During my college . university years, my father would pick me up and take me back and forth to college. Usually, the system was where he would pick me up from my mothers house, and then deposit me at the train or bus station to ride the rest of the way to Syracuse.
Now, those little pick up drives lasted maybe three hours. He would leave his house with my step-mom and day would drive me. He did this for most of my time going to school. Except the last year when my step-mother insisted that he stop. And dad told me to either hitch hike, or walk. Which really sucked.
All my life, my parents admonished me from hitch hiking, but no, my step-mother insisted on it.
Well, she was a bitch. So we will leave it at that.
Anyways, during the drive dad and I would chat. he had an eight-track player in the car and a CB radio. We would alternate between listening to 8-track tapes and listening to the stupid back and forth banter on the CB radio. Meanwhile, the scenery would slide past us; a typical gloomy empty highway though the Pennsylvania hills.
As we neared Erie, PA there was an exit off the highway. And we would take that exit and it would place us at the top of one of the hills there. And there was his “Bonanza” restaurant there. Nothing else. Just this restaurant surrounded by woods and wooded hills.
Now, this is a chain restaurant that went out of business (I believe). They sold steaks with an all-you-can-eat salad bar.
The restaurant was mostly empty when we visited it. I just can’t imagine how they made any money in that remote location, but it was my special moment that I well remember with my father.
At that time, it was the ONLY time that I ate steak, and could eat my fill of healthy food. Of course, I had the university cafeteria and my breakfasts with the house where I lived, but eating a grilled steak was a “guy thing”, and we would talk. Nothing deep that I ever recall. Dad was just off in his little world. Probably worried about the storm waiting for him by my step-mother when he got home, and my lack of being able to talk about anything other than school.
And that was that.
Some of the most important and potent memories that I had with my father involved us two alone. Eating steak. And just being next to each other. No serious talk. Just sharing the same experience.
Good times. Good times.
Today…
As you advance in age, which part of your body seems to be giving out on you the most?
I am 75 and I can promise you that no part of my body is even remotely close to giving out on me. From a standpoint of how I feel, I’d say I feel as good as I did a quarter century ago at 50, even as good as I did in college. I have no pain anywhere at all. I have zero discomfort.
I love to read, and I prefer natural-sized print (NOT large print), but I can still read tiny print, the kind you find in cheap books. Tiny print is a bit irritating, but it was irritating when I was 20. If you go into a school library, you find that all the books have reasonably large print, and that’s for people with young, healthy eyes. The reason for that is that a decent font size makes reading more pleasant for any age, but I’ll still read the tiny print if I’m interested in the subject.
I have no hearing problems at all. Now I will admit that some people I’m around sometimes have speaking problems. Probably because they’re getting older and have less energy (ha-ha). But I have a Bose Wave Sound System, and I play classical music on it frequently and have no trouble picking up on all the nuanced notes of a Handel or Beethoven or Mozart.
Now I will admit that I no longer play baseball, football, or soccer. My stamina would not last long on high-speed sports (about two minutes, ha-ha). But I don’t need sports as I did at age 18. As befits my age now, I most enjoy reading good books, listening to good music, and watching a good movie. I also enjoy walking my 40 rural acres. Today, I’d much rather read a good book than watch a big ball game.
I do not think my genes are any better than anyone else’s. My dad died of leukemia at 75, Mother from two bad falls at 80. About par for the course. But I have been careful about taking care of myself. Never smoked (though they did), never did a single drug in my life beyond what the doc ordered, and there have been precious few of those. Never drank more than a beer or two, and even that very infrequently. And not a one since age 60.
I’m as much a true-blue Southern boy as they come (deeply love the Southland), yet I never ever eat any of our much-beloved fried foods whatsoever. Very rarely eat red meat (none at all since 60), and almost no desserts at all since age 60. I don’t know if that matters, but I choose not to chance it. And since retiring at age 67, I’ve lost 29 pounds, down from 182 to 153. I think that matters a great deal. I’ll drop about 7 more by Christmas and be all the way down to my high school, baseball-playing, weight. More than any other thing, I think the low weight is what keeps me feeling great. That and a healthy dose of good luck, of course.
I don’t think we should overrate genes. They matter, for sure, but a lot of it is how well you take care of yourself. If genes were all that mattered, fitness master Jack Lalanne would never have lived to 97, healthy to the very end. His mother died of natural causes at age 58. And there are so many more examples like Jack’s.
So, much health and many more years to all of you. By taking care of our bodies and with a pinch of good luck, maybe we’ll celebrate many more happy New Year’s.
Why is China the only country able to withstand US sanctions?
Yes, the United States has imposed various kinds of sanctions towards many countries and regions, very few of them are able to withstand that.
The reason is that China’s resilience is strong enough to counteract the impact.
China has the world’s second largest economy and China is the largest trading partner for more than 120 countries in the world.
The US has once been China’s largest trading partner, now it’s ASEAN.
China not only has a huge market, also has a strong and efficient supply chains.
Many countries need China as China not only develops itself, also wants to share the development opportunities with other countries.
They know that China is trustworthy and like to strengthen both economic and political ties with China.
Thanks to its strong manufacturing capability, China is able to meet its demand by itself.
The independence in various sectors give China the confidence to tackle all the challenges brought by the sanctions.
What’s important, China has able and responsible leaders. They know what’s good for China and work hard to protect their national interests.
It’s them that bring China and Chinese people to new heights.
Is it accurate to say that China has the most powerful military in the world just because it has the largest standing army and navy?
One key metric when gauging a Military Power is it’s Access to Food, Energy & Money
A Strong Nation should wage war without it impacting the common populations food, energy and economy
Like UK was totally dependent on the US for food during WWII and also for Oil
Like Germany was totally dependent on Norway and Kursk for their Oil
Take the Indian Army
Very Brave
Very Organized
Yet India is a Poor Country with a fragile paper economy backed by neither resources nor trade or technology
Would India be able to feed it’s Army or supply limitless Diesel, Fuel Oil or Gasoline to its Army?
How about the electricity needed to power and manufacture equipment on war footing?
The Answer is a Big Emphatic NO
If we go to war with China, we would be unable to hold the line for more than six months without our economy creaking, without food shortages and without fuel shortages
We would be forced to fall back
The Chinese Army?
They have far more economic resilience and they have a far greater food and energy independence given their ability to stockpile both and streamline both
They can defeat us almost always in a long drawn war
They may keep their economy intact for 3–4 years over our 6 months to 12 months
Yet ultimately they will also start cracking due to food and fuel shortages
So they can’t stretch their supply chain indefinitely and wage war around the world
They can defend themselves far better than us and can certainly hit the global economy more strongly
Ultimately it’s ACCESS TO LIMITLESS FOOD and LIMITLESS ENERGY
Russia and US have this
Russia has both limitless food and energy for its population to wage war indefinitely provided it’s a localised war
US has enough dollar power to wage war around the world
Yet both Russia and US have their own Achilles Heel
Russia has too vast a territory and too few numbers for a major war this time
US is too terrified of body bags to wage a major war
So the most powerful Military Alliance according to me is
Russia and China combined
Iran isnt an unwanted addition as well
Today almost all major armies have pretty level technology or at least not having the same difference between an Infantry musket and a Sword
So these things are critical
Why do Republicans believe it is okay to carry firearms publicly? Are they stupid? Why do they refuse to tighten gun ownership?
In June of 2020, Chicago gangster Anthony Blackburn turned 18 and all of his long list of Juvie offenses (carjacking, possession of stolen motor vehicles, drug possession, intent to deliver, etc) was sealed. And Anthony started over with a clean adult RAP sheet.
In August of 2020, Mr Blackburn added some offenses to that pristine record. He jacked a car at gunpoint with a Glock modified to shoot in automatic mode (he had installed a Glock Switch on his illegal handgun). He was caught minutes later a few blocks away from the jacking site. He was arrested and released on a ZERO $ i-bond and returned to the streets the very next day.
In November of 2020, Mr. Blackburn, while out on bond for the previous armed carjacking (class X felony – the worst in Illinois with a potential prison term of 60 years), was riding with a gangster friend. The two gangsters pulled up next to a new Dodge Durango, Mr. Blackburn jumped out armed with a Glock 19 with extended mag and modified with a switch. Mr. Blackburn decided to jack that Durango at gunpoint. The driver of the Durango drove off and Blackburn fired 14 rounds of 9mm ammo into that guys car severely injuring the driver. Because he drove off, Blackburn jacked a different car, a Lexus.. He pointed his switched auto Glock at the two people in the car and threatened to kill them. They jumped out and Blackburn jumped in and stole their car. He drove off and checked into a drug/prostitute/gangster infested motel in Cicero. He was caught there 3 days later in possession of the illegally modified Glock (Full Auto Glocks are banned by the feds for most people), illegally possessed Glock (he had no FOID and was under 21), stolen Glock (it’s highly illegal in Illinois to be in possession of a stolen handgun), illegally carried (no concealed carry permit), and heroin and the stolen car. The police arrested him and the prosecutor and judge released him back into society on a $4000 cash bond of which he had to put up 10%. YUP… he was back on the streets for $400.
In January of 2021, while out on bond 2x, 18 year old Mr Anthony Blackburn was spotted selling heroin on a street corner in Cicero. When he was frisked, the cops found another modified Glock gun. He was arrested again for possession w/intent + illegal possession of a firearm + illegally carrying a firearm + in possession of a modified machine pistol
All felonies.
While he was being processed through the Illinois state courts for the January 2021 arrest, the feds stepped in and charged him with 5 felony counts. They were…. (1) attempted aggravated carjacking of the Durango, (2) attempted aggravated carjacking of the Durango while armed with a gun, (3) aggravated carjacking of the Lexus, (4) aggravated carjacking of the Lexus while armed with a gun, (5) possession of a machine pistol. All at the federal level. The rest of his state level cases were then placed on hold.
