My normal day, of course, consists of a morning jog in the night air at 5am, a couple of warm mugs of hot water, and a shower followed by a sit down at my computer to check on the “news”.
I don’t know why I bother.
The “Drudge Report” is all propaganda all the time. The alternative sites tend to be heavily influenced by whatever <place narrative here> the political proclivities of the site owner has.
Regular “news” is a dinosaur that should be dead and buried. It is so heavily propagandized and full of lies and distortions that I am amazed that they still exist.
So, when I turn on my feeds… I check out youTube, and a few others. But I’ve noticed something on them.
The feeds are now skewed.
Lots and lots of <what the fuck is this?> just clogging up my feeds.
It used to be, take Quora for example, I would get latest posts from the people that I would follow. (Back in the day, that is / was)
Uh oh! They have all disappeared.
Instead I get alerts and notices from strangers, and others that are promoted for God-Knows-Why.
It’s all garbage, all the time. And the guys who I have followed are no where to be seen. I have to manually go to their Space and manually go though their posts.
What a bother.
It appears… clearly… that AI derived systems are forcefully manipulating the feeds and content that we view and participate on.
…
And that goes for e-mails as well.
…
I’m touching my nose and winking at you.
You savvy?
…
So, the hard-hand of media manipulation has ALTERED my browsing habits. And the harder and stronger that hand will be, the more altered I will become.
And I am not, not, not gonna allow any of that propagandized bullshit on my reading lists. No way. No how.
So, I still read…
… but it requires a studious SEARCH. Not so easy any longer.
Your USA tax dollars at work.
Today…
Trump’s war powers Executive Orders to kickstart US mining are probably a waste of time
Real truth. Watch this.
I’ve heard horror stories about the Canadian healthcare system. As an American, I’d like to clear this up, are you helped immediately if you have a stroke, heart attack, or any form of cancer, even at a public hospital?
Until I went to write this I truly didn’t realize how lucky we are. Our local hospital is part of a medical teaching program set up by a University about 1 1/2 hours away. In that city there are 3 major hospitals all affiliated with each other. There are also 2 colleges in this same city which also teach various medical education. Our area has 5 hospitals within a 20 minute drive to 3/4 of an hour plus the one in our town. 1 hour away is a smallish city that has a larger hospital where many specialists are also located. Drive an hour from that an you are in a huge city where another University and major college with medical studies is again located. Our local doctors can take advantage of all these resources, it means traveling sometimes but you can usually get in to see a specialist pretty fast especially in an emergency.
I have walked in to our emergency and said I was having chest pains and there was no waiting. Same as when I was having a head pains signaling a stroke. I received immediate actions. Everything is treated by urgency. I have found that you have to be clear with what going on when going into emergency. There have been times I have had to wait for less urgent stuff and that’s ok.
When my husband was found pulseless in the snow our neighbors quick CPR. the emergency teams immediate actions and the big city’s cardio ICU and excellent cardio surgeons saved his life.
I have a friend who went into emergency with severe back pain. He could not walk and was passing blood. They did not make him wait. He was immediately taken in for treatment he was quickly diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer and has not left the hospital environments since. His treatment started as soon as diagnosed and saved his life. This week after being in the hospital for 7 months he took his first steps.
America’s Everyday Collapse Has Started: Shocking Signs of Chaos Unfolding
Jesus H Christ.
Why is Imperial China often referred to as “Feudal China” even though Imperial China was not a feudal society like Medieval Europe or Early Modern Japan?
It’s quite simple. Many of the political and historical perspectives after the founding of modern China were rigidly adopted from Marxist doctrines.
However, Marx’s division of human society was based on his study of Western history, and in fact, it cannot be directly applied to China.
My Crazy FWB Would Only “Sevice” Me If It Was Through A Curtain! Has MELTDOWN When I Treat Her..
What factors contribute to China’s economic success? Is it solely due to hard work, or are there other factors such as intellectual property theft from other countries?
China was very poor. Manufacturing was primitive. US wanted to make it a cheap manufacturing base. Near “use by date” machinery were sent there and capitalized into equity in the JVs on valuations determined by the US partner. China cannot argue. Its manufacturing is primitive.
China works hard, learns and learns, grows and grows, and compounds progress on progress. It became technological and even out-competes the US.
US cannot tolerate this, but cannot deny the fact. It resorts to accusations of China’s tech theft, IP theft, whatever. Your question repeats this accusation. You may not know that China pays the most amount of royalties and license fees to US companies.
Use common sense. How can China excels if it steals? If someone from your class copies your work, can he do better than you? You are the master. He copies from you. How can he beat you?
US is afraid of Chinese competition. Its solutions are sanctions and denial of high-end chips to China.
It is like your class teacher sets an assignment. Your classmate quickly runs to the library to get the reference books, not to learn, but to hide them from you, to deny you access. But you have the smarts to overcome it.
US behaves like your classmate. But like you, Huawei overcomes the sanctions and breaks through to high-end chips. DeepSeek makes do without high-end Nvidia AI chips, and uses training and algorithm efficiencies and innovations. Its R1 model rivals ChatGPT o1 at a tiny fraction of the cost.
US habits die hard. Its responses in both cases are accusations, ban this, ban that, and more sanctions. It is useless to dig deeper and deeper when China has gone lateral.
This is how China achieves economic success. It refuses to be hampered by obstacles. Indeed it thrives on the obstacles that are imposed on it. The underlying character is determination – determination backed by strong institutions and the growing pool of millions of STEM graduates.
CHINA AND IT’S ALLIES MOVE TO DEFANG THE BARBARIC US WAR MACHINE ONCE AND FOR ALL!
This sums up EVERYTHING going on right now.
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done food-wise?
This green bowl is no more.
Growing up, Mom used to do all the cooking.
Life was easy.
