Taiwan is not sovereign. It is not a UN member, or an observer state.

EVERY, and I repeat, EVERY, nation on earth implements the One China policy. No first world nation recognizes Taipei as the seat of the China government. All of them, and this includes the United States, pursue diplomacy with Beijing instead.

Today, only 11 states recognizes Taipei in lieu of Beijing. Comprising less than 0.5% of the poorest and most isolated humanity—Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu—are all without exception tied at the umbilical to American largess and patronage.

When Taiwanese leaders drop by Washington, they do not fly direct. The trips are framed as stopovers from diplomatic visits to Belize or Guatemala.

Ukraine is a full UN member, and votes at the UNGA.

What Chinese Ukraine?

As for land grab, let’s put the house in order and fulfill the terms outlined in the Cairo Declaration of 1943, the Potsdam Declaration of 1945 and the Treaty of San Francisco of 1951 first.

History owes China that much, at the minimum.

Otherwise, continue playing the deliberate fool stoking war at every juncture.

My daughter. I boxed in the Navy, before and after, and loved the sport. My daughter, when she was about five, went with me to the gym and asked about it. She began taking boxing lessons when she was either six or seven, I forget. She did look a bit weird in those HUGE gloves and head-gear.

She boxed throughout her teen years – loving it.

A few years later she was on a date with a “new” boyfriend when she returned home about 9:30 at night, alone, but in his car. “What happened?” I asked her.

“He got fresh with me after I told him to leave me alone,” she said. “But he didn’t stop and put his hands on me, quite inappropriately,” she added.

“Yes,” I said. “And then what?”

“I pushed him back and decked him,” she said flashing a sly smile. “I left him unconscious in a ditch and took his car home. It’s outside, the keys are locked inside.”

A day later the car disappeared and we never heard from the SOB again.

Going Anonymous because this is a story of someone I know personally, and I want zero chance that this gets back to him since he still doesn’t like talking about this nearly a decade later.

During college I was friends with 2 cousins who for sake of anonymity were named Blake and Nate. After a night out to the local bar for pool, Blake and Nate had too much to drink. Blake is a big guy, he had little issue holding his alcohol, but Nate is very slender and was absolutely drunk beyond conscionable thought after an equal number of rounds. Later into the night, as everyone was packing it in, Blake had noticed that Nate had disappeared. Blake assumed Nate made it back to their apartment safe, however as he stepped out of the tavern he spotted his cousin Nate being escorted/carried down an adjacent hill toward town by a rather large woman he had seen Nate speaking with on-campus previously. Thankful he didn’t have to personally carry Nate’s drunk person a half mile in the opposite direction, Blake let Nate’s “friend” deal with his semi-conscious cousin and began walking in the opposite direction toward his and Nate’s apartment.

Afterwards, Nate made it clear to us that this woman had frequently harassed him on-campus with sexual advances which he had at numerous times rebuffed. Nate didn’t remember a thing from that night, only that he woke up in her empty apartment with no clothes on. Campus police were utterly disinterested in investigating, practically laughing him out of their office saying that he must have been more conscious than he remembered or cared to admit because the notion of possible rape committed by a woman towards a man seemed utterly ridiculous. I still can’t imagine the dread Nate went through over the following 3 months fearing that this woman might be pregnant (he couldn’t remember what happened or if it was safe, he only knew he was naked). He feared that she might demand that he take responsibility for acts he could not physically consent to and that no court would take his claim seriously enough to dismiss legal obligation or allow him to elect termination on grounds of rape. He was panicked that the mistake of drinking past blackout would force him to trade further education for a forced life of child support payments following a sexual act he did not consent to, want, or even remember. All of this seems an exceedingly rare and alien cornercase until it is someone you know.

The worst part of being a man is knowing that society doesn’t take these problems seriously when faced by a male because it is assumed that as a man you cannot be the victim of a woman. The shame that if you as a man are a victim and expressing your pain then you are deserving of scorn or heckling.

Hi, Youssra Ary. Thanks for the very interesting question.

You posted this question on February 5.
It would have been colder in Wuhan then (today is March 24).
I just got back from Wuhan and the weather was quite pleasant.
Around 10 – 15 °C during the day.
Very nice.

It’s really beautiful in Wuhan now.
The cherry blossoms are in full bloom now – it’s all a very lovely sight to behold.

Took this picture in 东湖樱花园 (East Lake Cherry Blossom Garden).
The cherry blossoms are so pretty!

Okay, now let’s get down to brass tacks regarding the premise of your question.

China has about 20 – 30 million Muslims.
There are food establishments selling halal food around every corner.

In fact, there are several times more food establishments selling halal food in China than there are McDonald restaurants.

