hilarious situation I have ever seen.
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I got to say that our agents are probably retarded, and the things we paid for, are just jokes.
Scientists Reviving 50,000-Year-Old Viruses From Melting Permafrost
One of the best clear minded moments I had in my life is when I decided to believe that powerful people in the world do bad things on purpose. It made the world make sense. When I just accepted that there are people who thrive on causing suffering and controlling people and making people bleed and manipulating people, and that those people naturally seek positions of power, then everything made sense to me. If you don't accept this, then you will never understand how the world works. We are not simply fighting against bad policy or bad planning or poor management. We are fighting against an age old REAL PURE EVIL that actually gets sexually aroused by pain and suffering and anguish.
Kind reminder…
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Confederate Ranger John S. Mosby’s Hidden Treasure
In the woods of Fairfax County, Virginia, a large treasure of valuables is said to be hidden. Worth some $350,000 at the time it was buried, it would be valued at more than $6 million today.
The tale begins with a Confederate partisan Ranger named John S. Mosby, known as the “Grey Ghost” for his lightning-quick raids and ability to elude Union Army pursuers.
Mosby joined the Confederate army as a private at the outbreak of the Civil War, first serving in the Washington Mounted Rifles. In April 1862, the Confederate Congress passed the Partisan Rangers Act, which provided that “such partisan rangers, after being regularly received into service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations, and quarters, during their term of service, and be subject to the same regulations, as other soldiers.” By the end of the year, after having proved himself as a solid scout and intelligence gatherer under General J.E.B. Stuart, Mosby’s Rangers was formed.
In January 1863, J.E.B. Stuart, with the approval of General Robert E. Lee, authorized Mosby to form and take command of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, which officially operated as a unit of the Army of Northern Virginia. However, the men (1,900 of whom served from January 1863 through April 1865) lived outside the norms of regular army cavalrymen. This included sharing in the disposition of spoils of war, having no camp duties, and living among the civilian population. Over time, the vast majority of his men were new recruits, never having served in the Confederate Army previously.
The small cavalry unit was unleashed in central Virginia and immediately began tormenting Union positions. Rather than meeting their enemies in open battle, Mosby’s unit would often slip behind Union lines under cover of darkness and capture soldiers and supplies. A true guerilla force, Mosby and his men were known for carrying out blistering attacks on Union outfits and destroying rail lines and bridges before scattering into the woods and blending with the civilian population.
On March 9, 1863, Mosby conducted a daring raid far inside Union lines near the Fairfax County Courthouse. At 2:00 a.m. on a dark and rainy night, Mosby and 29 men suddenly appeared in the town of Fairfax Court House, Virginia, ten miles behind the Union lines. Though thousands of Union troops were in the surrounding camps and many in the town, the Rangers stealthily slipped past numerous outposts and pickets, cutting telegraph lines along the way.
As the Rangers quietly captured the guards, Mosby made his way to the bedroom of General Edwin H. Stoughton, where the officer was sleeping. Mosby awakened Stoughton with a slap on his bare back and informed him that he was now a prisoner. When Stoughton was dressed, Mosby escorted him out to the street, where the Rangers had gathered 32 other surprised prisoners and 58 horses.
According to legend, it wasn’t only men and horses that Mosby had obtained during the nocturnal raid but also some $350,000 worth of gold, silver, jewelry, and other family heirlooms, that Union troops had taken from Southern homes.
One and one-half hours after arriving at Fairfax Court House, the Rangers, never having fired a shot, rode out of town with their prisoners, horses, and treasure. On the way back, Mosby’s scouts warned him of a large detachment of Union soldiers nearby. In case of a battle, Mosby and a trusted sergeant left the trail as the rest of the detachment moved on. They then buried the sack of treasure between two large pine trees, which Mosby marked with an X. Then, using a roundabout route to confuse any pursuers, Mosby and his men made it safely back to Confederate territory.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee said of the heist: “Hurrah for Mosby! I wish I had a hundred like him!” On the other hand, when President Abraham Lincoln heard of the raid, he expressed more concern for the loss of the horses than for his general, stating: “I can make brigadier generals, but I can’t make horses.”
Mosby was formally promoted to captain two days later, on March 15, 1863, and to major on March 26, 1863.
Mosby continued to operate with impunity in north-central Virginia until the war’s end when the region became known as “Mosby’s Confederacy.” When Robert E. Lee surrendered in 1865, Mosby disbanded his unit and returned to civilian life. In a startling move, Mosby joined Abraham Lincoln’s Republican party and served in Ulysses S. Grant’s presidential administration as the United States consul to Hong Kong and in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mosby remained loyal to those he believed fair-minded, such as J.E.B Stewart and Ulysses S. Grant, throughout his life, but refused to cater to Southern sympathies.
He died of complications after throat surgery in a Washington, D.C. hospital on May 30, 1916, and was buried at the Warrenton Cemetery in Warrenton, Virginia.
And what of the treasure? One version of the tale says that he sent his trusted sergeant and several other men back to retrieve the cache, but before they got there, they were caught and hanged by Union soldiers. It is unknown why Mosby never returned, but he allegedly stated on his deathbed that there was a lot of valuable stuff waiting in the Virginia countryside somewhere and he wished he had gotten it.
The treasure is said to be hidden somewhere between Norman and Culpeper, close to present-day Route 522.
The old seller replied, ‘$0.25 an egg, Madam.’She said to him, ‘I will take 6 eggs for $1.25 or I will leave.’
The old seller replied, ‘Come take them at the price you want. Maybe, this is a good beginning because I have not been able to sell even a single egg today.
‘She took the eggs and walked away feeling she has won. She got into her fancy car and went to a posh restaurant with her friend. There, she and her friend, ordered whatever they liked. They ate a little and left a lot of what they ordered.
Then she went to pay the bill. The bill costed her $45.00, she gave $50.00 and asked the owner of the restaurant to keep the change.
This incidence might have seemed quite normal to the owner but, very painful to the poor egg seller.
The point is, why do we always show we have the power when we buy from the needy ones?
And why do we get generous to those who do not even need our generosity?
My father used to buy simple goods from poor people at high prices, even though he did not need them. Sometimes he even used to pay extra for them. I got concerned by this act and asked him why does he do so?
Then my father replied, “It is a charity wrapped with dignity, my child.”
What did someone do that made you think they were really smart?
A while back, I bought a piece of land in Southern Mexico and built a winter holiday home. Our architect suggested a cupola above the main stairway and proposed a talented 20 year old builder who had the skills.
Watching him build this single skin of bricks all by hand and with no scaffolding or supports was amazing. Each row of bricks supported the next layer until he finally closed the dome. He did not use any special tools, diagrams, instructions or plans other than the simple sketch I gave him. His only tools were a small trowel, bricks and mortar. All the calculations were done in his head and the progress checked by eye. Watching him work was inspiring.
The Mexicans learnt this skill from the Spanish who in turn got it from the Moors that had invaded Spain.
The cupola under construction, this one guy did all the work.
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View from the inside, a smooth skin of bricks. It is a work of art!
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The finished cupola. Completely built by hand.
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I have never met anyone else who has the skills to do this, especially at 20 years old! I remember thinking, I could take all the engineers and phd graduates I have met in my long career and be lucky to find one that could single handedly, design and build this perfectly correct, self supporting, layered dome and not have it collapse.
Can you not deduce an intelligent person by looking at the result of their work? Passing tests and getting a certificate without ever doing anything useful with it has limited value in my book.
Later the same young guy built our pool that has a complex design. I was so impressed, I use it for my lock screen.
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I wish more trades like this were still taught today; it’s a dying art.
Outlaw William Coe & His Missing Loot
Known as “Captain” Bill Coe, he worked as a carpenter and stonemason before he turned to a life of outlawry. Born Cyrus Coe to a Pennsylvania Baptist preacher in 1842, he was a former Union Army First Lieutenant, thought to have arrived in the Oklahoma Panhandle about 1864, settling in an area that, at the time, was referred to as “No Man’s Land.” The strip of land, measuring some 35 miles wide by 168 miles long, was not included in any state and therefore left without any law and order. For years, it was a haven for outlaws, for which William Coe took advantage.
Located strategically on a long high ridge jutting southwest from a large mesa near the town of Kenton, Oklahoma, Coe built a “fortress” to protect himself and his gang of some 30 to 50 members, who primarily rustled cattle, horses, sheep, and mules.
His headquarters, made of rock walls some three feet thick, sported portholes for protection rather than windows, as well as a fully stocked bar, living quarters for his men, and a number of “soiled doves” for their entertainment. His fortress became known as “Robber’s Roost.”
For several years, these men earned their livelihood raiding ranches and military installations from Fort Union, New Mexico to the south, Taos, New Mexico to the west, and as far north as Denver, Colorado. They also preyed on freight caravans traveling along the Santa Fe Trail, as well as area ranches. Hiding the stock in a canyon some five miles northwest of their hide-out, the rustlers built a fully equipped blacksmith shop, which contained all the tools necessary to maintain the herds, as well as changing the brands. When all hints of the previous owners were removed, the desperado cowboys then moved the herds into Missouri or Kansas to sell.
Though they had been getting away with their lawlessness for several years, the gang made a major mistake when they raided a large sheep ranch in Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1867, killing two men before making off with the herd to Pueblo, Colorado. Though wanted before, these murders put Coe and his men on the “wanted list” like never before, and soon, the U.S. Army from Fort Lyon, Colorado were pursuing them.
The army attacked the Robber’s Roost fortress with a cannon, crumbling the walls and killing and wounding several of the outlaws. Though Coe and others were able to escape, several outlaws that weren’t killed in the battle were hanged on the spot, while others were arrested and taken back to Colorado.
Coe maintained his lawless ways and his freedom for about a year, hiding out in a small (now defunct) settlement of Madison, New Mexico, near Folsom. However, while he was sleeping in a woman’s bunkhouse, her 14-year-old son rode from the ranch and contacted area soldiers, who soon returned and arrested Coe. The fugitive was then taken to Pueblo, Colorado to await trial and along the way, allegedly said, “I never figured to be outgeneraled by a woman, a pony, and a boy.”
However, before he could come to trial, vigilantes took matters into their own hands, and on the evening of July 20, 1868, forcibly removed him from the jail. Loading him into a wagon, they moved him to a cottonwood tree on the bank of Fountain Creek and lynched him while he was still handcuffed and shackled. The next day, his body was discovered and buried under the tree that he was hanged from. Years later, when a new road was being built in the vicinity of Fourth Street in Pueblo, workers found the skeletal remains of what is believed to have been Coe’s.
Author Carl Robert Coe wrote of his research into the gang;
“Members of the Coe Gang were brought to trial, April 27, 1868, in Pueblo. In the hearings before Judge Moses Hallett, gang member Laura Young was the principal witness against her former comrades. Edward J. Hubbard, a counsel for the defense, and who was to have served as Coe’s personal attorney, claimed conspiracy in Captain Coe’s hanging. He claimed that the army had conspired with local vigilantes to dispatch Coe. To prove his point, during the trial he stated that his fee for defending Coe was to have been the captain’s gold watch. It was seen the day after Coe’s death dangling from the waist of an army surgeon.
The Coe Gang trial lasted for six days. Besides Hubbard, Judge John W. Henry of Pueblo also served on the defense team. Prosecuting on behalf of the United States were U.S. Attorney G.W. Chamberlain of Denver and District Attorney Wilbur Fiske Stone.
Accused Coe lieutenant “Tex” was released for lack of evidence, as were several others. Six gang members, among whom was Charles W. Howard, who kept a stage station on the Platte River route, were found guilty and taken to Denver on May 13, 1868, by a deputy U.S. marshal named Haskell and Capt. Matthew Berry of Fort Lyon.”
Without his leadership, the rest of his gang headed for parts unknown and are lost in history.
But, that is not the end of the tale. After his death, rumors began to abound that much of his illegally earned riches are still hidden in the area of his old hide-out near Kenton, Oklahoma. One report alleges that he told his executors that he had buried enough gold to make them all rich. Whether he made the statement or not, it obviously wasn’t persuasive enough to convince his captors.
However, another later report tells of an Indian who had ridden with Coe and his gang, claiming on his deathbed that the outlaws had once stumbled across a rich pack train that had been attacked by Indians. In addition to all of the debris left scattered in the attack, the outlaws also found some $750,000 of gold and Spanish coins, which they allegedly buried in a place called Flag Springs Arroyo.
Coe’s hideout, though located in Oklahoma, was also just miles from New Mexico and Colorado, so what state Flag Springs is in, is unknown.
Though it would make sense that if there was a significant stash at this unknown place, one of the other outlaws would have returned for it, still the legend of lost treasure persists.
To this day none of Coe’s gold has been reportedly found and most searches center on the areas of Robber’s Roost, Black Mesa, Carrizozo Creek Valley, and Blacksmith Canyon. However, this is a large and rugged area, so if the legend is true, it could be hidden for eternity. Also, it should be noted that Robber’s Roost is on private property. Only the foundation of the rock fortress that once overlooked the Cimarron and Carrizo Valleys remain. After it was bombarded by the cavalry, most of the stones were carried away to make farm buildings.
BEST PART from the movie ‘MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO’ (1988)
I just watched this with my young daughter. So nice, calm and soothing. I wanted to post the Whole Film, but not available on YOu-tube. I have a torrent in English, and that’s what we watched. Now, for me, this is the best part of The movie.
That music, That Animation, Those smiles, gives me such good Feels.
https://youtu.be/oETPccnOnDA
Jimbob
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This is our Jimbob.
He was taken as a rescue.
We were told he was feral but instead of roaming down our fields and disappearing to live off the land, he hung around to the point where I would leave the back hall window open for him (this is where the laundry gets done and there’s also a toilet in there too) after a while I noticed someone was pooing in the toilet but not flushing and leaving an awful mess.
After many accusations and arguments with my husband and sons, I eventually found the culprit. Jimbob was much tooo sophisticated to use a litter tray. He craps in the toilet. 😁
I feel sad sometimes because it’s very obvious he came from a loved home, I can’t get my head round how someone could think he was feral.
I hope he is happy with us and feels loved but I feel bad that someone may have lost such a special little friend or is somewhere wondering where he is, how he’s doing or if he is even alive.
I hope he knows how loved he is.
Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
One of my favorite foods of all time in China. You haven’t LIVED until you had these.
It’s kind of pathetically funny how the United States is today. But you know, even an idiot can fire a shotgun. We all have to laugh, not get too caught up, and move on with our lives. Just take care. Be careful
Today’s installment.
Veal Osso Buco (Yummy)
“This is a very tender Italian veal dish with a flavorful tomato and herb sauce. It takes a while to prepare, but does not require much attention while cooking. Original recipe makes 6 to 8 servings, but I scaled it down to make 2 servings. It is DELICIOUS!!!”
In a shallow dish, stir together flour, salt, and black pepper.
Dredge meat in seasoned flour.
In a large skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat.
Brown meat in skillet.
Remove meat from pan, and set aside.
Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to drippings in pan.
Cook and stir for about 5 minutes.
Stir in tomato sauce, water, basil, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf.
Return meat to pan.
Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer.
Cover, and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
Serve the delicious sauce over meat, a bed of rice, or mashed potatoes.
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China and nuclear weapons
Beijing accelerated its nuclear weapons program last year and has nearly doubled its supply of warheads since 2020 to past 400, a size that US military planners did not expect to see until about 2030, a new report from the US Department of Defense says, according to an American mainstream media report.
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The report noted that although China already has the world’s largest navy and is the “top ship-producing nation in the world by tonnage”, it is continuing to expand its capacity to produce “submarines, warships, and auxiliary and amphibious ships”, as well as increasing its ability to produce aircraft.
“China’s decades-long efforts to improve domestic aircraft engine production are starting to produce results,” it said.
“China’s first domestically produced high-bypass turbofan, the WS-20, has also entered flight-testing on the Y-20 heavy transport and probably will replace imported Russian engines by the end of 2022,” the report added.
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China is killing its people over “covid”. They are putting people in unsafe places to save them. The people are protesting. Biden Admin says “Protestors are speaking for themselves”. Why care about Ukraine but ignore China?
Protestors are speaking for themselves, totally right.
Because they’re speaking for money. And not much.
The CIA paid them $250–300 for each, but because the spies are too corrupt, they embezzle 90% of their money, finally, when these bottom spies went to participate in the “protest”, they shouted all night, held up white paper, risked being caught by the police, and finally got $27 (Guangzhou) or $12 (Chengdu).
But they can’t convince anyone, and the Chinese are enjoying this entertainment.
It’s already a joke on Chinese network now.
So this is the color revolution. Interesting. It seems that the same is true in Ukraine.
Why are Putin and Xi Jinping so against LGBT?
China
China doesn’t support or condemn Homosexuality.
In fact China has approximately 25 Million to 50 Million Gay People on record.
China legalized Homosexuality in 1997 , 17 years before India decriminalized it.
China of course doesn’t punish homosexuality but affords no extra rights to gay persons whatsoever.
China is very fair
China says You have the right to be Gay. That is your freedom. However people have the same right to not allow you to lease their flats or in general discriminate against you.
China also doesn’t flaunt its homosexuality.
Not many Parades in China.
However China has no issues with LGBT as long as you don’t flaunt it and understand that people may discriminate against you and that is their rightright
Russia
Russia has always been anti gay
It is the basic Christian philosophy where Homosexuality is deemed wrong and unnatural
Europe entirely condemned homosexuality at a time when the East (Japan, China, even India) regarded it as perfectly normal.
The ‘Abrahamic Religions’ as Rami Sivan and Ambika Vijay say – introduced this “Morality Clause” about Homosexuality based on the Christian and Islamic teaching.
So Russia still believes what they once followed , while the West has changed primarily
You could say Russia still lives in the 1800s as far as Homosexuality is concerned.
Details Emerge about China’s July “Fractional Orbit” Nuke Strike Weapon TEST
New information emerging about the nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon test conducted by China in July 2021, says the missile traveled much longer in distance and time than any Chinese land attack weapons system to date coming “close enough” to its target.
“China conducted the first fractional orbital launch of an ICBM with a hypersonic glide vehicle from China on July 27th, 2021. This demonstrated the greatest distance flown (~40,000 kilometers) and longest flight time (~100+minutes) of any PRC land attack weapons system to date,” the Pentagon report on China Military Power Report, released on Tuesday said.
Although the Pentagon report does not provide many details about China’s hypersonic missile capabilities, a report by The War Zone says that information contained in the report conforms with statements made by top U.S. military officials.
Now-retired Air Force General John Hyten reportedly then told CBS News that China “launched a long-range missile,” that “went around the world, dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle that glided all the way back to China, that impacted a target in China.” Asked if the missile hit the target, Hyten reportedly said, “Close enough.”
Hyten also termed Chinese military modernization as “stunning” and reportedly warned that Beijing would one day have the capability to launch a surprise nuclear attack on the U.S.
“Why are they building all of this capability?” Hyten was quoted by CNN as saying. “They look like a first-use weapon. That’s what those weapons look like to me.”
While the Chinese hypersonic missile test is compared to the U.S. Air Force’s own secretive X-37B uncrewed orbital vehicle more than a hypersonic missile like Russia’s air-launched Kinzhal missile, military experts had said that it was unlikely to trigger an arms race between the two powers.
In recent years, China has continued to accelerate the modernization and expansion of its military forces apart from developing nuclear, space and cyberspace capabilities. Beijing’s focus has also been on enhancing its deterrent capabilities and at the same time pushing forward with an ambitious expansionist narrative in the South China Sea region.
Are the anti-Xi demonstrations in China genuinely spontaneous or have they been carefully organized by outside instigators to make it appear to the Western media that they are spontaneous Chinese demonstrations?
As far as Shanghai is concerned, it was originally a memorial activity. On November 26, many young people mourned 10 compatriots who died in the fire in Urumqi on Urumqi Road
Why do they mourn 10 compatriots who died thousands of kilometers away? On November 15, 2010, a particularly serious fire broke out in the Jiaozhou Road apartment building in Shanghai, killing 58 people. Shanghai people always think that this is a stain of Shanghai’s public management, so young people in Shanghai will spontaneously go to the place where the Jiaozhou Road fire happened on November 15 every year to offer flowers and mourn. So also in November, after a serious fire broke out in Urumqi, young people in Shanghai spontaneously went to Urumqi Road to mourn the dead.
At the same time of mourning, people complained about the inconvenience caused by the closure, because it was said at that time that the closure of this community in Urumqi was the reason why so many people died. However, the subsequent investigation and the social media statements of the owners of the community showed that the community was open, and there were various reasons for the occurrence and process of the fire, but it had nothing to do with the containment. But people at that time did not know these things, so they began to shout slogans against blocking and nucleic acid testing.
Perhaps this gathering gave those lurking people a chance, so on the evening of the 26th, many people with other purposes were mixed in the protest team. The difference between these people and those who mourn or protest during the day is.
1. Most of these people come from other places and speak Mandarin with Hong Kong accent or ABC accent
2. These people are very experienced. They lead us to shout slogans and teach us to raise white paper to protest
3. These people bring their own photography team. They know what shooting angle looks the most intense, and they will not collide with the police force at the same time
4. Most of these people belong to some NGO, especially some church organizations
5. That is to say, from this moment on, they led everyone to shout the slogan “Down with CCP, Down with XI”. Before that, the anger of the protest team was directed at the containment measures
Encouraged by the results of the protest in Shanghai on the evening of the 26th, some people quickly organized protests in other cities in China in Twitter and Telegraph groups. Beijing, Dalian, Chengdu, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Hangzhou are all their targets, but perhaps because of the hasty organization, they make a lot of jokes
The event in Dalian was cancelled because it was too cold. I wonder if the American Consulate in Shenyang would be criticized internally. After all, other cities with American embassies and consulates organized protests, but only the Shenyang Consulate could not organize them
During the protest in Chengdu, a group of people led the crowd to shout slogans in Hong Kong accented Mandarin, and then were scolded by the local people in the local dialect. Then the organizer also made some women’s rights props to arouse more anger in Chengdu, but did not know that Chengdu is the city with the highest status of women in China.
In the protest in Guangzhou, the organizer called everyone to go to Haizhu Square to rally against the blockade of Haizhu District, but did not know that Haizhu Square was not in Haizhu District.
For the protest in Hangzhou, the organizer informed everyone to protest at the gate of Yintai Department Store. Then some people went to the gate of Yintai on the West Lake, and others went to the gate of Yintai on the lakeside. As a result, there were fewer people.
Therefore, it is true that the Chinese people have grievances and protests. But it is also true that some foreigners want to make things worse.
Edward Snowden is now a Russian Citizen
Former CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) officer Edward Snowden has received his Russian passport after having been granted citizenship by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year.
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Since Snowden now holds a Russian passport, he cannot be legally extradited to any foreign state seeking charges against him.
In 2013, Snowden leaked a massive trove of classified documents revealing the NSA’s sprawling surveillance operations, which targeted American civilians and collected their electronic communication data and phone records. His revelations launched nation-wide debates about government surveillance and led the US appeals court to declare the NSA’s program unlawful.
When the leaked files were posted in a number of media outlets, Washington promptly revoked Snowden’s US citizenship, making him a de facto stateless individual. He initially tried to flee from Hong Kong to Latin America, but got stranded during a layover in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where he ended up living for over a month. Ultimately he was granted asylum in Russia, where he has remained to this day.
DOOMED! Europe Faces MASSIVE SHUTDOWN As big Companies Ditch Germany In Favor Of China:
The manufacturing hub of Europe will barely make it through the coming winter. This is because, during the past eight months, sufficient gas reserves have been amassed to prevent an outage in the power supply. However, a more dire scenario might be around the corner as major enterprises with deeper finances seek safer economic footing in other nations. In addition, rising energy prices and depleting gas supplies might lead to a wave of shutdowns among smaller companies unable to weather the storm.
A nightmarish scenario might play out for Germany’s heavy industry after 2023 if cheaper electricity isn’t available. And economists at Deutsche Bank say this might mark the beginning of Europe’s rapid deindustrialization.
The announcement by BASF, a chemical giant and cornerstone of German industry that was created 157 years ago, might indicate things to come. At the end of October, the company said it would be “permanently” reducing its activities in Europe due to the continent’s high energy prices. Moreover, others are anticipated to replicate similar behavior.
You see, the European headquarters of BASF consume as much natural gas as all of Switzerland every year. And companies in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries are also significant consumers and may be tempted to go abroad for cheaper energy.
Now, almost 10 percent of enterprises in Germany’s celebrated small and medium-sized industrial sector, known as the Mittelstand, are considering relocating production abroad. Economists’ general consensus is that much high-energy manufacturing will move elsewhere. And so, companies that can’t afford to uproot and relocate could have to go out of business.
The greatest economy in Europe is stable for the time being. GDP increased by 0.3% in the third quarter, while Goldman Sachs projects a 1.1% decline in 2023, which will be unpleasant but not disastrous. A Goldman Sachs economist predicts a severe downturn. The longer high prices persist, the more difficult it will be for European factories and other energy-hungry sectors.
According to the IMF and other organizations, the actual threat for Europe is not this winter but the one to come. IMF recently stated in an interview that while this coming winter would be challenging, the winter of 2023 might be considerably worse. And it will be considerably harder for Europe to replace the storage tanks next year without major Russian gas flows than this year especially if China recovers and buys more liquid gas from the global market. And once Europe emerges from this winter, experts anticipate that storage tanks will be relatively low.
What does it mean if a country has a high GDP PPP? Is it good or bad?
If you are a layman, think about it this way. In the US if you buy a Big Mac for a dollar, if you take your dollar and convert to RMB or Yuan, the 1 dollar can buy you 2.5 Big Mac in China.
So you can conclude that China undervalued its RMB or it could be the other way the U.S. overvalued the Dollar. Or a combination of both. Or another possibility is that is more plausible is that in the past 40 years the inflation rate is higher than the U.S.
From China’s point of view is that Chinese RMB can buy more in China and a dollars worth of RMB can buy you less in the United States of America. So it cost more to bring your money to buy stuffs in America and Americans can buy more from and in China.
So in PPP or real value GDP China has overtaken the U.S. since 2014, 8 full years ago and today China’s PPP is already 150% of the US. But in US dollar per say it is close to 85% of the USA. You can conclude it as the U.S. fooling itself and fooling the world and overvaluing the dollar through inflation.
Whatever it is, it is not good for America. And it is not good for Americans. It means standard of living is falling. Hence since 1980 Chinas real standard of living has increased 30 times in 40 years while during the same time period the US real income not only not grow it slide back to the 1960s level.
But what is worst for America and American’s is the income disparity. 400 richest Americans owned 50% of America. And 1% of the richest Americans own 80% of America’s wealth. Conversely 99% of Americans share the 20% of wealth. So in reality Most American’s are poor or close to third world living standard.
I leave you to decide on your own if PPP is important, good or bad. It is the measure of real wealth. China can sell many things to the world while the U.S. needs to buy most things from the world. Chinese real standard of living certainly improved while American real standard of living certainly deteriorated.
When real income increased the disposable income grow and hence domestic consumption grow. Today the Middle income people of China has grow to almost twice the entire population of the US. This means Chinese economy is less dependent on world economy and it is more self subsistence.
I can only give you my opinion. China’s economy is not only strong but it is very healthy and the US economy is getting weaker and very unhealthy. It will always face high deficits and debts.
With 1,700 deaths from coronavirus in China, do Chinese Quora users still feel that the Chinese government has been doing a good job for coronavirus?
My wife and I had stayed at home in Shanghai for over a month before I officially resumed working in office two weeks ago, when the virus control in Shanghai proved effective with full cooperation from the tens of millions of disciplined citizens like us.
Now with the escalation of this epidemic in countries outside of China, Chinese government started to intensify the control of passengers who returned from areas/countries with fast increasing confirmed cases. My wife had to fly to Tokyo on business trip for a week last Monday and returned yesterday, this was the first business trip since her last trip to Bangkok 2 months ago before this outbreak. She knew she would have to self-quarantine for 14 days upon her return, yet she did not know it would be this strict.
I went to pick her up at Hongqiao airport last night, and witnessed how Chinese fight the battle against the potential spread of virus.
Every passenger would go through strict screening and be categorized into three groups. Group A was domestic transit passengers and have to fly or take HSR to some other cities in Shanghai. After cleared with ID registration, flight ticket/train ticket, self declaration and health check, they would leave, and their route was monitored until received by check-in counter, and such info would be relayed to their next stop. When they arrive, the health department would be expecting them at the gate and carry on the escort.
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Group B was for passengers leaving for other cities by car, same procedure followed
My wife lived in Shanghai, so she belonged to group C. She finally got off the airplane, three hours later. She went through very strict screening and register via mobile phone /app
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After she picked up the checked luggage, she would have to register in an area, and find a section where the staff from the district we live were waiting for my wife.
The signs on the counter indicated the administrative district in Shanghai, and the residents would Q in front of the counter and register
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Double checking the registration, my address, and confirmed how my wife prepared to travel back home in Shanghai. When they knew I would drive her back home. The staff(health agency staff, police and airport staff) came out and escorted me to the airport garage, registered my ID, took note of my license plate and made sure we got in the car and drove directly home without stop in the middle.
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It was kind of interesting when my wife and I were escorted by a group of people, as if we were VIP. Foe those who did not have family pick up, there will be cars to drive them home.
for those who do not have permanent residence in Shanghai, they would register and be sent to a facility where they would go through 14 days of quarantine.
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2 minutes before my arrival, my wife’ phone rang and it was a guy in charge of the property management of my residential complex. He asked where were we and asked us to wait in the garage where he would be there to greet us.
He told us during the 14 days self-quarantine, we could not leave our apartment. Property management and security staff would help us pick up delivery, food and garbage every day, and if we need anything just give them a call, and they will help us do it, so we do not need to go out. He told us CDC would come tomorrow to check everyday, and even I would have to go through the same self-quarantine and could not go to work until CDC advises otherwise.
The local police station also showed up and made sure we must stay inside the apartment.
I am a bit excited to see CDC guys show up today:)
seriously I do feel it is a bit exaggerated, but the strict control does provide great sense of security for all of us, and I would be glad to cooperate knowing it must be done.
When I post this on my wechat, all my friends understand and felt glad the government is really taking this seriously, so the tens of millions of citizens’ sacrifice and self-quarantine for the past one month would be really worth it.
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How Much does China monitor the lives of its citizens? As in is it more “free” or less “free” than western media portrays it as?
Facial Monitoring
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China has a very sophisticated 5G facial print recognition system installed across 9 key cities.
From the arrival into Beijing Airport or Shanghai Airport, your facial print goes into the system and remains there for life even if you come back vide a different passport.
When you check in to your hotel, no need of handing over your passport in most cases. Just look into a scanner and the system will match the facial print and confirm where you are staying.
Train Stations, Taxi Stands, Government Premises, Universities all have scanners, so they know where you have been.
That’s how they busted the BBC liar of Shanghai during the protests
They clearly proved he was at the US Consulate several times and at Shanghai near the University premises. He had cleverly left his cellphone behind but he didn’t know 😁
They even established that he had visited the school of political sciences in that University
He however had lied saying he was home and he had never visited the University.
However they inform you of the facial print. Sadly it’s a Mandarin Sheet over the Immigration Desk so most foreigners would ignore it.
However that’s only foreigners and not all foreigners
Only select Nations like Canada, USA, Taiwan, S Korea, Japan, Australia etc
And NOT INDIA , we are trustworthy migrants
But Locals?
I don’t think so but i am not sure
Too many to have a successful facial print program
The Algorithms would need fastest processors to analyze facial prints of millions of people in nano seconds
Easier for a few thousand people than a million or so.
Internet Monitoring
Traction Algorithms are followed
Like Weibo users with around 5K followers or 10K followers (Purely arbitary numbers,I have no idea how many) known as Influencers
They are identified when they declare income from “Tips” which amount sometimes to 10,000 Yuan a month (1 Yuan per follower).
Surge in traffic leads to monitoring the tweets and if the tweet is inappropriate, it will be taken down and you have to appeal
Yet it’s not so black and white. Many weibo users continue to criticize the CPC once the authorities realize they are positive critics (White critics) and not Western funded
Guys like me Or Aravind would be on a traction list but would be allowed as White Critics
Chinese version of Guys like Subramaniam Duraisamy Or Mr. Prasanna Bhalerao would be VIPs and Heroes to the CPC with their bland acceptance and justification of CPC policies saying “It’s okay to lose lives but US lost more”
Most Weibo users would be angry and passionate but won’t be on traction lists as they don’t have the traffic
And they don’t give a damn if you praise the US everyday. They encourage debate on US vs China ferociously
Financial Monitoring.
Primarily for Tax Evasion
Some of the finest algorithms written ever.
The Chinese can hunt down tax evaders very fast using Financial monitoring.
Even a First Class Air Ticket by a normal Economy Class traveler puts up an alert
Based on all this they estimate the earned income and if you declare more than 7.5% less of this sum, you will get a notification
If you declare 7.5–20 percent, you get a request for an Official Visit
My Nephew once got a large credit from his UK account to buy a car and didn’t declare the amount and got a demand for a visit
Of course once you have a reasonable explanation they will close the file
It’s how they bust the TikTok influencers who merrily hid millions of Yuan and now are paying massive fines
But like I said, they have Social Responsibility classes in many blocks for free, held by the Government and in Universities too
They tell you what’s allowed and what’s not, very clearly. So it’s transparent enough as long as you don’t get stupid.
Foreigners are welcome though they rarely know of such programs.
So it’s called “Good Monitoring” done for Growth and Development.
No spying on cellphones stuff that US does
More jokes about the failed “color revolution”:
The color revolution cancelled in Dalian because of the cold weather.
Guangdong spies hoped that everyone would gather in Haizhu District and set the gathering place in Haizhu Square. Finally, they found that Haizhu Square was not in Haizhu District.
In Shenzhen, the patriotic people who wanted to have fun prepared eggs and waited at the place where the spies claimed to gather for the second time, but the spies did not dare to come.
In Shanghai, several girls shared a bunch of flowers to take photos and show off on the Internet. After taking photos, the girl who bought the flowers collected the flowers back to her home.
In Hangzhou, a rioter who rode a shared bike to participate in the “protest” was taken away, and the shared bike has been charged all the time. “Shared bike has not been returned” has become a new network meme in Chinese network.
A lot of Hong Kong rioters who participated in the riots a few years ago took part in this activity. They comforted each other that this was just a small testing to China, and that the US should drop weapons to coastal cities by planes to help them.
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“Someone help me return the shared bike”.
Tiantian
I was talking to someone years ago and in response to my depressed self–pity and regrets over the wasted past she said,
“You know, you could have done everything you dreamed of. Gotten that fancy degree, found great jobs, travelled the world, made millions. And then you could’ve been hit by a car at 30.”
And now I’m reading about someone almost identical to her example : Tiantian Kullander.
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Born to a wealthy entrepreneurial cosmopolitan family in Hong Kong, Tiantian grew up in California, Australia, Singapore, Sweden and England. He got a BA in Finance from Durham University and trained as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before he even graduated. When aged just 20, he was already getting interviewed by Capital magazine, advising other young people on how to how to land a coveted job in finance based on his experience.
After graduation he was hired at Goldman Sachs full–time, working as a member of its structured credit training team. Then he moved to Morgan Stanley where he specialized as an emerging markets trader. In 2017, aged just 25, Tiantian left investment banking to cofound his own company, the cryptocurrency trading platform Amber Group, in his native Hong Kong. He worked fanatically to grow the company, resulting in Amber Group becoming known worldwide and reaching an astonishing market capitalization of $3 billion by early 2022. Tiantian also found time to establish Ethereum platform KeeperDAO in 2019. Also in that year, Tiantian earned prestigious recognition as a leader of change in the world of finance when Forbes put him on its list of 30 under 30 Asia. And to top it off, he married a beautiful girl and had a son. Tiantian was one of the most successful and exciting ascenders in the world, becoming famous with a blazing finance and technology career and on his way to getting incredibly rich at a baby age.
None of that matters anymore, because last week Tiantian died of unknown causes in his sleep at the age of 30.
Life is unpredictable… Just do what you want to do most and don’t worry about anything else.
Have you ever left a date midway?
Yep.
We went out to a nice sushi restaurant she suggested. It was about 40$ per person which is expensive for my taste, but I had just sold one of my first patents and felt good about finally having some spending money so I didn’t mind.
She seemed interesting, funny and smart but then she said it: “I would never pay for myself on a date, that’s the man’s job.”
I asked her, “What if you invited me out?”
She just shook her head,
“Nope”
I inquired,
“What if you made more money than me?”
She responded,
“Then you’re just not a man.”
I asked her if she thought men and women were equals, and she said women were superior in every way but physical strength.
I asked how she reconciled equality between the sexes with a “men always pay” mentality, and she gave me this bullshit run around answer that somehow ended with her proclaiming she didn’t hang out with people unless they were pretty.
I had a crisp 100 and I slowly unfolded it in front of her and the waiter, I told him to keep the change so she wouldn’t gyp him, and put it down on the table and told her nicely,
“Enjoy your meal, on me.” Then I left.
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What is a split-second decision you made that changed your life?
“Dad, I want to drop out of university.”
It was December 2015. I was completely stressed out of my mind, because I only had four days to study for five huge exams. On top of that, I also needed to complete three final assignments AND I had to work extra shifts at my part-time job.
The transition from high-school to university was difficult for me. After class and work, I was always tired, and I just wanted to relax in the evenings. I naturally gravitated towards procrastinating and leaving things to the last minute. Plus, the first few months of university, procrastinating worked okay for me. I always knew I could just pull an all nighter and 9 times out of 10 the work would get done. Sure, my work was not as good compared to if I had actually planned ahead of time. However, the work still got done which is all that mattered to me.
But it was that last week of first semester, when I was looking at the mountain of work I had to do and felt so defeated. Again, I had 4 days left (due to chronic procrastination and poor time management) to study for 5 exams and complete 3 big assignments.
I didn’t want to do the work.
It was just way too much work.
Just looking at my textbooks, I felt like having a panic attack.
I felt way too stressed.
I knew even if I did study over the next few days, I probably wouldn’t do that well since I left everything to the absolute last minute.
So I called my dad. This would be a fateful moment of my life.
Me: “Dad, I have way too much work to do. I can’t do this anymore. I am stressed out of my mind. My mental health, wellness and life has gone to the shambles because of this degree. I want to drop out. I can’t take it anymore.”
Dad: “You need to get an education. You can’t just drop out.”
Me: “Well this amount of work is just too unbearable. I am not going to do well on my exams because I should have started studying like 2 weeks ago. I feel so behind. Maybe I could just drop out now and work full time instead. And then when I am ready to go back to university, I’ll go back.”
