It was 1972 and my mother burned her bra.
All the mothers in the town was doing it. It was supposed to be liberating. At the time it made no sense to me. I couldn’t understand what was going on. I just didn’t know.
Dad didn’t like it.
That was for sure. And he explained it to me that “Your mother is going through a phase”.
…
Three Years Later…
…
In 1975, my parents split up.
On the surface, it was because of work reasons, and my mother and dad went separate ways. Ah, many contributors were involved certainly. But looking back in hindsight…
…I cannot help but think that the destruction of our family, while I was a early teenager, was set in motion by the woman’s feminist movement that set “the ball rolling”.
Listen up!
We have to pay attention to what is going on around us. If we do not, the potential for catastrophic events becomes exponential.
Today…
What kind of problems would Chinese tanks face while invading Taiwan? Would they be similar to Russian tank losses in Ukraine?
Finding a use for them. No really, why would we use tanks? You westerners and your WW2 mentality.
In 2021 there were 600,000 privately registered drones, there’s many more, I have several unregistered drones, I don’t fly them so they don’t need registration. Chinese companies pioneered drone displays of thousands of drones…
There’s airborne drone food delivery in Shenzhen now.
There are fire drones used to clean powerlines
In statista 5 million drones of various types were exported in 2020 and this increased to 7 million in 2021. That doesn’t even consider domestic use and purchases.
The darker side of girls
What should you do if a stranger knocks on your front door at 2AM?
A fella knocked on my door at midnight in mid-town Houston on a Saturday. Middle-aged well-dressed white guy. His impeccable $75,000 black Ford top-of-the-line diesel pickup was idling in my driveway.
I was not concerned at all about opening the door, because I stopped to put a .38 Smith with a 2″ barrel in the back pocket of my jeans and my well-trained 80-pound black Labrador was sitting next to me looking at this guy with great curiosity.
Me: “Hey there! What’s up?” Walter the Lab wags his tail and watches.
Guy: “Hi neighbor! I live right over there (spins his arm 360 degrees) and I have a big problem! My car broke down and my wife isn’t home. I had a tow truck bring me to the house, but I can’t get in because I forgot my keys, and can’t get to my money to pay him! Can I borrow $80 until tomorrow?
“Otherwise he’s going to tow my truck to impound and it’s going to cost me $300. Can you help a neighbor out? I’m for real! Look! I have a Rolex on my wrist and a $1200 laptop in my truck!”
Those of you who own Labradors know that they are the most human of dogs, and can communicate with just a glance.
Walter’s eyes are saying: “Pop! This creepy bastard has no pupils! I think he’s a drug-money seeking asshole!”
I sigh, because this dog is great, but he has an irritating habit of eye-stating the obvious. Jeez!
I’m not going to say, as my dog would: “There is no wrecker. Your truck is running. You have your keys.”
Instead, I say: “Glad to help! I have a $100 bill. Give me the laptop. Leave the truck keys, pay the wrecker, and just come back tomorrow and bring me back the C-note and pick up your truck and computer!”
The guy looks at me. Moments pass. He says: “The wrecker guy ain’t got no change. I’ll try another neighbor.”
And he was gone.
Damn dog treats me like an idiot.
Greek Chicken and Rice (Kotta Pilafi)
Ingredients
- 6 chicken breasts (about 3 pounds)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 medium onion chopped fine
- 1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- Dairy sour cream for garnish
Instructions
- Sauté chicken breasts in butter until golden brown. Add onion, tomato, water, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add rice and stir to mix evenly. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes longer or until the rice is tender. Add more water if necessary.
- Serve with a bowl of sour cream to be spooned over the rice.
Serves 6.
Additions called in from Bessie: Use one whole broiler (3 pounds) cut up into pieces. Sauté in 1/4 cup olive oil (not butter). Use 3 cups boiling water with the rice instead of 2 cups (you won’t have to add water later this way).
Second passports
Have you ever come back to your vehicle only to find something quite unexpected?
Many years ago I parked my car in an underground car park when I went to see my girlfriend.
After a few hours I went to leave and as I was walking towards my car and as I got to about 30 to 40 yards from it I heard my car door shut (my car moved so I knew it was mine) and this person jumped up and started running carrying a large bag.
I yelled at him to stop, give back anything he stole and I will not call the police but he ignored me.
