When I attended university, for the most part, I lived off campus. I boarded a room with a fine old German family. Ah. I wrote about this earlier. Well, being off campus, I was a local where all my classmates were all stuck inside the campus of the university… rarely going out.
It was a beautiful fall day.
And a local grower was going to throw away some perfectly fine, but rapidly ripening big red tomatoes. Now, You guys all know that I love tomatoes, and these were the best. Big juicy and ripe.
So I gave some to the people of the house where I lived and took the rest (in a box) to the university. In those days, I hung around a particular dorm as that was were all my friends lived.
I put the box on the center table in the common room and went off to class. I figured that everyone would enjoy the great gift of delicious tomatoes. All you need is either mayonnaise and bread, or just salt for a very delicious delight.
Imagine my horror when I returned and discovered that some of the guys had a massive tomato battle on the floor! Tomatoes everywhere and it was a real mess. I was crestfallen.
Such a great gift offering. Such a terrible tragedy.
Never expect others to appreciate the gifts that you provide.
It’s been my experience that it more often than not goes unappreciated. Today…
Does a human being know they’re dead once they die?
My cousin died this year on January 31st from what we thought was a fentanyl overdose, but turned out to be a Methamphetamine overdose. She was only 32, but anywho after gathering with family I went home and when I went to sleep, my dream was of her in the hospital bed and when my sister and I walked into the room she was sitting up in the hospital bed in white, and she asked, “What happened, did I overdose?” My sister and I both responded, “yes.”, and she began laughing. We were like, “ITS NOT FUNNY, YOU DIED!”
I forced myself up from my sleep because I was pissed she was tickled by it, and went into the living room and told my husband. He told me that she was letting me know she knows and that was her way of being at peace with where her decision led 24 hours ago and I agreed. Then there’s my moms baby brother, Uncle Sammy who died in a pool with the mother of his children present at 29, who we all feel was murdered because he can swim there was nothing in his system that impaired him and the pool only went to 6 feet and he was 5’11. In the dream he asked me did I want to know how he perished and I told him, “No because I was scared.” That dream was weird too because it wasn’t the pool he died in and I never saw him just heard his voice. I’ve also had a few dreams of a cousin who died years ago at 23 and my maternal grandmother has been in my room in a dream before, she was standing next to the bed and picked my AirPods up wondering what the heck they were😂. We all interpreted things subjectively, but I’d like the think they were just visiting and letting me know they’re ok and aware.
What has been the last most inexplicable criminal case you have seen?
Probably the Jayme Closs case.
Jayme Closs was a 13-year-old girl who lived in Barron, Wisconsin, with her parents, James and Denise. On October 25, 2018, a 21-year-old named Jake Patterson showed up at the Closs home at just before 1am, waking the family, banged on the door, and shined a flashlight in the front window.
James, thinking perhaps Patterson was a police officer, asked to see his badge. Patterson fired a shotgun blast through the door, killing James instantly, and then searched the rest of the house until he found Denise and Jayme hiding in the bathroom. He bound Jayme’s hands and feet with duct tape, then fatally shot her mother at point blank range.
Patterson then forced Jayme into the trunk of his car and drove off, pulling over when police cruisers drove by, sirens and lights on, toward the Closs house (Denise had managed to call 911 before Jake broke down the bathroom door, and although she did not speak, the dispatcher heard a disturbance and sent officers to the location), but they drove right past him.
Patterson drove Jayme back to his home in Gordon, Wisconsin, made her change clothes, then forced her under his bed and barricaded her there.
And that’s it. He didn’t assault her. He didn’t torture her. He just left her under his bed, occasionally letting her out into the rest of the house. Jayme was so terrified of him after witnessing his murder of her parents that she didn’t try to escape.
At first.
On January 10, 2019, Patterson told Jayme he was leaving for a few hours, and as usual, barricaded her under his bed. After he left, Jayme forced her way out, put on a pair of his sneakers, and ran, until she encountered neighbor Jeanne Nutter, who recognized her from news reports and immediately took her to another neighbor’s house, where police were called. Patterson was apprehended that same day, and immediately admitted guilt.
This whole case just didn’t make any sense at all. Jake Patterson had no criminal record, and no red flags in his history; he was described as quiet, polite, and shy, a “nice boy”. He didn’t know Jayme or her parents; had never met them. He also had no motive — when the police asked, he couldn’t give them one. He just said he had seen Jayme getting off her school bus one day on his way home from work and decided “she was the girl he wanted to take”. He immediately began planning her abduction. Once he had her, he just… kept her, hidden under his bed, like a souvenir, for 88 days.
Patterson pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping, and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 40 years for the kidnapping. He was never charged in relation to Jayme’s captivity because the authorities did not want to subject Jayme to any more questioning than necessary. Patterson stated that he decided to plead guilty in order to spare Jayme and her family the trauma of a trial, and reportedly also tried to get a note of apology to her.
As for Jayme, she spent one night in the hospital before being released into the custody of her aunt, who would become her legal guardian. Today she is 17 and, according to her aunt, is doing well. At Patterson’s trial, her attorney read a powerful statement she had written, which included the below words:
He thought he could control me, but he couldn’t. I feel like what he did is what a coward would do. I was brave. He was not.
Denise and James Closs:
This case still gives me chills, because again: there was no motive. Jake Patterson just saw this pretty girl get off a school bus one day and decided to just take her as a possession.
Shocking NDE Of 12-year-old Girl Will Leave You Questioning Reality
What is the most profound thing you have learned with age?
- Life is easier when you’re yourself,
- What you need is rational optimism. Be real with the world & yourself & also be optimistic about your capabilities,
- Self-control in conversation demonstrates power ,
- Figure it out as you go . Stop trying to figure it all out & then don’t take any action,
- The market doesn’t give a crap about your feelings . Do your research, be smart & focus,
- The love, support & encouragement of a good woman is worth its weight in gold ,
- Time is your ally . It’ll always put things into perspective. Don’t let others waste it ,
- We all have things we struggle with. It’s something that is hard to admit, yet it’ll always set you free ,
- Never let others put a cap on what you can achieve & who you can be,
- You don’t figure anything out by overthinking, you only get more lost in your fears,
- A sense of humour will keep you young ,
- When in doubt, be calm .It’s hard to be calm when you’re in doubt,
- Your life is meant to be lived, & not at the expense for another ,
- Instead of downplaying yourself, give yourself some applause & understand what you’re worthy of & what doesn’t deserve your attention,
- Just Chill.!!