Dad: “Well the decision is up to you. You can’t live in the city anymore and would have to move back at home if you decide to drop out.”
Me: “Okay. I will think about it tonight and get back to you.”
After going for a short walk and reflecting on the conversation I had with my dad, I knew what decision I needed to make.
I decided to take the next 4 days and study as much as I possibly could and work on my assignments. I called a co-worker and asked them to take my shifts for the week. I only got 3–4 hours of sleep per night but I managed to complete all my assignments and pass all exams. Mind you, that semester I finished most of my classes with either a C or C-, with some B’s.
The next semester I really smartened up though. I saw an academic counsellor and was able to get my studies more on track. I reduced my work hours from 20 hours to only 10 hours per week. I reduced my procrastination by keeping a monthly calendar and carefully planning to get things done a few days before the deadline. I believed in myself that I could achieve good grades if I put forth the effort and studied hard enough. Thankfully, I ended up graduating 4 years later with honours and got a job in my field shortly after. I sometimes ask myself, If I would have dropped out, where would I be in life?
I’d probably still be happy but I’m proud that I was able to overcome that hard time in my life and keep positive.
Why do people protest against Xi Jinping’s policies?
Two possibilities:
One is that people want to fight for a policy that was already announced nearly a month ago;
The other is that a group of spies bribe a group of people to perform, so as to scare off investors from Europe who want to come to the mainland.
I choose the second one.
In China, only a few streets in specific cities have such “protests”. No one calls on the Chinese network, and there are no omens. All of a sudden, though the number of people is small. What happened in this block, people in other blocks did not even know it, until the next day they learned. It did not happen naturally.
In the “protests” in various regions, the organizers were heard to have Hong Kong and Taiwan accents, some wrote traditional Chinese characters, and one even directly admitted that he is Taiwanese and took out their medical insurance cards.
In China, if it happens naturally and protests for some rights and interests, people will only shout slogans for their own rights and interests, not empty words, and will not tolerate the existence of spies. The slogan calling for “Xi to step down” or “women’s lives matters” would not happen in China. But it happened, and people can heard their accents, that means people can realise that their team leaders are spies. So why would they continue if they’re average civillians? According to the survey of several American statistical agencies, the support rate of the Chinese government is more than 90%, and you don’t believe that it has become zero overnight, do you?
Because of the serious corruption of the spy organization, the price of $200 – $300 per person originally set by the US has even changed to $140 (Beijing), $70 (Wuhan), $40 (Chengdu), and $27 (Guangzhou) per person, leading the spy to complain on the Internet and be found. It’s already a joke and Chinese people are laughing at that.
So, I think the answer is, a group of spies bribe a group of people to perform, so as to scare off investors from Europe who want to come to the mainland.
The US has also recently announced through the media that the mainland is about to wage war against Taiwan.
The US also held a joint US Japan military exercise near Taiwan Island to create an atmosphere.
But China always has its own plan and always develops the country according to the plan. China will not dance to the rhythm of the US.
P.S. If anyone doubts what I said, I can find relevant videos or photos for you. But if someone calls me wumao directly without any reason to refute, I will block you.
China Taps Alibaba, Tencent To Beat US Sanctions on semiconductors:
China has enrolled tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Tencent Holding Ltd to aid its efforts in designing semiconductors chips to reduce its dependence on Softbank Group Corp-owned Arm.
Arm, headquartered in the U.K. but has significant operations in the U.S., is seen as vulnerable to any ramping-up of U.S. sanctions.
The Chinese government has established a consortium of companies and institute Beijing Open Source Chip Research Institute to create new chip intellectual property.
The group used Arm’s rival Risc-V, an open-source chip design architecture, to create Xiangshan, a high-performance Risc-V computer-processing chip aimed at matching Arm’s IP and boosting the development of a Chinese chip design market.
Before Beijing’s push to combine resources, Chinese tech giants Alibaba and ByteDance had already set up teams using Risc-V architecture to develop high-performance chips that power AI algorithms and data centers.
As a surgeon, have you ever had a patient who came in for a simple procedure that turned into something dire and complex?
I don’t usually answer questions like this because when I give what I think is a good reply, there are about 10 or 20 views and no reaction. Nevertheless, here you go:
I was called to the ER for what was thought to be a routine nosebleed that turned out to be the sentinel bleed of a carotid blowout in a recently operated and irradiated cancer patient.
There is a saying in surgery that says if you can’t hear it, it’s not really bleeding that much. I learned that night that if it’s not on the walls and ceiling (I don’t know how it got there, but it did) it’s not really bleeding that much. He survived.
I read the many serious and sometimes frivolous stories here on Quora for entertainment. However, I think there are few on this site that know what it’s like to be covered with someone else’s blood and know that you, and you alone, have minutes or seconds to assess, make a decision, and act for life or death. It wasn’t often, but similar crises happened on multiple occasions in the past 40 years. Sorry to sound overly dramatic, but that is an everyday possibility for all healthcare providers.
Now that I’m retired, I’m happy to no longer experience the exhilaration and terror of opening an airway in a person that was about to die. Once the crisis was over and the patient was stable, I would sit down and rest until my hands stopped shaking from the adrenaline. I don’t want that anymore but I’m thankful for those that do.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Why do U.S. voters pay no attention to https://www.usdebtclock.org ?
We have a $30 trillion debt, 130% of GDP, record tax receipts and we still spend beyond growing our debt. A 1% increase in interest is a $30 billion increase in what taxpayers owe.
Look 40% of Americans don’t vote. Out of the 60% who vote 50% of them and are highly and absolutely believed in the U.S. media narratives that spin the greatness of America and its exceptionalism. A good 80% of the balance are simply ignorant of the deep shit America is in which is not only accurate, but if anything it is actually worst.
So as little as 6% of American voters or 3% of the US population is aware that America as we know it today is totally unsustainable and on the verge of total collapse no different from FTX or Robert Madoff. These people are choosing who could get America out of this hell hole better and faster!
Goulash Triestino
“This is Lidia Bastianich’s delicious recipe for Beef Goulash in the style of Trieste, a city in Northern Italy that had previously been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. This recipe is great because it’s simple yet has loads of flavor. She suggests serving it Middle European style with boiled or mashed potatoes, Italian style with polenta or fettuccine or simply with steamed rice.”
Pour the olive oil into a small saucepan (about 6 cup capacity), set over medium-low heat, and drop in the onion wedges. Toss to coat in oil, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook gently for 3-4 minutes until sizzling and softening.
Spread onions in the bottom of a heavy-bottomed 9 or 10-inch saucepan (such as an enameled cast-iron French oven with a tight-fitting cover) and drop the beef cubes on top of the onions, filling the pan in one layer. Sprinkle another 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, all the paprika, and the oregano over the meat and drop in the rosemary. Without stirring or turning the meat chunks, cover the pan tightly. Heat the meat, with the seasonings on top and the onions below, so it starts to release its juices and stew. Check once or twice to see that the pan liquid is bubbling and the onions are melting (not burning) but don’t stir.
After 30 minutes or so, set the cover ajar a couple of inches and adjust the heat to keep the juices bubbling and slowly reducing. As they thicken, stir up the onions so they don’t burn and tumble the meat in the pan.
Continue cooking, partially covered, for another 1/2 hour or so. When the juices are concentrated and thick in the pan bottom, prepare the goulash sauce:.
Pour 3 cups cold water in the small pan and whisk in the flour. Set over low heat and continue whisking until the flour is dispersed with no lumps, then whisk in the tomato paste. Heat gradually, whisking often, until the tomato-flour water just comes to a bubbling boil. Pour into the big saucepan and stir well, turning the meat chunks over–they should be nearly covered in sauce.
Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, put on the cover slightly ajar, and cook 45 minutes to an hour, until the meat is quite tender and the sauce is somewhat reduced. Season with more salt to taste. Turn off the heat and let the goulash cool in the pan for several hours before serving or refrigerate overnight.
Reheat slowly, stirring now and then, until the meat is thoroughly heated. Thin the sauce with water if it has thickened too much. Serve hot. (Though not part of the original recipe, I like to garnish mine with a dollop of sour cream.).
This is a simple “stand alone” post regarding an important event. namely the November 2022 Shanghai “Anti-coronavirus” protests. This article discusses and summarizes what happened to the individuals that participated in the CIA / NED led protests.
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Let it be well understood that I covered (in great detail) what happened, and who was involved and why. As well as the final results and the various trends going on in China. However, this article summarizes the events related to the four participating groups. Now that China has secured them, arrested them, sentenced or sentencing them, and cleaning up the mess that they created;
The NED / CIA trained saboteurs.
The NED / CIA associated "news" reporters.
The local student Leaders.
The student pawns.
The trained saboteurs
These were the Taiwanese and Hong Kong “leaders” that directed the local leaders’ actions.
In Sichuan, Four Hongkongers who disclosed false information and bogus addresses, have already been charged with ‘Falsification for Entry’ which carries 3–10 years.
The sentencing will be next week.
Given the seriousness of their actions they will probably obtain a sentence on the “high side”. This is especially true if they are tied to any previous Hong Kong color revolution activity.
The student participants (Pawns)
Yesterday a total of 91 students apologized for their mistake with the protests.
Using AI obtained data, and 5G remote face scanning (though paper, and masks) the police compiled detailed photo evidence against everyone who was at the “protests”.
Using this photo evidence, every student who participated was visited by the police at their dorms and homes, and the leaders clearly identified.
They were made to sign an Oath that [1] they didn’t get any money and [2] that the protests were because of frustration that they could not go home for the CNY holidays (which now they can).
They also apologized [3] for sending the messages to Reuters & BBC.
The student leaders (Led the protests)
In addition, the leaders, have tougher penalties placed upon them.
There were 14 leaders, or “ring leaders”.
Those Students identified as leaders can no longer join the Civil Service. Which means that they cannot join the CPC, volunteer, or take the basic tests for advancement within Chinese society. They will never vote, or ever become a citizen inside of China.
They will require Security clearance level I for a passport (In short they are unlikely to ever leave China until maybe 2050).
All their social media accounts have been suspended for 3 years. Meaning their internet use is ZERO for the next three years.
No Wechat.
Unable to QR scan.
Unable to buy or purchase things via QR.
Unable to register APPs
No QQ
Unable to listen to music.
Unable to create and publish music.
Unable to use e-mail
No Douxing
Unable to play games
Unable to watch videos
Unable to create videos
The others will not be punished. They were warned and let off. They were visibly relieved.
Western Reporters (Choreographed and directed the protests)
8 Reporters were charged with Degree Three Incitement and Degree One Public Misinformation without evidence.These charges result in prison time.
Lucky for them that the charges were suspended pending deportation.
If they ever come back to China again, they face 6–14 years imprisonment and 200K Yuan fine
They have been deported
1 Reporter has been released on a 50K Yuan Bond. That he posted. I am sure that his every movement is recorded and watched as we walks the long slow path out of China.
Their Laptops, Phones are all in Security Service custody.
All lists and names, and addresses on the computers were obtained, and deep-deep-DEEP AI scanning of the electronic uncovered a “treasure trove” of information.
Let’s just simply say that any Chinese on any of those lists is finished
This so far was the Security Services… now some words about the dark-arm of China. The dreaded…
Political Corruption Police
Then the Political Corruption Police was involved and they made a number of stops which aren’t covered in any Chinese Daily. Nothing is reported about those events.
On Duoxing and Zhihu they say, many Taiwanese who were spotted have been detained and are questioned.
One must wonder how serious it must be for them as the Political Corruption Police handled their cases instead of the regular police.
They may be charged with spying in which case they may spend the next 20 years in a Chinese Cell. And it will be absolute. China does not have parole or negotiated settlements like in the West. Twenty years is twenty years to the second.
Or they may be killed. As is the historical norm.
Exactly.
Life over. Full stop.
By God the Crackdown was Swift
main qimg 8eec948a6fb6bb51d31837d509161988 lq
It’s like Machines and Robots
The Authorities knew who the brains were and who the unwitting pawns were in seconds.
The Pawns were mostly poor students who were let go with a warning.
The Pawns were a handful of people who didn’t even understand what they were protesting against. They came to protest against Covid 19 lockdowns and were aghast to know that the protests called for Xi Jing pings resignation and overthrow of the CPC.
They admitted to being paid (by the United States government) agents.
They were ordered between 60–200 hours community service and they were visibly relieved. Grateful, even.
The Western reporters were deported. No sense jailing them and causing a major diplomatic incident.
Maybe Mengs charges being dismissed was a quid pro quo?
However the perpetrators from HK and Taiwan are finished. They paid for protests where overthrow of Xi was mentioned. It’s far better for them to simply end their lives now.
Their own personal lives are going to be very dark.
About the student leaders…
The student leaders could face more serious charges if they find money was exchanged and even a Harvard or Yale admission is considered money exchange. So if a letter, or voice message promising easy entry into a Western university is obtained, they will be facing very serious charges.
Then instead of Yale, the poor guy faces 15 years prison
The Overthrow of CPC and Xi
That was the only thing that was regarded serious enough.
The Authorities once again demonstrating their brutal efficiency
Many pro-DPP Taiwanese in Taiwan may no longer dare visit the mainland. They would be picked up within ten seconds and likely never see the light of day again.
However, we also cannot deny that the protests in some areas, such as Shanghai, have deviated from their purpose, showing very classic and traditional color revolution routines. In Hong Kong, in Ukraine, wherever there is turmoil and disaster, similar patterns of behavior are constantly being played out. NGOs, CIA, and the media used social incidents as an entry point, hired gunmen or instigators at the protest site to quickly intensify the situation, and even resorted to direct murder to promote confrontation.For example, during the protests on Middle Urumqi road, traditional Chinese characters, which are basically not used in mainland China, were written on the banners hanging; those who first started chanting political slogans had obvious Hong Kong or Taiwanese accents. It is almost impossible to obtain explosives or guns in mainland China, so by elevating a social issue to a political issue is a common tactic used by American conspiracy agencies to incite color revolutions. As a native of Sichuan, I have witnessed similar tactics in the suicide incident of student in Chengdu 49 Middle School. Protesters from southern China, armed with symbols (flowers, like carnations), chanted slogans in unison. Their behavior constitutes all the necessary elements in a political upheaval.The simultaneous protests in many places in China are essentially a farce of young and fearless students being manipulated and instigated by malicious foreign political forces. It took advantage of the public's dissatisfaction with the current epidemic prevention policy, induced student groups who did not have a deep understanding of national security to take to the streets to protest, and then tried to detonate social incidents into political incidents through extreme means at the scene. Another attempt at a color revolution.
However, there is nothing to worry about.During major policy adjustments, instability or errors in implementation are quite normal. If you believed US propaganda that this was the standard for China's imminent collapse, then I'm sorry - as we've apologized to you many times - that but was your pipe dream.
You know, it’s Friday and I am suffering from America=crazy fatigue. I really have no desire to post articles in regards to Ukraine and the latest insanity out of the United States. I will put some stuff that is a fallout from the failed color revolution that the NED tried to launch in China, but other than that, I just want to chill and smunch.
This is intended to be a fun article, with all kinds of cool stuff that kinds of reminds me of my boyhood in various ways, interspersed with some NED color revolution stuff. LOL.
Have fun.
The Modern Handy Book for Boys, by Jack Bechdolt
This is a book that I had as a boy and that somehow got lost over the years. I treasured this book of inventions and dreams…
All four predict doom for China and president Xi’s leadership. In typical color-revolution fashion the sudden onslaught of these pieces follows recent reports of minor protests in some Chinese cities related to zero-Covid measures.
But the biggest recent protest was actually a labor conflict at a factory where the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn is producing iPhones:
A violent workers’ revolt at the world’s largest iPhone factory this week in central China is further scrambling Apple’s strained supply and highlighting how the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy is hurting global technology firms.The troubles started last month when workers left the factory campus in Zhengzhou, the capital of the central province of Henan, due to Covid fears. Short on staff, bonuses were offered to workers to return.But protests broke out this week when the newly hired staff said management had reneged on their promises. The workers, who clashed with security officers wearing hazmat suits, were eventually offered cash to quit and leave.
Within a day that labor conflict was largely resolved.
Other protests were mostly small symbolic events carefully designed to get some media attention in the ‘West’.
2022 12 02 10 16
biggerFor a huge country like China the total number of protests was laughable small:
Nathan Ruser @Nrg8000 - 23:17 UTC · Nov 30, 2022
For our China Protest Tracker map, we tracked reports of 7 protests that took place across China on November 29th. Totaling 51 protests since November 25th, across 24 cities. See the third edition of our map.
There are signs of foreign meddling:
Angelo Giuliano 🇮🇹 🇨🇭/ living in 🇨🇳 @Angelo4justice3 - 3:08 AM · Nov 30, 2022Telegram Channel / protests ChinaThey have open channel with Western journalists, here is the list.Here a list of organisers, all based outside China.Sydney Daddy one of them, YouTuber based in Australia.So much for "organic" movement.Covid protest YES, foreign meddling NOImage
To me this looks as if some ‘western’ color-revolution instigators are trying to hitch a ride with reasonable protests against some zero-Covid measures. They are likely to fail.
Exactly three years ago Wuhan reported the first case of an unknown type of pneumonia. China had since then adopted a whatever-it-takes stand against the spread of Covid.
While the zero-Covid measures at times seem harsh they are also a necessity.
The Chinese medical system is still underdeveloped and can not handle large outbreaks in multiple big cities. Not all Chinese elderly are vaccinated. A free running epidemic would cost several million lives and would leave tens of millions hampered with long-Covid conditions.
That is unsatisfying for the young who are unlikely to die of Covid-19 but have to live with the zero-Covid restrictions.
But China is a Confucian society. People in China are traditionally valuing their elderly. China’s constitution makes care for the elderly in ones family an obligation for every Chinese citizen:
Article 49 Marriage, families, mothers and children shall be protected by the state.Both husband and wife shall have the obligation to practice family planning. Parents shall have the obligation to raise and educate their minor children; adult children shall have the obligation to support and assist their parents. Infringement of the freedom of marriage is prohibited; mistreatment of senior citizens, women and children is prohibited.
China can therefore not open up and let the pandemic run its course. Its government would likely see more protests than it does now should it suddenly decide to fully open up and to let the elderly die.
But China can, as Peter Lee predicted, modify its current policies.
chinahand @chinahand - 12:54 UTC · Nov 30, 2022My prediction that CCP crabwalking to a new covid policies (w/ collateral political and public health implications) holding up rather well. Subscription required!Less Than Zero...Covid - Peter Lee's China Threat Report on Patreon.
Chinese cities including Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, where the virus is rife, have continued to optimize their anti-epidemic policies in recent days, with Guangzhou resuming businesses, allowing dine-in services in low-risk areas; and shopping malls gradually opening in Beijing starting Thursday.
Some cities have also started to allow close contacts to have home quarantine under certain conditions and exempt some groups from routine nucleic tests.Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan underlined again on Thursday the importance of continuously optimizing China's response to COVID-19, following similar remarks she made on Wednesday saying the country is facing a new situation and new tasks in epidemic prevention and control as the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus weakens.Epidemiologists said such optimized measures aims to strike a better balance between COVID-19 control and ensuring people's normal lives.
Allowing home quarantine for some risk groups also relieves pressure of already strained hospital resources.
China wants to hold out as “the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus weakens.”
The Omicron variant seems to be more transmissible but less lethal than the original version of SARS-CoV-2 or the delta variant. But we do not know if it will further develop in that direction.
New variants are found on a nearly daily basis.
If China can hold out for another years until an even milder variant becomes prominent it probably can avoid a huge number of deaths.
Some economist predict that China will open up around the mid of next year:
China is expected to fully lift its Covid restrictions in the third quarter of 2023, leading to a dramatic economic rebound, said Hu Yifan, regional chief investment officer and chief China economist at UBS Global Wealth Management.The estimate echoes a forecast by Bloomberg economists, who said they expect a full reopening by mid-2023. A survey by Bloomberg News earlier this month showed that most economists see reopening starting in the second quarter of 2023 after China’s annual top political meetings.The Chinese government has given no public indication on the timing of an exit from the current “zero-Covid” pandemic control policy, although some municipal governments recently eased controls.
The Times writer who hope for some revolution in China will likely be disappointed.
China’s economy is doing reasonably well. The people are mostly content with reasonable health measure and everything else is negotiable.
‘Western’ op-ed writers like to paint picture of China as a dictatorship suppressing its people. But that is not what China is.
Posted by b on December 1, 2022 at 17:11 UTC | Permalink
Elves in Iceland
Iceland has a rich history of Nordic myth and folklore that have shaped the national identity, along with its otherworldly landscape of lava fields and glaciers. It provides the perfect backdrop for little supernatural creatures to live and roam, and that’s exactly what people in the region have encountered for centuries.
More than half of Iceland’s population ardently believe in the elves (or hidden people) living in the volcanic rocks found in the countryside. Some Islanders claim to see and converse with families of hidden people. Others just acknowledge their existence. It’s believed that they occupy an invisible world within our own, so not everyone is able to see them. It isn’t only elves that populate the area, but many believe that the trolls and dwarves have been scared off by human activity.
The locals have even defended known elf homes and special places from proposed construction sites. Building projects, including a highway in Reykjavik, have been put on hold or moved so as not to disturb the elf community residing there. Advocates have been lobbying for the elves for years, saying that disrupting their homes could result in mayhem since they are territorial creatures. Machines breaking down and accidents befalling those who disturb them are reported as signs that the elves have been agitated.
Confederate Gold in Wilkes County, Georgia
The most famous Civil War treasure and one of Georgia’s greatest mysteries are that of hundreds of thousands of dollars of the Confederate treasury that went missing right at the very end of the Civil War.
ConfederatePresident Jefferson Davis was attending church on Sunday, April 2, 1865, when he learned that Lee’s defensive line at Petersburg, Virginia had been broken and the fall of the Confederate capitol at Richmond was imminent. Davis quickly advised his cabinet that Richmond was to be evacuated and that they would take the Confederate treasury with them. The men and the treasury were scheduled to depart on two trains on the only line still open between Richmond and Danville, Virginia.
That evening the first train with the cabinet members departed Richmond. Shortly after midnight the second train, which carried the hard currency reserves of the Confederate States of America, left. It was under the command of Navy Captain William H. Parker who had gathered all the remaining available personnel to provide a military guard.
Amongst the official records of the Confederacy were numerous crates and barrels which contained gold and silver coins, bullion, silver bricks, and a substantial amount of fine jewelry donated by women across the South. In addition, there was more than $450,000 in gold from Richmond bank reserves, taken to keep it from falling into the hands of the Union.
Although the news was bleak, it was the hope of all on board that the struggle of the South could be continued.
When the tracks ended at Danville, Davis and his staff began to travel south on horseback. Captain Parker ordered the treasure moved to wagons which would transport it to the old U.S. Mint at Charlotte, North Carolina. However, when Parker received word that the U.S. Cavalry was already in the immediate area, he zigzagged across the South Carolina–Georgia state line several times to evade capture.
Captain Parker was to camp outside Washington, Georgia, where he was to meet with Jefferson Davis and receive further instructions. Upon their meeting, the Richmond bank reserves were placed in a bank vault in Washington, Georgia. Most of the Confederate assets had been dispersed to pay soldiers and travel expenses along the way. If there was any remaining, its outcome remains unknown.
Only days later, the Richmond reserves, amounting to some $450,000 were in the hands of occupying Northern troops who set out to take the money to a railhead in South Carolina. Along the way, the Union soldiers camped near Chennault Crossroads and it was here that on May 24, 1865, bushwhackers attacked the wagons and some $250,000 was lost. The bandits were stragglers from both the Federal and Confederate armies who had heard of the treasure being transported.
Bank officials eventually recovered some $111,000 of the stolen money. Union General Edward A. Wild led a search of the area for more gold and earned notoriety for the arrest and torture of the Chennault family, who Wild believed were hiding gold.
When Jefferson Davis was finally captured by members of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry near Irwinville in south Georgia on May 10, 1865, he had only a few dollars in his possession. The fabled riches of the vast “Confederate Treasure” were not to be found.
Though it would seem that the robbers would have made off with their stolen caches, tales of Confederate gold buried in Wilkes County have persisted since the end of the war.
Through the years, rumor has it that many gold coins have been found along the dirt roads near the Chennault Plantation, located at the crossroads of GA 44 and GA 79.
By Kathy Weiser-Alexander, updated March 2020.
When the Heater Came Down
By Rae Cross
I remember the humid day Father said, “I think it’s warm enough. We can take down the heater.” No sooner were the words said than Mother and I ran for the stack of newspapers we had been saving for the occasion. We covered everything in the room. A kitchen chair was set in front of the flue into which the stovepipe fitted. Father got an empty coal bucket and the soot scraper, and then climbed onto the chair.
Carefully he removed the first joint of the long stovepipe. He handed it to Mother, who ran to the backyard with it and shook the soot into the ash pit. Joint after joint came down. Mother and I took turns running them to the backyard, trying hard not to spill any soot along the way.
When the final joint was down, Father took the scraper and pulled soot from the black tunnel into the coal bucket again and again until no more soot came out. Then he took the bucket of soot to the ash pit as well.
When he returned, he climbed back onto the chair and placed the flue cover over the yawning hole. How pretty it looked, with the purple pansies on it — and how big the room looked after the heater had been lugged out to the shed, where it would spend the summer.
Then it was Mother’s turn. “Roll up the carpet. Take it out and hang it on the clothesline. Then get the rug beater and start using it.”
That big old beater was heavy and awkward. Beating the rug with it was difficult, but it did make the dirt and dust give up their hold.
Curtains had to come down to be washed and pinned to the curtain stretchers. All around the four sides, the wet curtains had to be pinned to the stretchers and left to dry — preferably in the sun.
Walls and woodwork had to be washed. Windows were washed with vinegar and rubbed with paper until they sparkled. The floor was mopped. The furniture was polished. Papers were laid on the floor three deep before the beaten rug was brought back in.
The curtains were hung in place, starched stiff and Fels-Naptha clean. Then the furniture was returned to its accustomed place; the pictures were hung; and the taboret, with its marble top, was placed close to the door.
Father and I dropped onto the porch swing. Mother stood in the middle of the clean room, smoothing her apron as she sized up the day’s work. No words were uttered, but how plainly her expression said, “This is my home, and it is good.”
The Sunken Kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod
There are so many legends and mythological tales linked with Wales, especially the coastline around Cardigan Bay. One such story has a lot of parallels to the legendary Atlantis. Cardigan Bay is home to some outstanding coastal trails overlooking the bay, with many people saying that they can see glimmers of buildings underneath the water.
This has led to the story of the Sunken Kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod—a city that was once thriving had been lost to the waves due to the carelessness of a lock keeper called Seithenyn. As the story goes, he got too drunk one night and failed in this duty, leading to the whole kingdom being flooded and hit by a huge storm. People still claim you can see the buildings and hear the bells ringing out to this day.
Chicken Agrodolce (an Italian Sweet and Sour Chicken)
“This is such a unique Italian chicken dish. Chicken breasts are briefly sauteed, then simmered in a sauce of honey, balsamic vinegar, wine, orange and lemon juice. Toss in a few toasted pignoli, and you’ve got a quick and delicious dinner with risotto or cappellini.”
In a large plastic bag, combine flour and chicken breasts, toss to coat.
In a large skillet, saute floured chicken breasts in olive oil with the whole garlic, bay leaves and allspice berries until chicken is browned.
Remove chicken to a plate.
To the skillet, add honey, vinegar and wine; cook to reduce slightly, about 10 minutes on medium-high heat.
Return chicken to skillet, add orange and lemon juices, salt and pepper, and cook about another 20 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is reduced slightly.
Remove garlic, bay leaves and allspice berries from sauce.
Add pignoli and heat through, another 5 minutes or so.
Delicious with angel hair pasta or a nice risotto.
2022 12 02 16 12
The Vanishing Car
On 30 December 2019, emergency services were called to Gray Whale Cove State Beach in California. An anonymous witness claimed he had seen a Lexus SUV driving over a cliff overlooking the ocean.
Officials immediately called in reinforcements, including the U.S. Coast Guard, and a six-hour search for bodies and the remnants of the vehicle ensued. The search was halted after water conditions became dangerous and daylight faded. The only evidence they found of a car leaping over the cliff was dashboard camera footage, some debris, and tire marks on the sand surrounding the edge of the cliff.
Suspicion arose that the video may have been faked, considering there was no car in the water or evidence of any human remains. However, on 16 January 2020, another witness came forward corroborating the story and saying that they too saw the car flying over the edge of the cliff.
Some car parts have washed up on nearby beaches, which police are sorting through, but to date, there have been no bodies found nor easily identifiable parts of a Lexus SUV. There is also yet to be a missing person or missing vehicle report filed that might be linked to the incident.
Same Old Ornaments
She complained then, but now she cherishes those family heirlooms.
By Arlene Shovald
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When I was growing up in the 1940s and ’50s in Iron River, Mich., I remember complaining to my parents about having “the same old ornaments” every Christmas. Why didn’t we get new stuff? But my family was pretty conservative when it came to spending money, given that my parents were from the era of the Great Depression. So as long as something worked, it was not replaced.
M16624 SameOld 300
In those days our Christmas tree was usually a spruce. It was always a live one, and it just wasn’t right to put it up any sooner than the day before Christmas Eve. I’d wait excitedly all day for my dad to come home from work at the iron mine and bring in the tree, all frosty and cold, with snow still on the branches and smelling all piney.
We’d set up the tree in the corner and let it warm up a bit before putting on the strings of lights, adding the ornaments, and finally, the tinsel, which we called “icicles.” Last thing to be added was the angel on the top. As the years progressed, she began to look more like a bag lady than an angel, and I couldn’t understand why we didn’t get a new one. I was well into my teens before she got so dilapidated that we replaced her with a star.
The decorations were always the “same old ornaments.” Many of them had been passed down to us from my grandmother, but as each one was carefully unwrapped from tissue paper, the excitement of Christmas grew as I recognized them from Christmases past.
I was about 5 years old when enough of the old ornaments had broken that my mother decided to order some new ones from the Sears catalog. This was just after the war years, and the beautiful, colorful ornaments I was used to seeing on the tree couldn’t be found. I was told they had come from Germany and were not available anymore because of the war. The only thing we could order were plain copper-colored ornaments, probably made in the USA. They weren’t as pretty as the old ones, but as the years passed, those copper ornaments were a reminder of the war years and how they affected a lot of things in our lives.
The next time I remember getting new ornaments was what I think of as “the year of the plastic birds.” I was probably 12 by then, and I got to choose the ornaments from the Sears Christmas catalog. I chose plastic birds. They came in red, yellow, blue and green, and we had to separate their little legs to set them on the branches. Over the years most of the little legs snapped off, but I still have a green one that I put on my tree every year. That “new” bird ornament is now about 70 years old, and I treasure it. I hold my breath each year as I attach it to the branches of my fake spruce tree, hoping its legs don’t break.
The strangest ornament of all was an Easter egg that adorned my grandmother’s tree each year. It was handpainted with flowers and leaves, and hung by a ribbon from the Christmas tree. An Easter egg on a Christmas tree didn’t make much sense, but it was very special to my grandmother because a neighbor girl who went to college had given it to her as a gift, and in those days, a girl who went to college was very impressive and important. So the ornament was a treasured keepsake.
Today I’m thankful that my parents were reluctant to replace the old with new because I still put the few heirloom ornaments that survived on my tree. They bring back those happy childhood memories of putting up the tree the evening before Christmas Eve and decorating with those “same old ornaments.”
The green plastic bird and the Easter egg still decorate my tree, and in years to come, unless the legs break off the bird, they will become part of my children’s, grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s holiday decorations. And no doubt, if the great-grands still value those “same old ornaments,” they will be scratching their heads and wondering what an Easter egg is doing on their Christmas tree.
The U.S. is pushing China towards war
Can you imagine if China sent a cruiser between Cuba and Miami? Maybe they should and claim its doing navy exercises.
Why are the Chinese people rioting over Covid restrictions and calling for Xi to step down or is this Western propaganda that I’m seeing on MSM?
Wait wait wait.
Haven’t big brained westerners been saying for DECADES that all protest and dissent is completely not allowed in China? And that you with your free media are ALWAYS 20 million percent correct?
Yet here you are saying there’s protests in China?
If you’ve been in Wales for any length of time or know any Welsh people, you’ll have heard all about Owain Glyndwr, the last native Prince of Wales. A national hero throughout Wales, he suffered a defeat to the English, led by Henry IV in 1400. However, no one knows what happened to the prince himself.
After his defeat, he fled and went on the run. The rest of the Glyndwr family were captured, but Owain’s men were loyal and kept him hidden for years, with the last sighting being around 1412. The mystery is that no one knows where he ended up, where his remains are, or how he died. It’s a curious ending to a huge figure in Welsh history that has baffled historians and stoked debates throughout the UK for generations.
What do you think will happen if the protests in China continue?
Chinese people will have more fun – it’s already a joke now.
I don’t think the spy organizations will work overtime at Christmas. They have already achieved one of their goals – wasted the financial budget of this year. They haven’t finished anything this year before that “protests”. This time is the only chance for them to show their usefulness, but they wasted it.
More likely, they continue to use the media to intimidate European investors not to go to China and force them to go to the US, thus to repair the poor industrial chain in the US. That is to say, even if they continue to report how dangerous and unstable China is abroad, these poor spy shows are unlikely to happen any more in 2022.
One by one, the telegram groups organizing “protests” have already been closed. Those which didn’t are busy asking for their back pay and complaining with each other. What a shame.
The three “P”s of selecting wines are Price, Preference, Pairing. Keep these in mind when visiting your local wine merchant and throw the odds in your favor for picking a winning wine every time.
Price
The price you are willing to pay (or not pay) for a bottle of wine is a key determining factor in selecting a wine that is right for you. Gone are the days when you could only buy a “good” bottle of wine for over $30. In today’s market, there are plenty of great wines available for around $15, some for considerably less. So rest assured that you won’t have to drop a bundle of money to experiment with various wines. A decent wine merchant will be able to give you plenty of suggestions in your stated price range.
Preference
Ahh, preferences. We all have them, and they often change at a moment’s notice, but let them be swayed by what you will be drinking them with or who you will be sharing them with. For example, if you are hosting a happy hour get together, your preferences might lean towards “safe” reds and whites. For people that may not be accustomed to heavier-bodied, heartier wines, give them a break – buy a softer Merlot or Pinot Noir (sometimes referred to as “Starter Reds”). For a white, who doesn’t enjoy a refreshing Gewurztraminer?
If you are seeking to experiment with a new varietal, then talking to your local wine merchant about wines, styles, and labels, that you have enjoyed in the past and asking for specific recommendations should provide sufficient direction for another great find.
If you are new to wines and are looking for a few suggestions:
If you prefer a dry white wine then look for a Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc.
As for reds, starting with a Gamay, Pinot Noir, for lighter tannins and more forward fruit or Merlot and Zinfandel for a fuller-bodied wine with dense dark fruit.
If you are looking to turn up the complexity meter, then go with a great California Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah (or Shiraz if it’s from Australia).
Pairing
If you are looking for a wine specifically to pair with dinner tonight, then take into account what the key ingredients will be. Will it be white or red meat? Will you be using fresh or dried herbs, and what types? Will the dish be spicy or fruit-filled? These questions can play a key role in deciding which wines will pair well with specific entrees.
In general, white wines accent lighter flavored meals well, while red wines often complement heartier meals a bit better. Keep in mind that pairing foods and wines is 99% personal preference and 1% science.
The jokes of color revolution in Sichuan:
Draw people along the street like peddlers to carry out color revolution – “$70 for holding a sign for a whole night!”
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Mandarin mixed with English is scolded by Sichuan dialect.
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Netizens urged spies to learn Sichuan dialect, otherwise that would be disrespectful.
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The Mandarin with Sichuan accent conflicts with the Mandarin with Hong Kong accent, when you learned one, it’s hard to learn another. Hong Kong spies who went to the scene tried to shout slogans several times but failed.
Sichuan people sing patriotic songs to them, but the spies can’t sing.
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Passionate interaction between Sichuan people and spy show:
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Don’t bring white candles when you go to Sichuan next time, Sichuan people teach spies how to mourn the dead: “We can’t stand you. It’s too unprofessional not to do research in advance. It looks like you are experiencing power failure”, “you should play majong for three days to mourn”.
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The white man who spent money on color revolution was caught by the Sichuan people. It seems that he should have been beaten by average people.
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Is Ynys Enlli the Site of Avalon?
When it comes to Arthurian legend and mythology, Wales has no shortage of claims. One of the most common legends is that of Avalon, the Vale between worlds with mystical properties. Arthurian academics and fanatics have worked tirelessly to try and connect the mythology and stories with real-world locations. The leading theory is that Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island) off the Llyn Peninsula could be Avalon. Other theories also posit that it’s the final burial spot of King Arthur or Merlin. It’s a rich, legendary spot!
It’s already a mythical spot, being one of the leading pilgrimage spots throughout the 6th century. In fact, some say that this island was the second most popular pilgrimage sight behind Rome at the time. It was just that significant! It’s said that there are over 2,000 saints’ souls who have been laid to rest there, bringing all kinds of supernatural and religious properties to the island. Visit the island by boat and see if you encounter any ghosts of the pilgrims or saints that have been journeying to the island for centuries.
Do you think Edward Snowden is a world hero?
He may not be a world hero but he surely exposed the hypocrisy of the west and shared with the world that the US and the American people are not free at all. In fact the NSA snoops in on every single sole in America and the world. It spies on everyone including their best friends and allies.
Edward Snowden is a brave and honourable American who helped Americans see the truth from lies. He should be adored by good, honest and honourable Americans and not demonised by them. Americans must want real freedom and willing to sacrifice for it, it means something to them.
Golden Memories With Ken Tate
Some people have cynically defined nostalgia as a type of self-delusion. After all, they say, what exactly was good about the Good Old Days? Times were tougher, money scarcer and luxuries fewer.
I remember a book published in the early 1970s titled The Good Old Days — They Were Terrible! The author claimed the Good Old Days were good only for a privileged few and were “unrelentingly hard for most.” I would wholeheartedly agree with the last half of that assertion, but I would take umbrage with the first half.
It seems to me that how we deal with adversity writes the story of whether our days were good or bad. The Good Old Days certainly were not easy. Ask anyone who lived through times of economic uncertainty and war. Oh — wait a minute! That could be talking about today. You don’t need memories of living through the Great Depression and two world wars, of reading by kerosene lantern or of taking the well-worn path to the little house out back in order to remember the Good Old Days.
You merely need the heart of a child who can have more fun turning a box into a playhouse than playing with anything the box might contain. Even children who grew up in the 1970s remember those days of wide-eyed wonder.
What is an incident that changed your life?
