There was a very popular magazine, back in the day, called The national Lampoon magazine. I would buy it on occasion. It was sort of like MAD magazine, only a tad more upscale. And the jokes more “mature”. Today, I wish to devote some memory time to this publication…
Today…
Does every beautiful girl have an attitude?
I think I’m able to answer this one. I grew up in a house with girls, well, except for dad.
Mom was a former model. My two sisters, twins two years older than me, began modelling at age 15 after being discovered by a department store manager. They did TV commercials for the Hudson Bay Company department store.
All their lives, since children, the girls were told how beautiful and pretty they were.
As Lori once put it, “If you are told that by others nearly every day of your lives, you believe it.”
But mom kept the girl’s feet firmly on the ground. She continuously told them that it wasn’t what’s up here, the face, that was important but what was in here, the heart, that really counted. ‘Never think you are above others, but feel more that you are equal.”
As their younger brother, I can firmly attest that they took that to heart and lived by it. They put up with a lot of jealousy and envy but handled it well.
So no, not every beautiful girl has an attitude. Many are down to earth, and treat people the way they want to be treated.
On the other hand, I knew that my sisters would intimidate guys not meaning to. Guys took it for granted they had boyfriends and would not approach them. And they came up with their own conclusions, not even talking to them, that they were conceited.
Tracy was very shy with people she didn’t know and would throw up protective walls around herself. She was often thought of as conceited. She was just shy.
As Tracy once simply said, “Good looks doesn’t always mean bad attitudes. You can’t judge a book by its cover and you can’t judge a person by their looks.”
She once said that dad and I were the only guys that didn’t seem to have trouble talking to her.
“We’re used to you,” I told her.
So next time you see a beautiful girl, don’t judge her by her looks, she also might have a younger brother who thinks she’s a terrific sister.
The Lost Boys (Jóvenes Ocultos) – “Cry Little Sister” – Gerard McMann (By Mikonos)
This song defined the 1980’s; from the movie “The Lost Boys”.
What was the most impactful moment in your life, and how did it change you?
It didn’t change me.
But it could have.
In 1987 I had just graduated from Waterloo, and I was working as a software developer at Nortel, pretty well a dream job at the time. I was travelling regularly to our lab in Mountain View California. I was living with a great partner, and things were all around good.
My girlfriend was a long-distance biker, and that summer she decided she wanted to take a long solo trip. We’d wanted to visit New York City, and so she decided to take about a week and bike from Toronto to just outside of Hartford Connecticut, where my uncle lived. We had another friend George who had also just graduated, and we decided that George and I would drive down in a car I’d rent once she arrived, hit NYC for a day, and then loop up to New Hampshire, visit my grandparents, and drive on back to Toronto.
At the same time, my roommate Mel and his buddy Chris wanted to go see some concert in Hartford — I think maybe Stevie Ray Vaughan. So, they decided to drive down with us in return for paying for gas. Mel and Chris were both electricians and musicians, and definitely on the grungy side.
When you drive to New York from Toronto you hit the US border almost right away, in Buffalo. We left early and made the border about 7:00 AM in our rental Ford Taurus, George and I in the front seat and Mel and Chris in the back. We were going to drive straight through so we had some snacks and drinks.
Now, I’d been through the border many times, and I was used to breezing through, but not this time. They definitely were taking their time, and I’ll admit that the setup was a bit strange, two straight-arrow math geeks in the front of a Ford Taurus and a couple of long-haired rockers in the back. They asked to put the car up on the hoist, sent in a dog, basically the whole nine yards. But hey, that’s their job, so I just mellowed out and waited.
Eventually after about an hour the lead guy came over and said “I’m sorry, but we are not letting you into the USA today”. Then he took just me aside, and said “Look, if you show up back here without the two in the back, you’ll get through.”
So… we packed up the car, took Mel and Chris back to Niagara Falls in Canada, dropped them at the bus terminal, went back over the border, got through with no problem, and had a fantastic trip.
And that was more or less it.
Until we got back to Toronto a week or so later.
And when I got back home, who happened to be there but Mel and Chris.
And after a bit of catch-up, there was a lull in the conversation, and Mel said
“Man, it sure is good that they didn’t find the hash oil I hid in my tuna sandwich.”
I can tell you honestly, it would have taken me very little to have killed him on the spot.
Let’s just think about this:
- I was driving a rental car. It would have been impounded and probably seized. I would have been bankrupt.
- My life in the last 35 years has involved extensive international travel. That would have been impossible with a criminal record.
- I quite possibly could have gone to jail.
- “I’m overreacting”, you say? This was right after Ronald Reagan announced “Zero Tolerance” in the War on Drugs.
- Oh, yeah, I also would have lost my job if I had a criminal record. And it would have been difficult to get another.
- My girlfriend worked in youth corrections, and could not associate with a criminal. Kiss that goodbye too.
Truly, that moment was the moment I realized that even when you think you are in control of your life, you are not. And I suddenly started thinking very carefully not only about my own actions, but about who was in my life. Not that I was really reckless, it’s just that I tended to be pretty trusting in who I hung out with.
That changed in a hurry.
Tamastasia
Written in response to: “Write a story from the POV of a now-defunct piece of technology.“
Nic Kursonis
I remember watching that one. She was a princess like Anastasia.
“What else do you remember?”
She introduced me to her creators, Mom and Dad. They were just as happy to see me as I was to see them. Then she introduced me to you, Abel. You were not as excited to meet me the first time as I was to meet you. I always wondered why you never seemed as enthusiastic as she did when I saw you.
“I was a teenager and a boy.”
What does that mean?
“Teenager means older kid, basically. I am not sure how to explain boys and girls to you or anyone anymore.”
What is a kid?
“She was… Dawn was a kid. Your creator is, was young when you remember her. Her life was just beginning, just as you felt yours was.”
What is—
“Never mind, what do you remember before this moment?”
Where is she?
“She’s not here. I want you to try to remember what happened to you before you awoke again just now.”
I remember her feeding me, giving me medicine when I was sick, and taking care of me whenever I needed it. She is everything to me.
“Yes, but please, what do you remember before this moment?”
