My father had a fishing tackle box. And when I was a small boy (in elementary school) I would often enough raid the box, steal a few lures, and bobbins and then take a pole and go off fishing in the river.
I was a terrible fisher-boy.
I couldn’t catch anything. And when my sisters and brother came with me, they couldn’t either.
Well, it’s probably for the best. After all, the Allegheny river (in the 1960s and 1970s) was so polluted that it made the Love Canal look like a pristine oasis.
Anyways, it was a nice time to go out. And we would often walk down the railroad tracks to a large boulder at the side of the river, cast our lines and try to fish. And when we came home our mother would ask “Did you catch anything?” and we would say “Nah.” and then go and watch cartoons on the television set.
I suppose that if my father took the time, or an older uncle, we would have become expert trout fishermen.
But it was a different time and a different place. And at that time and place, parents expected you to learn things by osmosis. Not by mentorship.
Sigh.
Today…
Why don’t other countries buy USA-made cars?
I live in Southeast Asia.
I bought an American car 10 years ago. It’s an American brand but manufactured and made in the Philippines.
It was a sturdy car. It collided with a BMW belonging to my senior at uni in a car park. My car didn’t have a dent but the BMW had to be sent to a garage. However I sold it off when petrol prices in my country jumped from USD0.35 per litre to USD0.45 per litre.
In my part of the world everyday cars that comes from the US are not manufactured or assembled in the US mainland itself but rather in factories located in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
The only car brands that come straight from the US are the stylish and expensive ones. Very few people buy them. In my district for example there is a trend among younger online shop millionaires who buy cars like Mustang and Hammer. Even then they only drive them once a while because they gulp too much gas.
There was a trend to buy Tesla EV cars after it opened its first sales office in my country in 2023. However it didn’t last long. A year later a deluge of cheap Chinese made EVs came into the picture. In 2024 the first local made EVs in collaboration with Geely, another Chinese company came into the market. It is sold at 1/2 the price of the cheapest Tesla models. EVs are still at the preliminary stage of evolution. People are still not convinced that they are viable in the long run. To be safe they experiment by purchasing the cheapest models first which are of course the China brands. Tesla dropped to 4th or 5th position on the list.
Joint venture EV SUV between a local car company and Geely a Chinese company. Selling price = US25k
There are reasons as to why we don’t buy American made cars:-
- The USD is too strong compared to the local currency in Southeast Asia except for Singapore and Brunei. The cars are just too expensive. Even if people can afford it they are too big and too imposing for Asian roads. It takes double the effort to do side parking in narrow Asian parking lots;
- US companies are too secretive. They don’t like to share technology with local partners. In my country Korean, Japanese and Chinese collaborate with local firms to design and manufacture locally inspired cars targeted for local consumers. US companies are not as nimble or flexible as Asian car makers; and
- US car makers have this superiority complex issue where they believe that their cars are the best. When that happens they forget that users in different parts of the world have different tastes and needs. There’s no reason for people outside the US to buy US made cars which are specifically made to cater for American drivers but not for the rest of the world
How I Found In Other Countries, What We Lost In America.
What actions can the international community take to protect Hong Kong’s autonomy?
F### off and leave us alone. The “international community” has the curse of reverse-Midas.
Everything their restless hands touch turns to shit, no matter how golden it started. We Hong Kongers are tired and it would be best for them to let us piece things together naturally, without any western “aid”.
Remember that the noun phrase “international community” is simply a vague slogan to put pressure on foreign governments when suspected human rights violations occur, not some cartoonishly powerful mafia organization with extrajudicial powers. Certainly, it is not their right to criticise our “lack of autonomy”.
What even is Hong Kong’s autonomy? Hong Kong has been a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China since 1997. Its legal and geographical status denotes a high degree of autonomy, meaning relative freedom from outsider influence, including both the Chinese central government AND the “international community”.
Before 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony; before 1999, Macau S.A.R. was a Portuguese colony. Where was the international community? Why didn’t they take action to protect the autonomies of us indigenous southern Chinese? Isn’t being occupied by a foreign force and used for resource extraction the most blatant violation of autonomy? Why this selective silence?
How about the preposterous link between “human rights” and “autonomy” that has been circulated around since 2014? The Hong Kong opposition, with its supposed foreign backing, grew over-confident and tried to launch an armed multi-front takeover. When the police defended themselves by systematically grinding them down and clearing the streets, was it really the government’s fault?
Every single intervention by the “international community” has ended in dismal failure and a dramatic decline in living standards. Every single one of them. Why would we be expected to spread our legs and cuck ourselves in front of foreign intervention? Why? Why? Why? (There is also a good song by Chinese-Korean rapper Jackson Wang called “why why why”. Just a coincidence)
Lastly, what action can they take? Shout at us? We’ll argue our case at the United Nations until everything is cleared. Sanctions? We’ll respond by banning your nationals from our airspace and sea; cutting off trade with you and delisting your firms from our stock market. Regime change? Good luck with that. Our guns are bigger and our citizens are all politically conservative.
What happens when someone drinks after being sober for years?
I was sober 11 years. 100%, no drugs, no alcohol. I was diagnosed as bipolar around the time I quit drinking. At the 11 year mark, I began to question my bipolar diagnosis. All I really felt was depression. I talked the doctor into putting me on SSRI’s.
It literally took 3 days. I bought a pint of vodka and sone bloody Mary mix. I drank all of it in one clip. Then ran out to get another bottle before the store closed. Woke up very hungover (my tolerance was gone from 11 years sober). I drank the little bit of vodka I had left, took a nap, and then bought more. Off to the races, again. 11 years sober, 3 days to become a raging alcoholic again.
I learned my lesson. Sober again for 5 years, but I am every bit as alcoholic as ever. I take a drink, all the guilt and shame hits, the depression, the craving, all of it. I cannot drink like “normal” people. I haven’t drank like a normal person ever. I started as a teenager, but finally was full blown addicted by anout 24. In rehab at 30. Drunk again at 41.
This is my experience as a true recovering alcoholic. My fiance will go years between maybe having a glass of champagne at new years. She can do it rarely and responsibly. I take a sip, and a monster wakes up.
Americans On Rednote Breakdown In Tears Realizing Life In America Has No Future!
What was the moment you realized your significant other didn’t care about you at all anymore?
I had been undergoing tests for cancer, and despite asking for support from my husband when attending hospital for the tests he refused to come with me and I attended them all alone. The day I was to get all my results the hospital letter said I was to bring someone with me, so, again I asked him to come and eventually, very reluctantly, he agreed.