How does it feel to live in rural China?
I think it feels better to live in rural China than in cities.
In rural areas, it’s easier to know how the majority of people in China, are working and living there.
Despite the fact that China has been working to increase the urbanization rate, there are still around 500 million permanent residents in rural areas.
The issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers have long been a central focus of the Chinese government’s work.
Living in rural areas, you will feel closer to nature and have a healthier way of life.
In northern part of China, you will see large scales of farmland in rural areas, especially in eastern parts of the country.
They plant all kinds of fruits and vegetables and of course, many of them will do farm work for others or work in factories that are not far away from their homes.
Traditional festivals are better preserved in rural areas and are celebrated in a more lively atmosphere.
They will hold various kinds of activities for many days to celebrate traditional festivals.
If you go to rural areas, you will have more food choices to make than you can imagine.
They have special and different kinds of food to eat in the mornings, afternoons and nights.
The street food are always a good choice and full of surprises as they look simple, but are super delicious.
In southern rural areas of China, you will see more beautiful views which look like landscape paintings.
There are more mountains and rivers in southern China than in the north and it’s easier to feel the beauty of nature.
They enjoy food very different from what you will see in northern areas.
Some places like Jiangsu and Zhejiang prefer light flavors while other area like Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou like spicy food.
Compared with northern areas, there are more ethnic minorities in southern areas.
If you go there, you will be able to feel the diverse culture and different traditions there.
Generally speaking, people in rural areas are more friendly and hospitable.
They are more likely to share the good things that they have and treat you as one of them.
Even if you are foreigners, they will also be happy to talk with you and share with you what they have.
8 Charts That Will Change The Way You See Dating
I was surprised how good this video is.
Why do gun worshippers keep pushing the narrative that “gun control” means “taking away everyone’s guns” instead of what it actually is, which is taking measures to make sure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands? Why do they always argue the extreme?
This January, a repeat felon in the city of Chicago was caught with a firearm. The felon, Cordarrow Thompson, was on early release from his 8 year sentence, given in 2020, for assault with a firearm by a felon.
This man had already, five times in his life, been convicted of unlawfully using firearms to harm others. Here he was for a sixth time, in a city that claims it is hard on gun crimes, with an illegally possessed gun.
I haven’t been able to find details about the firearm he had, but any gun in this situation should have sent him back to prison for the other five years of his sentence, and gotten him convicted for another 8 to 15 years for felon in possession of a firearm.
Instead? They released him without charges.
(Edit: he was in fact charged, but was not held on his charges. A ‘we”ll get him off the streets later’ kind of thing.)
Because gun control totally exists to keep guns out of the hands of people like him, right? It’s only the logical thing to do to just let someone who has repeatedly shown he has no interest in following the law and who is illegally acquiring firearms, is to let him go on the promise of good behavior.
Who wouldn’t trust this face?
Well, as any thinking person would expect, he went and got not one, but two other firearms, illegally. At least one of which was illegally modified to be a machine pistol, and both of which were equip with drum magazines that are illegal in Illinois.
Which this obvious example of who shouldn’t have guns used to rob people.
At the end of July, some of Thompson’s intended victims turned out to be a cop and a detective. When the cop shot him for the threats, Thompson unloaded nearly 70 rounds into him.
The response from the officials who didn’t prevent this murder by using the copious gun control laws they already have to remove this persistent criminal from society, asked for more gun control. Which they will also not use on the next felon who follows this pattern.
The obvious and persistent pattern is that criminals who are using guns to harm others never have the penalties of gun control applied to them.
You know who does?
The otherwise law abiding gun owner who’s gun barrel is an eigth inch too short or who put the wrong type of foregrip on his pistol, or who was pulled over by police a thousand feet from a school.
That’s why we think gun control is more about taking guns from us than preventing people who shouldn’t have them from getting them.
She Ended Things & Blocked Him 4 Days Before Girls Trip Then This Happened
What is the significance of the unprecedented attack involving the explosion of hundreds of Hezbollah pagers across Lebanon?
Thousands, not hundreds.
And not hezbollah, but Lebanese and Syrian.
I refuse to dumb it down to “targeted at terrorists” who “deserved it”.
This is an act of terrorism, period.
And it rivals 9/11 in casualty.
Unlike many here, I have used a pager, a Motorola, which I carried on a gold clip for 2 years in the 90s. I was one of a handful of students carrying one. We were all in the same ECA.
Now what does a pager do?
Well, you dial it like a mobile number, and once connected, the dialer can send an alphanumeric message which will appear on the pager screen. Typically, the message is a callback number or a prearranged code.
Assuming the cellular network of the Lebanese hasn’t been penetrated, the only way to trigger the devices will be to send a signal dialed into the pagers’ frequency spectrum and begin a countdown. This is a well-designed piece of wizardry, because the self-destruct circuitry must stay inert as long as it doesn’t receive the signal. In other words, the device must only be primed after arming. Switched off, it must be able to handle daily abuse, and be shielded from current bursts and sound/vibration generated within the device.
One thing is certain. This ain’t no IED. The shaped charge, high quality of the explosive (little smoke and fire) and ingenious circuitry makes it military weapons grade.
A state actor is definitely involved.
This incident crosses a line.
Bombs hidden in electronic devices going off in public is no longer an exciting scenario in a tom clancy thriller.
State-backed terrorism is now the new normal.
Who is to say it won’t happen elsewhere, especially if one side decides the “demons” on the other side “deserve it”?
This is the IOT age. Every object in human society can be potentially powered and connected to the internet, acting as sensor, or messenger. Setting the precedent allow state actors to weaponize anything. After all, a pager is no bigger than a pack of playing cards cut in half.
The nightmare?
Our personal phones, which run our lives today, because the registered mobile number is the key to all kinds of accounts and digital keys.
Can you imagine the power to simultaneously maim millions, if not billions, by sending a signal that will explode factory-direct OEM devices?
It’s pandora’s box, and a living nightmare.
Welcome to the 21st century, where nothing can be trusted, not even brand new retail products.