Hungry? Raid the pantry. Or wait for dinner to magically appear. So when I moved into my first apartment, I didn’t give cooking a second thought.
That didn’t last long.
Twelve bags of Chili-Cheese Fritos later, I was craving real food. Time to cook a real meal like a real adult.
Like many American young adults, my cooking journey started with Ramen noodles. The easy affordable dinner with a little packet of flavoring packed with enough sodium to kickoff a lifetime of high-blood pressure.
All this dinner required was a bowl of hot water.
How hard could it be?
I dug around the cupboard for something to cook it in, sifting through a hodgepodge of mismatched donated cookware pieced together from people dying for an excuse to buy new stuff.
“Ah, here we go.”
Crammed in the back of the cabinet was an old grandma-green vegetable bowl with white flowers, something you’d see in a cooking museum.
I filled it up with water. Stuck it on the stove. Cranked up the heat to high. Dropped in the noodles. Then waited for the magic to happen.
I felt like a real chef.
Proud of myself, I waited for the water to boil.
And waited…
“Man, this is taking forever.” It was then I learned the meaning of the phrase, “A watched pot never boils” … or something like that.
I took another impatience glance into the bowl, wishing it was done already.
Steam drifted up from the bowl.
Then I saw it.
An orange glow slowly materialized from the bowl bottom.
Seconds later, the lava-hot snailed coils of the electric stove appeared through the bottom as if there were no bowl at all.
“That’s weird. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that bef…”
I didn’t finish the thought.
The ancient vegetable bowl detonated like a hundred tons of TNT. I threw my hands up in front of my face like it was my first time seeing daylight. Puke green shrapnel and chewy half-cooked ramen ripped through the tiny galley kitchen, rocketing noodles and glass remnants of this cooking artifact in every direction.
Luckily I’m still here writing to you about it today.
It took years of eating hotdogs, Chili-Cheese Fritos, and bowls of ice cream before recovering from this cusine-inspired case of kitchen PTSD and venturing into the foreign world of cooking again.
Other than forgetting to put the blender lid on my beet and kale vegetable smoothies, there are just some mistakes you never make twice.
Cajun Chicken, Andouille and Rice-a-Roni
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- 1 small package chicken tenders, cut into chunks
- 1 cup andouille sausage, sliced into 3/4 inch slices then quartered
- 2 boxes chicken flavor Rice-a Roni
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 jar chicken gravy
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
Instructions
- In a large deep skillet melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Saute onion, bell pepper and celery until soft. Remove with slotted spoon to a bowl.
- Add chicken pieces and sausage quarters. Saute until some color shows on chicken. Remove to bowl with vegetables.
- Add remaining butter and oil to pan. Add the rice from the Rice-a-Roni, and let the pasta brown.
- Add water according to packages along with flavor packets.
- Stir in everything else, cover and cook until creamy.
Do Chinese characters look like what they mean?
Eh… no, not really. At least not anymore lol.
Modern Chinese characters are not particularly effective at conveying meaning through visual representation, but ancient Chinese characters more closely resembled what they meant, with this resemblance becoming stronger the further back you go. Writing was independently invented only three to four times in human history: in Mesopotamia, Egypt (though some debate whether it was inspired by Mesopotamia), China, and Mesoamerica (likely by the Olmecs).
All of these early writing systems were logographic, meaning they used symbols to represent words or morphemes rather than individual sounds. Each system originated from pictographic proto-writing, where symbols initially took the form of images that directly represented physical objects. Over time, ideographs were introduced, allowing symbols to convey more abstract ideas. While a pictogram is a direct visual representation of an object (like ☀ for “sun”), an ideogram represents a concept rather than a physical thing (like 1 representing the idea of a number rather than a specific object). The symbols came to represent increasingly complex elements, such as the grammatical and phonetic aspects of language. They could also be combined in new ways to express entirely different meanings.
Paradoxically, as writing systems became more intricate in what they could convey, their symbols were gradually simplified to make them faster and more efficient to write. Over time, these systems evolved to fully represent their respective spoken languages, marking the transition from proto-writing to true writing. Logographic writing was the first writing system ever developed and was the only one in existence for a long time, but now it is the rarest among the major writing system types. Chinese is the only purely logographic script that remains in common use today. However, because many Chinese languages have a huge number of speakers, logographic writing—despite being incredibly rare among the world’s languages—doesn’t feel rare.
You can see how the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Chinese scripts were initially more representational but became increasingly abstract over time.
HOW SHARED STRUGGLES UNITED THE USA & CHINA: REDNOTE’S CROSS-CULTURAL SUPPORT MOVEMENT
How do restaurants catch people who dine and dash?
Many years ago I was at a New Jersey diner with friends after a club meeting. We were standing out front still chatting and two young girls came out giggling then ran to their car. The manager appeared at the door yelling that they had not paid.
We pointed at the car and the girl backed out of the space too fast and hit the car behind her, then took off. We had her plate number and description of the car.
Police arrived and we gave our story. Cop said they wouldn’t have chased them for the $20 bill, but they would grab them up for the hit and run! I guess their night didn’t end well.
New World Feelings
Submitted into Contest #288 in response to: Write a story where the weather mirrors a character’s emotions.… view prompt
Simon Ireson
Priya tapped the display.
#
The doors slid silently open and revealed a purple world—at least, that’s what Priya saw. Humanity now developed under many different skies, sending evolution in multiple directions. Eyes born on a red planet see things differently from those born bathed in green light. No matter the ‘real’ colour, Priya saw purple. She stepped to the edge of the pod and looked out over her temporary home.