When I was called in to see the doctor, I walked into the doctor’s room to discover my husband had stayed in the waiting room and sent me in to get my results alone. After getting my results I went back to the waiting room to get my husband to leave the hospital. I said nothing, as I wanted to know how long it would take him to ask me what the results were. 8 hours later he still hadn’t asked so I told him the results. (Thankfully it was not cancer!) That was a defining moment for me in my marriage, and within 4 months the marriage was over, a choice I have not regretted once!
Apple Raisin Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Prep: 20 min | Cook: 25 min | Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups College Inn® Chicken Broth 99% Fat Free
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix
- 1/3 cup apples chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins seedless
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon tarragon leaf
Instructions
- In a saucepan, over medium high heat, heat 1/3 cup chicken broth and 2 tablespoons butter until butter melts.
- Stir in stuffing mix, apple and raisins.
- With meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten chicken breasts to about 1/4 inch.
- Place 1/4 of stuffing mixture on each breast half; roll, enclosing stuffing.
- Secure with wooden picks.
- In skillet, over medium-high heat, melt remaining butter.
- Brown chicken on all sides; remove.
- Blend flour and tarragon into butter in skillet.
- Gradually add remaining broth, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils.
- Return chicken to skillet; reduce heat.
- Cover; simmer 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Nutrition
Per serving: Calories: 520 Total Fat: 22g Cholesterol: 131mg Sodium: 1327mg Total Carbohydrates: 41g Protein: 39g
Attribution
Recipe and photo used with permission from: Del Monte
Constitutional Crisis: Who Is Musk’s “DOGE Army,” Gutting Gov’t Agencies Despite Legal Questions?
How long can a marriage survive after a long-term affair?
I can’t forgive any man or woman who cheats on his wife or husband and has a long term affair
Thats unforgivable
I can recommend forgiveness only under 3 Circumstances :-
- The Cheating partner had Amnesia during the cheating – certified by a highly reputed and accomplished doctor chosen by the other party (The non cheating partner)
- The Cheating partner worked with RAW or IB and the affair was part of his cover – if certified by Government Official with proper identification
- The Cheating partner was fully or medically blind and the “Other person” deceived him , pretending to be his or her partner in marriage
(For those who don’t know what Medical Blindness is – Please watch IDENTITY)
Long term affair is EMOTIONAL CHEATING
No forgiveness, Full brunt of 498 A if it’s a woman who was cheated and Full humiliation of the woman if it’s a man who was cheated
What is forgivable
A One Night Stand or a Two night stand with a Hooker or a Colleague – ONCE can be forgiven but entirely upto the deceived spouse
I believe this could be put down to sexual desires rather than emotionally falling for another woman or man
How can a marriage survive a long term affair?
You need a partner who is willing to forgive everything and that’s a big ask
Today’s Leelavathis are not the same as they were in 1995
I doubt you have too many Rajas either
Will China become the partner of choice around the world as the United States erodes its standing and global security?
China is at the centre driving the global economic development. Europe is beset with problems and inertia. US is completely unpredictable, or more accurately, unreliable.
China is the natural partner in trade. It treats every country with respect and in equality. This is also the fundamental logic of its position as the world’s top trader, the manufacturing hub, the international supply chain, and it has the huge and growing market. It is also the natural partner for investments. BRI is the standing testimony of this.
A McKinsey report said in 2024, ASEAN-10 overtook EU-30 to become China’s largest trading partner region. Here are some trade numbers from various sources.
China-ASEAN trade +7.2% in the 10 months of 2024 to $798 billion, 3.5% points higher than the overall growth of its foreign trade. China-BRI trade +13.3% in 2024 to 22.1 trillion yuan ($3.1 trillion), accounted for about 1/2 its total foreign trade. China-Africa trade in 2023 was $282 billion, it remained the lead trade partner for 15 consecutive years. China-Latin America trade in 2023 was $489 billion, about 8% of China’s foreign trade. This was slightly lower than China-US trade of $575 billion.
Beijing was host to many major trade and investment events, including BRI Forum, China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, Forum on China-African Cooperation, and the “1+10” Dialogue. A landmark policy it introduced in 2024 grants full tariff exemptions for all product lines from over 40 least developed countries, including 33 in Africa.
This is the trend of the economic relationship between China and the developing countries. It is in the natural order of things, no inducement nor induction. It is independent of the US. However, US actions have convinced the countries that they are on the right path and would push it forward.
US lost its moral compass in its unlimited support of Israel.
Its threats of Panama and the forced repatriation in hand-cuffs of the so-called illegal immigrants are an affront to international laws and decent human behaviour.
Its threats of tariffs and sanctions show its unpredictability and unreliability. Countries are less susceptible to its bully than they once were.
The uproar in the US over DeepSeek, especially the call by the law makers, to ban it shows the depth of its negativism and helplessness.
US has disqualified itself as a world leader.
The King of the Sky
Submitted into Contest #210 in response to: Write a story about a character who is trying to share groundbreaking news, but isn’t being taken seriously.… view prompt
Jack Gorzo
The grant she’d been given a year ago to research dual-star systems was running out, so she stayed at the observatory late that night. If she didn’t have something to show the university board, her whole career could veer off like an orbit-less comet. The part of the sky she pointed the telescope at included a binary system she’d nicknamed Colin after her dog. Many nights were spent with the stellar Colin rather than the furry one, trying to unlock the secrets of its gravitational pull. That particular night, she was exhausted. The equations she needed to work weren’t working. It seemed like her dream career had come to an early end. Then the face appeared.
Kaelyn left the room and splashed herself with drinking fountain water. As the water dripped off her brown skin, she thought about what she saw. Like any rational person, she was convinced what she saw wasn’t real. Sometimes the power of perspective makes cosmic matter appear in shapes familiar to humans, but this was too uncanny. It didn’t look kind of like a face. It was a face, and it was still a face when she returned to her desk. Not knowing how to handle this discovery, Kaelyn did what she did best: math. Based on her calculations, the face was 98.2 billion kilometers wide and 130.6 billion kilometers tall. That would make it a third the size of the solar system. She couldn’t help but feel like a mite staring at the gaping mouth of a king. The true king of the universe.
She refreshed the telescope’s image, hoping to get more detail, and the face was gone. Its afterimages still hung on her retinas as if they had been burned into her eyes. The disappearance of the face was more distressing than its appearance. Kaelyn questioned her sanity, but looking at the saved images revealed the horrible grin again. She knew that nothing should be able to move that fast or at least nothing she knew yet. Up until that point, the empty void of space had been calming. But the seas look empty too, yet there are predators within. Suffice it to say, she avoided looking up on the walk to her car.