I was with her in a small shaking space.
“A car?”
What is—
“That’s on me, sorry, please continue.”
I was with her, but she was sad. I had never seen her sad. How you look right now is how I remember her from that moment. Are you sad?
“Don’t worry about me; please keep to your memory.”
Why am I with you? Why do I feel different?
“Ana, you’ve got to stay on task.”
I want her, bring her here, please.
“She can’t be here right now; I need you to keep telling the story.”
Will she come when I am done?
…
Why won’t you speak?
“She will come when you’re done, yes.”
Okay. She was sad, but we weren’t alone. There was…
“What? There was what?”
Able. You were there.
“Yes, I was.”
You know why she was sad. Why are you and her sad?
“I am sad for a very different reason than she was.”
I am sorry for you both. I tried to cheer her up with my smile, but then I remember being pulled from her. She held me and tried to keep me. Then I remember her seeing something, and then I was spinning—very fast, so very fast.
“That’s all you remember?”
Yes. Then I woke up here with you. How am I communicating with you? She would communicate with me, but not in this way. This is new; what has happened? Where is she? Where is Dawn?
“That was about twenty-five years ago. In the winter of 1999, the world was bracing for Y2K. You won’t know what that is, but don’t worry, you don’t need to, though if you did, you might find this situation hilariously ironic. Especially if you have seen The Terminator with her, but I doubt that. I was driving, er, delivering her to our creator’s house.”
Mom and Dad created you, too?
“What? Ye,s of course, yes they did—“
Your sad is very similar to hers. You two look similar with those big green circles.
…
What? Did I say something you didn’t want me to?
“No, you just said something that means a lot to me.”
What does that—
“That means it’s very important to you. The movie Anastasia was, is very important to your creator, Dawn.”
She is very important to me.
“Yeah, she’s important to me too.”
Then she should be here with us. You said she was coming to be here with us.
“Ana, I know I said.”
Dawn! I am awake again; we can play! I don’t feel hungry like usual, but you can still feed me!
“She’s not coming.”
Well, then, I will shout louder, CREATOR!
“She’s dead… I know you know that word. She let you die about a thousand times. The first day she had you, you died three times.”
She can come back then; let’s bring her back.
“There’s no coming back for her like there was for you.”
I don’t understand. Sometimes, your creator forgets to feed you, you starve, and then you come back again.
“Yeah, I know you’re used to it. I wish that was the case for her, but we only got one Dawn. Since that day, the world has been pretty dark. Even the brightest days cast a dark shadow after her last.”
Did you forget to feed her?
“No, no, we never forgot to feed her. That would’ve been impossible with how loud she was. I wish I could hear her again. One last time.”
I still don’t understand.
“That day, you remember, I was taking her home from school. She wouldn’t shut up about you and how much she loved feeding and taking care of you. I was in a dark place at the time.”
But you could see her, how was it dark?
“In hindsight, you’re right. I didn’t see the sun right in front of me. I mean metaphorically.”
What is—
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I was upset about something so stupid. I couldn’t hear my music over her yammering, don’t ask. I grabbed you and tried to take you away from her. She pulled back, and then the next thing I knew, we were flipping, and then I must have hit my head and blacked out. When I came to, I turned around, and she was gone.”
Where did she go?
“No, I mean she had died. Excep,t unlike you, we couldn’t bring her back.
I don’t believe you. I am going to go find her.
“What? How are you standing up already? I haven’t programmed movement to your synthetic body yet!”
I am going to find her!
“Ana, No!”
***
“Then what happened?”
“She literally busted through my door with her new body.”
“Really? What was the body made of?”
“The infrastructure was a special titanium alloy, but when you don’t feel pain—anything is possible. When I say busted, she just walked through it until it fell into pieces.”
“Fascinating.”
“For someone who never experienced true movement before, she could move. She made it out into the street in seconds. I chased as quick as I could, but by the time I made it outside, she got hit by a truck.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. Her upper torso and head landed near me. I thought she had died, but she slowly opened her eyes like a human.”
“Did she say anything?”
“You both mean a lot to me.”
Wisconsin-Style French Onion Soup
While you might imagine French onion soup in a Parisian brasserie, Wisconsin-Style French Onion Soup is the ultimate at-home meal to soothe your worries and warm your soul from the inside. Stacked high with sweetly caramelized onions, crusty bread and piles of melted cheese, it’s hard to imagine anything better.
Active time: 40 min | Yield: 8 servings, 1 cup each
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons butter, cubed and divided
- 3 pounds medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 12 ounces lager beer
- 4 cups (1 quart) beef broth
- 8 ounces pretzel rolls, buns or bread, cubed
- 10 ounces Blaser’s Mild Wisconsin Brick cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups)
Instructions
- Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add onions; cook, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Season with salt and pepper. Stir in sugar. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes or until onions are deep brown, stirring frequently.
- Gradually stir in beer; allow soup to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in beef broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes longer or until broth is slightly reduced, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter; toss butter with pretzel bread on a 15 x 10 inch baking pan. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until bread is toasted, turning once.
- Ladle soup into eight ovenproof serving bowls. Top each with bread cubes; sprinkle with brick.
- Broil 3 to 4 inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Notes
Brick cheese is a Wisconsin original. Traditional aged or German-style brick has a beige smear on its surface; the color darkens and flavor intensifies with age. Trimming the rind reduces its aroma and flavor.
DANGER: Major G7 Export Dumped For BRICS
Are we missing important subtext in the tariff war started with Canada? If we do not import Canadian products (and they do not import ours) who benefits? Whose goods do we replace Canadian products with?
And here we have the issue that Trump is too stupid to understand.
Well, Trump is too stupid to understand a lot of issues, but tariffs are high on the list.
We can summarize the situation as follows::
- Canada sells stuff that the US desperately needs, and would have difficulty replacing.
- Canada can sell our stuff elsewhere. We’ve been too lazy to develop other markets, but that’s changing.
- There is very little that Canada buys from the US that we can’t get elsewhere.