In A Coma For Days – What He Saw Will Blow Your Mind
Chipotle Chicken and Bell Pepper Casserole
Yield: 12 servings
The chicken has to marinate overnight, so plan accordingly.
Ingredients
- 1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo, chiles stemmed and seeded, adobo reserved
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 12 whole chicken breasts (skin on or removed) or your favorite part of the chicken
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 1/2 cups fat-free chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked, washed and coarsely chopped
- 1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
Instructions
- In a food processor, puree the chipotles and adobo until smooth.
- Put the chicken breasts on a large rimmed baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
- Coat the chicken thoroughly with the puree.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil until shimmering.
- Add 4 of the chicken breasts to the skillet, skin side down, and brown over moderate heat, about 4 minutes per side.
- Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining oil and chicken breasts.
- Wipe out the skillet again.
- Spray the skillet with cooking spray (olive oil spray) in a large skillet.
- Add the onion and green pepper and cook over moderately low heat until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, roast the red peppers directly over a gas burner or under a preheated broiler, turning occasionally, until charred all over.
- Transfer the peppers to a plate and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Discard the charred skin, stems and seeds and cut the red peppers into 1/2 inch dice.
- Add the chicken stock to the onion and green pepper and simmer over moderate heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatillos, tomato, garlic, cayenne and the roasted red peppers and simmer over moderate heat for 10 minutes.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper and pour into 2 large baking dishes.
- Set the chicken breasts/or favorite parts on top of the sauce, skin side up.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the chicken is deeply browned and cooked through.
- Scatter the scallions and cilantro over the chicken and serve.
Notes
Make ahead: The chicken can marinate for up to 2 days. The onion and pepper sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
What is the most disturbing thing you’ve seen while camping?
When I was young, I went random camping ( camping at random locations on government owned land, all legal) in the foothills west of Calgary, on the May long weekend. It’s considered to be the party weekend of the camping season. Every camp site is full, mostly of young people.
Which is why people random camp, but when someone finds a nice spot, everyone pours in, and it’s shoulder to shoulder tents, and a few trailers.
It was a pretty wild weekend, not much sleeping, and a lot of everything else. But we were in the bush, not disturbing anyone.
When Monday came and it was time to pack up, no one cleaned up. It was disgusting. People had burned broken lawn chairs in the fire, there were empty bottles and cans everywhere, plastic bags, broken tents, paper, cigarette packages, and butts everywhere.
In some spots you couldn’t even see the ground. We had hangovers and slept late, so by the time we got up and made breakfast/lunch it was over half empty.
We packed up our site, and cleaned it so it was spotless. Then I took our garbage bag, and walked an ever expanding circle, picking up plastic that wouldn’t biodegrade. Once my bag was full, that was all I could carry in a car
I then went around and started stacking large garbage in piles,coolers, wrecked lawn chairs, and tents, sleeping bags and air mattresses. Two other unknown couples saw what we were doing and pitched in. But 3 groups of campers out of hundreds, was a drop in the bucket.
You could see where our three tents had been, there was a 50 foot circle around each one , that was spotless, surrounded by acres of garbage.
I have never gone random camping on a long weekend since then. I had a pretty low opinion of people for a while after that.
Eventually I bought my own piece of wilderness paradise, and I have never let strangers camp on it, because I know exactly how they treat it. I have found miniature versions of this mess on my property, so I make sure I am around every long weekend, to fend off campers.
Lunch Counter
Why is President Xi cracking down on the private sector?
Common Prosperity.
In today’s world, the Washington consensus believes that policies should benefit the top quintile of people at the expense of everyone below, because eventually that wealth will trickle down and support the rest of the economy. This is popular among capitalist countries as it benefits those with the most capital. China, on the other hand, has decided that the top quintile should suffer so that the bottom four quintiles can succeed. This policy is called Common Prosperity.
What “cracking down on the private sector” really means is that the top quintile is complaining that they are being shafted by the government. This is genuinely true. It is, however, not because the Chinese government likes cruelty and does not tolerate competition to its power (this is what the anti-China people constantly assert). Instead, it is to allow for the existence of policies that benefit the masses:
These two threads are great explanations on why narratives from the top of China sound so grim, but the country is doing just fine. It is also why you can’t really listen to overseas Chinese whose personal connections are almost entirely in the top quintile of Chinese society.
To be quite honest, the phrase “cracking down on the private sector” is a new neoliberal coat of paint over the very American practice of trust busting. It is an attempt to vilify what was necessary for American prosperity in the past, because such actions made life worse for owners of the markets. For Americans I would like to point out a basic phenomenon— do you really have local mom and pop stores anymore? For the vast majority of suburbia, they are a vanishingly rare occurrence, and nearly all are struggling against big box corporate stores. This is a clear sign that a bunch of trusts need busting, but our neoliberal consensus tells us that doing so would be “unfair” to those who have “earned their wealth.”
As for those Chinese policies, I think it is worth pointing out that our expectation, had China kept adopting neoliberal policies, was that the green trains of old would go away. This has not happened, much to my surprise (and to perhaps many others). I rode one of those trains back in 2018 and chat with some of the riders, and the explanation they gave was that these trains will forever be in service because the standing tickets cost 3–5 yuan each and are useful for rural folks who are moving goods into cities.
Again check out the whole thread, Glenn points out a bunch of very basic socialist policies that never get mentioned in English language media.
The green trains make their money through the folks who buy the soft bed tickets (we did). It is a subsidy that goes straight into the wealth accumulation of the bottom quintile rural folks.
It is policies like these that give me strong confidence that China is a socialist state. Fascist states believe in a social hierarchy, which makes it laughable whenever I see people asserting that China is “the most mature fascist state.” They are speaking strictly from a neoliberal lens, where fascism means “totalitarian state with capitalism,” and is ideologically defined in a way that makes fascism distinct from neoliberalism. Whether this convinces you or not is really a question of how one defines fascism— and of what inconvenient parts you are cutting out of the equation. (And just as a reminder, it’s a hard sell that a state is fascist if they have a requirement for all non-international university students to take courses in Marxist theory.)
Ultimately, if people are writing that China is “cracking down on the private sector,” they are trying to reinforce this image of a tyrannical government that brooks no challenge to its authority, while simultaneously pushing the Reaganite message that there is never a single good case in which wealth should be redistributed for the betterment of the masses. The reality is that we have a set of countries that are designed to support the existence and exploitative power of multinational elites, and a set of countries (a mix of left and right) that value sovereignty more and want better for the masses rather than their urban elites. This message is propaganda from the former, attacking the latter.