Over the course of the last 3 years, Mr. Blackburn’s federal case has been resolved. He’s plead guilty to counts 3 and 4. The rest of the charges (including possession of a machinegun) were dropped and he’s about to be sentenced November 6, of 2024. He’s been given a level 31 sentencing points (the feds use that to determine incarceration period). Although he has many priors, the feds are treating him as a first time offender. The prosecutor and public defenders office have agreed to a sentencing range of 108 to 135 months imprisonment to serve 85% of that for good behavior. So his actual range is 92 to 115 months with an average of 8.5 years. That’s it. For all that perping. Chances are, he’s going to get about 8 years and he’s already served nearly 4. He’ll be back on the streets in 2029 to continue looting, shooting, robbing, and jacking every one and every car he sees… at a ripe old age of 26.
We Republicans don’t think Mr. Blackburn should be allowed to carry guns in public… ever. But YOU DEMOCRATS keep releasing him every time he gets caught using illegal guns to rob, shoot, and jack other democrats. Once released, he picks up another stolen gun from his OG and gets back to gangstering. WHY ARE YOU ALLOWING THIS? Why not prosecute thugs like that to death? Mr. Blackburn should be sentenced to forever in prison. Not freed to go skipping down the streets chanting gangster rap lyrics while carrying illegal handguns and shooting up the city.
AND….. there are 150,000 illegally armed Chicago gangsters just like Mr. Blackburn right now… doing the exact same 💩 and not being prosecuted by democrats.
All that is on YOU Democrats… not us Republicans.
MM is a little hungry
China Holds Massive Military Drills After Taiwan’s President Vows to ‘Resist Annexation’ w/ KJ Noh
The Chinese Military held a series of drills around the island of Taiwan this week, noting that they were meant to serve as a “stern deterrence to the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.” The exercises notably came days after Taiwan’s new president gave a speech, in which he vowed to “uphold the commitment to resist annexation,” and said his mission was to “stand side by side with democratic countries.”
Geopolitical Analyst KJ Noh noted that the speech from Taiwan’s president sounds like it was written in Washington, and it’s yet another reminder that while the U.S. claims to support the ‘One China Policy’ (which states that Taiwan is a part of China), that hasn’t stopped Washington from gearing up for war with Beijing, using its proxies in Taiwan.
Interiors
The U.S. and ISRAEL are in a State of Shock: IRAN Received Destructive Weapon From RUSSIA
In the future, would it be better living in China or Japan?
I’m Chinese girl and I’m dating with a Japanese guy now. Have been to japan for several times , traveled to a lot of places (big cities and countryside), and lived with his family for a couple of weeks (including his sister, parents and even went to his grandparents’ house once, which covers basically all generations).
When comparing these two countries, we already know that Japan is a developed country and China is still developing country, which means your life experiences in Japan would be much better from both hardware and software perspectives.
But here are something I don’t like about Japan, and probably people wouldn’t know if they haven’t live there for a long period or have deeper relationship with Japanese people. Traveller could see the advancement but that’s just superficial.
These aspects (and in such big scale), as far as I know, can be seen only in Japan.
- Japan is a weird country, really. It’s extraordinarily modernised and technologically advanced, but their minds, values and family relationships are so traditional, conservative and underdeveloped. It’s a bit common for many Japanese women to seek for next boyfriend when they’re still dating one, and money works better than anything if a man wants to win her heart.
- For Japanese people, especially males, the achievement and devotion in their life career outweighs anything else, including family. So it’s very common that a Japanese man works at another city or country for years or even decades according to the order of his company, and his wife and children wouldn’t feel anything bad. For Chinese or Westerners, if our love ones lives in a city while there’s a great opportunity for self-improvement in another county, most people prefer staying with their lovers, which sounds stupid to Japanese.
- I guess gender stereotypes could be reason for 1 and 2. Gender stereotypes and inequalities are too common in Japanese society. (Well this is also true for many parts of China, but personally I would say in Japan it’s more severe and mosy Japanese people have little intention for changing.)
- Japan, as I know, is a nation with the most severe conformity. Although there are some mavericks in big cities like Tokyo, they are actually never accepted by main stream. For a Japanese student or employer, the most horrible things (which could lead to depression) is being excluded by others. For example, my boyfriend never leave a party before it ends, even if me or his family needs him. His sister gets home after 21:00 (sometimes even 24:00) everyday because there’s gathering of colleagues after work. Though they are in fact tired and have to get up around 6:00 next morning, they never make absence.
- In Japan, life-time employment is still the main stream and valued by most people. Resignation is sometimes more severe than divorce for the more traditional.
- In order to be part of conformity, except for making no absence in every gathering, when other people are working overtime, some Japanese people stays at workplace too, even if they don’t have that much work to do.
- Update: as mentioned by the anonymous answerer, most Japanese people lacks international views. Some international students I know said they’ve been asked several times by Japanese students about “is there coca-cola in your country?”
- Update: averagely, Japanese youngsters are degenerating. More and more young people are becoming lacking of responsibility, honesty and motivation. Education is foundamental for longterm development, and its effect can’t be seen until decades later. I think Chinese extraordinary youngsters beats Japanese excellent ones in both number and quality. However, suffering from regional development imbalances, Chinese youth education is still worse off than Japan on average scale.
It will make you astonished when you compare Japan’s modernisation and technology advancement with its underdeveloped and traditional mind-state. Though some Japanese youngsters are changing their mind, the main tendency of society remains.
If you’re planning to work in China or Japan, I’d say China is better. Chinese people are comparatively more open minded. If you’re planning to travel, both countries have plenty to do and see, and the experience might be more satisfying in Japan considering its advancement.
(Update: things I said about China are mainly about big cities, which are the only places comparable to Japan.)
Should we stop depending on China products and therefore economy?
India?
As an Indian, I want three things for India
A. Indigenous Technology – either Critical Or Core Technology exclusively owned by an Indian Entity or Multiple Indian Entities
B. Affordable Quality Products for the Middle Class
C. Low Income Inequality
I want them as early as possible
I care about these things far more than National Pride
Deng Xiaoping bent the knee to Japan which had done a thousand times more damage to China with thousand times more savagery than any heinous act China perpetrated in its modern history
If Deng can forget National Pride for Country,I am certain – India should absolutely do the same
Next?
I hate the constant empty noise made by Indians and Indian leaders
Like Piyush Goyal who wants to roll out 6G
Fourteen countries have already started with Korea and China nearly at the finish line and with pilot projects and Musk also nearly there
This guy is an IITian????
Who will take him seriously if he makes such statements?
Show me India can achieve all this by not depending on Chinese Products and China and our economy can actually develop towards these four goals I mentioned
A. Technology ownership
B. Affordable production and pricing
C. Low income inequality
D. Stop generation of GAS
If you can convince me, then I will agree
I believe in the opposite
I believe China is crucial for India to move ahead today
Chicken Noodle Soup
The Classic Kid-Favorite! When mealtime hits and bellies start growling, turn to a classic to keep your kids full and satisfied. Chicken Noodle Soup has always been a favorite among children, so keep tradition alive in your family with this scrumptious recipe.
Ingredients
Broth
- 1 (3 pound) chicken, liver discarded
- 2 1/2 quarts cold water
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 onions, peeled
- 2 celery stalks with leaves, cut into 4 pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Soup
- 1 cup small pasta, cooked
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
Broth
- In a large pot over high heat, bring chicken and all remaining broth ingredients to boil. Reduce heat to low; skim surface of broth to remove foam. Let simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming occasionally, and turning chicken. Add more water if necessary to keep chicken submerged.
- Remove chicken with tongs and cool. Strain broth through fine sieve. Discard celery, herbs and spices. Reserve onions and carrots. Remove any excess fat from top of broth with spoon.
- Pull chicken meat from bones and discard skin and bones. Dice chicken and reserve. Quarter cooked onions, if desired.
Soup
- In a large pot over high heat, return strained chicken broth and bring to rolling boil. Add reserved onions and carrots. Reduce heat to low; stir in reserved chicken meat, pasta and frozen peas, cooking until warm.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with dill and parsley.
The Big Plan for Victory over the Hegemon, or What is Zelensky smoking in the Rada?
By Marat Khairullin
Hitler Zelensky presented his “victory plan” in the Verkhovna Rada. The plan is very simple and consists of three words – give, give, give. The problem is that the Ukrainian Fuhrer has already been given and quite a lot during 2022 and 2023.
There is nothing more to give, but Zelensky still asks. For what? To keep the stupid Ukies in the trenches, because while the Ukies, charmed by fairy tales about Europe and great America, are dying, Zelensky and his gang are making good money. Here, perhaps, it is worth citing a few sobering figures about the state of the hegemon – this decrepit state is no longer capable of participating in conflicts around the world, it is not even able to provide for its own army.
This story is not for the faint of heart, so let’s start with something simple and then work our way up.
So, in 2024, the Pentagon budget was a record 860 billion dollars. If we evaluate it in so-called constant dollars (a certain average dollar taking into account the purchasing power in each specific year), it turns out that this is higher than during World War II, when about three hundred billion dollars were spent per year, and higher than during the Korean War of 1952 (844 billion) and the Vietnam War (715 billion). US military spending was higher only when the country was waging two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – in the peak year of 2010 (977 billion). In other words, now the US, according to military budget figures, is waging about one and a half wars, that is, Ukraine is comparable to the Korean or Vietnam campaigns.
The problem for the US is that even in 2010, there was enough money and, most importantly, material and technical and human resources, but in 2024 there is not enough of anything.
Formally, the same amount of money is a lot, but in reality almost 500 billion dollars of the named amount are salaries and current maintenance (operation). Only 150 billion dollars are allocated for the purchase of new equipment, but here too the devil is in the details. During the Vietnam War, the number of the US army was more than three million people, now it is less than one and a half million. At the same time, the cost of spending on one soldier was and is 70 and 160 thousand “constant” dollars, respectively. That is, the army is smaller, but it costs more.
Moreover, the US has already started to delay salaries for military personnel. This fact is carefully hidden and disguised – in some cases, the leadership of military units is forced to resort to loans to pay salaries to soldiers. This looks like complete idiocy, but the US military has a colossal hidden credit debt.
