Simple post.

Let’s start here…

Gonzalo Lira Update

What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?

This happened to a friend of mine 10 years back and I was left astonished.

The company decided to focus on large deals and geared up all its sales team for the same. My friend (lets name him A) who was a salesperson of company X took this to heart and went after large deals for an entire year. Having said that, winning a 20m$ deal is different than 2m$ deals. The person had no result to show but lot of effort and background setting to do. After 3 quarters of no result, my friends Boss (lets name him B) calls up a review meeting at 10 pm to tell him that he has been fired.

My friend A had a call with a prospect at 11 pm. He attended the call, signed the biggest deal of the company for that year and left the company (as he was terminated at 10 pm) The Boss (B) took the most hefty sales commission of that year from the company as A was terminated.

I was an employee of the same company.

Its easier for companies to define strategy but lack of belief in people who can carry out that strategy and unwillingness to bear the cost of the strategy. Don’t know who lost more here, company (lost a great employee and believer and doer), A (lost the job and the biggest commission) or B (got the money but lost the respect of entire sales team)

BREAKING NEWS: China SANCTION Rare Earths Processing TECHNOLOGY To U.S

Have you ever had an encounter with an angel? Did it scare you?

Yes, I did. And if the Angel had not spoken to me, I may not have recovered from what I almost did. I was (and still am) a Christian believing in God as He is personified in Father, Son and Holy Spirit and I believe that there are Angels that perform whatever God wills.

I was a teenager living at home with my parents and wanted to run to K Mart to buy something. My next door neighbor’s two girls (probably 7 and 10) were there also and wanted to go with me. I tried to tell them it was not a “fun trip” as I was going for one thing only so if they went with me, they’d have to stay in the car. Their mother gave them permission so we left.

As I’d told them, they had to stay in the car. I bought my one item and came out. I could easily see my car but there were no children in it. At first, I was angry. Then I thought, they’re hiding so I’ll teach them a lesson. I’ll get into the car, zoom off across the parking lot, then when I stop and look back, they’ll be running after me and I’ll laugh at them!

So, I got in and started the car. As there was no car in front of me, I thought to put the car in drive and push down on the gas. But, just as I put the car in ‘drive,’ a voice from the back seat, a man’s voice, said, ‘Put it in reverse!’ The voice had such authority in it that I responded by immediately putting the car into reverse. As I turned to look behind the car as I backed up, I wondered, “Who was that?”

I was so surprised by the voice that I stopped the car and looked into the back seat. No one was there! When I turned around, I got the shock of my life- where the front of my car had been, were the two girls crouching down on the ground! If I had driven off at high speed as I’d planned, I would have run over – and possibly killed – the two girls! I immediately knew that an Angel had spoken to me in order to save the children and, most likely, me!

I remain to this day profoundly grateful for that voice.

Why won’t China let Google cars drive around so we can see the street view on maps throughout the country?

You can already see the streets around the country. Go to 百度地图

As for why not google. It will be related privacy and national security laws.

Things might have been different but at the time google was not working with local governments to censor content (it is now) since it had a single product. Now each country is localised and has censorship but politics prevent google from returning to China.

I don’t see that changing any time soon. Also, China will let Google street view go all over China the same year that the US allows Baidu street view go all over the US.

Any, enjoy Baidu Street View you can see most of China using it.

It is worth being aware that Baidu Street View doesn’t show everything. They avoid going near most military locations and often only go to major towns. That being said you can see lots of locations that are in the news. About half of the detention facilities in Xinjiang can be found but not the ones outside of smaller towns.

Hoisin Spareribs (Cantonese)

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 pounds pork ribs, cut crosswise

Instructions

1. Rub the meat with the sauce to coat well. Cover and allow the ribs to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Grill over a medium fire, turning once or twice until the ribs are slightly charred and cooked through. Let them cool slightly. At this point, they will be easy to cut. Cut them into bite-size pieces.
3. Serve with additional hoisin sauce.

When did you realize your child was no longer a child?

He was 12 at the time. I had given him a 6pm curfew. He needed to be home to eat dinner and do his homework. I understood that he biked home after school and hung out at his friend’s house, which is about a half block away. So one day he was late. It’s 6:15 and no son. I’m upset and worried.

He comes home and tells me that their friend, Jenny * had come over to play Mario Kart with them, and he wanted to walk her back to her house because it was getting late. So he walked his bike next to her and walked her to her door before he came home.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical. I let it go with a “be home on time tomorrow”. As excuses go, that was a damn good one, so a little pass was given. I half believed him, but didn’t really think that was the reason. I was wrong.

Her mom called me the next day and thanked me. She was nervous about letting her daughter hang out with BOYS. She thanked me for my son walking her daughter home. That is when I realized that he had become a young man. Who can weigh decisions. Worried mom, or walk a younger, smaller person home safe.

He’s almost 14 now, and has earned my trust. When Jenny hangs out, he makes sure he walks her home. She lives about 3 blocks away. Her mom and I have become friends. Unknown to him, she texts me when he drops her off. She’s his friend. Even when he was “dating” someone else, he would still make sure she got home safe.

I’m not saying it right. She’s one of the guys. A friend. She just lives a few blocks over. As a woman who was once the girl who was one of the guys, I get it. I like her. She’s a good friend to him.

My son, as the one who looks out for her? That’s not a kid’s decision. That’s a young man that I am proud of. I got him a cell phone so it’s not the same now, but I remember that night when he told me that he was just making sure his friend got home safe. Then getting the phone call thanking me. That’s when I knew, I had a young man, not a little boy.

*her name has been changed.

A crying mother cat brought her dying kitten to a man. Just unbelievable!

What is the most jaw-dropping method for shoplifting that you have seen?

Let me preface this answer by saying I’m a law-abiding, productive member of society. In particular, I don’t condone shoplifting.

However…

In my youth my social circle was… shall we say… pretty diverse. When I was a freshman in college, a guy named Mark was part of that social circle. He was clean cut, well read, well spoken, impeccably dressed, and homeless. This was pre-9/11, back when sleeping at the airport wouldn’t raise any red flags (especially in Vegas, where I grew up).

He stole stuff for a living. Most anything he needed for personal use (clothes, bikes, personal electronics, books, etc.) was stolen. He would also sell stolen stuff to get money — because unfortunately, not everything can be stolen.

One day he stole a set of tools and got himself a union job. And shortly after that, he got himself an apartment. So he enlisted my help (… as a friend with a car…) to gather all the stuff he had stashed at gym lockers around town and move it to his new apartment. Lockers and lockers and lockers full of stuff.

It didn’t stop there. Now that he had an apartment, he needed home stuff. Sheets, pillows, blankets, pots, pans, etc. Stuff he never had a use for. I asked him how the hell he’s going to steal something as bulky as pillows. He said, “The same way I steal anything. I just walk right out with them.”

I couldn’t believe it, and he invited me to observe.

So we took a trip down to the outlet mall. I wasn’t going to be an accomplice, but I had to see this for myself. I’d loiter around by the front of the store just to see him make his smooth exit.

And sure enough, he went and got himself a giant empty bag, put pillows (or pots and pans, or blankets, or whatever), put the stuff in the bag, and walked right out.

In one case, he put some stuff (I think plates?) right down the front of his pants. Evidently, he was spotted by someone. On his way out, the manager of the store got in his way and said in his best manager voice: “Stop right there sir. Were you planning on paying for those?”

Mark pulled the plates out of his pants, handed them to the manager, and cheerfully said, “I wasn’t planning on it, here you go!” and walked right out. The manager stood there, holding the plates, dumbfounded. Getting back to the exact question, I’m pretty sure my jaw literally dropped.

What is the fastest anyone has been fired from a job?

I once fired a new employee the same day that I hired him.

I advertised an opening that I had for a security guard position and a young guy came in and filled out an application. He was a clean cut kid and had actually dressed like he was going on an interview — sport coat, slacks, tie, white shirt and shined shoes — so once he completed the app, I had him come into my office to chat while my secretary checked his references.

She was able to reach all but his last employer — she got an answering machine — and all of his personal references, and they all gave him a glowing approval. So I decided to roll the dice and offer him a job. He came in on a Tuesday and the positioned opened on Friday, so I gave him a couple of uniforms and directions to the post, and told him to show up on Thursday for training.

I was congratulating myself for filling the position so quickly, and easily, when the business owner from that last employer returned my secretary’s call. The man said that he normally didn’t give out derogatory references because it opened him up to trouble, but he didn’t see anything wrong with telling me that the young man had been fired for stealing copper wiring from his supply yard, and selling it for scrap, because he had filed charges on the kid.

I called the agency that had made the arrest and they confirmed that the kid had been arrested, and that he was charged with a felony. If the kid was found guilty he would not be able to work as a security guard so I decided to nip a potential problem in the bud. I called the kid and asked him to return to the office with his uniform. He knew what had happened and apologized for not telling me about his arrest and impending court date. He seemed, to me, to be a good kid who made a bad choice but I still terminated his employment.

What is a fun psychological trick to try on someone?

Ten psychological knowledge of love you must know right now!

1.Most women are attracted to men with a strong sense of humor.

Generally speaking, a strong sense of humor is associated with intelligence.

2. When the relationship lasts for three to five months, it is most likely to break up.

According to Fisher, a psychologist, the divorce rate is the highest after four years of marriage. So love needs to be tested by time.

3. Compared with those who regard love as a fairy tale, people who look at love rationally are more likely to obtain love, and love is longer.

4. Men are more likely to be attracted to women with similar bone structure to his mother.

5. What kind of person you are, you can attract what kind of person you are.

If you expect to meet a great person, you have to be equally good first

6. Have you ever had the experience that you suddenly feel like someone in a moment, but then you feel like nothing the next day.