Three frowning, wrinkled faces stared at Kaelyn from the other end of a long wooden table. She stood in front of a screen with the face projected onto it. To avoid looking it in the eyes, she angled herself acutely to its horrible glare. One of the board members, a button-shaped woman named Pam, squinted at the projection. She pulled her thick-rimmed glasses closer to her face and leaned forward.
“Can you make it bigger, dear?” Pam asked.
Kaelyn took in a gulp of breath, peered down at the tablet controlling the projector, and enlarged the image with a flick of her fingers. For some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t breathe while looking at the face. As if she were staring a dominant predator in the eye. Pam’s expression didn’t change as she stared at the face which now took up the whole screen. The man to her left, an ancient professor named Harold, finally spoke up.
“Ok, I’ll bite. What is this supposed to be, Miss Valin?” He asked.
Kaelyn forced herself to look at the image behind her. Framed in the box was a perfectly visible human face made of star matter. She unfocused her eyes, trying to see what it might look like from far away, but it was still clearly a face.
“It’s a face,” she said, timidly.
“It is?” said Pam, once again squinting at the screen.
“All I see is an amateurish image of the night sky. There’s no face.” Harold chimed in.
“Are you ok, honey?” Asked Pam. “Have you been working yourself too hard? We can give you an extension on the project if you really need it.”
Kaelyn looked back and forth from the board members to the image. How could they not see a face? She walked all the way back to their end of the table and still she saw it. Even when she squatted at their level, it was still there. She asked them all to come closer, but their perception didn’t change. To them, there was nothing in the image except stars and dust.
The hurry with which Kaelyn left the room, stunned the board. Pam immediately placed a call to one of the school’s counselors. A sea of students flowed through the hall just outside the conference room. Kaelyn grabbed one of them and shoved the tablet in front of her. She couldn’t see a face. A group of men around the corner couldn’t see one either. A few more tries later and she’d lost all hope. She kept glancing at the screen hoping that she would share in the experience of those around her. The screen reflected her face like a mirror and overlayed her visage onto the cosmic one. Its red stellar eyes lined up perfectly with her pupils giving them a fiery glow. She felt a strange urge to bend her mouth into the gaping smile on the screen but resisted.
A horrifying thought was born into her mind. The stars, planets, and gases seen in the night sky are much older than they appear. Light requires time to travel through space so when it hits a telescope or someone’s eye the thing it reflected off is potentially millions of years older. When people look into the sky all they can see is the past, the present is a mystery. Kaelyn knew this better than most, but she hadn’t considered what it meant for the face. The image she’d seen of it was from millennia in the past. The way it disappeared showed that it was faster than anything humanity had ever encountered. A bug of horror ran up her spine. The face could already be on top of them. But it wasn’t coming for them. It was only coming for her.
What Rina, the university counselor, found in Kaelyn’s room a month later made her question her career choices. Rina was a pro. She was tall and wore her graying hair with pride. More than anything, she was good at her job. At least that’s what she thought before she met Kaelyn. After Pam called, Rina immediately reached out to no avail. She attempted to call every few days but never heard back. Eventually, she grew genuinely worried and made a trip to Kaelyn’s on-campus apartment after work. Even outside the door, something felt wrong.
The fact that Kaelyn’s door wasn’t locked showed Rina that the astronomer was no longer concerned with human predation. The room she entered smelled viciously of ammonia that stung her nostrils. Light only entered through the door Rina had opened and the cracks between boards Kaelyn had nailed to her windows. Otherwise, it was dark. Someone had spotted a woman tossing furniture into the dumpster behind the dorms, now Rina knew who that woman was. The apartment was completely bare except for a huddled figure in the corner.
Rina approached her, cautiously.
“Hello. Are you Kaelyn?” She asked. “I’ve been trying to reach you. There are some people who are very worried about you, honey.”
“Light…Light is the key…” Kaelyn whispered. “If there’s no light, he can’t see me.”
Rina squatted to put herself on the same level as Kaelyn. She could only barely make her out against the walls.
“Who are you hiding from, Kaelyn?” she asked.
Kaelyn didn’t answer, but her breathing audibly quickened.
“Who are you hiding from?” Rina repeated. “It’s ok. You can tell me.”
A shift in the shadows. Kaelyn turned toward the wall. She didn’t want to speak about him to anyone, so she spat her words at concrete.
“There’s nothing you can do about him,” she said. “He’s everything. He only showed himself to me because he knew I was looking. He wanted me to know because he knew no one would believe me.”
Rina noted that Kaelyn spoke as if she was in great pain. Whether this was emotional or physical was unapparent. She had been briefed on what the young woman was talking about. It seemed like an average psychotic break. She’d looked at the image herself and saw no face, but whatever Kaelyn saw had clearly done a number on her.
“He needed a physical form, and he chose me,” she said with more confidence than any of her previous words.
“I don’t understand,” said Rina, cautiously.
The shadow of Kaelyn’s arm stretched to a light switch just above her head. White overtook Rina’s vision for a moment and later she wished that she had remained blind. Before her was not the 26-year-old astronomer with big brown eyes and a round face, it was a monster. Large chunks of Kaelyn’s cheeks had been sliced off making her mouth look like it stretched from ear to ear. Half of her nose was gone, leaving a bloody lump in the center of her face. She had attempted to scalp herself but stopped about halfway. A thick slice of skin and hair hung just over her shoulder. What stuck with Rina the most, however, were her eyes. The eyelids and brows were crudely removed. The gooey orbs seemed to stick out several centimeters farther than the rest of Kaelyn’s face. With every movement, they shook like good China on a high shelf.
“He’s too big for our world, so he made me him,” were the last words Kaelyn whispered before passing out.
Rina wanted to help her immediately but couldn’t fight the urge to vomit. Once her heaving ceased, she sprung to action, calling the police, and getting Kaelyn upright. Paramedics arrived quickly and she was taken away on a stretch board. Rina followed them to the ambulance, but Kaelyn didn’t make it inside the vehicle. The EMTs provided CPR but it was no use. Something had already consumed Kaelyn’s heart. Something far more weird and powerful than anyone else had ever known.
A blanket was laid over the young astronomer’s face as she was lifted into the ambulance. Rina knew that she would have to call Kaelyn’s next of kin, but she needed a second for herself first. This was easily the most emotionally exhausting moment of her entire career. A cold, wooden bench caught her as she fell into it. She craned her head back and stared at the sky. There was so much light in this part of the world, that she rarely saw stars dotting the black void. That night was no different, but there was something strange that kept her focus. The blackness of the night sky seemed to curve into a sharp smile. Part of Rina didn’t believe that it was really there, but part of her knew that it was.