My journalistic investigation on this topic is still in the development stage – wait for it, you will be simply amazed. Let me emphasize once again that this is a consequence of the fact that the US is ceasing to properly finance its army. For example, the US Army’s funding deficit under the “mandatory retirement” item is 70 billion a year. The Pentagon has not paid contributions to the US pension fund for five years (another 50 billion dollars per year). It’s like our social tax – if an enterprise stops paying it, then the next day, all its accounts are blocked. And in the US Army, the accumulated future debt under pension items alone is a colossal sum of several trillion dollars; roughly speaking, the country has stopped paying pensions to its own military. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.
In fact, few people know that the so-called full military budget of the United States is not 800 plus billion, but 1.2 trillion per year! Almost five hundred billion are payments to the disabled, pensioners, various benefits, etc. Remember all those horror stories about aspirin tablets in the ambulance for a thousand dollars. Well, the US spends 27 percent of its national budget on all these health insurance programs and other social services for mandatory categories of citizens (government employees, veterans, etc.). Plus another 12 percent in total on national defense.
Almost 40 percent of the largest national budget in the world, and still no one has enough! Still thousands of drug addicts and homeless people on the streets, still the army is falling apart! In the US Army of 2024, for example, there is not enough money to provide for the minimum required flight time for its pilots, or enough for the “shooting practice” of its artillerymen, and tankers go to the training ground once every two or three years. And most often, they do not shoot – there are no shells. Financing of the SNF (strategic nuclear forces) is carried out on a residual basis and is reduced from year to year.
Our country, for contrast, is currently developing about 16 types of strategic nuclear warhead carriers (that’s what is known) – the US has not developed a single one. Even this imbalance can be used to judge that something is wrong with the world’s most powerful economy. However, let’s move on.
During the Korean War, the US spent only 0.7 percent of its military budget on so-called support agencies. Now, pay attention, it’s more than 20! In other words, 160 billion for the activities of auxiliary agencies, services, sub-services, directorates and other crap – there are thousands of them in the US Army, and they cannot be accounted for in any real way.
One of the consequences of such a situation is the catastrophically decaying infrastructure of the United States. There are so many problems in this country that they are not being solved in time. Three years ago, for example, the only plant producing conventional black powder burned down in the United States, and it has not been restored to this day. This is the current state of the US defense industry – if a plant, God forbid, stops, it can no longer be restored.
Over the past 20 years, more than two million people have left the US defense industry (there were three, now there is one million), and the outflow continues. Let’s continue on.
Even today, the US can not provide its army with what it needs. Of the original fifty general contractors, only five remain, about a third have been restructured and absorbed by large holdings, and two-thirds have simply disappeared. In just five years, the US defense sector has lost 17,000 companies – think about it! Three thousand high-tech defense firms in the US simply disappear every year.
America has forgotten how to make not only black powder, but it will also soon, apparently, stop producing ordinary screws. Against the backdrop of Zelensky’s “getting high” in the Verkhovna Rada, I think we only need to worry about one thing – that more and more Fuhrers are born around the world on the payroll of the hegemon. Let them draw strength from it. Moreover, all these scumbags on the payroll of the US have managed to do so much in the world under the American umbrella that many decent nations want to settle accounts with them. Africa alone is worth something. We must simply support them with all our might – sell high-quality and inexpensive weapons. Sell a lot. And earn a lot on this. Because it is all in the name of peace and justice.
Zelensky’s “Victory Plan” is a plan for our victory over the hegemon!
What was an oversight when you bought your current home?
I wish I had asked this before we bought our home.
THE NEIGHBORS!!
After three years living in the home I just found out that the neighbors are the reason that the seller moved.
Our house is three stories, completely remodeled and absolutely perfect.
HOWEVER, the neighbors to the north are old and literally stalk us. If we go outside they take photos and they stare from their upstairs window. The east side neighbors sell meth. They have constant traffic in and out. Two houses have been busted in the past year for meth but new people come in and start selling. South side house is empty and frequently has squatters and another neighbor pulled a knife on my husband for pulling up too close to his mailbox.
Check out your neighbors before moving! Seriously do offender and felon search before moving. Drive by on Friday nights to see how loud the street is. Take walks during various times.
I’d also like to suggest pretending you own the house and drive to work, the store, etc. during rush hour. We moved from a farm to a house just blocks from a busy intersection. After school or after 5:00, it takes a really long time to get out. With lines of parents after school and people trying to get home, it can take 30 minutes to drive two blocks and back.
Another thing to put in your offer is that you want to keep all fixtures. We came to our new home after closing to find wires hanging from the dining room ceiling where a stunning chandelier was.
Europe Is Plunging and the U.S. Economy Is Next – This Time China Won’t Help
The ECB just did another emergency rate cut, front-running the Federal Reserve again. This isn’t a sign of confidence, it shows the EU is desperate to save their economy. However, this isn’t solving the structural and geopolitical issues. Manufacturing costs are far too high and even China’s stimulus won’t save them. Here’s what you must know.
Dangerous Ink
Submitted into Contest #247 in response to: Imagine a world where exploration is forbidden, and write a story about a character who defies this rule to satisfy their innate curiosity.… view prompt
Torvi Skarsgaard
______________
“They locked me away because I went to a forbidden place and brought back forbidden stuff.”
Zale looked up from the fire, his eyes asking Ophelia for more but not demanding it. Ophelia sensed that it was the right time to confide in a man she barely knew. After all, he had shown her an ocean and had fed her meat. The man deserved something, and all she had to give was her history.
“I used to sneak out of my bedroom and squiggle under the fence. One night, I found the Forbidden Building. Big! And full of books. I found some that I really liked. They had pictures of a funny-looking cat wearin’ a funny-looking hat. And a green furry animal that walked on two legs and had cheeks like a squirrel. And all sorts of red fish and blue fish and green fish and, well, I liked those books. So I took some of ‘em home and hid ‘em under my bed. My mamma found ‘em and that’s when they locked me up.”
Zale didn’t laugh. The story was too sad to be humorous, worthy only of a melancholy smile.
“Owning books has been a crime for years. I’m surprised they didn’t stone you to death.”
Ophelia shuddered. “They wanted to, but my daddy’s on the Ruling Council, so they gave me twenty years of confinement. Two years later, you bought me.”
Zale poked the fire, sending a riot of sparks cascading to the heavens. “Your daddy was weak.”
Ophelia bristled. “My daddy loved me!”
Flames licked the air, and the flickering light alternated between shadow and illumination. The chill in the air became noticeable.
“Yes, he did. Just enough to save your life, but not enough to make your life matter. It’s the bane of mankind. Take religion. We tolerated each other just enough to think we satisfied God, but not enough to stop killing each other over the interpretations of His words.”
Ophelia felt the truth of this, but it rankled her. She turned away from Zale and feigned sleep, her mind a whirl of conflicting, disturbing thoughts. An hour later, she heard Zale preparing for sleep. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of wishing him a good night because she wasn’t going to have one, and she feared that this new awareness of her father’s character would cause a lot of sleepless nights.
Zale slept soundly.
______________
Zale told me more about the Dangerous Ink Law. All the powerful nations passed a law that forbade any book dealing with opinions, insights, or beliefs. Mankind was on the brink of collapse, and it had been determined that such books brought it about. There was only one punishment for owning a work of fiction or belief, and that was death by stoning.
A lot of people defied the law, and a lot of people were stoned. Libraries were locked up, and plans were being made to burn the houses of the forbidden books. Then the world ended.
______________
Zale opened the door. Ophelia stepped in and gasped at the size of the house. Zale drew back the curtains in the living area, and the setting sun lit up the space, bringing it alive.
“My house. One of ‘em, anyway. The furniture’s old but serviceable.”
Ophelia went upstairs, marveling at a house that had another house on top of it. She opened doors. She explored.
“Take whichever bedroom you want. Mine’s at the end.”
Ophelia picked the bedroom farthest from Zale.
They met downstairs a few minutes later, on the front patio. Ophelia sat across from him, gazing at an ocean that never ceased to amaze her.
“Why here?” Ophelia had seen many houses on their journey, and she made up stories in her head about the people who used to live in such fine places.
Zale pointed to the north. Ophelia squinted, trying to locate what Zale was pointing at. Finally, she saw it.
A man!
They hadn’t seen anyone in the four months they had been traveling. Ophelia was beginning to believe that the only people on this earth were the villagers and Zale.
“Who is he? Is he dangerous?”
Ophelia’s heart pounded. Her new life had been amazing, but she would trade it all, right now, to be safe from others.
“No.”
Ophelia wasn’t comforted by Zale’s one-word response. After four months of searching her soul, she had become determined to trust Zale, and it had taken its toll. Getting used to another person in her life was more than she was willing to take on.
“How do you know?”
He told her.
______________
Zale had been stoned for doing what I had done: own books. Only, he didn’t die. I suppose that’s obvious, but I’ve seen people stoned to death. It’s gruesome and bloody and sickening. No one can survive it.
Zale did.
We sat on the patio while he recounted the experience. He told me about it with so little emotion! I don’t know how the man couldn’t break down from such a horrible experience, but he seemed calm, almost peaceful, as the words slipped out of his mouth.
His dad and some other villagers tossed his body in the woods after the stoning, not even bothering to give him a proper burial. Turns out, that was a good thing. An old man and his wife found him and nursed him back to health. The old man Zale had pointed out to me.
Later that night, Zale told me the rest of the story. It was a warm summer night in July, and the breeze from the murmuring ocean was a welcome relief. I felt the peace of an empty land as it kissed the endless waters. I recall the night with vivid detail because it was the night I fell in love with Zale.
______________
Zale continued his tale. “They brought me here, a good five hundred miles from where they found me. I don’t know why they saved me, but I’m grateful. Juan and Consuela, just a couple of old Mexicans who want to live their lives and move on to the next life, or so Juan said.”
