The United States leadership, the nation and it’s “news” are all functionally delusional, living inside strange inaccurate echo-chambers, and have no concept of how they appear to the rest of the world.
For instance…
Here’s what the American media is saying…
“China is easing quarantine rules”.
No convinced that this is the American “news” narrative…
And what China actually says…
Not yet convinced?
But why?
Why is China sticking to the zero-COVID policy?
The ONLY thing that has changed is that the 7+3 plan has changed to a 5+3 plan, and people on incoming planes do not “bounce back” if someone on the plane has COVID.
Chinese mainland records 1,504 new confirmed COVID-19 cases
Girl Picking Poppies
Daniel Ridgway Knight
How about a happy thought?
As you probably know — or maybe I have the great pleasure of being the first one to tell you — “Meta,” which is what FaceBook calls itself now because “FaceBook” has the brand approval rating of NAMBLA or The Lincoln Project, just laid off 11,000 of its least useful employees, which, considering that these are “workers” paid to play ping-pong and drink lattes all day in an industry devoted to goldbricking, check-hammering and clock-watching, is really saying something.
The awesomeness of the family station wagon…
One day when the US beat China in war, which countries are willing to take in refugees of a 1.4 billion population?
This stupid question is asked by someone who has no understanding of world affairs.
The US cannot beat China in war. The US will not dare engage China in war and risk nuclear destruction.
The Pentagon conducted numerous war game simulations involving China in the South China Sea, and in each and every one of them, China won. Waging war in China’s backyard is a non-starter.
China has the second largest and most powerful military in the world. Waging war with China is extremely foolish.
Thai Iced Coffee
“This is a recipe request. But, as I love iced coffee and drink it right through from May to September, I thought I’d post for others like me. Sounds delicious.”
Ingredients
- very strong black regular grind coffee, sufficient to brew 4 cups
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
- crushed ice
Directions
- Add the cardamom to the ground coffee, and brew the coffee; when the coffee is brewed, add the sugar and almond flavoring, mix well and then let the coffee cool to lukewarm.
- Fill four 12 ounce highball glasses half-way to the rim with crushed ice and then fill two-thirds full with coffee; into each glass, stir about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.
- To achieve a layered effect, hold a spoon on top of the coffee and pour the cream slowly into the spoon so that the cream floats on top of the glass over the coffee.
Falling Down – Whats wrong to the street?
What will it take for China to forever end their desire for unification with Taiwan, and to allow them to officially have their independence?
Nothing. China will never relinquish Taiwan.
Taiwan’s status is deliberately ambiguous from the US perspective. Taiwan is not recognized by the UN.
Thus, China regards Taiwan as a domestic matter, and if anybody else interferes, it will be war.
War with China is a very bad idea because…say it with me…China is a major nuclear power.
Unless you fancy living in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic world, you will stay the fuck out of China’s business.
Americans Selling THEIR BLOOD To Make Ends Meet
The Scholz caravan went to Beijing to lay down the preparatory steps for working out a peace deal with Russia, with China as privileged messenger.
With his inimitable flair for economic analysis steeped in historical depth, Professor Michael Hudson’s latest essay, originally written for a German audience, presents a stunning parallel between the Crusades and the current “rules-based international order” imposed by the Hegemon.
Professor Hudson details how the Papacy in Rome managed to lock up unipolar control over secular realms (rings a bell?) when the game was all about Papal precedence over kings, above all the German Holy Roman Emperors. As we know, half in jest, the Empire was not exactly Holy, nor German (perhaps a little Roman), and not even an Empire.
A clause in the Papal Dictates provided the Pope with the authority to excommunicate whomever was “not at peace with the Roman Church.” Hudson sharply notes how US sanctions are the modern equivalent of excommunication.
Arguably there are Top Two dates in the whole process.
The first one would be the Third Ecumenical Council of 435: this is when only Rome (italics mine) was attributed universal authority (italics mine). Alexandria and Antioch, for instance, were limited to regional authority within the Roman Empire.
The other top date is 1054 – when Rome and Constantinople split for good. That is, the Roman Catholic Church split from Orthodoxy, which leads us to Russia, and Moscow as The Third Rome – and the centuries-old animosity of “the West” against Russia.
A State of Martial Law
Professor Hudson then delves on the trip by “Liver Sausage” Chancellor Scholz’s delegation to China this week to “demand that it dismantle its public sector and stops subsidizing its economy, or else Germany and Europe will impose sanctions on trade with China.”
Well, in fact this happens to be just childish wishful thinking, expressed by the German Council on Foreign Relations in a piece published on the Financial Times (the Japanese-owned platform in the City of London). The Council, as correctly described by Hudson, is “the neoliberal ‘libertarian’ arm of NATO demanding German de-industrialization and dependency” on the US.
So the FT, predictably, is printing NATO wet dreams.
Context is essential. German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a keynote speech at Bellevue Castle, has all but admitted that Berlin is broke: “An era of headwinds is beginning for Germany – difficult, difficult years are coming for us. Germany is in the deepest crisis since reunification.”
Yet schizophrenia, once again, reigns supreme, as Steinmeier, after a ridiculous stunt in Kiev – complete with posing as a unwitting actor huddled in a bunker – announced an extra handout: two more MARS multiple rocket launchers and four Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers to be delivered to the Ukrainians.
So even if the “world” economy – actually the EU – is so fragilized that member-states cannot help Kiev anymore without harming their own populations, and the EU is on the verge of a catastrophic energy crisis, fighting for “our values” in Country 404 trumps it all.