Can you describe a time that your company only discovered that you were irreplaceable after they fired you? How did you feel? What did they do?
I wasn’t fired. I learned that another secretary had been hired to do a fifth of my normal duties at twice my pay. First I asked for a reasonable raise, but I was turned down – so I quit, giving them two weeks notice. They didn’t actually believe that I was leaving.
I worked for one week and repeatedly suggested that they needed to assign someone to perform my duties so I could train that person. It never happened. Then I took the week of vacation that I was due, during which I started my new job.
The second Monday on my new job, the old company realized that I was the only one who knew how to do all that was involved in getting the field engineers’ timecards and expense reports done so they would be paid that coming Friday. This was way before cell phones were common (around 1986), and I didn’t tell them where my new job was. When I got home Monday there were multiple strident messages on my answering machine asking why I wasn’t present to handle the timecards.
I called them and, wonder of wonders, my boss was still there at 6 p.m., trying to figure out how to handle the time cards. He offered me more money. I explained that I was already getting more money (and better benefits) at my new job. He didn’t have any budget for consulting fees and I wasn’t willing to go back to do what needed to be done for free. I have no idea how they got the time cards and expense reports done, but it was officially Not My Problem at that point.
Pepe Escobar: SURPRISING Truth About BRICS and Global Affairs
Shorpy
In terms of per capita GDP, Mexico and Argentina rank higher than China, but why do I think China’s per capita living standard is obviously better than these two countries? Am I wrong?
Honestly, I don’t really understand it myself.
I once saw a video on YouTube by a Chinese guy who runs a Hardware Industry market in Argentina, sharing his local experiences. One episode really shocked me—he went shopping at a supermarket, and the prices were just outrageously high! Especially for light industrial goods like toilet paper, shampoo, and stuff like that. In China, these things are super cheap.
What stuck with me was that he had this stunningly beautiful assistant. A woman like that, in China, would never work as a secretary for a small business owner like him…
From this, I’d guess that Argentina’s economy, in reality, might not be as good as China’s.
Here’s a webpage about prices in Beijing.
(You might notice that this webpage is very unattractive, which is a characteristic of China. Websites of government agencies or state-owned entities are generally quite poor. But they are trustworthy. For example, with hospitals, if a hospital’s website looks particularly outdated, with headlines like “Our Hospital Staff Study General Secretary Xi’s Speech” or “Our Hospital’s Third Batch of Medical Aid Team to Africa Departs in 2024,” rest assured, this is a technically proficient and reliable hospital. But if you encounter a site with all sorts of flashy, eye-dazzling effects, steer clear—this hospital might even be a scam.)
Let me check today’s prices. I’ll help you convert them—though, of course, I’d usually just let Deepseek handle this kind of work since I’m too lazy to calculate it manually.
Note that I’m using the prices from the most expensive supermarkets. If I were buying groceries myself, I’d go to a farmers’ market, where prices can drop a lot—sometimes even by more than 50%.
Chinese Cabbage: 0.22 USD/kg
Potato: 0.58 USD/kg
Tomato: 1.14 USD/kg
Cucumber: 0.84 USD/kg
Onion: 0.52 USD/kg
Carrot: 0.62 USD/kg
Round Eggplant: 1.00 USD/kg
Green Beans: 1.66 USD/kg
Cabbage: 0.60 USD/kg
Celery: 0.54 USD/kg
White Radish: 0.36 USD/kg
Radish: 0.66 USD/kg
Green Pepper: 0.94 USD/kg
Winter Melon: 0.64 USD/kg
Fresh Beef: 10.38 USD/kg
Fresh Lamb: 11.66 USD/kg
Whole Chicken: 3.70 USD/kg
Eggs: 1.40 USD/kg
Duck: 3.06 USD/kg
Ribbon Fish: 5.92 USD/kg
Grass Carp: 3.30 USD/kg
Lean Pork: 4.56 USD/kg
Industrial products are the cheapest.
Sometimes the prices are so low that even I find it hard to believe.
For someone like me, who’s lived through tough times, it can feel strange to adjust to this.
For example, when I buy tea, the seller usually throws in four cups and a stainless steel teapot for free.
But I already have so many—I can’t keep piling them up, so I end up throwing them away. It feels like such a waste.
Overall, I think China’s GDP might not be that high, but the cost of daily life isn’t expensive either. So, I feel like life here is probably better than in a lot of places with a nominally higher per capita GDP.
Education and healthcare are decent too. If you’re really poor, the government has your back. Thanks to medical insurance, seeing a doctor isn’t a big deal either.
The biggest hassle in China is housing, especially in big cities where prices are insanely high.
But if you don’t buy and just rent, there’s really no pressure at all.
How do you avoid looking like a tourist in New York City?
This is my 30th year as a tour guide. Here are things I’ve picked up on. None of these are 100 percent, but enough of them adhere to a look that you eventually realize it’s a type.
SUMMER
Non-urban older North Americans generally wear white sneakers except in winter. Most Americans of every age wear blue and white when not working. A guy in Rome, Italy once pegged me for an American just because I was wearing blue and white!
We wear baseball caps, we North Americans. Tourists in NYC buy generic Yankees caps, all in the same style and color set, that they think will help them blend in, but actually mark them as tourists.
Italians iron their jeans. If their phone has a strap, they wear it around their wrist.
Germans wear the coolest glasses. All kinds of shapes and styles. None of them are boring. German men usually comb their hair back. A sketchbook is in their hand just as often as a camera or phone.
French glasses are called ‘lunettes,’ which means ‘half moons.’ A large percentage, but probably less than 50 percent, of French glasses are half-moon shaped. While North Americans are more likely to have opaque-frame glasses, French people generally have colorful translucent frames.
Eastern European men wear their hair short and usually combed back. German women, as well as Eastern European women, often color their hair a deep dark red. Almost a maroon.
UK and Irish men generally wear their hair short and combed forward. Women, ten years ago, often wore pageboy haircuts. Those are losing popularity. I can’t recall a cohesive style pattern these days.
People from East Asia often wear clothes that are printed with faulty approximations of English sayings. Chinese clothes often have a word substitution error or are just missing a word or words. The important thing to them is that it says something in English, whether they can read it or not.
I once had a customer from Japan whose T-shirt read I FOUGHT THE RAW. I asked him if that was a comment on sushi. But no, he said, it was an homage to the old rock song. R-L substitution errors are very common in translated Japanese.
Japanese people are known for their impeccably, spotlessly clean clothes. (How is that possible when they’re staying in a hotel?) If a venue like the Statue of Liberty or The Met puts store items in a distinctive-logo paper bag, they save that bag. Kate’s Paperie of NYC was proud to have a signature bag, created by a woman from Kobe. Paper bags are status symbols.