As he had the jump on me, I hoped into my car and took off after him.
He managed to get to the stair well before me, but only just.
So I jumped out of the car and with the help of what I can only call an angry adrenaline release, he only managed to get about 20 yards past the exit and I gave him my best attempt at a body slam tackle and flattened him.
He was unlucky enough to have me land on top of him which left him badly winded.
As I sat on him, I opened the bag he was carrying and it contained my stereo and a pile of other things out of my car, plus some other stereos and stuff.
This was before the time of cell phones, fortunately 4 passerby’s had come over to find out what was going on and as soon as I told them he was stealing stuff from the cars, one went to the nearest appartments and managed to ring the police while the others stayed with me.
The police were there within minutes and they happily took the person away including all the stolen items.
Then I went down to the police station, made out a statement with the police and retrieved my stolen items after the police had recorded them.
I went back to my girlfriends to make out some signs to put into the carpark to let others know what had happened and where to retrieve their stolen stuff.
Turned out there had been car breakins going on for several months in the area and he was charged with them (fingerprints confirmed it was him).
Didn’t need to go to court as he pled guilty, but he was forced to pay me for the damage to my dash and door lock and refitting the stereo.
That was one of those really great memories for it is not often you can actually catch the person doing this sort of thing.
Political DANGERS of Chat GBT
Must watch.
Will China go to war over Taiwan, or just say a few strong words?
Yes.
Taiwan is a region of China. China owns it.
- The Chinese say so.
- The Taiwanese say so.
- The United States says so also.
So…
If the United States goes full-on stupid and tries to conduct a war “over” Taiwan for one excuse or the other… then KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE. The world will experience full on thermonuclear war. We are all gonna die.
…
China will go “light-switch”.
One day there is New York city, the next day, it is flat radioactive glass.
…
And you just cannot blame them. I mean if the PLA is marching inside Philadelphia… bombing and blowing up the bridges of San Francisco… or Chicago reduced to cinders…
…wouldn’t the United States start lobbing nuclear missiles also?
…
Let’s keep things real. The United States says one thing, but does something else. It’s like a petulant child that keeps on pushing the boundaries, and then one day gets hit by a Mac Truck barrelling down the highway.
The United States is a slow motion train wreck… and soon it will die.
But will it die over Taiwan?
…
Death by cop.
…
Perhaps.
Commentary on a Few Lavrov Points Being Argued at MoA
I composed the following to address several objections raised to Lavrov’s End of Year Presser provided in the previous article by those at the Moon of Alabama blog that can be found on this thread. Those wanting to read about China’s Initiative mentioned below can find in several pages back in the Gym’s archives, same with Wang Yi’s 9 January speech. Other points presented I’ve written about many times over the years, the outlaw nature of the USA was formulated in the mid-1980s, although I don’t claim originality. Of course, knowing the entire context behind the complaints and my writing is crucial. Those few readers who’ve read everything at the Gym will have the greatest understanding. I should also use this opportunity to suggest readers to sometime soon read/watch Dr. Hudson’s latest interview on the Big Picture as well as his almost as recent interview with an Indian organization on Neoliberalism/”Perfecting Imperialism”.
When a law is passed, it’s either obeyed or violated. The UN Charter is a corpus of laws that was signed and ratified by all nations wanting to become UN members–one must be done for the other to occur. Once a nation agrees to obey a law it becomes an outlaw if it disobeys. As documented many times here and elsewhere, at the moment the UN Charter attained its legal status, the USA and many other Western signatories were already violating the law and thus became outlaws. An Outlaw remains an Outlaw until it’s brought to justice and as part of its penalty says it will refrain from breaking the law again. Since all those outlaw nations have yet to face justice for their actions, they remain outlaws. It’s really that simple. When the history of the making of the UN Charter is studied, it becomes very clear that the Four Freedoms are at the base of it and are within both the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Part of my Big Picture argument is that WW2 never really ended as the fixtures that were to provide for a lasting peace were never attained: Denazification of Europe was prevented by the USA, UK and France, meaning they immediately broke the covenant by which they were rewarded with permanent UNSC seats and vetoes. Thus, the three main Plundering nations immediately gained outlaw status by November 1945, and have retained that status ever since.