And just to get the conservative talking point out of the way here, no I am not “jealous of successful people.” I myself am in the top 5% of the US. What happened is that I look around, see how the economy and new development is essentially designed for people like me, and despair because I know that most people up here are here because they are opportunists and that all of the Americans who sacrificed for the betterment of their communities are left holding the bill. Those of us up here with hearts feel trapped because we can tell the system exists to be controlled by the greediest, most sociopathic Americans.
Why does the West media no more report Xinjiang cotton in 2024?
By the time I answer this question on 2024/9/15, US senator Hawley has just questioned Intel CEO Rittener about forced labor (to harvest cotton) in Xinjiang.
Intel CEO replied that he is not an expert on this issue. He was questioned 3 times & he repeated the same answer 3 times.
The “forced labor” narrative has not died yet. Because of psychopath politicians.
If western media has been quiet on the cotton issue, it probably is because China is to limit export of certain type of cotton to the West. The type that can be used to make explosives. Perhaps western media wants to be “nice” to China, hoping China will not implement the cotton ban.
You know gun powder was invented by China about 1000 years ago.
There is no forced labor in Xinjiang. It is a US lie to suppress Chinese development & rise.
Let us use logic: China has made a space station in 2021. China collected moon soil from the back of the moon while USA cannot yet. Is it possible that China cannot make a machine to harvest cotton?
China is the 2nd largest economy in the world. If China does not use machine to harvest cotton fast & make money fast, how does China become rich & powerful? So powerful that USA must cook up lies to demonise China.
Why is China communist? Do people even live good lives?
Most people think China is Communist, not democratic and authoritarian if not dictatorial. But most also know that the people in China live a good live even though per capita GDP is only on par with Mexico and Thailand and below Argentina Malaysia South Korea and Singapore. It GDP is second only to the USA because of high population.
Is China communist? No it is socialist in terms of its relationship with the people. It is capitalist in commerce and it has a Chinese characteristics when it comes to ownership be it tangible property, intellectual or commercial. Government is multiparty although dominantly the ruling CPC. Eight other political parties representing various interest groups including 台盟。There are also multi parties in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The National People’s Congress 人大 has about a third of it seats “reserved” for non party representation.
Democracy is grass root based and leadership is cultivated from these roots and branches of society. Dictatorial? Far from it. Authoritarian? The absence of rule is anarchy which is 混亂 or if you prefer the tongue 乱。
Marriage Is Often a Terrible Deal | Orion Taraban
Very good.
Do pilots have the authority to fly faster if their plane departed late to make up the lost time?
I have a good story about this.
I was on a United flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Los Angeles many years ago.
Many things went wrong with this departure:
- We boarded about half an hour late
- Shortly after boarding, three ground crew in hi-vis boarded, went into the forward galley, opened a hatch in the floor and went downstairs, to emerge about 15 minutes later with a heavy electronics module
- About 15 minutes after that, they came back with another (the same?) module, went back down and made noises for a while, and left without it. I presume, whatever it was, they replaced it with a working one
- There was a disturbance in First Class, and three cops boarded, leaving with a passenger in cuffs
- After the disturbance, the Captain made an announcement that was something like “Well folks, some of you may have noticed we’ve had a little trouble, and we’ve had to deplane a passenger. That means we also have to deplane their luggage, which is going to take a little while longer. But not to worry, we have been sharpening our pencils up here, and we’ve loaded some extra fuel, and we reckon we can still get you to LA on time”
By the time we actually left the gate, it was two and a half hours after schedule.
They definitely had loaded extra fuel, it was a very slow, heavy takeoff, that used almost all of Auckland’s already very long runway. The climbout took ages too, and it sounded like they were using a very high power setting for climb.
Anyway, I had dinner and went to sleep.
I woke up at one point and looked at the airshow. We had flown slightly south-east out of Auckland, in the general direction of Easter Island, off the coast of Chile. We were doing a ground speed of 1386 km/h with a 450 km/h tail wind… ok, they had found a really strong tailwind, and were using that to get us across the Pacific. (That number was so remarkable I still remember it).
I went back to sleep for a while.
Next time I woke we were over Panama, we had flown up the coast of Chile and were crossing over into the Caribbean, heading in the general direction of Puerto Rico. We were at 40,000 ft (12,000 m) and going pretty fast.
I went back to sleep for a while.
Next time I woke we were over New Orleans, at 44,000 ft (13,500 m), it seemed I had woken up because we had made a roughly 90° left turn, and were now heading towards LAX.
From way to the east.
We had a strong, as in 300 km/h, tailwind at that point too.
During breakfast, we climbed to 46,000 ft (14,000 m). Not only could we go really fast up that high, but we also went straight over the top of all the traffic.
Eventually we arrived at the gate at LAX 15 minutes early, having taken a full two hours 45 minutes off the scheduled flight time, and flown, I guess, about a third more miles than the standard route.
Airliner flight crews have to wear their oxygen masks if they are above 40,000 ft (12,000 m); I’m guessing this crew spent about five hours on oxygen.
What Aristotle Knew About Oligarchy That We Forgot
A lesson for all of us quitters!
A student at Columbia University in the United States fell asleep during a mathematics lecture, and then woke up to the sound of the students’ voices. When the lecture ended, he found that the doctor had written two problems on the blackboard. He said to himself, “Sure, homework problems.” He transferred them to his notebook in order to solve them at home.
When he tried, he found that they were very difficult…but he kept trying and trying and going to the library to get references and research until he was able with difficulty to solve only one problem.
In the lecture that followed, he noticed that the doctor did not ask about the assignment!
So the student got up and asked him: “Doctor, why didn’t you ask about the assignment for the previous lecture?”
The doctor said: “Obligatory?… It was not obligatory. Rather, I was presenting to you examples of mathematical problems that science and scientists were unable to solve!”
The student was amazed and said: “But I solved one of them in four papers!”
The solution to the problem was recorded at Columbia University and is known by his name. This issue, with its four papers, is still on display at the university to this day
This student solved the problem for one reason… because he did not hear the doctor say: “No one could find their solution.”