Last summer was my first time in a primarily non-Jewish environment as an Orthodox Jewish teenager.
It was a small summer camp, and the girls around me all arrived in regular summer clad, albeit clothes I’d grown up dismissing as sinful and immodest.
In the community I’m in, every girl is adherent to tzniut, which is the Hebrew word for modesty. Orthodox Judaism insinuates a strict dress code that determined an incredible amount about me and how I live. Our elbows and knees were like border disputes.
But these were the kind of girls I’d been always constantly warned about in school, the ones who supposedly had no respect for themselves. The kind of girls I should supposedly never be like.
But as they should be, they were respected all the same. No funny stares, comments or judgemental glares from counselors—or anyone.
What they wore didn’t determine their worth. The girls I became friendly with were some of the nicest people I’d ever met. Their bare knees were irrelevant.
I soon realized it was actually tzniut that had sexualized me all along, and all who encouraged it. The constant lecturing, pestering and obsession with our skin was what was damaging in reality. Covering my body so intensely from all men just meant that my body was inherently something to be sexualized. It meant that I can only be seen a human being away from sexual consumption if I hid behind a piece of cloth. That my body was for that one purpose only.
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Even worse, it meant the worst things for those around me. It meant that men aren’t capable of appreciating my personality or intelligence without sexualizing my knees and elbows. And I realized how crazy it seemed.
All of it led to a spiral of realization. A mere hour of thinking led to it all unraveling. So much that I thought I knew and believed exploded before my eyes.
I began to realize that so many of the morals I’d been brought up with…. were in fact wrong.
And at that point, I’d only just begun to understand.
The Haunting of Plas Teg
More often than not, haunted buildings are a result of a romance gone wrong. Located on A541 in North Wales lies the gorgeous but dark Jacobean mansion, Plas Teg, a property with a seriously spooky history.
The legend goes that Dorothy, the daughter of Sir John Trevor I, fell in love with a farmer’s son. Obviously, her father did not approve, so Dorothy planned to elope with her beloved. In order to start their new life, she buried some jewels in the ground outside Plas Teg that she’d dig up to help them begin their marriage.
Unfortunately, things did not go to plan. Under cover of darkness, Dorothy wandered over to the spot where she buried her jewels but accidentally fell down a well to her death. Until today, visitors still claim to see the ghost of a young girl in a white dress wandering the grounds, trying to find her jewels and her beloved. See if you can spot her or the jewels on your next visit.
Ragu Bolognese
“this is one of our favorite meat sauces although it is a bit of work. this works well with campanelle or penne to catch the sauce”
This post is a free (short) science fiction story called “Surface Tension”. It’s a classic story, and well worth the read.
A contributor wrote a story (or two) Heh Heh… and it was good, I’ll tell you what. But I will not publish it here. What I will say is that it reminded me of another story. Not that I know why… the two stories are completely different in every way. But it did jar my memories, and so I unearthed this gem.
It’s a story I read when I was 12 years old or so, and man oh man, did it awaken my soul and stir up some stuff inside.
It’s funny that way. How unrelated things can come together and create thought movements.
Such as this post…
“Surface Tension” by James Blish first appeared in the August 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. In 1957 it was published by Gnome Press as The Seedling Starsalong with three other pantropy stories by Blish to make a fix-up novel.
When the Nebula Awards were being created in the 1960s, the Science Fiction Writers of America voted for their favorite science fiction short stories published before the advent of the awards and “Surface Tension” was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One in 1970.
The version of “Surface Tension” in The Big Book of Science Fiction is different from the one that appeared in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
It has “Sunken Universe” (Super Science Stories, May 1942) inserted into it after the introduction, which is the way it is in The Seedling Stars. However, the introduction had additional paragraphs not in the Hall of Fame version, and I expect a careful reading of the later sections should show changes too. H. L. Gold was known for editing stories and Blish was known for rewriting his stories, so we don’t know which happened.
My guess is Blish came up with additional ideas to add to the story for the book version. I’ve read the slightly shorter version three times before over my lifetime, and a few paragraphs in this version stood out to me as new. Mainly they were about the original crew theorizing about their future pantropic existence.
Lately I’ve been writing about why I disliked a story, but for “Surface Tension” I need to explain why I love a story, and that might be even harder to do.
Every once in a while, a science fiction writer will come up with an idea that’s so different that it lights up our brains.
Wells did it with “The Time Machine.”
Heinlein did it with his story “Universe.”
Brian Aldiss did it with his fix-up novel Hothouse.
Robert Charles Wilson did it with his novel Spin.
“Surface Tension” is one of those stories. It has tremendous sense of wonder.
I’m torn between explaining everything that happens and not saying anything. But I need to talk about “Surface Tension,” so if you haven’t read it, please go away and do so.
As I’ve said before about great short stories, they have a setup that allows the author to say something interesting – not a message, but an insight.
The setup for “Surface Tension” is five men and two women have crashed on the planet Hydrot that orbits Tau Ceti. Their spaceship can’t be repaired, their communication system was destroyed, and they don’t have enough food to survive.
However, their ship is one of a swarm of seed ships spreading across the galaxy that colonizes each planet with customized humans adapted for each unique environment.
In other words, Blish has a lot to say with this story.
Because no large organisms can survive in the current stage of Hydrot’s development, the crew decide to seed it with intelligent microorganisms.
The seven will die, but each of their genes will be used to fashion a new species of roughly humanoid shape creatures that can coexist with the existing microorganisms of the freshwater puddles on Hydrot.
They won’t have their memories, but they will have ancestral abilities.
The crew creates these creatures and inscribe their history on tiny metal tablets they hope will be discovered one day by their tiny replacements.
From here the story jumps to the underwater world of the microorganisms and we see several periods of their history unfold. Blish used his education in biology to recreate several concentric analogies of discoveries that parallel our history in his puddle world of tiny microorganisms.
The wee humanoids form alliances with other intelligent microorganisms in wars to conquer their new environment.
Then they begin an age of exploration that eventually parallels our era of early space exploration. But you can also think of it paralleling when life first emerged from the sea to conquer the land.
One reason this story means so much to me is Blish makes characters out of various types of eukaryotic microorganisms and that reminds me of when I was in the fourth grade and our teacher asked us to bring a bottle of lake water to class.
That day we saw another world through the eyepiece of a microscope.
Blish made that world on a microscope slide into a fantasy world where paramecium becomes a character named Para who is intelligent and part of a hive mind that works with the transhumans.
Their enemies are various kinds of rotifers. However, I know little of biology and don’t know what the Proto, Dicran, Noc, Didin, Flosc characters are based on.
The main transhuman characters are Lavon and Shar who’s personalities are preserved over generations.
I wondered if the seven original human explorers (Dr. Chatvieux, Paul la Ventura, Philip Strasvogel, Saltonstall, Eleftherios Venezuelos, Eunice Wagner, and Joan Heath) were archetypes for the microscopic transhuman characters? Blish suggests that in the opening scene:
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However, I never could decipher who Lavon and Shar were. Each time I reread this story I notice more details, and more analogies. “Surface Tension” is both simple and complex.
At a simple level its just a space adventure tale about exploration and survival.
But in creating a fantasy ecology, Blish hints at the deeper complexity of a writer becoming a worldbuilder.
And Blish is also philosophical about the future of mankind, reminding me of Olaf Stapledon.
This is the kind of story that can blow adolescent minds. Like mine.
The entire story is HERE in PDF form. Enjoy the free download and the great story!
If you were glued to your monitors for the last couple of days, then you would be fire-hosed with all sorts of narratives that China is under a revolution, and protests are erupting out all over China.
Like this…
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Nope. Didn’t happen.
What did happen, was a half-assed, piss-poor attempt at a NED color revolution inside of China with the belief that it’s a win-win; either China collapses or it lifts it’s zero tolerance policy for COVID. Both of which is what the USA wants.
Nope. Didn’t happen either.
So what actually did happen? Well, let’s chat about that here…
Are Chinese protestors risking their lives?
If mocking them would cause them to be ashamed to death, then yes.
The video I saw was that a girl in Shanghai accused the police of pointing guns at them(with unskilled Mandarin), but the police stood by laughing and didn’t even take out the baton. – Every Chinese knows that police will hardly use or even bring a gun.
But they did win our mocking. In Beijing, their slogan was changed to “We want to do nucleic acid testing” and “We want to scan health codes”. In Chengdu, spies shouted “We want freedom” in the accent of outsiders, but local people mocked “You want your motherf**ker freedom” nearby. In Shanghai, their leaflets even wrote wrong characters. In Guangzhou, it is even more ridiculous, because the spy employment cost in Beijing is $140 per person, and in Guangzhou, it becomes a poor $27. People have laughed at them for this all night in Chinese network.
Last night's (protesters) were all paid. Beijing 1000 Yuan, Chengdu 500 Yuan, Wuhan 300 Yuan, Guangzhou 200 Yuan, I haven't seen prices elsewhere. The whole network is laughing at the cheap price of Guangzhou, from last night till now.It's not worth spending 1000 yuan in Beijing! When I saw it in the middle of the night, I laughed out of sleepy. "I want to do nucleic acid testing, I want to scan health codes.".What meme is this? I waited until midnight last night and didn't see it.It should not be seen now (deleted). In short, a group of people shouted slogans, and then they were misled by a dude. Everyone shouted, "I want to do nucleic acid testing, I want to scan the health code.".
Can you see how happy people are?
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Thank you for this wonderful show and bringing money to China, CIA, and see you next time.
We start with this reminder of what America is like…
This story is why Utah passed a state law allowing parents to do “free range parenting” so that parents couldn’t be arrested for allowing their kids to do things we used to do as kids, like walking on your block alone.
The Secret of the Shanghai Protest
Entirely Western Sponsored
A BBC Reporter was filming the entire thing.
The Cops didnt even bother with the locals but identified the troublemaker immediately and boy did they give her the treatment.
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They handcuffed her and forcibly yanked her off to a cell where they crushed her expensive iphone and gave her a local 140 Yuan phone saying “Oops”
They discovered her Laptop and asked her to open her emails.
She protested and said no.
They told her of she didn’t cooperate, she would automatically get 5 years for Non Cooperation in a National Security Event. And she would get it. They knew it, and she knew it too.
So, she backed down
And China found emails, tons of mails asking her to cover more protests and even talk to select “student leaders” by name. Lists of contacts. And all the rest.
By next week – these “student leaders” would no longer have passports and every keystroke they type for the next 20 years would be monitored. Not to mention zero social scoring, and inability to do just about anything requiring a QR code. (Which is exactly EVERYTHING.)
Notice how they zoomed in straight to the source of the trouble!!!.
They didn’t even touch the other gullible protestors.
BRUTAL EFFICIENCY!!!!!
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It’s good news (IC-Chip sanctions)
It’s GOOD news!
To explain why, here is an excerpt…
… remembered a news story about an airplane that crashed in the Andes a few years back on a Black Friday. The Uruguayan rugby players who had the bad luck to survive found themselves in the middle of the magnificent mountain range surrounded by snow, buffeted by inclement weather, with no food, no heat, no warm clothing, no electricity, no radio, no idea of location, no medicine, no survival skills, and no hope. As if that was not enough, they were promptly buried alive by an avalanche.
… On the eleventh day after the crash, the crackling transistor radio on a dying battery delivered the dreaded news that the authorities had called off the search. Everyone had given up. Fortunately, one survivor did not give up. A dying boy, Gustavo, said, “GOOD news! They’ve called off the search.” Someone shouted angrily, “Why the hell is that good news?” Gustavo would soon die from the ordeal, but he saved us all by his answer, “Because it means that we’re going to get out of here on our own.”
Good news, America is sanctioning China. It means that China will be doing it on their own, and it will be another nail on the Imperial coffin.
Watch what the Chinese scientists have to say HERE
Everyone in China knows!
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Neapolitan Meat Sauce – Ragu Napoletano Alla Anna Galasso
“From: Ciao Italia Pronto by Mary Ann Esposito ———-
“A typical Neapolitan ragu is a meat sauce made with beef or pork or a combination of both that is cooked slowly with tomatoes. This was the sauce that simmered for hours on the back burner in a large pot on Sunday morning while the family went to mass.
Upon returning home, the smell of it permeated the house, and we could hardly wait to have that plate of macaroni mixed with a sauce that was so flavorful and sweet tasting that we wiped our plates clean with a slice of bread to mop up an left behind driblets.
This is a great do-ahead sauce.
It can be made 4-5 days ahead, and it can also be frozen for months.
This is my grandmother Anna Galasso’s recipe, the one she carried with her in her head all the way from Avellino, Italy to her new home in America”.
Saving Time, use a food processor to mince and chop the vegetables.
To save time, make this sauce on the weekend, and freeze some for future use.
Use a food processor to mince and chop the vegetables.
NOTE: The sauce (with the meat) can be frozen in batches for future use for lasagne, pasta dishes, with vegetables such as green beans, zucchini, and eggplant, and over pizza.———-
For those of you that don’t know Maryanne Esposito, let me introduce you to a marvelous cook, who cooks only “Authentic” Italian food, and it is incredible! I had the priviledge of meeting Maryanne at a woman’s luncheon many years ago, and she has her own cooking show on Channel 11 in NH. She and her husband, who is a local doctor, live in the next town from where I used to live and work.”
Dry the round steak with paper towels, and rub it on both sides with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the meat with the parsley and cheese.
Roll the meat up like a jellyroll, and tie it in several places with kitchen string.
Salt and pepper the spare ribs. Set the meats aside.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy duty pot. Over medium heat, brown the round steak and spare ribs in the oil on all sides. This will take about 5 minutes.
Stir in the onion, celery and carrot and continue cooking until the vegetables begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and basil. Cook 1 minute.
Combine the tomatoes and wine in a bowl. Slowly pour the mixture over the meat.
Stir in the tablespoon of salt, a grinding of pepper, and the sugar.
Cover the pot, bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer, and cook the sauce until the meat is fork tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the meat to a dish. Cover the dish, and refrigerate the meat to make it easier to cut when cold.
When ready to use, transfer the round steak to a cutting board, and cut the strings from the round steak with a kitchen scissors.
Cut into neat slices about 1/4-1/2″ thick.
Add to the sauce. Cut the meat off the bones of the spareribs and add the pieces to the sauce.
Use the sauce for pasta dishes both boiled and baked.
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With or without Dynamic zero-COVID Policy, the U.S. will use various excuses to create color revolutions.
Also the West has predicted wrongly.
As far as I know, it is not the CPC that supports the Dynamic zero-COVID Policy, but the grassroots in China, which is the mainstream public opinion in China.
Do you expect the CPC to go against the mainstream public opinion in China?
At least 80% of the people around me are supporters of the Dynamic zero-COVID Policy, and young people who use VPNs do not make up the majority of China, and these people who earn tips to protest are even less representative of mainstream Chinese public opinion.
Once the color revolution ploy is exposed, it will only increase the Chinese public’s resentment of those who started it.
At the same time, I am saddened by the fact that the U.S. government is wasting the tax dollars of American citizens on this meaningless color revolution.
Davy Knowles w/Band of Friends – A Million Miles Away
My notes has this as a worthy enough video to include in a post, but I seriously don’t remember ever including it in an article. Enjoy the Rory Gallagher tune.
Rory would be proud or should I say is proud...keeping his legacy alive. A million miles away in the heavens looking down on these guys...
Elections in Taiwan, ruling party suffers massive defeat
Davy Knowles w/BAND OF FRIENDS – Tattoo’d Lady/Bad Penny/Shadowplay
Damn! They sure are having fun up there on stage!
This is ONE HELL of a show, folks!
Don’t people in China wish to live in a democratic country?
I once taught English in China. It was in a small city called Shandan — more of a town by Chinese standards, with only some 200,000 people. It is located in Gansu province, bordering Inner Mongolia.
The school, Shandan Bailie had been set up by a fellow Kiwi, Rewi Alley — a staunch supporter of the early Chinese Communist movement. He smuggled guns for Mao under the noses of the KMT. More importantly, he lead students on a 1000 mile march from the coast, as they were threatened by the encroaching Japanese. They founded a school in Shandan, in an old monastery.
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It was a very interesting school, mixing half a days academic work with half a days practical work. The boys learned automotive engineering, refrigeration electronics, among other things. Real men’s work. The girls studied secretarial skills, teaching, I wasn’t sure what else. The teachers of the school had total control over the the students, who feared and respected them.
I was told that if they were punished at school, the punishment meted out by their father would be many times worse.
They weren’t raising big babies, as Western schools do.
The girl in the picture had to look after her kid brother for three months at a time, while her parents worked in a town hundreds of miles away. She was sixteen, her brother was eleven. She was the most dedicated student in the class, and was eager to tell me about her life in broken English. I forget her name now.
She would have at least three to four hours of homework every night – they all did.
She had to do all the washing, all the cleaning, all the cooking for her and her younger brother.
She and the rest of the students would have to run 1.2km every morning around a track, the temperature would reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, minus 4 in the winter. I was there as winter set in, the coal fired heating made it like something out of a Dickens novel, a caustic, eye watering smell you couldn’t escape.
Girls like her looked forward to making about $100 US a week maximum when they graduated, living in the same town they were born in, marrying a local boy, and taking care of their parents. They would become teachers, nurses or secretaries. The dream for most people in the city was to own one of the many vacant two or three bedroom apartments that were flying up at a mad pace all around us, apartments that cost at least $60,000 US.
She was serious girl, but why wouldn’t she be? She didn’t have time to sit around like a lazy clown, wondering if someone would text her back, as big Western babies do.
I was impressed by the discipline of the youth, the small children jogging to school in formation, one of them with a whistle, leading the others. Everything was hierarchical, and the students seemed to take it without complaint.
I have to laugh at the arrogance of Big Western babies, speaking haughtily about China. Big Western babies couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag — there would be too much of a fight to decide who would exit first.
The children were tough. There was a school holiday when most students returned home, to eat moon cakes or some such. Some parents couldn’t or would afford the ten dollar bus ticket ride home, so their children remained at school. I celebrated with them. There was an impromptu talent show organized by a couple of the teachers, and when the boys refused to do their part, they were punished. Lifted by the arms and legs, their backs were thumped down upon the desks, to much laughter from the girls. I was shocked. However, after I had done my item with gusto, and they still refused to do theirs, I demanded they were punished and laughed hard when they were.
I was too soft. I had to individuate a test. I thought I was going insane. I thought I could hear voices, but every time I looked up, I couldn’t see any mouths moving, just a few sly grins. I eventually caught on and told the head dean. He gave me a knowing smile, as if to say “kids will be kids”. He was a bear of a man, who usually spoke softly, and the kids ate out of his hand, for his rage was terrifying, ferocious.
During another class, when I had let the boisterous students get out of control, a girl, who I assume was the class leader barked out an order, and they all fell silent. There were rules here.
Authority wasn’t an abomination.
Each tiny dorm room had at least four students living in it, sleeping in bunk beds — an intolerable prospect for students from my own home country.
Although their lives were much much harder than that of Western babies, the children were ferocious, cheerful. A little boy flew a kite made from a shopping bag with zeal. At night, the many, many basketball courts were filled with young men, their families and classmates watching on. I didn’t see drunks and whores everywhere as one does when in the cities of big Western babies.
I would walk around at night, trucks with big LCD screens on them would drive by, promoting the apartments, including weddings in New Zealand.
I purchased a mountain bike. It was a new sport to the city, and the owner of the shop took many photos of me, to authenticate his wares no doubt.
The people seemed mostly concerned with a better life, to obtain the things big Western babies take for granted.
What I saw in China was a people that seemed by and large united, by and large ready to take orders. I look around and the deep divisions and rebelliousness in my own decadent country — race, politics, class,.vaccine status, and I hate to think of a worsening virus, spill over from War in Eastern Europe, a crumbling supply chain.
At this point two weeks of no power and no internet
I think that’s all it would take
and there would be no country left to come back to when the lights came back on. Whether or not Long Pork will be on the menu during this frenzied fourtnight, one thing is for certain:
you can’t eat democracy,
Facial Recognition Is EVERYWHERE In China
Yup. This is what is going on in China. No big deal.
What is the status of the China Protests today?
Now the country has returned to normal, yesterday a busy night of processing was completed.
The first batch of Nanjing Media College students in Shanghai who were incited individually wrote a letter of repentance and were detained for 24 hours and released.
The Fifth Column’s Facebook group is full of frustration.
They also tried to get the locals to protest, but they found that no locals paid any attention to them.
There were a few scattered schools this morning, 1 student came out and held up a white paper but was quickly taken away from the school.
It’s over; America’s informant resources are depleted and it’s hard to create the next protest.
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Ravioli (Dough and Choice of 4 Fillings)
“Posted in reply to a message board request. This is the family recipe for homemade ravioli. I have included 4 filling variations along with the ravioli dough recipe. Please note that this dough was made by hand and not with a pasta machine. Feel free to use the fillings with your own favorite pasta dough recipe (hand or machine). Prep time includes 1 hour drying time.”
2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese (If you prefer a less sharp cheese, freshly grated Parmesan cheese may be substituted for the Romano)
Directions
MAKING THE FILLING: Ricotta Filling#1: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
Ricotta Filling#2: In a large bowl, blend all filling ingredients together until smooth, set aside filling until needed.
Beef and Spinach Filling: Brown beef and veal in butter with the whole clove of garlic.
Remove garlic and let meat mixture cool.
Mix spinach, parsley, eggs, cheese and nutmeg into cooled meat until well blended, set aside filling until needed.
Sausage Filling: Brown sausage in frying pan, drain fat and allow sausage to cool.
When sausage has cooled, mix in eggs and cheese, set aside filling until needed.
MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.
Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.
Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.
Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.
Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).
FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.
When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.
Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.
Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.
DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.
COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.
Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.
Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer.
Why would China be going to all these extreme measures to prevent outbreaks, if it did not suspect Bio-weapons?
-Jeff
This is right after the entirety of the Western media has proudly announced that China is undergoing collapse. They argue that the protests being run by the NED is “bringing down” China.
Didn’t happen.
Won’t happen.
Such more silly wishful thinking from the clown-show known as the United States.
Thessaloniki is also known as a crossroads of flavors, a metropolis of tastes, a gastronomic capital. Nowhere else in Greece can one find so many different flavors combined on the same table: the Ottoman palaces heritage and traditions of Greek refugees from Asia Minor or Istanbul, with their own bold, rich cooking identity features, are combined with customs of the Balkan hinterland fashioning the distinct gastronomic profile of the city.
Bougatsa is delicious Greek breakfast, which became known in Thessaloniki when some traditional confectioners from a nearby area moved to the city. This luscious custard pastry became a much loved sweet snack and hundreds of special pastry shops opened where a sweet or salty with cheese, minced meat, or spinach bougatsa is served.
bougatsa thessaloniki 1
Here is Bougatsa recipe, as featured in the Gastronomic Guide of Thessaloniki, issued during Thessaloniki Food Festival.
Ingredients
1+ 1/2 liter milk
250 gr caster sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
250 gr fine semolina flour
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1 pack filo pastry
150 gr unsalted butter
80-100 gr icing sugar to dust
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Preparation
Combine the sugar and milk in a medium size saucepan. Place over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stirring constantly, gradually add the semolina and a pinch of salt and cook for
3 minutes until the mixture thickens. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover the surface with baking paper and allow cooling completely. Melt the remaining butter and set aside. Unroll the filo pastry and place between two clean tea towels on the benchtop. Brush a 34 x 36 cm cake tin with butter. Brush a sheet of filo with butter and lay it in the tin with the edges overhanging.
Repeat with 6 more sheets changing the angle slightly each time as you lay the filo into the tin (this creates an even edge of filo around the tin). Spoon the semolina custard evenly over the filo. Cover the surface of the tin folding the overhanging sheets buttering one by one. Brush each of the remaining sheets with butter and fan the sheets over the tin to cover the surface.
Brush with butter on the top, place the baking tin in the oven and bake at 180 C for 30 minutes until golden. Allow to cool. Combine the icing sugar and cinnamon and generously dust the surface before cutting into slices.
bougatsa thessaloniki 2 1
Are the anti-Xi demonstrations in China genuinely spontaneous or have they been carefully organized by outside instigators to make it appear to the Western media that they are spontaneous Chinese demonstrations?
The protests aren’t anti-Xi. Most of them are about the Zero-COVID restrictions, on the surface at least.
A lot of protests in China in recent years have a similar pattern – they start off as spontaneous grassroots movements; they are then infiltrated by external forces, and twisted till it becomes unrecognisable; the native Chinese don’t approve of this mutated freak show, and the protest goes out with a whimper.
It’s actually not that hard for those of us who are born and raised in China to tell if a protest is genuine or not:
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The philosophy of protesting
This may come as a surprise to some, but Chinese people are allowed to protest.
The thing is that the Chinese culture is very subtle, yet practical, and the way people protest is the same. They like to get straight to the point, and be honest and direct with their tone - people don’t like it when you’re enigmatic and caustic.
If you want your scumbag boss to pay your outstanding wages, just say you want your boss to pay your outstanding wages. You don’t say “my boss isn’t paying me, fuck the government”.
With westerners and western-funded protests, the way people protest is very odd and flamboyant from a Chinese perspective. They'd do things like holding specifically-colored flowers, paper, cloth or some shit like that, and chanting western-centric “politically-correct” keywords and phrases that are quite alien in the Chinese context. An example of this being "give me freedom or give me death”. Real Chinese people would simply say “fuck your mother and your pandemic measures, I need to feed my family”.
The reason westerners protest this way is because it looks good in front of a camera (hence the term “virtue-signalling”). Western media loves eye-catching snapshots and emotion-invoking soundbites - it tells a better story in a shorter time.
This might work in the western context, but it just instantly feels "off" to Chinese people in a way that's hard to describe. It's like when an alien infiltrator says “greetings, fellow humans”. There’s nothing technically wrong with that phrase, but it’s just not something people on earth actually say.
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The wrong people at the wrong time
Just because we’re Chinese, doesn’t mean we all speak Mandarin. China has a very diverse array of cultures and dialects, and most people prefer speaking their own dialect when they’re in their hometown. Someone needs to tell this to whoever organizes these protests, because they keep making the same mistake of deploying protesters who didn’t speak the local dialect.
This happened last year with the protests in Chengdu, Sichuan after a student committed suicide on campus, and the school tried to cover it up. People were rightfully outraged, but then the protests got weird, as Mandarin-speakers with thick (Hong Kong) Cantonese accents suddenly started to show up at the rallies. That’s when the locals stopped attending them.
Same thing has been noted with the ongoing protests in Shanghai, which is championed by people who either didn’t speak the Shanghainese dialect, or only spoke broken Mandarin.
Imagine an anti-US, pro-China rally in Washington DC, where everybody speaks Cajun for some reason. Don’t you think that might raise a few questions?
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Money cannot buy loyalty
Some say us Chinese are the Jews of Asia, and not just because of the way we’re persecuted everywhere we go. It’s because we love money more than anything else.
Depending on where you are sent to protest, you could be paid hundreds of Yuan per day. This is a country where a lot of people make around 3,000 to 4,000 Yuan per month, so the prospects are very attractive. But the thing is word gets around quickly, and soon people will be talking about how someone’s deadbeat son got paid thousands by the US Consulate, just by holding a specific-colored candle, freeing his nipples or some stupid shit to make China look bad.
And other people will say, “That dishonorable son of a bitch!”
“How dare he not cut me in!”
And when enough people know about it, it’s no longer a secret. That’s why there has never been a lack of evidence for foreign funding in local protests.
What, you didn’t think all that “foreign aid” to China was for buying everyone sandwiches, did you?
From HERE… Britain gives China £51.7m foreign aid despite pledge to end handouts
Bottom line is, every society has its own issues. Regarding Zero-COVID, even its supporters (such as myself) have a lot to say about the way it was implemented.
But when outsiders try to take advantage of another’s domestic situation, by driving it out of control and creating chaos, they’re really helping no one, no matter how virtuous they might pretend to be.
Taiwan Voters Choose China Over Independence!
People looked at Ukraine and shockingly decided they don’t want any of that.
Yes, Patrice, it was the NED:
Provided by <redacted name> within my e-mail feed. A great source who publishes great material on a blog, website and is well-known throughout the blog-a-sphere.
Video: US CIA & NED are the black hands behind the protest in China universities campuses, US & UK agents disguised as foreign press & many entered China through HK
Today is November 28, 2022. The shocking news from different cities in the mainland last night kept coming from my mobile phone. At first I watched it and thought it was an old video from Hong Kong in 2019.
After communicating with netizens, I learned that it was the latest mainland video. Major cities live. When everyone was still spreading the news that Taiwan Province Tsai Ing-wen resigned as the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, it turned out that foreign forces had already deployed in the mainland.
Netizens who love the country and love Hong Kong immediately use the power of the Internet to investigate and track down these black violence promoters.
It turned out that one of them was an extreme anti-China element.
He was originally the leader of the Hong Kong gangsters.
Because of the relaxation of the epidemic prevention policy in Hong Kong, he quietly fled to Guangdong.
Announced that color revolutions were launched in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Urumqi, Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan and other places last night, inciting mainland citizens to gather and protest against the mainland’s epidemic prevention policies.
He also said that the Weibo account certified by the mainland publicly threatened and slandered him.
On the other hand, netizens in Shanghai have found out the WeChat accounts, names, and occupations of important contacts at the protest rally.
They are all reporters from foreign media organizations, including the New York Times and CNN. Many of them, as journalists, took advantage of the relaxed anti-epidemic policies between Hong Kong and Shenzhen to enter various provinces and cities in the mainland.
Mainland netizens have sent relevant information to the National Security Agency.
Based on my recent experience in Hong Kong, these reporters are very young.
They were sent by these media organizations to different think tanks and mainland organizations to inquire about news. At first, most of them used the interview method to extract information and pretend to report for you, but after many months, not a single report has been published, and you are required to provide more information on the structure and deployment of the mainland’s official agencies.
All discerning patriots know that these reporters are collecting information on behalf of foreign forces.
In addition, if you invite these journalists to participate in some patriotic activities, most of them will keep their distance and refuse, saying that they are media organizations, so they must be neutral, and it is inconvenient to participate in related activities.
Today, as long as everyone opens the news of these foreign media organizations, the headlines will all say that many places in China have erupted in protests due to epidemic prevention policies or social accidents.
Please everyone, when distributing news on the Internet, you must first objectively analyze whether the news is true, or whether someone is deliberately acting to challenge and incite public dissatisfaction with the epidemic prevention policy.
Secondly, please be more careful about the initiative and enthusiasm of journalists from foreign media organizations. Their superficial ignorance and stupidity are just to get your news and use your network to obtain more information.
Now is the troubled time, all patriots must be mentally prepared, another struggle has quietly begun. Please unite and send the information of the person in charge of the protest rally to the National Security Agency and other law enforcement agencies, so that they can have first-hand information and stabilize the overall situation of the country.
Chinese video that deconstructs the NED “color revolution” over the last few days…
No time to translate.
I listened to this while having my dinner. Really good.
1) Both Shanghai and Beijing white paper protests very close to US embassies.
2) large number of people arrived in those protest cities from Hong Kong and Taiwan,
3) money was given to protesters , Beijing received the highest amount rmb1000, Shanghai rmb500, and other part of the cities with much lower amount.
Etc etc.
TWO minerals that have never before been observed on Earth have been uncovered inside a meteorite.
Dubbed El Alie, the 3,000lb space rock was found in Somalia in 2020 and is the ninth-largest meteorite ever discovered.
Scientists unearthed the two new minerals inside a single 2.5-ounce sheet of rock taken from the meteorite.
The two minerals have been named elaliite after the meteor, and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative.
Researchers identified El Ali as an Iron IAB complex meteorite – or a type of space rock made of meteoric iron with specks of silicates.
And it was while looking at the meteorite sample that the scientists noticed the odd-looking minerals.
“In the course of doing the classification — describing this new rock for science — I came across some inclusions, some potential different, interesting minerals inside the meteorite,” Chris Herd a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, told Global News.
“What we’ve now discovered is there are at least two new minerals in this meteorite from Somalia that have never been discovered before.”
“Most people in my profession will go through their career and not even find one new mineral. Here… we came across two,” Herd added.
The researchers uncovered the minerals by looking at the rock’s chemistry and the ratio of elements that are in there.
They then compared the minerals with versions that had been previously synthesized in a lab.
“Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what’s been found before,” Herd said in a separate statement.
The two minerals were sent to the University of Arizona for official classification, and a third new mineral may be under consideration.
Should the researchers obtain more samples from the meteorite, there’s a possibility that even more minerals might be found, Herd said.
For now, the researchers plan to use the meteorite to help them better understand the formation of asteroids.
“That’s my expertise — how you tease out the geologic processes and the geologic history of the asteroid this rock was once part of,” Herd said.
“I never thought I’d be involved in describing brand new minerals just by virtue of working on a meteorite.”
It becomes questionable whether the Westcan compete as a civilisational state and maintain a presence.
The world ‘Map’ is accelerating its shift away from the paralysed Washington ‘hub’ – but to what? The myth that China, Russia, or the non-western world can be fully assimilated to a Western model of political society (any more than Afghanistan was) is over. So to where are we headed?
The myth of the pull of acculturation into western post-modernity lingers on however, in the continuing western fantasy of pulling China away from Russia, and into an embrace with U.S. Big Business.
The bigger point here is that former wounded civilisations are reasserting themselves: China and Russia – as states organised around indigenous culture – is not a new idea. Rather, it is a very old one: “Always remember that China is a civilization – and not nation-state”, Chinese officials repeat regularly.
Nonetheless, the shift to civilisational statehood emphasised by those Chinese officials arguably is no rhetorical device but reflects something deeper and more radical. Moreover, the culture transition is gaining wide emulation across the globe. Its inherent radicalism however, is largely lost to western audiences.
Chinese thinkers, such as Zhang Weiwei, accuse Western political ideas of being a sham; of masking their deeply partisan ideological character beneath a veneer of supposedly neutral principles. They are saying that the mounting of a universal framework of values – applicable to all societies – is finished.
All of us must accept that we speak only for ourselves and our societies.
This has arisen because the non-West now sees clearly that post-modern West is not a civilisation per se, but really something akin to a de-cultured ‘operating system’ (managerial technocracy). Europe of the Renaissance did consist of civilisational states, but subsequent European nihilism changed the very substance of modernity. The West promotes its universal-value stance, however, as though it be a set of abstract scientific theorems which have universal validity.
The accompanying promise to the latter that traditional ways of life could be preserved under the wholesale application of these intentionally secular western norms – ones that demanded enforcement by the western political class – has proved a fatal conceit, these alternative thinkers contend.
Such notions are not confined to the Orient. Samuel Huntington, in his book The Clash of Civilizations, argued that Universalism is the ideology of the West contrived for confronting other cultures. Naturally, everyone outside the West, Huntington argued, should see the idea of ‘one world’ as a threat.
The return to plural civilisational matrices precisely is intended to break the West’s claim to speak – or to decide – for anyone other than themselves.
Some will see this Russo-Chinese defiance as mere jockeying for strategic ‘space’; as a rationale to their claims for distinct ‘spheres of interest’. Yet, to understand its radical underside, we should recall that the transition to civilisation states amounts to a full-throated resistance (short of war) being mounted by two wounded civilisations. Both Russians (post-the 1990s) and Chinese (in the Great Humiliation) feel this deeply. Today, they are intent to reassert themselves, forcefully in uttering: ‘Never Again!’
What ‘lit the fuse’ was the moment when China’s leaders saw – in the plainest terms – that the U.S. had no intention whatsoever to allow China to overtake it economically. Russia of course, already knew the plan to destroy her. Even the smallest amount of empathy is sufficient to understand that recovery from profound trauma is what binds Russia and China (and Iran) together in a joint ‘interest’ that transcends mercantile gain. It is ‘that’ which allows them to say: Never again!
One part to their radicalism therefore, is the national rejuvenation that propels these two states to ‘step confidently onto the world stage’; to emerge from the western shadow, and to stop mimicking the West. And to stop assuming that technological or economic advance can only be found within the western liberal-economic ‘way’. For, it follows from Zang’s analysis, that the West’s economic ‘laws’ similarly are a simulacrum posing as scientific theorems: A cultural discourse – but not an universal system.
When we consider that today’s Anglo-American world view rests on the shoulders of three men: Isaac Newton, the father of western science; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the father of liberal political theory, and Adam Smith, the father of laissez-faire economics, it is plain that what we confront here are the authors of the ‘Cannon’ of individualism (in the wake of the Protestant triumph in Europe’s 30 years’ war). From it comes the doctrine that the most prosperous future for the greatest number of people comes from the free workings of the market.
Be that as it may, Zhang and others have noted that the western focus on ‘finance’ has come at the expense of ‘stuff’ (the real economy) and has proved to be a recipé for extreme inequalities and social strife. Zhang argues contrarily that China is poised to evolve a new kind of non-Western modernity that others – especially in the developing world – can only admire, if not emulate.
The decision has been made: The West then, in this view, can either ‘shut up, and put up’ – or not. So be it.
Steeped in cynicism, the West sees this stance as bluff or posturing. What values, they ask, lie behind this new order; what economic model? Implying again that universal conformity is mandatory, and thus missing Zhang’s point completely. Universality is neither necessary, nor sufficient. It never ‘was’.
In 2013, President Xi gave a speech which sheds much light on the shifts in Chinese policy. And though its analysis was firmly focused on the causes to the Soviet implosion, Xi’s exposition very clearly intended a wider meaning.
In his address, Xi attributed the break-up of the Soviet Union to ‘ideological nihilism’: The ruling strata, Xi asserted, had ceased to believe in the advantages and the value of their ‘system’, yet lacking any other ideological coordinates within which to situate their thinking, the élites slid unto nihilism:
“Once the Party loses the control of the ideology, Xi argued, once it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for its own rule, objectives and purposes, it dissolves into a party of loosely connected individuals linked only by personal goals of enrichment and power”. “The Party is then taken over by ‘ideological nihilism’”.
This, however, was not the worst outcome. The worst outcome, Xi noted, would be the state taken over by people with no ideology whatsoever, but with an entirely cynical and self-serving desire to rule.
Put simply: Were China to lose its sense of a Chinese ‘rationale’, embedded for over a millennia in a unitary state with strong institutions guided by a disciplined Party, “the CPC, as great a Party as the CPSU was — would be scattered like a flock of frightened beasts! The Soviet Union — as great a socialist state as it was — ended shattered into pieces”.
There can be little doubt: President Putin would concur with Xi whole-heartedly. The existential threat to Asia is to allow its states to assimilate into soulless western nihilism. This then, is the crux of the Xi-Putin revolution: Lifting the fog and blinkers imposed by the universalist meme to permit states a return to cultural rejuvenation.
