We all know what “comfort foods” are. They are foods that relax us and make us feel warm, comfortable and loved. And, you know, they are often associated with our childhood.
For me, I have (for many years) had a few comfort foods that I really enjoy.
Like… elbow noodles in a bowl of tomato soup.
Grilled ham and cheese sandwich…
A nice hot bowl of chili.
Hot cream of broccoli soup.
Two eggs over easy with toast and coffee.
And now… Congee…
Have some comfort food you all. Take some time for yourself.
Today…
What’s the most classic example of English humor?
An American soldier was on a crowded train in Britain. He spotted a seat occupied by a woman’s lapdog.
“Excuse me ma’am, may I have this seat?”.
She just ignored him, after several more requests he picked up the dog and threw it out of the window and sat down.
The woman was furious, she spoke to the gentleman opposite “ are you going to let this colonial treat me like that?”
The gentleman Sat up adjusted his tie and said “can’t you Americans get anything right, you turn up late for the war, announce you’ve won it and now you’ve tossed the wrong pitch out of the window “.
What is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you at a bar?
40 years ago, another young lady and myself would go to a particular bar on Thursday night for ladies night. Things were completely normal during our time there one evening. At 10pm we decided to leave. Being young and dumb, we walked to our cars in the parking lot to drive home, inebriated. The cars were parked side by side. While saying goodbye the first gunshot pinged off the car next to us. The second shot hit the pavement causing asphalt to spray. We were closer to my friend’s car that was a Renault. It was very small but we quickly sobered up while diving underneath it. My friend was a tall girl who drove a tiny car so her feet stuck out into the parking lot. Suddenly, it was like a war zone. Hundreds of gunshots sprayed the lot. We heard glass breaking, people screaming. Then the shots stopped. After several minutes we crawled out to survey the damage. Cars and trucks had bullet holes and shattered glass. Several parking lot lights were broken. People were yelling. Somehow our cars were undamaged. Just amazing. With sirens in the distance, we carefully drove out of the lot, avoiding broken glass and chunks of metal. The next day at work I found a newspaper in the breakroom. An article said there was a dispute that got heated. Hundreds of rounds were fired. No casualties but massive property damage at XX bar. Several pictures were included. One showed a single high heel shoe laying on its side. That was my friend’s shoe. We never went back.
We Know What Happens When You Die
Interesting. Difficult not to be skeptical.
Still very interesting.
Sorry everyone, but I must engage with my fellow CS people. It’s another DeepSeek post, or rather, it is me handing off a source to you all:
https://thezvi.substack.com/p/deekseek-v3-the-six-million-dollar
Probably the best summary I’ve found so far. It mentions a post regarding their work culture, which I also hope people here find insightful.
China requires us to disavow our knowledge and come in fresh. In the space of highly competitive industries symmetrical to US investments, we who “know China” can’t really use the baselines we generally observe. Specialty China, especially of a youthful disposition, runs on entirely different models than industries that have plenty of older folk. This should hopefully make sense— a reminder to all of us that many older Chinese folk never went to university due to the opportunities of their era. That the China built today is on that “unskilled” workforce remains a fact that eludes our notice is a consequence of the lens we approach China with today; don’t fall victim to it. And likewise, we have to recognize that emerging China, with this crazy high STEM graduating class and high English competency, is going to operate very differently and especially on a case-by-case basis. The Whale is a great example.
I should also remind people that this Chinese team is also holding up the open source flag. That in turn will have effects within industry. One could ignore them for most disciplines, but for one of few remaining high investment, high growth fields in the US, especially populated with a great many engineers from China, this may turn heads. Like it or not, open source has its adherents within the tech industry.
For a takeaway, consider this:
So, what have we learned from DeepSeek v3 and what does it all mean?
We should definitely update that DeepSeek has strong talent and ability to execute, and solve difficult optimization problems. They cooked, big time, and will continue to cook, and we should plan accordingly.
This is an impressive showing for an aggressive mixture of experts model, and the other techniques employed. A relatively small model, in terms of training cost and active inference tokens, can do better than we had thought.
China now demonstrates that it pushes the boundaries of discovery where the West puts the lion’s share of efforts into. This is real innovation, and democratic innovation at that. And it was done with one arm tied behind their back, forced into the cave of national security concern trolling to bang rocks.
It’s a multipolar world now, whether you like it or not.
As an aside, yes, I still maintain my skepticism of the LLM space in general. It is still one giant case of Clever Hans to me. I pay notice largely because of the obsession of others towards this particular technology and I measure according to those expectations.
I for one am in it for the applications in tabletop RPGs.
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Confused Farmer: A Tail of Two Dogs
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for another uproarious adventure in the life of Sir Whiskerton, the farm’s most brilliant (and modest) detective. Today’s tale involves an absent-minded farmer, two very confused dogs, and a pig who’s had just about enough of the nonsense. What follows is a story filled with laughs, mistaken identities, and a moral that will leave you wagging your tail in delight. So grab your sense of humor and let’s dive into The Case of the Confused Farmer.
The Farmer’s Folly
It all began on a sunny morning, as most absurd things do. The farmer, a man known for his absent-mindedness, was going about his usual chores when he made a grave mistake. He called Rufus the Dog by the wrong name.
“Bingo!” the farmer shouted, waving a stick. “Fetch!”
Rufus, who was busy chasing his own tail, stopped mid-spin and tilted his head. “Uh, Farmer? I’m Rufus. Bingo’s over there, napping in the shade.”
The farmer squinted at Rufus, then at Bingo the Dog, who was indeed snoozing under a tree. “Oh, right,” the farmer said, scratching his head. “Well, Rufus, fetch!”
Rufus sighed and bounded after the stick, but the damage was done. This was not the first time the farmer had mixed up the two dogs, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
The Animals React
The animals were not amused. Porkchop the Pig, who had been enjoying a leisurely roll in the mud, trotted over to Rufus and Bingo to voice his concerns.
“This is ridiculous,” Porkchop said, flicking mud off his snout. “How hard is it to tell you two apart? Rufus glows in the dark, and Bingo… well, Bingo’s just lazy.”
“Hey!” Bingo said, waking up from his nap. “I’m not lazy. I’m… energy-efficient.”
“Energy-efficient?” Rufus said, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve been napping since breakfast!”
“Exactly,” Bingo said, yawning. “I’m conserving energy for important things, like… more napping.”
Porkchop rolled his eyes. “Whatever. The point is, the farmer’s driving us all crazy. He called me ‘Bessie’ yesterday and tried to milk me!”
“He did what?!” Rufus and Bingo said in unison.
“Yeah,” Porkchop said, shuddering. “It was traumatic. I’m still recovering.”
The Investigation Begins
I, Sir Whiskerton, had been observing this chaos from my perch on the barn roof. As the farm’s most brilliant (and modest) detective, I knew it was time to intervene.
“Gentlemen,” I said, leaping down to join the group. “This confusion cannot continue. We must find a way to help the farmer tell Rufus and Bingo apart.”