He convinced himself that it had to be solved… so when he tried it without the effects of frustration, he solved it.
Do not listen to those who tell you that you cannot, as happens to the majority of our youth who are saturated with negative energies, especially from some trumpets that want to sow failure and frustration in their souls.
You can achieve your dreams, reach your goal, and overcome all difficulties. Just trust in God, try and repeat the attempts.
Do not despair.👌✍️
#copied
#Edit:
The name of the student was George Dantzig and the problem was from Math Stack Exchange.
“Dantzig showed that in the situation of Student’s t-test, the only way to get a hypothesis test whose power for any given alternative is independent of the standard deviation is to use a silly test which always has an equal probability of rejecting or failing to reject, which is obviously not useful.”
I Was Overweight & Bullied As A Kid, Then Cheated On By My 1st Love…Now I’m Living A Great Life!
What is the worst country you have ever visited?
I actually gave this question a lot of thought. Important disclaimer: I am poor, and that factors in.
I have visited many countries, and two of them stood out in terms of being subjectively the worst for me.
1. France. I visited France twice. My first visit was in 2014 for an exhibition EuroNaval in Paris. I was shocked at the amounts of garbage laying on the streets and even outside the city. My second visit was in 2018 when I had a long connection in Paris and decided to take a walk in the center. It was dirty, with multiple roadblocks, some protests nearby which I just happened to miss, and terrible-terrible street food.
2. Ukraine. I’ve been several times to Ukraine before 2014, including the pre-2014 Crimea. My last visit to Ukraine was in 2007. I was in Karolina Bugaz, a resort as they call it. It was bad in absolutely everything. It basically felt like a proverbial African country. The service and facilities were terrible, everybody was rude and tried to rip you off.
Shorpy
What crimes earn you the most respect in prison?
I have read some of the answers that people are posting and all I can say is that I have a feeling that none of these people have ever stepped foot inside a penitentiary.
I have served years in the Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections, I am not proud of that fact but it bothers me that so many people on social media are authorities on “doing time”. Your crime alone does not earn you any respect in other convicts’ eyes. In fact, you can serve on the same block with someone for years and not know what his crime is. If you are a child molester or sex offender, your crime will be known, but unless you became famous because of the news, your crimes are not usually well known by other convicts. Even if they are it is just a point of reference to know what a person might be capable of in a stressful situation.
A convict’s respect comes from how he walks the yard on a daily basis, how he handles the situations which arise every day in a place where people are kept in cages for most of the time. Being a “killer” out on the street with a gun does not automatically get you any respect. In prison many layers, many facades are stripped away; a person has to survive on character.
The only crime a convict will really respect is crime committed in the defense of your own family. Besides that you will have to earn your respect on a daily basis. (Sorry that I started to get long-winded.)
Will America Remain Number One? – Lee Kuan Yew ft. Singapore-US Relations
Is China a good place to live as a foreigner, and how hard is it to live there?
I have been an expat in China for 11 years. China basically saved my vocational butt. In 2009, I was made redundant after working in the UK for 12 years, thanks to the worldwide financial crisis. Unemployment was so bad that it was impossible to get a job. In a widely publicized case, Costa Coffee opened a new branch in Nottingham and advertised 8 new jobs. 1,701 people applied, some of whom were vastly overqualified former managers. Since coming to China, I’ve not had to worry about unemployment at all.
China is paradise for tourists. It boasts many beautiful mountains, iconic landmarks, cultural events, colorful ethnic minority costumes and exotic foods (yak anyone?). It would take you years to explore all the interesting sights that China has to offer.
The cost of living (outside Tier 1 and 2 cities) is very low and if you’re a teacher like me, you might also get perks like free accommodation and airfare reimbursement. Hop on a bus, pay 1 RMB and you can go as far as you like. When I was single, I spent on average, less than 400 RMB a week.
If you are a homeowner, it gets even better. Whilst working in China, you can rent out your house or apartment and make money from doing so.
The Chinese people are incredibly good hosts. Some schools might invite you to a lavish banquet on arrival to welcome you to their country. You will be given boxes of mooncakes when the Mid-autumn Festival comes every year. A good school will normally also organize trips and excursions for you.
On the other hand, for foreigners in China, culture shock is very real and this is what’s going to make your life in China difficult. One thing I’ve noticed in China is that there is very little support from employers. As a teacher, I was given no training and no induction, I was just handed my timetable and textbooks and left to get on with it. I found that the methods I busted my guts learning don’t work in China. I found it incredulous that university sophomores really don’t know how to think for themselves and rely on their teacher for absolutely everything. (University students in China come to class with no stationery. At the age of 19/20, they still need to be told “Buy an exercise book, bring it to class, write down the material that the teacher shares with you, take photos of the Powerpoint slides with your phone.” before they will do it.) Cheating in exams is widespread in China. Car drivers have no respect whatsoever for zebra crossings. Queue-cutting is rife. People smoke everywhere, which makes life in China somewhat uncomfortable if you’re a non-smoker. In China, who you know matters more than what you know. Foreign teachers are often hired to make a school look good rather than to teach. Job satisfaction can be low.
There are also some practical problems. Firstly, the language barrier. Mandarin is an incredibly difficult language to learn. I’ve got lost on a number of occasions and since I couldn’t say the name of the place where I was staying in China, I couldn’t get a taxi and had to spend 5 – 7 hours wandering around strange cities in the middle of the night before I was able to find my way home. If you need to see a doctor or a dentist, you can’t go by yourself because you need to be very fluent in Chinese to be able to understand a doctor’s diagnosis and advice.
Secondly, internet censorship. China is determined to block virtually all western media and social media sites. That means no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no Google, no YouTube, no Quora etc. China even blocks some email providers e.g. AOL. You can get round this by subscribing to a VPN but China is actively waging a war against all VPNs. I’ve been through 8 VPNS in 11 years.
Thirdly, boredom and loneliness. It can be incredibly hard for a foreigner or westerner to make friends in China. This could be because the Chinese you know are shy or busy or embarrassed to speak in English because they don’t want to lose face by making a mistake. I spend most of my waking hours on the internet. If there was a power outage, an internet outage or if my VPN stopped functioning, I’d be screwed.