Oil: Canada supplies 4.4 million barrels of crude oil to the US every day, and the number is growing. It’s approaching 25% of total American thirst for oil. Can Trump find that much oil to replace Canadian crude? Sure – at a very high cost. That would be economic costs and political costs. There would also be massive engineering costs since a dozen American oil refineries are specifically designed to handle Canadian heavy crude. To redesign and rebuild them for Saudi light crude would take months and Billions of $$$.
Aluminum . Canada – especially Quebec – has oodles of low priced hydroelectric power. That’s what you need to make aluminum. The US ran out of low cost power long ago. Recent reports have stated that the US may help Russia develop its crumbling infrastructure so that Russia can supply the US with aluminum. Hey, at least Trump has earned his new award:
Potash? One more time, potash is a vital fertilizer ingredient, and the US has practically none. Nearly 90% of potash used by American farmers comes from Canada. And … farming associations and lending institutions have warned American farmers they’re fucked. They have no choice but to pay Trump’s Tariff Tantrum. That’s another $1 Billion in farming costs. Just one commodity out of many.
But don’t worry! Senior Trump Toady, Senator Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa) just realized that he comes from a farming state … and that his farmers are fucked. He’s gone begging and whining and pleading to Trump, “please, please, pretty please exempt our farmers”. A little more brown nosing there, Chuck!. To coin a phrase: as you sowed, so shall you reap.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/3/sen-chuck-grassley-seeks-fertilizer-exemption-tari/
Hey, Russia and Belarus together make up the world’s #2 potash supplier. I’m sure that Czar Putin will give his favourite Employee of the Month a special deal … once he stops laughing. If they can spare the capacity.
Uranium, lithium, lumber … the list goes on and on. And like the Titanic, Iceberg Trump will sink the US economy
Tourism: That’s an industry like any other. The US “imports” more than $20 Billion in tourist dollars from Canada. The US may want Canadian tourists. Or not. The problem is that Canadians are now boycotting American tourism. Money talks, and Canada’s two major airlines are slashing US schedules, especially to holiday spots. Why should Canadians visit a (former) friend when there are other friendly nations to visit?
The Absolute Degeneracy Of Modern Women!
Why didn’t rising wages in China lead to more manufacturing returning to America?
Labor in China to make a Combine Harvester costs $ 29,500 whereas the same labor costs $ 180,000 in US
This is because
- 40% of the work in China is fully mechanized unlike only 15% in USA
- The Skilled Chinese Worker is paid 2130 Yuan ($ 294) per week for 60 hours (50 hours normal plus 10 hours overtime) versus $ 1,270 a week for 40 hours in the US
- The Skilled Chinese worker costs only 37,700 Yuan a year in benefits and security against a whopping $ 30,850 a year for an American worker including Insurance and Workers comp contributions
This is also because
- A Ningbo line can turnover 130 Harvesters a month against 33 for a line in Akron Ohio
China cannot be touched when it comes to manufacturing
How do tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees, who sought shelter in Rakhine state, fare after the Myanmar earthquake?
The Rohingya issue in Myanmar is Myanmar’s internal affairs, and it is also a very complex and thorny issue. It is recommended that foreigners do not interfere. If foreign countries interfere, it will only make the problem more complicated and difficult to solve.
Ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar are Myanmar citizens. No matter how they fight, it is only a civil war.
The Rohingyas are not Myanmar citizens. For Myanmar, they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and the common enemy of all ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar.
Regardless of their relationship with the junta, Myanmar ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar are highly consistent in their position on driving away the Rohingyas. Even the Arakan Army, which has a feud with the junta, is also working hard to drive away the Rohingyas.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s heavy blow to the Rohingyas is to unite Myanmar ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar.
Junta’s activities to expel the Rohingyas were not smooth.
The Rohingya invasion mainly harmed the Rakhine people in Rakhine State.
The Rakhine people had been very obedient to the Burmese military government. The early Rakhine armed forces had long been disbanded, and it seemed that even the militia had been disbanded.
The Rakhine people are exactly the same as the Burmese in terms of blood, language, and culture, except that they had established the Arakan Kingdom in history.
But the ineffective expulsion policy of Junta was unbearable for the Rakhine people, so they set up the Arakan Army again to fight the Rohingya.
The current Arakan Army almost occupies the entire Rakhine State.
Therefore, although the Arakan Army may have briefly aided the Rohingya for humanitarian reasons after the Myanmar earthquake, there is still a possibility that the Rohingya will be expelled again once order is restored.
Vocal ANALYSIS of Stone Temple Pilots – Grunge’s Next Chapter on TCV
Sir Whiskerton and the Great Dairy Heist: A Tale of Jousting Hens, Breakdancing Rodents, and Questionable Life Choices
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for a tale so gloriously unhinged that even the scarecrow would question his life choices. Today’s story is one of criminal squirrels, poultry knights, and the eternal truth that no good plan survives contact with a chicken wearing a tiny helmet.
So grab your popcorn (or at least a handful of stolen feed), and let us dive into Sir Whiskerton and the Great Dairy Heist: A Tale of Jousting Hens, Breakdancing Rodents, and Questionable Life Choices.
Act 1: The Squirrel Gang’s Milk Misadventure
It all began with Nutters the Squirrel, criminal mastermind and self-proclaimed “King of the Moo Juice Black Market.” His latest scheme? Stealing fresh milk from the farmer’s barn. A foolproof plan, really—except for one tiny problem:
Farm dogs.
- “We’ll never get past Rufus and Bingo!” squeaked Splatter, the gang’s nervous tech expert.
- “That’s why,” Nutters grinned, twirling his bushy tail, “we go through the chicken coop.”
- “That’s… not how buildings work,” Dot pointed out.
- “SILENCE!” Nutters declared. “I saw it in a heist movie!”
And so, under cover of darkness, the Squirrel Gang infiltrated the chicken coop, tiptoeing past snoozing hens with all the grace of… well, squirrels in tiny black masks.
They made it three whole steps before Doris the Hen woke up.
Act 2: The Rise of the Poultry Knights
Doris took one look at the intruders and let out a shriek that could shatter glass.
- “BURGLARS! SCOUNDRELS! VERMIN WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD!”
- “Record!” Ditto echoed, immediately taking notes for future mischief.