There are 2 halal restaurants near my apartment, but no McDonald’s.
There are 3 halal restaurants around my game studio.

And the best part is, these halal food establishments are frequented by non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

I have several colleagues who are Muslims, so in addition to halal food deliveries + bringing their own food from home, these 3 halal restaurants offer them quite a bit of variety in terms of their food choices during lunchtime.

For myself and most of my non-Muslim colleagues, we’ll head on down to one of these halal restaurants at least once a week.

I don’t think there are any non-Muslim Chinese colleagues at my game studio who hasn’t been to a halal restaurant.
These halal food establishments are just that ubiquitous.
And they serve up some pretty tasty fare as well!

Just look out for these two characters: 清真
If you see these two characters, it means the food will be halal.
See picture below:

Those working in the halal food establishments will either be Uighur Chinese, or Hui Chinese.
Uighur Chinese and Hui Chinese make up the two largest Muslim groups in China.

The picture below was taken in a halal food establishment in Kashgar, Xinjiang.
It is run by Uighur Muslims.

You can get a good and filling halal meal here for under 20 yuan (2.80 USD).

This picture was taken in a halal food establishment in Yangzhou.
You can see from the sign at the back, the two characters 清真, denoting that this is a halal food establishment.
The proprietess is a Hui Muslim from Linxia, Gansu.

So, don’t worry, Youssra Ary.

Many of us Chinese are already very used to eating halal food.
I eat halal food at least once a week.

Actually, the commonly held belief is that, if you want to eat really good beef, mutton, and lamb, you head on over down to a halal food establishment because the people who work there are very good at preparing these meats.

But if you like chicken too, don’t worry.
They serve that as well.

Say hello to 新疆大盘鸡（Xinjiang Big Plate Chicken):

My only concern with your going to your friend’s house in Wuhan to prepare a halal meal is…

Wouldn’t you have to bring your own cooking and eating utensils?

Please correct me if I’m wrong here, but I though that, as a Muslim, you’re not allowed to use cooking and eating utensils that have been used to cook and eat non-halal food?

Some years ago I was a bankruptcy specialist at a large financial institution. We’d been purchased by this after the original company n had been purchased by an entrepreneurial operation who took as much as they could get and then sold the remains.

Very little of this affected me or my particular job other than we’d been relocated to this financial institution’s headquarters so my 40 something mile commute became closer to a 70 mile commute (round trip).

So we had a department meeting one day to be told that our department was going to be split in half. One half was going to remain pretty much the same under the leadership of the overall department head. The other half was going to be strictly litigation focused.

Now I’d gotten really good at the bankruptcy part. I’d actually completed a legal assistant degree while working there and had taken a couple of bankruptcy classes. What I had never learned was litigation. My new boss knew that, but never offered any kind of training, assistance, nothing.

In addition, I was told that I was to assist the half of the office still doing bankruptcy. Like me and litigation, none of them had ever done bankruptcy.

I tried, I really did. I gave the cheat sheets, proof of claim templates, everything I could. But over a year later, I was still getting basically the same questions as they had at the beginning. I gave them information sheets explaining the different types of bankruptcies and how they were handled. Nothing seemed to actually stick as I would be asked to do a lot of the work.

I was probably spending about 75% of my workday on bankruptcy and wasn’t learning anything about litigation. So I finally went to my direct boss to ask how long I would be expected to “help” the other people in the office. I told him that I wasn’t really clear on the ins and outs of litigation because I was constantly being asked to handle bankruptcy.

He reminded me that our annual review was coming up and both heads of department would be conducting them. Since our overall boss was in charge of the group handling bankruptcy. He suggested I bring that up in the review.

Well, it was a setup. After a somewhat wishy-washy review, I was asked if I had any questions so I asked about my assignment to “assist” the new bankruptcy team while they were supposedly learning the ropes. I didn’t outright criticize any individuals, but I did point out that the basics still seemed to be misunderstood and I wasn’t effectively able to work on litigation.

Clearly he’d been warned I was going to ask this. He sat up in his chair, his cheeks got all red, and he began huffing and puffing. He started by accusing me of not training them. I was prepared enough that I’d brought copies of all the training paperwork I’d provided, all of it created by me mostly on my own time at home. He literally pushed it away and started pulling out printouts from our computer system.

He started with about six or seven printouts from individual bankruptcy cases. I looked at them. In every case, these were bankruptcies filed after I was no longer in the department so of course my name wasn’t in the notes.