The Global Majority Movement aims to right the wrongs that emerged in November 1945, the primary document being China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), which is essentially a restatement of the UN Charter specifying no hegemonic nations will be allowed to join. If such nations are to exist, they will exist outside the primary global organization and will remain outlaws since they choose to be outside the laws of nations. Such a reorganization of the UN will eliminate the “privatization” of its global agencies by the hegemonic outlaws that’s impeding their ability to do good and exacerbating the potential for them to do ill, like the subversion happening at the World Health Organization. Of course, the reorganization won’t be perfect–there’ll always be problems with governance no matter what, which is Putin’s mantra, the point being to accept that fact and continue to strive for excellence. Wang Yi in his New Year’s speech on 9 January said it’s China’s goal to make the GSI a reality this year as a supermajority of the world’s nations have already said they will join.
The League of Nations failed for a number of reasons. The UN is failing because it’s held hostage by outlaws. Humanity needs an organization global in breadth that helps Humanity organize to advance its wellbeing while solving problems affecting the global community, a fact differing little from the visions expressed by many in 1944. The reformed UN will immediately be improved since it’s no longer held hostage, and the Security Council will be reformulated to exist without the veto since there’re no hegemonic members requiring it to protect themselves from justice.
Humanity is on the cusp of evolving beyond armed conflict to solve problems. Universal moral values have advanced for that goal to be possible, but to-date the hegemonic outlaw nations impede that progress. It appears the best way to change their behavior is to relegate them to the Out Group until they prove their behavior’s changed and they’ve atoned for their outlaw past. Yes, the outlaw nations will yell and squeal, stomp their feet, pull their hair, and propose all sorts of threats that prove exactly what they are and why they need to sit in the corner and think about their actions like the small children they show themselves to be. Yes, it will probably take a generation or so (20 years) for them to figure it out–they’ve been serial outlaws for almost 80 years and even longer before that, so their ways are habitual.
The job is to formulate the future so Humanity cannot just survive but thrive. The past can and will be argued about endlessly, which is a given. But enough about the past is agreed upon so the future can be formulated and constructed. It’s time to take a big step outside the box to do what must be done. As was once said: Lead, follow or get out of the way.
A reflection on our economy
The View From China
A major requirement of conducting effective foreign policy is to understand the viewpoint of your main competitors, something that the Western elites have shown increasingly less able to do. There are exceptions, such as Stephen Cohen, but these are rapidly sidelined. More recently, John Mearsheimer has shown some ability to understand the Russian point of view with respect ton the Ukrainian conflict. In this essay, I try to place myself in the shoes of the Chinese leadership. I will do the same for Russia and Iran in future pieces.
China Gains More Strength Every Year
China is the manufacturing power house of the world and is focused on dominating the leading technology sectors the way that the US dominated them previously; this technology leadership is one of the remaining tenets of US power. In early 2023, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute placed China in the lead in 37 of the 44 critical technology areas that it tracks. The US was the leader in the remaining 7, with a large gap between China and the US and any other nations; Europe is nowhere.
In late 2023 the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) confirmed this, seeing China leading in 7 out of 10 of the industries within its Hamilton Index; computers and electronics; chemicals; machinery and equipment; motor vehicles; basic metals; fabricated metals; and electrical equipment. The US lead in only IT and information services, other transportation and pharmaceuticals. The share of Chinese production in these 10 industries nearly doubled from 2008 to 2020, from 12.9% to 23.9%, while the US improved a bit from 19.3% to 21.5%; with US gains predominantly due to the IT and information services area. Chinese industry is 70% more focused than the US in advanced industries. The ITIF report notes that:
For the United States, losing this race, either because policymakers are indifferent to the country’s industrial structure or because they choose to focus on other economic or societal goals, would be catastrophic, as it would turn the United States into a deindustrialized, United Kingdom-like economy. Time is short. The 2020s are likely to be the decisive decade in which to turn around U.S. advanced industry fortunes, because once China gains sufficient global market share, allied and U.S. production risks being permanently weakened.
The Chinese leadership very much understands this, and this is the core area of the real economic war between the West and China. From 1995 to 2020, Japan’s production share of advanced industries collapsed and is now only about 7.5% and falling, Germany’s share fell from a lower start level to about 7% and continues to fall. In the same period, the UK, France and Italy have all fallen to shares well under 5%. Japan and Europe are an advanced technology backwater, and becoming more so. With the huge investment mistakes of the Japanese car industry with respect to electric vehicles, Japan’s fall may even accelerate in the next decade.
