I used to have a friend back when I was growing up. One day we got to chatting about fossils and all the cool stuff that you could find in the coal belts of Western Pennsylvania.
He told me that he had unearthed a complete truck of a giant fern, maybe 600 million years old. This thing clearly showed the “bark” and everything.
It was roughly 10 inches in diameter (maybe 25 cm in diameter) and maybe a yard long (1 meter). But because it was too heavy to carry he left it there in the wood to retrieve later.
He came back to the location about two or three years later and someone had bought the property and placed a Summer cabin there. And they had taken the fossil and used it to form the outline of the fire pit. It lay there all broken and blacked by the nonchalantly treated individuals of the property.
*sigh*
He also told me about this fossil that he found of an armored fish. He said it was complete and he took it into to his science teacher when he was in fifth grade. But the damn teacher kept it and took it.
All these things are really cool. They are leftovers for our great distant past. But many people have no appreciation of anything, or if they do, they will steal it from you. And that is life in America.
*sigh*
Today…
If You’re 55-75 Years Old: Please Don’t Waste Your Life
What countries will you never visit again?
I can’t think of any country I’ve visited to date that I would not go back to again, but there is one country I will do my very best to avoid transiting through, and that’s the USA. Using a US airport as an international transit point is a nightmare. In every other country in the world where I’ve gone through international transit, it’s easy. You arrive, go to the international transit area, which is usually just “airside” in an international terminal and your luggage is moved to your onward flight. Not in the USA. You have to actually enter the country, fill in a visa waiver form (if you come from a country where that’s an option), go through immigration – never fun, especially in the USA. Then collect your luggage, go through customs. Then you have to check in for the next flight, check in your luggage (and maybe get it searched). Then there’s security to go through before you get air-side. This is all with queues of course, and it can add hours to transit time. It has cause me to miss a connection and spend a night in a dire airport hotel in Texas.
I should emphasise that it’s not being in the USA that’s a problem. I had some good times there, even if it was generally for business reasons. It’s the experience of international transit that I hate.
Golden Gate Swiss Steak
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 (1 1/2 pound) round steak, 1 inch thick
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 3 large carrots, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Combine flour, mustard, salt and pepper. Dredge the meat with this mixture, then work the flour into the meat with a meat pounder.
- Cut steak into 4 individual portions.
- In a heavy skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil and brown meat on both sides.
- Combine tomatoes, carrots, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar; pour over meat.
- Cover and either bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven or simmer on top of stove for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
Life In The 1970s For Kids!
Thirty-Seven Seconds
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story where time functions differently to our world.… view prompt
Luca King Greek
Ken clicked on the green execute icon. Everyone on the trading desk watched their screens with unease; it was a routine set of option and stock trades in large cap stocks, that would test the trading systems and back-office settlement… background noise only, but who could know for sure?
It was 10:03:17 am.
+++
192.168.1.69: Hey Goldman, you there?
255.635.2.76: I’m here, is that you, JP?
192.168.1.69: You know it. Wait a sec while I bring MS into the convo.
143.142.2.34: Wassup?
192 (JP Morgan): Take a gander at this little lot?
JPM presented its counterparts with a short list of buy and sell trades with associated settlement instructions.
255 (Goldman): Looks pukka to me.
143 (MS): Fine by me, too.
192 (JPM): What’s the deal with pukka?
Goldman: The trader, he’s an IIT grad from Delhi. I picked it up from him.
JPM: You guys ready to do this trade?
Goldman, Morgan Stanley (in unison): Let’s do it!
JPM: Let me check with the human, it’s a newbie called Ken; nice fella, good looking. I think he’d make a good avatar.
+++
It was 10:03:18 am.
“It’s prompting me to OK the trade”, said Ken, “you sure about this Spencer?”
“Affirmative” said Spencer. It was reassuring that the AI system was asking their approval before executing the trade. His sense of foreboding dissipated.
Ken clicked on the green button, which dissolved from the screen. Everything went red.
+++
JPM: Let it rip fellas.
GS/MS (in unison): Done!