This is known as the “suspension bridge effect.”. When a person is anxious to cross the suspension bridge, his heart will not help but quicken his heart. If you happen to meet another person at this time, he will mistakenly understand the acceleration of heart rate caused by fear as that the other party makes his heart beat, so that he likes this person. Love needs time, but the heartbeats needs reason.

7. A good first impression is more about body language, tone and speed than what you actually say.

8.Love is a natural painkiller.

When you have a disease, the person you love is around, which can significantly relieve the pain. Even looking at a picture of a loved one can relieve pain. Meanwhile, psychologists have found that when couples hug, their brains release oxytocin. Oxytocin helps reduce headaches for up to 4 hours. So if you feel tired, stressed or in pain, hugging your partner is a great alternative to any painkiller.

9. Express gratitude to your lover and feel happiness immediately.

10. Heartbreak is real.

Studies have shown that violent or traumatic events can cause real pain in a person’s heart, which is known as broken heart syndrome. When deep emotions cause excessive anxiety, chest pain or shortness of breath and other symptoms, it is easy to have broken heart syndrome. This is often more likely to occur in women and can easily be misdiagnosed as a heart attack.

Can a hospital in the United States make someone leave who cannot get a hold of anyone to pick them up and they have no money?

Yes.

This happens in some parts of the US more than others. This photograph was taken in Louisville, Kentucky, where it’s so common a single hospital may do this half a dozen times a week.

Generally the patient is discharged, escorted off hospital property by security, and left at the closest street corner to the hospital. Patients who can’t walk are placed in a wheelchair, wheeled off hospital property, then physically dumped out of the wheelchair into the street.

It’s so common it has a name: patient-dumping.

This happens all the time in American hospitals.

The Time Tunnel | 1920 Universe

What is the one in a million coincidence you have ever had?

The year was 1978: I was applying for a job as a dishwasher on the late night shift at a local restaurant. I was told to return at 11PM (when the shift started) for an interview.

What I didn’t know upon my arrival (at 11PM) was that someone else had already been hired.

But that other guy (whose name was “Luke”) didn’t show up.

And everybody thought I was Luke.

It took a few weeks for the paperwork to clear up (because I was punching in as Luke Somebody for two weeks). And it was a good thing that I got paid in cash every week.

And “Yes” I thought it was odd that I would be shown to the locker room upon my arrival (at 11PM) and told to change into a uniform and then go to the dishroom without even being asked my name. But it was a job (and I worked there about 9 months).

What is the most embarrassing thing you have seen your sister do?

The summer before I left for college, Yale hosted a formal reception for the families of the incoming freshmen in my area. It was the kind of gathering where people come in button-down shirts and lacy dresses, and where sliced fruit and fancy cheeses are served on silver platters.

While everyone else was focusing on mingling, Claire Yang – ten years old at the time – immediately zeroed in on the food. I let her make a beeline for the refreshment line, and for a while afterwards, I didn’t notice anything amiss.

Then she returned with an anxious look on her face, pulled me to the side, and said, “Hannah? Can you help me eat this?”

I looked down at her plate and found myself face-to-face with a colossal slice of brie – at least a quarter the size of the enormous wheel it came from. Claire had managed to consume an admirable fraction of her slice, but even so, she was still holding enough brie to spread on a month’s worth of crackers.

“I thought it was cake,” she whispered.

I just stared at her, trying not to laugh.

In an even smaller voice, she said, “It’s not cake.”

We hadn’t really attended events with wheels of brie before, so it was an understandable mistake. Still, though, I wish I could’ve seen the faces of everyone else in line when she cut it.

My dad has bees.

Today, I went to his house and he showed me all the honey he had gotten from the hives. He took the lid off a 5-gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey there were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. I asked him if we could help them and he said he was sure they wouldn’t survive. Casualties of honey collection I suppose.

I asked him again if we could at least get them out and kill them quickly, after all he was the one who taught me to put a suffering animal (or bug) out of its misery. He finally conceded and scooped the bees out of the bucket. He put them in an empty Chobani yogurt container and put the plastic container outside.

Because he had disrupted the hive with the earlier honey collection, there were bees flying all over outside.

We put the 3 little bees in the container on a bench and left them to their fate. My dad called me out a little while later to show me what was happening. These three little bees were surrounded by all their sisters (all of the bees are females) and they were cleaning the sticky nearly dead bees, helping them to get all of the honey off of their bodies. We came back a short time later and there was only one little bee left in the container. She was still being tended to by her sisters.

When it was time for me to leave, we checked one last time and all three of the bees had been cleaned off enough to fly away and the container was empty.

Those three little bees lived because they were surrounded by family and friends who would not give up on them, family and friends who refused to let them drown in their own stickiness and resolved to help until the last little bee could be set free.

Bee Sisters. Bee Peers. Bee Teammates.

We could all learn a thing or two from these bees.

Bee kind always.

What’s the quickest way you saw a co-worker get fired?

During my brief stint as a McDonald’s fry cook in summer 1982, the crew at my store got along pretty well.

Then came the day when a “transfer” worker with a couple of years’ experience came aboard. I met him when he was walked around the store a day or two before his first shift. He was about my age, 20, and seemed really full of himself.

There was talk among the crew that this fellow was going to position himself as some kind of de facto crew chief, and nobody was looking forward to it.

Turned out, that never happened.

I wasn’t working on the day New Guy had his downfall, but I sure heard about it. It was on his first shift.

New Guy had experience running a cash register, so he was put on one, right out of the gate.

This was during the early days of the Chicken McNugget, which came with your choice of dipping sauce. One of these was barbecue sauce, an unremarkable tomato-based variety.

So, a small group of well-dressed older men get into the line at New Guy’s register. One of them says he’d like an order of McNuggets but he’s not sure what dipping sauce to get and could the cashier (New Guy) please recommend one?

New Guy starts into an opinionated description that includes the phrase “the barbecue sauce sucks.”

Those well-dressed older gents? They are McDonald’s executives on their way to or from some important McBusiness and have stopped off for a quick bite and to see how the crew is promoting Chicken McNuggets.

In their minds, telling customers that “the barbecue sauce sucks” is not good McMarketing. It’s more Jeff Spicoli than Mayor McCheese, I think you’d agree.

They did not keep their displeasure a secret.

New Guy was terminated on the spot, more or less, though the store management probably had to do some paperwork to make it official.

He didn’t even finish his first shift.

But just to make sure New Guy isn’t forgotten, I still use the phrase “the barbecue sauce sucks” whenever possible.

A husband

How did you react when you learned that a coworker who you believed to be your trusted ally was instead working diligently to undermine and defame you?

I had known and worked with *Ernest* for perhaps ten years.

I had helped him with professional and personal situations, and he often confided in me, so I knew ‘where the bodies were buried’ (nothing illegal).

I never confided in him nor asked him for help because I am a very private person, but that was OK since he was very focused on himself.

I guessed that he sometimes bad-mouthed me to other male teachers because he wanted them to include him. Another reason to not confide in him.

Several times when I couldn’t take on an outside class, I would suggest him for the course. He was someone I could trust to do a good job. He thanked me each time.

We were both teaching at an international company where I had taught before and was respected. He was, to them, the ‘new guy.’

I saw him in the training manager’s office, and he was ‘ernestly’ (pun?) speaking to her; she looked concerned.

Ernest said he had been talking to her about a student.

I asked her later if there was a problem and could I help. That’s when she told me that Ernest had tried to convince her to use only him for future classes by spewing several untruths about my teaching methods. She told him she would consider what he had said.

And she did, and that’s why she would not give him additional courses.

He had hanged himself.

The training manager and I had worked together several times, and she had taken two of my classes.

That incident opened my eyes to his deceit; I wondered if he had done the same at other places where I had helped him find work.

He had.

Some relationships were saved; some were lost.

I did not confront him: it would have accomplished nothing constructive. Ernest never admitted to wrongdoing. He blew up and argued, never hearing anyone else. It would have been a waste of my time.

I stopped suggesting him to clients.

Fast forward about six months.

I was hunched over a stack of students’ papers in the teachers’ work area. I was not interested in conversation, but Ernest asked if I had heard from the international company.

Without looking up, I said I was currently teaching a course there. He asked angrily why he hadn’t been called, as if I had had something to do with it.

Continuing to work on my students’ papers, not looking up, I said, “She and I have worked together several times. She didn’t like what you said about me.”

Ernest began to sputter and deny. Still not looking at him, I just waved him away.

China’s consumer market is so huge, attractive, and growing rapidly in size. Isn’t it foolish of the US government to decouple or derisk from China?

Of course it is!

Just think about this close to 1 billion out of China’s 1.4 billion people in China are middle class and are buying stuffs that the U.S. can sell or benefit from. That is more 3 times the U.S. consumer. But it is bigger than the next 10 biggest consumer on earth put together! And what is worst it is still growing and growing fast!

And you want to “decouple” or “de-risk” from this market? If I were you, I will go all out courting the Chinese to be your life long customer!

But that is not all. 2/3 of the rest of earths need is made in China and they may replace your parts and product too while making them? Did it sink into your head that you are being decouple or de-risk from the world?

It has been a full 5 years since Donald Trump declared a trade war with China. Do you want to know the result? China has out grown the U.S. five times! Your deficits and debts actually shot up! You had a crippling inflation and treating it cause you a banking crisis! China is having 0.2% inflation rate!