Finally, the concept of “giving face”. Your Chinese boss or client might not give you honest feedback about your performance because they don’t want to embarrass you. If a Chinese client or boss is concerned about some aspect of your work, they might tell tales behind your back instead of communicating with you directly. Students rarely if ever ask questions or admit that they don’t understand something. The impulse to always give face at all costs means that teachers are always working “blind” and will never know if their lesson has been understood or not. The notion that a teacher must never be questioned is so strong that students would rather suffer in silence or ask a classmate when they have a problem than to talk to their teacher. And when they still don’t understand, they will complain behind a teacher’s back that his/her class is “too hard”. If the school authorities take that as a sign of incompetence on the part of the teacher, their contract won’t be renewed.
Why are some Chinese people against the U.S.? Have Chinese people been brainwashed by the Chinese government?
Why are some American people against China? Have the American people been brainwashed by the US government?
People in any country are not monolithic in their opinions and worldview. There will always be some people who hold one view, and some people who hold the opposite view.
People, including the Chinese, have good reason to be against the US…
- The US is a warmongering imperialist. It wages endless wars causing massive death and destruction everywhere.
- The US abuses the status of the US Dollar to sanction countries that don’t comply with its foreign policy. These sanctions cause untold human misery in the sanctioned country.
- The US is inviting the possibility of nuclear war with its proxy war in Ukraine.
- The US is risking nuclear war with its military provocations against China.
- The US is smearing China’s reputation with lies about human rights violations and aggression against other countries.
Nurse Dies And Encounters God; What She Is Told Will Shock You (NDE)
What is it that you did once but will never do again?
Having icecream before an important event/exam …..
I was in 6th class….our school has traffic rules exam type thing for 5th class and above ….and the exam papers were same for all standards….
I gave my exam without cheating…. Many other students asked answers to each other which confused them as different students were saying different answers….
The exam was multiple choice questions based
So after we submitted our exams……….. I just went home without worrying about it because there was no chance a 6th grader like me can be in top 3….there were many more seniors who had given this exam multiple times whereas me …It was my first time as they included classes below 8th that year….
After 2–3 days ….
I was called to staff room with 4 more students….I was the youngest…..I didn’t know what it was about….then the teachers handed us the same exam paper to fill ….. and after that the teacher checked them and told us that I scored the highest both times…..first when the whole school gave it and second now ….they made us do the exam again to see if we scored because of cheating or actually knew few answers…..
The teachers were surprised because I got higher than my first time ….and all others got lower than their first time ….
(I discussed the exam paper with my elder sis when we went home and she told me few questions which she was sure were right and I filled them wrong)
Anyway…then the teacher told us we will have to give one more exam on Saturday which is the second level ….and at the third level , we will have a quiz competition with other school’s students who scored in top 3….. and we will get scholarship money if we win and if not then just participation money ….
I was really happy and told this to my mom and dad…..dad bought me icecream to celebrate my little win…..
I got high fever next day 🙂……
Well it might not be the ice cream fault but it was slight cold weather and having icecream might have given me a bad cold ….
As a result I got absent for two weeks…..
I told mom that I wanted to participate in the competition but mom refused because I had really high fever……
Later I found out they sent my class topper girl aka my benchmate instead of my place though she didn’t know much and scored low in the second level but thanks to other team members scores they passed…..
When the third level quiz was about to begin ….I got better and asked the teachers if I can continue to third level as it was me who cleared the first level ….
But there was this weird system in our school where they favoured particular students….and my benchmate was favoured a lot as she always got highest marks and had really good handwriting…. whereas me ….I either got first position with her or second ……but idk why teachers didn’t favour me much back then …..(I was favoured afterwards because of my participation in extracurricular activities and winning other awards…. typical teachers…always favouring the one who brings them pride )…..
Anyway then I witnessed the third level quiz in front of my eyes and watching our school team getting the easiest questions wrong…..
They didn’t win….
But yeah after that, I never had icecream before an important exam …..
Why are there so many Chinese “people” illegally coming into the USA? Is it that bad in China?
So many??? It’s less than 40,000. That’s a tiny, tiny percentage of China’s 1.4 billion population.
It isn’t bad. It has ZERO impact on China.
There are many reasons why they might come into the US illegally. For example, they might be running away from a bad personal situation. They might believe that the grass is greener on the other side. Who knows.
Objectively speaking, China is a better place to live than the USA…
- the cost of living is generally lower—low inflation, greater purchasing power
- the cities are clean, safe and modern (cf. Shanghai with NYC, for example)
- fabulous infrastructure (subways, high-speed trains, bridges, airports, etc.)
- good and affordable healthcare
- no homelessness
- no gun violence
- no drug addiction
- no mass incarceration
- no systemic racism (“I can’t breathe”)
- increasing life expectancy
The grass is NOT greener in America.
DEBATE: Will China or the USA COLLAPSE first?
Actually, this is a really, really great discussion.
What are some of the unwritten rules of China?
- When a man asks a girl out, man should pay the bills.
- When you see senior people standing on public transportation vehicles, you should give out your seat.
- In northern China, if you ask your friend to join dinner/lunch with you, you should pay the bill. And they should return you the favor at next time you guys eat together.
- Girls don’t wear clothes which can not cover their cleavages no matter how hot the weather is. A moderate dress in formal senario is ok.
- Don’t be obsessed with your private space. China is very crowded.
- It is ok to negotiate with government officials when you make mistakes, police officers won’t cuff you nor shoot you.
- Don’t be sensitive about racial PC. Chinese are very PInC, but they will never make it a real action, even an eye-rolling.
- Don’t criticize the government if you don’t know the people you are talking to very well. Very few Chinese people distinguish people/country/government.
Seventeen Minutes
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story where time functions differently to our world.… view prompt
Hannah Lynn
In the two minute walk to her car, she planned her day and mentally made her checklist. Sitting in the seat she turned the key in the ignition. Checking her dashboard, she was glad to have gotten gas on the way home the night before. One less thing to worry about. Then she saw it.
What the actual fuck.
Her dashboard clock matched the time of all the clocks in her house, showing she had seventeen minutes before it was time to leave. She felt the blood drain from her face, felt her heart start to race, felt tingling in her fingertips. She was losing her mind. She had to be. There was no other explanation for this.
What should she do? Go to work? Pray this wrinkle in time straightens out while she makes the commute? Pretend nothing is wrong as she greets her coworkers? Hi, how are you? Great, you? Never better.