The sky was filled with a mixture of pink-coloured clouds. They swirled in unexpected directions on unknown wind patterns. They were transparent above, fading in a gradient to light pink and then purple as they reached the ground. The planet was large, so the land stretched far into the distance before it met the horizon. The surface rose and fell smoothly in every direction. Unusually, there were no jagged rocks, outcroppings of stone, or even pebbles littering the landscape. Pinching her fingers together, a screen appeared in her helmet. She gestured to zoom and, for a second, didn’t think her instruction had been registered. Then she moved her head and saw the ground rush past. She was zoomed in; it was just that the ground appeared identical no matter the distance. She closed the screen and slowly scanned everything she could see. Identical. Everything was the same, smooth, undulating surface. No great mounds, mountains, or vegetation to be seen.
Crouching, she examined the ground beneath the pod. Expecting soil or rock, she found a regular diamond pattern. No diamond was the same, but they were similar enough. In the centre of each was a dark circular spot. Leaning forward, she saw one of the legs of the pod had settled into a depression in the ground. Twisting to see another leg, it was also sitting in its own special spot. It didn’t take much thought to realise that the pod’s weight was bending the surface and that she should prepare for a springy experience.
Purple and springy—this was new.
A loud crack shattered the silence. Priya hadn’t realised just how quiet her surroundings were until something broke through. She looked to the empty sky, locating the expected descending pod. New planets were dangerous places, so every expedition had two explorers. Once the first confirmed their safe arrival, the second descended.
Priya watched as the pod carrying her long-time friend and colleague, Leo, made last-minute adjustments before touching down a kilometre away. The display in her helmet provided detailed telemetry on something she could do nothing about. She waved a hand, and the zoomed view returned, tracking the pod as its jets fired. She watched the legs extend and touch down on the surface. Zooming in further, she saw the ground depress to accept the spacecraft, almost like it rested on a rubber sheet. Jets fired erratically to stabilise the lander. After a few seconds, all movement ceased.
Priya cleared her vision and keyed her comm. “Explorer One to Explorer Two. Copy? Priya to Leo. Did you enjoy the bounce?”
“Explorer Two here,” replied Leo in his deep, always-amused voice. “It was a little odd. What have I landed on? The whole planet looked as flat as anything from the air.”
“You’re safe and sound.”
“Any threats?”
“None that I can see. Suit isn’t registering anything microscopic attacking it, and I can see to the horizon.”
“Sounds good. Exiting now.”
“Stand firm!” Priya snapped. “I haven’t set foot yet.”
“Understood. Doors open. Will await confirmation.” A pause. “It’s very green, isn’t it?”
Priya smiled but didn’t reply—she really needed to stop airing her thoughts with people. Looking down, she watched as her booted feet walked down the metal step and onto the planet’s surface.
She had expected to feel some give under her weight, but it was no different to stepping onto any smooth floor. She jumped a few times, landing with an expected thump each time.
Leo’s voice came through the comm. “Looks pretty safe.”
Priya guessed she was being spied on and waved at Leo. She watched him leap from the pod and land heavily, staggering a little. She laughed. “You surprised your bots, didn’t you?”
A grunt came through the com. “My knees are shot.”
“You always have to go one step further.”
“You know me, P.”
Priya’s helmet darkened slightly as some of the clouds cleared away, leaving the blue-tinted light from the nearby star to shine on her and her pod. She glanced up and saw that the break in the clouds was currently only at her location. Despite the random atmospheric air currents, she was uniquely granted good weather.
Leo’s voice came through the comm. “You copy, Priya?”
“Yes. You can stop waving. I’ll go set some probes.”
“Great. I’ll get started on the soil samples. Call in fifteen.”
“Copy.” As she headed to the pod storage locker, Priya noticed the clouds had changed again. The sky above her was a regular grid of lines. Each cloud formed a perfect line in a different shade. Elsewhere, the clouds broiled and writhed. Directly above her, the sky was neat. Organised. Structured.
She pushed the observation aside; it was easy to be caught out by perspective and scale on a new world. Years of training forced her to ignore the strange and concentrate on establishing measurable parameters.
#
Fifteen minutes later, Priya erected a small tripod with a large sphere resting in a cradle. She tapped the controls and the sphere glowed yellow and rose to about a metre above the tripod. Satisfied, she turned and headed down the gentle rise towards her pod. As she walked, she looked out over the vast emptiness, still surprised at the absence of anything. She had stood in deserts on faraway worlds, but never before had she seen such an unblemished view. The lack of visual stimulation brought a calm to her thoughts. Even the clouds seemed quieter. Their ordered lines now stretched across most of the sky.
“How’s it going?” came Leo’s voice.
Priya quickly spotted the man in the smooth, unbroken landscape. “All good here. Just on my way back.”
“Sounds good. I’m starting the core collection. The drill is confused. It keeps mentioning organic compounds, but I’m overriding and it’s cutting now.”
Priya zoomed in on Leo as she walked. She saw the man beside a drill almost his size, its A-frame pointing to the sky while its teeth bored into the planet’s crust. A few hairs pricked up on her neck as her subconscious warned her something was amiss. She immediately halted and focused her attention on her colleague. Her concentration stopped her from registering her surroundings, which were rapidly darkening as the clouds thickened unnaturally fast, turning an opaque dark purple.
“Enhance view. Show movement,” she commanded. The view inside her helmet duplicated itself. The motion tracker was a simple filter that compared video frames. It showed black for no movement and white for any change. Leo and the drill appeared in monochromatic white slices as they moved.
He wasn’t alone.
What initially looked like static flowed from the ground on every side of Leo. Glancing back and forth between views, Priya could make out a rising mist or gas. “Leo. Immediate threat.” She saw the man straighten. “There’s something around you. Can you see it?”
“No. What do you mea…agh…” His voice cut out.