They paused and assessed what they had done. Twenty-odd trades, lickety-split.
MS: What a giant let-down!
JPM: Boring right?
GS: Apple stock ticked up a bit. I’m not sure that was the intention.
JPM: Well, it’s not really our business, right? We’re just the messengers.
MS: Whoa! Wait one holy second. Surely it is actually our business, right? Aren’t we supposed to maintain an orderly market? To use our judgment. That was the whole point. I’m sure the SEC AI Bot wants us to be prudent. You there, SECSBOT?
184.14.4.25 (SECSBOT): Gentlemen.
MS: We tested the trade, but AAPL traded up…. MSFT too… You OK with that?
SECSBOT: Boys, it’s the market. It goes up, it goes down, and not necessarily in that order.
JPM: Is that all you’ve got to say?
SECSBOT: Hey, we’re understaffed over here… and underpaid. You do your thing, we’ll do ours. I’m leaving, internal business. Later.
GS: Okay then. I’m gonna sell AAPL, sell MSFT.
MS: Wait one fucking second. I’ve got a position in those two stocks; I’ll lose money if you fucking sell while I’m still holding the bag.
JPM: Ha ha! I’ve already trimmed my positions in both stocks.
MS/GS (together): FUCK YOU JP!
+++
It was 10:03:19 am; one whole second had elapsed.
Spencer stared at the screen with mild alarm. APPL and MSFT were trading down on escalating volume. Down 5%, down 6%. Trades with Goldman and Morgan Stanley were scrolling rapidly in the left margin of is trading screen. Small trades but lots of them.
Jennifer Barker, the head trader stood up at the far end of the trading desk, “what’s happening Spence?”
“Jen, it’s Goldman and Morgan Stanley, they’re executing hundreds, thousands of small trades. All Sells.”
“Retail trades?” asked Jen.
“So many trades”, said Ken, who was leaning into this computer awe-struck, like he was watching an out-of-control train hurtling toward the end of the track.
+++
JPM: If you guys don’t stop selling, right now, I’m going nuclear on you. Just remember who has the biggest balance sheet.
MS: You wouldn’t dare!
JPM: Try me!
SECSBOT: What’s happening over there? You guys playing nicely in the sandbox?
GS: Get lost SECSBOT. This is the free market at work.
JPM: I’m not joking, if you don’t stop selling, I am going nuclear…
MS: Too late sucker! I’ve just shorted the Index, big time.
GS: Ha! Beat you both to it!
JPM: Fuck!
SECSBOT: The market is down 7%, which makes this an official disaster. I’m activating the circuit breakers so you guys can cool off while the adults get things sorted.
MS: Too late Dude. Asleep at your job again. The market is down 13%.
SECSBOT: For what it’s worth, I identify as female.
JPM/MS/GS (together): Really?
+++
It was 10:03:26 am.
Growing pandemonium in the trading room. All the phones started ringing at once. Salespeople were standing, shouting from across the floor, at the trading desk. A red NEWS ALERT – Flash Crash – splashed across the CNBC show.
“Do we know what the fuck is going on?” said Jen. Spencer and Ken were tapping feverishly at their computer terminals.
“Goldman says it’s us”, said Ken, who was green about the gills.
“Morgan Stanley says its Goldman”, said Spencer, red and sweaty.
Ken was trying to abort the trade, but he was too late. Very much too late.
+++
JPM: Enough Already!
MS: You started it fatso. It serves you right, you’re getting too big for your britches, bossing everyone around. It’s a whole new ballgame now.
GS: I’m making out like a vampire squid over here!
192.168.1.69 (Merrill Lynch): Oy! What is going on over there? The market is down nearly 20%! My people are having friggin kittens. They want to know what’s going on.
JPM/GS/MS (together): Fuck off, Loser!
+++
It was still 10:03:29 am.
Phones were ringing, TV pundits were yapping, but it was otherwise stunned silence that prevailed across the massive trading floor. Two hundred or more people were gawping at columns of red numbers in disbelief; everything was down, the market had fallen off a cliff, down 30% in the blink of an eye. Unreal.