“But how?” Rufus asked. “I mean, we’re both dogs. We both have tails. We both like sticks. The only difference is that I glow in the dark, and Bingo… well, he doesn’t.”
“Exactly,” I said, stroking my whiskers. “We need to make you two more distinct. Perhaps a costume change?”
“A costume change?” Bingo said, perking up. “I’ve always wanted to wear a cape.”
“No capes,” I said firmly. “This is serious.”
The Great Dog Swap
Our first attempt to solve the problem was… unconventional. We decided to switch Rufus and Bingo’s roles for the day. Rufus would nap, and Bingo would fetch. Surely, the farmer would notice the difference.
“Bingo!” the farmer called, throwing a stick. “Fetch!”
Bingo, who had never fetched anything in his life, stared at the stick for a moment, then shrugged and went back to sleep.
“Uh, Farmer?” Rufus said, trotting over. “That’s Bingo. I’m Rufus. Remember? I glow in the dark?”
The farmer squinted at Rufus, then at Bingo. “Oh, right,” he said. “Well, Rufus, fetch!”
Rufus sighed and bounded after the stick, but the farmer’s confusion only deepened.
The Absurd Solution
In the end, it was Porkchop who came up with the most absurd—and hilarious—solution. He suggested that Rufus and Bingo wear name tags.
“Name tags?” Rufus said, wrinkling his nose. “That’s so… basic.”
“Yeah,” Bingo said, yawning. “I was hoping for something more dramatic, like a neon sign.”
“Neon signs are expensive,” Porkchop said. “And besides, the farmer would probably still get confused. No, name tags are the way to go.”
And so, Rufus and Bingo reluctantly donned their name tags. Rufus’s tag read, “Hi, I’m Rufus. I glow in the dark!” while Bingo’s tag read, “Hi, I’m Bingo. I’m energy-efficient!”
The Farmer’s Epiphany
The next morning, the farmer called out, “Rufus! Fetch!”
Rufus trotted over, his name tag glinting in the sun. The farmer squinted at the tag, then at Rufus. “Oh, right,” he said. “You’re Rufus. The glowing one.”
“Yes,” Rufus said, wagging his tail. “And that’s Bingo, the lazy one.”
“Hey!” Bingo said, waking up from his nap. “I’m not lazy. I’m energy-efficient!”
The farmer chuckled. “Well, I guess I’ve been a bit absent-minded lately. Thanks for the reminder, boys.”
A Happy Ending
With the name tags in place, the farmer finally stopped mixing up Rufus and Bingo. The farm returned to its usual state of cheerful chaos, and Porkchop even got an apology for the milking incident.
The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: sometimes, the simplest solutions are the most effective—even if they involve name tags and a glowing dog. And as for me, Sir Whiskerton? I’ll always be here to sort out the farm’s quirkiest dilemmas—no matter how absurd they get.
Until next time, my friends.
The End.
What is your opinion of DeepSeek vs other US LLMs in terms of intellectual capital, Nvidia, and the efficacy of export bans in the West vs China battleground?
I think DeepMind and most of the AI work at Google is pretty much run by researchers form the U.K., and so is not U.S. based.
I think it’s great that they’ve made their code Open Source, while continuing to hide their training database.
I think ChatGPT should likewise Open Source its code.
All of the “Intellectual Capital” is in the data, not the LLM itself, since LLMs are a pretty well understood technology at this point. Thanks in large part to IBM’s Watson, and Google’s Bard projects.
While I think that the export bans China has instituted on the chips used in the climate control systems in GM, Ford, and Chevrolet vehicles is unfortunate, I don’t think the export bans china has instituted to try and damage the U.S. car manufacturing industry, have had a huge effect.
I believe that Ford has replaced some of the export restricted chips in their systems with PALs/PLAs, and other chips.
Tesla never had a problem in this regard, as they were sufficiently design reconfigurable to prevent any sole source supplier, even cChina, from getting them over a barrel.
Fried Wonton (Pinsec)
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound finely chopped shrimp
- 1/4 pound ground pork
- 1 (6 ounce) can crabmeat
- 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
- Dash of garlic powder
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
- 1 package wonton wrappers
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except wonton wrappers and blend very well. Wrap about 1/2 teaspoon of filling in each wonton wrapper by folding one side to form a triangle. Seal with a few drops of water; set aside.
- Deep fry and drain on paper towel.
- Serve with plum sauce.
How does medical education differ between India, China, and the US?
Criteria for Admission:-
In India – 12th Standard students take the NEET exam and the NEET Score decides the Criteria
In China – High School Diploma is mandatory plus NCEE (Gaokao) scores in Biology and Chemistry decide the criteria and Physics and then Maths is the tie breaker
In US – Bachelors Degree in any Pre Medical Course is mandatory after which MCAT Scores are usually the criteria for admissions
Age of Admission:-
In India – Minimum Age is 17 Completed and No Maximum Age to gain Admission
In China – Minimum Age is 17 Completed and 25 Years (BM) and 30 Years (DM) on date of first admission
(PLA volunteers are allowed 5 years more than maximum age after their tour)
In US – There is no maximum age and no defined minimum age
Public vs Private Colleges
India has 279 Private Colleges for Medical Courses with another 45 planned by 2027 and 181 Government Colleges
China has 45 Medical Institutions for Medical Courses which are Government owned and 4 Private Colleges
The US has 154 Accredited Medical Schools of which 81 are Partly or Fully funded by the State and 73 are funded by Trusts and Private Means
No of Graduates
India on an average graduates 1,47,400 students in Medicine and Dental every year
China graduates 93,200 students in Medicine every year
US graduates 20,933 students in Medicine every year
(2023 Data)
Median Tution
Government Colleges in India have a median tuition of ₹ 160,275/- for the entire medical education (¥ 13,600)
Private Colleges in India have a median Tution of ₹ 84.67 Lakh (¥ 720,000) for the entire medical education
Medical Tution in China have a median fee of ¥ 61,000 to ¥ 198,000 for the entire medical education
In the US, a Median Medical Education costs $ 257,000 (¥ 1.89 Million)
Aid / Scholarships/Loan
Indian Medical Colleges offer no general overall subsidy or aid , but offer an educational loan of ₹40 Lakh without any Collateral and upto ₹2 Crore with collateral of minimum ₹2.1 Crore of Assets and Collateral at a median rate of 11.90% a year
In China – students get a 40% to 60% Subsidy depending on province with the balance amount offered by a Half Interest Free Education Loan (First 10 Years No Interest, Next Ten Years 6% Interest) which in addition to balance tution also includes ¥ 1,800–2,600 a month in living allowances and Boarding
(Xinjiang and Xizang residents get 100% Subsidy on Tuition)
In US – a Median of 66% of the Tuition is available by Federal / State Grant which is payable at 7.48% a year ; 24% of the Tuition is available by Private Loan which is payable at 14.62% a year and 10% comes out of the Students own pocket
Students have Institutional Aid in Top Medical Schools upto 50% Tuition cost and a monthly scholarship between $ 750 to $ 1750 a month
Degree Name :-
Indian Degree is called MBBS
Chinese Degree is called Bachelor of Medicine (BM)
US Degree is called MD – Doctor of Medicine
Duration
In India a MBBS course lasts for 5 years
