Let’s continue on some Geo-political stuff. We are in the middle of a global “turning” which is centered in the United States.

I am optimistic, though the entire world is spinning, and spinning.

When things seem to be really hard, and my emotions are crushed, I calm myself by remembering two things…

[1] A very bleak and bad time that I went though.

Followed by…

[2] A wonderful and happy time that I experienced right after it.

The world operates in cycles, so please do not get too caught up in all the many, many things going on. It’s like scenery out the window. Just watch it go by.

And spend some time relaxing with friends and family.

…

One thing that I like to do when I am stressed is watch cat videos.

Another thing is go on Pinterest and look at “food porn”.

FUN FACT: when I had pictures of food on my desktop, I was a much more relaxed person. However, for some reason, I seemed to start taking on a lot of weight. Who’d figure, eh?

Is Xi Jinping a fascist?

No, he is Chinese.

Have you heard of the country named China. He comes from there.

There are a few other people who also come from China.

They eat something called food. They usually cook it over a flame so that it is warm when they eat it.

Anti-social irritations

What’s the best revenge you’ve gotten after being fired or let go from a job?

Moving on and getting a much better job where my passion, skills, ethics, knowledge, fortitude, and integrity are appreciated.

My first job as a chief of police sent me to NE Colorado to a police department that had been neglected by their previous chief for nearly two years. Chief’s wife got a job in WY and Chief couldn’t stand being apart from her. He decided to live in his RV in one of the city parks for three nights a week. He would come to town…work 40ish hours as quickly as he could in three or maybe four days…and leave to go back to WY to be with wifey. Big issue is that he’d rarely answer phone calls from his employees and they didn’t get the help they needed. EVENTUALLY, the city council got tired of hearing the noise and let the chief go.

I was lucky enough to be hired. I was crazy enough to want to go into the chief business and thus, took a job at the first place crazy/wise enough to hire me. I went from nearly $90k a year to $55k a year for the opportunity to start my administrative career.

Longest story told short, there had always been conversations about “what if council tells you to fire someone?” It wasn’t hypothetical… it had happened before. My answer was, “If there’s a reason to fire someone, they will be given due process and they will be fired at the end of due process.”

One of my cops’ wife started a stir. Sadly my cop didn’t do the right thing by his career. This resulted in an internal affairs case where the writing of “employment ends” was in large letters on the wall.

Council demanded I fire “right now.”

I couldn’t. Due process was required.

Tried to explain the cost of wrongful termination suits etc. They didn’t get it.

I was agenda item #2 at the very next city council meeting. After hours of executive session, the board came out and voted 5–1–1 to terminate my employment.

They had the interim chief fire the guy the very next morning.

That guy did not sue the department…I’ll never know why. Sadly, I would have been a plaintiff witness instead of a defense witness and would have had to tell the truth about the lack of due process. I can see a check with four or five zeros before the decimal point.

The interim chief lasted a while. But guess what. He decided that tending to his cattle and going to his kids’ sporting events were MORE important that serving his community and guiding/coaching his police officers. He was absent while still in town for 18months…not showing up on urgent calls, not taking calls from his police officers when they needed guidance, not… not…. Shades of the guy I replaced. It took council 18months of this before they separated his employment.

Meanwhile, 4 months after being let go by that council, I was hired to serve in NW Colorado.

Here, my focus on community service, equal protection under the law, fair play, integrity, delivering more than necessary in MOST aspects of my job… being involved in the community and actually caring for people is appreciated.

I make more here than I could have EVER made there and I come home every day knowing that my work was appreciated and understood.

That, my friends, is SWEET revenge.

And, it pays every day!

Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond Reaction | She’s Crying From The Pain

Blue Cheese Stuffed Steaks

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 4 beef tenderloin steaks
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 4 teaspoons crumbled blue cheese
• 4 teaspoons plain low fat yogurt
• 2 teaspoons minced onion
• Dash of white pepper
• 1 large clove garlic, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Combine cream cheese, blue cheese, yogurt, onion and pepper; reserve.
2. Rub each side of beef steaks with garlic.
3. Place steaks on rack in broiler pan so surface of meat is 2 to 3 inches from heat. Broil for 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt.
5. Turn and broil for 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Season with remaining salt.
7. Top each steak with an equal amount of reserved cheese mixture.
8. Broil for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
9. Garnish with parsley.

Anti-social irritations

Why doesn’t the trickle down theory work?