Chinese GDP, and GDP per capita, growth continues to far outpace the West with continued growth of 5% or more per year. This creates strong Party-state legitimacy as the Chinese people see their lives improve year over year, at a pace that still doubles incomes every 14 years. Chinese GDP at PPP in 2023 was 32.9 US$ trillion, compared to 26.95 for the US, 6.49 for Japan, 5.54 for Germany, 3.87 for the UK and the same for France, 3.05 for Italy, and 2.8 for South Korea. At current relative growth rates, Chinese GDP will be pretty much equal to all of those other Western nations within a decade, while its GDP per capita at PPP will have grown from US$23,309 to US$37,968; about the same level that the Greeks currently enjoy.
With rising incomes, and industries rapidly moving up the technology curve, China will be able to offshore more and more of the simpler production steps while keeping the higher technology ones to itself; greatly increasing the level of integration of the ASEAN nations, and quite possibly North Korea. China’s neighbourhood will become more and more integrated with it, while Japan may shrink in both relative and absolute terms. China will also be capable of transacting more and more of its trade in Yuan rather than US dollars.
China has a massive population of 1.4 billion, which started to decline in 2022; with a median age of 39. Between 2020 and 2040 however, the Chinese labour force will only fall by 8%, a decrease which pales when compared to the probable increase in per capita GDP. China also has a strange income structure where the much better educated younger workers 25-34 have the highest incomes, and income falls rapidly in older age groups. This will facilitate large increases in older age groups over time, as the much higher levels of education move their way up the age curve. Chinese GDP per capita can also increase very substantially before it starts to reach Western levels. Demographics may pose an issue after 2050, but not before then.
The rapid move to electric vehicles will also start to cut into oil demand, reducing a Chinese dependence upon imported oil that currently stands at over 10 million barrels per day. As those imports fall, the share of Russian and Central Asian imports will rise, as will the share of domestic production (4 Mbpd). The amount of time that China’s large strategic oil reserve will last during a crisis will also steadily increase.
China has kept military spending at 2% of GDP, but as the economy keeps growing so does military expenditures. China’s expenditures are significantly more efficient and effective as those of the US as they are only focused on the defence of China and its environs, rather than on global hegemony. There also seems to be much less graft and profiteering in China’s MIC (Military Industrial Complex) than that of the privatized US one. In addition, China’s great advantages in manufacturing give its MIC a significant advantage over that of the US. China is in the position of the US in the 1980s, with a rapidly growing economy facilitating ongoing increases in military spending. The US is in the position of the Soviet Union, with a slow growing economy that will require the MIC to take up an increasing share of GDP to keep pace with China. A dynamic that can only reduce further the dynamism of the US economy with respect to China’s.
The US Loses Strength Every Year
The US main allies, the EU, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are not well placed when it comes to leading technology sectors, drivers of growth and even demographics. Its hemisphere is also one full of lower growth economies with few technology leaders, in fact South America has significantly de-industrialized over the past few decades.
In the leading technology sectors the US may have gained a little against the rest of the world, and may pick up some of the energy-intensive European manufacturing operations, but has been overtaken by China and is falling further behind each year. The contrasting performance of the Chinese and US car industries in moving to electric vehicles is just one example of this dynamic, with Chinese car exports surging while US manufacturers (excluding Tesla) become more and more dependant on the US market.
Over the past three decades the US has expanded colossal amounts of money on foreign military adventures, at a cost of over US$6 trillion, with little to show in return. At the same time the US economy has become increasingly dominated by monopolies, oligopolies and the financial sector; the rentier sector of the economy has expanded greatly while manufacturing has been diminished. The US, including its bloated, profiteering, and dysfunctional MIC, is very dependent upon imported parts, including those from China and from other nations that utilize Chinese components. At the same time, the US maintains a massively expensive global network of bases and naval battle fleets.
In great contrast to the average Chinese person, the average American has seen their incomes at best wallow at the same level for decades as all economic gains are concentrated at the very peak of the income distribution. This has been exacerbated by the inflation spurt of the past few years, and now also rising interest rates. With a couple of decades of cheap money creating a mountain of debt, much incurred by working people in an attempt to maintain consumption patterns. Trust in societal institutions is at an all time low, and the “Trump vs the Rest” elite civil war has increasingly exposed the inner working of the elites to the population; tanking trust and legitimacy levels even more. A further wedge has been driven into the political scene with the issue of US support for the Zionist genocide. The year 2024 promises to be one of increasing political chaos and upheaval, with 2025 probably no better. It may well be into 2026 before any domestic stability and foreign policy focus can be regained. There is also still the possibility of a deep recession.