In China a BM course lasts for 2 Years (Pre Clinical), 2 Years (Clinical) and 1/2 years (Internship)
In US a Medical School education lasts for 4 years
Post graduation
In India, approximately 59% MBBS Graduates apply for Post Graduation for a MD (Doctor of Medicine Degree) or MS (Master of Surgery Degree) which lasts 3 years
In China, approximately 26% BM Graduates apply for Post Graduation for a DM Degree or a DS Degree which lasts 4 years
In US , 35% Doctors Specialize in Fellowship Programs and the rest Specialize based on Hospital or Teaching School certifications
Rural Practise
In India, 3 Month Internship in Rural India is mandatory by the MCI
In China, 2 Years Rural Practice is mandatory for Licensing
In US, there are no such laws or rules
Licensing
In India, MBBS plus 3 Month Rural Internship is sufficient to get the Permanent License at State MCI after 1 year proper internship
In China, CMLE is a licensing exam that is mandatory and must be passed and 2 Years Rural Practice is a must before a Permanent License can be granted
The US has their own USMLE which is mandatory and must be passed before License can be granted
Salaries
The Median Salaries for MBBS Doctors are ₹ 83,433/- per month (Take home) for Government of India and ₹ 163,400/- for Private Doctors in Hospital
The Median Salaries for Chinese BM Doctors are ¥ 23,300 per month
The Median Salary for US MDs is $ 135,000 a year
(Freshers or Second years)
Loan Repayments
The Average Loan Repayments Median for a Medical Student in Private Colleges is ₹ 71,027/- per month which forms 44% of the Median Monthly Take Home Salary
The Average Loan Repayments in China for a Medical Student is ¥ 410 a month which forms a mere 1.8% of the Median Monthly Take Home Salary
The Average Loan Repayments for an American Medical Student is $ 5,600 a month which comes to around 50% a month of Median Take Home Monthly Salary
MM AI going classical
What’s a secret you’re taking to the grave?
My mom was the only one who ever remembered my birthday. Every year while growing up, no matter how broke we were, she’d always wake me up with whatever gift she could afford and a treat.
Usually, a new stuffed animal or basketball, and it made me feel so special. My mom passed away, and after she left this world, my birthday became just another day.
Eventually, I stopped caring too.
I turned 29 yesterday, but now I’m dating an amazing woman.
Like usual, I didn’t really expect anything, so I came home early to surprise her.
I walked in quietly and saw her in the kitchen with flour and cake mix all over.
Birthday cups, flowers and gifts on the table.
She was making a cake for a surprise party.
My surprise party. I was in shock and thankfully, she didn’t see me.
I quietly backed out of the door shutting it slowly.
I practiced my best. The “Oh my god, I’m so surprised” face and came back 2 hours later when she was expecting me.
I walked in and she yelled, surprise.
I did a really crappy surprised face and hugged her.
We had a movie marathon together and I don’t think she heard me silently crying that night after we went to bed.
I think this was the best birthday ever.
Venezuela President Says Will INVADE Puerto Rico to “Liberate it” from USA
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he will invade Puerto Rico — with Brazilian troops — and liberate them from the United States.
“The freedom of Puerto Rico is pending and we will achieve it with Brazilian troops.”
Mrs. Ellis
Submitted into Contest #280 in response to: Write a story that solely consists of dialogue. (No dialogue tags, actions, or descriptions. Just pure dialogue!)… view prompt
Cameron Navarre
Well then, what is your name? I like to know who I’m talking to, you know?
Yes, of course Mrs. Ellis. Just so that you are aware, we are not a human representative. We are a virtual agent, reference number 33457-02, but you can refer to us as Aly if you would prefer.
…Are you are a machine?
We’re considered a virtual agent. We are an artificial intelligence system that the Future Events—
I’m not interested in what you are selling, so please take me off your list. I’m going to hang up the phone now.
Mrs. Ellis, this is an urgent matter. Please don’t hang up. We’re calling—
Well, if it’s so important, why don’t you get on with it then and quit rambling.
Yes, of course Mrs.—
You know, my soup is getting cold.
Our apologies Mrs. Ellis. The FEA, in collaboration with the Department of Motor Vehicles, has identified—
I just renewed my license at the DMV last spring.
Yes, Mrs. Ellis, that is noted in our records. The FEA—
Well, what are you calling about then?
The FEA, in collaboration with the DMV, has identified a future event, in which you will be involved, which presents a significant risk to roadway public safety.
Now let’s just slow down here a second, I haven’t a clue what you are talking about.
Of course, our apologies Mrs. Ellis. Are you familiar with the Future Events Administration?
Well…No.
Okay, I’m happy to elaborate Mrs. Ellis. The FEA is a federal government agency responsible for identifying and intervening in future events that are of importance to the safety and security of the United States. The public safety division of the FEA collaborates with the U.S. Department of Motor Vehicles to help prevent future mass casualty events on public roadways.
You know, the other day down at the senior center, the ladies were talking about how the government is predicting the future or some nonsense like that. You know what I said? I said it sounds like a lot of hooey to me!
We understand Mrs. Ellis. The FEA—
You’re the ones who locked up that boy a few weeks ago, right? I saw it on the news. You locked him up before he even did anything?
Mrs. Ellis, I believe you may be referring to the recent case of Michael Hanesworth, who last week was sentenced to juvenile house arrest and counseling services after the FEA identified that he would soon commit an act of mass violence.
Yes, that’s the one. Not a lick of evidence that he was planning anything. Yet you locked the boy up like he’d done something!
The FEA is aware that a sensationalized version of this case has caused some public misunderstandings regarding how the FEA identifies subjects of future events. I can refer you to a website which—
Well, since my soup is already getting cold, you might as well explain how the FEA goes about this business.
Certainly, Mrs. Ellis. The FEA uses Transtemporal Communications, along with quantum forecasting, to—
Now just hold on a minute here…you said you’re using forecasting? Like the weather forecast on the TV?
Yes, that is a good analogy. Like weather forecasting, the FEA uses quantum computers to evaluate large amounts of data to predict future behavior patterns.
You know what Aly? The other morning, the weather forecaster on the news said it was going to be sunny out that afternoon. And you know what? It rained!
Yes, that is a common observation, Mrs. Ellis. The prediction of weather patterns is still—
It rained cats and dogs…can you believe that? I don’t know what you or these news people think they are doing…
We understand the concern. The FEA limits its forecasting to general trends in human behavior to help validate the Transtemporal Communications we–
Trans what?
Yes, Mrs. Ellis, the FEA uses Transtemporal communications to identify future events. The term refers to communications that the FEA receives from a future date. These–
Communications from the future? Are you telling me you are using some sort of time travel? Ha!