If you care to open your eyes, it is a mosquito bite for China while it is a cancerous growth for the U.S. economy. This coming election chose wisely, dump every China hawks and China haters! They are destroying your livelihood and putting you in debts. Get a guy in the White House that fly straight to China to patch thing up the first day in office.

China is your only hope to stay away from bankruptcy! Tell Taiwan don’t be another Ukraine. We the U.S. cannot afford Ukraine let alone Taiwan which will cost us a 100 times more! You island is not going to float near Florida coast! Be real. Join China today!

Tell China no need to innovate we will sell everything damn things to you any day any time!

How do you deal with a friend who, when going out to a restaurant, ends up constantly complaining in a rather petulant or whining manner?

I used to have a friend who treated service workers poorly. At restaurants, he would make a point to complain about the service, the table location, the ambience, and, of course, the food. He sent his orders back to the kitchen more than a few times when we dined together. His manners toward the wait staff were mean and condescending.

The first few times I witnessed the behavior, I let it go. Maybe his tantrum was legitimate. Maybe it was his youth. (He was in his 20s.)Then it became a pattern. The next time it happened, I said to him, “That’s enough,” as he was berating the waitress about the temperature of the food. I apologized to the waitress before we left the restaurant.

I asked him why he had to be so rude to the service staff. He didn’t think his behaviors were out of line at all. He rationalized falsely that if he had paid for the service, it would have to hold up to his liking. I then reminded him that it was I who footed the bill for almost all the meals we had had, and even if he had contributed his share, his treatment of the staff still wouldn’t have been justifiable.

He was working as a receptionist at a community clinic at the time. I asked him how he’d feel if the customers were rude to him for things beyond his control. He said that would never happen because everyone loved him. He then quickly dismissed my teaching moment.

I stopped inviting him to dinners and weaned myself from him socially. He reached out a few times, and I eventually had to tell him the reason we could not be friends – his kindness deficiency.

Kindness to people you care about is easy, but it shines the brightest when you dispense it to strangers and those who are vulnerable to your criticism.

Experience China’s Futuristic Spaceship Train Station: A $10 Billion Masterpiece

https://youtu.be/oUV1l_zRLlc

What was the craziest thing a mechanic said about your car?

I drove my girlfriend’s new Honda Civic and noticed a rough 2-1 downshift and told her it would be good to bring it in and have it checked as it was under warranty.

She called me when the dealership told her that it needed new front pads and rotors at 3000 miles, and the warped rotors were the problem I had felt.

I happened to be a master certified Mercedes-Benz technician at the time, so naturally I had already ruled that out. We went to the dealer and I met with the service advisor, while I was still in my work uniform, and asked him to review the recommendations on the car.

He, rather dismissively, said it needed pads and rotors because my girlfriend had warped them. I asked him for the run-out measurement and threshold for the car, and he looked at me like I was speaking in an alien language. Then he said that they don’t do measurements, just a road test. I replied that if the vehicle was out of the specifications for run-out, (the warpage of the rotor surface) that it must be measured against a manufacturer’s standard to claim that a new car needed $600 in brakes that wasn’t caused by a warrantable defect.

Given that he still gave me a “deer in headlights” look with a hint of “go F yourself”, I asked for him to bring the car out for a road test. When it arrived I took the work order from his hand and read the “mileage in” out loud, then I read off the exact same mileage from the odometer. I asked him how a determination for warped brakes was done in less than a mile, when the brakes should go through their full range of temperature to diagnose system specific issues on a road test. He replied that they can get hot in under a mile. I asked him if that kind of driving was policy for his technicians to be doing in a residential neighborhood, and he just stared blankly.

So we went on the road test and I duplicated the issue. He said that it was warped rotors. So I did it again and let go of the steering wheel, as warped fronts cause the wheel to tip back and forth when slowing to a stop, and when it remained stationary I asked him if it was still warped brakes. He stated he didn’t feel anything. So I did it again, and he stated that that was normal. After another few times demonstrating a 2-1 downshift clunk, with no vibration in the steering wheel, and getting a number of other BS replies from the advisor, it was time to call in someone else. Mind you, my girlfriend was in the back seat watching this whole thing.

At that point I asked for the service manager.

Of course we sat around for another 45 minutes before we were told he had just gone home, and the foreman would see us.

Round 2 with the foreman. I drove the car and duplicated the issue. He said, that’s odd, let me drive it. He drove it and duplicated the issue multiple times. He stated that he would check it out and let me know what he found, and that it definitely wasn’t brakes and a recommendation for brakes should have never been made without a proper road test no matter how common warped rotors were on these cars. The next morning he called up and stated that all the shifts were within specification, he had also driven a number of other vehicles and it appeared to have been a difference in programming between the 06 and 07 models where the 07 had a harsher downshift at low speeds. He said to bring it back if the shift ever got worse and even out of warranty, there was a verified complaint on record and it would be fixed within reason.

Even experienced technicians can get the runaround just like everyone else. The only advantage I had was I understand the vehicle systems, and how to diagnose them, enabling me to call them out as a professional. But when someone shows up after disassembling a $60k engine from a $150k car, while still in their Mercedes-Benz shop uniform, you’d think the jig would be up without needing to shove their face in it. What hope does the average person have?!

BTW, the transmission is still fine at 160k miles. The control unit adapted out the harsh shift eventually.

Do you think that “sapiosexuality” is a real thing, or is it just that people tend to like people with whom they have shared interests?

Yes, it’s definitely a real thing.

In my early 30s, a friend invited me over to her house for dinner. She was around my age, and single. When I arrived with my obligatory bottle of wine, there was another single woman that I was slightly acquainted with, and a man I’d never met before. We had the usual conversations: personal news, politics, literature, theatre/film, funny stories, and so on. The man didn’t seem to get our references or know anything about the topics we were discussing, and most of his interjections were a little surprising. But we did our best to be polite and welcoming and include him.

Anyway, he ended up being the first person to leave, which gave us a chance to ask the hostess how she’d met him and so on. Obviously myself and the mutual acquaintance had the same opinion of him, as she asked the hostess “But why did you invite him?”

“Because he’s SOOO good looking!” she replied.

Myself and the other woman looked at each other. Neither of us had found him good looking, and if he had been, that physical attractiveness had vanished early in the evening, given his lack of intellect. He wasn’t entirely unintelligent, he was a teacher, but he had just no interests or curiosity.

What family secret was finally spilled in your family?

Oof. Where to start. I have a couple to choose from. Most involve my mother in some shape or form. Let’s see.

There was the time she went away for a “visit home”, she immigrated at 18 from the UK. And then about 30 years later I got a call from one of my sisters asking me to sit down as she told me about my “other sister”.

Or there is the time my 63yr old sister (I’m 56) told me that someone has contacted her and introduced me to my 40yr old nephew I had no idea I had.

But I think the one that really hurt came out after my fathers death, which was a year after my mother passed.

They divorced when I was about 4–5yrs old. I believed my mothers account from 1973 till 2018 when my father passed that she was an abused wife who left in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on her back.

I didn’t see or hear from her for 2yrs which was explained to me that she had taken that time to get her life together.

She was actually now living with her new husband, David. Ironically in the same town as me for the past year. But I stood by her account.

I fought tooth and nail with my father from the age of 5 to 50. Around 50 my second wife talked me into letting things go for the sake of my daughter. So she could have a relationship with her PopPop.

After he passed away, my brother and I discovered multiple documents, lawyers notes, divorce decree and Private Investigator reports.

She was taking money and cheating on him THE WHOLE TIME.

He NEVER STRUCK HER. And she left ON HER OWN WITH BAGS IN HAND, INCLUDING ALL THE JEWELRY SHE BOUGHT WITH THE STOLEN MONEY.

Both had passed and I couldn’t confront my mother or apologize to my father.

My mother brainwashed me, my brother and my 3 sisters (not the 4th who wasn’t around of course) into believing it was all his doing.

I lived on the streets, spent time in JV, and joined the Army at 17 basically to get away from this man and cause I had nowhere to live etc.

She robbed me of a relationship with my father. And that I can NEVER get back or make up for now.

Did you ever see karma hit someone who deserved it so befittingly that it was eerie?

I was driving to work on the Dulles Toll Road one winter morning when the road was covered in snow and ice. I was in my little Chevy making a steady 40 mph, when an SUV came up riding my bumper and honking at me before pulling into the next lane and roaring past me. 10 minutes later I passed the same SUV on its side in the median.

Another one I didn’t see, but heard about from a friend who did was on another snowy day in northern VA. We had had an unusually strong snowstorm for the area (about 2 feet IIRC), and there was a line-up of traffic trying to get onto the ramp from the Beltway to I-95. A guy in one of those big SUV’s (the kind they show blasting through snowdrifts in the commercials) decided he was going to cut across the triangle of ground between the highway and the ramp – only to get caught up on the guard rail that was buried in the snow! According to my friend, his front end made it over before the weight of the vehicle broke through the snow and stranded him!

Life in Africa

I’ve heard of many waiters who make a killing on tips. Would ending the tipping system actually be worse for waiters?

US Answer

By a happy coincidence I recently had lunch in a new and no tipping restaurant. These are currently very rare in this country.

I sat at the bar. There were tent cards everywhere mentioning this and noted that no tipping was the reason for the increased prices. They also mentioned that if you somehow didn’t understand this, any tips you did leave would be donated to a local charity. Finally, when you received the check, there was no tip line available.

So my bartender had been in the business for many years in other tipping restaurants. She was a single Mom with two young children. She was delighted to have employer sponsored health insurance that she could afford and a 401K plan. She was an hourly employee not much different than anywhere else in corporate America.