Oh, but he’d thought ahead. Next he pulls out a dozen or more bankruptcies dating back over a year or before the department divided. I looked at those and each and everyone of them had notes under my name stating that they had been sent to outside counsel. About six months or so before the changes, we (my previous bankruptcy coworker and I) had been told that all new bankruptcies where the overall value of the company was over a certain amount (I think over $250,000) was to be sent directly to outside lawyers and we were not to touch them. Yes, every one had been sent to outside counsel. As for my question as to how long I was to be “assisting,” I was told “until I tell you otherwise.” Honestly I didn’t really mind that answer but I was concerned about eventually having a bad review over not accomplishing more in litigation.

My review ended up with some phrasing about how I wasn’t cooperating with the “overall department strategy,” and I started job searching immediately. I was out about six months later.

I was given a hint life was passing me by when I was buying a movie ticket. I was asked if I wanted a senior discount. I was 50 years old. I was shocked. I started getting AARP ads in the mail at the same age.I realized then society viewed me as an old person.

I always thought I had all the time in the world to accomplish anything. I had a few hints earlier about life’s uncertainty when a 27 year old friend was killed driving home from a grocery store three blocks from her house. Once a 34 year old neighbor came home for lunch, went for a quick jog, and dropped dead from a heart attack.

Those events happened to other people: not me.

I looked in the mirror and realized I was not young anymore. Delusion is powerful. Feeling immortal is an emotion I always had.

In 2012, I was told I had Parkinson’s disease. No worries… I thought, you can live a long time with this disease. Recently I was told I actually have MSA which is a cousin of Parkinson’s. You die sooner having this disease.

Do what you’ve dreamed about now. Want to be an actor? singer? own your own business? How about taking a trip? An uncle once told me he and my aunt saved their money so they could see the world when they got old. They never knew he would get sick and die soon after he told me about their plans.

No matter what age you are, follow your heart now. Marry, have children, do what you want to do to make your life complete. You’re not immortal. You won’t be young forever.

One day you’ll wake up and be me.

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts

Ingredients you will need

• Chicken breasts: I always opt to use boneless and skinless breasts for this honey mustard chicken. A lot of recipes use thighs, but I like the leaner versatility of a chicken breast or you may even use chicken tenders.
• Spices: We use a mix of spices here including paprika, mustard seed, ground mustard seed, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. These flavors all pair so well together and also help to complement the honey mustard.
• Olive oil: A great neutral vegetable oil that can be used at high temperatures, high-quality olive oil has natural aromatic flavors that are robust and so delicious.
• Honey: The sweet portion of this sweet and savory chicken recipe comes from the honey. It’s a natural sugar, not too sweet, and also has an excellent flavor.
• Chicken stock: Just a few tablespoons of chicken stock gets added to the marinade. This helps to keep the chicken moist while baking. You can also use vegetable stock if you have it.
• Mustard: We are going to be using two mustard in this chicken recipe to take it to the next level: Dijon and whole grain. While providing an excellent flavor, the whole grain mustard also provides some texture to our honey mustard chicken breasts.
• White vinegar: In addition to the tang from the mustard, white vinegar provides an additional tanginess. You could also use apple cider vinegar here.
• Sriracha sauce: I like a little bit of spice to my honey mustard chicken recipe, so I add a touch of Sriracha. You can adjust this to your taste buds, or omit it altogether if you’re not of fan of the heat.
• Thyme: A small handful of fresh thyme finishes this dish off. It provides some color to garnish and top off your baked chicken.

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
3. In a small bowl combine the honey, mustard, basil, paprika and parsley. Mix well. Pour 1/2 of this mixture over the chicken and brush to cover.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Turn chicken pieces over, brush with the remaining 1/2 of the honey mustard mixture, and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.

When I was in the 7th grade in math I continually got Ds on all my scores. One day I watched the teacher grade a girls test and saw exactly what she missed. She got a B+. BTW her family owned one of the largest grocery chains in the nation. When he graded my test it turned out I missed the exact same question in the exact same way as the girl, I got a D. I was a very tiny boy and mild . I said nothing as I always respected my elders. The very first week of 8th grade we were given a standardized math test. Not once had I studied outside of the class room. I tied for the highest grade on that test against over 700 eighth graders. The person I tied, studied very hard and becam the valedictorian of our high school. When I saw my test score I realized just how biased the teacher was against me. For the very first time in my life I confronted an adult.I went to see him and said, Mr Ziegler, I want to show you my 8 grade standardized test scores. I explained that my score tied with another boy for highest in the entire 8th grade. He then said “ oh, you must have really studied during the summer”. I told him No, I had not even opened a book from the time I left his class and the time I took the test. I turned and walked out without saying another word.

That was 70 years ago and only a few years ago I realized why. I was a blond haired, blue eyed boy. My name was the same as the head of the Waffen SS and this was only a relatively few years after WW2 and the fall of the Nazi regime. BTW my German heritage moved to the USA was in 1840.

Expectation

Men know this. Women do not.