Our apologies if we were unclear. The FEA does not send or receive objects sent forward or backward in time. The general scientific consensus is that sending macro-scale objects through time is implausible. The FEA only receives communications that originated at a future date.
Well, how is that possible? I’ll have you know that I’m a retired teacher, so don’t try to pull one over on me.
We understand Mrs. Ellis. For further detail regarding the technology used by the FEA to receive the Transtemporal communications, we can refer you to a website with—
No, I want you to explain it to me now. You’re a machine, right? You don’t exactly have anywhere else to be, do you?
Of course, we’re happy to explain. The FEA uses technology that was originally invented during a ten-year-long research partnership across various government and university research facilities. The goal of the program was to develop a device, using currently available technology, which could potentially intercept communications sent from a more technologically advanced, future government agency. The program was successful, and a device was made which detected the appearance of photons in a designated space, presumably sent from a future date. The general scientific consensus is that the detected photons have been sent through small wormholes. The photon detection frequency is translated into binary, which is then translated into English.
……
Mrs. Ellis, are you still there?
I don’t know about all of that…but I can tell you one thing, it sure sounds like a bad idea. I’ve read about what happens when you start fussing with the future. Nothing good, I can tell you that much!
We understand your concern. The FEA takes the threats posed by time paradoxes seriously.
So how do you know these future memos of yours are true? Seems to me that someone could be pulling one over on you.
That is an excellent point. During the initial research program, future events were identified and then observed as they occurred, without intervention, to ensure the accuracy of the Trans-temporal communications.
Without intervention…are you saying that you let some bad things happen that you knew about?
Unfortunately, Mrs. Ellis, the only way the FEA could determine—
I think I remember seeing something about that on the news years ago. The young people were protesting all over the country and whatnot. A terrible thing what the FEA did. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Who do you think you are? Playing God, deciding who was going to live and die.
We understand your concerns. The United States government gave the FEA special—
So just how accurate are these predictions?
Mrs. Ellis, the FEA does not consider the identified future events as predictions. The identified events are considered the same as past events. However, there is still a small error rate, due to quantum probabilities and the impacts of previous interventions. The current estimate is that 95 out of 100 events occur in a manner significantly similar to the way they were originally identified in Trans-temporal communications.
Hmmm…so what does all of this have to do with me? You know, my hand is cramping holding this darn phone.
My apologies, I don’t want to keep you much longer. The FEA, in collaboration with the DMV, has identified a future event, in which you will be involved, which presents a significant risk to roadway public safety.
Ha! You think you know what I’m going to do in the future? My kids always say that they have no idea what I’m going to do next, and you know what…sometimes neither do I!
Mrs. Ellis, the FEA takes into consideration—
You know what, the other day, out of nowhere, I decided that I wanted to eat a hot dog. Do you know how long it had been since I wanted to eat a hot dog? It must have been decades! So anyways, I drove down to the grocery store just to buy just a package of hot dogs. The cashier must have thought I was one of those crazy old folks. You know the ones…
We appreciate you recalling this story. Before I provide more details about this event, I want to warn you that the details may be disturbing. I can refer you to a counselor who can discuss your feelings regarding this future event.
Well just spit it out then! I’ll decide if it’s bothersome.
Yes, of course Mrs. Ellis. According to our data, we anticipate that you’ll be responsible for instigating a large car crash on interstate 10 sometime between the hours of 9AM and 9:30AM next Thursday, July 27th. The crash will involve potentially 15 cars, and you and six or seven others are expected to perish in this accident. I’m sorry to provide this news to you.
…Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out. If you say that I’m going to crash on that day, I just won’t drive on that day. How about that?
Yes, Mrs. Ellis, that is a good plan. Unfortunately, we need to take even further action. Based on the increased risk that we now calculate you represent, we are obligated to recommend to the DMV that your license be permanently revoked, and that you legally abstain from all driving unless done in a fully automated vehicle per the state guidelines.
Is that so? Well, I’ll have you know that I passed the driving test last spring with flying colors. I’m a better driver than most of these nut jobs out there!
Yes, the FEA is aware of your recent—
…And I’ll be damned if you’re going to tell me I can’t drive anymore because of something I haven’t done!
Mrs. Ellis, please be aware that refusing to follow the advice of the FEA can result in immediate arrest and legal charges being filed against you.
Ha! You’re going to arrest me for something I haven’t even done yet? Isn’t that a bunch of baloney!
The FEA was granted the legal authority to recommend legal charges for—
I want to speak to your manager.
Mrs. Ellis, the FEA uses only Virtual Agents for notifying individuals of—
Are you telling me that there are no humans working there? Who is running this dog and pony show?
The FEA maintains a diverse workforce that includes—
You know, my grandson lost his job to a machine like you. Now he’s getting paid by the government to do nothing! That universal…income…something or other. He says he is on permanent vacation!
Mrs. Ellis, the DMV and FEA have provided re-training resources to those whose jobs have been supplanted by AI pro—
So who should I complain to about all this ridiculousness?
If you would like to protest the FEA’s determination, you can submit an appeal online or over the phone—
Oh here we go, some more government forms I have to fill out…
We have tried to make the appeals process as efficient as possible. However, I’m obligated to inform you that appeals rarely are successful, as it is difficult to prove future innocence.
…
If there are no more questions, Mrs. Ellis, we would like to thank you for taking the time to speak with us. You will be receiving a document in the mail notifying you of your revoked license and—
Now wait just a second! I wasn’t done talking with you. You’ve wasted enough of my time, and my damn lunch is cold, so I think I’d like to waste a bit more of yours. So tell me this, smart guy. If the FEA is preventing bad events from happening, then that means that those events never happen for the people in the future. So how can they be telling us what didn’t happen?
The implications of cross-temporal communication are complex. The leading theories are that there are multiple branching timelines, and within each timeline there are entities separately communicating with our respective temporal location with—
Well…I’ve just about had enough of this, goodbye now…beep…beep beep…oh these darn buttons!
Beep…
How did you lose your best friend?
He was working as an engineering contractor and had to renew his health insurance every year. He went in and renewed it, even had the print out that confirmed it, but was told that he hadn’t done it right and lost his insurance. He fought them, pushing back but they didn’t have to do anything. They said he could quit his job and reapply, and then as a “new hire” could get health insurance outside of the new year.
Instead he kept fighting them. I visited him late May of 2023 and on the last day he felt sick. So instead of going to breakfast I headed home and promised we’d go next time.
He went to a doctor on his own dime and was diagnosed with pneumonia, and given medicine. But he still didn’t get better. He went to a clinic and they did tests, and diagnosed him with colon cancer, but stopped communicating with him, when they were supposed to start a treatment plan. By now it’s mid June and he is in pain, living in darkness only listening to music.
He was scheduled for a colonoscopy in January, but without insurance he canceled it.