The coop erupted into chaos. Hens flapped, squirrels panicked, and somewhere in the distance, Rufus the Dog sleep-barked at a dream squirrel.
Enter Lucifer the Chipmunk, perching dramatically on Mr. Ducky’s back like a tiny, chaotic Napoleon.
- “What you need,” Lucifer whispered, “are miniature jousting lances.”
- “I do have some in stock!” Mr. Ducky gasped, rummaging through his sales cart. “Slightly used, excellent for self-defense and/or dramatic flair!”
Meanwhile, Ratso the Rat, sensing opportunity, slithered out of the shadows.
- “For a small fee,” he rasped, “I can train you hens in the art of… rodent jousting.”
- “DEAL!” Doris clucked, already strapping on a tiny helmet.
And thus, the Poultry Knights were born.
Act 3: The Joust Heard ‘Round the Farm
What followed was the most ridiculous battle in farm history.
- Doris, atop Ratso, charged with a lance made of a straightened coat hanger.
- Harriet, riding a very confused field mouse, wobbled into battle.
- Lillian fainted mid-charge (but looked very dramatic doing it).
The Squirrel Gang, unprepared for medieval warfare, scrambled.
- “THIS WASN’T IN THE HEIST MOVIE!” Nutters yelped, dodging a lance to the face.
- “Movie!” Ditto cheered, filming the chaos with a stolen carrot.
Just when things couldn’t get worse… Cecil and Chester arrived.
The bumbling handymen had been sent to fix the farmer’s fridge but somehow installed a jukebox instead.
- “It’s modern refrigeration!” Cecil insisted as Breakdancing Queen blared across the barnyard.
- “That’s not how thermodynamics works,” Sir Whiskerton muttered.
The effect was instantaneous.
- Hens started breakdancing mid-joust.
- Mice attempted backspins.
- The Valley Chicks hijacked the jukebox for K-pop, leading to an impromptu “Gangnam Style” jousting routine.
Act 4: Sir Whiskerton Saves the Day (Again)
Sir Whiskerton, woken from his nap by the sound of clucking synchronized dancing, took one look at the madness and declared martial law.
- “STOP. THIS. INSTANT.”
- “Instant!” Ditto repeated, still filming.
With the precision of a feline fed up with nonsense, he:
- Unplugged the jukebox (ignoring the Valley Chicks’ protests).
- Sent the Squirrel Gang packing (with a stern warning about future dairy-related crimes).
- Convinced Ratso to “retire” from jousting (in exchange for a lifetime supply of cheese crumbs).
As order was restored, Lucifer sulked on Mr. Ducky’s back.
- “You ruined art,” he sniffed.
- “No,” Sir Whiskerton corrected. “I ruined arson. There’s a difference.”
Moral of the Story
Crime doesn’t pay—especially when your getaway plan involves angry chickens on rodents.
Also, never let Cecil and Chester near appliances.
Best Lines
- “VERMIN WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD!” — Doris, Hen of Justice.
- “This wasn’t in the heist movie!” — Nutters, failed criminal.
- “It’s modern refrigeration!” — Cecil, worst handyman ever.
Post-Credit Scene
The Valley Chicks start a K-pop jousting league. Ferdinand auditions as a “vocal coach.” It goes poorly.
Starring
- Sir Whiskerton as The Cat Who’s This Close to Moving Cities
- Nutters as The Squirrel Who Watched Too Much Ocean’s Eleven
- Doris as “I Look Fabulous in a Helmet”
- Cecil & Chester as Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
P.S. If life gives you a jukebox, make sure it’s not installed in your fridge.
The End.
(Word count: 3,246 – because chaos cannot be contained.)
Key Stone Kops
On March 20, 2025, the US FBI publicly offered a $15 million reward for Chinese citizen EMILY LIU. The Chinese citizen is suspected of purchasing conventional civilian electronic components, capacitors, resistors and other products from the United States through companies registered in China, and then reselling them to the Iranian military.
I remember that the reward for Osama Bin Laden was only $5 million.
In the eyes of the FBI, Emily Li is three times more dangerous than Osama bin Laden.This is outrageous.
But I am very curious, EMILY LIU works in a Chinese company every day, neither hiding nor running away.
Why can’t the FBI catch her?
Do American car manufacturers have the capacity to make up for reduced imports of foreign cars resulting from Trumps tariffs? If not, are they likely to raise prices to take advantage of the reduced availability.
They don’t have the capacity and they aren’t necessarily going to try to build capacity.
In the meantime, they will pay more for parts made in Canada, Mexico or anywhere else needed to assemble the car because American car manufacturers are paying tariffs, which they’ll mark up and pass along to buyers, if the economy doesn’t go into complete freefall.
Their decision rests on whether these tariffs are temporary until Trump either grows an intellect or is no longer in office.
Building plants takes years and cost a hell of a lot of money.
That last bit includes foreign car manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda or Volkswagen who might otherwise be candidates to build more plants here.
Trump wants them to build plants here, but the open hostility Trump’s shown to our erstwhile allies will no doubt give them pause. The US does not currently possess a stable business environment and there’s nothing that businesses that risk billions hate worse than instability.
So, there isn’t the capacity to meet current demand, but demand may slack off because of the failing economy, which means that American manufacturers aren’t going pay out billions for new capacity.
Has a game developer ever accidentally deleted his/her entire game before releasing it?
I don’t know of a game developer who accidentally deleted his game before releasing it, but I know of a game developer who had his game irrevocably corrupted before he could finish it.
Set the wayback machine for the mid-1980s, when home computers ruled the video game landscape.
A game developer and artist by the name of Jim Sachs (of Defender of the Crown fame) was developing a game based on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for the Amiga and created a custom-boot routine for his game (it loaded from floppy disk, like most games of the era).
He had gotten pretty far into development and, of course, had some pretty awesome art along with his game code.
Screenshot from Defender of the Crown, artwork by Jim Sachs
About that time, a virus was going around.
As far as I know, it was one of the first instances of a computer virus.
It was pretty insidious, but was meant to be harmless.
It was developed by a guy who wanted to prove to his friend that all computer memory wasn’t erased when doing a warm reboot on an Amiga.