East Asian women who wear a hijab are mostly from Indonesia, Malaysia, or the southern Philippines.
WINTER
Germans and Chinese both wear Jack Wolfskin jackets.
Mammut is a Swiss jacket brand.
Fjällräven Kånken is Swedish, but it has a worldwide youth following.
Americans and Australians love jackets with names inspired by faraway, romantic places. We wear Patagonia and they wear Kathmandu. We also wear North Face, which is an homage to the north face of Matterhorn. Americans who work outdoors in the cold are likely to have khaki-colored Carhartt jackets. And 8 out of 10 people wearing camouflage jackets in NYC are American tourists. It’s as though we have to be prepared to go hunting at a moment’s notice.
Brits and Irish wore Sprayway fleece jackets 15–20 years ago. Now they wear Helly Hansen as often as not.
The Irish often are seen in Jack Murphy jackets.
Canadians wear Roots items all year round. And in winter, they are likely to wear Canada Goose. This, despite all those stickers in public places across North America that read LOSERS WEAR CANADA GOOSE.
If you really want to blend in with us, just bring all your black clothes. You’ll look great, too!
What is the nastiest thing you’ve done for revenge?
Not sure how much I can say legally, so I’ll just say this was a friend of mine.
A friend of mine had bought this expensive property in Orlando to use as a short term rental (e.g. Airbnb, vrbo, etc). My friend lives in Tampa, so he had planned to manage this property long distance.
He quickly found that he was in over his head and decided to hire a property manager. We’ll call this property manager Justin.
Justin promised my friend amazing profits if he let Justin’s team manage the property. My friend wasn’t sure at first, but Justin called him almost every day promising him that he could bring in way more money and take the burden off my friend.
At this point, my friend was so burned out from his fulltime job and so tired of trying to manage this property in addition to his long term rentals, that he finally caved and hired Justin.
As soon as Justin was hired, all contact stopped. When my friend asked any questions Justin was radio silent and wouldn’t respond.
Eventually Justin said to contact his assistant with questions because he was busy.
In the meantime, Justin wasn’t getting many bookings. And with the few bookings he was getting, Justin was making a huge profit off the cleaning fee, but the payout to my friend barely covered the utility bills.
After a few months of this, my friend let Justin know that he couldn’t afford to operate like this. With mortgage and HOA, it was costing him well over 3000 a month.
Justin was unresponsive, so my friend gave his official notice to the assistant that he wanted to end the contract, which allowed for a 60-day out.
Justin then blew up my friends phone begging to keep the contract as the holidays were coming up, which meant big money.
My friend by that point no longer trusted Justin and wanted out so he stayed firm and politely said no he couldn’t do it.
Justin could finish out his current bookings and the contract was to end.
However, after my friend gave his notice Justin went silent again and he completely stopped paying my friend.
As Justin was finishing out his last 2 months of bookings my friend constantly asked for his cut of the payment. He asked Justin and the assistant at least 10 times before giving up. We’re talking several thousand dollars at this point, and my friend was terrified his house was going to go into foreclosure because he simply couldn’t afford the mortgage and HOA.
Realizing that Justin had no intentions on paying him, my friend thought, why continue to let him finish his bookings? He was just enriching himself and had no concern whatsoever with horrible position he left my friend in.
So my friend sent a final warning on Christmas Eve, if he didn’t receive payment, no more guests would be allowed in.
Of course, Justin ignored this. Only Justin didn’t realize my friend had control of the door. Like many short term rentals, it was a combination lock that you can control from your phone.
I should mention at this point, Justin had a five star rating on Airbnb as a superhost. This was extremely important to his business and getting clients. The listing for my friend’s property had rave reviews as well.
After my friend heard nothing back on Christmas Eve, he changed the door code. Justin had guests arriving on Christmas Day.
On Christmas Day, at four o’clock, my friends phone blew up. It was Justin asking why the door code wasn’t working and that there was a guest outside.
My friend calmly told Justin that no more guests were welcome since he had stopped paying. He would gladly open the door if Justin paid what he owed right then and there.
Justin, enraged, demanded my friend unlock the door and he would send the payment later that day. My friend knew Justin had no intention in paying so he said he would wait for payment.
Justin said no, my friend had no right to do this as it would ruin his page and perfect rating and destroy his business.
There was a lot of back and forth with Justin threatening to break down the door, so my friend called the police and had them go over to the property.
Once the police were there, they contacted my friend and put my friend in direct contact with the guests. My friend then gave the guests the door code and told them not to tell Justin. He didn’t want them to be screwed over just because of his dispute with Justin.
He also told them to leave a one star rating explaining their horrible experience and to make sure they got a full refund from Justin. I’m not sure if they got their money back, but if not, at least their Christmas wasn’t ruined.
Justin had threatened to put some kind of lien on the house so my friend could never sell or rent the house, but little did Justin know the house was already sold. The closing had been scheduled to take place right after Justin’s last guest, so it was all above board.
After this incident, Justin’s listing disappeared. His overall rating went down slightly as well. I’m not sure it affected his business all that much unfortunately, but my friend felt pretty good about that small amount of revenge he was able to get.
My friend is considering suing for the money that Justin owes, but not sure it’s worth the headache at this point. He got a nice little profit from the sale of the house so he’s pretty content with that.
Singaporeans are also Chinese. But, Why are Singaporeans loved by the whole world while mainland Chinese are looked down upon by the whole world?
First thing first, your “whole world” is just US and her sick kicks. They cannot represent the whole world by territorial area or population… unless by level of arrogance.
And gimme a break here, people from“Your world” cannot understand the different between Chinese from China and Singaporean, or even distinguish Chinese from other east Asians, how can they possibly be sure which Chinese to hate? LOL
The only reason “your whole world” hate Chinese from China is because China is “threatening” “your whole world”, with a different mindset of peace comparing to your bullies, with fair trade based on mutual respect comparing to your position of strength, with better and cheaper products and services than yours…. Unlike China, Singapore as a small power, is not a big concern to “your whole world”. You don’t hate Singaporean Chinese, cause their country is not seen as a “systemetic threat” of “your whole world”, they are not the target of your propaganda machine, but China is. The media of “your whole world” is smearing China 24*7, make you hate their people, their products, their ideology and culture, their history, even Chinese food, everything…with stupidness and lies.
How did cowboys drink water out of streams without purification?