She pulled out of the apartment parking lot turning on the blinker by sheer habit. It was always a nightmare to merge into traffic every morning, the cars speeding out of control. Why was everyone in a rush? They couldn’t wait to get to work? Not this morning. No cars on the road. None. She stopped in the middle of the highway and put her car in park.
Should she call someone? Who would she call and for what reason? To ask for help? Maybe. She reached for her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts. How would she explain this SOS call? She stopped scrolling at her college roommate’s name. They hadn’t seen each other since graduation, but she was the type of friend she could call out of the blue. They had busted each other’s chops all the time in school, teasing each other good naturedly. She would be the perfect person to reach out to. Maybe test the water to see if this was mass hysteria or her own madness she had slipped into. Yes, she decided, she should call her.
Straight to voicemail. Of course. Why would anything go smoothly right now? “Hey it’s me. I’ve entered another dimension and need you. Call me back.” She laughed. That was a typical random message she would have left back in the day. She waited breathlessly for the return call. After a while she restarted her car for no apparent reason since the world seemed to cease and desist.
The phone would ring any minute, she reassured herself. In fact, they would have the biggest laugh over this. Maybe, just maybe, this was a carefully rigged plan by her friend. Was it possible she was in town unexpectedly and set up this elaborate prank? Yes, it’s possible. It makes sense actually. Sneaking into her apartment, messing with the clocks, she could picture that. Remembering when they lived together she had given her a spare key on the off chance there was some kind of emergency back home. She began to relax. The puzzle pieces were falling into place. Great prank. She got her good. The wheels started turning on how she would return the favor with something outrageous, something to top this.
She was starting to feel excited about getting to work to put this whole ordeal behind her. Pulling into the parking lot she gasped. No cars in the lot. No lights shining through the windows. She felt tears spring to her eyes unexpectedly and with a flash of annoyance she brushed them aside roughly. Forget this. I’m done. She drove at top speed all the way back to her apartment, let herself in and threw her bags on the couch. She didn’t want to, felt sick at the thought, dreaded the outcome but had to do it. She checked the clock. It hadn’t changed. Not at all. Still seventeen minutes before she was due to leave for work.
I’m ill. I’m obviously ill. Nervous breakdown maybe. Work has been stressful. Personal life overly dramatic. She snapped. Finally snapped.
Going into the bedroom she got under her blankets and closed her eyes. She would sleep it off. Maybe she has a fever. Maybe she needs the hospital. Maybe she needs a drink.
She fell asleep.
***
Sitting at her desk on Friday she felt groggy, slightly disoriented. She yawned for the millionth time trying to shake the cobwebs out of her head. Were these extra shifts worth it? Yet another clopen, the exhausting close, open of the endless shifts that seemed to blur together in her mind. Her paycheck reflected her hours of extra work but then again so did her mental health. She was shot.
A weird sensation floated through her, kind of like a déjà vu but not quite. She couldn’t put her finger on it. She felt anxious to wrap up the day and finally enjoy some time off. Although having no plans for the weekend, it would be a wonderful break in the routine. Freedom and time off were what she was desperately craving. Again that weird feeling came over her giving her slight chills. What was her problem? She checked the time, twenty minutes until quitting time. She can do that. No problem. Her mind wandered to getting home to her apartment, warming up the leftovers to enjoy on the couch while finally watching that new Netflix series she was excited about. Weird, she didn’t remember seeing that bag of leftovers that morning when she packed her lunch. It had to be there, she reassured herself. Food doesn’t just disappear. She smiled to herself in anticipation of the meal. Maybe she would indulge in a glass of wine with her dinner. Why not. She earned it.
Glancing back at the clock she was already packing her bag to go. Eighteen minutes. One more minute she thought with a panic, confusion. One more minute until seventeen minutes. She was nauseous, sweating. Closing her eyes, she hoped no one would glance in her direction. Seventeen minutes, seventeen minutes. Stop it, she reprimanded herself silently. You are losing your mind. Get a grip and get out of here for some R and R. That’s the only goal right now. Breathe in, five, four, three, two, one. Breathe out, five, four, three, two, one. Breathe in, five, four, three, two, one. Breathe out, five, four, three, two, one. The terror passed. She opened her eyes, glancing at the clock with fear. Sixteen minutes. She felt better.
Driving home from work she cursed the traffic. Why was it always so congested on this highway? Whatever. Turning up the music she sang along, belting out the lyrics knowing she was horribly off key, didn’t know half the words but didn’t care. Life was good, she felt great, not a care in the world. She smiled.
The buzzing of her cell phone came through the dashboard interrupting her singalong. She smiled when she recognized the number of her old college roommate. It had been way too long, she realized, since one of their hilarious conversations. Pressing the button on her steering wheel she called out “Hey there girl. Good timing. I’m just driving home and ready to start the weekend.”
“So, you’re back?”
“Back? Back from where?”
“The other dimension. That was great, still don’t know how you did it. Those special effects, that weird background noise. It was so creepy you actually gave me goosebumps.”
Fried Liver and Onions
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bacon
- 1 pound onions, sliced
- 1 pound baby beef liver
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200 degrees F.
- Fry bacon and drain, reserving bacon grease. Keep bacon warm in oven.
- Return 2 tablespoons bacon grease to same skillet, and over medium-high heat, saute onions until translucent; add more bacon grease 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed. Remove onions to oven to keep warm.
- Return remaining bacon grease to skillet. Coat liver in flour, and sear in skillet over medium-high heat, watching carefully. As soon as liquid seeps to top of meat, turn and cook 2 minutes on other side. Remove meat to oven to keep warm.
- Sprinkle remaining flour into hot skillet, and stir constantly until flour begins to brown, then add broth. Boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat and simmer 1 minute longer.
- Pour gravy over liver and onions, and sprinkle crumbled bacon on top or lay strips of bacon on top.
John Mearsheimer and Jeffrey Sachs | All-In Summit 2024
What is the most disturbing thing you’ve seen while camping?
On the disturbing side, a friend of mine went camping with his girlfriend. They set up their campsite just a short walk from a river.
Two canoes pulled in on the bank of the river in the late afternoon. The four guys from the canoes wove their way among the trees as they approached the campsite. My friend asked his lady to please bring his backpack to him. He was digging through it when the four gentlemen arrived, sounding friendly enough.