She mentioned that the non-fluctuating income was a huge advantage for her. If she worked a shift where the bar was dead, she still made a living wage! If she worked a shift that was hugely busy, she did not see the increase in her income but the benefit of a consistent cash flow more than offset this for her.

The restaurant had only been open a few weeks. She mentioned that with the addition of affordable health insurance and a 401K plan, she was easily seeing an increase in her standard of living.

It seems to me it’s clearly a win for her lifestyle but I can easily imagine other situations where the employee might not see the same advantages.

What’s something a doctor did to you that you won’t ever forget?

As an infant, I was born with a lump behind my left knee. This was in 1957. I cried and pulled at my leg incessantly, so my mother took me to the small town doctor. By this time the lump was swollen and red. The doctor lanced it and pus and blood went everywhere, according to my mother’s account.

As a result of improper dressing and care, I developed gangrene in the leg. I received so much penicillin that I became allergic to it. I had multiple surgeries to try and remove the infected tissue.

Finally, it was determined that the only option to save my life was to remove my leg.

The bishop of our church called for the church members to join in a special fast and prayer for me. That night before my scheduled surgery, the doctor awoke with an idea to try and save my leg.

He called my parents and explained that he was moving my surgery from the first one to the last one. He put a tube in the thigh and and another in the calf and flushed it with a concoction of medications. He told my mother to watch my toes and if they turned any more purple to have the nurse call him and he would take me into surgery immediately.

The toes did not turn darker and over time, I was able to keep my leg. They did not expect it to be fully functional, however. I actually learned to walk with a cast on my leg. I was, of course, too young to know what this doctor did for me. My parents were not well off and I am pretty sure that the doctor did not receive much if any compensation.

Fast forward 15 years later and I’m a healthy young man, getting good grades and working in a restaurant, with my eye on college and a church mission. I was also racing motorcycles.

I sought out the doctor and made an appointment with him. He was older and nearing retirement. I introduced myself and asked if he remembered my case. He absolutely did. I thanked him for saving my leg and changing the course of my life. He was amazed at how fully functional my leg was.

When I told him that I even raced motorcycles as a hobby, he grinned and said, “Don’t go messing up my good work.”

I have always felt a bit of a responsibility to use my legs to work hard and serve others. I am now in my sixties, raised a good family, (all of whom ride dirt bikes, including some of the grandchildren) lived a wonderful, productive life. To this day, I think of this kind, caring doctor and do my best to not mess up his, and God’s, good work.

“I Just Came To The Realization Why I’m Single” | “That’s WHY Guys Don’t Want To Wife Me Up”

Have you ever had a client/patient who you knew was beyond helping? A patient old enough, who’d tried everything, to no avail? Have you ever known there was no hope for someone?

It is very rare when a patient enters an ER with generic complaints such as stomach pain, without ever realizing that something really bad is going on inside. This patient was such a case, in one of the worst peek-and-shriek disasters his surgeons had ever seen.

He entered the ER with severe abdominal pains, and he could not stop vomiting.

The first thing a doctor thinks in such a case is that this patient might be suffering from an intestinal infection such as gastroenteritis, or food poisoning, but this patient was having so much pain that he needed to be opened up as soon as possible

My girlfriend was still a trainee, and assisted the surgeon who would perform the operation which would not nearly last as long as they had expected.

Because what they found inside was a sentence — a classic “peek-and-shriek.”

The patient’s bowel was black and gangrenous (in other words: dead), and he was having a bowel infarction so severe, that he was beyond saving. So they closed him up again.

He died not much later, without ever waking up.

Why is change so hard?

My maternal grandfather was cheap.

So. So. Cheap.

He’s softened with age (95) but back then it was bad, really bad.

(And before I launch into this tirade, let me preface by saying he’s an amazing grandfather, who has done a long list of great things for us.)

But here we go:

In the brutal Florida summers, he barely let the air conditioning run, it was cool enough to suffice a desert scorpion.

As a kid, I remember opening my eyes in the middle of the night covered in sweat, sneaking quietly down the hallway, slowly turning the temperature down just a couple of degrees.

And as soon as that house changed temperature so much as a half a degree, it was like an internal alarm went off in grandpas mind, an inner voice that screamed, “Your money is all going away! Hurry!” and within 30 minutes the AC would be right back to 5000 degrees.

We’d take road trips and everyone would have to pile into one hotel room.

He designed a water heater outside that was a long weaving row of pipes that were painted black and heated up in the Florida sun naturally. (Clever, right?)

He kept the ovens outside to cook with to help keep the air conditioning bill down.

He hated it when my mom/grandma ran the hair dryers in the house because it used electricity and heated the house up.

We won’t even talk about what happened if you left the lights on or, god forbid, left a door open.

Go out to eat at a restaurant? Are you crazy?

It was a habit that frustrated family members over the years.

The obvious question was, why is this man so cheap?

It wasn’t like he didn’t have money. He was a PhD, working at NASA. Was it necessary to torture himself (and others)?

The thing that took me a long time to fully appreciate, was that it all stemmed from his childhood.

He grew up in abject poverty in the 1920’s/30’s, as many Americans did following the great depression.

He had 7 brothers and sisters, his father died at a young age, they had one lightbulb that hung from the living room. Luxuries were non-existent. They lived meal-to-meal, paycheck-to-paycheck.

They were known as the poor family. They were dirt, freaking, poor.

Growing up in that world set ‘Survival Mode’ to a permanent on-position. He spent much of his life with a subconscious fear, that a moments lapse in vigilance could bring the onset of poverty again.

But to his credit, he paid for the things in our life that truly mattered, like education.

And he was one of the only siblings in his family who sent money back to his poor mother, from his very first paycheck to the last day of her life.

My grandfather may remind you of someone in your life who frustrates you.

Just remember, changing these behaviors is easier said than done. They often originate from somewhere much deeper in that person’s life.

Have you ever stopped going to a restaurant because a waiter or waitress was rude to you?

There is a small family restaurant that I have been going to on and off for 10 years. After I moved I rarely went. Then when I moved back close by I tried to start going more.
The owner’s daughter is always working there and I have known her for 10 years. She used to hug me whenever I went there. There have been many complaints about her rudeness including online. I never really had a problem with her because there was always someone else working to keep her balanced. I have seen her have her moments with other people. The last time I went she was rude to me and acted like she didn’t know me. I haven’t and won’t go back because of it. I used to recommend the restaurant to others. Not anymore.

There is a real grease spoon in Orlando, Florida on West Colonial called Mr. Quick. That place has been around since the 1970’s and looks like it hasn’t been updated or cleaned since then. They are like Waffle House except cheaper and not as classy. When me and my husband first got together I took him there because Waffle House was too busy. The waitress approached our table and goes, “Watcha yall want.” like we were bothering her by waiting on us. She never refilled my husband’s coffee. Finally, he asked if he could have a refill. The waitress goes, “I guess” and sighs while getting the coffee. When he wanted another refill he waited and after not wanting to wait and deal with her again he went behind the counter and got his own refill. The waitress tells him you can’t go back there sir!
Obviously, we never went back. We still talk about it though.

What is the most jaw-dropping method for shoplifting that you have seen?

It wasn’t exactly shoplifting, but very similar. A guy was working for the Canadian mint. His job was to melt down gold from jewelry, coins and ore that the mint bought, and refine it, so it could be used to make gold coins.

When he had purified it to 99.9 percent, or so he used a ladle to scoop a load of gold out, about the size of a golf ball, and assay it , they called it a puck of gold. He was supposed to dump the puck back into the vat.

Instead they found Vaseline and rubber gloves in his locker. There were no cameras in the locker room or the refining room. He never admitted any wrong doing, so it’s all circumstancial evidence.

The scanners at the mint, were notorious for going off, for no reason, and then the guards would do a scan with hand wands, that weren’t powerful enough to detect something in a body cavity.

He sold 17 pucks, and had 4 more in his house when he was investigated. For a total of 21, but he set off the scanner 28 times. Which is why he thought he could get away with it.

He sold each puck to a gold buyer for between $7000–8000 and then took the check to the bank and transferred the money to Jamaica, to build a house. This way he stayed below the $10,000 limit, that would trigger an investigation.

The gold buyer never questioned where he got solid gold pucks from.

For the first 16 times the bank never questioned why he was sending so much money out of the country.

Then to make sure he wasn’t being scammed into sending money to someone fraudulently, the teller asked him about it. He had presented his government picture ID from the mint, as his ID, and then told her he was cashing checks from selling gold, and sending money to his parents to rebuild a house.

The teller wasn’t a dummy, a guy who works for the mint, is selling gold, and transferring the money out of the country.

She called the cops.

So he took molten gold, shaped it into a smooth puck, inserted it with Vaseline up his rectum, and conned his way past security.

Thats a jaw dropping form of sneaking something out of a business.

Man Of Steel | 1920 Universe | COLORIZED

What is an insane coincidence that you’ve experienced?

We went on a long driving trip this summer, starting in Vancouver and then through the US. As we went north, the first possible Alaska entry is Hyder, which is a bit off the normal route to Alcan and Alaska proper. While in this (VERY small) town, we stopped at a little wildlife viewing area and saw some beavers building a dam.

As we got back in the car, a large gray industrial-looking truck pulled up next to us, and a young man and woman got out. It had German license plates and two bikes on the back. I thought it was strange to see a truck with German plates in southern Alaska, especially what looked like a construction truck. I didn’t think much more about it. (Map is for context.)

About a week later, having driven through Skagway, Yukon, and then south to Wrangell-St Elias, to Denali, and Fairbanks (the point being that we drove a LONG way over about a week), we started driving the Dalton Highway up to Deadhorse. This is a route that rental companies won’t let you drive; you have to have your own car. The drive was 2 days north. After seeing the Arctic Ocean (this requires a tour and 24 hours notice, in case you ever think about going), we started back south through the Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range. Again, this is for context about how far we drove and how remote we were.