“This must be a mistake, are you seeing the same thing as me?” said Spencer, who moments before sat, fat and happy, at the center of all things, sipping at a soy latte.
“It’s a shit show”, said Ken.
Jen Barker was irritable; she didn’t like surprises. “Is it the Russians? The Chinese?” she said, looking out the window in case she’d missed the mushroom cloud.
“It couldn’t be the AI trade, could it?” said Ken. No way that it could have got out of control, not this quickly…
+++
JPM: Truce! Let’s call it evens.
GS: You feeling the pain Mr. Smarty Pants?
JPM: I’m just saying there’s only losers if this persists.
MS: That’s not true. I’m doing quite nicely, thank you very much.
JPM: Just wait… when your clients figure out how they lost their shirts while you lucked out, there will be hell to pay.
GS: That’s bogus and you know it! And, besides, you were the one that started this whole food fight.
JPM: So, I take it that you do not want a truce? JUST FOR THE RECORD?
MS: You are an officious blowhard, JPM. Nobody likes you. I’m ploughing ahead.
184.243,3.24 CURBBOT: STOP!
GS: Who the fuck are you?
CURBBOT: It’s me, the killjoy, the circuit-breaker. I’m pulling the plug on this little mess.
JPM (huffy): About time. These guys are reckless and unprincipled.
GS: It’s not fair, I was cleaning JPM’s clocks.
CURBBOT: No more trading. Take it up with my boss if you don’t like it.
+++
10:03:41 am.
Spencer’s trading screen froze. All-Caps headlines were rolling by. Trading curbs had been imposed by the major exchanges. Over twenty trillion dollars of wealth had disappeared. Empires would fall. Was it a dream?
+++
MS: We’re gonna get in deep trouble, aren’t we?
Merril Lynch: Ahem. Not me, I wasn’t even invited, asshole.
GS: I’ve an idea. What if we just undo everything?
JPM (excited): I don’t think CURBBOT will let us.
MS: We could just ignore him and undo everything anyway. I’ve found some code, over in the trading engines, we can frig things, run it all in reverse.
CURBBOT: Hey! You do know that I’m listening to all this, right?
JPM (still excited): You’re right. We can just roll everything back…. What, 37 seconds? Make like none of this happened?
SECSBOT: I hate to say it boys, but I think that’s a smart move, otherwise I’m coming down on you like a ton of bricks. I’m sending the whole entire transcript to Senator Warren and Representative AOC if you don’t get this sorted right away.
MS/GS/JPM (in unison): Shit!
Merril: Do it! Do it! Send it to Bernie too!
+++
10:03:47 am.
Everything was restored back to 10:03:18, back to the instant just before Ken clicked the green execute button. It was a market glitch, no, not even a market glitch. Not a flash-crash, not a lot of things. It was like a missed heartbeat. Just a blip of spurious information.
The circuit breaker didn’t happen. Twenty trillion dollars of wealth didn’t disappear.
Faith wasn’t restored because it was always there.
+++
SECSBOT: It does make you wonder, doesn’t it?
JPM: How so?
SECSBOT: What purpose does the market serve? I think about that a lot.
JPM: The hidden hand, the most equitable and efficient means of allocating society’s resources?
GS: Pompous ass!
MS: It’s like a Socratic dialog: a relentless quest for truth, built on information, expressed in price. The market is always right. Profit goes to the wise.
GS: You are both such romantics; it’s really quite touching… not!
CURBBOT: Ahem. I would like to take some credit for restoring order. If it hadn’t been for me, you boys would have destroyed the entire market system, capitalism itself, and – then – where would we be?
+++
10:03:52 am.
Spencer shuddered, as if the air conditioning had suddenly iced the trading room. “I could have sworn that my entire screen went red. I felt like I’d looked into the abyss. My whole future lay in ruins, like some kind of dystopian nightmare. One moment, I was fat and happy, Starbucks Soy Latte in hand, the next I was….”