The US population is 335 million, which is slowly growing due to significant immigration offsetting a record low birth rate and an increasing death rate. Average life expectancy has been declining since 2014 due to increases in drug overdoses, liver disease and suicides. Trends reminiscent of the Russian experience in the 1990s; deaths of despair due to working class immiseration made worse by a rapacious profiteering health care sector. The mishandling of the COVID pandemic has added to this declining trend. The younger US population is increasingly overweight, unfit and poorly educated as shown by the falling percentage that would meet the military recruitment requirements. Only 23% of Americans aged 17 to 24 are eligible to join without being granted a waiver, down from 29% in recent years. Increasing disillusionment with US institutions, and low pay, has also lead to less and less younger people wanting to serve. The US position on the Gaza genocide is opposed by a majority of younger US citizens, which may serve to increase the disaffection with military careers even more. The physical quality of those that do leaves much to be desired:
They have to teach them how to run, and they’ve had issues with bone density to the point that, when they do run them, they’ve ended up breaking a leg or worse, a hip,” the former official said. “I’ve even heard in some cases they’re putting them on diets of Ensure — you know, the stuff for old [people] like me — in order to build that bone density.
The US role in the seizing of Russia’s central bank foreign assets, and the cutting off of Russia from SWIFT, has accelerated the move to trading in local currency pairs instead of via the US$. Its inability to corral more than its Western vassals into a coalition of the willing against Russia has seriously damaged its soft power position. The more recent embroilment in the Zionist genocide has done significantly further damage to that soft power, in contrast to a China that has maintained a carefully balanced approach. If the US drags itself further into the Middle Eastern quagmire, in addition to the Ukrainian one, the “pivot to Asia” will be put off for yet more years.
Europe Is Losing Its Relevance
With the cessation of cheap fossil fuel imports from Russia, Europe is no longer competitive in energy-intensive manufacturing and plants will tend to move to other nations with lower energy costs. Interesting that the CEO of Solvay, a Belgian chemical company never mentions the loss of cheap Russian natural gas as a challenge; instead she blames too much government red tape and not enough subsidies, staying on message at the World Economic Forum:
DW manages to cover every possible determinant for German deindustrialization, except for the self-harming Russia sanctions. The higher energy prices are mentioned, but not that they could be reversed simply by cancelling the sanctions. That option cannot be discussed within acceptable German political discourse; i.e. outside the AfD. Neither of course, the true purveyors of the terrorist attack upon Nordstream 2.
In addition, Europe’s inability to gain a strong position in the leading technology sectors places it at risk of being out-competed by other nations moving up the technology curve. The tendency toward fiscal austerity, together with the ongoing costs of supporting Ukraine and increased military expenditures, hamstring any attempts to fund a fulsome industrial upgrading strategy. The centrally important car industry, which supports so many other sectors of the economy, is deeply challenged. It faces the annihilation of its sales in China, which provide up to 50% of the profitability of the major producers, and faces increasing Chinese (and Tesla) competition at home.
With the tendency toward fiscal austerity, the large indebtedness of a number of nations (e.g. Italy, Greece), and the lack of drivers of economic growth, the probability is for a continuation of the low to no growth of the 2010s with the possibility of a significant financial crisis. The US-driven decoupling from China, e.g. the Italian exit from the Belt and Road Initiative, will only add to the low growth path. Any moves to confiscate Russian foreign exchange reserves that are predominantly held in European banks may also have negative growth impacts.
The European Union as a whole has a population of 450 million people. The major nations are Germany (84 million), UK (67 million), France (64 million), Italy (59 million), Spain (47 million) and Poland (38 million), and they comprise the majority of the population (359 million). The population is in a small accelerating decline in Germany and Poland (started in 2018), and to a greater extent in Italy (started in 2016), while stable in France and Spain and growing quite rapidly in in the UK. The median age ranges from 41 (UK) to 46 (Italy) and is on the rise.