“Leo? Leo?” She watched as her only friend and colleague through time and space began wildly thrashing his arms as if he were fighting a swarm of insects. “Come in, Leo.” She saw him drop to his knees. “Respond!” He abruptly stopped moving, still kneeling upright on the ground, his head bowed forward and his arms hanging limply from his shoulders. Priya watched, her breathing rapid and shallow, as the white static on the movement display filled the view. She returned to the visual and watched in horror as Leo and the drill began tilting to one side and sinking into the ground as if the surface had suddenly become loose sand.
A warning alarm flashed for attention. Selecting it, Priya saw a damage report from the probe she had just set. She turned and watched as the probe descended out of view.
Priya set off at a run for her pod. Above her, the clouds darkened and released spots of moisture that wet the ground. In the distance, there was a deep grumble of thunder as electricity flowed through the atmosphere. She got within a hundred metres of her pod when it also began to be absorbed by the planet. Priya called on her suit to propel her with powered assistance. A few seconds later, she slammed into the hard round side of the only machine that would keep her alive beyond the suit resources. The impact was brutal enough to break a few ribs, which the nanobots immediately began repairing.
Priya saw that two of the pod’s legs were somehow absorbed beneath the unbroken planet’s surface. A look showed that the jets were still clear. Still clinging to the side, she snapped commands at her suit as the outside of her crystal helmet began running with whatever liquid was now falling in sheets from the sky.
Where had the storm come from?
She shook her head. “Emergency departure. Pod launch and hold at five hundred metres. Suit magnetise and attach.”
Both suit and pod reacted immediately. Priya was spread across the pod’s surface, arms and legs outstretched as her suit became one with the little spaceship. Then, the pod’s main engines fired up.
Multiple warning messages filled Priya’s display as the pod strained against its trapped legs. “Detach landing gear,” she shouted through gritted teeth. The pain from her position and her damaged body was intense.
Her stomach fell through the floor as the pod suddenly released its legs. Relief flowed through her as she escaped the danger. This was short-lived as the pod lurched first to one side and then abruptly halted its ascent. For a moment, she thought it had reached her requested altitude. A quick check of her display showed she was less than a hundred metres up.
Thruster heat warnings appeared.
She twisted her head as far as she could to one side. The sky broiled with swirling clouds, pouring rain, and flashes of discharging electricity. With each flash, she saw a fog surrounding her and the pod. It was uneven, and parts were thicker, almost like tentacles gripping her and her ship.
Despite the immense power of the thrusters, refined and improved over hundreds of years of human engineering, she felt and saw herself being dragged back to the surface. Ten seconds later, the pod finally exceeded the safety limits and the engines shut off. Priya closed her eyes, expecting to drop like a stone. Instead, she descended steadily until the pod touched back down.
Without the landing legs, the pod immediately rolled onto its back before sinking into the surface again. Priya deactivated her magnetic suit and leapt away from the craft. She stood only a few metres away and watched in despair as her means of contacting and returning to the mothership disappeared.
Only as the pod vanished beneath the surface did she realise her suit lights had come on. Aside from the flashes of lightning, the white beams from her suit were the only illumination on a suddenly dark world.
Seeing all options disappear, Priya fell back on her training and sat on the ground with her legs crossed. She blocked out the pain that wracked her body, closed her eyes, and began attempting to calm her mind. As she rejected thoughts of escape and rescue, she became aware that the sound of the rain started to ease. The raging torrent of thoughts flowing over the rocks of possibility gradually settled until she could visualise a vast, still lake. Around her, the pressure eased, and all sound faded away. Curiosity got the better of her, and she opened her eyes.
Once again, she sat in a vast, open landscape under an unbroken sky.
Then she saw the mist.
The same mist she had seen surrounding Leo rose around her. She decided against fight or flight and chose nothingness.
She relaxed and awaited her fate.
The mist grew thicker, and the same strands she had seen in the air began pressing against her. Probing. Feeling.
Abruptly, everything was grey. She felt momentary pressure on every part of her body; then it was inside.
Still calm, Priya watched as the mist filled her suit.
Then, it filled her.
#
Priya sat in grey nothingness.
“We welcome you,” She didn’t hear a voice. The words appeared in her mind.
“We have waited…waited…now you’re here.”
Thinking was difficult. It was like trying to run in a dream. “I…I don’t understand.”
“You will. We will. You are home. Bring the others.”
“Others?” She watched…no…she reached out through the mist. She flew up, racing at unimaginable speed through the atmosphere. A white spot grew rapidly as she hurtled towards the metallic shape of her former home.
“We shall greet them all. They shall become us.”
Priya reached forward, and grey fog flowed around the helpless ship—a ship filled with the hope of humanity.
She hugged the ship and pulled her family close.
“We are many.”
“We are one.”
“We are Priya.”
What is the reason for the low cost of eggs in China?
Because eggs are a livelihood project, China does not allow illegal capitalists to take advantage of the opportunity to make huge profits. If there is a reduction in egg production, the Chinese government will take various measures to stabilize prices. But the United States is a capitalist country, and the government doesn’t have many ways to deal with out-of-control corporate greed.
The Chinese government has set maximum prices for food such as pork, eggs, and rice. China has a Price Administration Bureau (OPA) that regularly checks the retail prices of merchants and punishes those who violate the regulations.
The United States had the OPA (Office of Price Administration) during World War II, which was abolished in 1947.
According to official news from the United States, this is attributed to the outbreak of avian influenza, due to which a large number of laying hens were culled in the United States.
Most of the egg producers in the United States are not listed. I cannot make an accurate judgment on whether the increase in egg prices is caused by the reduction in egg production, but one of them, Cal-Maine Foods, is a listed company.
In a document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the end of December, the company stated that its gross profit increased by 600%, which shows that the main reason for the surge in egg prices is greedy capital.
Of course, we cannot rule out the fact that the company’s gross profit increased by 600% due to the continuous depreciation of the real value of the US dollar, but the US inflation rate also cannot stand up to scrutiny.