When I was a kid, growing up out West, you could still drink the water out of many (if not all) streams out in the wilderness in the western U.S., especially in the mountains. We did it all the time, and it used to taste amazing. This all ended rather abruptly right after the construction of the Alaskan pipeline. A theory at the time was that construction crews’ poor sanitation caused giardia to spread even into remote wilderness areas, so that hikers, etc., had to start using filtration devices. I was never sure if this was true, or just a handy excuse.
Another factor is that the Victorian people (i.e., 19th century) had much more rugged stomachs than we do. They lived in a world without antibiotics, in which a lot of people died. Much of the population drank polluted water, back then, and although it did millions, especially children (as it still does in developing countries), adults seem to have been relatively fine. As a historian, I find relatively few accounts of people dealing with waterborne illnesses as adults. That, however, is just anecdotal. A walk through any 19th century graveyard shows you that death rates were pretty high among people in their 20s and 30s, who wouldn’t be dying today.
Out West, cowboys probably knew not to drink water in areas heavily polluted by cattle herds. There would have been plenty of other creeks and springs, however, that provided fresh water, and running water does tend to “purify” as contaminants settle out over a certain distance. Some of the modern pollutants and contaminants, however, don’t self-correct like that, and can travel much farther, and linger in the environment.
The 19th century world was so much cleaner than ours, in so many ways, that if you experienced it, you’d probably be shocked. Cities were much dirtier, mostly, but the countryside was much, much cleaner.
Richard Wolff EXPLAINS The Real China Conflict Is Not What YOU Think
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Philosophical Piñata
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for another whimsical adventure on Sir Whiskerton’s farm, where the animals are as eccentric as ever, and the mischief is always just a whisker away. Today’s tale involves the farmer, who has been having increasingly surreal philosophical discussions with Bartholomew the Piñata about corn growth. Things take a turn for the absurd when Gnomeo the Wandering Gnome appears, throwing everything into chaos. Cluckster the Rooster makes things worse, the chickens don’t help, and just when it seems like all hope is lost, the (Divine) Llama appears to save the day. So, grab your sense of humor and let’s dive into The Case of the Philosophical Piñata.
The Plot Thickens
It all began on a quiet morning when Sir Whiskerton was enjoying his usual sunbeam on the barn roof. The peace was shattered by the sound of the farmer’s voice, deep in conversation with Bartholomew the Piñata.
“You see, Bartholomew,” the farmer said, gesturing dramatically to the cornfield, “corn growth is a metaphor for life. Each stalk represents a choice, a path, a destiny. But how do we know which path is the right one? How do we nurture our corn—our souls—to reach their fullest potential?”
Bartholomew, as always, said nothing, his goofy grin unwavering.
Sir Whiskerton sighed. “This is getting out of hand. The farmer’s been talking to that piñata for weeks, and now he’s gone full philosopher. Someone needs to intervene.”
But before Sir Whiskerton could act, a tiny figure appeared at the edge of the cornfield. It was Gnomeo the Wandering Gnome, his pointy hat tilted at a jaunty angle and a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Greetings, farm folk!” Gnomeo said, his voice high-pitched and cheerful. “I am Gnomeo, the Wandering Gnome, and I have come to… well, wander! And maybe cause a little chaos. Mostly chaos.”
Sir Whiskerton groaned. “Just what we need. A gnome.”
Gnomeo’s Chaos
Gnomeo wasted no time in making his presence known. He began rearranging the farmer’s tools, turning the scarecrow upside down, and even painting the chickens’ coop bright pink. The chickens, naturally, were not amused.
“What in the name of clucking is going on?!” Doris the Hen squawked, flapping her wings in panic.
Harriet clucked in agreement. “Going on! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian promptly fainted into a pile of hay.
Cluckster the Rooster, ever the opportunist, decided to join in the chaos. “This is my moment to shine!” he crowed, puffing out his chest. “I shall lead the chickens in a rebellion against this gnome!”
But Cluckster’s idea of a rebellion involved a lot of squawking, flapping, and running in circles, which only made things worse. The chickens, now thoroughly confused, began chasing their own tails, while Gnomeo laughed and danced around them.
The Farmer’s Surreal Philosophy
Meanwhile, the farmer continued his philosophical discussions with Bartholomew, completely oblivious to the chaos around him. “Bartholomew,” the farmer said, stroking his chin thoughtfully, “if a cornstalk grows in a field and no one is around to see it, does it truly exist? Or is existence merely a construct of our perception?”
Bartholomew, as always, said nothing, his goofy grin unwavering.
Sir Whiskerton, watching from the barn roof, sighed deeply. “This is getting ridiculous. The farmer’s lost in a philosophical haze, the gnome’s causing chaos, and the chickens are… well, being chickens. Someone needs to restore order.”
The Divine Llama Saves the Day
Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, a calm, serene presence appeared on the horizon. It was the (Divine) Llama, her gentle whistling filling the air and her calm demeanor soothing even the most frazzled nerves.
“Greetings, farm folk,” the Llama said, her voice soft and melodic. “I sense there is chaos here. Allow me to help.”
The moment the Llama stepped into the barnyard, everything changed. Gnomeo stopped his mischief and sat down, cross-legged, to meditate. Cluckster stopped squawking and began to hum a peaceful tune. Even the chickens stopped chasing their tails and settled down, their feathers ruffled but calm.
The farmer, still deep in conversation with Bartholomew, looked up and blinked. “Ah, Llama! You’ve come at the perfect time. Bartholomew and I were just discussing the existential implications of corn growth. Care to join us?”
The Llama smiled gently. “Perhaps another time, Farmer. For now, let us focus on the present moment.”
The Moral of the Story
As the sun set and the barnyard returned to its usual peaceful state, Sir Whiskerton addressed the gathered animals. “Well, my friends, it seems we’ve learned an important lesson today.”
Doris clucked softly. “That gnomes are trouble?”
Sir Whiskerton shook his head. “No, Doris. The lesson is that sometimes, life gets chaotic, and we get lost in our own thoughts. But when we focus on the present moment and embrace a little peace and calm, everything falls into place.”
Bessie the Tie-Dye Cow nodded dreamily. “Like, the present is where it’s at, man.”
Jazzpurr strummed his bongo. “Yeah, man. Just ride the wave.”
Ferdinand, ever the diva, quacked, “And if you must philosophize, at least do it with style!”
The animals laughed, and even Gnomeo joined in, his pointy hat bobbing with each chuckle.
A Happy Ending
And so, the barnyard returned to its usual routines, the chaos of the day replaced by a sense of peace and calm. The farmer continued his philosophical discussions with Bartholomew, but now with a newfound appreciation for the present moment. Gnomeo, having learned his lesson, decided to wander off to another farm, promising to cause less chaos next time.
Ditto, who had been watching from the sidelines, echoed, “Present moment! Present moment!”