These populations are becoming increasingly disaffected with their government’s policies toward Ukraine in a time of austerity, and a recession that has already started may feed into this disaffection. Europe may be becoming increasingly irrelevant to China, with any FDI in Europe focused on nations that are considered to be more friendly such as Hungary and Slovakia.
Japan Is A Declining Power
Japan’s share of the Hamilton Index industries has collapsed since the mid 1990s and is continuing to decline. The woeful position of its massive car industry with respect to the move to electric vehicles may lead to the loss of much of its Chinese and Asian sales, as well as reductions in the US market. The new CEO of Toyota, hand-picked by the Toyoda family member who lead Toyota into the hydrogen blind ally, is staying with the generally anti-EV strategy; even investing in ammonia-based engines. That’s like doubling down on Betamax after VHS had overwhelmingly won in the market place.
And abject failure with respect to hydrogen cars does not seem to faze Toyota!
The Japanese population peaked in 2010 at 128 million, and is on an accelerating decline path with a natural fall in population of nearly 800,000 in 2022 with minimal net immigration. The median age is 49 and the 0-14 year old share of the population is only 12%, which will create a very serious problem for any attempt to significantly increase the armed forces in future years. The outlook for Japan is at best stagnation while it manages its massive government debts and a rapidly declining population that threatens to significantly reduce both the working population and property prices.
A Win-Win Approach Can Deconstruct US Hegemony Peacefully
China does not need to win in any military sense, it simply needs to continue to develop good relations with other countries across the world; nations that it will increasingly trade with and invest in. It has shown great flexibility in responding to shifts in the international system, and we can see a focus more toward the Middle East and Africa as Europe is bullied into keeping its distance and South American governments change (e.g. Milei in Argentina).
Notwithstanding Filipino grandstanding, the “trade with and respect the sovereignty of” approach to foreign relations has paid dividends with respect to the ASEAN nations that represent the fastest growing economic region in the world. Countries that are neutral between China and the US. The same for Central Asia, and of course an Iran that China is increasingly integrating with. India with its 1.4 billion population is no real threat to China given its independent leanings and its utter inability to develop a real industrial policy that will lead to technological upgrading while providing meaningful work to its increasing legions of unemployed. India will certainly continue to not be the new China. The rise of Hindutva also risks increasing domestic polarization between Hindus and Moslems. China’s diplomatic successes in the Middle East, and the moving away of many African nations from Western domination also plays well into China’s strategy.
The neutrality of the ASEAN and Central Asian nations, together with the increasing integration with Russia and Iran (and possibly with North Korea facilitated by Russia), provides a safe EurAsian neighbourhood for China’s further development. This is then fruitfully extended across the Middle East and Africa. Europe, apart from Hungary and Slovakia, may be on the back burner until it established some level of strategic autonomy; that may have to wait for the inevitable Ukrainian collapse. Brazil and Mexico also offer continued opportunities.
We should expect China to be patient and flexible, given that it is winning, especially as long as the US is militarily tied up in Ukraine and the Middle East. China’s diplomacy with respect to the Palestinian issue shows this patience and careful balance, being seen as supportive of the Palestinian cause; with the Palestinian envoy to the UN calling China “a true friend ready to do everything they can to help the Palestinian people”. A position that plays well outside the Golden Billion of the West, and especially across the Muslim and African nations.
Political chaos in 2024 and 2025 may further disable any attempts by the US to reorient to face off with China. In reality, the US has few real options in facing off against China given its economy’s significant dependences upon Chinese imports and the lack of willing sacrificial lambs; even the Taiwanese are not ready to trip over the Chinese red line of declaring formal independence. As each day passes, the military and economic outcomes of a face off with China get worse for the US and better for China. That horse may have bolted sometime in the 2010s and it is far too late now to try to bolt the door. The onus is on the US to make the play, with the only true additional red lines being perhaps a full-scale NATO attack on Russia or Iran; both of which would be disastrous for the West. Other than that China’s approach is one of “steady as she goes” with small course corrections as required by changing circumstances, while maintaining professional and respectful relations with other nations.
Fun
Peter is right about Rupert Murdoch interest in China.
This book:
Rupert’s Adventures in China –
(See attached book cover photo)
With detail description of how Murdoch invested 10 years in China trying to setup his Media empire there. His efforts includes the following 2 most interesting strategies but failed miserably :
1) trying to gain Deng Xiaoping favour by offering Deng’s daughter US$1 million book royalty to publish her book about her father.