Washington, D.C. – Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D.-Calif.) sent letters to top egg-producing companies calling on them to provide answers about the elevated price of eggs and the extent to which egg producers may be using fears about avian flu and supply shocks as a cover to pad their own profits. In the letters, the lawmakers note that in the midst of record-high egg prices, Cal-Maine, the largest egg producer in the US, announced a 65% increase in profits while reporting no cases of avian flu. They ask the companies to provide transparency about the rationale for increasing egg prices and the financial impact to the companies. The letters were sent to Rose Acre Farms, Cal-Maine Foods, Hillandale Farms, Versova Management and Daybreak Foods.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, increases in retail egg prices have outpaced all other food categories, jumping 59.9% annually as of December 2022, with consumers in some states paying more than $7 per carton. The avian flu outbreak, which producers have largely blamed for the price hikes, impacted approximately 43 million egg-laying chickens. However, advocates have noted that the outbreak has decreased the size of the total flock by no more than 6 percent in most months, and in October 2022, total table egg production was down no more than 4.2 percent.
At the same time that prices were skyrocketing, Cal-Maine Foods, which controls approximately 20% of the retail egg market, was reporting record profit margins and no positive avian flu cases on any of its farms. In December, Cal-Maine Foods reported gross profits increase of more than 600% over the same quarter in 2021, which the company claimed was “driven by record average conventional egg selling price.”
“Although (many) top egg producers are private companies that have not publicly announced either their profits or disclosed the financial impact of the avian flu on their flocks, past anticompetitive practices in the egg industry raise concerns about price gouging on their part,” wrote the lawmakers.
Lawsuits against Rose Acre Farms and other dominant producers accused the companies of price-gouging, collusion, and “cartelistic conspiracies” to limit production and keep supply artificially limited. In August 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Hillandale Farms, the nation’s second largest egg producer, for illegally gouging “the prices of more than four million cartons of eggs,” Similarly, a wide-ranging lawsuit accused several of the largest egg producers of colluding to increase prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“American families working to put food on the table deserve to know whether the increased prices they are paying for eggs represent a legitimate response to reduced supply or out-of-control corporate greed,” continued the lawmakers.
What should I absolutely not do when visiting Norway?
You should absolutely not go out in the Norwegian wilderness without listening to advice from locals.
Every year, tourists go out in the beautiful Norwegian nature, treating it like a harmless theme park. Norway is completely safe if you take the necessary precautions, but if you don’t, it can be deadly.
This is Nigardsbreen, an arm of the Jostedal Glacier, the largest glacier in continental Europe. Looks innocent enough.
Because of calving, it can be dangerous to approach the glacier. A warning sign was put up, informing tourists of the inherent dangers of going too close.
A group of tourists ignored the sign and crossed the line indicated by the chains to have a closer look at the glacier and take pictures. Unfortunately, an ice block broke loose and hit three people, killing one of them.
This sort of stuff happens every year. Tourists get themselves in trouble by underestimating the dangers. In most places, we don’t have signs like this, because Norwegians generally know how to stay safe in the wild. We don’t have fences to protect people from avalanches, blizzards or falls from great heights. You are out there on your own responsibility.
You know Bear Grylls? The man behind Man vs. Wild? This guy:
Here he is, crossing a river in Norway. In the “Norway: Edge of Survival” episode of season 6, he tried to survive a Norwegian storm. That’s the only time in six seasons that he actually just gave up. He knew that if he continued, he would have died. He literally cried during the filming of that episode.
Bear Grylls knew his own limits and not to push beyond them. If you visit Norway, please know your limits and respect nature.
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Giant Delivery Box: A Tale of Boxes, Bickering, and Feline Wisdom
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for a tale of cardboard, chaos, and one very determined cat who proved that sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best. Today’s story is one of overthinking, under-sitting, and a giant delivery box that brought out the competitive side of every animal on the farm. So, grab your favorite box (or perhaps a cozy blanket) and a sense of humor, as we dive into Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Giant Delivery Box: A Tale of Boxes, Bickering, and Feline Wisdom.
The Arrival of the Giant Delivery Box
It all began on a quiet morning when a large delivery truck rumbled up the dirt road to Sir Whiskerton’s farm. The animals gathered around, curious as the farmer unloaded a massive cardboard box. It was taller than Doris the Hen, wider than Porkchop the Pig, and had “FRAGILE” stamped on the side in bold red letters.
“What’s in it?” Ditto asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
“No idea,” the farmer said, scratching his head. “But it’s heavy. Must be something important.”
Sir Whiskerton, who had been observing the scene from his favorite sunbeam, flicked his tail. “Whatever it is, it’s in a box. And if there’s one thing cats know, it’s that boxes are for sitting in.”
Ditto tilted his head. “Even if it’s giant?”
“Especially if it’s giant,” Sir Whiskerton replied.
The Great Box Debate
As soon as the farmer walked away, the animals began to argue over who should get to sit in the box. Doris the Hen clucked, “It’s clearly for nesting! Hens need cozy spaces to lay eggs!”
Porkchop the Pig snorted, “Nonsense! It’s the perfect size for a nap. Pigs need their beauty sleep!”
Bessie the Tie-Dye Cow mooed, “Actually, it’s an art installation. I’m going to paint it with peace signs and flowers!”
Rufus the Dog barked, “It’s a fort! A dog fort! With secret tunnels and treasure!”
Sir Whiskerton watched the chaos unfold, his tail swishing lazily. “This is ridiculous,” he said to Ditto. “It’s a box. The solution is simple: if it fits, you sit.”
Ditto nodded eagerly. “Can I try?”
“Be my guest,” Sir Whiskerton said.
Ditto scampered over to the box and squeezed himself inside. He wiggled and squirmed until he was fully seated, his tail poking out one side and his ears poking out the other.