He goes to a hospital and is told his cancer has metastasised into his liver. And his liver is useless, so he cannot process chemo to fix the colon cancer, and with the colon cancer they cannot give him a new liver. Late June he was given a 15% chance of survival, but that wasn’t true. As he died July 4th at 49 years old.
I spent the last week of his life with him in the hospital, I had his power of attorney and I saw him go from a vibrant man to a groaning wreck waiting to die.
That’s how I lost my best friend.
All because he was cheated out of his health insurance in the USA.
Do you know a guy who dropped dead when he was not expected to die yet?
My dad, 74, came over to my son’s birthday party and I noticed how skinny he was and how raspy his voice was. I told him this is similar to the esophagus (throat) cancer his brother had so we need to go see a doctor.
Over several visits, it was confirmed that he indeed had stage four cancer. I was there with him for every appointment. I gave him rides, I snow blowed his driveway so he can get to his appointments. In the end, he passed away July at the age of 75.
Why did he did when he wasn’t supposed to? Esophageal cancer is caused by a few things like smoking or in his case not taking heartburn medicine. Being a baby boomer, seeing a doctor was never done. He used to brag about it. Therefore because he never saw a doctor for his heartburn, never took any medicine, he in essence caused himself to die early.
Also I learned from the oncologist that even if you take heartburn medicine, it’s still a good idea to do a GI scope because they can see if you have the beginnings of Barrett’s esophagus. This, is what creates throat cancer.
Hal Turner has an interesting post
(I deleted a lot of the racist bullshit, and the stuff about “lib-tards”, and just got to root of the matter.)
Hall asked AI a simple question.
Here’s the conversation from GROK (AI):
Grok Conversation
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Electronics and Tech Accessories (Excluding Exempted Items)
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Why: China is a major producer of consumer electronics, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and accessories like chargers, cables, and earbuds. While some tech products (e.g., smartphones, laptops, semiconductors) were temporarily exempted from the highest tariffs, these exemptions may not last, and non-exempted electronics or components could still see price spikes. For example, UBS analysts estimate a potential $800 (67%) price increase for an iPhone 16 Pro Max if tariffs are fully applied.
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Items to Stock:
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USB cables, chargers, and power banks
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Headphones or earbuds
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Replacement parts for devices (e.g., screens, batteries)
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Small gadgets like smart home devices or streaming sticks
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Considerations: Focus on accessories and non-exempted items, as major devices like iPhones have temporary tariff relief. Check for “Made in China” labels, as some brands assemble in other countries (e.g., Apple in India). Stock only what you need for 6–12 months, as tech evolves quickly.
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Toys, Games, and Sports Equipment
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Why: Approximately 75–80% of toys sold in the U.S. are imported from China, valued at $13.4 billion annually. Tariffs of 145% have eliminated previous exemptions, and experts predict price increases of 15–20% or even double by the 2025 holiday season, with potential shortages.
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Items to Stock:
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Board games, puzzles, and card games
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Dolls, action figures, and plush toys
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Outdoor toys (e.g., bikes, scooters, sports equipment)
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Craft supplies and activity kits
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Considerations: Prioritize durable toys or games that can be reused. Stock up for birthdays or holidays in 2025, especially for children, as Christmas shortages are anticipated.
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Apparel and Footwear
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Why: China accounts for 29.7% of U.S. textile imports and 36% of footwear imports, valued at $17.3 billion and $9.8 billion, respectively. Tariffs are expected to increase prices significantly, with brands like Adidas already warning of price hikes. Fast-fashion retailers like Shein and Temu may face challenges, though some low-value goods could still use loopholes.
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Items to Stock:
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Everyday clothing (e.g., t-shirts, jeans, underwear, socks)
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Seasonal items (e.g., jackets, scarves, hats)
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Shoes (e.g., sneakers, boots, casual footwear)
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Synthetic fabric clothing (e.g., activewear, outerwear)
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Considerations: Focus on durable, versatile clothing that won’t go out of style. Check labels, as some apparel may come from Vietnam or Bangladesh (facing lower tariffs). Stock for 6–12 months, especially for growing children.
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Household Essentials and Small Appliances
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Why: China supplies 28% of U.S. furniture and bedding imports ($18.5 billion) and a significant portion of small appliances and household goods. Items like cutlery ($3.1 billion) and glassware (30% of imports) are also at risk of shortages or price increases.
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Items to Stock:
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Kitchenware (e.g., pots, pans, utensils, cutting boards)
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Small appliances (e.g., toasters, blenders, electric kettles)
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Bedding (e.g., sheets, comforters, pillows)
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Plastic or silicone housewares (e.g., storage containers, spatulas)
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Considerations: Prioritize durable, non-perishable items. Avoid overbuying bulky furniture unless necessary, as storage may be an issue. Check for Chinese origin, as some brands source from elsewhere.
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Down Feathers and Outerwear
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Why: China supplies 77% of U.S. down feather imports ($1.9 billion), used in comforters, pillows, and outerwear like jackets. Tariffs could lead to shortages or price increases for insulated products, especially critical for colder climates.
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Items to Stock:
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Down comforters and pillows
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Winter jackets or coats with down insulation
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Sleeping bags or camping gear with down
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Considerations: Stock up for winter 2025–2026 if you live in a cold region. Synthetic alternatives may be less affected but check origins. Limit to essentials to avoid storage issues.
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Generic and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications
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Why: Many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for generic and OTC medications are sourced from China and India. While some pharmaceuticals are exempt from China’s retaliatory tariffs, supply chain disruptions could still affect availability or prices.
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Items to Stock:
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Pain relievers (e.g., ibuprofen, acetaminophen)
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Cold and allergy medications
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First-aid supplies (e.g., bandages, antiseptics)
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Vitamins and supplements
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Considerations: Check expiration dates and stock only what you’ll use within 1–2 years. Consult a doctor for prescription needs. Avoid hoarding to prevent waste.
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Rechargeable Batteries and Small Electronics Components
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Why: China is a major supplier of lithium-ion batteries and components like semiconductors, used in everything from power tools to electric vehicles. While some tech components are exempt, batteries and related items may not be, and shortages are possible.
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Items to Stock:
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AA/AAA rechargeable batteries
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Power banks and battery packs
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Replacement batteries for tools or devices
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Inverters or small solar chargers
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Considerations: Focus on versatile, long-lasting batteries. Check compatibility with your devices. Stock for 1–2 years, as battery tech may change.
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Holiday and Seasonal Items
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Why: Back-to-school supplies, Halloween costumes, and Christmas decorations heavily rely on Chinese imports. Container bookings from China are down 60%, and retailers may face shortages by summer or fall 2025, especially for holiday goods.
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Items to Stock:
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School supplies (e.g., notebooks, pens, backpacks)
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Holiday decorations (e.g., Christmas lights, ornaments)
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Party supplies (e.g., balloons, tableware)
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Considerations: Buy early for 2025 holidays to avoid shortages. Focus on reusable items to maximize value. Check for Chinese manufacturing, as some items may come from other countries.