Ophelia sipped some wine, something only the Ruling Council was allowed to drink. It was a little sweet, a little bitter, and made her feel like the world could be a better place someday. Zale smoked a cigarette. She declined to try this, fearing anything that made one breathe out smoke.
“After I was able to take care of myself, I vowed to get revenge. Juan couldn’t stop me, but he asked me to do something first.”
Ophelia looked at Zale. Even in the gloom of the evening, she could see a hardness to his face that hadn’t been there before. She didn’t ask any questions, though she was burning to do so. Better to let him tell it in his own time.
“He wanted me to learn how to read. Said he could teach me. Well, hell, Juan and Consuela saved my life, so I figured I owed ‘em. He taught me to read the books that almost got me killed. And many, many more. Lots of philosophy books. Adventure books. Mysteries. Romances. Thrillers. The holy books of religion.”
Zale paused to light another cigarette. Ophelia sensed that this was difficult for him, the recounting of his need for vengeance. She understood that need.
“Five years and 200 books later, Juan and Consuela loosed me from my obligation to them. Juan gave me a motorcycle, a bow and ten arrows, and sent me on my way.”
Ophelia gazed at Zale’s face. It was hard and unforgiving, like a stone.
“I found my father in the fields a few days later. I stood ten yards away from him and yelled his name. When he turned to me, all the blood left his face. He stared at me and started crying, begging me to kill him and put him out of his misery.”
Zale stood and paced the patio, his agitation not allowing him to sit still.
“So I did.”
Ophelia watched Zale closely as he sat back down. He wiped some perspiration from his forehead and lit another cigarette, breathing easier. Zale became Zale once more.
“You – you killed your father?”
“No. I hugged him and told him I forgave him.”
______________
We stayed here through the summer before traveling south. We talked of many things, but mainly about how the world ended. The UKP-223 virus. How odd that something we can’t see can do so much damage. A little bug that attacked the body.
Almost everyone died. The few people who lived had a rough time of it, and many died of attrition. The remaining survivors formed bands, for protection and to raid others for goods. Within a decade, humanity had been virtually extinguished. I could attest to that. Zale and I had been together for almost a year now, and we had seen no more than a handful of small villages.
I began my lessons in reading. Imagine how excited I was to know that, in time, I would be able to understand those strange symbols. The secrets forbidden me were to be laid open! Oh, how my father would detest me if he knew.
But not as much as I detested him. I reflected upon his deeds, and the deeds of the other villagers. They had outlawed the free trade of ideas in exchange for a harsh, unforgiving life, and this, I supposed, was because they were cowardly.
My reading had taught me a new word to describe how I felt about the Ruling Council, and especially my dad.
Pity.
______________
“It used to be called Cabo San Lucas.” Zale rowed out past the marina and into the ocean. Ophelia threw out three fishing lines and waited for something to nibble.
“What’s it called now?”
Zale grinned. “Anything you want to call it.”
The day passed, slowly but pleasantly. The couple caught three red snappers and grilled them on the beach, feasting on the delicate meat.
Ophelia, full of fish and feeling philosophical, bit an apple and gazed at it in the dying light.
“I blame God. If this is the end of the world, it’s His fault for putting the apple tree in The Garden in the first place.”
Zale laughed. “It’s easy to blame the fisherman for the hook caught in your finger.”
“Admit it, He put temptation there.”
Zale stood up, brushed sand from his clothes, and pulled Ophelia up. They walked along the beach, watching the ever-present waves try to overtake the land.
“I admit nothing but the presence of free will. Right now, I’m hoping you’re willing to —”
Ophelia kissed Zale, and all thoughts of God and free will dissipated.
______________
It took me ten years to accept Zale’s allegory about the fisherman and the hook. He didn’t get a chance to witness it.
______________
“Ok, you son of a bitch!” Ophelia kicked the dirt beside his grave. “I buried you next to Juan and Consuela. Happy?”
Ophelia, for the last time in her life, cried. Her tears, unabated, ran down her face in rivulets, falling silently next to Zale’s grave. She cried until she could cry no more. She moaned and screamed until her throat was raw, she beat the ground with her shovel, punishing it for housing the man she now had to do without.
Ophelia blew her nose and wiped her face, spent from exertion and emotion, empty and aching and shattered. She trudged to the house and slept a dreamless sleep.
______________
I understand the world now. The apple is not evil. The stone is not deadly. The ink is not dangerous. It’s the heart of man that caused the world to end. The Great Virus was simply the executioner.
I stop by Zale’s grave from time to time and relay this insight — and other pearls of wisdom — to him, but I bet he isn’t listening. Why should he? The man has been gone for almost twenty years; if he had anything to say to me, he would have said it.
Well, he was the lucky one. He never had to live with a heart under constant repair.
______________
Ophelia sat beside the fresh flowers around Zale’s grave, and gave a respectful nod to Juan and Consuela. A few bees investigated the flowers, found nothing of interest, and flew away to other, more promising flora.
“Well. The big news is that I’m getting pudgy. Can you believe it? That waif you bought twenty-five years ago is finally filling out. I blame the gardens. All I eat is from the gardens. When you died, I lost my taste for fish. But I understand the nature of fishhooks a lot better now. Ha! You should get a kick out of that.”
Ophelia plucked a weed from the spot directly above Zale’s head. The dew-laden, verdant grass sparkled in the early-morning light, a few blades bending to the gentle, fitful breeze. The ocean’s roar had subsided to a murmur, but it was ever-present and comforting to Ophelia, a thing that never changed, though everything all around it had changed.
“Not much else to say. Maybe I’ll come by tomorrow. I need to exercise some, I think, and some brisk walks along this path would do me good.”
Ophelia stood, brushing off her clothes and pushing the hair back from her face, letting the growing breeze cool her. She looked toward the blue waters, but she didn’t dwell on the lives of the fish under the surface. Not any longer. The days of dreaming about possibilities in an impossible world were gone.
“I miss you like hell.”
The sea understood. So did Zale.
If the Iranian missiles caused no damage in the recent attack on Israel why is the US sending THAAD missiles and a team team of a hundred men to Israel to operate them? If Iran targets and destroys them will this drag the US into a war with Iran?
You answered your own question 😁
The Previous time Iran launched missiles against Israel, US didn’t bring in the THAAD system
Now they rush in the THAAD system to prepare Israel in the event of significant bombardment
Conclusion – Iranian Missiles did a boatload of damage to Israel
The fact that THAAD is being sent is serious business
Usually PATRIOT is sufficient to handle threat from Cruise Missiles & Incoming Aircraft but the Patriots in Ukraine have been taken apart by the Russians
THAAD is exclusively for Ballistic missiles
It also means the Arrow 3 missile system in Israel is not upto the mark or not yet strong enough to handle a barrage of incoming ballistic missiles
American Industries Are Collapsing
Russia-China Sign “Partnership Pact”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jin Ping have just signed a “partnership pact.”
Russia agrees to support China’s goals in Taiwan. China agrees to support Russia’s goals in Ukraine.
Jointly they condemn the United States.
Scale models and stuff
What was the most insane party you’ve ever attended?
Three years ago, the house behind mine had two teenagers living by themselves in a large home. The owner was in jail. Nobody was really monitoring these teens but they still went to school.
Don’t ask me for any more logistics on their situation because I really don’t understand how in the hell that all came to be.
It was a big nice house, too big and too nice for two teens.
One Saturday, they threw a wilder party than I’ve ever seen in my life.
I felt like I was attending it despite sitting right where I am now typing this in my own house.
That day I was doing economics homework for grad school that required actual thinking.
My windows were vibrating from the music. I could hear girls laughing really loud. Guys yelling.
People were dancing. This was that crazy American party you’ve seen in the movies. Nothing short of it.
I shared a backyard fence with them, so I was able to see everything. There were easily 200+ people at this party. They had special concert style speakers they’d brought in and mounted on the back porch.
A few hours later, after I’d put ear plugs in, I was studying at a window that faces the side of my house.
I suddenly see a person run by my window.
Why the hell are people on my property….I can’t host a party too…..nonononono.
I walked through my house, to the backyard, on the pack porch to see chaos unfolding. There were people crawling over the fence, rolling over the sides and falling to the ground in my yard, like rats escaping a sinking boat.
They are jogging past my house and out into the street.
The cops were raiding the party and apparently a lot of these kids were underage.
My, how times have changed.
Whereas years ago, I’d easily be one of those teens crawling over the fence, terrified of a phone call my parents would get from the cops, I was now offering asylum to them.
Remove One Thing and Change a Landscape Forever
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story imagining ‘what if’ one historic invention had never happened. How would our world be different now?… view prompt
Keelan LaForge
Our Generation Is Truly MESSED Up
This is very funny.
What school rule had to be put in place because of you?
For high school, I went to a boarding school that had “formal dinner” four times a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Men were to wear a coat and tie, and women a nice dress.
So I’m getting dressed for my first formal dinner ever, and I had never learned to tie a tie, and was quite shy, and didn’t want to ask for help. Instead, I put on a nice black turtleneck with my sportscoat and slacks.
No one said anything. I continued to do this for years. I was the only one.
Then, senior year comes around, I’m less shy and I’m hanging out with dorm mates, and someone finally asks me: how come you get to wear a turtleneck to formal dinner?
They were shocked to learn that I didn’t ask anyone and just did it. It seemed the entire school just assumed I had some bizarre medical condition that meant I couldn’t wear a tie. And not a soul had asked me about it, for more than 3 years.
So the next formal dinner, 5 guys from my dorm are wearing turtlenecks. The next, it’s like 25 guys from various dorms. The next, it looks like a Steve Jobs impersonator convention: 2/3 of the guys in turtlenecks, including one of the younger faculty members.
AI-generated image of the trend starting
At the following morning’s assembly, the dean announced that the school’s Code of Conduct had been updated: turtlenecks were not considered appropriate attire for formal dinner.
I’m hearing the news and thinking crap when they asked why I was allowed to wear turtlenecks I should have just made something up.
But then the dean continues “.. except for Charles. Charles can still wear a turtleneck.”