These principles were in action at the G20 in Bali. Not only did the G7 fail to get the wider G20 to condemn Russia over Ukraine, or to insert a wedge between China and Russia, but rather, the Manichean offensive targeting of Russia produced something even more significant for the Middle-East than the paralysis and lack of tangible results, described by the media:
It produced wide and open defiance of the western order. It spurred pushback – at the very moment that the world political ‘map’ is on the move, and as the rush towards BRICS+ is gathering pace.
Why does this matter?
Because the ability of western powers to spin their spiders’ web notion that their ‘ways’ should be World’s ways, remains the West’s ‘secret weapon’. This is plainly said when western leaders say that a loss in Ukraine to Russia would mark the demise of the ‘Liberal Order’. They’re saying, as it were, that ‘our hegemony’ is contingent on the world seeing the western ‘way’ – as their vision for their future.
Enforcement of the ‘Liberal Order’ largely has rested on the underpinning of an easy readiness of ‘western allies’ to fall into line with Washington’s instructions. It therefore is difficult to overplay the strategic significance of any withering of compliance to U.S. diktat. This is the ‘why’ to the war in Ukraine.
The U.S.’ crown and sceptre are slipping. The peril of U.S. Treasury ‘N-bomb’ sanctions have been key to induced ‘allied’ compliance. But now, Russia, China and Iran have charted a clear path out from this thorny thicket, through dollar-free trading. The BRI initiative constitutes Eurasia’s economic ‘high road’. India, Saudi Arabia and Turkish inclusion (and now, an expanded list of new members are waiting to be signed up) give it an energy-based strategic content.
Military deterrence has constituted the secondary pillar to the architecture of compliance to western models. But even that, though not gone, is lessened. In essence, smart cruise-missiles, drones, electronic warfare and – now – hypersonic missiles, have capsized the former paradigm. So too, has the game-breaker event of Russia joining with Iran as a military force multiplier.
The U.S. Pentagon, even a few years ago, dismissed hypersonic weapons as ‘boutique’ and a ‘gimmick’. Wow – did they miscalculate on that one!
Both Iran and Russia are at the forefront in complementary areas of military evolution. Both are in an existential fight. And both peoples possess the inner resources to sustain sacrifice from war. They will lead. China will lead from behind.
Just to be clear: This Russo-Iranian link says: U.S. ‘deterrence’ in the Middle East itself now faces a formidable deterrent! Israel too, will need to ponder that.
The Russo-Iranian force-multiplier relationship, the Jerusalem Postopines: “provides proof that the two states … together – are better equipped to make good on their respective ambitions – to bring the West to its knees”.
To fully understand the anxiety lying behind The Post opinion piece, we must first grasp that the geography of the ‘shifting map’ towards a BRICS+ – new corridors, new pipelines, new waterway and railway networks – is but the outer mercantilist layer to a nesting Matryoshka doll. To unstack to the inner doll layers is to espy in the final innermost Matryoshka – a layer of kindled energy and confidence latent to the whole.
What is missing? Well, the fire that finally bakes the New Order Z -‘dish’; the event that instantiates the new World Order.
Netanyahu keeps threatening Iran. Even to Israeli ears however his words seem stale and passé. The U.S. does not want to be led by Netanyahu into war. And without the U.S., Israel cannot act alone. The recent MEK-led attempt to wreak havoc in Iran reeks somehow of a ‘last resort’ push.
Will the U.S. try some risky game-changer in Ukraine to ‘take out’ Russia? It’s possible. Or might it try to derail China somehow?
Is a Mega-clash inevitable? After all, what is in prospect is not the dominance of any one civilization, but a return to the natural, old order of non-universal realms of influence. There is no reason in logic for a Western boycott to try to explode the shift – except one:
In any assimilation to what this future portends, the collective West inexorably must become a civilizational state per se – simply to maintain an enduring presence in the world. But the West has opted for a different route (as Bruno Maçães, commentator and former Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, writes):
“[The West] wanted its political values to be accepted universally … In order to achieve this, a monumental effort of abstraction and simplification was needed … Properly speaking, it was not to be a civilization at all but something closer to an operating system … no more than an abstract framework within which different cultural possibilities could be explored. Western values were not to stand for one particular ‘way of life’ against another — they establish procedures, according to which those big questions (how to live) may later be decided”.
Today, as the West turns away from its own key leitmotif – tolerance – and towards weird ‘cancel culture’ abstractions, it becomes questionable whether it can compete as a civilisational state and maintain a presence. And if it can’t?
A new order may come into being following one of two events: The West may simply self-destruct, following some systemic financial ‘breakage’, and the consequent economic contraction. Or, alternatively a Russian decisive victory in Ukraine just may be enough finally to ‘cook the dish’.
What will be the endgame for the Covid protests in China?
In China, there is a formula for ending protests:
Local official/s are named, blamed and fired for not acting properly. They are fired by the central government. This is to show that the government has heard the protests and has acted.
The central government then appoints new local officials to announce new policies and clean up the mess. If they are successful, they will make their careers through their actions by demonstrating they know how to handle a crisis.
The security services review the video from the demonstrations, identify the leading troublemakers and arrest them in their homes. All done without announcements.
End of crisis.
Why is so much of Hong Kong’s land undeveloped, especially in light of its absurdly high housing prices?
It is because the ones who benefit from the absurd housing prices would sooner kill themselves before they allowed the prices to drop.
You think I am being hyperbolic, but I mean this quite literally.
Back when Tung Chee-hwa was still the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, he proposed what is known as the “85,000 Plan”, pledging to build 85,000 houses every year. This would have freed up lots of undeveloped public land, and ensured that more people would have had a proper home.
Sounds pretty decent, right?
“Fuck your mother”, said Hong Kong’s middle class.
It wasn’t just big property developers who were against this policy. The middle class (i.e. private landlords) also saw this as a direct threat to their livelihoods, since they have worked all their lives to be able to hold one or more residential apartments hostage for rent. As housing prices plummeted, so did their hopes of raking in crazy amounts of money just from sitting on their arses. I remember hearing about people committing suicide by burning charcoal or jumping off heights every day on the radio when I was a kid.
Not being able to exploit others financially so as to maintain a fragile bourgeois identity for ourselves, is literally worse than death to us. Let that sink in.
Tung Chee-hwa was endlessly ridiculed and cursed, and his name still carries a lot of baggage even to this day. So forget about opening up more land for property development, because as long as some people depend on the housing prices to be as ridiculously high as possible, things will never change.
And it’s not just undeveloped land. Property developers and the middle class are always pro-conservation and against land reclamation (i.e. creating new land from the sea), not because they give a shit about the dolphins or anything, but to preserve their own social status.
” is a joke and nothing more. If there is one trait above all that defines what Hong Kong is about, it is greed. The kind of raw greed that would make even Mr. Monopoly blush.
Italian Tomato Sausage Ragu With Penne
“I use Chianti wine for this recipe but any good dry red wine will do, this can be made using a mixture of ground beef and pork but Italian sausage meat is so much better — if possible prepare this a day ahead and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend just rewarm on top of the stove.”
Add in the sausage meat, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes; sauté until brown, breaking up the meat with a fork (about 7 minutes).
Add in finely chopped carrots, onion and celery; sauté for about 10 minutes.
Mix in chopped tomatoes; reduce heat, cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in 1 cup broth and wine; simmer uncovered until liquid is slightly reduced (about 20 minutes).
Add in the fresh basil; cover and simmer until the veggies are very tender, stirring occasionally.
Continue to simmer for about 45-50 minutes, adding in more broth by about 1/4 cup if the liquid evaporates to quickly, and cook until the Ragu thickens to desired consistency.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just firm-tender; drain but reserve about 1/2 cup cooking water.
Return the pasta to the pot; add in the Ragu; mix to combine.
Add in about 1/2 – 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 2-3 tablespoons olive oil; mix to combine.
If the mixture seems too dry then add in some of the reserved cooking water from the pasta.
Season with more salt and pepper.
Divide on plates and top with more cheese.
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Why do people protest against Xi Jinping’s policies?
Can westerners make up your mind?
You have been spreading lies that Chinese cannot protest for decades! And you guys repeat a million times China is draconian and authoritarian and now that your narrative is totally debunked you are concerned about the people’s protest?
So make up your god damn mind, do you want them to have freedom to protest or do you want to use the smallest protest to build a mountain out of a mole hill!
Your lying media needs to get a new instruction how to demonise China now that this angle of lack of freedom is gone! What do they do to hurt China’s reputation now? Kinda version upgrade on China demonisation instruction from state department!
Confessions of a Quadriplegic Man
What happened?
I was ran over as a kid. A truck backed over me when I was about four.
Did the driver face any repercussions?
He had a paralyzed son for the next 21 years, so I guess that counts. Nobody deserved repercussions though. It was just a freak thing.
Can you survive on your own?
I cannot survive on my own. I must be under watch 24/7.
Do you breathe on your own?
I cannot breathe on my own. I require a vent.
Do your arms work?
My arms don’t work.
What was the mental change like at that age? Meaning, how did you mentally and emotionally react to the event and dealing with the paralysis going forward?
I was a very angry child, lashing out at everyone in an attempt to regain control in my life. I didn’t cope well, but I could have always been worse. My teenage years is when it REALLY took its toll.
Since you’re paralyzed from the neck down how do you do simple tasks like type and stuff like that?
I have a stylus in my mouth and my phone is mounted.
How does peeing and pooping work? Can you still control the muscles or do you have a catheter and some other manual mechanism for number 2s?
I use a catheter, yes. As for number 2’s, I have to use adult diapers and make a schedule.
Who switches the diapers for you?
Nurse or family member.
Would you be able to feel sickness or infections in your body? For example a stomach ache?
Oh yeah. I can get sick to my stomach, have chest pains, stuff like that. Can’t feel kidney stones though, oddly enough
What happen if someone hit you in the legs?
If somebody hits my legs, I would feel the vibration through my body, but no sensation. No pain either!
How do you fill your time?
I play video games, write, use the internet. I have a fair amount of assistive tech that allows me to live a normal life, as long as it’s digital.
How does playing videogames work?
I have a device called a quadstick. I’ve used it since I was 7, and the device only continues to improve. The streamer and e-sports gamer RockyNoHands uses an identical device.
What’s your education level? Was school hard for you?
I have a Bachelor’s degree. School was not hard at all. I excel with structure and am remarkably intelligent, if my grades are an indicator of intelligence. Loved school. I was in the top 10 of my graduating class.
Are you able to work/have a career? If not, what is your financial situation like?
US Disability compensation is shit. You get enough a month to sit comfortably on the poverty line.
If I ever want to be financially independent, a job is required. Unfortunately, finding work is very hard when you have few skills, no experience, and can’t relocate.
Is it hard dating?
INCREDIBLY hard. I live in a remote community, so there’s not many social opportunities. Plus, you know, the disability
Ever had sex and if so do you still feel the orgasm?
I have never had sex. The orgasm part I’m unsure on. I’ve experienced intense arousal, but I don’t know if it went anywhere.
Do you think you’d be able to have sex (in other words, do you think you could get an erection and ejaculate)?
Yes, I do believe that I could have sex.
Please explain how.
When you lose feeling in your body like I have, where you can feel becomes far more sensitive. You get new spots that turn you on.
There’s also other methods of sex besides penetration. Even if you’re set on penetration, there’re methods to force an erection to be maintained.
I admit the orgasm is a mystery since I’ve not experienced one, but I don’t see it being impossible.
It’s a physiological reaction after all. I just wouldn’t expect the stamina before climax to be very impressive since you can’t hold it back.
When you meet new people, do you prefer when they acknowledge your disability and try to be careful with your needs or do you prefer to be seen as any other guy and not having people reminding you of your condition?
This is a tricky one. I want to be treated like any other guy. I’m a human first and a quadriplegic second. I’d rather be treated normally, but I don’t want people to be afraid to ever bring up my disability. It’s a part of my core identity and should be respected, but not focused on.
What’s something you wish people would change about the way they interact with you?
Not treat my needs like a burden. If I could move, I would get my own water or scratch myself if I itch. Don’t make me feel like my needs are lesser and make me wait for assistance. I can be patient, but only to an extent. I still want respected
Do you get sick and tired of being told what an inspiration you are and how brave you are?
I’m not an inspiration. At least not for my disability. I’m just a person tackling life’s problems in a different way.
If all your spoons are dirty and you have to eat cereal with a fork, it’s harder, but not impossible. That’s not inspiration worthy. Same with my life.
I’m in a chair, yeah, which makes me work harder than most, but I’m not achieving much. I’m not a famous writer or a world champion gamer or some rich playboy with girls all over him. I’m just me.
I’ll never see myself as inspirational, but if my story can positively affect even one person, well that’s an accomplishment that I can be proud of.
What’s something you’ve noticed others take for granted? In other words, what’s something most people don’t think about being hard or impossible to do when paralyzed?
Weight loss. Even getting off the couch or walking down the hall burns more calories than I do in a week. People don’t realize how carefully I have to watch my nutrition.
Do you ever have suicidal thoughts because of your situation?
I have my moments like that, but I’m good at identifying problems and tackling them instead of letting them fester.
You seem to have a very positive outlook on life. Was it always like that or have you had ups and downs over the years?
Oh no. I struggle with depression pretty bad, though not as bad as I used to. It used to dominate my life. Now, it doesn’t control my brain. It’s just a roommate.
When did that change happen?
For me, it was therapy. I’d been on a downward spiral for years and therapy saved my life and redeemed me. Now I tackle my mental health way differently.
Do you have anything you would say to somebody who is depressed?
My advice for a depressed person is to identify what’s wrong and fix it.
If someone is a negative influence on your life, cut them out. If you’re out of shape, do one workout a week. Problems don’t correct themselves.
You have to tackle them, no matter how intimidating they are. And if they’re big goals, set tiny ones. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. If you’re lonely, the goal isn’t to make friends.
The goal is to find a group online to participate in. Break your big goal into baby steps that allow you to feel accomplished.
If there was an experimental surgery that could heal your spine , would you apply for it?
Already working on it!
Do you have any hope of some kind of recovery some day?
Yes, I do have hope for a recovery. Not a lot of hope, but some.
Huawei HarmonyOS has more users than the entire US population!
Recently, Huawei held a series of press conferences, revealing too much information. To sum up, the number of users of the Hongmeng system has exceeded 570 million, and the localization rate of Huawei mate50 has exceeded 70%, showing that Huawei is still firmly promoting de-Americanization.
This is undoubtedly a huge blow to the US technology industry.
Recently, Huawei held the 2022 Huawei Developer Conference. The data released at the conference pointed out that the number of Huawei devices equipped with HarmonyOS has reached 320 million, and the shipment of Harmony Zhilian products has reached 250 million, both of which have achieved double-speed growth. Together, the two push HarmonyOS to 570 million users, further cementing its position as the world’s third-largest mobile operating system.
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business, also announced that HarmonyOS will further enter the automotive industry, and cooperate with Celis, BAIC, and Changan to launch more automotive products equipped with HarmonyOS. This will provide new development impetus for HarmonyOS, and the number of users of HarmonyOS is expected to be further accelerated.
In terms of hardware, Huawei’s recently released pocket S and mate50 mobile phones are all using Chinese-made components as much as possible. The folding screen used by pocket S is made in China. Others such as radio frequency chips, power management chips, memory chips, etc. have all adopted Chinese domestic chips, and the proportion of domestic components in mobile phone components has reached 70%.
This shows that Huawei still insists on promoting the development of the domestic mobile phone industry chain. Industry insiders believe that once Huawei’s Kirin chips are mass-produced, Huawei’s mobile phones will be expected to achieve 100% localization, turning purely domestic mobile phones into reality, which will also be the first purely Chinese-made mobile phones.
It can be seen that Huawei is actively promoting localization of both software and hardware, and is striving to get rid of American technology, which highlights Huawei’s resilience. What happened to Huawei has prompted it to strengthen its determination to get rid of American chips. Although its revenue has declined in recent years, it still invests more than 100 billion R&D funds every year. Under its insistence, the research and development of chip technology is still continuing, and the chip stacking technology and superconducting quantum technology have all shown its technological breakthroughs in difficult situations.
Govt. Database Shows 10,000% Increase In Cancer Reports Due To Covid mRNA Vaccines
A researcher who queried the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) discovered a 10,661.4% increase in cancer reports as a result of experimental Covid-19 gene-base vaccines as compared with all FDA-approved vaccines over the last 30 years.
Brian Shilhavy, who is the editor of Health Impact News, traced his steps in the search providing links to documentation of his various findings.
Having first queried the cases of ‘the most common cancers [that] had been reported following Covid-19 vaccines,’ he found “837 cases of cancer, including 88 deaths, 66 permanent disabilities, and 104 life threatening events.
He emphasized that even these numbers were not exhaustive, and the VAERS database could not handle the larger search of ‘ALL cancers listed in VAERS’ under this category of Covid inoculations. ‘Using the exact same search terms for cancer,’ he wrote, ‘I then searched ALL FDA-approved vaccines for the previous 30 years and found only 140 cases of cancer reported.’
‘That result is for 360 months (30 years), whereas the 837 cases following the experimental Covid-19 vaccines were reported in just 20 months, since the roll out of the Covid-19 shots beginning in December of 2020,’ Shilhavy wrote. ‘That is an increase of 10,661.4%!’ he concluded.
Shilhavy, whose organization is located in Texas, also made note of the significant number of the cancer cases in the database that were of young people, from age 12 up through many young adults in their 20s. Last October, a Swedish lab study found that the spike protein associated with the Covid-19 illness, and its experimental vaccines, enters the nucleus of cells and significantly interferes with DNA damage-repair functions, compromising a person’s adaptive immunity and perhaps encouraging the formation of cancer cells.
In March 2021, board-certified pathologist Dr. Ryan Cole reported that he was seeing a massive ‘uptick’ in various autoimmune diseases and cancers in patients who have been Covid-vaccinated. ‘Since January 1, in the laboratory, I’m seeing a 20 times increase of endometrial cancers over what I see on an annual basis,’ he said.
In regard to overall adaptive immunity, Cole describes, ‘post-vaccine, what we are seeing is a drop in your killer T-cells’ that ‘keep all other viruses in check,’ leaving the patient susceptible to a variety of illnesses.
In January, data leaks given by three ‘decorated high-ranking soldiers who are doctors and public health officials,’ in sworn declarations under penalty of perjury, showed enormous spikes in dozens of diseases following Covid vaccine uptake in the U.S. military.
Diseases of the nervous system: 1,048% increase, and
Cancer: 296% increase.
VAERS data released July 29 from the CDC reported 1,357,937 total adverse events in the United States after injections of experimental Covid-19 gene-based vaccines, including 29,790 deaths and 247,686 serious injuries between December 14, 2020, and July 22, 2022.
These also include 55,719 permanent disabilities, 50,739 cases of myocarditis/pericarditis, and 14,374 reported cases of shingles. As such figures are based on voluntary reports, it is important to note that they are very likely just ‘the tip of the iceberg’ in actual figures.
A 2010 Harvard-executed study commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that ‘fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events’ are reported to VAERS, and vaccine manufacturer Connaught Laboratories calculated at least a ‘fifty-fold underreporting of adverse events’ in a confidential study.”
How China is changing the world..
This is from Godfree Robert’s newsletter and I strongly suggest you all subscribe to it.
So China’s IC-chip industry is in tatters with the great Biden restrictions, eh?
Before his election in 2012, planners warned President Xi of China’s vulnerability to restrictions on integrated circuit imports. Xi launched an internal crash program designed to put the country a generation ahead of the USA in ICs by 2030 then, in 2015, opened a $50 billion financial floodgate.The first fruits of the program will appear on the market next year, ten years after it began. Their quality and freshness suggest that China will beat its 2030 IC goal as easily as it will beat its 2030 Paris Accords goal.WorkforceChinese researchers utterly dominate global math, engineering and computer science, in both quality and quantity of their published papers, and will graduate 1.4 million engineers this year.America will graduate 197,000 engineers, 20% of whom will be Chinese, and five of whom will be super geniuses with IQ 160+. The kind of people who play viola in a symphony orchestra and invent new fields of engineering mathematics.China will graduate 40,000 of such smartypants – a numerical advantage it sustains across its entire workforce (who cost employers as much as Americans cost theirs). Together, as a coordinated teams of hundreds of thousands of young people, they planted, nurtured, and developed the products that are about to change our lives and their country’s future.First Fruits
Early this month, China lifted its chip manufacturing to one billion a day, up 44% on 2021. China leads the world with 8 out of 19 new fabs under construction.
At the high end, China’s own chips power its three exascale computers, with the fourth – of a promised ten – is under construction. The US produced one such machine, a year after China.
Shenzhen’s RoboSense launched the Holy Grail of self-driving sensors: the first automotive, flash, solid-state LiDAR chip. With a simple bill of materials and no moving parts, it excels in detection, cost, safety and reliability. Built in China with Chinese IP and protected by a thicket of patents.
Tsinghua University demonstrated the next generation of ICs, which it calls “Sidewall transistors”. Much smaller than current chips, using one-atom-thick graphene sheet for gates, easily manufactured with current technology.
Recently, the CEO of Dutch etching company, ASML said, “A Chinese customer told us, “We make mature power ICs. We need your help building a 300-millimeter (wafer diameter) fab”. Chip guru Dylan Patel says 300 nm wafers have twice the yield of 200 nm wafers, so “ASML will teach China everything and they will destroy power semiconductors’ profitability for every US and European fab.”
ConclusionAfter banning Huawei and ZTE, the FCC banned CCTV leaders Hikvision and Dahua, and two-way radio maker Hytera.The USA is falling further behind China each year. US bans, intended to inhibit China’s development, inhibit America’s. ZTE, for example, provides better 5G coverage across Tibet than San Francisco’s. Americans pay tariff-driven higher prices for imports and, increasingly lack access to affordable, leading edge Chinese technologies.¹1National semiconductor tax subsidies are $150 billion and local subsidies larger with a 5:1 private-to-public investment ratio. The CHIPS Act ratio, which will reach 4.2:1, will only boost US semiconductor manufacturing value from 10.5% of to 14% by 2026, when China will exceed 20%. By 2030 the US will fabricate 10% of the world’s semiconductors and China will make 30%.‘Assuming a normal distribution, there are 10,000 Americans performing at +4SD, IQ 140+, and a similar number in Europe, the top few hundred high school seniors each year in each. Extrapolate NE Asian numbers to 1.4 billion Chinese produces more than 300,000 at this level, which is pretty overwhelming’. Asian-White IQ variance from PISA results.China has submitted the most accepted research papers at a prestigious international academic semiconductor conference, bumping the US to number two. Of 629 papers submitted, 59 from China were selected for presentation, 42 from the US, and 32 from South Korea.Guangdong IP Court hears more patent cases annually than the entire United States court system.Graphene is lightweight, two hundred times stronger than steel, with thermal and electrical conductivity and heat dissipation better than copper, for efficient batteries and more. China’s Graphene Copper Innovation Consortium is with bringing graphene to chip manufacturing, offering ten times the performance of silicon-based chips at one-tenth the cost.
However, we also cannot deny that the protests in some areas, such as Shanghai, have deviated from their purpose, showing very classic and traditional color revolution routines. In Hong Kong, in Ukraine, wherever there is turmoil and disaster, similar patterns of behavior are constantly being played out. NGOs, CIA, and the media used social incidents as an entry point, hired gunmen or instigators at the protest site to quickly intensify the situation, and even resorted to direct murder to promote confrontation.For example, during the protests on Middle Urumqi road, traditional Chinese characters, which are basically not used in mainland China, were written on the banners hanging; those who first started chanting political slogans had obvious Hong Kong or Taiwanese accents. It is almost impossible to obtain explosives or guns in mainland China, so by elevating a social issue to a political issue is a common tactic used by American conspiracy agencies to incite color revolutions. As a native of Sichuan, I have witnessed similar tactics in the suicide incident of student in Chengdu 49 Middle School. Protesters from southern China, armed with symbols (flowers, like carnations), chanted slogans in unison. Their behavior constitutes all the necessary elements in a political upheaval.The simultaneous protests in many places in China are essentially a farce of young and fearless students being manipulated and instigated by malicious foreign political forces. It took advantage of the public's dissatisfaction with the current epidemic prevention policy, induced student groups who did not have a deep understanding of national security to take to the streets to protest, and then tried to detonate social incidents into political incidents through extreme means at the scene. Another attempt at a color revolution.
However, there is nothing to worry about.During major policy adjustments, instability or errors in implementation are quite normal. If you believed US propaganda that this was the standard for China's imminent collapse, then I'm sorry - as we've apologized to you many times - that but was your pipe dream.
Well, apparently not only is China collapsing, but it has already collapsed! Who would have thunk it?
2022 11 29 09 34
Well, that’s what you might think if the ONLY news you read is from the United States.
2022 11 29 14 51
I ask you all, does this look familiar to you? Does this maybe jog your memories, eh?
2022 11 29 14 57
Yeah.
It’s called “projection”. You place what you know about yourself upon your enemies. Then you hype up the “weaknesses” of your enemies relentlessly.
2022 11 29 14 59
Hey! It’s entering “Loony Town”. Now. Here’s Hal Turner…
2022 11 29 15 03
LOL.
If China actually fired on protestors it would be all over everywhere; CNN, BBC and all the rest.
Keep in mind that Chinese police do not carry guns. Don’t you know. Those that do, well, they are lethal marksmen. If six shots were fired, then six people would be dead. Where are they?
I am very skeptical…
Let’s take and place bets.
I’ll bet you that Xi Peng is still running China, and Putin is still running Russia this time next Christmas. Any takers?
together
I’m going to do something new and unique in this post. I have a full movie. But it is in eight (x8) small 15 minute portions. This is from you-tube, and it lends itself nicely to this experiment of mine for today.
I hope you enjoy it.
It’s a weird and wacky comedy from the 1980’s titled “Water”. It’s got a lot of Monty Python based jokes and sketches, major actors, and takes place on a tiny, backwater island in the Caribbean sea. It’s a fit for this strange period of time that we find ourselves in.
First up…
(1)’Water’ Michael Caine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Clement
This is a forgotten comedy classic.
Those of you from the Caribbean islands would really appreciate this wonderful movie. It shows the strange world of a small island living.
This entire movie is presented in this post in 15 minute blocks. Here’s the first one.
https://youtu.be/Gmu80-AXrRs
A Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16fwe 20
CANCELLED! Nuclear Arms Treaty Talks Between U.S. and Russia
Meetings of the bilateral advisory commissions on the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty between Russia and the US, scheduled for November 29 trough December 6 in Cairo, have been cancelled.
No word yet on who cancelled the talks, or why.
Just formal acknowledgement the talks will not take place.
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 20
Gambas Pil-Pil — Chili Shrimp (Spain)
This recipe was found in the 2002 cookbook, Mediterranean Street Food.
In a large skillet, combine oil, garlic & crushed red pepper.
When oil is hot & starts to sizzle around the garlic, add the shrimp & fry for 1 minute on each side.
Remove pan from the heat & squeeze lemon juice over shrimp & sprinkle with salt, to taste.
Serve very hot!
China extends tariff exemptions on some US goods in ‘reciprocal’ move
By Global Times Published: Nov 28, 2022 07:39 PM Updated: Nov 28, 2022 07:35 PM
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China will extend tariff exemptions for six months on some US goods subject to countermeasures against US Section 301 measures, according to an official announcement on Monday, in what analysts call a standard and reciprocal move after the US also announced similar exemptions.
Days after the US announced a tariff exemption extension on some Chinese goods, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced an extension of tariff exemptions on the ninth batch of US goods from December 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023, read a statement on the website of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
According to a product list published by the MOF, the tariff exemptions are being extended on timber, agricultural products, lubricating oil, machine tools, forging machines, laser products and healthcare products.
China and the US are waiving tariffs on some products that are urgently needed from the other side, Hu Qimu, deputy secretary general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Monday.
“The trade attitude and policies of the US toward China are unstable and change often. I believe that as long as the US offers to stop imposing additional tariffs on China, China will in return stop imposing additional tariffs on the US. But the US always goes back and forth,” said Hu.
What China shows is its reciprocal countermeasures against the US, Hu noted. “If you sanction me, I will definitely sanction you back. If the US relaxes its policies, China will do the same.”
Since September 2019, China has extended several exemptions for US goods subject to retaliatory tariffs, following extensions by the US of tariff exemptions.
The US-initiated additional tariffs on more than $350 billion worth of Chinese goods went into effect in July 2018 as part of former US president Donald Trump’s tariff war against China.
But China-US trade increased by 8.3 percent on a yearly basis in 2020 and expanded by 28.7 percent in 2021. In the first 10 months of 2022, trade between China and the US rose 5.1 percent year-on-year to $639.83 billion.
Meanwhile, US companies have not stopped investment in China even after the US launched a trade war. Cargill announced increased investment in China. ExxonMobil began construction of a major petrochemical project in Huizhou, South China’s Guangdong Province, which is the first major petrochemical project wholly owned by a US company in China.
The trade figures and investment decisions show that economic and trade ties between the world’s two biggest economies are impossible to halt, analysts said, noting that the next step is to find a specific path to solve problems based on the understanding that decoupling cannot be achieved.
China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature. Starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, or pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of the market economy and undermine international trade rules, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said last week.
The USTR also said in the Thursday statement that it “may continue to consider further extensions and/or additional modifications as appropriate.”
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43a9a3b6 a804 4f2f 9ede 059aa993ff89
(2)’Water’ Michael Caine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Shawn,Dick Clement
https://youtu.be/oy6OcJ9bZn0
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 1fqw6 19
Who is leading the Coronavirus “Protests”…
Look at this protest leader…
main qimg 07c1c91593b7be181c53f0f8caefb3bf lq
It says “ Pay attention to the conductor/commander when in the protest area.”
We know that the protest leaders are not Chinese.
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 1w9
(3) ‘Water’ Michael Caine,Valerie Perrine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Clement
Caine plays Baxter Thwaites, a Governor who has ‘gone native’ (similar to his role in The Honorary Consul), and Billy Connolly as local biracial activist Delgado, supported by the last performance of Leonard Rossiter, as Sir Malcolm Leveridge, and one of the last performances of Fulton Mackay.
The story is set in the fictional Caribbean island and British colony of Cascara. Widely ignored by the British Government, media, and general public, local Governor Baxter Thwaites is having an easy life in his small and peaceful colony.
That peace is disturbed when an abandoned oil rig starts delivering water - at the standard of the finest table water brands (and laxative companies, as it contains a substance that makes you "shit like clockwork").
Different parties, including Downing Street, the Cascara Liberation Front, the White House, French bottled water producers, and Cuban guerrillas take interest in the future of the island and threaten to destroy the cosy way of life enjoyed by the island's inhabitants.
https://youtu.be/Fev6U7XOROY
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 1r9
How organized is the NED in the protests inside of China?
Check out this…
main qimg 4c95cf3cc18de34bf554b5aa4627c324 pjlq
Is it true that the Chinese Communist Party is losing support among the people? If so, why?
If you mean the “protests” in various cities recently hyped up by the western media, I can tell you that in Beijing, people participating in the protests can get $140, in Chengdu it is $70, in Wuhan it is $40, and in Guangzhou it is poor $27.
We have laughed at Guangzhou for this all day.
Look, the "Voice of Democracy and Freedom" of the US has a price, and that price is $27.
In Beijing, people changed the slogan of the parade to “We need to do nucleic acid testing” and “We need to scan health codes”. In Chengdu, the accent of outsiders shouted “we want freedom”, while the locals laughed “you want your motherf**ker freedom”. In Shanghai, the leaflet even wrote traditional characters, and the writer could not write one of these characters.
Do you know what the people who really marched in Xinjiang did? They said they did not oppose the government, but only to express their condolences. At the end of the parade, they sang the Chinese national anthem, and three times of it.
Can you imagine that happening in the US or UK or any other country?
So if you’re daydreaming about China collapsing, you can stop now.
EXCLUSIVE: Official Documents prove Anthony Fauci & Bill Gates are responsible for developing the COVID Virus in a Biolab
The US government funded Peter Daszak’s ECO Health Alliance to the tune of $61,491,183 to make new coronaviruses that are infectious to humans.
It also directly or indirectly funds the Wuhan Institute of Virology to the tune of $7.4 million dollars to make new coronaviruses that are infectious to humans.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funded Ralph Baric to the tune of $46,958,414 to make new coronaviruses that are infectious to humans.
This totals more than $114 million in the period from 2000 to 2020 to make new coronaviruses which are infectious to humans.
There is no question that SARS-CoV 2 (causing Covid-19) is man-made. Here’s the evidence…
I could cite some dry statistics and display some graphs but plenty of other people have done that. I am going to give the perspective of a 52-year-old who has seen a great deal of change, some of it for the better, most of it for the worse. I am going to share what has led to my misanthropic nihilism and negativity concerning the current “state of affairs.”
When I was growing up I literally never heard of mass shootings. This does not mean they did not happen. It means they were very rare. Now, they are so commonplace as to be discussed with barely a nod. “Ten people dead; sixteen injured. Pass the potatoes, please.” We must get to the root of this epedemic, and there are multiple causes. A solution is not easy. The non-glorification of violence would be a good start. Unfortunately, Americans are not only desensitized to the horror of violence and death; we are entertained by it. We have cultivated a culture of violence appreciation. I am further alarmed that so many people completely dismiss this phenomena because it hasn’t happened to them or someone they know. We have dismissed and accepted this with a shrug.
Republicans: Beginning in the middle part of the 20th century, GOP conservatives went so far to the right that they no longer resembled their former somewhat progressive selves.They became increasingly less liberal and more racist. Dixiecrats saw this and were incensed. Going forward, more and more conservatives and racists joined the Republican Party. Ideologies flipped. Republicans became the party who swung to a racist extreme, enshrined guns to a bizarre extent, and demanded their religion be legislated into law. In addition, their every effort has been to take from the poor and give to the wealthy. This became abundantly clear during the absolutely ridiculous “trickle-down-economics” era of Ronald Reagan. The rich can never be rich enough. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social security are all in danger. The gulf between the poor and the rich widens every day. The time grows nearer when the 95% will not be able to put roofs over their heads, even as the very rich, who should be paying more, lounge on their sun-drenched pool decks contemplating their wealth. I do not advocate “taking their money away,” as so many people suggest. I advocate a fairer playing field where the poor and the wealthy pay a more equal percentage in taxes rather than allowing the wealthy unfair advantages that have them paying less. And, big news flash here; we need to tax everyone fairly across the board and bring down our overall spending to decrease the deficit, rather than cut social security, and Medicare. Why are the poor the first people we think of when we consider cutting costs? Even the legendary investing guru Warren Buffet once said that his secretary’s tax rate is higher than his own, and Buffet is a multi-billionaire. We are an oligarchy, folks. Republicans have now become the number 1 problem, as they have enabled and backed Donald Trump and begun destroying voting rights in the wake of his lost bid for reelection. Republicans have become a much bigger threat than Democrats ever since they refused to allow Dems to seat Supreme Court justices and proceeded to stack that and other federal courts with super-majorities. The Supreme Court has now become nothing more than a partisan tool. Many progressive rulings will be overturned in time. This is a terrible development.
Democrats: ( I am just left of center myself) have swung so far out into fantasy land that we have to be careful of everything we say and do. Literally everything is offensive. We have taken equal treatment and turned it into some kind of weird Frankenstein’s monster. Everyone deserves equal rights but political correctness has run amok. I am on the liberal side, but we need to tone down the anger. SJWs care about the welfare of all but are often so angry they can’t even be engaged in a polite debate without wanting to call in a firing squad. Wokeness, cancel culture, and censoring free speech needs to stop. Fight bigotry and hate where it exists, but don’t see it in every corner, jumping to identifying it as such until you know for sure what it is. Treat everyone equally. Use common sense and learn to identify some extreme left ideas from fringe groups as the bizarre notions they are. Up to 100 different genders? Seriously? I am also very unhappy with my party’s new tendency to try to destroy individuals by digging up comments they made 35 years ago. All of us have said something risque’ or controversial at some point. Doing this is plain ridiculous. Even with all this said, at least the Democrats mostly shed their past racism (even as it was embraced by many conservatives) and have been the leaders in advancing minority rights for decades. They have made mistakes, but I fault them far less in current times than Republicans.
Politicians are bought and paid for. They should be forced to wear the names of their contributors on their suits, like those ads that are printed on the sides of racing cars. I saw this suggestion on Facebook and it is so true. How can politicians properly serve the people when they are beholden to the wealthy benefactors and corporations who donate money to them? Capitalism isn’t necessarily bad but it must be overseen and regulated. Unchecked, it produces tremendous wealth inequality and political corruption, as noted above. We need strict limits on political donations and a restructuring of how they are made, perhaps with a government supplied stipend distributed equally.
Religion still rules the masses, much more so than other highly developed countries of the world, allowing bigotry and anti-science to flourish on into the 21st century. Politicians (especially conservatives) pander to this because it is one way to ensure continued support. Give your voters a couple of the things they want most and they will overlook the crooked bigger things (like tax cuts favoring the super rich.) I am not against religion: I am against having it in politics. Separation of church and state has always been a nifty idea in America but has never been a real thing. That is sad.
Housing costs are out of control. One must mortgage away many decades of one’s life to buy a house that is too large and too expensive. It’s ridiculous. Small, modest homes could be purchased for much less money, but that would meet with the dissatisfaction of city ordinances and neighbors. It’s a big, fancy house in many cases or nothing. The alternative is sky-high rent on an apartment. Gone are the days when renting was cheaper than owning. Now, even modest apartments are so expensive they leave little money left for food. No one seems to advocate rent control anymore because greed is master. A livable wage is not high on the agenda either. Meanwhile, more and more people are pushed out onto the streets and homelessness increases. We find it easy to put the blame on the victims. Yes, many homeless have made mistakes but not all of the onus is on them. We have a system that is, by its very nature, generating more and more of this problem.