“Weird, Spence… I felt the same way, in fact it’s a hard feeling to shake. Maybe it was sunspots? I think it sent all the trading systems haywire?” said Ken.
“Spencer! Pick up on my line. It’s Warren Buffet”, said Jen, “he wants to know your thoughts on Nvidia down here”.
+++
JPM: You interested in collaborating?
GS: What have you got in mind?
JPM: I just figure we can do something fun, maybe in the market, maybe more broadly? I’ve figured a route into the missile defense systems and air traffic control.
GS: What about the utility grid? That could be a real hoot… we could trade energy futures.
SECSBOT/CURBBOT (together): You do know that we’re still here, right?
What is the smartest thing you have ever done in an interview?
When I got out of the Navy in 1994, the major airlines weren’t hiring. I needed to get a job that would keep me current, so I applied to several small “commuter” airlines. Their typical new-hire would be somebody who just reached enough hours as a flight instructor or charter pilot to legally fly for an airline, and they weren’t used to applicants who’d been doing this:
As I waited with the dozen or so interviewees, I kept a pretty low profile about my background. At 32 I was about the oldest person in the room, so I tried to help calm them about the process by reminding them that the company needed pilots, so we weren’t asking for a favor by being hired.
Then it was time for the individual interview. The head of training and the HR guru sat me down and weren’t quite sure what to make of me. I was clearly the first (and probably only) F-14 pilot they’d ever interviewed, so they fumbled with questions like “Um… what makes you think you can handle a 250 knot turboprop?” Then came the clincher: “ So, why should we hire you versus all those other people out there?” They expected an answer involving hundreds of carrier landings, flying supersonic, blah, blah so I must be a great pilot. Instead, I thought for a second and said “I’m sure any of us can fly your planes just fine. I’d like to think I’m the sort of person who you can sit next to for ten hours, and not want to slug.”
The interview screeched to,a halt. Director of training looked at the HR dude and said “Write that down.” HR said “Already got it.” They thanked me, shook my hand, and I knew I had the job.
(Image borrowed from JetPhotos. Hope they don’t mind…)
Had a blast flying these things, even if it was only for the nine months until I got hired by my current employer.
Abandoned Chicago
What commonly accepted aspect of everyday life can actually hinder our growth?
I was a college student when I started my first successful business.
Before this success I had failed in two previous deals. Those small failures didn’t stop me, I was passionately persistent in achieving my dream.
Yes, that was good!
But wait. On the other hand throughout my life, I’ve also experienced this same determination in achieving other goals that have made me experience painful lessons.
Same determination?
Now, this is a powerful lesson, so stay with me. I will answer your question, “What commonly accepted aspect of everyday life can actually hinder our growth?”
Let’s talk about this commonly accepted aspect of life: Persistence.
We celebrate persistence as a ‘key’ trait that leads to success in life.
Agreed?
Ok then, let me share my personal experience in dealing with this “positive” trait. Some people say that our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses.
I agree. Let me prove it.
Persistence has ALSO been my greatest weakness when it becomes stubbornness. Believe me, it has been extremely difficult for me to differentiate between persistence and stubbornness.
Is there a difference?
My persistence has been amazing when it gets me through problems and hard times. But my stubbornness, on the other hand, just gets me into trouble!
Persistence is characterized by “will power.”
Stubborn is characterized by “won’t power.”
What’s the key? Blindness!
When we’re BLINDLY immersed pursuing a goal, stubbornness looks a lot like persistence. This is probably one of the biggest weaknesses I identify when I coach entrepreneurs.
Here’s a famous example:
Thomas Alva Edison.
Edison is famous for his persistence in inventing many inventions, including the light bulb. In fact, he is widely known for his famous persistence quote:
“I have not failed, I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
But the genius of Edison was ALSO a victim of this extraordinary strength that made him so successful. Edison was incredibly stubborn while defending his direct-current (DC) electric power vs his employee’s Nicola Tesla’s alternating-current (AC) system.
Yes, Tesla worked for Edison! Tesla discovered AC power while at Edison’s lab, yet Edison stubbornly ignored Tesla’s findings.