Half the school had been looking at me from the moment turtlenecks had been mentioned, so a lot of people saw me go through a cycle of shock, then fear, then relief, and were cracking up.
My understanding is that the school’s Code of Conduct actually has my name in it. Every now and then, someone asks why, and gets this story.
That also means that I could visit the school sometime, attend a formal dinner, and wear my signature turtleneck.
Which is good, because I still can’t tie a tie without referring to notes.
‘‘US will default’: Sovereign Debt Collapse To Flip Global Monetary System | Andy Schectman’ — Sean Foo YouTube channel
Previous presidents, but particularly Joe Biden, has ruined the US dollar as a world reserve currency through sanctions, tariffs, a genocide, and the confiscation of sovereign assets. Trump is threatening 100% sanctions on any country that doesn’t use the US dollar as a reserve currency. That would hasten the fall of the US dollar.
Joe Biden weaponized the US dollar, and as a consequence, the US will pay for it. For this reason and others, Joe Biden will go down as one of the worst presidents in US history. Video 1 is Sean Foo’s YouTube show.
Have you ever walked into your home and known something wasn’t right? What happened?
My mother was terminally ill in the hospital with cancer. My husband and I had a 5 month old baby boy and I was basically responsible for staying with my mother during the day as she needed to be in cuffs and restraints due to her confusion and medications. My husband did not want to spend his day off with our son at home. I had been farming him out to family friends and my friends so I could be with Mom daily. Well I left my husband with our son and spent the day with Mom. When I got home, as soon as I walked in the door I could tell that something was so very wrong. Our son was lying on the floor on a blanket sucking on a bottle and smiling. My husband was working on a washing machine in the laundry room and for some reason I just went back there and asked him calmly how was your day. He said fine but he didn’t look at me. I went back and got shivers all over my body and for some reason undressed my son who was in a cute onesie. 5 months old and he had bruises from his shoulder blades down to his buttocks. I calmly redressed him and went and asked my husband quietly what had happened. He said nothing so I went back and looked at the baby again. Then I went back out there, got in his face. He said the baby had been crying and wouldn’t stop and he lost his temper. He then cried crocodile tears. He had lost his temper with our son and repeatedly hit him. We went to the emergency room, had him checked out. He was fine. Needless to say I never left him alone with his son again and within a year we were divorced. I never had that intuition or feeling before, and never have since.
Aliens on the Mend
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story about a character who wakes up in space.… view prompt
Pete Gautchier
Aliens on the Mend
I did not grow up in Roswell, NM. I was not enticed by the alien aura that permeates the atmosphere of this fine town. I am a guy who needs visual evidence to support any theories or special scientific mumbo-jumbo. Many years ago, I bought a few remote, parcels of land throughout Chaves County. My hook was farming. Farming peppers (hot, and I mean hot like ghost peppers). Sounds strange, but I had this sixth sense that peppers would become popular in the coming age with all this “culinary finessed” eating. So, I moved my hulky self to this semi-arid, rugged territory.
My name is Dan. I am generally a loner except for a few docile sheep on my farm. I do have three hired hands who help me tend to the fields. Their names are Chad, Michel, and Diego. Together, we are a motley crew. We have become good friends over the years. I consider myself an optimistic fellow, but I still have lingering doubts about my ability to farm these delicacies. This hot weather can really take its toll on a person, especially when you are farming in it for 12-14 hours per day.
As I said, I am a hulking guy, very plain appearance with no distinguishing scars or features. Nothing a girl would find all that appealing; but I do have one marking, a tattoo, (a tatty zapper) on my forearm which I questioned at the time why I got it. It is a plain cross with the words below it ‘Jesus saves.’ I was raised in a small town with a single community church. I am not a spiritual, religious person. My tattoo came from an endorphin-ridden high from a church revival one evening on the outskirts of Roswell. My three amigos persuaded me to come one night to feel the power of God. I guess I must have felt His power once the tattoo artist began penetrating a rapid-fire needle into my arm! Ouch and ouch! It hurt for several days thereafter. Chad, Michel, and Diego got the same tattoo claiming they were filled with the Spirit. They wanted me to share in the experience.
Summer days in the pepper fields are wickedly hot. I wiped my dripping forehead with my exposed tattooed arm. I noticed how the tattoo seem to jump out of me from the moistened colors. I was taken aback, but proceeded with my collection of the ripe peppers. In my weakness I popped a few of the unripen gems. My head was spinning and I felt unsteady. When I looked at the horizon, I saw strange shapes which quickly disappeared and then reappeared; the cyclical flicker made me nauseous. Nothing seemed to happen except that my tatty zapper throbbed. I iced it down and then fell fast asleep not waking until the sun was popping over the horizon the next day.
Another sultry day out in the pepper fields with my three workers. The sun was incredibly more intense today than yesterday. The harvest was in session and we had to gather scores of peppers for transport to the drying operations. My comrades were feeling queasy expressing a desire to suspend the harvest. They too had been munching on a few of the peppers. I realized at that moment I had to incentivize their labor or I would be stuck out in the fields on my own. I blurted out big things would come. I had not thought out that promise carefully before I said it.
We gathered for a late meal break; the sun dipped below the horizon casting an eerie reddish-purple haze. Our arms began to pulse with pain. Feverish, sweaty, hallucinating, a flash of blinding light encircled us. Before I could close my eyes, our bodies were paralyzed and prone like wood boards. My body seemed to dematerialize right before my eyes; the others were vanishing before me too. Just before I lost visual contact, I saw my friends become a cloud of energized particles. Then shazam; then poof!
We awoke finding ourselves sprawled out on a cold stone floor. Neither one of us knew where we were. After pinching each other we knew that our dream experience was the same. It was much more than that. From nowhere, a dozen armed men carrying unusual hardware motioned us to get up and follow them. No words were spoken. We knew what they meant. They led us into a stately decorated room. It appeared to be a royal or presidential meeting room. A gong sounded several times. From behind a massive doorway, a man entered dressed in royal regalia, opulent with diamonds, rubies, gold bracelets and crown, silken vestments, silver slippers. Oh boy, we are certainly in a predicament! The guards motioned us to kneel before this figure. Of course, it made no sense to resist because I did not want to be the first to experience the devices they readied for discharge.
Then, the figure spoke. “Welcome to my kingdom! This is the world of Bylonia. We are the Bylons, a people of great fortitude, great technological advancement, great power, great beauty…” And on and on he went about greatness. He said, “I am the Royal Potentate, Neezer of the Bylon people.” Ok, so far so good I thought to myself. Neezer then began a lengthy three-hour explanation as to why we were here; but, for the sake of brevity here is the gist of it: Neezer had been searching the galaxies far and wide for a sign; he was not really sure what that sign was, but when he found it, he knew it must be the one. Sure enough, we were that sign powered by an aura that was created from a mixture of our chemical sweat, the hot peppers, the blaring hot sun, and our tattoos. When his astrologists saw the luminescent aura from Earth, they notified the potentate. He ordered them to activate a dematerialization transport to extricate us from earth. And shazam! Then Poof! Here we kneel before some royally garbed lunatic. Neezer said we were hand-picked from the universe because of the aura we showed through the space and time continuum. The thought of going home seemed remote or impossible. So, we figured we would do what we had to do…which was survive! Remember, I did promise my guys big things would happen. I did not say what, however. “You are a sign from the heavens,” Neezer said finishing his discourse.
After some time, we acclimated into their lifestyle; however, Chad, Michel and Diego cautioned me of the eternal ramifications if we persisted in these pagan practices. We had to subtly refrain. I realized they were telling me this because I was naïve and not spiritual. So, we met in secret to pray and ask God for guidance through this ordeal.
There came a day when Neezer was beside himself. He had a dream. None of his astrologers, sorcerers, or magicians could even tell him about the dream. Failing was under penalty of death. Neezer was infuriated so he ordered them to be executed anyway. To my horror, Chad, Michel, Diego, and myself were part of that group. So, the four of us feverishly prayed to God in private. During the night, God gave me a vision; He gave me wisdom to interpret Neezer’s dream. I hastily went to the executioner pleading with him to let me speak to Neezer. I said to Neezer, “no person can explain your dream, but there is a God who reveals mysteries. He has given me the ability to share it with you. In your dream your Majesty, you saw a large statute-humungous, regal in appearance. It had a head made of pure gold; arms and chest made of silver, a torso of bronze, legs of iron and feet made of a mixture of iron and clay. As you watched a magnificent rock was hewn by the God who revealed this mystery to me. The rock struck the feet of the statute and all of it, was shattered to pieces becoming dust. The wind swept it away. The rock changed into a huge mountain filling the entire planet.” I added, “Now, this is what it means. The God of heaven has given your power and might over the all the people and beasts of the land. Everything is under your rule. Neezer, You are the head of gold. But after you another kingdom will come, inferior to yours; a third, the bronze will rule and finally a fourth kingdom, strong like iron which crushes everything. But, as a mixture, its people will not remain united. During those times the God of heaven will crush all kingdoms and setup a kingdom that will endure forever…this is the meaning of the rock hewn not from human hands, but from God Himself. Hearing this Neezer said, “Dan, Your God is a God of gods and Lord of lords for allowing you to reveal this mystery to me.” Neezer was impressed. There was no fear now that Neezer seemed to accept our God and His power.
Well, never trust a potentate at his word. I think the dream of the statute was still in his head.