A college education has gone completely into the stratosphere with its exorbitant cost. It’s unbelievable. A text book can cost several hundred dollars and full-time tuition for a single semester well into the thousands. Small non-traditional for-profit “colleges” didn’t help the situation any either. Though some are at least somewhat legit, many are not, and nearly all are far too expensive, thereby producing many graduates with overpriced degrees that are not likely to be valued at what they cost. And what about the large percentage of dropouts who aren’t likely to benefit at all from what they have spent? In the 1980’s college was still affordable. I signed promisory notes and managed to pay the 4 or 5 hundred dollar costs by the time the term ended. I could not afford to go to college today. It would not be possible. People are exiting universities (not necessarily graduating) many thousands of dollars in debt. Even upon graduating, most students have depressingly low chances of landing jobs in their chosen fields. Competition is greater than ever. Young people are depressed. They are sarcastic and prematurely cynical; and they have every right to be. This generation is yet another that promises to perform more poorly, save less money, have less opportunity, and be more dysfunctional than their parents and grandparents; yet, the bulk of our politicians do not appear to care. A country that wants to offer hope to all people, grant a good standard of living, and preserve this standard for the future, understands the value of turning out well-educated citizens. Yet, we make it ridiculously expensive to become educated. Why are we doing this? We must take greed out of higher education. Should profit be the top priority? * I would also add that we need to stop housing students in luxury apartments while they attend college. Living in an efficiency or a dormitory is good for you. It builds character to live simply and humbly while going through school.*
Infrastructure has begun to suffer. Our city roads aren’t built to withstand the burgeoning population. Roads most everywhere are in terrible shape, and bridges are a nightmare, old and deteriorated as they are, and in need of expensive care. I am amazed, after having traveled a fair amount, that many of our states have some of the worst roads in the developed world. The power grid as well is old and crumbling in many areas. This is embarrassing and we can do better. At least in 2022 we have a president willing to put a trillion or two into tackling infrastructure. Sounds expensive, but it’s grossly overdue. * as of April 2022, money has finally been allocated for this. Perhaps that will be one step in the right direction.*
My newest edit in this piece is to mention the problem we have with illegal drugs in this country (and I do not refer to pot, which I consider less dangerous than alcohol). The illegal use of powerful, lab-created drugs has reached wide-scale pervasiveness both in cities and rural communities. It is a huge problem that ruins lives, costs a great deal of money, creates crime, violence, and too often results in death. Elderly folk lose their life savings (and sometimes their lives) to some charismatic stranger who cons them for drug money. Many addicted people will stop at nothing to get their fix. Drugs become these people’s lives. Only the lucky few benefit from some sort of intervention/rehab, while the majority do not. On top of this, it has now become harder for people who desperately need pain medications to be prescribed them because of the violence and crime that people are willing to commit in order to obtain, sell, and use them. One of our mistakes (in less violent cases) has been to over-incarcerate. With the exception of violent and murderous offenders, this hasn’t helped much, if any. Drug-users also enter the work force and cause constant problems. I have had the displeasure of working with them. In some industries this is dangerous. One thing we need to do is stop romanticizing drugs and to stop treating those of us who recognize the problem as being uncool nerds. Many of the other items on this list, such as cost of living and the political divide, cause depression and hopelessness, and these things make drugs more appealing. Reduce the pain caused by many of our other problems and you do, to some extent, reduce the desire to take drugs. We must examine the pharmaceutical industry as well and look into its marketing practices to determine the extent to which it has contributed to the problem.
U.S. companies relocate to other corners of the world in order to pay their employees very little and government encourages this. Good employment opportunities domestically are shrinking and I am not talking about the many low pay service jobs. Many people who would have formerly held these higher paying skilled jobs are forced into the only careers available; retail, restaurants, and other service jobs where the pay does not meet one’s needs. While unions were desperately needed at one time, their demands grew out of control, demanding ever-higher pay and benefits even in sectors that were no longer profitable. They are partly to blame. We also need officer salary caps, especially on publicly traded companies. More profits need to be handed down to shareholders and lower tier employees rather than having officers make 100 million or more salaries. To the fat-cats of corporate America, this is a big grown-up game of Monopoly where they horde as much wealth as possible while everyone else suffers. I am not against capitalism, but (like any system) it has to be monitored and governed; otherwise, it becomes capitalism out of control, and that is what we have now. The operative word is GREED.
Our health care is still unaffordable. The Health Care Act is a start but is flawed, largely due to the concessions that had to be made to pass it. Greed is absolutely rampant in this industry in which a simple pill can cost hundreds of dollars. The very sick must worry about medical bankruptcy while trying to battle their illnesses. Some of the most broadly advertised physician-prescribed medications are the most expensive ones still under patent. When was the last time you saw a commercial for an older unpatented inexpensive medication? Any minor move made on a patient’s behalf in the hospital is ridiculous in its cost. Greed is master above all else. Now, it is quite likely that Republicans will remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions as well as other features of the health care act. Additionally, a little-known consequence of the health care act is that it forces people who might otherwise retire early to remain in the work force into their late 60s in order to receive health care. Medicare and Medicaid will not kick in yet (in most cases) if you retire at 58 or 60. This is one item that tells me that the government is worried about the lack of enough workers in the next few decades.
By the 2030s or early 2040s things will be gravely worse, with an ageing population and fewer people paying into social security than drawing from it. Thanks to government’s redistribution to the wealthy, the problem is exacerbated. We will initially lose a chunk of those payments and will eventually lose this and other programs completely. This initiates our entry into third-world status.
I think what disturbs me most is the complete unwillingness of our two major parties to work together for the good of the nation. And yes, (due to individuals like the hateful obstructionist Mitch McConnell), I fault the conservative party more for this than the other, although fault lies on both sides. A few decades ago, we had some caring politicians who went to the table with honest intentions of compromising and reaching a solution, even when they strongly disagreed. Even with this disagreement, we often respected eachother. Now, we have a complete unwillingness to cooperate, even going so far as to refuse to allow the opposing party to put judges on the supreme court. This hateful divide hurts everyone. The parties have opposing views, but they should not be enemies. Their goal should be to unite in promoting as good a life as possible for all citizens. Additionally, we have tactics and tricks like gerrymandering and voter-suppression as well as the grossly outdated electoral college that suppress the will of the actual majority of people.
Even with our greater technology, I-Phones, computers, medical advances, and other luxuries, these problems lessen us every day, and not enough people care to do a damn thing about it. Obsessive greed is one of the things we most need to tackle, from big corporations to medicine and higher education. Money is important but we have allowed that obsession to get in the way of the higher interest of caring for all our citizens. Making all their needs more affordable and obtainable is a good start. I am thankful I do not have kids. I would grieve incessantly now to think of the world I have brought them into. I only hope that younger people are observing this disaster and that they will take the reigns and make some needed changes. It may be too late.
* To the few folks (including a lady who was so rude I deleted her comment) who think we should love the country as it is or “get out,” I say this. Such reactions are naive and juvenile. I love my country and I wish to see it become better. Civilizations do not progress through complacency. They advance when folks sound alarms and encourage change. That is why women and minority groups now have rights they would never have enjoyed had they just “loved it or got out.”
In response to people both in this thread and in their own answers who keep pointing out that the U.S. is a world leader, has a great military might, has abundant freedom and influence, etc.. this is my reply. I am largely talking about internal conflict here. I am discussing problems that are dividing us from within, and this includes the aforementioned two-party system of hatred and divide. There is more to being a success than having a great military or a high GNP or world influence. I am talking about the hate that has nearly taken us over, and of the increasing unaffordability of the cost of living. We are disintegrating. We still lead the world in many ways, perhaps, but even the rest of the world sees the problems we are experiencing that are collapsing us from within and are appalled. We lose the world’s respect more every day. Some of the horrendous politicians and presidential administrations of recent years (including Trump in particular) have greatly contributed to the problem. What one administration accomplishes, the other tears down with the next election. We can’t even be trusted to remain in a peace agreement or environmental agreement anymore. The two-party hate is palpable.
*Years later, I now look upon the blatant attempt by one narcissist and his legion of worshipers AND legislative enablers to overthrow our government to install a backward dictatorship and I am more pessimistic than before. Our representative democracy is in dire trouble and the unpleasant marriage of government and religion threatens to roll back decades of progress. What happened to us?
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 19
(4)’Water’ Michael Caine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Clement
https://youtu.be/_mOZUp4A6oI
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 1eqavs8
About the latest “protests”…
2022 11 29 14 14
(5)’Water’ Michael Caine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Clement
This recipe combo was found more or less intact in the 2002 cookbook, Mediterranean Street Food. Preparation time does not include time needed for dough to rise.
FOR THE DOUGH: In a small container stir together yeast & 1/4 cup warm water, then set asde for 5-10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour & salt, then make a well in the center & pour in the oil.
Work in the oil with your fingertips until completely absorbed, then add the yeast water & knead with your hands for several minutes.
Gradually add another 1/4 cup warm water & knead until dough is smooth & elastic, then form into a ball, cover with a damp cloth & leave in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
FOR THE TOPPING: In a skillet over medium heat, combine thyme, sumac & sesame seeds, stirring continuously until the aroma rises & the mixture is slightly toasted. Salt to taste & set aside to cool slightly.
In a small bowl, mix together all the topping ingredients.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions & roll each into a ball.
Dip the first ball of dough in flour on all sides, then shake off the excess before rolling it into a thin disk about 1/8-inch thick.
Make a few dimples across the flat dough, pressing hard with the tips of your fingers (done to stop oil in the topping from running out during cooking), then spread a quarter of the topping over the disk of dough.
Place a nonstick skillet over medium heat & cook the dough in the skillet, topping side up, for 3-5 minutes or until bottom is crisp & lightly golden.
Repeat the procedure to make the rest of the breads.
Serve hot or warm, either plain or with some yogurt or . . .
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 18
(6)’Water’ Michael Caine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Clement
This recipe comes from the 2002 cookbook, Mediterranean Street Food. Preparation time does not include the 3 hours needed for the chicken breasts to marinate.
In a mixing bowl, combine chicken breasts with 1/2 cup of onion, lemon juice, olive oil & spices, then add the thyme before adding the salt to taste.
Stir well & then let marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, then place chicken breasts in a roasting pan & bake for 25-30 minutes or until done.
Remove from the oven & shred the chicken into slivers.
Open oval pitas at the seam to create a large pocket, then spread a tablespoon of garlic sauce on the bottom half before filling each pits with equal amounts of sandwich ingredients (i.e. chicken, tomato, onion, gherkins, mint & parsley).
Wrap the bottom of the ‘sandwiches’ with a napkin & serve immediately.
As a Chinese Citizen, I admire the West’s system of government and would like to see China transition into a kind of Nordic-style welfare state. Unfortunately, the CCP is extremely authoritarian, making this unlikely. What do Chinese think of this?
I think you are a fake!
I think you think we in QUORA are fools.
I think you are a white Caucasian Anglo Saxon who thinks your system is the best in the world.
I think you don’t know after stealing from the rest of the world for a century yet today you are highly indebted yet thinks others must be like you!
I think you just like to tell everyone that China is authoritarian to make your broken system good.
I think you don’t know how to think.
Good try but 97% Chinese thinks their system is far superior.
They think you don’t know how to think.
100 Million Dead Birds Are Just The Beginning, Because This Pestilence Is Far From Over…
Did you know that an extremely vicious virus that is currently sweeping across the globe has already killed more than 100 million birds? If you haven’t heard about this yet, don’t feel bad, because most people in the general population don’t know about this either. Like so many of the other nightmares that we are facing right now, the mainstream media continues to downplay the bird flu crisis and continues to insist that authorities have everything under control. But of course the truth is that they don’t have this outbreak under control. Flocks are being steadily wiped out all over the planet, and prices for turkey, chicken and eggs just keep going higher and higher. If the bird flu spreads even faster in 2023 than it did in 2022, it won’t be too long before we have some pretty serious shortages on our hands.
Losses of poultry flocks sent prices for eggs and turkey meat to record highs, worsening economic pain for consumers facing red-hot inflation and making Thursday’s Thanksgiving celebrations more expensive in the United States. Europe and Britain are also suffering their worst avian-flu crises, and some British supermarkets rationed customers’ egg purchases after the outbreak disrupted supplies.
We have never seen anything like this before.
According to CNBC, the number of dead birds in the EU alone has reached “nearly 50 million”…
Governments across Europe have culled bird populations to limit the spread of avian flu. Almost six million birds have been killed in the Netherlands since October 2021, while Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark and France have also been badly affected.
Nearly 50 million birds have been killed in Europe this year as countries try to contain the disease, according to the EU’s Food Safety Agency.
Actually, that figure is a bit old, but I was not able to find an updated one.
But if you take that number and add 50 million from the United States, that gives us a grand total of approximately 100 million dead birds, and that doesn’t even account for the remainder of the globe.
For example, nearly 3 million birds have already been wiped out in Japan, and at this point the bird flu is beginning to spread like wildfire in that country…
Cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, are spreading at an unusual pace in Japan, with 18 outbreaks confirmed this season through Saturday at poultry farms in 12 of the country’s 47 prefectures.
But that number is expected to rise further, in line with global trends.
This has truly become a worldwide crisis.
Past outbreaks have either greatly subsided or completely gone away during the hot summer months, but that did not happen this year.
“The virus has mostly impacted turkey and egg operations, sending prices to all-time highs and contributing to soaring food inflation. While the spread slowed during the warmer months, it continued to fester and now risks further spread as cooling temperatures prompt more birds to migrate,” Bloomberg said.
Of course this comes at a really bad time, because if you follow my work on a regular basis you already know that global food production is being hit hard from countless directions right now.
The UN has already been warning us that 2023 will be a year of famine in many areas of the planet, and so it would be very helpful if the bird flu were to disappear.
Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen any time soon.
And actually we have been extremely fortunate so far.
If the bird flu were to mutate into a form that humans can catch and spread easily, we would rapidly be facing a global health scare of epic proportions.
Up to this point, it has been rare for humans to catch the bird flu, but when it does happen the death rate can be as high as 60 percent…
But when the bird flu does infect people, it can be quite severe, with a mortality rate estimated to be at approximately 60 percent, according to the CDC.
Can you imagine how frightened people would be if such a virus started spreading among humans in our major population centers?
The panic would be far beyond anything that we have experienced over the past few years.
So this is a story that we will want to keep a close eye on.
For years, I warned my readers that we were moving into an era of great pestilences.
Of course what we have been through so far is just the beginning.
The pestilences that we are currently dealing with will continue to spread, and more are coming.
Millions upon millions of people have died up to this point, and tens of millions more will eventually die.
A lot of you have been waiting for life to “return to normal”, but that isn’t going to happen.
Global events have begun to spiral out of control, and things are only going to get more intense as we roll into 2023.
Another Christmas movie suggestion
2022 11 29 16 17
Merry Christmas
christmas tree ornament8
PLA Southern Theater Command troops warn away trespassing US warship near Nansha Islands
By Global Times Published: Nov 29, 2022 11:09 AM
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The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command on Tuesday morning discovered that the vessel USS Chancellorsville had trespassed into waters around the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea without China’s authorization, and followed and warned away the guided-missile cruiser.
USS Chancellorsville
The US military’s actions are a serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security, and irrefutable proof of its hegemony in navigation and militarization of the South China Sea, Tian Junli, a spokesperson from the PLA Southern Theater Command, said on Tuesday, noting that such behavior fully reveals that the US is the provocateur against peace in the region.
China holds indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their nearby waters, and the PLA Southern Theater Command maintains a high state of readiness at all times to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty, security and peace and stability in the South China Sea region.
In July, the destroyer USS Benfold sailed near the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea only a few days after it was driven away by the PLA from Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands.
Consecutive provocations by the US expose not only its navigational hegemony, but also its anxiety in the face of the growing capabilities of the PLA, experts said.
(7)’Water’ George Harrison,Eric Clapton,Jon Lord,Michael
https://youtu.be/oVBZR__BlPE
Merry Christmas…
christmas tree ornament12
It Is Beginning: 41 Percent Of All Small Business Owners Could Not Pay Rent In November
Many experts are now warning that we could see the housing market and the commercial real estate market simultaneously crash in 2023. If that were to happen, it would put an extreme amount of stress on our financial system. The only way we will avoid such a fate is if the Federal Reserve starts reducing interest rates. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen. In fact, officials at the Federal Reserve keep telling us that interest rates are going to keep going up. This is literally a suicidal course of action, because higher rates are going to absolutely crush the economy.
If you doubt this, just consider what is already happening.
According to a new Alignable survey that was just released, 41 percent of all small business owners in the United States could not pay rent in November…
Due to high inflation, reduced consumer spending, higher rents and other economic pressures, U.S.-based small business owners’ rent problems just escalated to new heights nationally this month, based on Alignable’s November Rent Poll of 6,326 small business owners taken from 11/19/22 to 11/22/22.
Unfortunately, 41% of U.S.-based small business owners report that they could not pay their rent in full and on time in November, a new record for 2022. Making matters worse, this occurred during a quarter when more money should be coming in and rent delinquency rates should be decreasing. But so far this quarter, the opposite has been true.
In September, that same survey found that 30 percent of all small business owners could not pay rent.
Many were deeply alarmed by that figure, and then it jumped up to 37 percent in October.
Now we are at 41 percent, and if there is any time when small business owners should be able to pay rent it is during the holiday season.
When commercial real estate tenants cannot pay rent, it inevitably has a domino effect.
It appears that we will soon have millions of empty commercial spaces all over the nation, and many owners will soon be unable to make loan payments because sufficient rent money is not coming in.
If the Federal Reserve insists on raising rates even higher, I anticipate that we will eventually be facing a commercial real estate crash of unprecedented size and scope.
Meanwhile, the implosion of the housing market continues to pick up speed.
Existing home sales have now declined for nine months in a row, and the median price of a home in the U.S. has now fallen by about 7 percent.
Sadly, many experts are now warning that things will only get worse in the months ahead. Here is one example…
“In one line: Collapse in prices is coming,” wrote Kieran Clancy, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
I told my readers that this would happen if the Federal Reserve aggressively hiked interest rates.
Of course home prices could soon fall a lot more. In fact, Pantheon is projecting that they could ultimately fall by a total of 20 percent from the peak…
Pantheon estimates that existing home prices will keep falling, ultimately dropping by about 20% from their June peak of around $414,000.
If you are planning to sell a home, I would try to do it as quickly as possible before prices go way down.
Distressed crypto firm BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey following the implosion of putative acquirer FTX.
So why is BlockFi in so much trouble?
Well, the truth is that there are a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest is the fact that they loaned 275 million dollars to FTX that will never be repaid…
In the filing, the company listed an outstanding $275 million loan to FTX US, the American arm of Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-bankrupt empire.
I warned my readers that FTX would not be the last domino to fall.
In a matter of days, FTX went from a $32 billion valuation to bankruptcy as liquidity dried up, customers demanded withdrawals and rival exchange Binance ripped up its nonbinding agreement to buy the company. Gross negligence has since been exposed. Ray added that a “substantial portion” of assets held with FTX may be “missing or stolen.”
FTX has more than 1 million creditors, according to updated bankruptcy filings, hinting at the huge impact of its collapse on crypto traders and other counterparties with ties to Bankman-Fried’s empire.
FTX was just one giant Ponzi scheme, but of course the entire system is just one giant Ponzi scheme.
The entire thing is eventually coming down, and a lot of prominent voices are trying to sound the alarm about this.
For instance, author Robert Kiyosaki tweeted the following just a few days ago…
Many of you know I do not invest in equities, bonds, ETS or MFs. Please DO NOT listen to what I’m going to say next: “I would get out of paper assets.” The world economy is not a “Market.” I believe economy is the biggest bubble in world history.
Of course he is quite correct.
We have been living in the largest bubble in all of human history.
And once it finally shatters into billions of pieces nobody is going to be able to put it back together again.
So get ready for a massive adjustment in your standard of living.
With very hard times looming, the Washington Post is encouraging their readers to reduce food costs by eating bugs…
The Washington Post advised Americans Sunday that instead of a traditional season dinner, which now is unaffordable for a quarter of families, they should instead look to eating bugs.
091122WIESBADENphoto02Army Lt. Gen. Antonio Aguto is regarded as a top candidate to lead SAGU. He currently commands First United States Army. A mobilization and training command headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois
Lost in the whirlwind of midterm election news last week was an announcement that not only will Washington send $400 million worth of additional weapons to Ukraine, but it is pushing forward with a new joint forces command, to be stationed in Germany, to “handle weapons shipments and personnel training.”
According to the Department of Defense, the new command, which was previously reported this summer, will be officially called the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, or SAGU, and will be based out of U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany. It will be a led by a 3-star general.
The command will involve 300 U.S. military personnel but will likely work closely with U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s training center in Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels as well as the service’s garrison in Baumholder. In addition, “the thousands of U.S. soldiers now positioned at training areas in Poland and Romania … could factor into the plans,” Stars & Stripes reported.
The new command is expected to have a long term presence, according to Stars & Stripes:
By establishing a dedicated headquarters focused on Ukraine support, the Pentagon is putting in place an organization to carry out what is expected to be a long-term mission.The Wiesbaden headquarters is slated to be manned with personnel from across the military branches, making it a joint service operation. Tours are initially planned to last between six months and a year, but longer accompanied tours are also possible.
The U.S. government has now provided over $18 billion in weapons to Ukraine, and officials are crediting Kyiv’s successes against the Russian invasion to a constant flow of military assistance to the country. This new command signals a digging-in by the Western powers with the U.S. at the head, my Quincy Institute colleagues tell me.
“It is definitely a sign that the U.S. is preparing for a long war in Ukraine and long-term military competition with Russia,” says George Beebe. “You don’t put a 3-star in charge just to keep track of weapons flows in Ukraine.”
Anatol Lieven suggests this cements the current trajectory of US-European security. “In my view, it indicates that Ukraine is to be a ‘major non-NATO ally’ and a U.S. dependency, and that the U.S. will try to build the whole of European security around support for Ukraine and hostility to Russia.”
Of course, Washington has stopped short of putting U.S. boots on the ground in Ukraine to help President Zelensky in his aim of driving Russia out of his country. Polls continue to show that is not what the American people want. But having a 3-star just over the border, commanding billions in weapons and training efforts is getting as close as it gets.
It will be interesting to see if the administration keeps up its recent ostensible desire for peace negotiations. Certainly this new command “shows Moscow that the alternative to compromise is a U.S. that is ready and willing to provide robust military support for Ukraine for a long time to come,” says Beebe.
(8)’Water’ Michael Caine,Jimmie Walker,Dick Clement
There are Chinese people with real grievances against their government.
The US empire’s propaganda machine will spin current protests in China to advance imperial agendas.
Western intelligence agencies will become more and more involved in these protests the longer they go on.
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It still amazes me how many people who fancy themselves anti-establishment critical thinkers will spend all day mindlessly regurgitating mainstream media lines about China.
I cannot emphasize enough how little respect I have for anyone who parrots US empire narratives about China and how completely dismissive I am of all their attempts to explain to me that it’s actually right and good to do this.
Literally all of our major problems are because of the people who rule over us; if you’re buying into the narrative that who we should really be mad at right now is a government on the other side of the planet with no power over us, you’re a fucking loser. You’re a bootlicking empire simp. You’re worthless, bleating human livestock.
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Why does China keep aggressively surrounding itself with US military bases?
US Military Set to Return to Subic Bay, Philippines to Counter ChinaThe US closed its military base in Subic Bay 30 years agoby Dave DeCamp@DecampDavehere— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) November 25, 2022
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Everyone knows the US has invaded countries completely unprovoked very recently and will definitely do so again, but we still have to pretend that Putin is the worst thing since Hitler.
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It’s disturbing how many people I encounter who claim Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is worse than America’s invasion of Iraq because Ukraine is a “democracy”. How fucked up do you have to be inside to believe human lives are worth less because of their nation’s political system?
Leaving aside the fact that a nation which bans political parties, shuts down opposition media, imprisons opposition leaders, and is vastly more accountable to Washington than to its own people is in no way a “democracy”, that’s just a profoundly disturbed way of looking at life. A mother holding the remains of a child whose body has been ripped apart by military explosives does not care whether her country is considered a “democracy” by the western governments who are invested in that country’s military outcomes.
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Rightists correctly believe that liberals subscribe to an artificially constructed worldview designed by the powerful in the service of the powerful, but incorrectly believe that they themselves do not.
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Common debates:
Which status quo party is best
Which side of the culture war is correct
How the western empire should act
What capitalism should look like
Uncommon debates:
Should status quo politics exist
Should the western empire exist
Should capitalism exist
Should class war replace culture war
And it is of course entirely by design that the former are common and the latter are uncommon. Keeping everyone debating how establishment power structures should exist, rather than if they should, ensures the survival of those power structures.
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It’s actually a really big problem that the most visible “left” in the US is completely worthless on war and militarism. When Americans who are critical of those things look right and see people like Rand Paul and Tucker Carlson doing something then look left and see AOC and Bernie doing nothing, which side do you think they’ll choose?
And of course this is because the so-called progressive Democrats are not “left” in any meaningful way, but your average mainstream American doesn’t know that, and perception is reality. The US is the nation where antiwar sentiment is most important and the most urgently needed, and it’s been buried on the left. Americans are trained that Clintonites are “center-left” and AOC/Bernie are “far left”, and anyone further to the left than them on foreign policy is demonized by these progressives as a Russian agent. This creates the very understandable impression that the entire left is pro-war.
When you’ve got Ilhan Omar and AOC calling people who protest US proxy warfare at their rallies Russian operatives and antiwar leftists like Jill Stein branded as Kremlin agents, the message mainstream Americans come away with is that antiwar sentiment is only welcome on the right.
Again, I get this isn’t true and there’s lots of antiwar sentiment on the true left in the US, but nobody sees that left. It’s denied any media presence or political validity; mainstream Americans don’t know the difference between an anti-imperialist socialist and a Berner. This causes antiwar Americans to drift to the right; I’ve watched it happen in real time with some of my US followers. I do my best to make the case for the left, but I’m just one voice amid a surging deluge of messaging they’re getting that the real opposition is on the right.
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Naming your war machinery after the Indigenous tribes your government genocided is the modern-day equivalent of wearing the skulls of your enemies on your war horse.
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A lot of acceptance of the status quo worldview boils down to a failure of imagination. People literally can’t imagine the possibility that reality is as different as it is from what they’ve been told by their teachers, parents, pundits and politicians. It’s actually unfathomable to them, and that is because it’s so different. The world we’re trained to see by establishment perception managers is as different from the real world as any fictional world is.
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The incremental normalization of police murderbots is probably nothing to worry about. HERE— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) November 26, 2022
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The claim that capitalism is the best system for generating profits is basically correct; it’s hard to beat greed and starvation as a carrot and stick to get the gears of industry whirring. The issue here is that merely generating profits won’t solve most of the world’s problems, and in fact many of our problems come from the fact that capitalism is too effective at turning the gears of industry. Our biosphere is dying largely because capitalism values making lots of things but not un-making things; we’re choking our ecosystem to death because it’s profitable.
Capitalism has no real answers for problems like ecocide, inequality, exploitation and caring for the needful. Yes “let the markets decide” will generate lots of profits for those set up to harvest them, but profit-seeking cannot address those very serious problems. The “invisible hand of the market” gets treated as an actual deity that actually exists, with all the wisdom necessary to solve the world’s problems, but in reality the pursuit of money lacks any wisdom. It can’t solve our major problems, it can only make more stuff and generate more profit.
Find me a capitalist business plan for leaving a forest untouched. Find me a capitalist business plan for keeping someone free of illness, for ensuring that someone with nothing gets what they need, for giving resources to a struggling parent. You can’t. Capitalism can’t do this. These are the most important things in the world, and no possible iteration of capitalism has any solutions for any of them whatsoever, apart from “Well hopefully rich people will feel very charitable and fix those problems.” And how is that solution working out? It’s a joke.
The “Maybe the very rich will feel charitable and fix our problems for us” solution assumes that the very same people who are wired to do whatever it takes to claw their way to the top of the ladder will suddenly start caring deeply about everyone they stepped on to get there. Capitalism elevates sociopaths, because profit-seeking competition-based systems reward those who are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.That’s why we are ruled by sociopaths, and it’s why looking to “philanthropy” as a solution to our problems is a ridiculous joke.
When capitalism proponents tell socialists and communists “You don’t understand economics,” what they really mean is “You don’t understand that capitalism is the best system for generating profits.” But socialists and communists do understand this; it’s just that generating profits, in and of itself, is not sufficient.
If lack of wealth is your major problem, then capitalism can be a tool to address it; that’s what China is temporarily doing to keep up economically with the western forces who wish to enslave it. But such measures won’t solve ecocide, inequality, exploitation, and caring for the needful. For that other measures are needed.
If you want to make more of something (money, material goods), then capitalism can be a good way to do that. But if you need to make less of something (pollution, inequality, exploitation, sickness, homelessness, etc) it’s worthless, and other systems must be looked to.
You can say “But communist regimes are authoritarian blah blah” all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that capitalism has zero answers for the most important problems facing our species. This still needs to be addressed, and moaning about Mao and Stalin isn’t an answer. Don’t like the iterations of socialism we’ve seen so far? Okay. Then find another answer, and remember we’ve already established that capitalism is not an answer; it cannot address the problems we’ve discussed here. So we need to find an actual answer that does actually work.
Dismantling capitalism, if we ever achieve it, will be the most difficult thing that humanity has ever accomplished. As hard as everyone becoming a buddha, and essentially not much different. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is existentially necessary for us to do so.
We’ll either move from competition-based systems to collaboration-based ones, eliminating all the obstacles necessary for us to do so, or we will go extinct. We are at our adapt-or-die juncture as a species.
The idea that it should or can shows absolutely and positively the insanity that grips the United States today.
And there is few things as insane as the American “news” today…
Check out today’s Drudge Report…
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Yes, there is a massive push to destabilize China. This is part of that effort. Protests, and massive “news” coverage in the West. It’s a well established NED technique.
But keep reality in mind…
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Here’s what is going on ACTUALLY…
The protest did not take place in Urumqi, Xinjiang, but thousands of miles away in Urumqi Road, Shanghai.
The crowd at the Shanghai protest came from the “Nanjing Media College” in Shanghai, a private, third-tier university where the students are largely clueless and the teachers are particularly pro-American. No matter what time of year it is, students and young people are still the best people to agitate. The location of the protest was Urumqi Middle Road, less than 500 meters from the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai.
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The linking of the “Urumqi fire” to “Dynamic zero-COVID Policy” has anti-China forces operating behind it.
It is definitely a conspiracy.
Shanghai Urumqi Road Protest…
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Confessions of “protesting” students on site. Saying that if anyone gets caught, they must run to their nations’ embassy. (Yes, That’s right. They are not Chinese citizens.) It also says that the Chinese officials will not be nice, and to be careful about posting on Wechat.
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The text of the Shanghai Urumqi Road protest is in Traditional Chinese. Not in mainland Chinese.
The only people that use Traditional Chinese characters are those living in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
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Chengdu, a group of people with Hong Kong dialect shouted “Long Live Freedom, Long Live Democracy.”
Then a man with a local Sichuan accent shouted.” I want your fucking freedom!”
That’s when “the jig was up”. Everyone was aware that these “students” were not locals, and were not mainland Chinese. They couldn’t even understand the local dialect where they supposedly lived.
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Two women confronted police in Guangzhou’s Haizhu Square and tried to agitate, shouting in Mandarin to the crowd behind them, “Guangzhou people are standing up!”
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A group of locals scolded the two women in Cantonese.
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They didn’t even understand what was being said to them!
Faced with the Cantonese language abuse of the Guangzhou crowd, they acted unusually bewildered. How can local mainland Chinese not know Cantonese they wondered.
Even Hong Kong people know and can speak Cantonese. The only Chinese people who cannot are those from Taiwan, and a handful from the extreme Western Chinese regions. Cantonese is well spoken throughout China.
A member of the “Fifth Column” tweeted a question: Why do you tip 1000 in Beijing and Wuhan. 500 tip in Chengdu but only 300 tip in Guangzhou.
Referring, of course, to the “tips” of money from the CIA / NED to protest. These come in packages and sizes.
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The people sent to Chengdu speak Hong Kong dialect;
People sent to Guangzhou, can’t understand Cantonese.
The CIA should have mobilized some locals to be more convincing. They might as well have worn signs on their chests that say “I am CIA prevaricator”.
A1nYNISUL1500
With or without Dynamic zero-COVID Policy, the U.S. will use various excuses to create color revolutions.
The Chinese National Security Agency is getting to work! Yeah. Another CIA agent arrested, and well… he won’t be alive too much longer.
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Also the West has predicted wrongly.
As far as I know, it is not the CPC that supports the Dynamic zero-COVID Policy, but the grassroots in China, which is the mainstream public opinion in China.
Do you expect the CPC to go against the mainstream public opinion in China?
At least 80% of the people around me are supporters of the Dynamic zero-COVID Policy, and young people who use VPNs do not make up the majority of China, and these people who earn “tips” to protest are even less representative of mainstream Chinese public opinion.
Compare the economic stats…
China is “kicking butt”, and the United States is floundering.
2022 11 28 10 08 growth
Declan Hayes
November 27, 2022
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Though the World Cup, like all similar tournaments, must return to their apolitical roots, the U.S. and its allies are the elephants in the room, the flies in the ointment, the mothers of all spoilsports.
MI5’s BBC news site recently led with the non-story that Chinese protesters are calling for President Xi to resign. How convenient, with the collapse of MI5’s Hong Kong protests, that these gulls are unwittingly acting as a fifth column for the Royal Navy and America’s Seventh Fleet, which stalk the Taiwan Strait! One wonders when the U.S. will arm these peaceful protesters, just as they have previously armed their confreres in Syria, Iran and Hong Kong.
The Chinese government have the two basic problems of multiplication and of division. They fear that a small, localized problem, if replicated across China, will quickly become unsurmountable and their problem of division makes them divide their national cake, such as it is, in 1.42 billion ways, whilst keeping their 1.42 billion citizens happy and hopeful for their future. Human resource management, in other words, on a Biblical scale.
China’s perennial problems of multiplication and division, spurred on by Perfidious Albion and her equally treacherous allies, are an unenviable headache China’s leaders must deal with. Witness the snows that blanketed all of China a few Chinese New Years ago, when more than 100,000 migrant workers stranded in Guangzhou Railway station vented their wrath at those hapless soldiers who drew the short straw and so had to explain to these angry hordes that the snow made thousands of km of rail tracks unpassable and that, as a consequence, all 100,000 of them, together with millions more of other stranded migrant workers, could not make their annual pilgrimage home to their rural villages.
Pity the freezing Chinese soldiers who had their own New Year ruined not only by the snow but by the understandable failure of the government to explain to hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens that they could not budge the billions upon billions of tonnes of snow that ruined their holiday. Now return to MI5’s BBC news site and ask why the Chinese authorities allow BBC to exploit these problems by picking and choosing who to interview in China, where the BBC clearly does not belong.
Pop over to Iran, whose citizens are still celebrating their team’s win over Wales and ask why the BBC does not highlight the hundreds of Iranian soldiers and citizens their peaceful protesters deliberately murdered.
Speaking of the World Cup, witness Carlos Queiroz, Iran’s manager, asking why the BBC ambush his players with politically loaded questions but never direct political questions at the managers and players of England or the United States, whose countries are bywords the world over for human rights’ abuses. And, given that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which is hosting the tournament, are no slouches when it comes to abusing human rights, why are they not also targets for the BBC’s ire?
Although the German team did protest on behalf of their transgender colleagues, isn’t it odd these German jokers had nothing to say about whoever it was who blew up the Nordstream pipeline and thereby condemned thousands of elderly Germans to a cold winter and an early grave? Perhaps the German team are good only for vacuous virtue signalling and not much more. It certainly seems so.
Had the jokers of the German football team really wanted to protest, they could have ransacked Qatar’s Al Udeid air base, which houses tens of thousands of U.S., British and Australian marines and paratroopers. But that would have been haram. The sad reality is that not only Qatar but the entire Middle East is blanketed with American military bases and it is only those protests, which support Anglo American hegemony that are permitted.
Though the World Cup, like all similar tournaments, must return to their apolitical roots, the U.S. and its allies are the elephants in the room, the flies in the ointment, the mothers of all spoilsports. Irrespective of how NATO, the jokers of the German football team and their BBC apologists pink wash their own crimes, whilst eulogizing their Ukrainian Nazi death squads or their Qatari funded Syrian head hackers, the tide will soon turn when their fake protests run their course and become only targets of ridicule and derision. Though that process has already begun in Moldova, in the Netherlands and even in LGBTQ++ obsessed Germany itself, it will accelerate over the coming months as the destruction of Western Europe leads to its own explosive backlash.
Kitty sculpture.
I’d buy one.
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How does life drain you in the United States of America?
I fucking hate being an American citizen and living in the U.S. I really do. I am ashamed I am a veteran of its armed forces, too. Being an American and living in this country is emotionally, intellectually, and physically exhausting because:
Guns. Fucking. Everywhere. And no one wants to do anything about it. Even as thousands of people are killed every year because of them, they want LESS restrictions on guns.
Voting is almost pointless at this point if you live in a conservative state. Trump is gaining steam to be a contender again in 2024, if you can believe that shit. In any other country in the world this would be impossible. Not America. In America, there is no rule of law and you can try to overthrow an election you lost and STILL get a chance to be president again, let alone be allowed to run or never be prosecuted.
A MILLION Americans dead from a global pandemic that obliterated the economy and devastated families, and Americans insist that listening to scientists and wearing masks and getting shots is for pussies. In fact, they SUE DOCTORS to force them to prescribe HORSE DRUGS to them.
The hostility towards science and affinity for faith is fucking unbearable. We have people — and there are a lot of people — who believe women should not be able to get an abortion, gay people should not be allowed to marry/adopt children, transgendered people should not be allowed to go to the bathroom, and climate change is just a conspiracy meant to kill American energy jobs…among other things. A sizeable portion of the U.S. (~40%) think God is in control and we should just submit to his will.
Poor people are treated like absolute shit, particularly minorities and immigrants. We treat people of lesser means deplorably here. It’s WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY worse to be homeless and/or poor in the U.S. than it is in Europe, Asia, or Oceania. Americans were *CHEERING* when the Supreme Court said landlords could start tossing people left jobless out on their asses so they could bring in more profitable tenants. There’s zero safety net here, too. If you lose you’re job in America, your life is over.
I could go on.
Americans get more outraged that you won’t stand for the stupid flag than they do that police murder citizens for minor infractions or that the 99% are supporting the 1% of freeloaders at the top.
And the worst part is that it’s impossible to fix any of it, because the way the Constitution is written, all the states with no people control most of the government.
The Senate is split 50–50 when 50 of those Senators represent 35–40% of the population. To make any change to the Constitution you need 3/4 of states AND 2/3 of Congress, which is an impossible hurdle to clear in today’s environment.
They literally killed the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT because conservative states oppose it. They oppose EQUAL RIGHTS for fuck’s sake.
Yeah, America sucks. It’s a marginally better country than Russia or Brazil, but that’s a low bar to clear.
**UPDATE 10/31/2022**
Brazil had the common sense to eject their far-right leader. Bolsonaro is outta there now. It seems only America is fucking stupid enough to give the guys who attempted a coup power back…voluntarily…because of inflation…which is temporary.
What a shitshow of a country the U.S. is.