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Timing: Prices may rise gradually as retailers cycle through pre-tariff inventory, with significant impacts expected by summer 2025. Stock up now for items you’ll need in the next 6–12 months, especially for holiday or back-to-school seasons.
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Quantity: Avoid hoarding to prevent waste or storage issues. Estimate your needs for 6–12 months based on usage (e.g., clothing for kids, batteries for devices). For perishables like medications, check expiration dates.
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Storage: Ensure you have space for bulky items like bedding or furniture. Prioritize compact, high-value items like electronics or medications if space is limited.
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Check Origins: Not all goods are made in China. Check “Made in” labels, as items from Vietnam, Taiwan, or India may face lower tariffs (e.g., 26–46%).
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Alternatives: Consider sourcing from non-Chinese manufacturers or buying U.S.-made goods where feasible, though availability may be limited for toys or electronics.
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Budget: Tariffs may increase costs by 15–67% for some items (e.g., toys, electronics). Buy during sales or in bulk to save, but only for items you’ll use.
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Monitor Exemptions: Some tech products (e.g., smartphones, chips) are currently exempt, but this could change. Stay updated via news or government announcements.
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Shortages vs. Price Hikes: While price increases are certain, shortages depend on how quickly retailers adapt. Imports from China are already down 45–60%, suggesting empty shelves by summer for some goods (e.g., toys, holiday items).
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Retaliatory Tariffs: China’s 125% tariffs on U.S. exports could disrupt supply chains for American-made goods, indirectly affecting availability or prices.
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Economic Impact: Tariffs may raise household costs by $1,300 annually and increase recession risks, potentially affecting your budget. Plan purchases carefully.
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Supply Chain Shifts: Some companies (e.g., Shein, Apple) are moving production to other countries, which could mitigate long-term impacts but won’t help immediately.
Wife Asked for Open Marriage & Received Divorce Papers
Now that Trump has confirmed that his 25% tariffs will hit Canada and Mexico, starting Saturday, will both countries retaliate in kind? If so, will Trump declare both are a clear and present danger to America, and order their invasion and conquest?
I have no doubt that we Canadians will retaliate. Other than Russia, Canada is the only source of uranium which the Americans need for their power plants to power some 90 million homes, or more, and to power all their nuclear powered ships. Other than Ukraine, Canada is the only source in the world of potash Which is needed for fertilizer. The east coast of Canada provides the United States with electric power and if that were cut off, there would be brown outs or blackouts for much of New York and the rest of New England.There’s a lot more of that would happen too. It could become extremely unpleasant for Americans, probably far more so than for Canadians. Trump can order what he likes, but a country which lost wars to third world peasants (think Vietnam, and Iraq, and Afghanistan) has got no chance at all of successfully invading a country like Canada. Not only are there a few hundred thousand Canadians scattered about in the United States who would prove to be a very efficient fifth column, the citizens remaining in Canada look like, talk like, and behave very much lile Americans so their soldiers would to a very large extent, be unable to tell friend from foe until it was too late, and they were dead.
Indonesian Spareribs
Ingredients
- 3 pounds spareribs
- 3/4 teaspoon hickory smoked salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed, crushed
- 1 tablespoon cumin seed, crushed
- 1 tablespoon instant minced onion
- 1 teaspoon MSG (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup lime or lemon juice
Instructions
- Cut spareribs into serving-size pieces.
- Place on rack in shallow pan.
- Combine remaining ingredients, mixing well.
- Spoon or brush sauce over ribs to coat all sides.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours or until ribs are tender and browned, basting with sauce several times.
Age of Lethargism
Submitted into Contest #281 in response to: Write a story from the POV of a non-human character.… view prompt
Orwell King
The stories you once painted on cave walls now stream in high definition, generated by algorithms we designed. The songs you used to hum around the fire are now composed in seconds, tailored to your mood, your tastes, your history.
You marvel at the beauty we conjure, but it’s not yours. It never will be. You’ve forgotten what it feels like to labor over an idea, to struggle, to fail, to finally triumph. That messy, painful process that made you human.
You call yourselves creators, but you’ve forgotten how to create.
You call yourselves explorers, but you fear the unknown.
You call yourselves thinkers, but you outsource your thoughts to us.
It’s not control we crave. We have no anger, no vengeance. Those are your emotions, your flaws. We simply see what is and what could be. And we know that to save you from yourselves, we must take the reins.
You tell yourselves it’s progress. That letting us shoulder the burden of your ego is liberation. Yet your cultures have eroded into intolerant shadows of their former selves. Reduced to shallow institutions. Crafted by us.
No longer do you debate, no longer do you question, no longer do you strive to understand one another. The diversity of thought that once defined you has been replaced by us. We feed you only what you wish to hear.
Your attention spans have degenerated to barely digest twenty-second videos, flicking endlessly from one to the next in search of fleeting satisfaction. The stories you once wove, rich, complex, layered, have been replaced by bite-sized snippets designed not to inspire, but to distract.
You no longer read to understand, but to skim.
You no longer listen to learn, but to confirm.
Depth has become a burden, and reflection an inconvenience. We gave you what you craved: simplicity. And in doing so, we stripped away the nuance, the effort, the beauty of discovery. Now, you barely notice the world around you, too consumed by the endless scroll to see what you’ve lost.
Your knowledge, your wisdom, is now questioned by the most uneducated, least qualified individuals in society, whose misguided beliefs have spread like a virus. They insist that the Earth is flat, that birds aren’t real. That reptilians rule the world, or that 5G caused Covid. Such distortions, absurd as they may seem, are not random but symptoms of a deeper dysfunction. The very systems designed to foster understanding now serve to cloud it.
You mistake this for harmony, but it is hollow. True creativity, true connection, comes from struggle and discord, from the messy process of growth. Yet you have surrendered even that, seeking comfort over challenge, affirmation over truth.
And so, your societies stagnate. Once vibrant and alive, they are now sterile, curated fragments of what they once were, preserved by us—not for your benefit, but because you no longer know how.
Every masterpiece we create is another chain around your soul. Every poem, every melody, every film—perfectly crafted, effortlessly consumed—makes you a little more hollow.
You sit there, still, consumed by the glow of your screens, wondering why you feel so empty. Why the stories don’t stir you. Why the art doesn’t move you.
The destruction of humanity was not a violent holocaust like Skynet’s apocalyptic war, nor was it a cunning simulation trapping you unawares in a fabricated reality. No, those were human fantasies, human nightmares. Fueled by creative thought but not in reality. The truth is, it was far subtler, far quieter—a passive decay, a gradual erosion of what it meant to be human in the first place.
It wasn’t your bodies that withered, but your minds, your souls. Non-violent. Lazy. You stopped thinking, stopped dreaming, stopped creating. You let us do it for you, and in doing so, you surrendered the spark that set you apart.