Because it is based on the false assumption that rich people would automatically create more and better jobs if they are just given more money. If there is no profit to be made with creating more or better jobs and you give the rich more money, they will simply pocket it. That’s what has been happening for half a century now.

What is your biggest cultural shock from visiting America?

During one of the school years, a classmate became pregnant. The weekend before the final exam, she “popped.”

(The way that I got a text saying Alison* popped to convey that she conveyed her child was in itself a shock however that is unimportant)

Clearly, she was in the emergency clinic and couldn’t go to the tests. She decided, however, that it would be prudent to leave her newborn in the hospital for a few hours so that she could attend the university and take the wheelchair test.

Our professor was clearly concerned by her plans. As a result, he called her, wished her well, talked to her, and persuaded her that she would be able to take the exam “anytime” she was ready. Her progress throughout the semester would not be impeded by her absence.

I must admit that this surprised me. For a student, that much freedom, respect, and flexibility? This was so foreign to me.

Because the principal would not allow it any other way, my friend in India, who lost her father on the morning of the midterm exam, was compelled to arrive at school covered in tears.

Concentrating on in the US was certainly a much needed refresher. A beneficial encounter!

Who was the most ignorant ruler?

Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849).

Bloodthirsty like many others, he proposed something that no one had dared to imagine: dismantle the pyramids of Cheops, Kefren, Menkaure.

It was 1830 and he came up with this brilliant idea to reuse that already pre-cut material in other construction operations. Luckily, someone in his right mind opposed this massacre.

The chief engineer, in an attempt to save the pyramids, submitted false cost reports , managing to prevent their demolition.

BLACK LIBERAL REACTS TO Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond & Virginia REACTION

If you found yourself earning $104 per month, what would you do over the next ten years to become a millionaire?

Assuming I didn’t have the knowledge to run a business, or any high-paying job skills, I’d do the following:

1. Quit whatever part time meant-for-a-high-school-student job you’re doing where you’re only making $104 a month and get a real full-time job earning at least minimum wage.
2. Put at least $1,000 per month aside from your income to invest in growth stock mutual funds earning ~8% annually, and only live on the rest. If that means getting a roommate or three, so be it.
3. In ten years, the value of the invested dollars will be be worth about $183k.
4. Buy a house for cash in a low tax state. If I liked my roomies, maybe I invite them to start paying me rent instead, maybe not. Either way, no more house payment.
5. Continue to invest, adding the portion that used to go toward the house payment. By this point, you should have advanced enough in your career path to be able to put more than $1,000 per month aside, and if you’ve kept your expenses low, you should be able to invest $2,000 per month.
6. That $2,000 per month invested over the next 20 years will be $1.18 million.

If you started with step one at age 20, you’d have a paid off house by 31 and be a millionaire by 50, never doing anything but working at your regular job. At that point, you could retire early and start taking the annual return on your investments as a $7,333 monthly payout for the rest of your life – which is plenty when you have no house payment. And when you die, your $1.1 million will still be there for your kids.

Calm down time…

Do cruise ships carry guns in the case of pirates?

Pirates are a serious threat to the safety of cruise ships and their passengers, especially in some regions of the world, such as the Gulf of Aden, the Somali Coast, and the Strait of Malacca. Pirates often use small boats, guns, rockets, and grenades to attack and hijack ships, either to rob them or to hold them for ransom. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there were 195 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide in 2020, with 135 crew members kidnapped.

Cruise ships are aware of this danger and have taken various steps to prevent and deter pirate attacks. One of these steps is to carry guns on board, but not in the way you might think. Cruise ships do not have their own guns or armed guards, as this would violate the laws and regulations of many countries they visit. Instead, they hire private security contractors who are licensed and trained to use firearms and other weapons.

These contractors are usually former military or law enforcement personnel who have experience in dealing with pirates and other threats. They board the cruise ship before it enters a high-risk area and disembark after it leaves. They also follow strict rules of engagement and only use lethal force as a last resort.

Another step that cruise ships take is to install non-lethal anti-piracy devices, such as water cannons, electric fences, razor wires, nets, slippery foam, foul-smelling liquid, long-range acoustic devices, and anti-piracy lasers. These devices are designed to create physical or psychological barriers that make it difficult or unpleasant for pirates to approach or board the ship. They can also alert the crew and passengers of an impending attack and give them time to take evasive actions or seek shelter.