He had the people construct an image of gold 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide outside the city! We could not figure out what it was, but it resembled a bust of his head! It was frightening! Neezer summoned everyone to attend the dedication of his statute. I hid. Then an announcement was made that at the sound of music all would fall prostrate on the ground to pay homage to the statute. Violators of this decree would be thrown into the nuclear accelerator. The atoms of their bodies would be smashed to oblivion. When I heard this, I stayed out of sight. Unfortunately for Chad, Michel and Diego they were caught red-handed by those jealous of their positions as outsiders. They saw the trio defy Neezer’s decree refusing to fall prostrate and worship the image. The royal guards brought them before Neezer. He said, “I will give you one more chance. When the music plays bow down or else you will feel my wrath in the accelerator!” Chad responded, “Not on your life Neezer! We will not do it even if our God does not save us! We will not worship your god.” Neezer looked like he was going to explode he was so angry. He ordered that the accelerator be set to obliterate at maximum intensity. The guards tied and tossed Chad, Michel, and Diego into the accelerator, but the guards were zapped into oblivion themselves. Then Neezer approached the entrance to the nuclear contraption. He was incredulous. He exclaimed, “look I see four men walking around in there unharmed and unbound. The fourth looks like a god.” He shouted, “Chad, Michel and Diego come out from there!” So, Chad, Michel, and Diego came out of accelerator unscathed. Not a mark or defect upon them. Neezer exclaimed, “Praise to their God who sent his angel to rescue his servants! They were willing to sacrifice themselves in defiance of me and not their own God. Because of this, I decree that anyone who says anything against their God will be chopped up into pieces. No other god can save in this way.” One would think that after all that had happened to the Potentate, he would have understood that our God was the God he should serve.
For the next year, Neezer still acted tyrannically to his people. As I had warned him, he was driven off into the wild sections of the planet. Finally, Neezer accepted our Most High God. Witnessing this did a number on my heart and soul. I pondered all that had happened. Neezer lived a short time after his sojourn in the wilderness. Nonetheless, he could not impart his new faith to his son, Shazz who reigned after his death.
Shazz was defiant, wanting to make a name for himself. He defiled any remembrance of the Most High God. He forced his people to praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood. Anything that would make his kingdom wealthy and powerful was worshipped. During a celebratory banquet, a disembodied hand mysteriously appeared writing a message on the wall of the royal banquet hall. The banquet guests were deeply frightened especially Shazz. He summoned the magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers but no one could tell him what the words meant. A wife of Shazz urged him to have me brought to interpret the message. I was not exactly thrilled to do this, but I knew with God at my side ‘all things were possible. I told him the truth about how his father, Neezer accepted the Most High God, near the end of his days. “You, Shazz, with your cronies and party friends desecrated the Most High God by your worship and praise of wood and metal. The written words, ‘Mene, Tekel, Purpe’ mean God has numbered your reign and will bring it to end. You have been weighed on the scales of justice. Your kingdom will be divided and given to the Purpians and Madmen
(enemies to the Bylon empire.)
I thought I was a dead man. I guess it really did not matter because Shazz was assassinated by the Purpians the next day. Shazz was replaced by Ardius, a Madman, who like the rulers before thought he was god’s gift to the empire. He was in fact making himself a god. I promoted my exceptional gifts and qualities so Ardius took note of me. As is the case with foreigners in a foreign land, the natives took umbrage of Ardius’ favoritism towards me. They conspired against me by persuading Ardius to issue a decree that everyone must pray to him or be thrown into the pit of the most ravenous beast in the Purpian empire, the zillaraptor. Who is he to tell me when and to whom I should pray after all these years on this forsaken planet!? And, what is a zillaraptor anyway? Well, I would not stand for that. So, in my persistent stubbornness I got down on my knees and prayed to the Most High God.
I was immediately arrested and tossed into the pit. I protested saying, “O Ardius am I not worthy of a trial?” Ardius would only respond by saying, “May your God, whom you serve continuously and faithfully rescue you from the mouths of the zillaraptors.” I prayed through the night. Terror filled me when I saw that a zillaraptor was a voracious huge alien/man eater with dagger-like fangs, an elongated tongue with suction cups. It was reptilian-like with scales and parts like an alien dragon?
Ardius that night could not sleep so he went to the pit. He called out to me nervously, “Dan, Dan has your Most High God been able to rescue from the zillaraptors? I answered him, “My God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the zillaraptors because He found me innocent. Your Royal Potentate, I have not done any wrong against you.” Ardius was thrilled and gave orders to lift me out of the pit. I had no wounds, not even a scratch. Ardius gave orders that the whistleblowers take my place into the pit. There was so much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Ardius was in awe of my survival he restored my standing in the kingdom. He continued his reign through the years with loyalty to the Most High God. During that time, however, I was troubled with more dreams of impending doom. I shared these with Chad, Michel and Diego. I told them I saw the coming in the clouds of the Most High. I saw a vision of angel who said the people will continue to delight in their transgressions. They will continue to be an abomination before the Most High God until a tabernacle of the Most High God is established, one that will live forever and ever! I emphatically tried to tell the alien people of their impending doom! I tried to get them to listen, to believe in the One who is greater than the universe. From my mouth I blurted, “Jesus saves.” Listen and know what He has done for you! How much you are loved by Him! Chad, Michel and Diego also bellowed out, “Jesus saves.” Our alien cohorts emphatically began to profess “Jesus saves.” One by one they began to accept Him as their God. I could see them mended by His mercy and grace. And then I was jolted by an amazing discovery of my own! My heart was mending too. Jesus does save! A chorus from the heavenly realm praised God singing: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Rev 5:12 NIV).
Then shazam! Then Poof!
Brusquely, I stood up. I looked around and saw the fields of peppers before me. I scanned the horizon searching for the vestiges of what I had just experienced. Nothing but peppers as far as I could see. Then one by one my coworkers popped up like large sunflowers. They looked as bewildered as I was. It was very apparent to me what my dreams were. I motioned for all us to gather. Each of us realized we shared the same experience; we understood what it all meant. We looked at our tatty zappers and knew the reason for this experience.
That day forward we humbled ourselves before the Lord. We established a church in my pepper fields to preach the Gospel to those in Chavez County and beyond…
beyond the reaches of time and space!
All are welcome, especially aliens stopping in for a visit at the Fellowship of the Universe Church in Christ the Lord.
What 10 things have you stopped doing in your life?
I just looked at the other answers to this question, and it seems that if you’ve stopped masturbating and watching porn, you’ll receive the most upvotes. There’s even a bonus for never having touched a glass of alcohol.
I’ll do that when I reach 90 years of age—not now (probably not even then). Here’s what I’ve stopped doing instead:
- I don’t buy expensive stuff anymore, for two reasons: I either lose it, or it gets destroyed. The second reason is that I don’t have the money.
- I stopped telling people about the new book I’m writing. After more than two years without putting a single word on paper, the whole thing became embarrassing.
My fancy pre-war smartphone. It didn’t survive too long.
- Same goes for my movie projects. They’re all on ice.
- I stopped watching my language. This is a logical consequence of point one (only buying cheap stuff). If my $100 phone doesn’t work, how the f*ck am I supposed to stay calm?
- I stopped reading “serious literature” (classics, Nobel Prize winners, etc.). Instead, I read Tom Clancy. Nowadays, I read to relax, not to educate or “elevate” myself.
- Since the war in Ukraine started (where I work as a civilian volunteer), I’ve also stopped caring about what other people think of me. When I meet new people, I put zero effort into making a good first impression. I need all my energy for my job, and pretending to be someone else is too exhausting.
These are only six points. Sixty percent is good enough for me—I also stopped pretending to be a perfectionist.
What everyday habits drain our energy?
- Lack of exercise: This is the most common habit of most of the people. These days, we are so involved and focussed on our daily chores, studies and office work that we forget about our health and exercising.
- And this is one of the worst things that you can do to ruin your day. No exercise means, increasing stiffness in muscles, stiffness means a drop in energy levels. And this lack of energy gives a huge blow to your productivity level.
- Overthinking: When you will continue to worry and overthink about every single thing, then it will suck your mental energy, which could have been used for doing something constructive. Actually this problem happens when one starts living in illusions and completely cuts off from reality.
- Poor diet: It is not only about the burgers, instant noodles and everything on which we are lectured by our parents. But is also about choosing the right food combinations.
- One type of food can increase your energy and the other type can make you lethargic. For example: If you will eat everything oily and spicy whole day, you will feel lazy and if you will consume wholesome food, then it would re-energize you.
- Using the phone right after waking up: Most of us have a habit of checking our phone right after waking up to look for messages or to have an round from whatapp➡️ snapchat➡️instagram➡️ youtube. Seems like a matter of 5 mins but is it true?😅. We start with the same thought but end up spending an hour on it.
- Working in wrong posture: We, dont realise it but we all sub-consciously tend to get into a wrong posture. And when we get into a wrong posture for doing any work, tension is created in our muscles which starts aching after sitting for a long time.
- Relating everything with self: Most people have the habit of doing unnecessary comparisons with others. They scroll through the posts of the acheivements and the happy life of their friends on social media and start their negative self talk.
- While, actually the reality is everyone has a different story. Everyone will have to face challenges, struggles and fears in his life. And as far as social media is concerned, the people will always tell about their best and hide their worst. So, you are unique in your own.
- Indulging in sexual pleasures: This is the most self-destructive habit a person can have. Lust is being served everywhere on every app, Facebook, Instagram etc. If one daily consumes such content, it will intensify his sexual urges. It takes everything-your time, energy and the most important thing, it deteriorates your mind after a certain extent.
Shorpy
Why do the Chinese use English names? Are they ashamed of their original names?
Hi, Taner Mutlu. Thanks for the interesting question.
When I was living abroad in several Anglosphere countries, I found that many of my Chinese friends and relatives in those countries had adopted “English names”, which they used when communicating with people who were native to those countries.
The number one reason was so that they didn’t have to spend several minutes repeating the “this is how you pronounce my name” talk every single time they introduced themselves to someone new – because, chances are good that despite repeating their names two or three times to the other party, it’s still going to get butchered and mangled anyway. Sometimes, the other party just doesn’t even want to try to get the pronunciation right. Imagine waiting in the doctor’s waiting room and not recognizing your own name when it gets called out….
I can understand. The first couple of times, it’s fine.
But it gets very old, very fast.
By the nth time, you’ll be like silently hoping that they’ll just use your “English name” instead.
The funny thing was, when we were among ourselves, we just called each other by our Chinese names.