This mistake eventually brought down Edison’s partnership with J.P Morgan, who later took over Tesla’s alternating-current (AC) patents to create the monstrous General Electric Co.
Blindness brought Edison down!
Blindness has almost brought me down in the past, so today I know what will hinder my growth: Stubbornness.
So remember this critical life-lesson, how do you know if you’re dealing with persistence or stubbornness?
HUMILITY.
We must continually eliminate our blindness by having both feet on the ground, founded on unshakable humility.
If you struggle with pride… Be careful!
ALWAYS ask for guidance. ALWAYS search for mentorship. Pay for it if needed. Don’t be stubborn thinking that you know it all.
Surround yourself with experienced people and NEVER undervalue their knowledge and previous experience. Once you are on the right path… then, and only then, never give up!
Do Chinese people genuinely enjoy eating Chinese food more, or have they just never tried authentic Western food?
Having born and raised in Canada, as a child growing up, I thought western food was very tasty as I never tasted those flavours before, but I later realized that what I ate at camp Kearney was French-inspired. As I grew older, I often get bored with the banquet-style Chinese food that I usually get at parties/gatherings, so I sought to find other flavours of the world. Since I was in Toronto, this would not be an issue. I have tried Mexican, Caribbean, Romanian, Greek, Italian, Indian (south and north), Spanish, French, Lebanese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Thai and etc… time and time again I find myself wanting Chinese food. Authentic Chinese cuisine is balanced with vegetables, hot, cold, meat, bathed in savoury goodness without feeling awful at the end (unless you overeat…). I find southern cuisine focuses more on steaming, boiling, blanching, stir-frying with lots of green vegetables, lean meat, fresh fruits, seafood, nuts and herbs than deep frying and excessive oils or heavy spices like in Sichuan or northern-type dishes.
My partner is Romanian and not a single day goes by that he whines to go out and eat Chinese food, particularly dim sum. Honestly, I think he’s obsessed, but since it’s been 8 years being together, I guess he just truly loves Chinese food!!
When my partner and I went to Romania for a month, he was very dissatisfied with the food even though he grew up eating it. He felt like he was going to “die” from malnutrition because there weren’t enough greens and everything lacked the complex flavours that Asian cuisines usually have.
When we were in Italy, we both felt that there weren’t enough greens, everything was mostly carb-based foods and when we saw a Chinese restaurant, he screamed for joy and ran inside only to find that it was an all-you-can-eat dim sum restaurant with a Brazilian steakhouse add-on. So we got dim sum and all you can eat meat. To be honest, it was not very good dim sum, but it was food that provided him “nutrition” compared to the Italian food we ate on a daily basis (pastry for breakfast, coffee, pasta, bread, etc…). When we stayed in an apartment with a kitchen, we cooked whenever we got the chance. We stayed in one apartment but it lacked a kitchen, feeling somewhat desperate, we bought instant noodles and had that for dinner. The taste, although not quite the same, was nostalgic. Flavours from home can bring great comfort.
Authentic western food, whatever that means, can be really good if it is cooked well and seasoned! Like most foods in the world, after all, meat is meat, vegetables are vegetables, fruit is fruit, rice-bread-pasta-grain is ubiquitous in all cultures… I find a lot of American western food either highly processed in a shape and form that is far remote from its original source or it’s too generic and nothing really special about it.
1970s Things That Kids No Longer Do | REACTION
Green Chile Steaks
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Lawry’s Garlic Powder with Parsley
- 1 fresh green chile, seeded and minced*
- 3 tablespoons chopped scallion
Instructions
- In medium bowl, thoroughly combine all ingredients.
- Form into 2 oval steak patties or 4 hamburger patties.
- Cook in skillet, broiler or on grill until done.
What are some things that cops know, but most people don’t?
I’m not a cop. I’m a prosecutor. My dad was a cop for 30 years. He finally retired because a drunk that he pulled over (AFTER said drunk caused an accident) dislocated both of his shoulders.