A third step that cruise ships take is to cooperate with international naval forces that patrol the pirate-infested waters. These forces include NATO, the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, Russia, and others. They provide escort services, surveillance, intelligence, communication, and assistance to cruise ships and other vessels that are under threat or attack by pirates. They also conduct anti-piracy operations to capture or deter pirates and disrupt their networks. Cruise ships can contact these forces through radio or satellite phones if they need help or guidance.

These are some of the main ways that cruise ships carry guns and other weapons to fight pirates. It is important to note that pirate attacks on cruise ships are very rare and unlikely to happen. Cruise lines have prepared for many challenging scenarios and have implemented various safety protocols and procedures to ensure the security and well-being of their guests and crew members. They also monitor the situation closely and avoid sailing through known hotspots or during peak seasons of pirate activity. You can rest assured that your cruise vacation will be safe and enjoyable.

WARRP Reacts to Oliver Anthony…Rich Men North of Richmond

Have you ever seen a pickpocket in action? What did you do?

Yes. I have. We went on a school trip to Barcelona for the week when I was around 15 years old. Whilst in an art gallery there, I had had my purse stolen from out of my handbag and didn’t even notice until I needed to go in my bag in the bathroom. Luckily, I had heeded my fathers warning and only taken out my daily amount of money with me. I reported it to the security staff and the found my actual purse, empty and dumped in one of the gallery rooms.

Whilst walking back to our hostel with my friends, we witnessed some smaller, older women in headscarves and children bustling into people and then the child would reach into a pocket/bag and take what they wanted. We couldn’t stop them but managed to catch up to the people to inform them they had been robbed.

We didn’t want it to happen to us again, so, in our wonderfully weird teenage brains, we hatched a plan! We stole (I know!!) one of the glow in the dark emergency exit signs from the wall in the hostel and put it in a handbag! We put all our purses underneath (at the bottom of the bag) and the sign was on the top to form a barrier. And it worked! Whilst out a few days later, we were in a huge crowd of people when my friend Emma, who was carrying the bag at the time, heard someone make a noise behind her. There was a 10/12 year old child looking a bit flummoxed. She couldn’t get her hand in to steal our things. This made the older women of the group really mad and they started shouting at us (in Spanish so I have no idea what she was saying – probably something about how unfair it was that they couldn’t rob us!). We laughed and walked off, leaving them all arguing amongst themselves.

Anti-social irritations

What is the most outrageous “fee” you’ve ever been charged?

Last month I was medevac’d from my local hospital on the Big Island of Hawaii to Straub Hospital Critical Care Burn Unit, which is on the island of Oahu.

This is the actual bill I received in an email before I was discharged.

There are two flights listed. Why, you ask? Because five minutes into the first flight, the pilot told the two nurses caring for me, that there was something wrong with the plane, “it didn’t feel right.”

I am being charged $38k for a flight on a plane that wasn’t in top shape?

Bear in mind that in December 2022 a medical flight crashed into the Pacific Ocean on its way from Maui to Oahu killing all four souls on board.

When the crew told me that we needed to return to the airport, I immediately asked for a life vest.

As the plane began to turn back to the airport, it started making loud groaning noises and metal scraping against metal sounds.

Thankfully we made it safely to Hilo International Airport. I am grateful for the pilot’s skill in landing and for noticing whatever it was that was wrong with the plane.

Ohhh… that life jacket I asked for? I never got it. Because the crew could not find any. I’m not saying there were none aboard the plane. I’m saying they could not find a single life vest.

I have only been home a few days now, but you can be assured I am contesting the cost of my first flight. Why should I have to pay for a plane that wasn’t sound enough in the first place.

Here’s a picture of the first plane and pilot before I was boarded on to it.

There was a two hour wait on the tarmac for a new plane and crew to take me. Here’s a snap of how crowded and dark the inside of a life flight plane is. However that’s no excuse for not being able to locate a life jacket.

PIC ANGRY RANT To Oliver Anthony | Rich Men North Of Richmond | NPR #354

What do I tell a girl when she says “tell me something interesting”?

Whenever you see an Old English word or name with an AE ligature in it, the ae is pronounced like the A in cat.

Whenever you see some fake archaic sign like “Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe”, the first word is actually “the.” Old English had a letter called “thorn” [þ] which typesetters sometimes represented with a Y, often with a crossed stem. At the time, every literate person knew to pronounce that Y as TH. But as TH took the place of the thorn character, people forgot that the sound used to be represented by a modified Y, and started pronouncing it like a regular letter Y.