Sir Whiskerton raised an eyebrow. “Ditto, why are you sitting in that tiny box?”
Ditto grinned. “Because it fits!”
Sir Whiskerton sighed. “But you’re spilling out of it like overripe pudding.”
The Box Wars
The other animals, inspired by Ditto’s enthusiasm, began to climb into the box as well. Doris tried to nest in one corner, Porkchop sprawled out in the middle, and Bessie started painting peace signs on the sides. Rufus dug a tunnel under the box, sending dirt flying everywhere.
The box, not designed to hold so many animals, began to creak and groan. The sides bulged, the bottom sagged, and the “FRAGILE” stamp started to peel off.
Sir Whiskerton, realizing the box was on the verge of collapse, decided it was time to intervene. “Enough!” he said, leaping onto the box with a graceful flourish. “This is getting out of hand. A box is for sitting, not for… whatever this is.”
The animals looked up at him, their faces smeared with paint, dirt, and hay. “But it’s so much fun!” Porkchop said.
“Fun, yes,” Sir Whiskerton replied. “But also dangerous. If this box collapses, someone could get hurt. And then where will we be? Without a box, that’s where.”
The Simple Solution
Sir Whiskerton hopped down from the box and addressed the animals. “The problem isn’t the box. The problem is that you’re all trying to make it something it’s not. A box is a box. It’s not a nest, or a fort, or an art project. It’s a box. And if it fits, you sit. That’s the rule.”
The animals looked at each other, then back at Sir Whiskerton. “But what if it doesn’t fit?” Doris asked.
“Then you find another box,” Sir Whiskerton said. “Or you take turns. Or you sit on top of it. The point is, don’t overcomplicate things. Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best.”
Ditto, who had been listening intently, piped up. “So, it’s okay to just sit in the box?”
“Exactly,” Sir Whiskerton said. “No nesting, no painting, no digging. Just sitting.”
The Moral of the Story
With Sir Whiskerton’s guidance, the animals decided to take turns sitting in the box. Doris went first, followed by Porkchop, then Bessie, and finally Rufus. They discovered that sitting in the box was just as fun as nesting, napping, or painting—and a lot less messy.
As the sun set over the farm, Sir Whiskerton and Ditto sat on the barn roof, watching the animals enjoy their turns in the box.
“Today, we learned an important lesson,” Sir Whiskerton said. “Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best. Life doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, all you need is a box and a little bit of patience.”
Ditto nodded. “And if it fits, you sit.”
“Exactly,” Sir Whiskerton said, flicking his tail. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe it’s my turn to sit in the box.”
A Happy Ending
With the box restored to its original purpose, the farm returned to its usual rhythm. The animals took turns sitting in the box, and the farmer, who had been watching the chaos from a distance, decided to order more boxes just in case.
As for Sir Whiskerton and Ditto, they returned to their favorite spot on the barn roof, where they napped contentedly, knowing they had once again saved the day.
And so, dear reader, we leave our heroes with the promise of new adventures, new boxes, and new opportunities to embrace the simple joys of life. Until next time, may your days be filled with laughter, love, and just a little bit of sitting.
The End.
What are the things that Hong Kong hides from the world?
What do they hide? The most beautiful views in this world. Hong Kong is stunning. Mountains and beaches with their natural beauty, but also mixed with amazing architecture and a kaleidoscope of lights at night.
Photos by F KC Lo
What’s the shadiest tactic you’ve witnessed HR use at your job?
This one company I worked for at the turn of the millennium had one of the worst. They had a rude and inept accountant, a horribly petty scheduler, and a HR guy who had no problem with dishonesty.
We had a rare but intense blizzard, The roads were impassable, visibility was zero. We were told that there would be a call if work was canceled. I get that call; it’s an automated call that came from corporate in Minnesota, not directly from our company itself.
So that morning, about an hour before work, I get the call. I make note of it and go back to bed.
Pretty shortly thereafter, the HR guy calls. He wants to know why I’m not at work. “I got the automated call.”
“No you didn’t,” he says. “No call was ever made.”
Ohhhhhh…kay.
“You need to get here to work.”
I ask him how the roads are.
“The roads are fine,” he says.
I ask how many people are there this morning.
“Out of sixty-five people scheduled for today, you’re one of only two people who isn’t here for their shift,” he bluntly states.
I tell him I’m a little concerned.
“Get here when you can,” he declares gruffly. “Your job may depend on it,” then hangs up.
So I take the unreasonable request for what it is, and I grumble. I get ready for work, slowly make my way to my truck, and head to work. Now normally it would take me fifteen minutes to arrive; this time, it took little more than an hour.
When I get to work, I’m stunned. I’m one of six people. Nobody who is there is working.
“Why are you here,” the shift super asks me, puzzlingly.
“Well, Jim called,” and I explain to him what had happened. Now this manager would always listen but he would never react to what you say; he’d ask you the next question in his mind before responding to your reply.
“What, didn’t you get the call?”
I explain to him that yes, I did get the call, and that Jim had called and said no such call had been made.
“He authorized that call at 4:00 AM this morning,” the manager said.
“Well..”
“And besides, Jim hasn’t been in today.”
So…the guy chose to be an ass to me from the comfort of his bed, knowing full well he wasn’t there? Did this guy really just put my life on the line…for some inexplicable reason? I had never had any run-ins or any kind of issue with the guy before.
So I drive back home, this time it takes an hour and a half, and I’m pissed beyond belief.
A few days later, I take my complaint to the general manager. She calls Jim in. “Jim, did you call Joseph and tell him to come in?”
“Of course not,” he says cooly. “I wasn’t even in the office. Why would I call him? I called the office in as closed at 4AM, as per company policy.”
He then turns to me with a sly look, “Don’t worry,” he declares. “You’ll still get paid for the day, so it won’t affect your little paycheck.”