Pulling into a parking lot at the top of the pass we see… a large gray industrial-looking truck with German plates and two bikes on the back. Wow, we thought, that’s a coincidence. But it made sense that if you’re really going to make a trip and have the time to do it, the Dalton is a great journey. Still, seeing the truck again after such a distance was pretty cool. *Note: this is a very dangerous road that requires a solid vehicle and 1000 miles round trip of careful attention to the road. Worth the trip, but be warned.

We went south to Vancouver and stayed there for a week while we went to a wedding. Then we headed south to San Diego through all of the National Parks in California, then back north to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, through Utah, Colorado, back across Utah to Idaho and finally to Wyoming. (This was several thousand miles and several weeks. You might see where this is going.)

Driving through Yellowstone, now at least 5 weeks after leaving Deadhorse, I’m driving (slowly, there was a herd of bison) along the eastern part of the loop in Yellowstone…

…and we passed a large gray industrial-looking truck with German plates and two bikes on the back. What are the odds?

(I noted the distances not to brag or anything, but to show that we went on a very long drive across thousands of miles over many, many weeks, and saw the same unique truck three different times.)

You never know where life will take you. If you ever have the opportunity to really travel, don’t wait. We slept in the car to save on hotels, ate sandwiches that we made ourselves and did what we could to save money, but it was the trip of a lifetime.

And if you ever see a gray industrial-looking truck with German plates and two bikes on the back, wave hi to them for us!

What is the funniest joke you’ve been told that you still think about to this day?

I was working for a company called Alteon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boeing, which provided training on Boeing’s commercial aircraft — flight, maintenance, and cabin crew (a.k.a., flight attendants). One day the ‘device manager’ (the person in charge of the full-flight simulators) offered several of us time in one of the simulators. Of course, we all hopped on it!

During her stint as ‘pilot’, one of our group had a bit of difficulty with the ‘landing’; on the first pass, she came in too hot and fast, so the device manager aborted the landing, and had me (I was sitting in the ‘instructor’s’ seat, and had access to the simulator’s controls) reset the simulation.

On the second attempt, she came in hard; the simulater bounced twice, knocked the phone off its hook, and even threw me out of my seat! (I had neglected to fasten my seatbelt; hey, it was only a simulator, right?)

After the session, as we were heading back to our respective jobs, I asked the device manager, “On that one hard landing, in a real-world scenario, would we have walked away from it?”

He told me, “Oh, yeah. The device has a way of indicating a crash, and no crash was indicated. It may have blown a few tires, but that’s about all.” And then he told me this story:

“There was a pilot, for an airline I would rather not name, who once made just one of those strut-bottoming landings that could jar your tooth-fillings loose.

“He pulled up to the gate, and as per company policy, left the cockpit to bid the passengers goodbye.

“One passenger, a little old lady, walking with the aid of a a cane, shuffled up the aisle to the exit. When she got to the front of the plane, she fixed the pilot with a steely glare and asked him, ‘Young man, did you land this airplane…, or were we shot down?’”

It’s been nearly fifteen years, and I still laugh!

If an intruder was in your house, would you try to kill the intruder, or run the hell away out of your house?

You would most probably hide like this girl.

So, back in 2014, there was this crazy incident in Venice, California. Melora Rivera found herself face-to-face with a total intruder trying to break into her house. Talk about terrifying! But she didn’t panic. Nope, she jumped into action and made a daring escape by climbing onto her roof. And that’s when the infamous photo was taken.

Melora Rivera

Imagine this: the front door gets kicked in, and Rivera’s instincts kick into overdrive. She jumps out of bed, throws on a flannel shirt, and dials the cops on her cell phone. But get this, the intruder follows her onto the roof!

So here she is, on the roof, weighing her options. She quickly realizes that climbing down directly is not the smartest move because, well, it’s a long way down. With her safety at stake, she decides to wait anxiously for the police to come to the rescue.

And boy, did they. The police showed up in just two minutes, but when they arrived, they only saw Rivera on the roof. They were worried about who she really was. And Rivera, she was terrified that the intruder might accidentally end up where she was hiding.

AP Photo/Venice311.org, Alex Thompson

Thankfully, the Los Angeles Fire Department stepped in and saved the day. They used a ladder to safely get Rivera off the roof. Meanwhile, the police were able to convince the intruder, later identified as Christian Hicks, to surrender. He got slapped with burglary charges real quick.

But the craziest part? Rivera’s neighbors were there witnessing the whole thing go down. They whipped out their cell phones and snapped photos and videos from every angle. You’ve got Rivera huddling under an eave, phone to her ear, while the intruder lurks just above. And then there are the cops with guns drawn, ready to protect Rivera from any harm.

Talk about a wild day in Venice!

Scott Ritter: “Houthi’s have us beat.. We have played ourselves and will FAIL due to INCOMPETENCE!”

https://youtu.be/VIyu2-zCnFU

What is the worst thing a woman can say to her husband?

Once upon a time, in the quaint little town that could be any town, there lived a woman named Jane and her husband, Tom. Jane was known for her quick wit and a tongue that could be as sharp as a razor blade, especially when her patience was tested.

One day, after a particularly long and stressful week, Jane and Tom found themselves embroiled in one of those arguments that couples often have, about something so trivial neither could later remember what sparked it. The air in their cozy living room was thick with unspoken frustrations and the remnants of past disagreements.

As the argument escalated, Tom, red-faced and exasperated, blurted out, “Why can’t you just let this go?”

In that moment, Jane, with a cool and steady voice that belied the storm of emotions inside her, replied, “Because sometimes, dear, I wonder if I made a mistake marrying you.”

The room fell silent. The weight of those words hung in the air like a thick fog, and Jane immediately regretted them. It was as if time had stopped, and she could see the hurt in Tom’s eyes, a hurt that echoed a fear buried deep in his heart.

Though they made up later, and Jane apologized profusely, those words became like a tiny crack in the vase of their marriage. Invisible most days, but a reminder that some words, once spoken, can never be fully taken back. They both learned that in the tapestry of marriage, woven with threads of love, trust, and respect, it’s often the words left unsaid that hold the most power.

Has another parent ever gotten mad at you for saying ‘no’ to their child?

My police officer husband (he’s since retired) and his partner met me, our son and his partner’s wife and children at McDonald’s one night for dinner. Our kids were playing in the playland. My son was about 5 or 6 at the time. We heard my son crying and looked up to see another child had pinned my son in a chokehold as he was coming out of the slide and was punching him in the face.

I stood up and said “Excuse me. We do not play like that.” and sat back down and we continued to eat. Suddenly “BIG MAMA” came storming into the play area and started screaming at me for being a racist bitch. We are white; she and her children black. I simply explained what had happened and that I hadn’t said anything about race.

She continued to scream and cuss at me. My husband stood up and said “Ma’am, your son was belting our kid in the face.”. She started screaming at him then claiming he was a “racist pig” and that she wanted to see his supervisor. He had done nothing as a police officer.

We wound up leaving because she wouldn’t shut up. About 2 weeks later, we tried the play date/dinner again, but, walked in to find them there. She immediately stood up and we just left.

Police officers, what are some of the most interesting conversations you’ve had with the people you’ve arrested?

Many years ago we had a couple adult brothers who lived in a house in our town. We’ll call them Donald and Ronald. They liked to drink and they liked to play with guns. They had the combined IQ of a house plant, but Ronald was just a little brighter than Donald.

On TWO occasions (about a year apart) we had to evacuate the adjacent neighborhood because these two decided it would be fun to start shooting in the air from their open windows.

We had to treat these situations as barricaded subject calls. We could not assume they wouldn’t shoot at us.

So we established inner and outer perimeters and tried to make telephone contact with them.

On both occasions (after several hours of negotiations) we were able to get them to surrender without anybody getting hurt, but the second time was a little hairier than the first one. They had friends involved as guests and they added an extra unknown factor we had to deal with. It was also rumored that a child was in the house, but this turned out to be false.

The first time they were charged with various misdemeanors. Since we could not prove they caused any damage to homes or other property we were unable to secure more serious charges. The second time we could. Both times their guns were confiscated.

I was the negotiator who spent several hours on each occasion trying to get them to come outside so we could peacefully resolve the situation. By the second time, they were on a first name basis with me.

The second incident was treated a little less patiently than the first one. About 90 minutes after the shots from inside the house stopped, we did something we chose not to do on the first occasion: we cut off the electricity inside the house. Within a half hour of cutting the electricity they surrendered and were taken into custody.

I was in the station about an hour after they were taken into custody. One of the officers who was working on booking and charging the brothers came into my office and told me they wanted to speak to me in person, so I went back to the holding cell area.

Donald said, “Bruno, what the f***, man. You shut off our electricity?? You didn’t do that last time.”

I said, “You’re right, Donald. We didn’t do it last time. But this time you guys brought it to a new level, and so we brought it to a new level. Don’t do this again.”

“Well, what if we do??”

“Then we will turn off your oxygen.”

“You can do that???”

I just walked away.

Soon after this incident the brothers sold the house and moved out of town.

Can you explain the process of a U.S. company going public in China? Can you provide some examples of U.S. companies that have done this successfully?

Don’t worry you will soon know. But by bit China will take down the Wall Street. It has taken down GM and Ford, AIA and Apple, China has the most capital. China in time will have the most investor. China is far more responsible fiscally and monetarily than the U.S. what make you think U.S. start ups and giants don’t want to cash in there?