Did you know that the Appalachian Mountains are way older than the Atlantic Ocean?

If she does not find these facts remotely interesting, then I know she’s not going to enjoy my company or conversation for long.

Bushmills Flamed Steak

Ingredients

• 1 (1 1/2 pound) boneless sirloin strip steak, 3/4-inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups sliced freresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
• 1/4 cup Old Bushmills Irish Whiskey
• 3/4 cup cream
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon tarragon
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley, to garnish

Instructions

1. Heat skillet very hot.
2. Melt butter until golden and add steak. Sear on both sides and cook to your taste.
3. Remove steak to heated platter.
4. Quickly sauté onions and mushrooms in pan drippings.
5. Put steak back into skillet and drizzle with 1/4 cup Old Bushmills Irish Whiskey and flame.
6. Remove steak only back to platter.
7. Reduce heat to medium and sprinkle sugar, flour and tarragon on mushrooms and onions. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
8. Stir in cream and cook until reduced by half.
9. Season to taste.
10. Pour over steak and garnish with parsley.

When has anyone received a longer sentence for a crime they committed while in prison?

It is. If the prison’s administration didn’t know their relation when they assigned them to be roomies, they should’ve known later when the brother claimed he had informed them and requested for a different cell.

2021. Washington State Prison. Shayne Goldsby, then 26, was serving time in prison.

His cellmate, 70-year-old Robert Munger, was sentenced to 43 years in prison for child molestation and possession of child pornography. Odds are, this garbage would’ve died in prison anyway.

I can’t find out how long Goldsby’s term was, but his crime was stabbing someone, stealing a police car and injuring a state trooper.

He killed Munger. One of Munger’s victim’s was apparently his sister.

Goldsby said he had no intention of killing Munger, and would rather see him rot in prison. He also said Munger tortured him with details of how he molested his sister, who was a minor.

That’s why he snapped.

He hit Munger in the face multiple times, stomped on his face, and kicked him. This happened in a communal area of the prison, year 2020.

Munger died three days after the attack.

A year later, Goldsby was sentenced to almost 25 years after pleading guilty to murder.

If Goldsby’s claims are true, why did the old fart keep provoking him?

Perhaps he was sadistic and got off on emotionally torturing him, or perhaps he didn’t want to live the rest of his miserable life in jail and wanted a quick exit, who knows?

Why did the prison ignore his request?

I don’t understand this. They claimed they didn’t know of Goldsby’s connection to Munger’s victim as Goldsby and his sister used different last names.

I believe they didn’t mention anything on his request to be transferred. Maybe it was genuine incompetency.

Goldsby claimed it was done intentionally; corrections officers had set him up for injuring a police officer and making the police look stupid during his wild car chase.

He said, “This stuff doesn’t happen. You’re talking the same institution, the same unit, the same pod in the same cell as this dude. That’s like hitting the jackpot in the casino seven times.”

He gave Munger what he deserved, but was it worth it?

Footnotes

Man sentenced to 25 years for murdering sister’s rapist in prison

Page on washingtonpost.com

What is the difference between the US debt bomb and the China debt bomb?

The biggest difference?

An exploding U.S. debt bomb affects disastrously all the countries of the world.

Take the 2008 global financial meltdown. What caused this were predatory mortgage lending, unregulated markets, a massive amount of consumer debt, the creation of “toxic” assets and the collapse of home prices. All exclusively by the U.S. And the rest of the world suffered for these U.S. excesses.

This 2i008 meltdown was the foretaste of a 1,000-year storm that is now pouring down every 5 years because of the unrestrained U.S. debt flooding the global financial market and exporting U.S. inflation overseas to everyone. Expect this to be cyclical and as predictable as trump farting a lie every 5 seconds.

On the other hand, China’s debt bomb is domestically contained.

China’s Evergrande Group — once the country’s second-largest property developer — filed for bankruptcy in New York last week. Others followed – including equally major developers like Kasia, Fantasia and the Shimao Group.

All these were “fiscally precipitated”, coming off Beijing’s crack down on excessive borrowing by developers in an attempt to rein in soaring housing prices. China’s banking system is owned and controlled by the CCP and they can micro-target specific companies in the greater attempt at preventing an uncontrolled explosion of the property market’s bubble that could easily implode the wider economy for which China’s real estate sector accounts for 25.4% of the country’s GDP.

And nary a repercussion overseas in the international financial market.

The Male Loneliness Epidemic

This is another puzzle piece of the collapse of Western society.