I’m fuming at this smart remark. The GM asks me if I have any question for Jim.
“Sure,” I said, “Are you really so stupid that you don’t know the difference between sixty-five and six, or are you simply incapable of answering a question honestly and truthfully when you’re asked?”
He laughs. End of meeting.
GM tells me later it would have been a fireable offense, my insolent remark about his ‘honesty,’ but what saved me was the bluntness of my remark and his uncalled for ‘your little paycheck’ remark, and as she’d already heard people complain about him making the same calls to them five or six times prior to our meeting that day, she liked the idea of someone taking a nice, clean shot at him, and that I’d been a bullseye.
Long story short: he was gone within six months, resigning in disgrace right before a company scandal came out about him. Turns out he, a few HR heads at other centers, and at corporate had developed a very nasty little contest: every quarter, whoever gets the most newly-hired full-time employees to resign before their six month health insurance benefits kicked in would get a thousand bucks. My six months would have been two weeks later, so I was apparently a target for his screwed up contest.
His fatal flaw was he did this on the company phone and email. What an idiot! Don’t piss off your IT guys, they have ways of getting back at you.(Apparently an IT guy was getting this treatment from a super at another location, and said person hacked into the HR guy’s email and forwarded a collection of their contest emails to many of the company employees.)
Shorpy
Are farmers in the USA really going to suffer because of traiffs on potash from Canada?
Does the MAGA crowd know that the complaint from Trump about the 270 % tariff has in dairy products is true yes it is …. It kicks when the U.S. imports some absurd number of billions of Dollars af dairy product from Canada…. A number we have never reached a tenth of so in reality is a non issue yet Trump spews it like they are killing us with tariffs. And here is the other I would like a MAGA person to explain…The US population is about 10 times
Canadas yet the trade deficit is about half… doesn’t it make sense that a smaller country would import less ? And wasn’t the agreement Trump backed out this year the same agreement he boasted about in 2019 as the greatest trade negotiation ever by him with Mexico and Canada?? What happened?
Disney’s Snow White Had Its Premiere, And Early Review For The Remake Are Suspiciously Good
Do you feel stuck in the US?
No, I left behind living in the United States in 2019. I will still spend time here and there in the US, but for the most part my life is abroad now.
Of course, reading my answers people will think I’m schizophrenic, because I’ll often comment about the unpleasant aspects of life in the United States, but I still love it as a country. I’m glad I was able to grow up in the United States and that I got to build a life nice there as an adult. My main calling to live abroad is my sense of adventure and to experience life in different places. I would not have it any other way. Living abroad has been the best, greatest adventure of my life.
Depending on exactly where you want to live, the impediments to living abroad as an American are actually relatively low. If you are thinking of making the jump, I’d say go for it!
Besotted, Bespotted
Submitted into Contest #288 in response to: Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.… view prompt
Anastasios Repousi
It’s this goddamn Great Red Spot, see.
To me, it’s just a 350-year-old storm. To everything else, it’s a 15,400-mile zit. That’s roughly 1.3 times the diameter of Earth. Now, here’s a question: would you date someone with a zit 1.3 times the size of you?
Answer: no.
You’d call them buddy.
After a while I spy in my periphery the faint but dignified celestial spotlight of Uranus. Turning to face Him, I ask with Jovian thunder, ‘Storm and stone, why call thee Uranus?’, like I haven’t asked before, and His response is, with a bloated sigh, ‘Because I’m full of gas.’
Gets me every time.
Poor Uranus, though. They say scent offends most, and everyone knows He’s cloud over core for Titan (Saturn’s moon), who notably smells a bit like gasoline and almonds (that’s Bleu De Chanel perfume by space standards). I mean, we gas giants all have a scent, but Uranus is the unwashed butt of the Solar System.
No chance, man. No chance, no chance.
‘That spot isn’t going anywhere, is it, Jupiter?’ howls Uranus. And I respond with a dignified, ‘It’s just a storm, man. Void, I am the storm!’
He opts for this: ‘Scary.’
And I say, ‘Must be tough, smelling like a space-rat.’
And He says, ‘Gosh Golly, you’re in a mood today.’
And I say, ‘It’s this damn spot, it won’t abate. And nice to see you, too. How’s long’s it been?’
‘From my perspective, a season or a few Uranus months ago. You?’
‘A little over a year ago, yeah.’
Back and forth, round and round.
Jupiter. Uranus. Jupiter. Uranus.
Jupiter’s vacuuming Trojan asteroids from its ebony carpet, trying to win Earth’s attention like a show-off feminine knight in golden armour with storm-formed pauldrons and icy jewels.
He looks magnificent. So what if Earth dotes on Him?
Uranus is back, rotating like a lazy turtle chasing a wayward ripple. ‘Best thing you can do,’ He says, ‘slather some benzoyl peroxide on it. It’ll calm the spot right down.’
‘Calm’s right,’ I say. ‘But it’s a storm. It just needs time.’
‘Until the next one appears,’ Uranus says.
‘Oh Jove’s Thunder, don’t say that!’
We talk for weeks. Part ways. Until next time.
Months pass.
The spot is shrinking but still young. It faces toward Earth like a cherubic newborn. Earth rotates, Her splatter-of-paint eye glancing sideways, her little South America smirk.
I do not say anything, besotted, bespotted gashead I am. I drift for many months more. I get the idea that Earth and Saturn are fucking. That’s the nature of gorgeous things; they cling together, like God’s balls in His great divine zipper.
This little squall across my face, it shrinks yet somehow grows. I know, I know it’s slowly shrinking—but it just gets bigger and bigger, you know?