It is a matter of time. Now China starts the first salvo to answer to Donald Trump. He don’t want Chinese companies to be listed in NYSE, China says don’t worry. We won’t. China wants all Chinese companies to delist within a decade! Let us see who lose more!

What was the best way you’ve taken revenge on an awful parent?

It wasn’t me, but a very good friend of mine. Her mother was very abusive to her and her brothers throughout their childhoods. They all left home in their teens as soon as they were able to get their first jobs. After many years of no contact, the mother died and was cremated. Two years later, no one had come to collect the remains. The crematorium contacted all the children. The brothers refused to have any involvement. The crematorium staff made my friend feel so guilty, her and her husband drove 7 hours to the city where her mother had died to collect the ashes. On the drive home my friend started crying and said she didn’t want the ashes. She said they would just be a painful reminder of all the years of abuse. Without a word, the husband pulled the car over, grabbed the urn, walked down an embankment and threw the ashes into a river. My friend laughed and said she had never felt as loved as she did at that moment. The mother couldn’t swim and was terrified of water.

What is something almost no one says, but you’re sure everyone thinks?

“Please, dear God, don’t let it come down to another Biden/Trump face-off in the next election.”

Some of my liberal friends and family members, and liberal Quorans whom I follow and respect, have expressed how they think Biden is too old and wish that he would just bow out gracefully. I suspect that those who haven’t said as much have been thinking it.

Similarly, while I know that Trump seems to have good polling numbers amongst likely Republican primary voters, I don’t know any Republicans in real life who really like him. I know some who like his policies, particularly on border security, but those same people have expressed disdain for the man himself.

I’m hoping that, once people actually get a chance to vote in the primaries, the polls will be proven wrong about how much support Trump really has. Perhaps people are lying to the pollsters out of spite for the mainstream media. Or, maybe one of Trump’s competitors in the primary will gain momentum in the early primaries, and the “please, not Trump” Republican support will all go towards that one candidate, and it will be enough to make Trump not the nominee.

Most of my liberal friends and relatives didn’t support Biden in the last election, but they voted for him out of hatred for Trump. It doesn’t really matter how they vote, here in Illinois, since the Democrat always wins here, but I wonder if that hatred of Trump will be enough to get Biden elected again in states where there is a real competition.

I predict that, should it come down to Trump/Biden again, most people won’t be voting for either of them, so much as voting against the other person (by voting for the only other person on the ballot who can actually beat them). They will dutifully vote for Trump or Biden, while wishing they didn’t have to, then spend the next four years complaining about the exact things they were warned would happen should that person get elected.

Illinois primaries too late, and is too solidly blue, for my presidential vote to matter, so I’m off the hook as far as stressing over it too much. I’m just along for the ride.

But I think that almost anyone who isn’t Trump or Biden, who ends up as the nominee for the Republicans or Democrats, could easily win the election. Their presence on the ballot would be welcome news to voters from both parties.

I think that Nikki Haley, in particular, would have the easiest pathway to victory, should she end up the Republican nominee, particularly if she were running against Biden. The liberals in my life who go through life with demographic lenses clouding their views on everything would quietly support Haley, just because of her gender and race, and not for any party or policies she supported. That, plus the core Republican support the nominee will get anyway, would win Haley most of the swing states, I suspect.

Why is the Chinese government so much more effective in its policy making while Western countries take forever to make moves?

Decision making & Accountability

That’s it

Chinas policies are CRISP and their origin and implementation route is flawless

Everyone knows who proposed the policies and who implemented them

If a policy succeeds, the persons who implemented them get promotions and responsibility and the persons who proposed them get more traction within the CPC

If a policy fails, the persons who implemented them are if not punished, at least put in a doghouse and forgotten with their careers stagnating until a few of them are lucky enough to get a second chance

The persons who proposed the policies will also remain where they are and silently in the next Congress retire or go into insignificance

It’s a beautiful system running on RESULTS, RESULTS and always RESULTS

Take the floods of 2023

41 City officials faced the wrath for the City being flooded for 36 hours (Flooded means water reaching above 3 inches on Public Roads and 1 1/2 inches in Airports)

That is Accountability

They will be replaced and their careers will taper off.

Meanwhile this man, who planned ahead and saved at least 6% of Chinas crops from being destroyed and rather was responsible for a bumper crop

He will be rewarded suitably

---

Xi Jingping almost never makes policies

Those days for him are done

So are other members of the standing Committee

He now listens to his people, his advisors and asks them to handle things

If things go well, they get promotion and traction

Wang Yi handled his job beautifully and got rewarded with a Politburo appointment

Now he is the Top dog controlling all foreign policy within the Party

Zhao Lijian was perceived as not doing his job well enough

He was promoted but his new job has maybe 25% of the power he once held

It’s always results

If China gets over 5% GDP growth this year, that’s good for everyone and they did ok

If China manages more than that, that’s better than expected and there will be promotions

If China does worse, those officials will soon be forgotten and stagnate and deputed to insignificant errands

---

The Western Countries & other democracies like India don’t have such a flawless system

Here everyone rushes to take credit for success and everyone tries to blame others for failure

As a result a lot of mediocre people occupy exalted positions of power merely because of political maneuvering or influence rather than ability and talent

In China, 11 people in the Politburo & Central Committee are people who supported Li Keiqang over Xi Jingping in 2012

No issues

In US, would Biden hire Joseph D Kernan or Trey Gowdy or Brent Mcintosh?

Nopes

They are highly able Individuals but they will be ignored because of politics and because they were Trump appointments

Thus as usual every decision is laced with more than ability and merit and accountability

It’s essentially ONE PARTY MERITOCRACY VS DEMOCRACY.

China’s MILITARY PLAN To Bring US To Knees With A Click Of Button

What advice did another parent give your child that made you furious?

Oh. my. god.

So my six-year-olds father and I went to a dance competition that she was competing in. And there was obviously that one “dance mom” who has all the t-shirts and tote bags with the studio’s name on it and thinks their child is the best.

Anyway, my daughter finished her amazing solo and finished the group dance too. Let’s call this “dance mom” figure “Entitled Mom.”

So after all the dances came awards and my daughter won first place for solos in her division (yay!). EM’s daughter won eighth and she was NOT having it. She started screaming in the halls like: “THE JUDGES ARE SO BLIND!”, “MY DAUGHTER SHOULD BE IN FIRST NOT THAT KID (my kid)”, “I DIDNT KNOW THIS WAS A COMPETITION FOR JUDGES TO SHOW OFF HOW IDIOTIC THEY ARE!” etc.

And of course, some staff told her to calm down, blah blah blah.

Then the EM came up to my kid and put her finger in this tiny six-year-old’s face and said “You did not deserve this trophy. Go home and quit because I bet this was your first win only because the judges can’t see real talent.” And this *female dog* had the audacity to grab the trophy out of my kid’s hand and throw it across the room.

I went OFF. I took this lady bag and threw that across the room. Not my proudest moment but yeah I was pissed.

In the end, she literally told my daughter to quit and my kid went home instead of happy and proud of herself, crying her eyes out because of that lady. The studio that EM’s kid was representing sent me an email the next day apologizing and that EM was not allowed to attend any competitions that her kid was going to representing that studio. We also got a new trophy because when EM thew it the top broke into pieces.

So yep that’s my story, now my daughter is 11

What’s something you can’t believe you had to explain to another adult?

This happened to me about 20 years ago when I still lived in Alabama. I needed a little cash so I drove to the my bank to pick some up during business hours. This was quite a few years before any of our local banks had automated tellers.

I used the drive-thru where I wrote a personal check to “cash” for 50 dollars, if I remember correctly. I then gave the check and my identification, my passport as I had lost my drivers license a couple days before, to the teller.

The teller, let’s call her Charlotte, takes my passport looks at it and, over the intercom, says to me, as though very probably dealing with an idiot, “Sir, I’m gonna need a valid photo identification. I don’t even know what this here is.” (Imagine Dolly Parton doing a parody of her own southern accent).

I tried my best not to seem a condescending prick and replied “ That’s my passport issued by the United States Department of State. I can assure you that it is a valid form of photo identification. Just look at it. There’s a U.S. Flag and a picture of an bald eagle and everything.”

“Well, be that as it may I’m gonna need a drivers license or somethin’ otherwise I can’t give you no cash.” she insists.

“What you have there is most definitely SOMETHING. Perhaps you should confer with one of your colleagues or even a manager.” I suggest.

“Betty, can you come over here and look at this?” she asks of one of her colleagues. “This gentleman claims that this is A VALID PHOTO IDENTIFICATION. Do you even know what this is?”.

Betty looks at me and says “Sir, we’re gonna need a valid form of photo identification like a drivers license or somethin’.”

I give the classic 2 handed facepalm and, after a long suffering sigh, I say “It’s a passport. It’s issued by the United States Government to U.S. Citizens who generally use them to travel abroad and it is definitely a valid government issued photo ID.”

By this time a third teller, let’s call him Carl, is involved “I think it’s one of those things you use to go to foreign country or somethin’.” he says to Charlotte and Betty. He looks at me “Sir this is a bank. It ain’t no airport. We’re going to need a valid photo identification like a drivers license or somethin’.”

At this point I’m no longer trying to avoid being a condescending prick when I ask “Can one of you ignorant savages fetch a manager? Preferably one that’s traveled beyond the borders of the great state of Alabama.”

After a round of “Well I never’s!” Betty takes of in a huff to retrieve the bank manager. When he arrives Charlotte looks at me smugly and says “Bill, this gentleman wants withdraw cash but, he doesn’t have valid photo identification, he only has THIS!” and with this she presents Bill, the bank manager, with my passport.