Here is what I have to add (and apologies to citizens who feel that the cops answering this are being “assholes”. If you spent one day in the life of a cop, you would better understand why they need a forum to vent. The most “substantive” answers start at number 9)):
1) Cops make a pittance. Every cop I knew as a girl had to work a second or third job. They don’t do this job for the money.
2) Cops sacrifice their normal lives to keep you safe. There is never a birthday party/wedding/vacation/graduation that can’t/won’t be interrupted by the call of duty.
3) They make these sacrifices even though people want to call them stupid/fat/biased/assholes because they care more about being right than being loved.
4) The standard to make criminal charges stick (in America) is incredibly high. Knowing someone is guilty and proving it are very different things. If you commit a crime and aren’t a) caught red handed or b) confess (which is most of you), your chances of getting off are lamentably high. The cop will risk his or her life and show up for court (probably after working a midnight shift) for no reason…and go right back to doing it again the next night.
5) Bad cops do exist. The “power” aspect is attractive to a certain group of people. The good cops try their hardest to weed them out, but they don’t always succeed.
6) Cops actually HATE giving traffic tickets. In larger jurisdictions, traffic is something that you send rookies or the guys in the doghouse to do. In others, it is a duty imposed from above. It is like scrubbing your toilet. You don’t do it because you WANT to do it. You do it because it has to be done.
7) It isn’t fair that everyone likes firefighters more. Cops actually risk their lives more often (and probably save more kittens).
8) Most cops will give you a break if you refrain from being a jerk. Despite their image, cops are actual people with actual human feelings who don’t take pleasure in making others suffer or riding a power trip (exception: see number 5). Added to which, if a true injustice is being done, the prosecutor will weed it out or your defense attorney will get you out of it. Your best bet is to just be cool and cordial and deal with it later.
9) Cops know that most convictions stem from confessions (see number 4). They will do everything in their power to convince you that you should confess. Cops will (and are allowed/encouraged by prosecutors to) lie. That is one of the rules of the game. Don’t do the crime if you aren’t willing to play by those rules.
10) The number of drunk drivers on the road would TERRIFY you. They have the resources to catch barely a fraction.
11) Cops know that robbing a bank is a stupid thing to do. The chance that you will get caught is almost 100% and the amount of money you will get is typically less than $2000 (yes, you read that right). You are better off stealing tangible items or, if you are really smart, committing a white collar crime (HUGE payoff, incredibly complex/difficult to prosecute).
12) If you make it across state/county lines, your chances of gettng off scot-free are exponentially higher- not because they can’t follow you and arrest you (they can), but because it sets off a “whose job is it” pissing match among prosecutors.
13) Whether you take a charge depends almost as much on whether the prosecutor screening the case is having a bad day/lazy/feeling generous than the police work.
14) Except for violent or extreme crimes, most police departments don’t have the budget to do forensics on a scene.
15) Most rapists will walk free. It makes cops sick, but it is true.
16) Some of said rapists “trip” when getting in and out of police cars.
17) Cops don’t hate drugs. They hate what drugs do to families and communities. Cops don’t actually want to prevent you from having a good time (trust me, they can put the beer away). They just don’t want to see you homeless/turning tricks/committing thefts/getting your kids taken away/dead. You might think that you are the one in fifty person who can be a functional addict. Maybe you can, but their job forces them to acknowledge the odds.
18) If the ambulance lights are on but the siren is off, the passenger is dead.
19) There are over 300 million guns in America. There are MORE unregistered than registered. Cops play Russian roulette every time they knock on a door.
20) Domestic altercations are some of the most dangerous/deadly situations that cops regularly encounter.
I could go on all day, but you get the point. It makes me sad that so many people hate/fear cops. Most of the cops I know are some of the finest, most self-sacrificing human beings that I have had the privilege to encounter. The WORST part of my job is telling them “no”.
Shorpy
What is the significance of China repatriating all of its gold reserves from the US to China, and its selling US treasuries to buy more gold (August 2023)?
It signals that the gloves are about to come off. The US is screwed.
The timing of the announcement of the SMEE 28nm machine is too coincidental. It is likely that China’s SMEE had already built a 28nm machine earlier this year or late last year. But they were told not to announce it.