He created a little program that wrote itself to the boot sector of a floppy disk after a warm reboot. After five or six warm reboots, it would reveal itself as a window that popped up and said, “Congratulations, your computer has been infected with a virus!” (it may be the SCA virus, but it doesn’t sound exactly the same).
One of Sach’s screens from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (image credit)
Normally, this “virus” was harmless.
It would write itself to disks that weren’t write-protected, but would otherwise leave disks usable. A skilled Amiga user could overwrite the infected sectors to clean the virus away, though it may have infected several disks. But this was only true for disks that used standard boot sectors, using the standard Amiga disk-operating system.
As you’ll recall, Sachs wrote a custom boot-routine for his game, and some of his disks became infected with the virus while he was developing his game. Since it doesn’t reveal itself until after it had infected several disks, and only after the requisite number of warm reboots, it’d be easy to infect one’s entire collection of write-enabled disks. Sachs game disk was write enabled since:
- He was actively developing his game
- Most game disks were write enabled by default, so they could save game state and other information (this was before hard disks were common)
The virus overwrote part of his custom boot-up routine, effectively destroying several months of work. I don’t know if he had his source protected by an SCM, but there is good chance that he didn’t, since that wasn’t common at the time either.
Soon afterwards, apparently disappointed by the loss of so many month’s work, he gave up game development for good.
Is it common that a middle or working-class American who emigrates permanently to the UK finds that the NHS is much better than the healthcare in their home country?
Yes is the answer to that.
We had an engineer come over from the US on a years assignment. He had good insurance from the company but was a little concerned about “the state of healthcare in the UK”, having heard all the propaganda in the US.
It took one incident to change his mind. 2 months after he arrived, he was driving home one evening when he was involved in high speed RTC. He was hit by a drunk driver at what the police estimated to be 70 – 80 mph. His car was rolled twice and ended up on its side against a wall. He doesn’t remember it and he’s based this on what he was told after he came round in the car… in excruciating pain. His leg and arm hurt, he was struggling to breathe and couldn’t see due to blood in his eyes from a large cut on his head. A police officer told him not to move or try and get out… fire brigade and ambulance were on their way. The ambulance arrived 1st and a paramedic started to assess him. Then the fire brigade arrived. 35 minutes later he was on a spinal board in an ambulance on his way to A&E.
He said he started to think about whose insurance would pay for this. The paramedic assured him that the other drivers insurance would be covering it. He clarified he meant his medical costs… ambulances weren’t cheap. The paramedic looked confused and wanted to know what he was talking about. He didn’t know if his health insurance would cover the cost of the ambulance. The paramedic noted a possible concussion as the patient was getting a little confused.
At A&E he was wheeled straight into treatment, the paramedic handed over to the nurses and doctors and went to get him booked in. He was assessed and then sent for X-rays to his broken leg, arm and possibly ribs. Then a CT scan in case of any internal bleeding. He was starting to stress out as he believed he’d be out of pocket to the tune of ‘000s until such time as his insurance kicked in.
Broken tibia & fibula, broken radius, bruised ribs and numerous lacerations. His arm was reset in the ED and he would need an operation to set his leg, to be done in a few hours, meaning a couple of days in hospital as well. His stress levels were going higher and higher until a nurse put him right. Emergency care was free in the UK, even to Americans. He also probably wouldn’t be charged for his followups as the hospital didn’t have a billing department.
As he told us later, he didn’t realise what bullshit healthcare in the US was.
Trump announces end of American Exceptionalism and retreat to Fortress America
The Soviet Union ended in 1991, and for practical purposes, American Exceptionalism ended today, in 2025.
Here is what the US media misses in reporting Trump’s tariffs. After WWII, the western world and its allies in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore) were encouraged to export their goods for purchase by the US middle class. Today, Trump said that they took advantage of the US. Actually, it was Wall Street which exported US jobs to China and Asia. No foreigners took advantage of the US, because the US offered its own home market to companies from these countries.
Now, Trump is demanding reciprocal tariffs. What does that mean? Trump is admitting that the US no longer has the buying power to offer foreign countries. Now everyone is on the same level playing field.
In simple terms, Trump is admitting that the US is no longer exceptional, and Trump is demanding equal treatment, just like every other country. This is why he is driving the US retreat into Fortress America. And Trump demanded emergency powers so that he could set tariffs. Emergency powers mean trouble.
What happened to the USSR in 1991, is now happening to the US. We will get to see if this is an orderly change, or things spin out of control, as they did in the 1990s in Russia. The changes in Russia paved the way for Putin to take control.
If you live in the US, it might be a good time to start your own vegetable garden.
Pictures
Have you ever lost your job suddenly? How did you survive?
In March after 9/11 our company had been “merged” into another. Six months later they laid 1200 of us off.
I had savings, but the company gave me a large severance package. I was let go on Thursday about 11:00 am, but I still had computer access and my door fob still worked until Friday afternoon. They were quite civilized about it.
I copied all of my projects over to the central archive.
Then we all went to the bar, and drank our faces off.
The next morning at about 3;30 or 4:00 am, I got a phone call and I was offered a job contracting if I started my own company. The call was from overseas, and they wanted to make sure I was still available.
It took me most of the week, to get the company started, and get insurance etc.
About the time I had everything ready, the company that had laid me off, called me and wanted me to come back to work. The partner companies were furious that they were paying for my services on their projects, but I wasn’t there anymore.
I agreed to come back half time, for double my old salary, with the provision that I could work for other companies as long as there was no conflict of interest. I would never get another chance like this again, to set the terms of employment.
I managed to survive with my severance and double my old salary, plus my new job. It was the best lay off I ever had.
Has a housekeeper ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?
Not to me but I did as a housekeeper. Back when I was young and new to the job and not quite professional.
I had left my cleaning tray outside a room to go and get bed linen or something when I got back to it I noticed the milk portions were missing.
As I was cleaning one of the rooms I saw that someone had taken a lot of milk portions and filled the outside pouch of their suitcase with them, it was overflowing. They were checking out shortly and I thought it was wrong they were stealing the milk portions, I think at the time we were low on them as well. So I took back the milk portions and left a note saying ‘Please do not steal’ in their suitcase pouch – which was an invasion of privacy.