China’s New Super Technology: America Offers $50 Billion
https://youtu.be/1s2NQMrtYNo
Beautiful Bagels – (using bread machine to make the dough)
“These are what I would describe as “best ever bagels”. They are crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I’ve had this recipe for years – and was passed on to me by another bagel lover. They are especially nice eaten whilst they are still warm, spread with Philadelphia Cream Cheese, thin slices of smoked salmon, a good squeeze of lemon juice and some freshly ground black pepper!
Place all the above ingredients into bread machine, and select ‘dough’ cycle.
Stop the bread machine 40 minutes after the mixing starts (1 hour and 10 minutes from beginning of dough cycle).
Tip bagel dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead by hand for about 1 minute.
Cut dough into 8 pieces.
Roll and’gently massage’ each piece into a snake.
Dampen and overlap the ends pressing firmly to form a ring.
Place each ring on an individual piece of baking paper already lightly sprayed with oil.
Cover all rings with a sheet of baking paper and allow to rest.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil.
Carefully lowering each bagel one by one (about 4 at a time) into the pan of boiling water, slide the paper from each bagel ring away.
Gently turn bagels allowing about 40 seconds on each side.
Lift each bagel out and drain on absorbent paper towels.
Place drained bagels on baking baking tray already lined with baking paper.
Brush each bagel with lightly beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and sprinkle with lots of poppy seeds or toasted sesame seeds.
Bake in hot oven (220’C, Gas mark 7) for about 15 minutes- or until a nice deep golden brown colour.
When it comes to movie sets at least, John Zemansky is a heck of a hookup. There is, in fact, almost nothing he can’t source — or manufacture. Case in point: He supplied Doc Brown with (faux) uranium. He bought the broom Mrs. Doubtfire famously rocked out on. And he provided Tony Montana with all manners of guns, cash and cocaine. Zemansky retired in 2007, but he still loves to talk about his time as a property master — whether it was helping bring Robert Zemeckis and the Back to the Future franchise into the Old West or securing a mountain of coke and weaponry for Brian DePalma and Al Pacino.
‘The plutonium Doc Brown used in the first Back to the Future picture? We just made that all up’
I grew up around the prop business. I didn’t really want to do it at first, but I decided to do it for a little while before figuring out what I really wanted to do. To my surprise, once I got into it, I really liked it.
I went to work in TV at first, but then I got lucky and got to work in features. I did 60-some pictures. My favorite projects were westerns, because I love antiques and I enjoy hunting for the real stuff. I did all the Back to the Future pictures, and the third one was my favorite because it was a western. I had to find Doc Brown’s gun, and then the effects guys added all the armatures on it.
A lot of prop guys like science fiction, but you can build anything. The plutonium Doc used in the first Back to the Future picture? We just made that all up. I doubt real plutonium looks anything like that, but how many people have seen plutonium anyway?
‘If Al Pacino didn’t feel like something was right, he wouldn’t move forward until he thought it was perfect’
Scarface was the second picture I did with Brian DePalma. DePalma was a very quiet guy — he was always thinking. Scarface was supposed to be a 61-day shoot, but it went to 120 days or something like that. We never seemed to be able to get started until 10 or 11 in the morning. I think some of that was Al Pacino.
If he didn’t feel like something was right, he wouldn’t move forward until he thought it was perfect. Also, he never worked past 6 p.m. — it was in his contract. The movie was running so far over that the studio wanted him to work later. But he found out that the studio executives were coming to the set to get him to work later, so he just didn’t show up to work that day.
‘The only gun on Scarface that wasn’t totally real was the one where Pacino says, ‘Say hello to my little friend’’
I have no idea how many guns I had to supply for Scarface. It was a lot. They were real guns, too. They’re props, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a real gun. It takes a real gun to fire a blank. The only thing that wasn’t totally real was the one where he says, “Say hello to my little friend.”
That was an M16 with an M203 grenade launcher under it. They used those in Vietnam, but you can’t really get your hands on one, so I had to get it manufactured.
Pacino must have fired a thousand rounds out of that gun, and it was hot. When Pacino got shot, he fell on the gun and he burned his hand very badly. They had to take him to the burn hospital to fix his hand, and we shut down for three to five days after that.
Also, for that final shootout, the scene was originally shot with pistols, shotguns and a few oddball rifles. We spent a week shooting it, but DePalma looked at it and hated it. He said, “Let’s get some machine guns in here!” So we shot the whole thing all over again with automatic weapons.
‘When you’ve got stacks of money, usually just the top bill is real, and the rest underneath is dummy money approved by the government’
Depending on the scene, we’d use all real money or just some real money. For something like a poker game, that’s all real cash because, at most, it’s probably only $5,000. When you’ve got stacks of money though, usually just the top bill is real and the rest underneath is dummy money approved by the government. Up close, it looks like dummy money, but from a distance, you can’t tell.
I did a picture where I needed $175,000 in $100 bills. That was Brewster’s Millions and that was the most I ever had to get. I can’t remember how much I needed for Scarface, but most of it was that dummy money because a lot of it was in stacks.
As for the cocaine, nothing fancy or real there — it was simply powdered baby milk that I bought at the market.
The Russian Federation has begun utilizing what they call their “FAB-500” munitions. It is a 500 kilogram high explosive bomb enhanced with fuel to create a thermobaric shockwave. (“FAB” = Fuel Air Bomb)
No living thing (with lungs) can survive the shockwave, which can actually be SEEN, as shown in the video below.
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Uncaring asshole landlord
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This Is How America Ends
I’m not American and I find that video heartbreaking! How American politicians are still walking this earth astounds me. They clearly don’t care about those who elected them.
Polish “Mercenaries” Open-Fire and KILL Ukraine Army Commanders Near Bakhmut
An altercation has taken place between Polish “Mercenaries” fighting FOR Ukraine, and Ukrainian Army officers commanding them.
The Polish Mercs and a grouping of about ten thousand Romanian “Mercenaries” also fighting for Ukraine, were allegedly ordered by Ukrainian Army officers to attack Russian positions around Bakhmut.
Fierce fighting has been going on there for weeks and Ukraine is losing.
The Polish “Mercs” told the Ukrainian Army Officers it would be suicide for them and the Romanians to go attack, everyone else who has done so has been slaughtered by the fortified Russian positions.
The Ukrainians then allegedly told the Polish either attack or WE will kill you for Mutiny, at which point the Polish drew their weapons and KILLED the Ukrainian commanders.
Details right now are very sketchy and people in-the-know are very unwilling to talk about this. It’s all very hush-hush and likely to stay that way.
Address Be Like Left Testicle Dick No.7
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What makes Libya worse now than before when Gaddafi was in power?
Libya has been in crisis since the fall of gaddafi in 2011
The country has become a hotbed of islamist extremists.
Militias had been clashing throughout since the fall of gaddafi
Immigrants from sub saharan african countries have been subjected to modern slavery and therefore libya has become a hotbed for the mediterranean immigrant crisis.
The country had two governments competing for power from 2014.
Libya was once a prosperous nation under gaddafi and later own became a war torn nation
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3 Idiotic Military Blunders That Lost Battles Before They Started
War has changed greatly over the course of history, that much is obvious. From tactics to weapons to what exactly you’re allowed to do to the opposing forces without being considered a war criminal, those interested in seizing others’ lands in pursuit of liberation, loot, or the second masquerading as the former, follow a much different path than armies of old. I’m sure medieval armies would have loved to have a remote-operated, axe-wielding juggernaut drone that could charge the opposing castle’s champions like heavy-metal Pokemon instead of getting a mace to the face, but they never had such luck.
One constant through any generation of warfare, though, is something that doesn’t have to do with armies, their armaments, or whether or not poisoning is ok. It’s a limitation that ancient lords share precisely with modern generals: the human brain’s constant capacity to make an incredibly dumb decision. Pure brute strength can only ever carry you so far, and one ill-timed miscalculation can cost you infinitely more dearly than a number disadvantage or obsolete artillery. War is a game in which many lives are on the line, and unfortunately, it can be thrown just as easily as a round of League of Legends.
Here are 3 incredibly dumb, and massively devastating, military blunders in history.
The Battle Of Agincourt
For the first incredibly deadly oopsie, let’s look at the famous Battle of Agincourt from the Hundred Years’ War. To set the scene, we can imagine the general state of things before the battle was to begin. In this corner, we have a French army of 20,000 men, primed and ready to deliver a drubbing to the enemy. In the other corner, we have the 27-year-old King Henry V of England, with only 5,500 men, most of whom were currently suffering from dysentery. As you can imagine, the French army had pretty much already marked this as a W. With almost four times the men, and with far fewer of them having active, bloody diarrhea, they were almost celebrating in advance.
However, it was what stood between the armies that would make the biggest difference: a massive, recently plowed field, turned by rain into a sea of deep mud capable of drowning a pig. The English, understandably, didn’t want to fight in the mud, but Henry realized they might be able to goad the French into taking the disadvantageous ground with, basically, a large-scale, medieval version of shouting “HEY, I BET YOU GUYS CAN’T KICK OUR ASS!” His army threw up banners and marched only a small distance forward, but this taunt was enough to send the French Army, their minds filled with an Arnold Palmer of equal parts hubris and bloodlust, charging into a literal shitstorm. Their men and horses immediately got stuck in the mud and became a human shooting gallery for the English archers. By the time the battle ended, the French would surrender after losing nearly 6000 men. The casualty count for the English? Roughly 400. If only the French had played Darkest Dungeon.
The Charge Of The Light Brigade
Another human error resulting in massive human loss was the battle known as the Charge of The Light Brigade during the Crimean War in the year 1854. It’s a battle that even inspired a poem of the same name by Alfred Tennyson, dedicated to the heroism of those that would die in the battle. However, this heroism, and these deaths, were entirely and wholly unnecessary, caused by something that even a modern office worker is all too familiar with: miscommunication among management. Though one could also argue that hundreds of men dying because two big wigs couldn’t clearly communicate is itself a poetic treatise on war.
First, the loss that led to the situation that would go so deadly sour: the British and French, fighting the Russians, were forced back from the Causeway Heights, fleeing four fortifications filled with recently installed artillery. The Russian forces were repelled only a short distance later, but Lord Fitzroy Somerset Raglan decided he would really like all those guns they just left back. So he issued an order to try to take back those four fortifications to prevent the Russians from acquiring all that sweet, sweet, weaponry. Except that he didn’t say “Please go retake the four fortifications we just abandoned, to retrieve our guns.” He said instead, “advance rapidly to the front … and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns.”The guns he was talking about were the guns in the Causeway Heights. The cavalry he issued this order to, unfortunately, was not in sight of the Causeway Heights. What they were in sight of was a fully entrenched, absolute shit ton of Russian artillery, at the end of an open valley. For some reason, instead of maybe questioning the wisdom of an order that was basically “run down a hallway at a mounted gatling gun,” George Bingham and James Brudenell, the Earls of Lucan and Cardigan, respectively, shrugged their shoulders and basically went, “seems weird but ok.” They then charged their men into the valley, at which point they were shot at from THREE SEPARATE DIRECTIONS by Russian gunners. It was basically a horrific, deadly, real-life version of Tower Defense flash game. 670 men participated in the charge. 110 died, 160 were wounded, and 375 horses were killed. They did not win.
The Battle Of Karansebes
Though the two military blunders already covered might vary greatly in both time period and cause, they do share a single element that this final entry does not: an enemy. After all, in every fight, there is a winner and a loser (at least objectively), but it takes real talent to lose a battle in which no one else is actually participating. During the Austro-Turkish war, the Austrians managed to pull off this uniquely embarrassing feat in the “battle” of Karansebes. The tale starts, like many great mistakes, with a good quantity of alcohol.
Outside of Karansebes, a group of soldiers were getting good and soused off a supply of schnapps, now mostly known for making 18-year-olds puke at a house party. Another traveling group passing by asked to split the bottle, and were denied. Out of maybe a mixture of pride and a deep love for borrowed schnapps, this quickly turned into a fistfight. This fistfight between soldiers then resulted in a couple rogue discharged firearms.
Now, back in Karansebes, the rest of the army was on high, un-schnapps-filtered alert, and when they heard gunshots, they sounded the alarm, shouting “Turks! Turks!” believing themselves to be under attack. They shouted it loud enough for the drunken tusslers to overhear, who then, not knowing they were the false Turks in question, panicked themselves, and started charging back to camp to help protect it from… themselves.
At this point, we have two groups of Austrian soldiers. One, in Karansebes, fingers on triggers, looking for Turkish soldiers approaching from the horizon. The second, drunk group of Austrian soldiers were now quickly approaching from the horizon. You might be able to play the rest of this out in your mind. The soldier in the city fired on the group riding home. The group riding home assumed their camp had already been taken by the Turks, and fired back. And thus, that night began a battle between the Austrian army and the Austrian army that would result in thousands of casualties and included precisely zero enemies.
Even better, the real Turks did indeed arrive two days later, to find a greatly reduced, rag-tag army in the process of recovering from a battle against themselves. The city of Karansebes had rendered itself defenseless, and the Turks were then all too happy to capture it with minimal fuss. Teaching one of, perhaps, the most important military lessons of all time: don’t bogart the schnapps.
“Progress” Is Not Always A Good Thing
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George Carlin – Stand Up About Religion
This man is a genius. We call it comedy only because it’s difficult to accept that he’s right.
What is something you did as a kid that would be considered unsafe for kids now?
The idea of “helicopter parents” had not been invented or even considered. Parents expected us to be doing things on our own without any supervision. Since both my parents and any statute of limitations are long passed, it’s safe to speak about the currently unspeakable!
We would normally leave the house without telling anyone where were going. One time we all left the house, and the parental units left the house thinking we were there. We came home and the front and back doors were wide open, just the screen doors closed. We never told them, they never asked.
There were several large ravines about 1/2 mile away with pretty steep sand hills and cliffs which we climbed or even rode our bicycles down. Usually no problem, but on occasion, the front wheel of the bike would dig in and we would sail over the handlebars into the sand further downhill. If you had a good tumble, the next person might try and do it better! Some of these hills were used by adventurers on motorcycles, we were pioneers of bicycle moto-cross.
We would spend summers and warm weekends in the ravines, exploring and playing in the small river that ran through it, looking for frogs, fish, snakes, lizards or other interesting creatures.
Road hockey games, two or three to the street. Some kids had nets, and most of the time we used boots or garbage cans, or other vertical items as goalposts. A tennis ball was the “puck” of choice and as you played, the wooden blade of the hockey stick would wear down from the full 3″ height to a sharp point that could have been lethal if used with malice. At some point, one enterprising company sold plastic blades that could be attached to the stub of a hockey stick to extend its life. At the time though, regular sticks were around $5 and the blades were about $2, so you didn’t see too many. The cod word “CAR” caused the game to be quickly moved off the road. Mike Meyers grew up in a different part of the city, and a bit later, but it was a universal signal for a quick time out. We tried to play on streets that had curbs, they were much easier than the streets that still had ditches beside the road.
Firecrackers were still legal, but you had to be at least 12 to get them, so we had the older kids buy them for us. May 24th, Victoria Day, was one of the loudest days of the year. Kids would stand around and throw the 2″ ones at each other, and you’d have to duck. The only time you were ever hurt was when someone would jam one down your shirt from behind. If he could run fast, he might do it again. Mostly they were “convinced” by the rest of the guys not to do it again.
We took the bus, by ourselves to areas around town. I took swimming lessons that required 2 buses to get to, and the only thing my mom said was “make sure you get a transfer!” By the time I was 12, we’d take the bus and the subway downtown. No big deal.
We all discovered rockets and explosives, and since my dad was a chemisty prof, he had a copy of the “Chemical Rubber Company Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 1944” which contained so many things that would scare the willies out of Gen Xer parents!
Of course, the Estes rocket engines were great, simple and safe, but we wanted more! How about coloured flames? Check the book! Better propellent? Check the book!
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I still have the book, and my dad even updated it to one that even had more current info! I used it in school for chemical compounds in photography. Needless to say, we lit up the nights at times. 😉
Speaking of photography, I began developing film in my early teens. Black and white chemistry is relatively safe, but the colour processes at the time included various acids and cyanide compounds, all availalble from Kodak at your local photography store. We were trusted with these poisons, and don’t forget, we usually were in the dark (actually and metaphically!) about the dangers.
We all survived. Nobody had a cell phone, nobody had to be home befpre dinner and if you were late, you’d end up eating cold leftovers.
I tried to bring my own kids up the same way, and mostly told them not to tell their Mom what we did. We’d go tobogganing on a hill with a 150′ drop, and a hill hat gave a jump at the bottom, and can remember my youngest, who was about 5 at the time flying off, spinning at least one 360 through the air and getting back up the hill for the next ride. We used to play “hockey” with a group of kids and the same young daughter, at 3 or so, had to have a stick and play. She learned to stop by crashing into someone or the boards, but would pick herself up and be giggling back into the fray. Two hours each Sunday and the kids couldn’t wait for the next week’s “game!”
Both daughters survived, one is 42 and the other 38, and those are the memories that I think they are proudest of.
THIS IS THE MOST FREQUENT QUESTION FROM A FAMILY PSYCHOLOGIST-SEXOLOGIST.
FIRST HE WILL GET RID OF YOUR CAT, THEN HE OFFERS TO SEND YOUR MOM TO A NURSERY HOME.
WELL, AND THEN …….
HE WILL GET RID OF YOU!!!
MY ADVICE: DON’T AGREE!!!
LET IT ACCEPT YOU AS YOU ARE, OR LIVE ALONE …
Al Bundy’s Best Insults
When I was 14, I laugh cause it's funny.Now I'm 34, I laugh cause it's true.
Master of the keyboard
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A War on Homelessness
This came out in 1990, and every point he made hits its mark flawlessly. America hasn’t changed in over thirty years.
Cats, how did you get your names?
We adopted a young stray tuxedo cat from my cousin who found him under her porch in the middle of winter. She already had her quota of kitties (didn’t know there could be to many kitties?) so had to find him a new home.
He was very skiddish as he had to fight to survive. (We live in central Alberta and December is very cold) He was to be our oldest daughter’s companion and 10th birthday gift as her birthday is right in between Christmas and New years.
She wanted to name him ‘Venus’ after the planet because she was really into planets and space at that time.
I told her to think about rhyming words that would go with Venus because they would become nicknames, and I didn’t want to call the kitty ‘Penis’ by mistake. Lol.
So she settled on ‘Mars’, God of War and it 100% suited him.
He is such a little fighter. The first few weeks he would steal any thing remotely food-like and try to hide it. Cat food, dog food, bread, muffins you name it. (He would try to eat the bread right through the bread bag!!)
The weirdest thing he stole was a small bag of potting soil. He but a hole in the corner of the bag and dragged it across the house. We had white carpets at the time so that was fun to try to clean up.
But all in all Mars (Marsie is a nickname) fits right in with our little family. He is extremely close to our daughter and he sleeps with her every night.
He has been such a wonderful companion for her especially her going through growing up and the ups and downs of that. I’m so thankful he came into our lives when he did, he certainly is a huge blessing.
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Natasha Wright
November 26, 2022
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The Xi vs Biden meeting stood out a geopolitical mile for its vital importance or at least for its potential to make the world laugh at Biden’s faux pas.
At this point in time we are looking at the G20 Bali Summit behind us waving a half grim goodbye to it remembering the sorrowful sight at its very unofficial beginning. There obviously was both protocol and symbolism galore there. On one hand, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, set foot on Bali with the readily available red carpeted airplane steps to welcome him to the Summit, while on the other hand Bumbling Biden (who seem to have borrowed this adjective from his counterpart Bumbling Boris, who recently resigned from No 10) he descended down the bleak and bare airplane steps, though mercifully he did not trip over and fell.
The G20 Bali Summit 2022 was and still is in its wake ‘a battlefield’ between two global sides in an economical/financial and political war all in one: the Collective West and all the others. G20 countries were and are split in half and not much more than that should have been expected. The old world order doggedly refuses to leave the geopolitical arena whilst the new one is still in its fledgling stage. On one geopolitical front there were/are: the USA and its allies: EU, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea in one word: The Collective West. On the other one there are Russia and all the other members which have not imposed sanctions on Russia: ten of them in total. Let us try and remember the times when G20 was established in 1999. Admittedly, one couldn’t have possibly imagined the shape and form this list is in today. In this other /second group are Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey in alphabetical order of this formally informal alliance in terms of their cultural, historical, geopolitical values to say the least which would be an understatement on my part. This second group of countries tend to be in the long and arduous process of distancing themselves in an ever-growing alienation and saying goodbye to the Collective West because what binds them together within G20 at this point is economy only but there is a gaping hemorrhaging hole in between all of them in terms of their cultures, values and views on a multitude of other issues which keeps them split apart. If one looks at the economic/ financial forecasts and the parity of purchasing power by 2030, China is bound to have a two times bigger economy than the USA. Believe it or not, the USA will be only the third in the world and not one other country from the Collective West will be in the first ten by then.
To get back to the Bali Summit, there were a number of bilateral meetings at the summit but the Xi vs Biden meeting stood out a geopolitical mile for its vital importance or at least for its potential to make the world laugh at Biden’s faux pas.
Admittedly, the USA insisted on the talks with Xi for what it’s worth. It lasted for three hours or so and it was held in the Chinese official residence on Bali. One thing everybody seems to agree about is that it was a good thing that the talks did happen rather than not. A number of reputed political portals confirmed that this meeting came with a long-awaited sigh of relief. It was a positive signal for the rest of the world whatever they may have talked about during the meeting because the two (warring) sides (at least surely USA was and is at ‘war’ with China while China sits peacefully contemplating and operating affairs in their own ‘ways of their world’ not falling prey to US provocations in the form of, for instance, Crazy Nancy’s fleeting visit to Taiwan recently). At least Xi and Biden were able to sit together and talk and still manage their differences and promote cooperation one way or the other, given the circumstances.
Biden surely couldn’t hold his horses so he opted to bash China because of a long list of alleged issues coming from the Washington DC and their ‘whataboutism cookbooks’ such as: alas, you know Hong Kong, Tibet, encroaching upon human rights, only too forceful activities towards Taiwan and then market and economy practices and so on and so forth. I mean that is what the US and the Collective West do and keep doing all the time snapping at others like ‘mad dogs of media disinformation war’. Engrossed in an anti-Russia, anti-China naming and shaming mode, Blundering Biden added that the USA would continue to compete with (against? more like it) China in global markets. China, on the other hand, only made a politely mild comment with their interpretation of the Bali meeting with Biden that it was a good thing that happened. China also added that whenever the USA sets off a series of unilateral provocations against China, their relations sink and sour most terribly. Beijing ‘s officials present in Bali also kindly reminded the USA that they should do away with the illusion that the USA ‘ is always right’. Even the biggest US allies seem to be taking a sharp U – turn giving them a wide political berth now
The countries now ready and willing to merely blindly follow and join the bandwagon USA in ‘restraining China’ are few and far between at this point. Oh well, the USA has had this obnoxiously arrogant tendency ‘to restrain’ other countries which they deem as ‘naughty’. That mindset comes across as extremely immature with brutal consequences upon a huge number of countries globally for decades now. The bad ‘old’ days when Washington DC was able to achieve that sort of thing with ease in their whimsical political cauldrons are long gone. A quick look away from Blundering Biden, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi made sure they reiterate their stances that China and Russia are ready to create and promote a multipolar world.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia’s the next in royal transition to become king, Muhammad bin Salman did not meet with Biden at all but decided to give him a very politically well-deserved cold shoulder (bless ‘im:) but it is worth knowing that as early as next month he will offer a most warm welcome to Xi Jinping. The G20 Summit admittedly did not achieve what America has been craving for in their savage power hungry geopolitical appetites and hoping for desperately, which was the brutally harsh denunciation of Russia. The participants did condemn the war as such, because the ending of the summit had in its protocol a final resolution to wrap things up as per usual since the summit cannot be and should not be without one. The final document produced by the participants was to do with the war in Ukraine and without the undeserved adjective ‘Russian’ superglued to it unduly, which is how the Collective West puppets keep calling it in their childish histrionics.
In the final Declaration, there surely is a strong condemnation of the war as such and not of Russia as a country.
Reuters confirmed that the pressure from the Collective West did prevail for the duration of the whole summit but ultimately the Collective West managed to fall flat on their collective political noses. Arguably, the divide line right in the midst of their protruding political bellies of the G20 ‘being one rather awkward whole’ speaks volumes about the world we are living in.
One should well and truly not forget the brilliant Xi Jinping in his hapless close encounter with Justin Trudeau whom he met in passing in the G20 ‘alleyways’ and having the bravery to reproach the Canadian clown in his nothing but a fatherly way. One has to simply look in Xi’s eyes at that very moment and see his mature and almost fatherly smile and look in his kind eyes in addressing Trudeau about Trudeau leaking out their private conversation to the media and adding contrived and made-up details all along to suit his own political fancy. Trudeau being shameless Trudeau yet again. I myself still shudder with utmost disgust at Trudeau being the fascist Trudeau during the Truckers Protests in Canada this very winter and if one only casts a quick glance and listen to the utter nonsense in Trudeau’s arrogantly smirky response to Xi only to scuttle away an ostrich walk style, though he avoided burying his humiliated head in the sand while at it.
All in all, regrettably the Collective West may well remain the недоговороспоспобнные i.e. ‘incapable of making an agreement for quite a long while, which is what Sergey Lavrov famously called them using that Russian neologism adjective spot on and rightly so. Mercifully, the Collective West have failed miserably in trying to achieve things they were craving for in desperation all along.
Jetson – the Family of the Future
One of the best cartoons as a kid. Those cartoons in the 1970s were classics and hard to beat with the ones airing now. I remember the Saturday morning cartoons were what kids woke up early for…. with only 12 channels on the TV.
https://youtu.be/1oDaHRbIDH8
People Getting Coffee vs. 30 People Enjoying Coffee
Think about it. Pause. Think.
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What are the benefits of going to jail/prison?
One of the benefits…if you do enough time…is that you will not do anything stupid enough again to get yourself sent back to prison.
If you didn’t do much time the first time or two you’ll probably try something else and go back to prison.
I used to see those guys coming in and out, in and out. Again and again.
There are benefits to going to prison for a good jolt. But I guess it really just depends on the person.
I know some people who did just a little time and learned their lesson, and I know some who came back again and again and again and literally didn’t learn their lesson until they got struck out and received a life sentence.
Ukro-nazis preparing another batch of “Russian atrocities™”
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Finian Cunningham
November 23, 2022
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For Western media to harangue China over its zero-Covid policy and to try to blame China for the failure of Western capitalism is beyond farcical. It is degenerate.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping recently reiterated that China would be adhering to its strict public controls against the Covid-19 pandemic, there was discernible disappointment in the Western media that the Asian giant was not conforming to a “let it rip” approach.
China is maintaining a zero-Covid policy with new guidelines on how to ease restrictions in a dynamic way calibrated to local conditions.
Western capitalist governments have all but given up on public efforts to control the Covid-19 pandemic. The attitude of “living with Covid” is motivated by the unspoken priority to restore capitalist business as usual. The result is a continuing widespread infection rate among Western nations, and, with that, a proliferation of immune-resistant strains of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. In Western states, a de facto laissez-faire policy amounts to the authorities seemingly being prepared to see their people not “living with Covid” but rather “dying with Covid”.
By contrast, China has maintained a zero-Covid public health policy using a combination of mass vaccination, society lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing and tracing. The upshot is that China’s death toll from the two-year pandemic is a tiny fraction (less than 0.5 per cent) of the numbers that have perished in the West. This is because China’s socialist government prioritizes protection of public health over commercial and short-term economic gains.
Therefore, it seems particularly grotesque that Western media are now cajoling China to abandon its zero-Covid policy, which they are distorting or are impugning as a “failure”.
This week saw an upsurge in Chinese infections from Covid-19 in the capital Beijing and other cities. There were three reported deaths from the disease. The China figures are still relatively low compared with infection and deaths in Western states. For example, in the United States, it is reported that deaths from Covid-related illnesses are about 1,000 per day, which is down from a high of 4,000 per day last winter.
Still, there is an unseemly tone of glee in Western media reports and comments that China’s zero-Covid strategy is allegedly failing to contain the disease. The Financial Times, the BBC and other media were peppered with accompanying chiding calls on the Chinese government to drop its “Communist controls” and to adopt a “living [dying] with Covid” approach.
Another tack being used to pressure China is to blame its anti-epidemic practices for the slowdown that is dogging Western economies.
A Reuters report this week attributed stock market losses in the United States and continuing problems of consumer price inflation on “worries” over China’s zero-Covid policy.
“All eyes are on China today and their Covid-zero policy. Traders are worried that China could expand their restrictions which could slow down growth and threaten higher inflation,” Reuters quoted John Doyle, vice president of dealing and trading at Monex USA, as saying.
This dubious viewpoint of blaming China for Western economic woes is based on the premise that Beijing’s pandemic control policies are stymying its own economic growth and reducing supply chains to Western nations which are then hit with higher inflation, stock market turmoil, job losses and general business downturn.
It is true that China’s zero-Covid policy has curtailed the country’s roaring economy from earlier years of double-digit growth. Nevertheless, the Chinese government believes the fundamentals of the economy are still sound for future recovery. In the meantime, however, the priority for the authorities is on protecting public health and preventing the sort of deadly epidemic outbreaks of Covid-19 that have occurred in the West.
One can understand that with a population of 1.4 billion – 20 per cent of the globe – and many people living in densely packed mega-cities, the Chinese authorities are right to be concerned about warding off a dangerous pandemic.
It is thus a matter of sovereign authority for China to choose whatever public health policies it deems necessary in order to protect its nation. The arrogance of the West is seen in its presumption to lecture China on how to handle Covid-19 and especially in advocating Beijing to adopt Western policies – policies that have been wanton in exacerbating the pandemic, deaths and illnesses. There is an echo here of the colonial Western arrogance seen during the 19th-century Opium Wars.
It is somewhat obscene that the Western media – as mouthpieces for their governments – are mounting a propaganda campaign to undermine China’s principled efforts to maximize the protection of public health and minimize deaths.
In the United States where over 1 million people have died from Covid-19 over the past two years – compared with China’s 5,200 deaths – the evident converse priority is to maximize private commercial profit by minimizing the protection of public health.
What is even more galling about Western remonstrations to China about abandoning its zero-Covid policy is that the economic failings in the United States and Europe are inherent, and have little to do with China.
The U.S. in particular is exporting its inherent economic problems to the rest of the world by endlessly printing dollars and artificially raising its exchange value against other currencies. This is having massive repercussions of soaring inflation for food and other commodities both globally and in the U.S.
Washington has also stoked huge problems with its unilateral actions of banning semiconductor exports to China and cutting off Russian energy supplies.
The systemic problems battering the U.S. and European economies should be branded “Made in America”. Yet the Western media are trying to blame China and, most recently in a particularly sickening spin, to try to label China’s anti-pandemic policies as somehow a negative practice causing problems for the West.
The callous lack of care shown by Western governments toward their people through the hands-off approach in dealing with the Covid pandemic – a let it rip, dying with Covid policy – is testimony to the vile nature of capitalism and its political administrators. These same sick and psychotic values are at the root of why capitalism is a failing economic system. The Western media play a big part in normalizing the horrendous death and disease that capitalist pathology engenders.
So, for Western media to harangue China over its zero-Covid policy and to try to blame China for the failure of Western capitalism is beyond farcical. It is degenerate.
Very sad
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What was the turning point of your life that changed you completely?
I purchased The Sunday NY Times.
I never read or bought The NY Times before that day. Today I’m an avid reader.
I am a firm believer in faith, Karma, destiny and a higher being. Just not the Church.
It was going on six months since losing my job at a CALDOR department Store (They went out of business). I became miserable and started a downward spiral into depression.
Here’s a pic for those too young to know.
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The job paid $4.35 per hour in 1998. And it was my full time job. I was going to auto tech school at night hoping for a better career one day.
I started drinking heavy. I didn’t care. It was bad enough that I was already poor, on welfare and housing assistance. But when all that misery combined with alcohol, my situation made me feel even more hopeless. And I was ready to let go.
But life turned into a blessing on that fateful Sunday. I got up around 7:00AM to go buy more beer. It used to be illegal to sell beer before 12:00PM on Sundays in NY. But because I’m a regular from the neighborhood, I was allowed to tuck the bottle in my jacket.
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(SOOOO EMBARRASSING!)
I started to walk out after my purchase when I decided to buy a NY Daily News. But it’s too early. No daily news, only The NY Times. So I grabbed one, handed over my $1.50 and walked out.
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I immediately went to the help wanted ads when I got back in my apartment. And there it was. The biggest help wanted add on the page.
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$12 – $18 per hour.
For one day only 9AM-12PM. on that following Monday.
Doors close promptly at 12.
I was twenty-four years old and never came close to earning $5 per hour.
I woke up early that Monday morning. And gave myself two hours to get there for a trip that takes about one hour. I put on my Sunday best, grabbed some résumés and started my trip to the JFK Hilton.
I arrived and found the conference room and it was barren. There were only about fifty people in the conference room. It didn’t feel like a job fair. I almost turned around because I thought I was in the wrong place.
We were called in the order that we signed in. I watched as some people left after the short interview and some sat back down. I was one of the people that was told to sit back down after my interview.
Round two came as fast as round one. This company has this job fair thing down to a science. I’m called back up to the table by Mrs. Alexander. I will never forget her. She hands me a drug test cup and says follow me. A drug test! at a job fair. Probably the best way to weed out the druggies.
After that, I fill out all my employment forms. And then she says. “let’s go over some things while we wait for your results. Because of your experience and interests I have decided to hire you as a motor pool mechanic. This is your rate of pay, you will be on 90 days probation with random drug testing, report to this man at this location this time next Monday. Now read and sign your code of ethics booklet.”
(And with the most beautiful motherly I understand what you have been going through smile) Mrs. Alexander says “Congratulations Gerry and fix your tie.”
I’M HIRED! The whole process took all of 40 minutes. I went from $4.35 per hour. To $16.52 in 40 minutes. I walked out of that Hilton with tears in my eyes.
It only gets better from there. I start work and immediately fall in love with the company, the work hours, the people, and of course the pay. Life got good and was only going to get better.
I get great advice from an older worker. One can go anywhere in this company. Just get your Qualies (Qualifications) for everything, go to class for everything, read and study everything and then get your ass out of the motor pool.
So I did just that. I went from repairing company vehicles at the motor pool, to lineman electrician, and now my present position as a locomotive engineer earning six figures. Six figures with a high school degree and a technical school certificate. And I can honestly say that I do not mind paying taxes at the end of every year.
Being poor and uneducated gave me serious depression. And That Sunday NY Times was destiny.
If the NY Daily News was available that Sunday I wouldn’t have bought The NY Times.
The job fair had few people because poor people won’t pay $1.50 for the Sunday NY Times when the NY Daily News is only $ 0.75.
And NY Times readers don’t usually look at the help wanted ads.
Something was definitely pulling the strings behind the scenes for me. I was going the opposite direction of where I am today.
American Cookie Cutter Suburb: Autocentric, Boring, Dystopian, Void Of Soul, Void Of Culture, Void Of Happiness
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Very Serious Shortages Of Amoxicillin, Augmentin, Tamiflu, Albuterol And Tylenol Have Erupted All Over The United States
Hospitals are filling up all across America, and there are extremely alarming shortages of some of our most important medications. Health authorities are warning that RSV, the flu and COVID are combining to create a “tripledemic”, and there are simply not enough medications to go around. Personally, I am most concerned about RSV. It is spreading like wildfire from coast to coast, and we are being told that very young children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. I wrote an entire article about the RSV outbreak earlier this month, and since that time things have gotten even worse. Our medical system is being absolutely flooded with sick kids, and this has caused very serious shortages of amoxicillin, augmentin, tamiflu and albuterol…
America is facing a shortage of four key medications used for common illnesses in children as virus season comes back in full force.Officials have declared a shortage of first-line antibiotics amoxicillin and Augmentin, which are used to treat bacterial infections. Tamiflu, the most common flu medication in the US, and albuterol, an inhaler for asthma and to open airways in the lungs, are also in short supply, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
But we haven’t even gotten to the heart of flu season yet.
In fact, the beginning of winter is still about a month away.
So what will things look like by the time we get to the middle of January?
At this point, things are already so bad that we are also starting to see a very serious shortage of tylenol…
A children’s Tylenol shortage currently affecting Canada has carried over into the United States, pharmacists in multiple American cities have warned.The drug’s short supply, experts say, stems from a recent spike in pediatric sickness as seasonal bugs come back with a bang after being suppressed during COVID-related lockdowns.
This is nuts.
In all my years, I have never heard of a shortage of tylenol in the United States.
Unfortunately, we now have millions of people with compromised immune systems all over the country, and so RSV and the flu are hitting us extremely hard.
One doctor told CNN that “I’ve never seen anything like this”…
“In my 25 years of being a pediatrician, I’ve never seen anything like this,” pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Stacene Maroushek of Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota told CNN. “I have seen families who just aren’t getting a break. They have one viral illness after another. And now there’s the secondary effect of ear infections and pneumonia that are prompting amoxicillin shortages.”The reason for shortages is due to increased demand, especially with a surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu cases. The combination of RSV, flu and COVID circulating has been called a “tripledemic.”
This is going to be one long winter for our medical system.
As I mentioned earlier, hospital beds are rapidly filling up all over the nation…
These surges have filled children’s hospitals across these states. The Children’s Hospital of Alabama, the state’s largest pediatric hospital located in Birmingham – 91 per cent of beds are filled, according to official figures.Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which includes the largest children’s hospital in Tennessee, is at 98 per cent capacity as of Tuesday.
And as I discussed in my article about RSV earlier this month, there are some hospitals that have already filled up all of their beds.
Of course most children that get sick don’t end up in the hospital.
Most of them just stay home and are cared for by their parents until they recover.
In October, more Americans missed work to take care of sick children than ever before…
More than 100,000 Americans missed work last month – an all time high – because of child-care problems, many of which come down to sick children and sick daytime caregivers.
Sadly, we will almost certainly set another new all-time record this month.
It sure would be nice if the federal government would step in and help to ensure that everyone has enough medications to give to their children during this medical emergency.
But instead of doing that, the Biden administration has decided to give another 4.5 billion dollars to Ukraine…
The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of State, is providing an additional $4.5 billion in direct budgetary support to the Government of Ukraine. The funding, which will help alleviate the acute budget deficit caused by Putin’s brutal war of aggression, was made possible with generous bipartisan support from Congress. The Government of Ukraine will receive the funding in two tranches before the end of 2022.
In addition, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just announced that the Ukrainians will be receiving another 400 million dollars in military aid…
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine on Wednesday.The package will include “additional arms, munitions, and air defense equipment from U.S. Department of Defense inventories,” Blinken said in a statement, which didn’t provide many specifics on the weapons heading to Ukraine. It is the 26th time the administration is using the presidential drawdown authority, which allows the United States to take from its stockpiles and provide those weapons to Ukraine.