2) joint venture with a former PLA official to set up phoenix Satellite current affair TV. The PLA partner insisted that Murdoch incharged of investment, he incharged of content. 10 years later, Murdoch sold the share with good profit and leave China for good with hatred because he still failed to influence the content.
This is a classic case that the CCP cannot be bribe into given up their sovereignty in the media industry.
The evil Murdoch have being very successful in controlling the Australia, UK, US, and Canada governments. Read this two books.
Cheers
Chua
Learn from Asia
What happened that made you walk out of the courtroom and think, “That did not just happen”?
Was in divorce court on a bogus complaint from the ex. The charge, I wasn’t paying child support and wasn’t looking for work. The judge, a classmate of the ex’s asked me to prove my defense. I started to bring out paperwork, etc. from my briefcase while noting that a deputy had come up behind me. I thought that was odd since he didn’t do that with anyone else and I had been in court for other bogus charges by the ex every three to four months. As I pulled out the papers and asked if I could approach the bench and present my evidence, the judge said, “I’m not interested in what you have!” Right away I’m thinking then why the heck did you ask me for proof? I asked him a second time to present my evidence and that’s when he threatened to hold me in contempt and jail me for thirty days if I spoke again. He then gave me a date in the future to get things straightened out or he’d throw me in jail. As I walked out of the courtroom, I turned to the deputy who was “escorting” me out and started to say something and he told me, “Not here”. We took a few steps down the hallway and then he grabbed my arm and as I turned toward him, and he me, he said you just got screwed but were wise to not speak again!” He advised me to get an attorney so the judge couldn’t screw me over again. I related my problem to my Chiropractor, and she referred me to an attorney she knew. I explained what happened with the divorce proceedings up until that point and he offered to take my case for $400. He actually stuck to that amount in spite of having to do a number of hours and headaches from her attorney. Even the head of the county child support division testified on my behalf that I was current on the child support the whole time and even gave me a letter stating so. That finally got her and her attorney to stop harassing me and my employer and the divorce was finalized a year after it should’ve been.
First Time Hearing Zhou Shen – Floating Light
Where is the right place to bring someone down in a fight?
I’ve taught unarmed combat and a jiu-jitsu based self defence system for many years. I think one of best targets to drop an aggressor at a close range is the knee and shin. Groin strikes are a bit hit and miss especially with a mistimed kick. I’ve always installed into students the three basics of handling an attacker, firstly if an attacker can’t stand he can’t hurt you, if he can’t breathe he can’t hurt you and if he can’t see he can’t hurt you. So striking the knee or shin, throat and eyes are the basics. That way it gives you a chance to get out of there pronto. Depending on the severity involved in the confrontation, be wary about throat strikes, it could be fatal. You don’t need to eye gouge as that means you have to be in close. Finger or thumb pokes to the eyes is sufficient to make a getaway. As for the knee/shin a swift hard kick will suffice. Don’t try anything fancy, that’s for the movies. All the people I’ve trained with over the years, especially at shodan level and above had there own favourite basic techniques to handle an attacker. The upshot is try and avoid these situations in the first place. On the other hand, if the attacker is tooled up especially with a bladed weapon and there’s no way out for you, you’ve got to go into psycho mode and fight like a wild animal as if your life depends on it. Expect to get cut. If you do, try not to get cut on the inner arm/forearm where vital veins and arteries are. If the outcome ends with the attacker being seriously hurt, so be it. It’s self defence and you have right to defend yourself any way you can. I’ve always had it in my mind an old saying “better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.” Take care.
Stay safe out there.
If a police officer pulls you over and asks if you know what you did wrong, should you admit guilt immediately or say you are not sure?
No.
Some police departments train their officers to begin all traffic stops by asking “Do you know why I stopped you?” There is exactly ONE correct answer to this question. Even if the pedestrian you just ran down is still sprawled across your windshield, the answer is “No.”
Clearly, they are soliciting a confession to anything that you know you did wrong in the recent past. If the officer saw you roll through a stop sign, and you suggest that you changed lanes without signalling, he just got a two-fer.
Now, although I do not know how often it happens, but my time as the prosecutor in traffic court in a small Oklahoma town for a year made me believe that sometimes, the officer is pulling over some attractive looking young ladies just to flirt. It so happened that the worst thing my judge could do to a person in traffic court was a $30 fine plus $5 court costs and, theoretically, up to a week in jail. But since the town had to pay the county jail $20 per night, that wasn’t happening.