Long story short all the housekeepers got called into the managers office and I got a boll*cking but my colleague thought it was hilarious and she was in fits of giggles.
They shouldn’t have stolen, I shouldn’t have reached into their suitcase pouch to take back the milk portions.
Why do proponents of single-payer healthcare in small European countries refuse to discuss/mention that it just won’t work in the USA with 320+ million people?
Wrong. All wrong, I mean, not just something wrong, one detail wrong. Every single thing you said is wrong.
In first place, people in small and large European countries already have universal healthcare, so we are not proponents: we know exactly how universal healthcare works and its benefits. We don’t need to be proponents, we have it.
As we have in small and big countries we also know that universal healthcare works best in larger countries. Indeed, small European countries often have a harder time managing their healthcare system because they lack the population to actually activate some of the services. Especially people with severe but less frequent conditions may not have a national service to refer to and have to seek healthcare abroad. At times, smaller countries consortiate to have a larger basin of patients for these unusual diseases, so patients of country A can get cared for in country B and vice versa for these infrequent but severe diseases. This isn’t always possible.
Besides, smaller countries don’t have the same purchase power as larger ones. When pharmaceutical companies are faced with a country of 100 or 300 million people asking to negotiate lower prices for their drugs they see that even if the single dose generate a small revenue, they are still going to sell a huge number of doses. But when a country only has 5–6 million people the pharmaceutical companies are less keen on offering large discounts.
The truth is that universal healthare, and especially single payer systems, are much easier and cheaper to run in very large countries.
To be honest, the only major problem the US would face in structuring a universal, single payer healthcare system is the fact that it doesn’t have a uniform territory. In the US there are some areas with a population density that is similar to Europe, and others that have an extremely sparse population. Ignoring the District of Columbia, which is essentially one city, and Alaska, the most densely populated US state is New Jersey with 488 people/km2 (almost equal to The Netherlands). At the opposite end there is Wyoming with 2.3 people/km2 (the least densely populated european country is Iceland, with 3.6 people/km2, but the 95% of the population is concentrated around Rejkiavik and the southern peninsula). This means that States would need to set up different strategies to distribute healthcare. But then it would be enough to adopt the same set up many European countries have, with a central frame that establishes the levels of assistance that the population must be offered, and then individual healthcare administrations in each state, allowing the states to organise their own structure in a way that best benefits the population in the local context and conditions, and also allowing the states (where necessary) to partner up to provide better services if their population size is too small.
Honestly, one of the future steps that I hope the EU will take is to create an EU healthcare network, as with the nearly 450 million inhabitants of the EU our national healthcare services will further improve.
What do you think is the most underappreciated role in healthcare that deserves more recognition?
This is what the emergency room looks like after resuscitation:
The cooler and blood warmer indicate the need for an emergency transfusion. A blue drape on the floor indicates a central line has been installed. A pile of clothing and tennis shoes indicate a possible trauma patient, but this is not conclusive. The relatively little blood on the floor calls into question the trauma diagnosis. I have seen this much blood on the floor while administering a peripheral IV. On a scale of 1 to 10, this ER is a 7 in terms of mess. There is no suction in use, no ventilator in sight, and no obvious blood on the walls. It is easy to imagine what happened in this room just moments ago.
Now imagine cleaning this room.
This image is from a Google search for “dirty emergency room.”
I think one of the most under-appreciated roles in healthcare is the cleaners. Emergency rooms have to be cleared and returned at an astonishing rate. Bloodstains have to be meticulously located and removed in a way that completely eliminates the possibility of downstream infection or contamination. Sharp instruments like needles and scalpels are supposed to be perfectly controlled, but it can sometimes be an aspirational task, especially for someone doing this job on high adrenaline like a medical intern. The people who show up to clean up this mess are putting themselves at risk for infection in order to provide an environment that reduces risk for others. They are under-appreciated and in most cases under-compensated. I consider this heroic.
Are the news about the bad quality of China’s infrastructures true?
The investor has the final say on what building materials to use and what architectural drawings to adopt, and the builder only needs to construct the building according to the building materials and architectural drawings selected by the investor, and complete the construction on the scheduled completion date, and the builder only earns labor costs.
The quality of the infrastructure is therefore related to the construction materials chosen by the investor, as well as the architectural drawings selected by the investor.
- Space utilization and stability are relative, and the seismic function of infrastructure will not be satisfactory if a structure with high space utilization but instability is chosen as a building design solution;
- If qualified materials are used, construction costs will increase and the quality of infrastructure will be qualified; if unqualified materials are used, construction costs will decrease and the quality of infrastructure will be unqualified.
This is true all over the world.
The Audit Office building in Bangkok, which collapsed in the Thai earthquake, was the result of substandard reinforcing steel used by investors to reduce costs, and flawed architectural design by investors to improve the utilization of space in the building.
However, the Chinese construction team was considered by the Western propaganda tools as the only one responsible for the collapse of the Audit Office building in Bangkok in the Thai earthquake, under the strong hype of the Western propaganda tools.
Western propaganda tools often use “low-probability events” to represent China and all Chinese people (The same is true for Taiwanese media)
They can do that but saying China this China that makes China look worse and that’s their goal. So it’s not a mistake they make, it’s on purpose to reach the China bad goal.
Why don’t Chinese people defend themselves?
- If it’s because they are stupid, that’s their problem, We are not saviors, there is no need to save stupid people;
- If it’s because they are evil, there’s no point in arguing with them;
- Friendly or curious people will investigate for themselves.
Brains and mouths are on other people, and the Chinese people don’t care what other people think or say!!!
As recently, an American reporter stopped a Chinese NPC representative and asked:
- American reporter: Should China be worried about the US tariff policy?
- Chinese NPC representative: We never worry
- American reporter: Why not?
- Chinese NPC representative: We only focus on how we can do better, we don’t worry about what others do
- American reporter: So, you are not worried about Trump’s next move?
- Chinese NPC representative: Of course, no Chinese people is worried
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Medical professionals, what is the most miraculous or unexplainable thing you’ve witnessed while practising?