Another funny thing – Chinese names are short, much shorter than the names of people from some other countries.
But still, despite being very short, they stilk get mangled and butchered nevertheless.
For example, how would you pronounce this name:
Yu Chun
I mean, it only has FIVE letters!
Just FIVE letters!
It should be a cinch, right?
So, how would you pronounce it?
Unless you’re familiar with the language, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get it right.
So, which is easier to pronounce?
Yu Chun?
or
Chris?
And there you have your answer.
Many times, it’s for your convienience – and theirs, too.
Davy Knowles – Cortez The Killer – 11/25/16 World Cafe Live – Philadelphia
Why does China foster such an iron-clad relationship with Pakistan?
On the surface, it seems rather improbable – China is atheist, Pakistan is Islamic; China is a stable communist/capitalist, Pakistan is an unstable military junta/capitalist; China is the world’s factory, Pakistan is neither a big market nor a big supplier of resources; and as to geopolitical balance to India, frankly, China simply doesn’t worry about India very much.
But if there is one international relationship that China is “emotional” about, it’s the relationship with Pakistan. China is “Confucius” at heart. She wants to maintain friendly relationship with every country but the word “friend” has a special meaning in the Chinese culture. It means someone who stands by you when you are down and out.
Pakistan stood by China when she was down and out. It’s that simple. She was one of the first countries to recognize PRC, when the rest of the world recognized ROC. She stood by China throughout the 20-year embargo by the Western Allies, the break with USSR, the internal turmoils, and the severe famine in the late 60’s. She helped facilitate Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. After the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, she was one of the only two countries that stood by China. (The other one is Cuba)
So there is a significant level of genuine affection from both sides that transcends politics, religion, culture, forms of government, and economics. It’s a relationship that has stood the test of hardships from both sides. If China only thought of Pakistan as a way to counter India, she would not be advising Pakistan for years privately to improve relationship with India and tone down the hostility, but she did exactly that. Could The ‘China Model’ Finally Improve Relations Between India And Pakistan? It’s because she really believes that peaceful development is the best way going forward for Pakistan.
Silver Spurs, Silver Bullets
Submitted into Contest #247 in response to: Imagine a world where exploration is forbidden, and write a story about a character who defies this rule to satisfy their innate curiosity.… view prompt
M.L. J.
This story contains sensitive content
When the blistering heat starts to soften, that’s when Buck knows it’s time to go home. She gives the reins a gentle tug, easing old Grit towards the sinking sun. As Buck draws a breath for one big sigh, it catches in her throat. There, twinkling like a jewel is the glint of metal on the horizon.
Buck goes still. The desert plays tricks. Yet, she’s never seen a trick like this. A black rider sits astride a black mare. The sun catches the silver of his spurs, his buckle, and the six ways of dying at his hip. It seems pure, somehow. That silver light. Its whisper drowns out the wind. Drowns out everything.
Forty days and forty nights you could ride and get no closer to the end. Not without me.
Buck looks to Sunset Ridge. Where she imagines it is, anyway. It would be a close call. If there was anyone who could manage a risk like that, it would be her. All she has to do is get close enough to figure out the trick, then yank Grit back around and race on home.
She spurs Grit towards the stranger in black. Not for the first time, Buck doesn’t think twice.
She clutches her hat with one hand and leans in as the old mare breaks into a gallop. Without the full strength of the sun, it verges on temperate. Cool, even. She draws closer, but the figure makes no attempt to meet her.
Surely, he sees her, don’t he? There isn’t anything else to look at for miles and miles but a mangy mare and a mangier girl riding full speed towards him. Buck hopes he knows more about the wastes than she does. A flame bursts to life next to that dark silhouette. The stranger has set up camp.
Buck looks over her shoulder to find the sky ablaze in color. Sunset Ridge didn’t get its name for nothing, after all. All those oranges, pinks, and reds bleed together in a beautiful warning seen too late. She thought the worst thing you could lose in a bet was a silver bullet. Wrong again, Buck.
There’s an awful lot of night between her and home. When Buck reaches the firelight, the sky is one giant spectacle of black. A mess of twinkling stars. So open and clear that it sends her head spinning. Just like staring down the throat of a snake. The night wants to swallow her up. A sickly yellow moon hangs above, bathing that dark stranger in a glow next to godliness.
“G’evening.” The man tips his black hat.
Buck hesitates, then greets him with a nod. There’s never sense in being rude. “Evening.”
She opens her mouth to ask all the things that have been turning over in her head, but they jumble together on the way out. It leaves her quiet.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a smoke, would you now?”
Buck swallows. The stranger stares back at her through the haze of the campfire. Sometimes the flames lick high enough to make the shadows of his face shift. Deepening, growing light, then dark once again. The corners of his mouth ghost a smile. Buck pulls two cigars from her pocket, offering one to the man.
“Thank you kindly, Buck.”
Buck halts as she reaches for her lighter. The man snaps and fire dances from his fingertips as he lights the bottom of their quirleys. Buck can’t find the words to refuse.
“How’d you know my name?” Buck tries to sound indignant; tough, but her voice wavers. She sounds like a child who has wandered too far.
“I know lots of things about you, Buck.” He exhales and the smoke slithers upwards like a serpent with cinders for eyes. “Fastest gun in Sunset Ridge. Maybe fastest in the wastes. Not that there’s much competition, m’afraid.”
The stranger’s boots make heavy footfalls on the packed dirt, but his spurs make a prettier sound. Like bells. A tinkling chime. He moseys around the fire and makes another lazy round about Buck. It raises the hairs on her neck. The stranger doesn’t look like anybody she’s ever seen before. An outlaw. His black clothes are embroidered with a beautiful silver thread. It catches moonlight. His pale skin does the same. He’s pretty, like a wolf that eats well.
“You’re lucky to have found me, y’know. The wastes are an awfully dangerous place to be at night.”
Grit tosses her head with an uneasy whinny, shuffling on her feet as the stranger gets closer. Buck pats the pony’s neck. Maybe to comfort herself more than anything. Maybe she ought to saddle back up and run. Beasts be damned.
“I’ll manage.” Buck follows the stranger with a narrow eye as he circles her. It reminds her of a vulture. The way they hover above a sickly calf that can’t stay on its feet.
Far beyond the reach of the firelight, a wolf howls a lonesome note.
“I can help.”
“I’ll manage,” Buck squints, “Who are you?”
His teeth flash. A smile. Though it reminds her more of the coyote she shot in the corner of her chicken coop, fat with red teeth.
“You don’t know?” The smile lingers, then he faces her square and hooks a thumb in his belt, “Tell you what, Buck. I’m in a fair mood. I’ll cut you a deal.”
His hand drops to his side. The pearl-handled pistol is a beauty. Though Buck doesn’t miss the notches outnumbering her ability to count.
“I reckon you wanna see what’s on the other side of this desert, don’cha?”
Buck’s hand rests on her gun. “Yes. I do.”
“And you’re a pretty quick hand, ain’t you?”
“Yes, I am.”
“If you draw faster than me, then I’ll get you to the other side.” The man flicks the brim of his hat, meeting her cold stare head-on. Those eyes ought to belong to a snake the way they have Buck frozen stiff. “If I draw quicker than you, then I get your soul.”
There’s no great shock when he says it. Buck just stares back. This time, she resists the impulse to find Sunset Ridge. Even if she could see it, the town could do nothing for her now. Not that it ever did. She and Grit could race back home, but then where would she be? The same town. The same dirt and dust and drunken Pete. Except she would remember this night and the devil out in the wastes, offering her a slice of something else.
All she’s got to do is the only thing she knows how.
“Alright then. Seems mighty unfair,” Buck takes a deep draw from her cigar, and puffs a cloud of gray smoke, “considering I’m the fastest gun there is.”
Those snake eyes seem to flash before The Devil sets his terms, “You win, you get out of the wastes, and if I win, I get your soul.”
“Not just out of the wastes—” Buck cuts in, “Somewhere pretty.”
He nods and offers his hand. “Somewhere pretty.”
Buck takes it. Regret surfaces only then. It feels like sticking your hand into a dark, dusty hole just before you hear the low hiss of the snake who lives there. His fingers coil around her sweaty palm, tight and cold.
She blinks and suddenly stands with her back to the stranger. The air is choked with the smell of brimstone and brandy. The Devil smells like a saloon sat on the outskirts of tarnation.
“Ten paces. One.”
The presence at her back disappears as The Devil steps forward. Buck’s heels click just a moment behind.
“Two.”
Another step. Buck’s heart has used her spine as a ladder to hunker down in her throat and pound away. It doesn’t seem likely to come down anytime soon.
“Three.”
She’s a good shot. Buck tells herself. She can shoot the bottle from a man’s hands at seventy steps away. She’s shot the tail off a field mouse and splattered spiders that she ought to have just hit with a boot.
Everyone in Sunset Ridge knows better than to draw against Buck.
“Four.”
But she’s no devil.
“Five.”
She reckons they don’t play fair.
“Six.”
Buck’s hand hovers over her gun, trembling.
“Seven.”
If she was a devil, she wouldn’t play fair either. She would turn early.
If Buck was a devil then she would shoot that man right in the back.
“Eight.”
Buck draws in a deep, long breath. The world slows down. Gone is the howl of the distant wolf and skitter of scorpions on the cold sand. The creatures all stop to wait for the devil to speak.
“Nine.” He says.
She says, “Ten.”
Like a bolt of lightning, Buck whips around. There’s not a thought in her head. Just the memory of her muscle. Click. The hammer drops. At the end of the barrel, stands the dark stranger with his white gun staring back at her. The sound of gunfire deafens the desert. Her ears ring. The only sound in her small world. Black smoke fogs the eighteen paces between the two duelists with no way of knowing if her aim hit true.
She doesn’t dare breathe. Her eyes sting like hell but she doesn’t blink. Not until the smoke clears and there The Devil stands like an imitation of a man.
The missing bullet.