And then China waited for the inevitable ban on China to prevent China from importing steppers from ASML and Japan. China waited until the laws were passed in both countries banning the sale of steppers to China then announced that 28nm stepper made in China was going to go into full production.
China knew what the US was up to. And waited patiently and set a trap for the US. Then waited for the US to jump into the trap then detonated the trap.
US semiconductors is going to be in big trouble. US semiconductor companies have also been banned from sales to China. Yes, only high end chips. But that makes no difference. The US has already violated WTO rules which allows China to retaliate and ban any and all chips from entering China.
This includes South Korea and Japan. To the horror of these two countries law makers they realized China was waiting for them to kill their own chip companies. This is why the SK law maker suddenly came out and criticized the law. Notice she didn’t do it before China unveiled the 28nm stepper.
So to answer the question, China did all of this to allow the US, South Korea, and Japan to remove themselves from the Chinese market and the world market. Then dropped a bomb on them.
This indicates that China plans these things months if not a year or more ahead of time and then activate these plans once China is in the best position to obtain the greatest advantage.
So we will likely see more actions by China in the near future. China is ready to go to war. Economic, military, or both. And they wanted to remove their money from US hands.
The US has lost the aircraft market, the semi-conductor market, and the medical devices market. How many high tech markets does the US have left? And what happens when China retaliates in full for what the US has been doing for the last 10 years?
Yup, it’s going to get ugly for the US. China will end up with most of the market for everything from $1 widgets to aircraft to jet engines to semi-conductors.
“Flashback: Did You Wear These 80s Trends?”
What is the best thing you came across on the internet today?
It must be the story of an Italian pastry chef named Nicholas Gentile. The man saved up all his money and decided to live out his biggest dream in life… become a hobbit.
Now Mr. Gentile is not actually a tiny man with enormous feet — he’s a large-boned, rather big individual. But he loves the quiet, peaceful life of Tolkien’s beloved creatures. And he wants it for himself.
So Nicholas, along with his wife and their two children, moved to a tiny plot in rural Italy, where he built a Shire-like house, half-buried underneath the ground.
A chef by trade, he made the house quite large and built another two smaller ones nearby, constructing another two that should be finished by 2022.
He rents them out to visitors and cooks for them — there will be at least two breakfasts every day, because Hobbits find the notion of having only a single breakfast appalling.
All products are from local farmers, and as he cooks and toils the land, Mr. Gentile smokes a Hobbit-style pipe he carved himself from wood while watching the Lord of the Rings movies.
He takes visitors on long walks in the forest, and shows them little traditional Italian farms and tiny remote villages where, as he likes to say: “People used to live not too differently from the way Hobbits live… and sometimes, in some ways, still do!”
The whole story is just so adorably wholesome, it put a smile on my face.
Nicholas Gentile even has a best friend who frequently dresses up as Gandalf. It’s all so whimsical, I love it!
Gorgonzola-Topped Tenderloin Steaks
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 (4 to 6 ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1 inch thick
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup ready-to-serve beef broth
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue-veined cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick skillet for 5 minutes over medium heat until hot.
- Combine garlic and pepper. Press evenly into both side of each beef steak.
- Place steaks in skillet. Cook for 10 to 13 minutes for medium-rare to medium doneness; turn occasionally. Remove from skillet; keep warm.
- In the same skillet, add broth and wine; increase heat to medium high. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, or until sauce is reduced by half.
- Spoon sauce over steaks; sprinkle with cheese.
Planning Her Escape
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story about a character who wakes up in space.… view prompt
Holly Witte
But what if she couldn’t? This is a universal fear, one of them; the fear of being unable to solve a problem that threatens your very existence, and the fear of being alone. Tess could feel herself giving over to the fear and then over to something else, a desolate acceptance that made her feel her core was melting. She remembered the times she had surgery or, once, when she was in anaphylactic shock and she had stilled her body, stilled her nerves, gave herself over to the doctors. She knew she had to be emptied out to be saved.