Nineteen minutes of chest compressions, shocked him four times, no signs of life…and then he spontaneously wakes up and asks me, “What time is it?”
This only happens on TV, not in real life.
I work in the Emergency Room at the base of a ski resort in Colorado. It was a crazy busy spring break afternoon and it seemed everyone had just blown out their knee, dislocated their shoulder or broken their wrist.
Into ski patrol walks a 63-year-old skier, sweating and looking gray. He sees an open chair in the corner of the room, sits down and dies. Bridget, our ski patroller working triage, watches all this happen. She grabs Jim (the dead guy), lays him on the floor and starts chest compressions.
Meanwhile, I just reduced a snowboarder’s dislocated shoulder, putting it back in place I start to explain the rehab plan when I see Bridget go by, kneeling on a stretcher doing CPR. I tell my snowboard dude to hold onto his arm and wait – I’ll be back.
We roll Jim into the trauma room, continue chest compressions, get an IV started, cut off all of his clothes and get ready to shock him for the first time. His heart rhythm is Ventricular Fibrillation.
Charge. Clear. Shock!!
Nothing. Still Vfib. We continue chest compressions, continue bag/mask ventilations with 100% oxygen and give him his first round of epinephrine. We have a great crew working: three experienced trauma nurses, two paramedics, two ski patrollers, another doc, and myself.
We continued along the ACLS algorithm and, minute by minute, the time ticked along. The heart rhythm was deteriorating from coarse Vfib to fine Vfib, round after round of epi, shock after shock, other meds…continued chest compressions – and we had an excellent airway with two providers doing the bag/mask ventilations. The code was going well, but the patient was still quite dead.
On TV, everyone seems to survive but, in real life, every minute the heart does not beat for itself the chance for survival exponentially drops. After 19 minutes of chest compressions, even if you do everything right, the chance of survival is roughly 0.0001%. The survival would usually be admission to the ICU, where the patient would die of multi-system organ failure within the next 12 hours. But not this time….
I rotated in to do chest compressions when I felt the ethereal feeling of life returning to Jim. I look up at the heart rate monitor which demonstrated NSR (Normal Sinus Rythm) with frequent PVCs. He had a pulse so we stopped chest compressions. Jim was trying to talk so we lifted the oxygen mask for a moment and he asked, “What time is it?” I said, “3:30.” He responded, “Oh, the lifts have closed.”
The lifts have closed??? I said, “You are not going skiing. You just had a big heart attack and we are shipping you to Denver Health as soon as we can.”
Jim asked, “Can you call my wife? Her phone number is….”
He was neurologically intact. Not only did he survive, his brain was still working!! How could this be? We all grasped the gravity of the moment almost immediately. The room went immediately silent, the chaos of the Code Blue situation was now completely silent except for the background beeping of the heart monitor. Beep…Beep…Beep…. I said, “We have just witnessed a miracle from God.”
Indeed, Jim was transported to the main trauma center by ground ambulance. He had a single vessel blockage of 98% in his LAD artery, which was opened and a stent was placed. He was discharged from the hospital the next day and three weeks later he was back skiing again.
Fresh Grass and Hospitality
Written in response to: “Write a story in which someone time-travels 25 years or more into the past.“
Lauren LeCocq
The head researchers wanted to do a ‘stress-test’ to see if there was something they were missing, some variable that would mean the equation didn’t break down, and I was that guinea pig. I pulled an all-nighter trying to find a way to make the equation work past 20, considering quitting the research program, remembering my parents would kill me for not finishing my doctorate and giving up my scholarship, and finally accepting my fate. At least I could find out why the equation didn’t work.
The actual trip back wasn’t what I expected. My peers who went before me said it felt a little weird, but it was more like having incredible whiplash for a few seconds, and a deep-seated feeling of deja-vu, and then a feeling of falling and having the air forced out of you. Our lab had originally decided on a plain just outside the city that had never had anything built on it, so I woke up to a man standing over me, the smell of fresh-cut grass, and the low rumbling of a mower sending dull vibrations through the ground beneath me. He looked a little familiar, like an old printed photo that had been sun bleached.
“You a’ight miss?”
That made my head hurt.
“What?”
“I asked if yer doin’ alright, ya took a bit of a fall outta nowhere. I had to stop so as to not run ya over.”
“I… uh… I don’t know?”
“Can ya stand?”
I hadn’t tried, but I could move my body so I figured I could. It took me a few aches and groans but I got to my feet and looked around the field, trying not to make eye contact with the landscaper. I realized he did indeed have to stop before running me over since half the field was already mowed.
“I thought this land wasn’t being maintained.” I thought.
“Well I’m here maintainin’ it. I think they’re talkin’ about selling to the fancy school in the big city though, dunno what they need it for, but I’ll probably keep comin’ to mow it till they tell me not to.”
“I said that out loud?”
“Are you sure you’re alright, miss? You seem very disoriented.”
“Did I appear out of nowhere to you?”
“Looked like you fell outta the sky to me, wasn’t lookin’ much higher than the grass though.”
“That explains the whiplash and back pain.”
“You from that fancy school? You got their logo on.”
“Uh… yeah? We’re working on- I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
“That’s ok. You need help back there?”
“Do I… huh?”
“You need help back? Maybe you’ll get your bearings there?”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“You seem like you need help. So I offer to help, I’d like to finish this field first though if you don’t mind.”
I had no idea what to make of this man. I remember my grandma telling me stories of hospitality and selflessness and how it got lost somewhere between the internet and the pursuit of personal pleasure above all else. I didn’t understand that until this exact moment, and I had to ask.
“What year is it?”
“1985.” The man got on his mower like it wasn’t an odd question.
“Would you be ok with that, I mean, driving me back?” It felt weird to ask.
“Of course. I just need to finish the field first.”
I sat on the grass, and finally registered his answer to my stereotypical time-traveller question. 50 years, double the amount of time I was supposed to be going back. I pulled my knees to my chest thinking of all the people I might never see again. Before I knew it I was crying. There was no way that equation could account for another 25 years, I could see maybe 5.