Echo, not to be outdone, added, “Present moment! Present moment!”
And with that, the barnyard settled into a peaceful evening, the sounds of Jazzpurr’s bongo and the Llama’s gentle whistling filling the air.
The End.
The US regime threatened DeepSeek to sell its technologies to US owned companies like TikTok. Otherwise the US claimed that it is a global security threat & the US will put more tariffs on Chinese-made products. Why is the US lacking of innovation?
The US government is the protector of US corporations, and the US military is the ultimate protector of US security and business interests.
The US wants the whole world to use technologies owned by US corporations because:
- US corporations are listed on US capital markets, and the more revenue they earn, the more it helps solidify the US’s leadership as the center of global capital where everyone must go to raise capital.
- US capital markets use the US dollar, so if they do well, the more demand there is globally for the US dollar.
- If foreign governments use US dollars and depend on US capital markets, they can be sanctioned by the US Congress and government if they break the rules.
- Digital products and services sold by US corporations make it easy for US signal intelligence organizations to monitor what is going on all over the world using security protection as the justification.
- The US mainstream media uses digital services as a delivery system to deliver a Judeo-Christian narrative based on western values to followers all over the world.
US AI startups are not original because they are built to support ROI for their investors; this is done by insuring a technology monopoly held by US corporations. This way, the US can insure its technology monopoly by controlling the rollout of new technologies all over the world, and providing a steady revenue stream and income for US corporations.
DeepSeek is a direct threat to this technology monopoly and revenue because it offers a much cheaper open-source alternative. It is a multi-prong threat because:
- It is much cheaper, meaning there is much less need for US corporate-owned hardware (NVidia) and software (OpenAI, Meta, etc.) to develop and launch AI products and services. Instead of AI being owned by US corporations, local governments and societies can develop cheaper alternatives, with none of the revenue flowing to US corporations and buoying the valuation of those US corporations in US capital markets.
- Less demand for US equipment and services mean less demand for the US dollar from other governments.
- If foreign governments use non-US AI hardware and software, how will the US government and Congress sanction foreign governments if they pursue policies which are not US-friendly?
- If foreign governments use non-US AI hardware and software, how will the US security and intelligence apparatus find out what other countries and societies are doing?
- If foreign governments use non-US AI hardware and software, how will the US media deliver the Judeo-Christian values narrative to non-US audiences, and maintain the view that the West has better values than everyone else, and is better in all aspects than China?
Apricot Chicken Tajine
Preventing heart disease starts right in the kitchen.
Yield: 4 servings; serving size: 1 chicken breast
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil 15 mL
- 4 small skinless chicken breasts
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic 15 mL
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger 15 mL
- 1 tablespoon turmeric 15 mL
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 5 mL
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 5 mL
- 1 saffron thread (optional)
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth 250 mL
- 1 cup dried apricots, halved 250 mL
- 1 (14 ounce/398 mL) can garbanzo beans
- 1 cup diced fresh tomatoes 250 mL
- 1/2 cup cashews, chopped, toasted 125 mL
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro 30 mL
Instructions
- In tagine or large saucepan, add canola oil and brown chicken breasts 3-5 minutes.
- Remove chicken and set aside.
- Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Sauté 3 minutes.
- Add turmeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, saffron and vegetable broth. Simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add apricots, beans and tomatoes. Bring to simmer again and add chicken breasts.
- Set stovetop to low heat, cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until chicken is completely cooked.
- Serve over couscous. Garnish with toasted cashews and cilantro.
Oh, By The Way
Submitted into Contest #210 in response to: Write a story about a character who is trying to share groundbreaking news, but isn’t being taken seriously.… view prompt
Ellen Neuborne
Remember when you banned all copy-editing marks as “stupid and ridiculous” and insisted everyone use “normal words” when writing anything into the system. Remember when you fired the photo editor for using “caption TK” because it was “old and stupid” and then the following month the front page ran with the phrase “two sentence description of that idiot goes here” under the photo of the mayor. Because of that spell checking thing I told you about, remember? It doesn’t stop at real words just because you didn’t mean to use them print. Anyway, wow, was the mayor steamed. And it sure was shame when she cancelled every Town Hall subscription and stopped giving interviews to P-C reporters and we haven’t had any Town Hall coverage that didn’t appear in a press release since. That was a mess, wasn’t it? Memories!
That was just one of the ways you infused the newsroom with your trademark “lean startup” process. Or perhaps that was someone else’s trademark? No matter. You owned it. The productivity study in which you set an airhorn alarm to blare every 15 minutes and told us to record what we were doing at that moment in time was so creative. Sad it had to be cut short when too many noted: Thinking of ways to kill Content Concierge. Clearly, you were ahead of the curve on that. And your idea to give away Christmas tree ornaments to all subscribers – bravo! Who would ever guess there was a voice-activated live stream camera embedded in each cute little snowflake. The consumer data captured by spying on Christmas morning was tremendous. And who knew so many couples celebrated Christmas Eve with a little nookie under the mistletoe? I guess we should be glad that child songster only saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. We’ve seen a lot more. All of us. Since you harvested that video, made a best-of reel and showed it at random staff meetings.
Of course, I’ll never forget the day I arrived at work and the entire second floor of the building was dark. The memo announcing the “right-sizing” of the accounting, advertising, IT and HR to off-shore providers circulated later. When I peered through the glass door, all I could see was a lone table with an unplugged computer and a thin ray of light from the back stairwell. I told you I was sorry we hadn’t had time for a goodbye cake. We used to have a goodbye cake when a single individual left the Press-Caller. Certainly, the demise of four departments met that standard. You laughed and said: “Let them eat cake.” It strikes me that the one time you were joking, you were actually, terrifyingly, honest. Marie A. would be proud.
There is the thing that I wanted to mention in my exit interview but I’m told by the now-remote HR that I won’t be having one? Is that a new policy? I’m reminded of the time when you told me if I was so eager to continue in management, I could manage the summer interns. Weren’t they a nifty bunch? So smart and sharp to be born to the members of the Board and senior management! And so clever of you to allow one unconnected applicant to slip through so he could see up close and personal what his life would be like should he decide to hit “send” on those applications to the Ivy League. What insights you’ve given him!
Of course, the interns displayed their smarts over and over again. In fact, they did it routinely, right before every deadline you gave them. That “computer error” that they used to experience all the time? The one you never really did understand that seemed to scramble their screens at random? That wasn’t a software flaw; it’s a hack they learned from social media. The account is called How To Succeed As An Intern Without Really Trying. By scrambling the copy or excel sheet or really whatever you’d assigned to them and bursting into tears over the apparent unforced technical issue, the interns could spend more of the summer on their phones without really working. You were so so sympathetic to their computer problems. It really was one of your shining moments.