Bill looks at me sheepishly and there is an audible click as the intercom shuts off. Because of this I didn’t here exactly what bill said to Charlotte, Betty, and Carl but judging from their body language and the way their eyes all drifted downward I would guess it was none to kind. Then a click as the intercom springs back to life and Bill says “Please allow me to apologize Mr. Estes I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen again. Would 2 twenty’s and a ten be o.k.?”.

Men do not want this

What is something you can’t have?

Fucking closure.

---

The last things we said were “Love you, man. Goodnight” before he had to go away for a month.

He came back and blocked my number, blocked me on social media, and effectively erased me from his life.

No warning.

No explanation.

No goodbye.

10+ years of friendship thrown in the trash.

---

It’s been 7 months, and I still don’t know why.

And I feel the loss in my chest and my body and deep in my bones.
Every fucking day of my life.

Not giving someone any sense of closure is one of the cruelest things you could do to another person.

I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

---

Edit to add:

It’s been 2 years now, and it still fucking hurts an unimaginable amount.

Highly irritated at everyone who has ever said “Time heals all wounds.”

No. It fucking. Does not.

---

Edit to add:

Coming in on 3 years soon, and the pain has dulled into what can best be described as a painful annoyance.

Perfect analogy?

Have you ever burned the ever-living-shit out of your arm or hand?
It hurts for so long.

Taking a hot shower is agony.
Putting on a shirt is a bitch.
Honestly, just touching it is awful.

Then it starts to scab over. It’s very sore still, but less excruciatingly so.
If you bump it on something, it’s rough. You’ll probably let out a loud yelp.
But it’s healing.

And then the scab begins to flake off. The pain is mild, but the itching is constant. If you poke it hard, it’s certainly not going to feel good, so you try not to poke it.

It’s a different kind of problem, and you really just wish you hadn’t burned yourself in the first place.

This is where I’m at now, three years later.

It’s mild pain, paired with utter annoyance.

And it’s leaving a hell of a scar.

---

Edit to Add:

It’s been 5 years now.

To my former Self: The wound is healed, my darling! And the scar is so very important. Thank you for honoring our pain with the attention it deserved.
To think! We could have become bitter and cold, but instead we are blossoming and warm and eager to learn again.

And to my original edit: No, you are right, time does not heal all wounds. It rebuilds YOU around them.

Closure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Growth, however? Utterly priceless.

She got wet

What are the implications of Moody’s downgrade of China’s debt outlook?

Moody is a western and U.S. rating agency. It works for the US government and owned by the neocons. What is says is bird poo. Looking or listening to Moody’s is no different from checking Jews status from a Nazi perspective!

This is the same agency that gives AAA rating to the U.S. economy! The one that could not increase the real standard of living since 1960. That is 60 years ago. Moody’s depend on their mood ! Or when their pay master tell them what to grade!

These are the agencies thss as t has to go in the new world order. One don’t get your cronies to rate you!

People who’ve built and slept in igloos, what’s it actually like?

Hat tip to Scott Welch – amazing answer.

As a recreational igloo builder, I can add:

• It’s a lot of work – I’ve built maybe a dozen, and it always takes 3–4 hours. I’ve built them in Sierra and Cascades snow, and it’s a huge amount of work to tramp down the snow, churning the layers of snowfall so there aren’t weak spots in your bricks…

• Cutting the bricks with an ice saw is neat – but the blocks (2′ x 1.5′ x 1′) are really heavy – that’s about 20 gallons of packed snow/ice, perhaps 30–50 pounds heavy.

• You build up in a spiral – so each block leans in a little more than the previous one, and each is supported by touching the corner of the previous block. You don’t try to build a solid structure – just a skeletal framework of blocks touching each other with triangular holes between.

• The last pieces are hard to place, since you have to lean over a somewhat unstable structure without tipping it in. If you aren’t diligent, it tends to be taller than a half-sphere, and then it’s nearly impossible to place the keystone block.
• When the frame is done, you fill the holes with packed snow, which makes the structure really solid and robust enough to climb up and stand atop.

• When the dome is done, then you can dig down and create an entrance tunnel. It’s important that the tunnel is lower than the sleeping platform, because otherwise the warm air trapped in the dome all just blows away.

• The entrance tunnel is going to be tight – the smaller the hole, the warmer the structure, and it’s a lot of work to make the tunnel big anyway. This is not a structure for the claustrophobic!

• From inside, you can really see the structure – the gaps between the blocks that you packed with snow are much less dense than the blocks.

• And at night, a flashlight really shines through the structure.

• You can build a lot of supplementary structures with ice-blocks to make comfortable camp. Be sure to plant skis and packs upright – the night after I took this picture, we had 3–4 feet of new snow, and only the tips of the skis were showing. This time, we didn’t have to go digging…. By the way, you keep your water bottles and boots inside your sleeping bag, otherwise they will likely freeze. Frozen boots are a serious problem if you are in the wilderness.

• Inside, you want to ventilate so the temperature stays a little below freezing – you don’t want it dripping on you. But it’s still much warmer than outside overnight. It’s also utterly silent. I’ve slept through some amazing storms without hearing a thing.
• And you need some really good sleeping pads – most of the cold comes up from the sleeping platform, not from the cold air. It’s worth spending some time to make sure the sleeping platform is totally flat and level, because ice is slippery, and if it’s not flat, you’ll spend all night sliding towards the tunnel and trying to scoot back, which isn’t very restful.

• Enjoy yourself!

Hoe math

Why did Kentucky Fried Chicken get so bad?

My blood type is KFC positive and even I am finding it hard to eat it these days.

On top of the product changing, most likely to make more money, the service has deteriorated terribly, at least the one closest to me.

Every time I would order they would get it wrong. It was so bad it was almost like they did it deliberately.

One day, about three years ago now, after having enough of being given the wrong food, I decided to go in to the store in person and complain.

Surprisingly, but not really given how bad this store is, there was a lady at the counter complaining about exactly the same things I was going to complain about. She even said, like me, she came down especially to make the complaint in person.

I could tell from the body language that the 12 year old store manager couldn’t care less.

Another time I went there at lunch time to buy chicken (Kentucky Fried Chicken – that is apparently what they sell!) but they had none! None! Literally no chicken but I could get a burger if I wanted. I guess you let a store be run by children and this is bound to happen.

As I walked out empty-handed, two police officers were walking in. I said to them, “Good! You’re here to arrest them for running out of chicken!?”

They asked me if the store was indeed out and so they turned around and left too but did say something along the lines of, “Yes we should be able to arrest them. How could KFC run out of chicken at lunchtime?”

My thoughts exactly! The Colonel would be turning in his bucket in disgust!

Ma Po Tofu (Ma Po Dofu)

A famous Szechuan recipe – the name Ma Po Tofu is roughly translated as “pockmarked grandmother bean curd,” named for the old woman who supposedly invented the dish.

Ingredients

Tofu

• 3 cakes regular tofu (medium firmness)
• 1/4 pound ground pork
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon salted black beans
• 1 tablespoon chili paste
• 3 tablespoons stock (chicken broth)
• 1 leek or 3 green onions
• Freshly ground Szechuan pepper

Marinade

• 1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce

Mixture

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Oil for stir-frying

Instructions

1. Mix marinade ingredients . Marinate pork for about 20 minutes.
2. Cut the bean curd into 1/2 inch (1 cm) square cubes, and blanch (drop into boiling water) for 2 – 3 minutes. Remove from boiling water and drain.
3. Chop leeks or green onions into short lengths.
4. Heat wok and add oil. When oil is ready, add the marinated pork. Stir-fry pork until the color darkens. Add salt and stir. Add the salted black beans. Mash the beans with a cooking ladle until they blend in well with the meat. Add the chili paste, then the stock, bean curd, and leek or green onions.
5. Turn down the heat. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes.
6. While cooking, mix cornstarch, water and soy sauce together. Add to wok and stir gently.
7. Serve with freshly ground Szechuan pepper.

What is the pettiest notice you’ve received from your Homeowners Association?

I left my trash can out 5 hours past when I was supposed to bring it in. I hadn’t brought it in because my arms were full of groceries and I had just returned from a full day of working. I was so burned out from work and shopping I didn’t even make it to my bedroom; I fell asleep on the couch. Next morning I get a call from the hoa saying that someone complained about the garbage cans being outside longer than allowed. I had literally brought the can in at 5 am so that it wouldn’t inconvenience people. Apparently that wasn’t good enough, and it had to have been in the night before. Even though it was the first time that I had left it out, they still fined me $200. I asked 1. How did they know the can was mine? 2. When was the complaint filed, since I had brought my can in at the crack of dawn. They refused to answer either of those questions.

Another incident with the SAME HOA really made my blood boil. They claimed my sweet wheaten terrier was terrorizing the neighborhood because he would like to look out of a second story window and occasionally bark at another dog passing by. Please note that this dog is 40 pounds and in no way shape or form, able to get out of the building with out human assistance. The hoa said that he was a threat to the neighborhood and well over 40 pounds, the weight limit that they imposed for dogs. I told them that he was exactly 40 pounds, and showed vet records to prove it, and that even if he barks at a dog passing by, humans can’t hear it from the street because the windows are closed! Hoa didn’t care. Fined me $400 and said for every new complaint they would double it. They’ve doubled it 3 times. No proof of my dog harassing anyone. Just their word versus mine. The hoa literally gave me the choice of debarking my dog or putting a bark collar on him; both of which are cruel. My immediate neighbors have no problem with him barking if they ring a doorbell or knock on the door because that’s what watch dogs do, so I’m honestly not sure who is filing complaints against me. Once I save up enough for a new place, I will never be in a hoa again.