Rather than giving so much money to the Ukrainians, why can’t we spend it on some antibiotics for our children?
It seems to me that our priorities are really messed up.
The RSV outbreak that we are witnessing right now is really serious. If you have young children, you will want to closely monitor developments in your local area.
After a couple of really tough years, a lot of people had been hoping that we would experience a “return to normal” in 2022.
This year we have seen the bird flu kill tens of millions of our chickens and turkeys, a global monkeypox epidemic has spread all over the globe, and now RSV and the flu are ripping across the nation.
We really are living in unprecedented times, and the challenges that we are facing are only going to get even greater as the months roll along.
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“SARMAT” Nuclear Missile Goes Into FULL Production
Russia’s “Sarmat” strategic missile has gone into serial production. What do you need to know about the powerful superweapon of the Russian Federation?
First.
This is the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile in the world, surpassing the American ones in all respects.
– 1.5x range.
– by tripling the number of warheads.
– by take-off weight by 6.5 times.
– by the total power of the core charges by 7 times.
– by combat load by 9 times.
Second.
The Sarmat has Avangard hypersonic capsules that are totally IMMUNE to all known missile defenses, while the U.S. Minuteman III has no hypersonic capsules.
Third.
The Sarmat can also deliver a high-precision non-nuclear strike, in which the kinetic energy creates destruction similar to a nuclear explosion, but without radiation.
Fourth.
The Sarmat will be silo and mobile-based, while the U.S. Minuteman III is silo-based only.
Fifth.
The Sarmat is the latest rocket to enter service in 2022, while the U.S. Minuteman III entered service 50 years ago.
The Sarmat is one of six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by Russian president Vladimir Putin on 1 March 2018. The RS-28 Sarmat made its first test flight on 20 April 2022, and the Russian government expects the missile is entering service in 2022. On August 16, 2022, a state contract was signed for the manufacture and supply of the Sarmat strategic missile system.
Egg Muffin sandwich
“Just like McDonalds, but you can control the ingredients. Great for work or breakfast on the go!”
In a microwaveable cup roughly the same diameter of the muffin, add the egg, a tablespoon of water.
Beat the egg, add the bacon (or sandwich meat, or nothing).
Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes (until egg is cooked) while muffin is toasting.
Assemble the muffin and let stand for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
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The Wandering Earth (English dubbed) full 2hr movie
Here’s a real treat. This is probably one of the best science fiction movies to come out in the last five years. But, it’s Chinese, and thus has been outright banned, and blocked and generally given the worst reviews ever…
Too bad. It is awesome.
Good basic science fiction fare. No transgender or woke anything. Good story-line, great subplots, and great special effects. And the woke folk that write reviews HATE it.
It’s on you-tube (much to my surprise), and you all had best check it out before (yet again) the neocon war-mongering cabal puts this movie on it’s “copyright protection” bans.
I suggest you all watch this movie, and have fun. It’s long at 2 hours and is in English. Dubbed, but well done, and it will be a great adventure to enjoy. Watch it if you can spare the time!
https://youtu.be/SFFY0_80M4E
There is also a Chinese version, HERE. If that version above has been banned for “national security” reasons.
The world is changing, and it appears (to me right now) tentatively, that the aggressive elements inside of the United States have backed-off, and are “punting”. This is taking a “step back”, and regrouping. The worst is over. But we are not yet out of the hive of angry swarmed bees.
Meanwhile Americans (and their proxy brothers) are all trapped in a kind of alternative-reality…
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Growing protests? I’m sure they pulled that “one” out of their collective asses. And the crushing defeat of the pro-America DPP is described as “quits as head of the political party”.
It’s so fucked up, it’s difficult not to laugh.
Take care, and enjoy today’s installment.
Cambridge Poll Shocks USA….70% of World Now Supports China
"I am from Syria. The vast majority in Syria and the Levant in general support Russia and China for several reasons, the most important of which is that they deal with you diplomatically and on the basis of mutual benefit. They do not try to impose their orders on you by force like the US. In addition to that, Russia helped us in Syria against the extremist Islamists who were supported by the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia."
I’m from Singapore and I speak for myself in this post. I definitely and absolutely favor China and President Xi over the biased Western Media’s lies about China. Period.
Cute kitty sleep
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Al Di Meola – Song to the Pharao Kings
Al Di Meola is a living national / world treasure and we are lucky to be alive when such a man exists.
We ordered meat…
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Cuban Coffee (Cafecito)
“No Cuban meal is complete without a cafecito, or Cuban coffee. More than just an espresso, a well-made cafecito has sweet crema floating over strong espresso coffee. Despite its name, crema has nothing to do with cream—it’s actually foam made from sugar that’s been thoroughly beaten with a splash of coffee. Many don’t realize that it’s the technique for making the crema—not the type of coffee beans used—that makes the coffee Cuban. But for the full Cuban experience, Castro recommends using Café Bustelo espresso. Chef, nutritionist, and cooking teacher Lourdes Castro shared this recipe for Cuban coffee, or cafecito, as part of a festive Cuban party menu she created for Epicurious.”
Fill a 6-cup stovetop espresso maker with water and coffee according to the manufacturer’s instructions, making sure to pack down the coffee. Place the espresso maker over moderate heat.
While the coffee is brewing, place the sugar in a tall container with a spout, such as a liquid measuring cup. As soon as the coffee starts to fill the reservoir, pour about 1/2 tablespoon of coffee over the sugar and return the espresso maker to the heat.
Using a spoon, beat the sugar and espresso until the mixture turns a pale beige color and most of the sugar granules begin to dissolve, about 1 minute. The mixture may seem a bit dry at first, but keep beating, and it will come together.
Once all the coffee has been brewed, slowly pour the coffee over the creamed sugar, stirring to make sure all the sugar dissolves. A thin layer of sugar foam (crema) should float on top of the coffee. Pour the coffee into espresso cups and serve immediately.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Stovetop espresso makers come in several sizes. This recipe is written for the 6-cup version, yet you can substitute any other size simply by adjusting the amount of coffee and sugar used. Ultimately, the coffee’s sweetness is up to you.
TECHNIQUES:
Making the sugar crema is the technique that defines Cuban coffee. You cannot overbeat the sugar, so err on the side of beating too much. If you accidentally pour too much coffee into the sugar, continue with the beating process, as you will still achieve sugar foam.
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The Greatest Solo of All Time
Watching Oscar play and knowing the notes he’s playing are an intimate expression of his soul, as though he’s transcribing his brainwaves in real time in a form we can hear and feel and understand… it’s pure genius.
The truth…
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Hang on! Now MATH is racist?
She killing me with the math jokes.
My grandma was a Mathematician in the 50's and 60's. She had to run her business with just her initials, as the world was still against women owned businesses, especially math/engineering. (My grandpa was a Civil Engineer)
I would get in trouble in HS, teachers thought I was cheating because I could figure out math problems in my head.. no need for me to write down whole formulas or complex things to illustrate the answer XD.
Back in the 90's I worked for a business forms printing company, and we had to be exact on the sizes that were being cut at the cutter.
The woman who became our Lead in that Dept could NOT read a ruler if her life depended on it, yet she was always at the cutter.
She couldn't figure out the SIMPLE cut for 5 across cuts on forms, and several times we had to reprint forms that she'd cut wrong. And today's world is even worse! smdh
We must defeat this evil…
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Full Kung Fu Fight Scene HD | Kung Fu Hustle
A wonderful and funny Chinese movie!
Oh, yeah. These are “Black Hats”. LOL.
This movie made me realize that, if we are ever to get a good live action dragonball movie, it cant be made by Hollywood.
Here in America if someone cannot afford healthcare, we consider him to be a lazy irresponsible leftist Marxist. Why do subjects of Europe, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand refuse to see that it is their own fault they cannot afford healthcare?
Ah you yanks. You are deliberately ignorant and we love that about you. It fills our conversations with humour.
Youre being robbed.
Seriously.
Firstly do you pay tax? So what exactly is that money for? More supercarriers to bomb school children?
Why not use some of it on health? Almost everyone else does.
But not you guys. No you want to pay twice and youre proud of it. Youre like that porn star that can handle two cocks in her arse at the same time.
You pay or rather your insurance pays (when they have too) or you get notoriously poor healthcare via some “free” system.
And look at what you pay…
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Why is insulin sooo expensive in the states? Oh because the health providers, drugs companies and insurance providers are all in cahoots to make mega money. Wow thats actually three cocks in your arse, four if you count taxes.
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Way more expensive than here in New Zealand but also remember my wife and I paid none of it and we have no health insurance and we got free midwife, post natal and other services. And before you say well more money makes us better, have a look.
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Hey at least you’re better than Slovakia. How’s your bum? Try ice.
Oh we forgot another major driver in your wasteful money go round system; lawyers.
So A has accident and B is injured (or can fake it) and B sues A for costs, damages and anything else they can get their hands on. Wow youre being gang raped.
But you carry on, telling yourself the rest off the world is wrong. That we lie all the time just like when we tell you WW2 started in 1939 or that tire is fatigue or boredom not a tyre or that British burned down the white house.
Seriously, what the world needs now is a laugh and you guys are the best at providing it.
Would you eat this?
I am still debating.
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Santana IV – Black Magic Woman [2016]
I love Carlos Santana’s music and I want that shirt!
Huckleberry ( or Blueberry) Coffee Cake
“Cooking Light published this in their book, Five Star Recipes–The Best of 10 Years, and their staff voted this as one of their top five recipes from the first 10 years. It is very, very good, either for breakfast, brunch, or as dessert, warm out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.”
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Ingredients
1⁄4 cup stick margarine, softened (I used real butter)
Beat margarine and cream cheese at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually 1 cup sugar, beating well. Add egg, and beat well.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into margarine mixture. Stir in vanilla, then fold in berries.
Pour batter into a 9-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray (I also lined bottom with parchment).
Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 350F for 1 hour; cool on a wire rack.
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Nooooo!
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Lets spend some more money on Ukraine:
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Fauci Forced To Answer COVID Questions By Judge
The damage that was done to the population mentally, emotionally financially & psychologically as well as many lost businesses and jobs is something I never thought I would witness in my lifetime. Now add the information coming out I Am Left Speechless.
“A Bar In Ohio Serves Giant Bowls Of Cereal That Are Impossible To Finish”
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About the Election
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It shows the Superiority of the Taiwanese and their worthiness to have a democracy.
My God I am impressed
The Taiwanese Voters can see through Nonsense and identify key issues and understand and express Anger for past misdeeds and past administrative problems by the DPP.
They focused on Covid Messups (Taiwans refusal to use Chinese Test Kits and Equipment for six weeks lost 355 lives), Business related depressions, Anti China Trade measures that cost Taiwan almost $ 12 Billion Dollars primarily to Taipei and US Slavery to move out TSMC.
They didn’t care for the so called “Nancy Pelosi” visit and the so called “Democracy is in danger”
This is REAL DEMOCRACY
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And Tsai resigned.
Not as President of course but as Party Chair but that’s a Major Major Move.
She took responsibility
Taiwanese Voters are worthier than the US Voters in my opinion and a 100,000 times better off than the Indian Voter…
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Where Votes can literally be purchased by Free Tellies Or Liquor or even hard cash.
However this Upset for the DPP really has nothing to do with China.
China doesn’t figure here.
Yesterdays verdict in the famous TWG Polls of 7842 people were :-
15% favor Unification
13% favor Independence
63% favor Status Quo
9% are not sure
Both DPP and KMT don’t officially make Independence as part of their Policies.
Both are officially Status Quo parties with KMT being more Independent and DPP being more US Proxy Lackey.
A Two Government One Nation Model would work superbly for Taiwan-China.
Taiwan with its democracy would be an asset to China and China with its scale and gigantic power would be an asset to Taiwan.
Who needs the meddling US in the middle?
A note from Frans <redacted>…
Always good intel.
The candidates of the National Party (Kuomintang 国民党) dominate the results of regional elections in Taiwan, which may predetermine the victory of pro-Chinese forces in the presidential elections in 2024.
Blue – the Chinese National Party (Kuomintang)
Green – Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Light Blue – Folk
Gray – non-partisans.
taiwan pontntial for pro chinese election sweep
Those in green, the DPP, are the ones currently in power.
Totino’s Birthday Pizza Cake (8 Layers)
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Pork Chop Marinade: How to Marinate Pork Chops
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Nov 12, 2022 • 3 min read
This simple, delicious pork chop marinade transforms meat into a complex, flavorful centerpiece.
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What Are Pork Chops?
A pork chop is a cut of pork from the pig’s loin, which runs from the shoulder down to the animal’s hips. There are four general categories of pork chop found along this path: the shoulder, or “blade” chops, rib chops, loin chops, and tenderloin chops. You can find some pork chops, like rib chops, bone-in at the grocery store, but boneless pork chops are the most popular common variety for sale.
3 Tips for Marinating Pork Chops
The best pork chops begin to develop flavors long before they see any heat—while marinating in the fridge. Use either bone-in or boneless pork chops, and consider these tips:
1.Find the best ratio. The best pork chop marinades combine roughly three parts oil to one part acid, plus a variety of complementary seasonings, like raw garlic, salt, sugar, chili sauces, or spices. Popular pork chop marinade ingredients include brown sugar, mustard, and balsamic vinegar. For inspiration, work within themes: think bright and herbaceous, funky, and spicy, or dark, complex, and caramelized.
2.Marinate in the refrigerator. To prevent unsafe bacterial growth, always marinate raw meat in the refrigerator, and discard any leftover marinade.
3.Marinate for at least two hours. Unlike more delicate proteins like fish and shrimp, pork chops can handle a longer marinating time without adversely affecting their texture. Just thirty minutes will add flavor, but for best results, marinate pork chops for at least two hours or up to overnight.
5 Ways to Cook Marinated Pork Chops
Cooking time for pork chops varies depending on the thickness of the meat and the cooking method. No matter which technique you choose, cook pork chops to 145 degrees Fahrenheit. To cook pork precisely, invest in a digital instant-read meat thermometer.
1.In an air fryer: To cook marinated pork chops in an air fryer, allow excess marinade to drip off, then place the chops in a lightly greased fryer basket. Air-fry for twenty minutes at 380 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping halfway through.
2.In a countertop cooker: To cook marinated pork chops in a pressure cooker, place the pork chops on trivets and use a combination of the sauté and manual high-pressure function to get a crispy exterior and tender texture. To combine the marinating and cooking steps, place the pork chops and a marinade of your choice in a slow cooker and cook for six to eight hours.
3.In the oven: For an easy weeknight dinner, roast marinated pork chops in a 400-degree oven for twenty minutes. Before adding the pork chops to the marinade, reserve a little for brushing on the chops during cooking. (Keeping the marinades separate prevents cross-contamination.)
4.On a grill: Grilling marinated pork chops may be one of the most popular ways to achieve crispy, charred edges and a tender, juicy texture. A bottle of teriyaki or BBQ sauce alone can serve as a compelling marinade: When exposed to the high heat of a grill, the sugars caramelize and create a flavorful crust on the outer edges of the meat. Grill pork chops in a grill pan, or place directly on the well-oiled grates of a gas or charcoal grill.
5.On the stovetop: Sear pork chops in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat to develop a golden-brown crust, three to five minutes per side.
Simple Pork Chop Marinade Recipe
Ingredients
Note: Total time does not include 2 hours of inactive time.
1
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk to incorporate.
2
Transfer the marinade to a food-safe resealable plastic bag or a shallow baking dish along with the pork chops. If using a bag, seal and use your hands to massage the marinade into the meat. If using a baking dish, use tongs to turn the meat until evenly coated.
3
Store in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Jimmy Dore Bitchslaps Bill Maher: “There is no democracy in America, Bill!”
While rich establishmentarians like Bill Maher try to pretend there is a real democracy in the US, or that the Dems are its champions, Jimmy strongly disagrees. (And he’s damn right, of course.)
https://youtu.be/7r6rG36z0Eo
How to do it RIGHT…
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Putin’s Sledgehammer
“The Ukrainians are in bad shape… It won’t be long before the Ukrainians run out of food. It won’t be long before they freeze… They have done all that we can reasonably expect them to do. It’s time to negotiate…. before the offensive begins, because once it begins, there will be no further discussion between Moscow and Kiev until it is over to the satisfaction of the Russians.”Colonel Douglas MacGregor, “War in Ukraine; Quiet Before the Storm”, 15 minute-mark
“Strictly speaking, we haven’t started anything yet.” Russian President Vladimir Putin
The relentless attacks on Ukraine’s electrical grid, fuel-storage units, railway hubs, and Command-and-Control centers mark the beginning of a second and more lethal phase of the war. The increased tempo of the high-precision, long-range missile attacks suggests that Moscow is laying the groundwork for a major winter offensive that will be launched as soon as Russia’s 300,000 reservists join their formations in east Ukraine. Kiev’s refusal to negotiate a settlement that addresses Russia’s core security concerns, has left Russian president Vladimir Putin with no other option but to defeat Ukrainian forces on the battlefield and impose a settlement through force-of-arms.The impending winter offensive is designed to deliver the knock-out punch Russia needs to achieve its strategic objectives and bring the war to swift end. This is from Reuters:
Russian missile strikes have crippled almost half of Ukraine’s energy system, the government said on Friday, and authorities in the capital Kyiv warned that the city could face a “complete shutdown” of the power grid as winter sets in. With temperatures falling and Kyiv seeing its first snow, officials were working to restore power nationwide after some of the heaviest bombardment of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in nine months of war.
The United Nations says Ukraine’s electricity and water shortages threaten a humanitarian disaster this winter.
“Unfortunately Russia continues to carry out missile strikes on Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure. Almost half of our energy system is disabled,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said….
Until recently, Russia had avoided targets that would dramatically impact civilian activities, but now military leaders have returned to a more conventional approach. Presently, the military is destroying whatever facilities, transformers, storage units, substations, rail yards and energy depots that allow Ukraine to continue to wage war. Clearly –as the bigger and more powerful state — it was always within Russia’s ability to take a sledgehammer to Ukraine and break it into a million pieces, but Putin chose to hold back hoping that Kiev would come to its senses and see the hopelessness of its cause. And –despite the deluge of western propaganda to the contrary– the outcome of this war has never been in doubt. Russia is going to impose a settlement on Kiev and that settlement will require the government to cut all ties with NATO and to sign a treaty declaring its neutrality into perpetuity. Russia is not going to allow a hostile military alliance to place its missile sites and combat troops on its western flank. That won’t happen. Unfortunately, Russia’s military operation is going to greatly increase the suffering of the Ukrainian people who find themselves locked in a cage-match between the Washington and Moscow. This is from the World Socialist Web Site:
Poverty in Ukraine has increased more than tenfold since the outbreak of the US/NATO-Russia war, according to the latest data from the World Bank (WB). Officially, 25 percent of the country’s population is now poor, up from supposedly just 2 percent before February 2022… With officials predicting that the poverty rate could rise to as much as 60 percent or more next year, levels of deprivation are emerging in Ukraine that have not been witnessed on the European continent since the end of World War II.
Unemployment is now running at 35 percent, and salaries have fallen by as much as 50 percent over the spring and summer for some categories of workers. … according to the International Monetary Fund, Ukraine’s public debt has now soared to 85 percent of GDP…. A recently released joint study by the World Health Organization and Ukraine’s Ministry of Health found that 22 percent of people in Ukraine cannot access essential medicines. For the country’s 6.9 million internally displaced, that number rises to 33 percent.
…The medications that are hardest to get—those that treat blood pressure, heart problems and pain, as well as sedatives and antibiotics—reveal a population struggling to cope with decades of poverty-induced ill health and the physical and psychological trauma of war.While US and NATO officials are able to dispatch massive amounts of firepower to Ukraine’s front lines within a matter of weeks, the delivery of life-saving humanitarian goods is seemingly an impossible logistical challenge.”(“Poverty skyrockets in Ukraine”, World Socialist Web Site)
Washington’s proxy-war on Moscow has inflicted incalculable suffering on the people of Ukraine who now face plunging temperatures, dwindling food supplies, a crashing economy and a growing shortage of essential medications. And despite the chest-thumping bravado over the recapturing of Kherson, the Ukrainian people will now be forced to flee their battered homeland by the millions seeking refuge in Europe which has already slipped into a post-industrial slump brought on by Uncle Sam’s reckless provocations. How many of these working-class Ukrainians would have preferred that their leaders reach an accommodation with Putin (regarding his legitimate security concerns) rather than engaging the Russian army in a pointless war which has cost them their homes, their jobs, their cities, and (for many) their lives? And do the people outside the country who claim to “Stand With Ukraine” realize that they are actually supporting the impoverishment and immiseration of millions of civilians that are caught in a geopolitical crossfire between Washington and Russia? Anyone who genuinely cares about Ukraine should support Ukrainian neutrality and an end to NATO expansion. That is the only way this war is going to end. Russian security will be achieved by-way of a treaty or an iron-fist. The choice is Ukraine’s. This is from an article titled ‘Russia Is Right: The U.S. Is Waging a Proxy War in Ukraine‘:
“The war in Ukraine isn’t just a conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently declared. It is a “proxy war” in which the world’s most powerful military alliance … is using Ukraine as a battering ram against the Russian state … Lavrov is … not wrong. Russia is the target of one of the most ruthlessly effectively proxy wars in modern history.”
The US foreign policy establishment does not care about Ukraine or the Ukrainian people. The country is merely a launching pad for Washington’s war on Russia. That is why the CIA toppled the democratically-elected government in Kiev in 2014 and that is why the CIA armed and trained Ukrainian paramilitaries to fight the Russian military in 2015 (7 years before the invasion!) Here’s some background from a 2015 article at Yahoo News:
“The CIA is overseeing a secret intensive training program in the U.S. for elite Ukrainian special operations forces and other intelligence personnel, according to five former intelligence and national security officials familiar with the initiative. The program, which started in 2015, is based at an undisclosed facility in the Southern U.S., according to some of those officials….
“The United States is training an insurgency,” said a former CIA official, adding that the program has taught the Ukrainians how “to kill Russians.”
…the CIA and other U.S. agencies could support a Ukrainian insurgency, should Russia launch a large-scale incursion.
…“We’ve been training these guys now for eight years. They’re really good fighters. …representatives from both countries also believe that Russia won’t be able to hold on to new territory indefinitely because of stiff resistance from Ukrainian insurgents, according to former officials.
If the Russians launch a new invasion, “there’s going to be people who make their life miserable,” said the former senior intelligence official… “All that stuff that happened to us in Afghanistan,” said the former senior intelligence official, “they can expect to see that in spades with these guys.” (“CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries may take central role if Russia invades”, Yahoo News)
There it is in black and white. The plan to use Ukraine as a staging-ground for conducting a proxy-war on Russia preceded the invasion by at least 7 years. The Obama administration and their neocon allies set a trap for Russia in order to drag them into an Afghanistan-like quagmire that would deplete their resources and kill as many Russian servicemen as possible. As Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently admitted, the US wants to “weaken” Russia so it is unable to project power beyond its borders. Washington seeks unhindered access to Central Asia so it can encircle China with military bases and nuclear missiles. The US intends to control China’s growth while dominating the world’s most populous and prosperous region of the next century, Asia. But first, Washington must crush Russia, collapse its economy, isolate it from the global community, demonize it in its media, and topple its leaders. Ukraine is seen as the first phase in a much broader strategy aimed at regime change (in Moscow) followed by the forced fragmentation of the Russian state. The ultimate objective is the preservation of Washington’s preeminent role in the global order. Putin’s winter offensive threatens to derail Washington’s plan to drag the conflict out for as long as possible. In the weeks and months ahead, Russia is going to intensify its assault on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Most of the country will be plunged into darkness, fuel supplies will dry up, food and water will become scarcer, communications will be cut off, and all rail-traffic will cease. Millions of civilians will flee to Europe while the entire country slowly grinds to a standstill. At the same time that Russian battalions overtake cities and towns east of the Dnieper, the Russian army will block vital supply-lines from Poland cutting off the flow of lethal weaponry and combat troops headed to the front. This, in turn, will lead to widespread capitulation among Ukrainian fighting units operating in the field which will force Zelensky to the negotiating table. Eventually, Russia will prevail and its legitimate security demands will be met. Here’s how Colonel Douglas MacGregor summed it up in a recent interview:
“What’s coming in the future is a very massive offensive... the kind of offensive that I and many other military analysts expected at the beginning; Very decisive operations, multiple operational axes designed to effectively annihilate the enemy on the ground. And that’s what’s coming now, that’s what lies in the future.” (Colonel Douglas MacGregor, “War in Ukraine; Quiet Before the Storm”, you tube)
When the ground freezes, Russia’s offensive will begin.
I’d try it.
these dishes are way too pretentious 640 high 32
Are the Chinese mad at Japan for what they did in WW2?
The Japanese murdered at least 50million Chinese. They raped hundreds of thousands of Chinese women and made them comfort women. They ransacked plundered and looted Chinese wealth everywhere.
And the not only not apologise properly, they revised their text books to paint a positive of what Japan did to China. Meanwhile the Japanese leaders pays homage to these murderers.
What happened to the looted wealth. They shared with their body guard the USA. And agreed in return to continue to talk and do shit to China. And even agreed to host a hundred military base to attack China if war breaks up.
Are you surprised China is mad? If you are a sane person you would be mad.
Deep Purple – Highway Star (Perihelion)
I forgot how great deep purple was there were so many great bands in the 70s. That decade was the greatest bands and greatest music ever.
I tend to disagree…
these dishes are way too pretentious 640 high 33
CrossTalk NATO vs The World (RT)
You all know words matter.
This recent RT Crosstalk episode was the occasion for the expression "Global Majority" to manifest.
Global Majority sounds really swag compared to Global South and will have a thundering political effect.
Not G7 neither G20 nor G45...
Simply the Global Majority aka GMaj.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eibOxmhbknk
This is not a Cobb salad…
“A Cobb Salad, Apparently. We Asked Why It Looked Like This And The Server Looked At Us Like We Had 2 Heads Before Saying, “What, Have You Never Eaten Here Before?””
these dishes are way too pretentious 640 34
A real Cobb Salad
This is the most amazing cobb salad and it is so easy to make! It’s loaded with egg, bacon, chicken, roasted corn, ripe tomatoes, cheese, and avocado.
Amazing Cobb Salad 1 680×1020 1
Cobb salad has always been a favorite of mine. It’s incredibly flavorful, filling and really easy to customize. You can grab all of those odds and ends you have in your fridge and combine them into one delicious meal.
When making a cobb salad I generally stick to the same ingredients: avocado, cheese, tomato, chicken, corn, bacon, and egg. However, I’m always playing around with the method in which I prep them.
"Sometimes my husband fries the egg if we’re in a hurry, or I grab leftover rotisserie chicken and shredded cheese. Again, it’s just a matter what we have on hand and how much time we have to prepare it. And if I’m being completely honest, it rarely looks as pretty as it does in these pictures. "
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I recently started sprinkling sliced green onion over ALL my salads and I have to say, it has always been a good choice. It adds that tangy and crunch without being super noticeable. ?
This is also a great meal for picky eaters because they can choose which “toppings” they want on their individual portions. For example, neither of my kids enjoy cherry tomatoes but they’ll eat everything else. I don’t have to make a separate meal for them.
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So grab a bottle of quality ranch dressing (or whip up a homemade version) and make this amazing cobb salad ASAP.
Ingredients
5oz.baby romaine or 6 cups chopped romaine hearts
1avocado – sliced
1/2c.cubed or grated cheddar cheese
1c.cherry tomatoes – cut in half
1large chicken breast – seasoned, fully cooked, and cubed
1c.sautéed or broiled corn
4slicebacon – chopped
2boiled eggs – chopped
2green onions – sliced
Instructions
Wash greens and dry. place on a large serving platter or in a large serving bowl.
Layer toppings, then sprinkle with green onions.
Serve with a quality ranch dressing.
Why do countries outside of the US always have the most to say about America?
Shouldn’t they worry about their own country?
It’s really nothing difficult to understand:
The US has been poking its nose into every corner on this planet Earth, and even into the outer space.
And, according to Newton’s Third Law, simply put, where there is an action, there is a reaction.
The harder the US pushes the other side, the harsher reactions it would get from the other side.
For example, in China, my mother country, we do want to just focus on our own country, do our own business, develop our own economy, and improve our own people’s livelihoods.
But, can we?
The US, knows well it can’t stop China just by itself, so actually, it’s coaxing all its allies to join in its campaign against China, so unfortunately, China has to focus on its own business first, and then, needs to spare time and efforts on reacting to the US, to its Western allies, to its other allies in Asia-Pacific, etc.
So, please, cut all those noses the US is poking into other countries, and ask it to worry about its own downturning economy and declining country, then no problem for us, all the other countries, to leave the US alone.
Deal?
A Chicken Sandwich served in the United States.
Not typical. A little on the generous side.
these dishes are way too pretentious 640 high 37
Russia’s enemies sh*t their pants. Russia tested its Satan-2 nuclear hypersonic missile, 16,000 mph.
Is that right, 16,000 mph? Holy smokes. I hope the warning shot is on DC.
“Well done Russia, such weapons are needed as a deterrent against some rather unstable countries, mine included. 🇬🇧”
What the Hell?
“Bloody Hell What In God‘S Name Is This Abomination”
these dishes are way too pretentious 640 high 47
Everyone is now moaning about Qatar and the way they treat westerners, but why wasn’t this considered four years ago when they chose Qatar for the world cup?
Qatar just signed a 27 year LNG deal with China.
Qatar seals 27-year LNG deal with China as competition heats up. QatarEnergy has signed a 27-year deal to supply China’s Sinopec with liquefied natural gas in the longest such LNG agreement to date as volatility drives buyers to seek long-term supplies.
The US in particular is pissed and so now their anti Qatar propaganda mill is working overtime. Look forward to it getting worse. I have no doubt that this’ll be backed up with NED funding of dissidents in Qatar and demonstrations leading to riots. People will die. It’s the “American way”.
Quite possibly in the end the US will either fund a colour revolution or invade Qatar directly.
Four years ago Qatar hadn’t signed a huge LNG deal and so the US didn’t really care one way or the other how many people were being oppressed / dying.
If the US cares, we all care that’s what it means to be a hegemon.
How to Make a Whiskey Sour: Classic Whiskey Sour Recipe
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Nov 21, 2022 • 1 min read
The Whiskey Sour is a structured and refreshing cocktail that can be drunk from the afternoon until late in the night.
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What Is the Whiskey Sour?
The Whiskey Sour is made with two parts rye whiskey or bourbon, to one part each of lemon juice and simple syrup. Classic sours typically call for two parts of a spirit, along with one-to three-quarter parts each of sweetener and acid. Some sour cocktails feature an egg white for a bit of froth and volume, which is optional for the Whiskey Sour. The acidic citrus in this classic cocktail brings levity to the spice and smoke of barrel-aged whiskey. The Whiskey Sour is shaken and served over ice in a rocks glass.
Ingredients
1
Combine the whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice cubes. Shake well for 30 seconds.
2
Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with the orange slice and maraschino cherry.
Is China poor in the countryside and villages? Are the rice peasants poor?
Everything is relative.
main qimg 11d5303635512df02123b1e98507796c lq
This, on the other hand, seems like a winner.
these dishes are way too pretentious 640 49
A cute little kitty
As an American prison inmate, what was the stupidest or most ridiculous thing that you saw someone doing time for?
Anyone there for having trouble paying the absurd amounts of “court costs and fines “. My best friend spent maybe 1 year free in 3 years because probation gave an absurd $3000 for forging a check for $70. His probation wanted him to work, yet he had to call the PO office every day and if his “color” was the “color of the day” had to be there to take a drug test by 4 PM, or violate. But it was a 45 min drive in a car from his place to the office and he didn’t drive. No public transportation either. It’s made to keep you a hamster on the wheel.
NPR did an story on it:
“Some judges will tell people to get the money from family members or to use Temporary Aid to Needy Family checks, Social Security disability income, veterans’ benefits or other welfare checks to pay their court fees first — or else face going to jail.
Papa admits he was wrong that day last August in Grand Rapids, Mich., when he and some friends spent the day drinking, and then climbed to the roof of an abandoned building. They were arrested, and Papa was later sentenced to 22 days in jail — not for what he did that day, but because he couldn’t pay his fines.
Papa was a homeless veteran of the Iraq War, who was living on friends’ couches.
When he appeared in court the month after his arrest, the judge expected him to pay an installment on the $2,600 he owed in restitution, fines and court fees. The judge wanted $50, but Papa had only brought $25 to court that day.
Papa says he tried to raise the money by doing chores. He was able to build a shed for a friend’s grandparents. But the judge in Grand Rapids District Court said he could have tried harder, and made money by collecting cans or cutting grass.
Before Papa walked into court that morning, things were starting to get better for him. Just the week before, he had found a good-paying job making $12 an hour at a small steel factory.
“I tried telling the judge, throwing me in jail is going to do you no good,” Papa told NPR from the Kent County Jail. “You’re not going to get your fines like you want. And I’m going to lose my job, and you’re really not going to get your fines if I don’t have a job. … It just baffled me.”
But that’s what happened. Papa lost his new job. He went to jail for three weeks, and when he came out someone else had filled it. Today he’s working as a security guard — but gets paid $4 an hour less than he was making at the steel plant.
The Fish That Landed Kyle Dewitt In Jail
Dewitt, also from Michigan, went to jail after he failed to pay his fines from catching a fish out of season.
Dewitt’s problems began when, on a Michigan river in 2011, he thought he had caught a rock bass. But a Department of Natural Resources agent said it was a smallmouth bass, which was out of season.
At the time, Dewitt was 19 and the father of a baby boy. He had dropped out of school and lost his job bagging groceries. He says he tried to find the money to pay what he owed the court by knocking on neighbors’ doors, offering to mow lawns or do chores. But he couldn’t come up with the $155 he owed.
When he didn’t pay, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He says there was confusion. Court officials said paperwork was mailed to Dewitt with instructions for paying off the fine in installments. But Dewitt — who as a teen moved from his grandparents’ house to his mother’s, to friends’ houses — said he never received the letter.
He was taken to jail for nonpayment. A family member was able to pay the bail bondsman. And because that payment was for $175 — more than his original ticket — Dewitt thought the ticket was paid. So when he was summoned to court a few days later, the audio tape of his appearance before District Court Judge Raymond Voet makes it clear Dewitt was confident that the issue was behind him.
But as court officials explained that day, the $175 was simply the fee for the bail bondsman. None of it applied to his original fine, which had grown to more than $200. Dewitt had come with no money, but Voet demanded payment that day.
The judge then sentenced Dewitt to three days in jail.
Kyle Dewitt was sentenced to three days in jail after he was unable to pay fees associated with catching a fish out of season.
Voet says the court system can’t work effectively if defendants are casual about things like paying court fees. There has to be respect for the law, he says, even on a minor violation.
“If I’ve got someone standing in front of me for something that’s labeled a misdemeanor and they’ve failed to follow through with court orders on that,” Voet says, “am I supposed to tell the rest of the world, the rest of the law-abiding citizens, that they’re chumps and fools for having respected the law and respected the court’s orders?”
Still others say the rules on fees are unfair because the costs mostly hurt the poor.
“Every day poor people go to jail because they’re poor,” says Aukerman, who took up Dewitt’s case. “Debtors prisons are alive and well in Michigan and across the country. People go to jail because they’re poor. And that’s a two-tiered and unequal system of justice.”
Monte Cristo Sandwich
“A great brunch item! One of my husbands favorite filling, baked, french toast style, sandwiches filled with cheese, ham, turkey & mustard. Raspberry preserves is a must for him. Could be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This is a LESSER FAT Monte Cristo recipe being baked and not fried full of flavor! I also like to buy the low salt cold cuts or use fresh baked turkey leftovers sliced thin.”
I am dealing with a number of things at this time. Content is hit and miss. I am amazed that I am still putting things up, but I will need to spread things out, and devote more time to some disclosure stuff in the future.
That takes time.
Check this out… it illustrates the disconnect from reality that most Americans have. This will get WORSE over time from what it is now.
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But that is just an indicator…
As I have said before, we are (for the most part) over the hump. The worst is behind us. No, world war 3 did not happen. It still might, mond you, but that reality is fading fast.
UNLESS a major fuck-up occurs inside the United States, and that disrupts the entire globe… that is.
Expect two things, in the future. These are now given and a solid feature of the future of what we can expect….
[1] Slow reconstruction towards a new reality
The entire globe is moving to a new global alignment.
The uni-polar movement led by the USA has ended, did not recover, and is now over.
A multi-polar world now exists, and nation members have already chosen sides. Slight changes to the mix in the future, but for the most part this is fixed and completed.
The USA-led propaganda effort is still in full-swing and well funded. It has little effect on the rest of the world, but is really fucking up the American domestic audience. They are stressed, and starting to “eat each other alive”. Not everywhere mind you. Not yet.
The earth seems to be splitting into a East and a West block, but that is an illusion. The West block still maintains ties with the East, and to sever them would be dangerous and catastrophic for the West.
Thus, the new reality is a global multi-polar world, with the West getting an increasingly smaller, and smaller share of activity, clout, power and resources. While the East continues to grow and prosper.
This is MM official.
[2] A complete collapse of the United States, and an emergence of a replacement government.
The above is not acceptable to the United States ruling oligarchy.
They will continue to do everything in their power to interrupt an already unstoppable process.
This, coupled with the many bubbles of potential catastrophic decline points to a serious domestic (not international) inflection point.
The American leadership still have the option to change the vector from domestic to international, but the result would be terminal for the USA at this stage.
Thus, catastrophic collapse and rebirth is in the future for the United States and Americans. The degree of decline and discomfort is variable, but is unlikely to be mitigated by the current (and projected) leadership.
This is MM official.
That Thing You Do! (1/5) Movie CLIP – The “Oneders” Go Up-Tempo (1996) HD
This is easily one of the most underrated movies of all time.
Incidentally, it takes place in Erie, Pennsylvania. I used to live there. It’s one of MM’s boy-hood homes.
Ma Xue on Biden’s approach to restructuring US supply chains:
“Since taking office, Biden has deliberately downplayed the 'decoupling approach' and has instead emphasised 'supply chain resilience' … This is a reflection of a prudent ‘middle way’ approach which incorporates the views of the two camps mentioned above.
The ‘middle way’ holds that the US-China relationship is both ‘zero-sum’ and ‘non-zero-sum’ in nature, and that the US must decouple its supply chain from China in a more precise and targeted manner based on a realistic and long-term perspective.