I did request a meeting with you to discuss the interns and their software shenanigans. And it was such a pleasure to be yelled at in front of your executive assistant’s desk as I made that request. So many of the staff were able to hear you tell me that if I couldn’t handle a bunch of children, perhaps I was past my prime. Such a magnificent leadership statement! It was all anyone could talk about for days. Even me. Which is why I did forget until just how about the thing I wanted to tell you before I go.
So, you sent me back to the interns, back to my chair since you determined I wouldn’t need a desk anymore, to sit by the door and watch the little rascals play their little phone games. And watch the one – the unconnected one – take it all in.
It was just yesterday, after you’d sent your assistant to fire me by handing me an envelope and reading the “redundancy” instructions from an index card. It was then, when the youngster approached me and showed me the most remarkable thing on his phone. I really did mean to share it with you, but security showed up so quickly that I never had the chance. I can’t say I can manage texting while two men have me by the elbows. It’s a brave new world!
So, good-bye all, good luck. And oh, by the way, dear CC, I’ve been meaning to tell you: Eisenberg and one of the old IT guys got into that lonely second floor computer. With the help of the interns, they’ve hacked the internal communications system and beginning today at 6 am, it’s been running in a display loop on a billboard in Times Square. I’m on my way to catch the train there now. Hopefully I won’t miss the really good parts like vendor contracts, customer accounts, and of course, emails. All of them. Including this one.
Best regards,
Jill
A 65-Year-Old Man Went on a Blind Date with a 52-Year-Old Woman, Heard 4 Her Demands, and Ran Away!
What scares the U.S. elites about China?
The existance of a prosper China is scary enough,
because it indicates that:
- there are certainly other paths to modernization and prosperity. so western democracy and liberalism are not the only way.
- socialist China may be better than pure blood capitalism, which means that socialism may not be an evil and backward thing.
Recently, the US embassy in Beijing posted something on Weibo:
发布了头条文章：《美国平均家庭净资产近120万美元》 美联储发布的统计显示，2023年底美国家庭净资产升至创纪录的156.2万亿美元，按1.3亿家庭计算，平均每户资产约120万美元。不过，根据美联储对2022年的家庭财务分析，如果按每户净资产中位数计算的话，每户为19.2万美元，也就是说有一半的家庭净资产在19.2万美元以下。 O 网页链接 ° 美国平均家庭净资产近120万美元
Google Translate:
Statistics released by the Federal Reserve show that the net worth of American households will rise to a record high of $156.2 trillion by the end of 2023. Based on 130 million households, the average asset per household is about $1.2 million.
However, according to the Federal Reserve’s analysis of household finances in 2022, if calculated based on the median net worth of each household, it will be $192,000 per household, which means that half of the households have a net worth below $192,000.
Due to the very bad math education, US embassy may not know what these numbers mean.
The average household property of US families is 1.2 million USD, while the median number is only 0.192 million.
The median is only 16% of average.
This indicates a huge gap between the rich and the poor, since the bottom 50% of US family only own 2.5% of all household properties.
The average net value of bottom 50% families is 5000USD, which means that many of them have negative properties, i.e. they have more debt than property.
What really shocked me is not the wealth gap being so big in the US, because I already know that. What shocked me is that China’s median household property is 40% of average, and it’s about the same as Germany (37%) and France (40%).
What would the people of the US think when they know that not only China is a prosper country, but the weath gap in there is much better than in here?
It would move the justifiability foundation of the US government: “If we are the best in the world, then why China is better?”
This is why US government rating China as a “No No” place for tourist, the same level as the places under military conflict, just to scare the people of the US to not go to China and see the truth.
With more and more people knowing how China really is, they will start to question about their own system, and that will hurt the vested interest groups and shake the foundation of the US.
Have you ever caught your neighbor doing something they should not have?
We had closed escrow on a brand new house after having waited the whole year for it to be built. When we arrive at our new house for the first time, we do a walk-around and find a garden hose hooked up to our water spigot, going over the fence into the neighbors’ back yard. We peer over the fence to see that the neighbors are filling their swimming pool on our water account (still to this day the most expensive water company we’ve ever seen, and their prices only got worse in later years). The kicker was that their house was the largest model and they’d had it built with what must have been at least a $100k upgraded backyard complete with travertine tile and pavers, full BBQ island, and the swimming pool. Our house was much more modest and we couldn’t even afford to put in a backyard when we built.
We turned off the water, disconnected their hose and tossed it to their side of the fence. They didn’t acknowledge the water theft, but gave us an assortment of gift cards to various places (movies, sandwich shop, coffee, ice cream). The funniest part was that only one of the cards actually had any value at all. They had literally just emptied their wallet of whatever stray gift cards were there and presented them as if in apology.
A few months later they added a $300k solar system to their roof. So to put it bluntly, they could afford the water far more than we could, they just didn’t want to pay to fill their pool if they didn’t have to, and figured we’d never know.
They’ve since moved out—good riddance!
As a landlord, what is the best lie a tenant has ever told you?
The Most Entertaining Lie a Tenant Ever Told Us
A middle-aged woman applied to rent our house but left the “employment” section of her application blank. Naturally, we asked how she planned to pay rent. Her answer? Oil and gas royalties. Sounded reasonable—it’s Texas, after all.
For the first four months, everything seemed fine. She paid rent on time via ACH on the 1st of every month. Then, we got a call from a concerned neighbor: a man had just been hauled out of the house in handcuffs.
We called the police to confirm and casually asked, “By the way, have you been there before?” Their answer? “Yes—four times in four months.”
That was enough for us. We told her she had to move out. This was a quiet neighborhood, and we weren’t about to turn it into a police hotspot. We gave her six weeks to leave, found a new tenant, and moved on.
A couple of years later, another tenant moved out, and we showed the house to a police detective. As soon as he walked in, he casually said, “Oh, I’ve been in this house before. Sat at that kitchen table.”
Turns out, he was the arresting officer when our former tenant was busted. Her crime? Running a brothel.
All those police calls? Neighbors had been reporting suspicious activity to Crime Stoppers—cars coming and going at all hours. I assume they thought she was dealing drugs, but nope… she had a very different kind of business.
She went to jail.
Of course, we couldn’t wait to call the neighbor and fill her in. And our handyman? He was thrilled to hear the news—he had always refused to go there alone because she kept making moves on him.
Just another wild chapter in our years of landlording.
TIKTOK is BACK In the APP STORE But Americans Are Staying On Chinese Rednote App
Too late.