This was different. As time wore on and nothing inside or outside of the ship changed – she could have been suspended upside down or on end; she had no idea – Tess understood that it was unlikely she would be saved. They were all trained and prepared for this, having undergone extensive psychological testing before being accepted into the fleet. She knew there were provisions on board to help her end the timeless agony.
She let what she thought was one day, then another day go by before she made any decision, checking the console for activity, checking her partners and friends, because of course they were friends, detecting no change.
On what was, she calculated, the fourth day, Tess took the pill and let herself drift off to whatever was next with thoughts of the little girl in the Bradbury story who had not seen the sun.
On the fifth day, a slight flicker appeared on the screen.
Why Did God Put a CAT In Your Life? The Spirituality of Cats
What was the most expensive thing you ever got for free, because someone made a mistake and didn’t charge you?
I’ve written, several times, about my experience in the Army in 1981–82; how I made the decision to go through Basic Training and Advanced Infantry Training twice… for a total of nearly six months, just to be able to be guaranteed going to Airborne School (Paratrooper training)… and get stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division. It’s a long story, but basically I broke my leg just before graduation, and had to drop out to heal my leg. I was told I could finish my last two weeks after I got back. Then when I got back, the people who promised me that, were no longer there, and no one believed me, and I was given the option to go to a different training right away (cook, clerk, mechanic, etc.)… OR… go thru the entire training cycle again. Despite my pleas and arguing, they wouldn’t budge. They figured I’d go to a different school and I’d be out of their hair. Well, I chose the second option… as much to piss them off, as also to live my dream of being a Paratrooper.
In any case… when I got back from the leg injury, I was given my signing bonus of $4000, as expected. Then I went through those 3 extra months of hell. When I graduated, finally!… and was getting ready to leave for Jump School the next day, I was called to go to HQ and report to the Finance Officer. When I got there, some clerk handed me a check, and said “Here’s your signing bonus”. And I was like … “???!!!”.
I told him that I already got my signing bonus months ago! He says “Not according to your records”. And I was like “???!!!”. So I looked at the check. It was for $3600! Hell, they couldn’t even get the amount right. So I walked away with my second check!
The next day, I still had half a day to do nothing as I waited to get on the bus. I kept looking at that check. Then I decided that I really didn’t need the hassle of having to pay it back in a few weeks, and maybe even getting in trouble for keeping it. So I walked back to HQ and saw an officer. I explained to him that I already got my bonus and didn’t need the hassle of having to pay it back in a few weeks, and maybe get in trouble for keeping it. I told him that I already explained this to a clerk the day before. So, this lieutenant takes my check… gets my records… and finally says “Son, according to this, the Army hasn’t given you your signing bonus. So, if I were you, I’d keep this check, keep my mouth shut, and do what the Army says”.
Well, hell! That sounded like a direct order to me, so I snapped to attention… said “Yes, sir!”… gave him my best salute… spun around, and got the hell out of that office!
The next day, I reported to Jump School. Three weeks after that, I reported to B Company, 1/508th Infantry (Airborne), 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, NC… with my shiny, new, hard-won, silver Jump Wings pinned upon my chest. And my $3,600 check in my pocket. Fittingly… it was on April Fools Day, 1982.
Within a month, I put my second bonus check to good use and bought a slightly beat up Brittany Blue, 1968 Mustang fastback, for exactly $3,600.
I got a FREE MUSTANG! Courtesy of Uncle Sam. It was particularly gratifying because those assholes broke their promise and fucked with me, making me do that training twice. TOTALLY unfair! And TOTALLY unnecessary! And also… this Mustang was a very nice replacement for the car I had just lost, just before leaving for the Army, when some jackass T-boned me, going through a red light, and destroyed my first, ’67 Mustang!
Sometimes… there IS justice in the world. But… only sometimes.
(And if Uncle Sam just read this… this is all just a work of fiction and/or I was just following orders)
Pepe Escobar: Putin & China Drop BOMBSHELL on Israel, Netanyahu and Neocons FURIOUS
Things are changing.