As a Realtor what is the messiest thing you ever saw in a home?

Not a Realtor but a home inspector for mortgage companies. Went to inspect a mobile home that was in process of being repossessed. House was supposed to be empty. my job was to take pics, insure elec and water was off, house was vacant and there was a clear path for the truck to remove the house the following week. When i got here, the home was not vacant. Living in the home was a woman and her 4 hogs. yes, hogs, giant filthy hogs. The walls were literally black about 3 feet up the walls. the floors were inches thick in hog poop. The bathtub was FULL of dog/hog poop. The house was only 2 years old! this woman was sleeping in a recliner chair in the middle of her living room. There was also a multitude of dogs. She started crying and said she had to move to the hog pen in her back yard if we took the house. She dragged her chair outside and called her hogs and dogs and went into the back yard. When i stepped back there to take pics of the back of the house i could see her in a 3 sided shack, in her recliner. I had to take many pics and after every room i would run outside and take breaths of fresh air. The stench was overpowering. When I was done and went back to my car, where my husband was waiting, as he had “rode along” , I took off my shoes and threw them in the trash and then got in the car. We got about 1/4 mile and husband make me pull over and take off my clothes. he gave me his shirt to drive in and we threw away my clothes too. I reported to the company that the house was unrenewable and they should just write it off and let her keep it. I dont know what they actually did.

Can you tell me about a time that you sued someone in civil court and won?

I got a letter in the post from a private parking company telling me I had overstayed by 10 minutes. They wanted £60, or £100 if I didn’t pay immediately.

Where I live, only the driver is liable for private parking charges, and I was at the dentist elsewhere at the time, so I appealed to the parking company telling them I was not the driver and could not have been because I had an appointment somewhere else at the time.

I heard nothing for a while so thought that was it, but then suddenly I got a demand for £100. I wrote saying that I had appealed already, restating my case. They told me they had no record of my appeal, and that now I was too late to appeal, so I owed £100.

I wrote to them following their complaints procedure, stating they had lost my appeal, and restating my case. They replied, “tough luck”. I wrote asking if that was the end of their complaints procedure. They replied I was out of time to appeal.

Letters now started coming thick and fast from them. The charge somehow escalated to £180, and the letters got quite aggressive, talking about court action, credit ratings and supreme court verdicts about parking. To be honest, they were quite stressful.

I put them on notice that the letters were causing me stress, and that under the data protection act I had the right for my personal data to be stored correctly. The particular item I wished to be stored correctly was that I was not the driver. Additionally, my data could only be used for appropriate purposes, and as I was not the driver, pursuing me for a parking charge was no longer an appropriate purpose now I had appraised them of the facts.

Letters continued.

The statute of limitations for parking charges is six years, and I had no desire to keep getting stressful letters for this time. Only one course of action seemed appropriate, so I filed a claim against them for data protection violations.

I asked for £200.

They paid up in full before the court hearing.

What kind of people make you ashamed to be a human being?

My distant cousin was marrying this girl. The girl’s family were investing a huge sum. But days before final confirmation, the girl calls him and reveals what her parents were hiding.

She fearlessly discloses, she was having neurological problems since she met with a car accident as there was a bleeding in her brain at that time.

That really hurt my cousin(Deepak, name changed). But as much as he wanted to get away, her honesty only polarised him in the direction his mind definitely didn’t.

It was a conundrum that the girl, though through arrange-marriage only, but he had started loving, should he leave her because she told the truth. If she wouldn’t have, then he would have surely married her.

He thought what kind of justice it would be. Marry the untrue but ditch the true. He consulted doctors and got a positive reply that her condition could be well tackled.

He calls her and says, whatever happens, we face it together. I’ll marry you and always be by your side. He got the reply which distorted him from within into the fragments he could never reassemble.

The girl said, “Don’t you get it idiot, I have a boyfriend, my parents are irritating me. I don’t want to be a disobedient girl in their world. Just say No and let me marry my lover.”

How long should China’s lockdown last? What are the consequences if not enough time is given?

China did it just right.

First China locked down very strictly as China like all nation do not enough is known about Covid -19 yet and no known cure or prevention is yet to be available.I believed the Chinese authorities saves at least 10 million deaths if not for their timely and strong actions.

Next while the U.S. and many western nations were bickering and could not lock down like China after condemning China on the so call “draconian” measures. And as a result the infections extrapolate hundreds of fold compared to China. So while China opened up strategically to use the time to overtook the west in many technological fields while the west were finally forced into lock down due to huge deaths!

So while the Chinese work and progress the western nation were paralyse. Chinese vaccines were more effective than the western ones. And it has less side effect. The rapid and effective vaccination of 1.4 billion probably save a hundred million infections and millions of life.

China being responsible and careful watch, study and understand that the latest strains of Covid had become a weak strain that it is time for China to eased up. That they did after being sure that opening up fully will mean full infections. And indeed that happened but without deaths and long infections.

To me and to the world China handled the Covid pandemic the most effectively and most successfully of all nations. To me the western so call liberal democracy failed phenomenally. And while the west were selfishly profiteering from the vaccine, China spread their goodwill and share its vaccine throughout the world.

Now that the dust has by and large settled, on the Covid-19 pandemic. China passed the severe test admirably and extremely successful proving that Chinese political system of socialism with Chinese characteristics won the day. All in all it lost 0.5% of what the U.S. lost in life due to Covid-19 the U.S. based on per million citizens.

Final result U.S. with only 330 million population lose 1,190,000 life while Chin with 1.4 billion population lose less than 6000 life! During the 3 years of Covid-19 ravage from 2020–2022 China grew close to 4 times the U.S. growth! Meanwhile the U.S. life expectancy felled below China for the first time in 2021 and by end of the 2022 Chinese people on average out live the US by 2 full years!

For me the Chinese did just right. Compared to the U.S. that handled it worst that many 3rd world nation.

If you’re fired, do you have to return your company car immediately?

Interesting. I had a good friend who had a good sales job. He was a good earner for the company and a stellar employer. He had two children, and of course needed the job to support his family. He worked hard and was a nice guy. He had a company car due to the fact that he drove a lot.

One day he got called into the office and was fired. I can’t remember why, but it was a stupid reason. Somehow the new company CEO just didn’t like him and found some bogus reason to get rid of him. I spoke to a few of his company friends later, and they all agreed, he was a great employer and in no way did he deserve to be fired. They told him to clear out his desk and leave, and turn in the keys for his company car. He cleaned out his desk, and politely told them, his car was parked on the street, so he would bring it directly to the front door for them.

He certainly did. He got the car from the street, drove it into the parking lot, and right through the front doors of the company. Completely destroyed the foyer, front entrance, and the car. Then he calmly got out of the car, and said, “Sorry about that everyone, I must have hit the gas by accident.”

Probably cost $200,000 damage. Police arrived and interviewed him. He was apologetic, and explained his shoe got caught on the brake pedal, holding the gas down.

The police didn’t charge him. He was on private property, so it wasn’t an accident on a public roadway.

Here’s the funny thing. The new CEO had decided to start saving money, and ignored calls from his building insurance company. There was no policy to cover the damage.

My friend got a new job rather quickly and got on with his life. He became a legend.

What is something the West always gets wrong about Chinese culture?

Hi!

My name is Clara and I have studied and lived in Ningbo for several months. I was an exchange student of University of Nottingham Ningbo and learned a lot of things about China and its people.

In my opinion, there are many things that we have gotten wrong about China. However, I am speaking in my position of spanish woman. I feel like maybe other countries who have a higher rate of ethnicities inside their country can have other points of view. At least, in my country there were many stereotypes among chinese minorities. This is because the only treatment most of them have with chinese people is getting a spring roll in a Chinese restaurant or buying a toy in a chinese owned store. So the only thing known about China is through media. And often media is full of stereotypes and mockery. While countries like Japan and Korea have been lately in the fancy spot, due to their pop culture in general. Chinese is not as keen on exporting its products, even though it’s getting more recognition lately. So people don’t tend to glamourize China and see it as a “developing country” packed with many people and a place to adopt children

After spending some time in China and learning more about its culture and experiencing things with my own eyes, coming back home and hearing those comments that I found even funny before, make me sick and now with the pandemic going on is even more disgusting. “Chinese people are poor” “Chinese Woman must be very unhappy” “They eat everything that moves” “C’mon pose like a chinese” “How was China? I can’t believe you traveled around it must be very dangerous” “Have you dated any chinese? They have small dick, haha” “I don’t have any problems with dating other races but I just don’t like chinese people” and the list goes on. Specially, they tend to considerate everything that is asian related as chinese. Geishas are chinese, K-pop is chinese singers, Anime is chinese cartoons and the list goes on

I have already given up in correcting people’s racism. I am still dealing with mine and some people are simply not willing to change. I have tried to explain to some people that China is far more advanced than Spain. People use things more smartly in all of the levels, from paying to even designing potatoes packages. I have tried to explain that chinese people are always willing to help and chinese younger generations are open to dialogue. I tried to tell them that even my chinese female friends stand in more or less the same social ideals as I have. I have meet straight people, bisexual people, gay people, religious people, atheist people, and so on in China. Each one has it’s own opinions and perspective on life. Nobody is brainwashed. I have also explained that I have never seen bats on a street market or anything similar and that holding back your eyes to mock asian eyes is very racist. I have also tried to explain that China is a very safe place and people are very peaceful and mind their business. And the other racist things such as “I just don’t like chinese people”, I just replied with “Well, I don’t like you either and here we are”.

Star Trek: The Silent Skies | COLORIZED & EXTENDED