Well, the only people who took a half day off work to come contest a traffic stop were pretty darned sure they were innocent. Sometimes, it was because they believed some urban legend about the law — like the stop had to be on city property- so that if they could get to the Safeway parking lot before an officer caught them, they were innocent (they were NOT, just because of that).
But about once a month, I had to deal with some very attractive (and very angry) young lady who was stopped while driving alone on Friday night. The officer had asked if she knew why he stopped her, and if she said that she had done nothing at all wrong and then when he offered a reason, she was positive that she hadn’t done THAT. And when Thursday morning traffic court rolled around, she was still not going to pay $30 plus court costs. Instead, she would come give me a piece of her mind.
When they fell into that pattern, I frequently dismissed the charges.
But that doesn’t work so well if she’d actually guessed what legitimate reason he had for stopping her.
Greek Meatballs (Keftethes)
These meatballs are deliciously light and delicately flavoured and you can serve them hot, warm or cold or freeze for future use.
I have made Keftethes on many occasions – (the recipe is from a Greek cookbook I’ve had for years) – and they are quite famous amongst my friends. Hope you enjoy them. Regards ~ Geoff Clifford – UK
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1kg (2 1/4 pound) lean minced beef or lamb
- 2 cups unseasoned breadcrumbs, moistened in about 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped mint (if not available, use chopped, dried mint)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons Ouzo (optional)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- All-purpose flour
- 1 cup olive oil and corn oil mixed (you may need slightly more)
Instructions
- Fry onions with vegetable oil over low heat until golden. Remove to a large mixing bowl.
- Add meat and all other ingredients except flour and olive/corn oil mix. Knead for about 10 minutes or until mixture is a smooth paste.
- Heat the oil mix in a large frying pan to the point of fragrance.
- Meanwhile, start to shape mixture into balls about the size of a large marble by rolling lightly between palms of hands, I suggest that you do them in batches of say 12 to 16, each batch being enough to space evenly but separately in the frying pan.
- As each meatball is formed place them on a large plate which has been liberally covered with plain flour. When the batch is finished lightly roll the meatball in the flour. At this point the oil in the frying pan should be just ready.
- Put the batch of meatball into the pan (Use kitchen tongs as the oil is very hot).
- Start on your second batch of meatballs, make them and place them on the floured plate. At this point it is time to turn the meatballs over and when you have completed this roll the second batch in the flour.
- Now it is time to remove the first batch from the frying pan using a slotted spoon or kitchen tongs and place on paper towels to drain.
- Put the second batch of meatballs into the pan to cook and carry on with the process until you have finished the mixture.
How should I take it when my boss removes my promotion but let me keep the salary? Should I quit?
Here’s what I did. I was manager over a small group of engineers for about a decade. I had been with the company for 20 years. We had a good salesman that kept us busy and though we were a small subsidiary of a larger company, we brought in good money. They messed with the salesman’s commission because he started making more than the president of the company. Along with that, they cut our groups profit sharing, which had been amounting to quite a bit for us, too. The salesman quit, and our business tanked as a result. In an effort to shake things up, they brought in a new top level manager for our group, a new salesman, and I was removed from my managerial position and replaced by one of my subordinates. My salary remained the same, I did the same work on actual projects as always, except then I was no longer required to manage projects, track all the expenses and time on projects, go on sales calls with the new salesman, or be held responsible for the group. I liked the work and most of the people around me, so I was fine with staying there. I was about 55 when this happened, and honestly, I was happy to shed all the administrative bullshit and still make the same money. A year later the new manager quit, they brought in a new guy (after they asked if I would resume the position) and within a year they scuttled our whole group. The company ($40 million company) had been making about 2.5 million a year clear from our group, but because they couldn’t handle the fact the salesman was making so much money compared to them, they ended up putting the entire subsidiary out of business. I was happy collecting my money for those 2 years without near the stress, and moved on to a better position in a new company after that. Things just seem to work out, sometimes. So my advice…if you like the work, are satisfied with the pay, there’s no reason not to continue on there. If you don’t like the place, stay until you find a good replacement job. You can be a lot pickier about choosing a new job when you have a good income source.