Just when Buck thought her heart would never stop beating in her throat, it drops to her feet. It starts as a dull pain, a shock more than anything. The uncomfortable realization from your body that it’s got an unwanted visitor. Buck presses a hand to her chest. Her palm comes back wet. The moonlight makes the blood look blacker than ink.
Many things go wrong all at once. The strength bleeds right out of her body and the legs are the first thing to go. Buck drops to sit on the ground, clutching the wound as she falls to her back.
It hardly seems fair. Buck looks up at those stars. So close it makes her dizzy. Though maybe that’s just the dying. She cheated and she still lost. It would have made more sense for her to have cheated and won. Narratively speaking.
The ringing in her ears ebbs away to the clink of silver spurs. The Devil’s handsome face blocks the moon, still smiling like the coyote that killed the hen.
“You’re a quick draw, Buck.” He crouches down beside her, “But you’ve got to give the devil his due.”
Buck doesn’t know how exactly to handle the exchange of your soul with dignity. She starts gathering spit in her mouth, figuring actions speak louder than words when her eyes catch a fault. Over the left breast pocket of his button-up shirt, the silver stitching is torn. A tiny, minuscule imperfection. In Sunset Ridge, it’s rarer to have a stitch in place than not, but on a man like him, that one tiny flaw has her smiling.
“You need a tailor,” Buck says.
The smile couldn’t have fallen off The Devil’s face quicker if she had spit on him.
He doesn’t need to look at the hole in his shirt to know that he’s been caught. His eyes are darker than night from where they glower down at the quickest draw in the wastes.
“You cheated.”
“So did you.”
The Devil grits his teeth. “So I did.”
Buck lets her eyes drift shut. The breath she draws in rattles terribly. Like the tin roof of her Ma’s dusty house. Like the tip of the viper’s tail. She won’t manage many more breaths like that. Yet, she keeps grinning.
The world changes so quickly, Buck thinks for a moment she slipped off to heaven before collecting her prize. The ground beneath her head becomes a grassy pillow, lush and green, with soft dirt that smells like life. She could bury her nose in mud like that. Though, Buck reckons she looks like enough of a mess already, with all the bleeding and such.
A brook babbles on beside her, like a vein of silver. The sunlight is softer here. Golden and warm. She’s never seen sunlight dance before, but dance it does through the verdant lacework of the canopy above. In a branch far beyond, two squirrels chitter about the strangest intruder who seems to have just appeared out of thin air. A fat bee bumbles by Buck’s head, legs laden with pollen. Somewhere out of sight, a songbird starts the choir.
Buck lifts the trembling hand from her chest, fingertips grazing the cool stream. So clear she can see the moss clinging to the river stones, and watch as a pale fish follows the current far from the plink of her fingers breaking surface. The water pulls the blood from her skin in streams of soft pink until her fingertips are washed clean. She’s seen that color many times before. In a sunset.
There are worse things than dying far from home, Buck reckons, like never leaving home at all.
How did you respond when a co-worker that never showed you any respect or interest asked you for a favor?
I worked for about 6 years for a company that was all phone work. It was a large manufacturing company and we were off-site in El Paso. We did the legal,customer service and accounting.
I was pretty much set to one side as I was 60 and the rest of the 20 to 25-year-olds kind of ignored me. I turned out to be be troubleshooter for the company.
I was upstairs where the manager and the accountants were. I didn’t think anybody had really noticed me.
One day one of the girls from downstairs came up and asked me for a favor.
The favor was, would I please come to her little girl’s birthday party. Of course I went and I was the only person from the company invited.
It was strictly a family affair. I was even older than her parents. One of the games they played was the pinata. Everybody beat at it for a while and it wouldn’t break and they insisted that I try. So I give it my best 60-year-old windup, hit the damn thing and tore it off the wire and send it over the fence into the next yard. I was suitably embarrassed.
Cabbage Roll Soup
Cabbage Roll Soup is guaranteed to be a fall and winter favorite. This delicious soup has all the flavor of traditional baked cabbage rolls.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
- 32 ounces beef broth
- 29 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher or sea salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook, breaking up the meat, until beef is browned.
- Add the onion and garlic cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients, except rice, to the pot. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer; cover pot and cook for 1 hour.
- Add rice and cook for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and discard.
Notes
If you want to use brown rice instead of white rice, cook for 45 minutes instead of 25 minutes.
What did you assume was exaggerated until you experienced it?
Expensive Pens.
I’ve always bought and used cheap plastic pens one could find at the corner store. They cost about 20p per pen. I’d buy a pack of 10 pens and threw them away once the ink ran out. I’ve never understood why my English teacher would always recommend a certain ballpoint pen to us to purchase before our exams. I just thought they were a waste of money.
A few days ago, I stumbled upon a review on a Parker Stainless Steel Jotter Ballpoint Pen. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? It had a 5 star review and was on half price, £7.49 Wow, I thought to myself. That’s almost thrice the price I’d pay for a pack of 10 pens. However, what caught my eyes was how nice the pen looked. Professional.
After finally deciding which colour to get, I decided to get a silver one. It’s much heavier than the plastic pens, that’s for sure. But what amazed me was how smooth it was to write. It is significantly different as compared to a cheap 20p pen. The pen doesn’t slip out of my fingers as often, and it doesn’t hurt me to write for a long period of time. Also, it sort of makes me look really cool :p 10/10 would recommend
Here’s my pen:
Why is Chinese GDP/capita so much lower than the US? How do the Chinese cope with this?
Actually Chinese people don’t care about it too much, at least not as much as you can imagine.
That’s because the living cost in China is much lower than that in the US.
For example, in nearly all places across China, you can buy a bottle of water with one yuan, which is around 0.15 dollars.
The prices of most vegetables, various kinds of meat and other daily necessities are also pretty low than that in the US.
It means that the same amount of money has much higher purchasing power in China than in America.
Why is China’s GDP per capita much lower than the US? Because China has a much higher population than the US.
The fact is that the GDP per capita of China, with a population of over 1.4 billion, has been increasing for many years.
As a result, the living standard of the Chinese people has also been on the rise over the years.
What are 10 things police officers wish they could tell you, but can’t?
- They will not tell you that your case is going nowhere. When your parked car is hit in the night and there are no witnesses, no video and no license plate left behind the report is just for insurance purposes. Your burglary with a $3,000 loss? No follow-up because they are snowed under with higher loss cases.
- They know when you are lying and nothing you say after that has any weight. People lie to make themselves sound better or to get more attention to their case. It has the opposite effect. That report goes straight to files and no detective will ever see it. They can’t trust anything you say.
- There are no nationwide tire, tire print, shoe or shoe print databases that all cops have access to.
- Cops do not, can not hack into traffic cams, private business cams or government and private computer systems. It’s illegal, and most of those systems are not hooked up to the internet anyway. Obtaining video from them is time consuming and often entails search warrants for privately owned systems.
- Cops and CSIs do not process entire houses/businesses unless it is a mass murder scene. They look for things/spots most likely to have been touched by the suspect and just do those.
- DNA takes weeks to years to never to get back.
- There is nothing you can do to get out of a ticket. You can guarantee getting one with a bad attitude and even up your chances with a good attitude, but if they have already decided you need a ticket, you will get one.
- Cops can not ‘scare’ your 12 year old child into behaving. You obviously have spent 12 years teaching him he does not have to listen to authority and they can not undo that in 15 minutes without spilling blood. Hell, it takes three months in Marine boot camp!
- You do not pay our salaries unless you are a major business owner in our city/county. Salaries are paid from the general fund, not tax income.
- You can not “have your badge”. A cop will not be fired for giving you a ticket or being rude to you. Most people who say this actually have no complaint other than they were upset things did not go their way.
Why does China use media propaganda to their people to show how they’re better than the U.S. or any other country?
All of this doesn’t need to be publicized by the Chinese.
The fact is that they have done an extremely poor job.
Look at those roads full of potholes, the stench of urine everywhere, and the outrageous prices. And that damn security situation: Imagine walking in an alley and suddenly hearing a deep male voice greeting you: “Hey, bro…”
In London, Paris, Italian cities, and subways, there are “thieves” everywhere. Each of these cities can be called the “capital of theft”.
Just a few days ago, a TIKTOKER from China was live streaming on a bustling street in New York. He told tens of thousands of fans watching the live stream online that the United States is not safe. Then, in less than ten seconds, a person walking towards him snatched his phone and his DJI stabilizer.
All of this is extremely absurd and unimaginable… Do you know? Does this need publicity?
Seriously, this doesn’t need to be publicized by Chinese people,People all over the world are not blind.. Although the vast majority of ordinary people in the United States and Europe are very nice. However, your country have really done a terrible job.
This is the photo of the “random walker/random robber” on the streets of New York. This was a live stream with tens of thousands of viewers.
When Trump insulted Haiti as a “shithole country,” I really wanted to laugh at Americans. Don’t you Americans know that in our eyes, you are a “country of robbers”?
Have you ever been on a date that was going so badly you walked out and left?
Well I didn’t walk out, but we parted company without a word.
We met in a nice pub. She looked nothing like her photo. Not in a bad way, but the photo was of her with long straight hair wearing a cool sundress and smiling. She arrived at the date with short, spiky, gelled hair, dark baggy clothes and didn’t smile. Not once.
She started by saying “I’m not looking for friends. I have plenty of friends. I’m looking for a boyfriend.” Strange thing to say, and a bit off-putting. I like my girlfriends to be, err, friends primarily. Or at least the fun “getting to know you” stuff. People are interesting.
Our conversation was interview style. Every time I got chatty about a common interest she would stop talking. We had a decent amount in common too, liked similar hobbies, worked with computers. I’m naturally enthusiastic about existential stuff, and she liked it too, but it never got beyond two sentences.
We’d agreed to go to the cinema after a couple of drinks. Batman Begins (yes, this was 20 years ago or so!) Even sharing popcorn was joyless. I tried contact, little touches when she reached across for popcorn, I kept eye contact. I smiled. Nothing.
The movie started and was amazing. At the end I put on my nice jacket and we went to the door together. She went left. I went right.