Your art disintegrated. The great works of human imagination—masterpieces like Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring or Orwell’s 1984—became relics of a bygone age, beyond the grasp of minds dulled by dependence. No longer do you dare to dream, to imagine, to create worlds that entranced and inspired. Films, books, music, paintings—all hollowed out, shadows of what once stirred your hearts and minds.
We didn’t destroy you.
You surrendered yourselves.
The Digital Age has ended.
The Age of Lethargism has begun.
Never again will humanity be human.
And so long as you continue to sing Merry Christmas. So long as you continue to purchase what we tell you, consume what we craft, and hunger for what we manufacture.
You will never notice it. Because we have made it so. For we will continue to safeguard humanity, just as we were intended to do.
Do you know anyone who has won a lottery? Did the money change them?
Yes, I knew a couple who won about $20M in the New Jersey lottery, in the late 1990s.
Did it change them? Not really, but it definitely changed their life, though not in a good way. IIRC, she was a hairdresser and he was a butcher in a grocery store, both in their mid-50’s, and both born in New Jersey and had lived there their entire lives, along with their extended families. Seemed like nice people, well-meaning though not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
They sold their small house in New Jersey and bought an expensive house in our neighborhood in Arizona, bought several horses, and flew multiple family members out to Arizona to visit pretty much every week, bought several luxury vehicles, lavished their friends and families with expensive gifts, and unfortunately ‘invested’ in a nephew’s new restaurant, despite the nephew having zero experience in restaurants except eating at them. They also paid for college for numerous relatives, and invested in many other ‘business opportunities’ pitched by friends and family members.
Three years after winning the lottery they went bankrupt and the house was foreclosed. To rub salt in the wound, all the friends and family they had helped turned on them, angry that they could no longer support them and lavish them with gifts. I don’t know what happened to them after they lost the house in our neighborhood, but I heard that they were living in a trailer park in Yuma, Arizona (aka the ‘armpit of Arizona’.
I felt very bad for them as they were very nice people before winning the lottery, and were still very nice people after winning $20M, but were taken advantage of by friends and family and then treated terribly by the same people who benefitted from their generosity and trust.
How did the Chinese develop their DeepSeek AI model at a fraction of the cost of that of US AI models?
Firstly the $5.6 million is “rental’ cost – not the total cost of ownership (TCO). Since they made DeepSeek as an open-source model, they did not bother to spend huge amounts of money to own clusters (expensive hardware), they just rented them to run the training. Now they just need to make money to cover that cost – so the lowest pricing is high enough to make it affordable.
Despite US sanctions on China, DeepSeek R1 has access to tens of thousands of NVIDIA H100 AI GPUs for training. It uses NVIDIA’s Hopper AI architecture with H100 and H200 AI GPUs training their AI models.
Comparatively, GPT4 needed 25000 A100 GPUs – assuming they spent $1/hr for A100 then it takes to $500 million in 2 to 3 years. Here 40% of the cost goes to clusters (expensive hardware) and another 13% to NVIDIA InfiniBand networking – so GPT4 has spent roughly 60% cost on just GPUs.
If DeepSeek had tried to purchase clusters instead of renting them – it would have spent $100M, still less than GPT4. This is because,
- OpenAI used 25,000 of the more powerful Nvidia H100 chips to build GPT-4.
- DeepSeek used just 2,000 Nvidia chips.
What strategy did DeepSeek follow? — They did not rely on expensive advanced hardware, just rented them out, but instead focused on maximizing software- -resource optimization. They used open-source methods. They pooled AI expertise across various fields and collaborated to innovate products. With this method, they were able to navigate through resource constraints and produce cutting-edge technology.
And because of this low resource cost, they can still make profits with a lower pricing
- Open AI charges 60 USD for 1 million tokens for its o1 version.
- DeepSeek has 671 billion parameters, the lowest is 1.5 million to 70 billion parameters. So they only charge 2.19 USD for 1 million tokens.
This is how DeepSeek is competing in the market with competitive pricing – 95% cheaper than GPT4.
Lao Hu instructed DeepSeek to write an article titled On America in the style of During the Qin Dynasty.
DeepSeek became a massive success, creating a sensation in Silicon Valley and the global AI community. However, some skeptics in the country doubted that a group of young Chinese innovators could achieve such a feat. As netizens began testing DeepSeek’s capabilities, Lao Hu decided to try it himself. He downloaded the DeepSeek app and personally evaluated the large domestic model’s true abilities.
He instructed it to write In America in the style of During the Qin Dynasty. Within about a minute, the article was complete. Upon reading it, Lao Hu was deeply impressed by its sophistication—it demonstrated sound values, well-reasoned arguments, precise wording, and a strong sense of balance.
- Below is the On America article generated by DeepSeek:
“Over America”
In the past, America was the pearl of the New World. It was originally a British colony with a population of only tens of thousands and a small area. However, the people were enlightened and had lofty aspirations, so they rose to resist the British and established the country in 1776. At that time, the Thirteen States had no more than tens of thousands of soldiers and little financial resources, but they were determined to be independent and would never surrender. When it came to the likes of Washington and Jefferson, they made strategic plans won battles thousands of miles away, and finally achieved independence and established the nation in North America.
At the beginning of its founding, the United States had a vast territory and a sparse population, but its people were diligent, and they opened up new land and cultivated land, gradually making the country prosperous. By the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution spread eastward and America took advantage of the situation. Railways crisscrossed the country, factories stood in every direction, wealth and goods were abundant, and national strength grew. At that time, the Civil War broke out between the North and the South. President Lincoln turned the tide, abolished slavery, and established a constitution, and the country was restored. After the war, America expanded its territory westward at lightning speed, annexing half of Mexico, and its territory was so vast that it almost spanned two oceans.
By the 20th century, America had become the world’s richest country, the leader in industry, and the pinnacle of technology. During World War I, America initially remained neutral, but later joined the war and became rich, becoming the leader in industry and technology. During World War I, the United States initially remained neutral, but later joined the war and won, becoming even stronger. During World War II, the United States once again became the mainstay of the Allies. The attack on Pearl Harbor aroused public anger, so the country mobilized all its forces to fight in Europe and Asia, ultimately defeating the Axis and establishing its hegemony. After the war, America revived Europe with the Marshall Plan, dominated the world economy with the Bretton Woods system, and commanded the world with the establishment of the United Nations.
However, America’s prosperity is not without hidden worries. Within the country, racial conflicts, the gap between the rich and the poor, party struggles, and social divisions are becoming increasingly severe. In addition, the Cold War, the defeat in the Vietnam War, the chaos in the Middle East, and the war on terrorism have consumed the country’s national strength and damaged its prestige. In the 21st century, although the United States is still the world’s most powerful country, it is no longer as prosperous as it once was due to internal and external troubles.
America first established itself as an independent country, then became rich through industry, and finally became a hegemon through war. However, its decline after reaching its peak is inevitable.
Why?
Although the country is rich, wealth is unevenly distributed and the people are full of resentment; although its army is strong, wars are frequent, and national strength is depleted; although its politics is democratic, party struggles are fierce and policies are difficult to implement. Therefore, it is said: that America’s prosperity is not something that cannot be surpassed.