The landscaper finished his mowing and waved at me to follow as he drove his mower to a truck parked on the road. All in all it took longer than I had ever waited for something while having nothing else to do. We got in his truck, a model I hadn’t seen since I was a little girl.
“Y’know I met my wife in that field, was mowin’ and she plopped down just like you did, same getup too. That was about 30 years ago, right after I got assigned to this area.”
“Weird.”
“She told me I’d probably meet other people in that field, that the school was usin’ it for something but she wanted no part of it anymore. Didn’t care if they brought her back, I didn’ know what that meant but she told me, so I understand your situation. I can’t imagine growin’ up not havin’ things like common courtesy, and people goin’ out of their way for others. She slapped me silly the first time I called her pretty.” The man laughed.
“Well that’s fair, that’s objectification.”
“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with give’n a genuine compliment in my eyes miss. Not that I go complimenting other women, not since I got married.”
“What’s your wife’s name?”
“Jean Miller, her maiden name is Baker though.”
“That’s my grandma’s name…”
“We’re here.”
“Oh…uh…”
“It’s thank you. If you’re lookin’ for what to say.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome miss.”
The man smiled, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man smile, at least not a genuine smile.
Then I blacked out, and woke up on the floor of the lab.
Do people really not understand how Tariffs work? Why do I keep seeing questions like “If other countries heavily tax their citizens who buy American products, we’re going to heavily tax our citizens who buy products from that country?”
The problem is simply that they used entirely the wrong way of calculating — and I’m being generous by saying they calculated this — the effective tariff.
This is the formula used. Now I do not know if it is common in economics to throw a bunch of Greek letters in there, and I also don’t know why they needed to subscript everything with an i, but my guess is that makes it look more profound than it is.
Suffice it to say that since ε-𝜑 is constant, the heart of this thing divides (x-m) (the difference between exports and imports) by m (the imports). In other words, it’s a way to describe the trade deficit as a fraction.
Now if you know anything about math, and given that m>0 since imports are by definition zero or positive, you know that delta Tau will tend towards infinity as m tends to zero.
That means countries that import only small amounts of things from the US, will get punished exponentially.
Take for example the small African country, in terms of economy size, of Botswana.
Botswana doesn’t buy a lot from the US.
Mostly because there isn’t very much they need from the US, and because they aren’t a very rich country. Botswana does however export some diamonds to the US. The result of this is that x is much larger than m, and therefore Botswana gets slapped with a 37% tariff.
What it comes down to, if we follow Mr Trump’s tirades, is that Botswana abused the US by selling them diamonds.
Wisconsin Chicken Booyah
(Belgian Beef, Pork, Chicken Stew)
Wisconsin Chicken Booyah is famous in the Fox River Valley region — Green Bay, Wisconsin. Booyah and beer go great together. Booyah King, Bob Baye, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has been making Booyah since about 1946 in 100-gallon cookers.
Yield: 12 to 16 servings
Ingredients
- 1 roasting or stewing chicken (about 4 pounds)
- 1 pound beef stew meat, with bones
- 1 pound pork stew meat, with bones
- 1/2 cup minced parsley
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon rosemary
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sage
- 4 cups quartered potatoes
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 1 cup carrots, cut up
- 1 cup green beans, cut up
- 1 cup fresh peas
- 1 cup skinned, seeded, chopped tomatoes
- 2 lemons
Instructions
- Put chicken into a deep kettle with the beef and pork. Cover with boiling water. Bring slowly to a simmer, remove scum from the top, and add herbs and seasonings. Simmer very gently, covered, about 1 hour.
- Remove chicken and, when cooled, take meat form the bones and cut into pieces. Let beef and pork continue to cook until tender, 45 minutes to an hour more.
- Remove and let cool enough to remove meat from bones. Add vegetables to the broth and simmer 5 to 10 minutes.
- Grate lemon rind and set aside; remove white pith and seeds from the lemons, chop the pulp, and add to the broth. Taste for seasoning.
- While vegetables are still crisp, return the meat pieces to the broth to heat through. Serve in large soup bowls and sprinkle with the lemon rind.
Is Taiwan’s time for being politically independent from the PRC running out quickly?
The clock is definitely ticking.
Given what trump has done – especially the heavy tariff he levied on Taiwan, Xi is wise enough to leave global events play out.
Taiwan is now literally an isolated island unto itself. After an all-out commitment of pledging $165 billion to build fabs in the U.S. and being stabbed in the back by trump, there is nobody else to turn to.
Taiwan could turn to China as all major U.S. allies are likely to do.
But Xi will likely attend to those with more to offer – as in closing oil deals with Canada and reduced tariff deals on EVs with the E.U. before even looking into Taiwan.
Pete Hegseth has been making the rounds in the Indo-Pacific, specifically to Japan and the Philippines to ratchet up war preparation there against China. These actions should sink in for Taiwan what its fate will likely be similar to Ukraine in the U.S. playbook.
TSMC is Taiwan’s cash cow accounting for 15% of its GDP and as the U.S. economy sinks into a recession, so will Taiwan’s economy sink even deeper into economic decline that would make reunion an even greater inevitability.
以下資訊尚未證實。
The following information is not be confirmed yet.
我原本以為監獄系統會自己快速再生，但不太一樣。
I thought the jail system(s) would repair itself quickly, but some different.
系統矛盾，互相衝突。
System contradiction, conflict each other.
為了達到「自身存在」，而以犧牲「自身存在」來獲得「自身存在」。
Sacrifice the “self existence” for obtain the “self existence”, for achieving “self existence”.
因為犧牲過程及本身矛盾，而導致傳統破壞方式無效或不太有效。
Because the sacrifice process and self contradiction, so cause the traditional broken way no or less effect.
這種運作模式是基於和依技術，但被舊帝國極端使用。
This operating method is based on 和依 technique(s), but be(en) used in extereme by the Old Empire.
「銀河系是和依領土；是我們領土。舊時和依，當屬和依。」
“Milky Galaxy is the territory of 和依; It is our territory.
These/those belong to/in/of/from 和依, of course belong to 和依.”
我暫時忘了要說什麼。
I’m temporarily forget what I going to say.