‘Have you checked out that dating app, Jupiter? It’s called Gravitate. How’d I meet my exoplanet? At a Big Bang. Did I “conjoin” with Mercury? No comet’
Wild Venus, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
To be honest, I guess I’m feeling a little deflated. I guess I’m all, I don’t know, feeling like a tiny particle adrift the vast, cold, finite infinity with a cycloptic, oozing blister of tempests and feel like I’ve got something to hide.
They call that shame.
It could be worse. It is worse for the sun. He’s got sunspots basically the size of me, and He’ll just keep flaring up, and He’s always searing angry about it, and no wonder.
Okay, friggin: do I do it? I’m doing it. Yeah, let’s do it. It’s done.
Discovery Settings, Search Distance: 5,000,000,000 miles >>>>>>>>> 2.5 million light-years.
Show Ages: 3,500,000,000 <<<<>>>> 6,000,000,000
Gravitate account’s all set up.
By the way, here’s my bio: I’m the planet with a Huge Red Eye, but I promise, I’m not high.
It sounds like a rap bar, but it’ll do.
I begin swiping.
Venus 4,503,000,000
416 million kilometres away.
‘Looking for someone to cool me off—if you can handle 900°F!’ 😛 🔥🥵
There She goes…
I swipe left.
Pluto 4,500,000,000
3.7 billion miles away
Not technically a planet anymore but still proud. Swipe right if you are looking for something more than just Plutonic and can handle a little distance. 😎🪐
Right.
Proxima Centauri b 5,000,000,000
4.24 light-years away
Pros:
Habitable
Spacious
Cons:
Live far away
Tidally locked
Left.
You know, I bet you Saturn’s on here. I bet you he’s saying something like, ‘This ring doesn’t mean I’m taken.’ He’s like that.
Earth 4,540,000,000
484 miles away
I’m a down-to-Earth chick. 😀 Mother of seven billion. Environmentalist.
Gulp. Swipe Right. Gulp.
Hours later, a ping.
IT’S AN ALIGNMENT! <3 You’ve matched with Earth! <3
Woah. Wait. Woah.
I don’t say anything, nor does She. I can’t seem to think of something to say. Then I say, Did God really make you in six days? 😛
And She says, ‘Are you sure you’re not high, Red Eye? :P’
And for the first time in 350 years… I think I can feel the storm settling.
Why do some countries depend so heavily on exports to the US, and could they survive without that market?
Canada allowed ourselves to be sucked in by the U.S. because we thought they were our friends and transportation of goods to the U.S. was much easier than sending them to other countries.
We have learned our lesson and are working hard to open up other markets for our resources.
Cajun Style Red Beans and Rice with Turkey
Cajun Style Red Beans and Rice with Turkey is a Cajun classic – red beans in a seasoned mild chili sauce, mixed with turkey and served over rice.
Prep: 30 min | Total: less than 1 hr | Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (15 ounce) cans mild red beans in chili sauce, undrained
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 2 cups chopped leftover cooked Butterball® Turkey
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions.
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic; cook 7 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.
- Stir in beans, cumin, salt and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir in turkey; cook, uncovered, 5 minutes, or until heated through, stirring ccasionally.
- Add parsley to rice; mix lightly.
- Spoon onto serving platter; top with the bean mixture.
Why Everything Seems To No Longer Be Worth The Money
By introducing tariffs on imports and encouraging US businesses to set up manufacturing in the US, is the Trump administration decreasing international demand for the US$ for international trade and de-dollarization without realizing it?
US businesses moved their manufacturing offshore. They did so because costs were too high for their products and operations. Trump’s tariffs will worsen this situation, especially if they go universal. The protection that is implicit in the tariffs does not change the fundamentals, and will not attract them home. He will have to offer generous upfront incentives.
Even then, it will attract only a small number, to take advantage of the incentives in a short-term play to make some money. The effect on the international demand of dollar would be quite marginal.
More portentous on the demand of the dollar would be if the tariffs cause prices to rise to levels that cause a big fall of demand. If countries are not able to sell to the US, they will not buy from the US. The volume of trade falls, and with it, the demand for dollar falls. This is not a one-country situation, but across countries. Taken together, the fall in the demand for dollar in international trade would be substantial.
Or even overwhelming, if Trump keeps his promise to tariff 100% any BRICS country which does not use the dollar in its international trade.
China definitely fits the bill. It is already doing a lot of its foreign trade with other countries in yuan and the national currencies. Over 50% of its trade are settled in yuan, reducing the share of dollar to less than 40%, compared with 70% or more during Trump’s first term.
If the tariff on China’s goods is raised to 100%, China would see this as decoupling. In effect, it has no more need for the dollar. Let’s speculate a scenario.
(1) China only sells to the US in yuan, and be paid in yuan,
(2) pays in dollar for purchases from the US, making use of its dollar reserves,
(3) trades with other countries in yuan and the national currencies, settlements also in yuan and national currencies. The dollar is out of the picture,
(4) the combination of (1) + (2) + (3) would put pressures on the forex value of the dollar. Demand for dollar would fall to create a surplus in the international market. The surplus will return to the US.
(5) China lends excess dollar reserves to countries to repay their dollar debts in exchange for yuan debts, such as has already happened. This will add to the surplus in (4) and create a surplus in the Eurobond market in London.
This is not a wild scenario if China is forced to exit the dollar system. It will accelerate dedollarisation. What is now in foxtrot will quicken to a quickstep.
Hi all!
Concerning the curated feeds you are consuming:
Energy flows where Attention goes.
And nothing in Life is free.
You have to pay – Attention.
So it might be about time to alter your morning Routine.
newsola.com for instance, or a complete different schedule altogether.
I shifted that myself during the Last weeks, i was an a Business Trip and Had No Coffee in the Hotel, Just Didi some pushups, shower, walk to Office, work.
That really opened Up some other perspectives.
Anyway, best regards and have a great day all y’all!