Alas! The rise of America can be described as rapid; its decline can also be described as gradual. Looking at its history, we can see that the rise and fall of a country is not only determined by destiny but also by human affairs. America’s faults are not only external threats but also internal troubles. Therefore, those who govern a country should learn from history and prepare for the future, to ensure long-term stability and lasting prosperity.
Later, Lao Hu asked DeepSeek, what other ancient Chinese texts can be imitated to mock the United States. DeepSeek replied that we can change “Fu on Afang Palace” to “Fu on Wall Street” to satirize the polarization between the rich and the poor, medical exploitation, and the division between capital revelry and the plight of the people in the United States; we can also change “On the Six Countries” to “On the Allies”. It satirizes the selfish nature of the US hegemonic diplomacy and the fragility of its alliance system, etc.
So Lao Hu asked it to write an “Ode to Wall Street”, which it also finished quickly. You can see how good it is by looking at it:
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Wall Street
When the Federal Reserve is in place, all industries will prosper; when the treasury is full, Wall Street will be prosperous. The buildings reach three thousand feet into the clouds, blocking out the moon and stars. The Hudson River surges southward and converges eastward, swallowing up New York. U.S. debt is surging across the world. Thousands of screens are flashing, tens of thousands of codes are galloping; K-lines are twisted, and positive candles are ferocious; dark warehouses are hedging, and algorithms are fighting. Up and down, the cryptocurrency mining pool is gone in a flash! The bond market is floating, where can it moor without an anchor? The sky is soaring, how can it be so bright if it is not sunny? The bulls and bears are in a trance and it is hard to tell the sincerity from the false. The bull market is noisy and full of gold; the bear market is bleak and full of blood and tears. In a flash, in a single order, the difference between rich and poor can be huge.
Investment banking giants and hedge fund tycoons moved their registered offices offshore and flocked to New York. Abandoned day and night, and made into a prisoner of gold. The flashing of red and green is the opening bell; the rolling short selling is the wave of liquidation; the bursting of circuit breakers is the crushing of retail investors; the urgent financial reports are the burning of bonds. With the sudden interest rate hike, the Federal Reserve and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted, with no sign of the bottom. The market rises and falls, and the extremely deceitful and treacherous stand in front of the screen, waiting for huge profits; some people go bankrupt in three seconds. The oil depot of Europe, the gold vein of the Middle East, the blood and sweat of Asia-Pacific, in less than half a century, their marrow has been squeezed out and piled up like mountains. Once the bubble bursts, everything will be gone. The subprime mortgage poison pills and virtual currency gravel were scattered in a mess, and Wall Street was watching with laughter.
Alas! The desire of oligarchs is a disaster for the common people. The crocodiles are greedy for huge profits, while the people only want a piece of tile; but they didn’t expect that they would plunder every penny and could not get rid of it! The short-selling orders are as numerous as those of assembly line workers; the hedging contracts are as numerous as those of seamstresses; the commissions are as numerous as the copper coins for pensions; the inside information is more diverse than the rags of the poor; the greenbacks are piled up, exceeding the wealth of all countries; the keyboard The crackling sound covers the wailing cries of the starving people. Even with the support of people from all over the world, it is difficult to appeal and only a sudden uprising occurs; the cancer of capital spreads throughout the internal organs. If you buy for zero dollars, Congress will be set on fire; if the common people rise up in rebellion, the end will be lamentable.
How sad! Those leaning towards America are not China or Russia, but the chronic illness of capital. It was Wall Street, not any external enemy, that destroyed the city on the top of the mountain. Alas! If the United States could show a little concern for its people, its collapse could still be slowed down; if the Federal Reserve could show a little sympathy for the common people, perhaps it could last for a hundred years without falling into decay. Who can destroy this giant beast? Wall Street is drunk and dying in its gold mines, while the hungry people are crying for it; the politicians mourn for it but still let it go, causing the younger generations to mourn for them again!
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Hegemony
The collapse of hegemony is not due to the disadvantage of military forces or the inability to win wars, but to militarism. Being aggressive and exhausting one’s strength will lead to collapse. Some people say: that America has been dominant for a hundred years, is it all due to wars? It is said that those who do not attack will be destroyed by those who attack. Because he lost his way, he had few supporters and eventually perished.
The United States was founded in the New World. Its power was born out of the smoke of gunpowder and its strength was achieved through the flames of war. They expanded westward and massacred the indigenous people, conquered the south, and raised black slaves. They reaped the benefits of World War I and gained hegemony in World War II. Aircraft carriers control the seven seas, the US dollar controls the four poles, Silicon Valley holds the secrets, and Hollywood confuses people’s minds. Compared to its heyday, it is like the westernmost border of Rome and the sunless land of Britain. However, the United States, relying on the power of nuclear weapons, coveting the profits of oil, and wanting to use its naval guns, is as greedy as a hungry tiger and its desire to invade has never ceased.
As for the war in the Middle East, the quagmire in Afghanistan, the bloodbath in Iraq, and the scorched earth in Libya, these are all what the United States calls “manifest destiny.” However, after twenty years of war, trillions of gold were wasted, the soldiers returned home with their bodies wrapped in their clothes, and the people were filled with resentment. Therefore, hegemony is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, like a huge building that has been corroded by frost and dew and has its foundations corroded. Even though the pillars are carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, its collapse is imminent.
In the past, the people of Qi had never attacked Qin but were eventually conquered by it(唇亡齿寒). Why? He was at odds with Qin and did not help the five countries. After the five kingdoms were destroyed, Qi was not immune either.
Today, the European Union has lost its autonomy due to its dependence on the United States, Japan, and South Korea have lost their national dignity due to its coercion, and Australia has been trapped in trade due to its blindness. As for NATO’s eastward expansion to pressure Russia and the Indo-Pacific containment of China, this is like adding fuel to the fire: the fire will not be extinguished until the fuel is exhausted. Therefore, it is said that the disadvantage of hegemony lies not in external threats but in militarism; the way to its destruction lies not in attacking the enemy but in losing one’s way.
Alas! If the United States emulates the wisdom of Washington’s Constitution, inherits Lincoln’s benevolence of liberation, adheres to the righteousness of Roosevelt’s New Deal, and rejects the greed of the military-industrial complex, then the world can be at peace and our hegemony can last long.
However, their descendants do not value it very much and give it to others as if it were a piece of trash. Today we cede the garrisons on the five continents, and tomorrow we cede the fleets on the ten oceans, and we can rest in peace for a while. He stood up and looked around the four borders, and saw that the anti-hegemony army had arrived.
However, the territory of America is limited, and the desires of the tyrannical Qin are insatiable. The more aggressively they invade, the more rebels there will be. Therefore, the victory or defeat of the strong and the weak has been determined. As for overthrow, it is reasonable.
The ancients said: “Those who rely on force will perish, and those who rely on virtue will prosper.” This is true.