One of them told him that his girlfriend was pretty and that the four of them would like to share her company among themselves, but if he was good and just walked away, they wouldn’t hurt him. To emphasize a point, they drew knives and one picked up a rock.
Shortly thereafter, they discovered that he had been holding a .357 revolver inside the pack. A different friend had offered it to him before the trip and he decided to take it with him. He hadn’t intended for his girlfriend to even know it was there, but under the circumstances, it seemed appropriate for her to know.
One of the gentlemen had the clarity of mind to suggest that the gun wasn’t real and that he should fire a shot to prove it was. His response was to offer to sink one of their canoes, but they declined his offer to avoid the expense of repairing it, they said by way of rejection.
My friend told his girlfriend that there was another gun inside the pack for her, but not to bring it out unless she was going to use it immediately.
They subsequently offered to return to their canoes and continue their journey and heard no arguments from the couple.
As soon as they were gone, she told him she couldn’t find another gun in the pack. He told her she wouldn’t because there wasn’t one, but it seemed to slow the gentlemen down after they began moving as if to position themselves more advantageously.
They packed up the campsite and moved upriver to a more populated site where they would spend the night with other campers around them.
When they stopped at the ranger station to inform them about what they’d experienced, the ranger told them that it was not as unusual an event as most people would expect it to be. That was the most disturbing part of the story she told me.
The Ruler of the Moon
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story about a character who wakes up in space.… view prompt
Patricia Restrepo
At 22, she was gently woken by the moon. It led her home. Her bedroom light was still on, and her bed was neatly made. The bookcase was intact, filled with rows of her favorite books and her RCA record player that her grandfather gave her still worked. She played, Fly Me To The Moon. In the corner of her room, she noticed her white astronaut suit she got on her ninth birthday. It is full of stains and memories. She tried to settle.
For a while, she dreamt again of the moon – the highlands and its dormant volcanoes and each night she hid in a different crater with her dreams. Her days were spent visiting planetariums and devouring facts on physical environments and the Earth’s relationship with the moon. The praises about her above-average grades and “you are doing so well now,” always made her shrug and she dismissed them with disgust. The smiles offered to her were terrifying as she presumed they were fake, and she felt a chill each time she was approached by a hand wanting to tap her head in approval. This did not suit her well. She saw everyone around her trying to sabotage her journey and she knew their actions were suspicious.
She ran, barefooted, into the woods. She felt the mud underneath her toes and liked how it was real. The sun shining in through the trees that did not ask for anything but provide shade and allow her to breathe – gave her the most comfort during this time. One of her favorite parts of the day was welcoming the sunrise which brought promises and cleansed her body and mind.
For decades, she mostly walked alone but strangers still dragged her out. They pulled her and filled her head with psychedelic colors and pretty songs. She believed their words and intentions and briefly felt happiness. But the light of the moon usually revealed the ugly truth, and she would run – always looking back.
Now at 48, she glances at the sky timidly but still defiant. With her hands in her pocket and her neck bent back, she challenges her once again knowing she can deliver devastating blows. She no longer feels the excitement, but it is what she knows so off she goes in the opposite direction – into the darkness of the night.
“Luna, I knew you would make it to the moon. You were born in 1976 and you were destined to reach…”
She ran out and slammed the door leaving trapped all the words she always heard her father say. She imagined them floating above his head – bumping into each other with nowhere to go.
And now, for a split second, she knows she is there – her beloved moon is finally her home. She settles and the lights go out.
The car
Back in late summer of 1975 I was beginning senior year in high school. At the time, I played ice hockey with a group of older guys, most of whom were in the pagans gang. To me, they were nice guys. Anyway, one of them who lived near me had a 442 just like the one in the picture. I admired it every day when I walked home from school. When I asked him about it, he said it was for sale. I asked how much and he answered “two “. I didn’t have $2,000 and told him so. “No, $200” he answered. I ran into my house and grabbed $200 from my paper route money and gave it to him in exchange for the title. “Now, if doesn’t run “ he told me. No problem. It looked like a fighter jet just sitting there, and it was MINE. Had it towed to a garage where a friend worked. Turns out the negative cable from the battery was corroded. He cleaned it and she fired right up. Drove it home that afternoon. He came out, looked at the car and said “ cost a lot to get it running “? I had to stop myself from saying “No!! Didn’t cost me a penny!” Just in time, I looked down and said (truthfully) I didn’t expect it to cost what it did”. You don’t tell a Peagan that you got a steal buying his car. That car instantly made me a somebody at school…. and I went to Tina Fey’s high school. The one she wrote Bad Girls about. Long before her, but things were the same. Loved that car!!
What convinced you there is life after death?
My friend Amy was a single mom. She and her daughter Carol, had just spent time at the beach and were headed home.
They didn’t make it.
There was a terrible car accident and Amy died.
Carol was in the hospital in the pediatric unit and was refusing to eat.
Time went by and nothing anyone said or did would change this little girl’s mind.
When asked why she wouldn’t eat, she just shook her head and her eyes would well up with tears. She never spoke.
She hadn’t spoken a word since the accident.
Then one morning a nurse came in and Carol’s disposition had changed. She was sitting upright and the first thing she said was, “I am hungry. I can eat now.”
The nurse gently inquired what changed her mind.
Carol replied,
“My Mom just came to see me. She sat on the edge of my bed and told me it was okay. She said the accident wasn't my fault. I told her I was sorry for being hungry that day. If I hadn't been hungry we would have stayed at the beach longer and then the accident wouldn't have happened.”
The nurse quietly asked,
“What did your Mom say when you told her how sorry you were?”
Carol replied, “
My Mom said it wasn't my fault. It was okay.for me to be hungry.and that I need to start eating again.”
Both the nurse and Carol.shared this story several times throughout the day. The nurse shared it with the hospital staff, and Carol shared it with her Dad’s grandmother.
I was away when the accident happened. When I heard the story, I thought about my friend Amy.
I never doubted the truth of it.
Amy was the Mom who would make any sacrifice for her child. She would go to any length to help her. In my world, this included making a needful appearance in between worlds.
In this instance it meant, coming back to this physical plane just long enough to remind Carol, it’s okay to be hungry.
It is time to start eating again.