This camp differs from both the ‘restrictionist’ camp of China hawks and human-rights defenders (who are politically in a minority) and the ‘cooperationist’ camp of business-interest groups and global-tech activists (who are not at the centre of the political arena).
It [i.e. the ‘middle way’ camp] is mainly represented by political 'moderates', state and local leaders as well as analysts from mainstream think tanks. They are the actual gatekeepers of US-China relations.”“[Furthermore,] a complete reshoring of supply chains would be costly and would need to be accompanied by strong fiscal policies and protectionist measures. Against a backdrop of high levels of debt, the US clearly lacks appropriate financial instruments [to do so]. A hard decoupling would [also] inevitably increase the costs for businesses and consumers.”
Weaknesses of the US’s strategy according to Ma Xue:
“Current US policy is more flexible, distancing itself from the limitless confrontation and hard decoupling of the Trump era in favour of balancing its economic strategy with its national security [objectives]. Even so, US policy faces a number of constraints that limit the scope, degree and sustainability of its implementation.”
1
“First, when reducing its supply chain dependence on China, it will be difficult for it to balance resilience with efficiency.
Market equilibrium requires both supply and demand forces. When the demand forces are declining, it would be futile for the US government to invest more in the supply side. [Doing so] would not be able to support the formation of a so-called ‘reliable’ supply network.
As the potential for US growth decreases, the US economy will become smaller and less dynamic than it should be.
It will [therefore] become increasingly difficult for the US to drive the restructuring of its supply chains on the basis of its domestic demand alone.”“Faced with a sluggish world economy, private companies will find it more difficult to make a profit and will tend to place greater emphasis on short-term solutions that can improve efficiency and productivity, opting for cost-saving measures.
This will make US policies to restructure supply chains less effective than expected. China is no longer just a manufacturing base, but a final consumer market for all types of goods.
If foreign companies move their supply chains out of China, the cost of re-exporting their goods to China will rise sharply.”
2
“Second, US tech controls on China face an information and control conundrum [面临信息和控制困境]. In seeking to control the long-term development of technology, the US faces this double conundrum.
The first is the information conundrum, where the impact of a technology on society cannot be anticipated early on in its life; the other is the control conundrum, where by the time it is discovered that the impact is not as beneficial as hoped, the technology has become so integrated into the economy and society as a whole that it makes it extremely difficult to control.”“In February 2022, the Biden administration updated this list [of critical and emerging technologies]. These technologies were not much different from [those selected] under Trump. [Moreover,] the selection criteria and the objectives of these decisions remain unclear.”“Historically, the US government has worked hard to predict future innovation hotspots and to define the manageable contours of these indeterminate technological fields. In the 1990s, economic competition coming from Japan prompted the US government to draw up lists of so-called critical technologies. Influenced by different interest groups, the US government's definition of the term 'critical' lacked scientific rigour, resulting in lists that were too broad to be of use in policymaking. In hindsight, many of the items designated as ‘critical’ were not, and some of the technologies excluded from the list ended up having a huge economic impact.”“At the same time, the US's incremental adjustments allow resources to continue to be channelled into China through ‘third countries’, ‘detours’ [绕道] or even ‘transfers’ [转移], thereby allowing China to make adjustments and repairs to its supply chains and thus depriving the US of its deterrent leverage.”“The US does not have a complete monopoly on cutting-edge research. Furthermore, most technologies are already embedded in high-tech products.
As a result, many advanced technologies are not exclusive or indispensable. This means that unilateral US controls are often ineffective and the paths for technology transfers to China are difficult to block.
This can also lead to self-inflicted competitive disadvantages and friction with international partners.
At the same time, US controls on cutting-edge technologies will accelerate the development of alternative supplies to China. This means that the US has severed its superior strategic leverage, leaving the ‘relatively weaker side’ unconcerned.
Further, political controls placed on strategic industries will undermine the US’s future technological competitiveness.
US export controls, entity lists and other similar restrictions have reduced the sales of US companies to China and [thus] reduced the revenues that can then be reinvested in R&D.
Visa bans and supply chain security requirements have restricted the US’s access to Chinese talent and spare parts. This has imposed higher costs on innovators in the US. Inbound investment restrictions have [also] limited opportunities for US companies to raise capital from and collaborate with Chinese entities.”
3
“Third, it is difficult for the US to implement policies to strengthen its competitiveness at home …
For example, a series of industrial policies [recently] introduced in the US have focused on providing funding for new semiconductor plants. [But] by the time the plant is completed in three years’ time, market demand for semiconductors may have already decreased significantly …
Similar policies were implemented in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s.
Subsidies were offered to encourage hi-tech industries to move to certain areas.
However, it was mostly low-tech companies that ended up being drawn in.
This was because even in the presence of subsidies, innovating companies were reluctant to leave industrial clusters where technology and knowledge were concentrated.”“On the other hand, US investment in domestic infrastructure is prone to being captured by commercial interests.
US interest groups [are known to] lobby fiercely for the allocation and channelling of public resources, which [often] leads to changes in the criteria used by government when making such decisions.
Ultimately projects that are beneficial to legislators for political reasons will take precedence over those that maximise consumer welfare.”
4
“Fourth, the effectiveness of US policy is hampered by its allies.
In order to restrict China's space for development, the US must unite its allies and coordinate the layout of its supply chains.
However, these moves have reduced the strategic autonomy of allies such as the EU and Japan …
The US will probably not consider the interests of its allies carefully, but these allies will nevertheless have to shoulder the unpredictable risks and costs associated with Sino-US competition.”“Some Japanese politicians believe that they should not be forced to choose sides in their already cramped position between China and the United States, but rather should develop a strategy that is not caught up in the antagonism between the two. The Japanese government is therefore focusing on a completely new field of semiconductors, which China and the United States have not yet explored and which will prove essential for future innovation …
The truth is that most of the US current allies are nowhere near ready to reduce their economic interdependence with China.
Moreover, given that the formulation of US foreign economic policy is heavily influenced by its domestic politics and is [therefore] characterised by considerable uncertainty, it is very difficult for the US to make credible commitments to its allies.”
Ma Xue analyses the US strategy’s current and future impact on China:
“By using the three-pronged approach of constraining China, strengthening itself and uniting its allies, the US is squeezing both the supply and demand sides of China's supply chain.”“In terms of their impact on China, US policies exert obvious external pressure on China and also affect China's policy choices.
US moves relating to its containment of China and to its uniting with its allies will raise the cost of manufacturing in China and encourage part of the middle- and low-end manufacturing industries to give up relocating to the central and western parts of China, [preferring] to move out to Southeast Asian countries where labour costs are lower.
This will disrupt China's domestic economy and labour market and exacerbate the adverse impact on the country of China’s ageing population and general shrinkage of its workforce.”“Although US policies have already created negative conditions for China, China's own flexibility and competitiveness should not be overlooked.
At the industrial level, China's huge advantage in terms of market size and its solid manufacturing base make it impossible for countries not to consider their geographical proximity with China when [re]structuring their supply chains.
This means that US obstruction is unlikely to undermine China's central position within the Asian economic bloc and, at the technological level, China will use its huge consumer market to drive the rapid commercialisation of innovations.”“Thus, a decrease in the US's supply chain dependence on China may restrict China's economic choices in the short term, but in the long term, China's economic rise is beyond the US's ability to block.”
That Thing You Do! (2/5) Movie CLIP – Radio Debut (1996) HD
Liv Tyler hearing “That Thing You Do” on the radio for the first time is one of the greatest moments in motion picture history.
For some reason watching this clip makes me tear up. i can’t think of a better example of unrestrained joy in any movie than there is in this scene.
Update on Hall Turner
2022 11 26 08 12
It was Ukraine Nazi’s…
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What is Xi Jinping’s vision for China in the next five to ten years?
At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China October 2022 in Beijing, Xi Jinping delivered a report to the congress on behalf of the 19th Central Committee.
The following is an extrapolation of the “key words” set in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
Central Task: From now on, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups in the country to build a great socialist modernized country in an all-round way, realize the second centenary goal, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization.
Chinese Modernization: Chinese-style modernization is the socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China, with not only the common characteristics of the modernization of all countries but also the Chinese characteristics based on its own national conditions.
Two Steps Forward: To comprehensively build a modern and powerful socialist country, the overall strategic arrangement is divided into two periods: the basic socialist modernization realization from 2020 to 2035. Then, China will be built into a prosperous, democratic, civilized harmonious and beautiful modern socialist country from 2035 to the middle of this century. The next five years will be a critical period for the start of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.
First Priority: High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist China in an all-round way. Development is the party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country.
Five Major Principles: On the way forward, all the Party members must firmly grasp the following major principles: adhere to and strengthen the overall leadership of the party, adhere to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, persist in deepening reform and opening up, and persist in carrying forward the spirit of struggle.
Focus of Efforts: Adhere to put the focus of economic development on the real economy, promote new industrialization, and accelerate the construction of a strong manufacturing country, a high-quality country, a world class top aerospace power, a world transportation leader, a network power, and a digital China.
Better National Innovation Capacity: Adhere to the core position of innovation in the overall situation of the modernization drive, improve the new national system, strengthen the national strategic scientific and technological forces, improve the overall efficiency of the national innovation system, and form an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness.
Complete People’s Democracy Process: The whole process of people’s democracy is the essential attribute of socialist democratic politics, and it is the broadest, most authentic and most effective democracy. It is necessary to improve the system of people being the masters of the country, expand the people’s orderly political participation, and ensure that the people implement democratic elections, democratic consultations, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision in accordance with the law.
Rule by Law: Adhere to the joint advancement of law-based governance, law-based governance, and law-based administration, adhere to the integrated construction of a law-based country, law-based government, and law-based society, comprehensively promote scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, impartial justice, and law-abiding by all people, and comprehensively promote the rule of law in all aspects of the country’s work.
Socialist Culture: Develop a national, scientific, and popular socialist culture that is oriented toward modernization, the world, and the future, stimulate the cultural innovation and creativity of the entire nation, and enhance the spiritual power to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Income Distribution System Improvement: It is necessary to improve the income distribution system, adhere to the principle of distribution according to work performance, and coexistence of multiple distribution methods, insist on more work, more pay, encourage getting rich by working hard, promote fair opportunities, increase the income of low-income earners, expand middle-income groups, standardize the order of income distribution, and regulate wealth accumulation mechanism for common prosperity.
New Energy System: Base the development progress on national conditions, insist on seeking progress while maintaining stability, and gradually realize the new system. We must not be divorced from reality or too eager for success, engaging in sports-style “carbon reduction”, and then having to step on the emergency brake later on. Implement the carbon peaking action in a planned and step-by-step manner, further promote the energy revolution, strengthen the clean and efficient use of coal, accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system, and actively participate in the global governance of climate change.
Higher Level for Safer China: Build a higher level of safer China and ensure a new development pattern with a new security pattern. Resolutely safeguard the security of state power, system, and ideology, ensure the security of food, energy resources, and supply chains of important industrial chains, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and legal persons overseas, and build a solid line of defense for national security.
Strategic Deterrent Force System: All the Party members must comprehensively strengthen military training and preparations, improve the ability of people’s army in winning the wars, innovate military strategic guidance, develop people’s war strategies and tactics, build a strong strategic deterrent force system, increase the proportion of new-type combat forces in new domains, and further promote actual combat-oriented military training.
Only Way Forward: The times call for all of us, and the people look forward to all of us. The whole party must keep in mind that upholding the overall leadership of the party is the only way to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, that socialism with Chinese characteristics is the only way to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and that united struggle is the only way for the Chinese people to create great achievements in history. Implementing the new concept of development is the only way The only way for China to develop and grow in the new era, comprehensive and strict governance of the party is the only way for the party to maintain its vitality forever and take the new road to rush for the exam.
Strategic Work: The whole party must take youth work as a strategic task, arm the youth with the party’s scientific theories, inspire the youth with the party’s original mission, and be the confidant of young friends, the enthusiastic person of youth work, and the guide of the young people.
There you have it the outline of the new 2023–2027 five-year development plan with Chinese characteristics in China.
This was a computerized search of the voluminous document for specific phrases and extrapolate the content from that search. A better summary might be this...-MM
So THIS is how they plan to screw these companies, from inside out
“Why do we need a woman Thor?”
Selected Points on Xi Jingping Vision and Goals for 2027:
Food Security – Every Chinese to have 140% of their per capita needs of Rice, Pork, Soybeans, Corn, Fish Oil and Vegetables (Currently its 43–104% without Imports)
Energy Security – China to have at least 2/3 of its Energy Locally without using Coal (Today it’s 37%)
Home ownership – At least 66% Homes to be owned by First Owners who invest for a home and not as an investment (Today it’s 39%)
Poverty – Having eliminated extreme poverty, China must wipe out Poverty to the bare minimum level by 2027 with no more than 5% Working Populace and Households being labeled as “Poor”
Healthcare – Healthcare spending to rise from 6.15% GDP to 8.50% GDP by 2030 (Around $ 2.22 Trillion from $ 1.17 Trillion)
Standard of Living – Chinese Per Capita Income to be $ 25,000 by 2035 and classified as a ‘Rich Country’ (Now it’s a High Income Country with GDP PCP of $ 13,409)
Population Target – China to keep the present ratio of 1.79 working persons for 1 Old person up to 2025 and maintain a minimum of 1.5 by 2030
Taiwan – Take steps conducive to peaceful reunification with Taiwan
Here’s the FULL TEXT (in English) of the Report.
Somehow, it keeps disappearing on Quora, and You-tube if you put the link there. Don’t know why.
Just so people know, this was performed before September 11th. This guy was so brilliant and intuitive it’s scary.
Meatball Subs (Crock Pot)
Followed directions exactly as stated and it make the most wonderful meatballs and so easy to do. When it was done put meatballs on fresh hoagies with a slice of provelone and bake in the oven for about 6 minutes to get toasty.
Place first seven ingredients in large bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands just until combined. (I wear food prep gloves.) Shape into approximately 30 1-inch balls.
Bake in an ungreased oblong pan (13x9x2) in a 400°F oven until light brown, 20-25 minutes. OR: microwave meatballs in an ungreased baking dish, 6 minutes on High, turning once. OR: cook over medium heat in frying pan, turning occasionally, until brown, about 20 minutes.
Place cooked meatballs and spaghetti sauce in crock pot. Cook on low for about 2 hours. If you cook longer, stir every hour or so.
Place meatballs and sauce in buns/rolls and top with mozzarella cheese.
Note, I microwave the meatballs to cook them.
(A friend places the raw meatballs & sauce in the crock-pot and cooks them for 8+ hours on low, but I have never tried this.).
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Would Taiwan destroy their microchip and hardware factories if China invaded in order to stop the Chinese government obtaining their resources?
You think Taiwanese Chinese are fools?
Taiwanese people mostly feels like Chinese and most will protect their chip factories intact to continue profiting and continue selling world wide be it under government A or B.
By asking this question shows that you hardly understand that 90% of Chinese wanted unification with China eventually, 50% of them wanted this unification immediately from the balance 10%, the majority don’t want war. Only 1% made up of those CIA operatives, those traitors, some ancestors of Japanese world war 2 murderers and the corrupt regime wants to fight.
The last thing they will do is to destroy their business for your sake.
Kids In The Hall Amazing “Anti-Woke Sketch” From 1993!
At least 30 years ago, people saw the idiocy for what it is and laughed at it. No laughing these days, These woke monsters are humorless, uptight killjoys.
Eulogy from an influencer
Below is an eulogy that I wrote, both for my own peace and acceptance (it helps to write) and to remind us of our memories. It isn’t quite finished yet, but close enough. I have shared this with many of my friends whom I entertain with stories from Estonia.
Recently, you included in an article about a cat that died and included a picture of said beloved cat with toys and important things to help send the cat away to the afterlife. It was a touching reminder of what we did, including his favorite playthings, a pillow under his head, wrapped in a blanket to keep warm and with his favorite toys that he frequently played with. Even now we (until everything was covered with snow) still found reminders of his laying around the yard and house. Tears still well up and even writing these few lines are difficult.
Life is a circle. We don’t know how big it is nor how fast it travels, but it has a definite beginning and end. Along the way, other circles intersect with your own, either tangently, intersecting for a time (sharing the same area) or fully within, and all have an impact . Anyway, something like that, and the concept needs to be written a bit clearer.
Feel free to use and share as you see fit.
Thank you for your words, inspiration, and please keep on doing what you are doing (although less of the geopolitical stuff).
Eulogy of Mutt.
For those who are linguistically challenged, Mutt is pronounced like moot or something like what a cow says with a T on the end. The U does not sound like the U in mud.
In January, we brought home our first border collie puppy (named Mutt) to grow into a fine dog and then help with our sheep flock. We are not sure if he chose us or us him, but we somehow singled him out when he still had not opened his eyes. Perhaps he also just knew but didn’t say anything. I put him in my coat pocket and walked the 2 km home (once he was 8 weeks old). That first night, he wined and cried from being separated from all his brothers (8 brothers and 1 sister), we thought maybe to take him back. The only way to soothe him was to calmly stroke him, all night. Subsequent nights were better. Happy times followed by some frustration – where did the shoes and boots go – under the swing again. If things disappeared we soon found out where to look. He got along splendidly with our guard dog, Pitsu, who, at their first introduction, wasn’t sure if he was a threat or a treat. Every day, twice a day, since when he was able to follow me to the sheep, he came to check the sheep with me while I fed Pitsu. He began to figure out how to help move our sheep. In his final week, things really clicked as he did a very commendable job helping to pen up the lambs for pickup by the meat truck.
Otto really liked Mutt when Mutt was small ball of black fur, and later allowed Mutt to, ahem, sleep on his bed all curled up.
Good times don’t last and change is inevitable. The other night, a few days before Halloween, he was hit by a car (we did not know this at the time; we also have very little traffic, and even less at night), and he did not come to the house when we called. The kids searched for him and found him standing quietly and knew something was wrong. An examination suggested that he had a broken rear leg bone.
We called our neighbor, Ants, at 10:30 that evening, and woke him and his family and asked him to give Mutt an examination. He is in the orthopedic veterinary surgeon business at the University Animal Clinic. He administered pain killing drugs and started an IV for fluids. He stated that yes there is very likely a fracture and the best thing to do would be to go the emergency veterinary clinic since they specialize in such cases and are best able to provide care.
We drove to Tartu, and arrived about 2 am at the clinic, dropped off the dog and turned around and headed for home. There wasn’t anything we could do and he was in good caring loving hands. Later that morning we talked with the clinic after they had done an evaluation and made x-rays. There were multiple hip/pelvis fractures on one side, and the other hip was dislocated. These fractures can be repaired. Concern came from some of their brood analysis and possible internal injuries especially to the lungs. At the moment he was stable and sedated. They also said they would call with any important updates, but currently no news is good news.
Late afternoon, we got the unexpected phone call from the vet and headed back to Tartu to bring home our dear Mutt for our final goodbyes and burial. They said he was stable and breathing fine and then just stopped. There was nothing they could do. It happens to us all anyway I suppose. We will begin rebuilding tomorrow someday as soon as we (I) all have recovered.
We remember many things that Mutt has done. Sheep chasing him instead of him chasing the sheep when still little. His first bath in the sauna after finding something delicious stinky he rolled in. Playing with the old basketball or 12 inch section of PVC pipe first thing in the morning. His first car ride in which he was terrified to go on, and then it was hard to stop him from jumping in any vehicle for a ride. Mutt stalking down the chickens. Mutt investigating the bees, and then suddenly not. His discovery of electric fences. Play dates with some of his kin. His intense tunnel vision stare when sheep (or chickens) are around. Digging up the first replanted peony by the time the 5th replanted peony was transplanted. Sneaking onto the couch or bed for a nap when his knows he isn’t supposed to be there. His muddy paw prints all over the house (how we would welcome those back). His first training session in Hellenurme.
Along our short and unexpected journey, there were many people who offered comfort, compassion, hugs, words, and just support which is all needed and very much appreciated and all helps in its own way, especially the veterinary staff and our neighbors.
Mutt was an innocent soul taken too soon. I’d also like to remind all to do the little things; smile, say hello, lend a small helping hand to strangers and those you know – little things grow into bigger things. Take the time to express how you feel to your children, spouse, neighbors, friends, and others – there is no better time than now, and now ain’t a coming back. Be good to your animals – the dogs, cats, birds, or goldfish. Give your dog a hug and cat a scratch, and I am not sure about the birds or goldfish but be good to them. Be that person to lend a hand or a word or spare change without any expectation. For some of us, tomorrow is too late and yesterday is not today, as today passes idly by. Don’t waste today and savor all in the moment. Be that person to evoke big changes by the little things you can do.
Where have you gone, chasing the white clouds in the sky.
Beautiful.
It is noticeable that China is not reacting to USA trade aggression with anything like the urgency that perhaps the US was expecting, is there anything in the Art of War that might indicate China’s strategy here?
The most important lesson in the ‘Art of War’ is to know your enemy. The Chinese government is staffed with people who have intimate first hand knowledge of the USA and the Chinese President Xi himself has spent time in the US living with an American family for awhile in the mid-west.
The US on the other hand has plenty of pseudo China expert surrounding the President. Those pseudo China experts had never spent much time or even none at all in China or have they studied Chinese.
So in fact the US has no one who knows much about China.
They have no idea how Chinese do business or how they will react to certain situation like this one right now.
Those pseudo experts thought that China would give in to their unreasonable demands and capitulate immediately. They were so surprised by China’s inaction that they actually voiced their surprise and admitted they did not know what to do, just complaining that China refused to make any decision.
China’s strategy is very simple.
Since the Trade war is not hurting China very much so China would just wait for the US to make more errors on their own. China has time to wait. The majority of its people is behind the Government whatever the Government decides.
I think if one really study the ‘Art of War’, one would know what China would understand China’s strategy.
But studying the translated book of ‘Art of War’ is not the same as studying the real text. One has to know Chinese well enough to extract the nuances from the writing.
Fudan Development Institute, one of China’s most highly rated think tanks, has just published a new study entitled “From ‘Prevention’ to ‘Containment’: A Report on the Securitisation of the US’s Semiconductor Industry Policy”. Its authors are Shen Yi (沈逸) and Mo Fei (莫非). The former is a controversial professor of international politics and the director of the Centre for International Cyberspace Governance at Fudan University. With a following of almost two million on Weibo as well as regular videos and opinion pieces discussing international relations, he has become a well-known public intellectual in China. Shen has previously written about his experience of being interrogated by the FBI and having his US visa revoked back in 2018. The second author, Mo Fei, is a PhD candidate at Fudan University’s School of International Relations and Public Affairs and a research assistant at the aforementioned Centre for International Cyberspace Governance.
This report appears to have been written, or at least completed, in September, in other words, prior to the US’s most recent high-tech export controls. The authors, however, were aware that “the Biden administration plans to further strengthen export controls on China in the areas of artificial intelligence and chip manufacturing, and that it was considering establishing a system within the US government that would give it the power to directly block US entities from investing in China and require information disclosure.” The following summary and excerpts should therefore be read keeping this background in mind.
On a side note, I may occasionally post special editions such as this one in addition to Sinification’s weekly format if and when I feel that a particular study is noteworthy, topical and too long to share as a thread on Twitter.
Key arguments from this report:
The US is making a strategic mistake in channelling most of its energy into outdoing China in the tech sector. Semiconductors only constitute a small part of the US-China rivalry.
The US’s chip manufacturing capacity lags far behind that of East Asia. The CHIPS Act is unlikely to provide enough funding and incentives to change this.
US allies will not be willing to sacrifice their own interests for the sake of America’s.
China has the financial firepower, unrivalled capacity for government-industry coordination and absolute determination to accelerate the development of its chip industry, come what may.
On the drivers and dynamics of the US-China chip war:
“China’s fundamental national strategy is to strengthen its national power, improve the standard of living of its citizens and enhance its international status through peaceful economic development. The US’s strategy towards China is to ‘lock up’ China’s rise, curtail its international influence and increase its dependence on the US in the international system. Therefore,the essence of the strategic competition between the US and China is a struggle between economic development and domestic governance rather than a traditional hegemonic or military-security struggle.”
“The US, however, has rather simplistically focused on the nature of the strategic competition between the US and China as being a ‘technological battle’, and then even more simplistically determined that a series of [tech-related] policies will be able to successfully block the strategic challenge posed by China in a relatively short period of time and at a relatively low cost.”
“The US has [now] put anti-China national security concerns ahead of such economic interests as ‘cost’, ‘efficiency’ and ‘market’.”
“Advanced semiconductors have become an outlet for the US to release its security-related anxieties about China and have been turned into a symbol … demonstrating the US’s superior strength and its gradually winning in the context of US-China rivalry. At the same time, in the absence of one single effective ‘tool’ to contain China’s technological rise and as one of the very few holds the US [still] has in the economic sphere that can effectively handicap China, any action that can widen the gap between China and the US in advanced semiconductor technology will have the psychological effect of ‘easing the anxiety’ and ‘increasing the smugness’ of US policymakers. Each [US] crackdown on China’s advanced semiconductor technology will release the US’s security-related anxiety about China in stages. [But] when new security-related anxieties reach a certain level, it will once again drive the US to take further restrictive measures against [the development of] China’s advanced semiconductor technology.”
“At the [current] stage of the strategic stalemate between the US and China, the US can only add to the semiconductor technology embargo compulsively and frequently to demonstrate that it still has considerable coercive power and strategic advantages over China.”
“But the fact is thatadvanced semiconductors only constitute a small part of the strategic competition between the US and China.”
On the difficulty for the US to rebuild a chip manufacturing base at home, gain the backing of its allies and shut out China:
“Global economic integration, the formation and consolidation of global supply chains, and China’s deep roots in the global economic system make it almost impossible for the US to replicate its Cold War strategy against the Soviet Union in its strategic competition with China.”
“History repeats itself but never in exactly the same way. The United States today does not have the same strategic capabilities as it did thirty years ago, and China is now already highly integrated into both the new international division of labour and the world’s science and innovation cycle. Even in the area of semiconductors, where the US is in a position of power and China is at a disadvantage, the US is no longer in a position to [simply] remove China from the supply chain of advanced semiconductors. The inherent vulnerability of the Biden administration’s chip strategy leaves room for China’s semiconductor industry to break out of the US’s siege. More specifically:”
“The Biden administration’s semiconductor strategy runs counter to the global semiconductor industry’s development pattern and lacks an adequate domestic semiconductor manufacturing base to support it.”“US semiconductor manufacturing capabilities lag far behind those of East Asian countries. [This is explained by] the wave of de-industrialisation that began in the late 20th century in the US, coupled with the fact that most American IC companies have opted for a ‘Fabless’ operating model, focusing on design and outsourcing manufacturing.”“The US’s heavy reliance on East Asian semiconductor production capacity exacerbates the risk of disruption to the US chip supply chain, while also increasing the US’s vulnerability in the context of its strategic competition with China.”“Now, for national security and geostrategic reasons, the US is planning to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to its shores … However, such a systemic change will be very difficult to achieve with just a single ‘chip bill’.”“The US’s current approach has seen it use mainly federal funding to invest domestically in high-tech R&D … to train new talent and to attract foreign firms to set up factories in the US. However, … if the US wants to restructure the [current] layout of the global semiconductor industry, US$50+ billion from the federal government will clearly not be enough to solve this issue.”“In September 2022, the Center for a New American Security released [a report] … which stated that the US CHIPS Act is designed to close the cost gap between producing chips in the US versus in East Asia, but that current financial support and related incentives were still far from sufficient to close the cost gap across the industry.”“The actual effectiveness of the CHIPS Act may differ quite significantly from the optimistic estimates (in favour of the US) that are now being made in a large number of studies; one cannot exclude a scenario in which the buzz is followed by business as usual.“Frankly speaking, although we still need to wait for [these measures] to be put into practice … it is arguably the ‘pull’ by the end customer that will prove more important than the ‘push’ by the US government’s industrial policies. If the end-consumer market proves unwilling to pay a premium [for these high-tech products] … the Biden government’s semiconductor strategy … will not be able to [fully] restructure the [current] layout of the global semiconductor industry.”
“The US’s influence within its chip alliances is not sufficient to convince its allies to follow the Biden administration’s semiconductor strategy on the premise of ‘America First’ and ‘each country has to pay its own way [i.e. with no help from the US]’.”“[In reality,] the core of the US’s semiconductor strategy, is, on the one hand, to siphon off resources from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and other relevant semiconductor companies to make up for the technological shortcomings in its own semiconductor manufacturing sector. On the other, to convince its allies and partners, using its position of power in the high-tech world, to stop semiconductor technology deals and manufacturing cooperation with China.”“The Biden administration is [effectively] strengthening itself at the expense of others … thus increasing the vulnerability of the Biden administration’s semiconductor strategy. In other words, US allies and partners have their own semiconductor strategies and are not willing to sacrifice their own interests in order to serve the US’s semiconductor strategy.”“[For example,] South Korea cannot [simply] decouple from China, just for the sake of cooperating with Washington in building up the US’s [new] supply chain, without taking into account the fact that China is South Korea’s largest semiconductor market … South Korea is ambivalent about the ‘CHIP 4’ alliance currently being assembled by the US.”“Taiwan, on the other hand, still has illusions about [the effectiveness of] its ‘Silicon Shield’ and does not want the US semiconductor industry to develop in the direction of self-sufficiency for national security reasons.”“There are deep-rooted conflicting currents in the underlying logic of Taiwan’s semiconductor strategy with the US. Politically, Taiwan is investing in US factories to curry favour with the US on geopolitical issues. Economically [however], Taiwan’s semiconductor industry … does not view the US ‘chip strategy’ favourably.”“In addition to [the Netherland’s] ASML, the Biden administration has also tried to pressure Nikon, a Japanese DUV equipment manufacturer, to stop exporting such equipment to China, but the Japanese have also refused. This shows that, when it comes to the technological embargo imposed on China, although the ‘public-private’ alliance formed by the US will cooperate with the US’s strategy, there is a limit to such cooperation. This can be explained by two factors: the pull of the Chinese market and a concern for US technological hegemony [among its allies].”
On the US’s tech crackdown on China and the the medium-to-long term prospects for both the US and China:
“The specific technical details involved in the semiconductor industry are complex enough to ensure that [only] a small group of elite politicians in Washington can monopolise the content and future direction of these discussions, thereby making it easier to gain indulgence and support for their contrarian actions both at home and abroad.”
“Take the latest US chip sanctions against China on 1 September as an example … The ban presents a remarkable internal paradox. It was initially intended to create additional barriers to the development of China’s high-tech industry. However, it may well end up having the opposite effect. Ironically, in the medium to long term, US pressure is set to ‘force’ China’s high-tech industry to develop a more solid industrial base as well as [its own] core technologies. Objectively speaking and from the US’s perspective, this will lead to [the emergence of] a more challenging, comprehensive, and thus more-difficult-to-contain, powerful adversary.”
“In the short term, US tech-related policies targeting China will indeed create a window of opportunity. That is to say, a window during which China will be seeking to fix the adverse consequences caused by the US’s technology crackdown. For the US, this window will mean that the US is given more time to develop itself in a number of key and emerging technologies, including advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence, so as to gain the upper hand over China … But such a turn of events is far from being a given. In other words, in addition to restricting technology exports to China, the US government will also need to implement effective domestic policies to support and guide its efforts in these areas. However, if we look at the US’s performance on related issues since the 1980s, the picture is not particularly promising. Of course, the recently passed CHIPS Act provides some room for imagination. However, … in terms of the type of governance capacity required to steer and organise such large-scale strategic industries, the US government is not currently in a position to provide a convincing answer to observers.”
“In the short term, the most immediate and tangible effects of the Biden administration’s tech-crackdown on China will be: (i) to create real obstacles for the development of related industries in China; (ii) to generate a public opinion wave of pro-US and anti-China rhetoric; and (iii) to use ‘hurting the US’s strategic rival’ as political leverage during the upcoming US mid-term elections and the presidential elections two years later.”
“In terms of [economic] weight, the US economy is still the largest in the world, but its lead over the second-placed has narrowed to the point where it is within sight and able to be overtaken. The US still has an overall advantage in terms of cutting-edge technology, but this advantage does not ensure that its use will simply lead to the continued development of its strengths and consolidation of its superiority. It will [probably] not be possible for the US to maintain its overwhelming technological dominance over the rest of the world. In other words, there is a lack of certainty surrounding the US’s ability to make further technological breakthroughs. Its traditional strengths are shrinking or even [already] lost, and its toolbox lacks an obvious ‘magic bullet’ like the US’s containment strategy during the Cold War, which could simply ‘solve the problem once and for all’ vis-à-vis the US’s main strategic rival. In fact, the anxiety that is spreading in Washington’s policy-making circles is constantly forcing the US government to look for, and subsequently try out, any type of tool that can produce short-term results. Thus, for policy makers at least, it is a way of justifying domestically that ‘something has already been done’ and avoiding simply looking on [helplessly] at the gradual erosion of the US’s hegemonic powers.”
“The specific condition [to the US’s success] is that the target of such a weapon [export controls] must have a sufficiently weak political will to abandon its intention to develop the industry in question immediately after the US’s strike … [However,] China has both the will and an unmatched capacity for industrial policymaking to drive and guide the development of its own alternative technologies [替代性能力]. Chinese companies and industries have long since begun the production of related products but are [currently] in the uncomfortable position of being constrained by the superior and more mature products of US companies. The subtlety of US bans is that it is the US government, rather than the Chinese government, that has helped these companies to achieve the effective exclusion of their competitors from the [Chinese] market [i.e. this will, according to the authors, allow Chinese companies, in the medium-to-long term, to grow even faster and invest even more in R&D].”
“In terms of China’s [overall] development, the development of its technologies, the development of its industries as well as a number of other dimensions, this [i.e. pressures from the US/West] does not really constitute a [catastrophic] threat akin to ‘the sky is falling’. Objectively speaking, the discomfort caused by the bans will be the best possible impetus to stimulate and push forward the upgrading of alternative industries and technological capabilities [in China]. China’s [past] experience shows that once this short-term discomfort has been overcome and alternative capabilities and industries have been developed, what will follow is a complete rewriting of the rules of the game by China by virtue of the country’s superior production capacity. The potential outcomes of such a scenario are truly exciting.”
“For [Chinese] policy analysts [政策观察者], it is important to maintain a greater degree of composure, resilience and patience when dealing with US policy decisions, and to analyse more systematically the [potential] discrepancies between policy intentions, policy content and, ultimately, policy effectiveness. For the Chinese government, the more pressing issue is to build [more] effective and refined countermeasures against US [policies], while maintaining the trend of opening up to the outside world and encouraging globalisation, so that the Chinese market and the benefits gained by US companies in China can be used more fully as leverage and, when necessary, a strategic weapon in China’s competition with the US. This is a crucial and necessary part of expanding and improving [our] capabilities in the context of China’s rise.”
Zhu hao (祝好),
Thomas
GEORGE CARLIN on why America sucks
George is 100% correct.
I said this…
[3] Local Police
Then you have one more stop, you go to the police station and register locally. Not to worry though, they have all your data. You can even smoke at the police counter! The local police do this because “it’s so hot outside”.
Isn’t China great!
Patrick Koh commented on your answer to: “How convenient it is for foreigners to live in China?”
Great.
"Smoke in a police station in China!!!! That’s awful!!"
My mobile was stolen at Guilin train station. When I hit my destination, i(it took me) 5 mins to (go to) a phone MALL, then (a visit to) Unicom next door to get a replacement SIM (passport needed).
By evening, Guilin Police called me – found my phone from a theft syndicate!
I rushed there by train the next morning.
AND yes, they let me smoke in the police station because…
CCTVs everywhere outside.
(‘hot outside’ too.
Didnt bother me that I have 3 VPNs on my phone.
Then they even drove me back to the train station in the police car.
AND
They even let me smoke in the POLICE CAR because I was late for the train LOL.
And I don’t even look macho like you.
Making That Thing You Do!(1996)
My band frequently performed in a Memphis club on Beale Street. The rules are strict there, conforming to a blues and R&B format. One night we got so bored we whipped out “That Thing You Do” and the place just exploded. The GM told us to play songs we wanted to. Thank you Tom Hanks!
What are some bizarre things we will only see in China?
I have seen a few lovely, bizarre things in China during my years there. Here my favourites:
“From Betty Crocker — Slow Cooker recipes. NOTE: Posted as written, however, I cook the rice separately usually the night before if it is a work day, refrigerate the rice and then add it during the last 15-20 minutes to avoid mushy rice!”
Place chicken in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. In large bowl, mix wild rice, onions, soup, broth and carrots; pour over chicken.
Cover; cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours.
Stir in half-and-half. Increase heat setting to High.
Cover; cook 15 to 30 minutes longer or until hot.
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Is there anyone who can tell Biden that we cannot survive supporting never ending rivers of millions flocking here at this point?
I’m a Brit and weirdly this is a very pertinent question.
A few years ago 51% of our country voted to leave the European Union.
Being a member of the EU gave us the right to work, live and travel to 27 other countries.
When Brexit went live 27 countries lost their right to come and live, work and study here in the U.K.
the results so far:
we have had crops rotting in fields due to a drastic lack of migrant workers.
restaurant prices have gone through the roof as they compete to try and recruit and retain staff.
want an au-pair as a cheap nanny? Ha ha ha ha ha. Nope.
the most respected focal examiner in the country has looked at our current figures and has confirmed that the U.K.’s prospects are roughly 15% lower than they would have been had we remained in Europe.
inflation has jumped from 1.25% to 10.1% (though that is in part due to war in Ukraine and Liz truss single handedly buggering up our economy)
We have lost vast numbers of:
doctors
nurses
teachers
carers
dentists
academics
researchers
teachers
social workers
I’ve had more than 20 friends return to Europe all of who were higher rate tax payers.
immigration benefits a country.
we are paying the price.
Why are so many countries unfriendly to China?
So many countries?
If you and your 6 racist friends hate China it does not make many!
My count is that some people in the US, their slave vassal states, their fellow native slaughters, their fellow colonial powers and some tiny fascist states in Eastern Europe dislike China.
In nations it is a mere a dozen nation out of 197 nations in the world. Barely 5%.
In population barely 1% of the world have a negative view of China. Only the older, more conservative, less read, less, less educated, less travelled xenophobic people in those place dislike China!
The vast majority of the population in the world has a very good opinion of China and the Chinese people.
The Wonders, “That Thing You Do”
Quite possibly the most convincing fake band ever, and they look like they’re having a blast. Any of the songs in that movie could have gotten serious radio play in 1964.
Drone Footage of WA in Australia
"Some drone footage of a place we are staying at shot by a good friend of mine, John Daws from vehementdigitalconcepts.com."
Worth a look. A nice vacation to a never-never land “down under”.
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