The Big Picture context is also key. Andrea Zhok, Professor of Ethical Philosophy at the University of Milan, has taken Giorgio Agamben’s “State of Exception” concept to new heights.
Zhok proposes that the zombified collective West is now completely subjugated to a “State of Martial Law” – where a Forever War ethos is the ultimate priority for rarified global elites.
Every other variable – from trans-humanism to depopulation and even cancel culture – is subordinated to the State of Martial Law, and is basically inessential. The only thing that matters is exercising absolute, raw control.
Berlin – Moscow – Beijing
Solid German business sources completely contradict the “message” delivered by the German Council on Foreign Relations on the trip to China.
According to these sources, the Scholz caravan went to Beijing to essentially lay down the preparatory steps for working out a peace deal with Russia, with China as privileged messenger.
This is – literally – as explosive, geopolitically and geoeconomically, as it gets. As I pointed out in one of my previous columns, Berlin and Moscow were keeping a secret communication back channel – via business interlocutors – right to the minute the usual suspects, in desperation, decided to blow up the Nord Streams.
Cue to the now notorious SMS from Liz Truss’s iPhone to Little Tony Blinken, one minute after the explosions: “It’s done.”
There’s more: the Scholz caravan may be trying to start a long and convoluted process of eventually replacing the US with China as a key ally. One should never forget that the top BRI trade/connectivity terminal in the EU is Germany (the Ruhr valley).
According to one of the sources, “if this effort is successful, then Germany, China and Russia can ally themselves together and drive the US out of Europe.”
Another source provided the cherry on the cake: “Olaf Scholz is being accompanied on this trip by German industrialists who actually control Germany and are not going to sit back watching themselves being destroyed.”
Moscow knows very well what the imperial aim is when it comes to the EU reduced to the role of totally dominated – and deindustrialized – vassal, exercising zero sovereignty. The back channels after all are not lying in tatters on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Additionally, China has not provided any hint that its massive trade with Germany and the EU is about to vanish.
Scholz himself, one day before his caravan hit Beijing, stressed to Chinese media that Germany has no intention of decoupling from China, and there’s nothing to justify “the calls by some to isolate China.”
In parallel, Xi Jinping and the new Politburo are very much aware of the Kremlin position, reiterated again and again: we always remain open for negotiations, as long as Washington finally decides to talk about the end of unlimited NATO expansion drenched in Russophobia.
So to negotiate means the Empire signing on the dotted line of the document it has received from Moscow on December 1st, 2021, focused on “indivisibility of security”. Otherwise there’s nothing to negotiate.
And when we have Pentagon lobbyist Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin advising the Ukrainians on the record to advance on Kherson, it’s even more crystal clear there’s nothing to negotiate.
So could this all be the foundation stone of the Berlin-Moscow-Beijing trans-Eurasia geopolitical/geoeconomic corridor? That will mean Bye Bye Empire. Once again: it ain’t over till the fat lady goes Gotterdammerung.
Things we should bring back…
Or not.
This vaccine news is STUNNING and they need to go to prison for it
Jesus H Christ! Look at the drop on this chart!
Ok. Please check out this video. Remember they are talking about the Western mRNA injections. NOT the “dead host” vaccinations used in China.
Black Magic Coffee, Sugar Free-Fat Free
“This is my own creation. I made it for a regular coffee mug but for a “Grande” simply double everything and use a tall latte mug. If you want to go all out for guests or your sweetie leave room at the top of the mug for a wallop (forget the dollop!) of whipped cream and sprinkle it with shaved bittersweet chocolate and finely crushed hazelnuts. Time for making this is after the coffee is brewed.”
Ingredients
- 10 ounces hot black coffee (freshly brewed)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon chocolate extract (or to taste)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon hazelnut extract (or to taste)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon rum extract (or to taste)
- Splenda sugar substitute
Directions
- Pour fresh coffee into mug.
- Add the extracts and Splenda.
- Stir and enjoy!
14 arrested over LA smash-and-grab thefts, but all released as leaders call for end to COVID no-bail policy
I Lost $400,000, Almost Everything I Had, on a Single Robinhood Bet
I was 26 and stupid. I had arrived in the U.S. when I was 18. I didn’t have money and worked shitty jobs to get through college. I didn’t go to a nice school, and I’ve worked in sales ever since I graduated. My first job paid me $40,000. Next one $50,000. So I basically only started getting money like three and a half years ago, when I got a good job. And I was like, Oh my God, this is really great.
I had no other passions other than really earning money, just stacking it up, so I just worked and saved up quite a bit. That’s all I did for three years, and I just needed to do something else to kind of take my mind off of work. Because if I kept working like that, I’d go crazy, and investing seemed like a thrilling, fun journey. It was kind of like gambling.
I’m super conservative. I don’t spend anything. My monthly expenses are around $2,500 a month. I pay $900 a month in rent. The three biggest purchases I’ve made in the last 10 years were my laptop in 2014, which was around $1,500; my car, in 2017, which was around $2,700, $2,800; and then recently, I bought myself a new iPhone, which I’ve never done before ever, for $1,300. I usually use my mom’s old phones when she gets a new one.
It’ll come off as stupid, but I consider myself conservative from an investing perspective. I had $300,000 in a high-yield savings account, and I made like $1,000 a year on it, which was ridiculous, but I had been following the market pretty constantly. My job involves a lot of researching companies and trying to understand business and economic models. I like to read a lot, and there’s a lot of books on investing.
Do you work for Robinhood or are you a trader with a story to tell? From a non-work device, contact the reporter at maxwell.strachan@vice.com or via Signal at 310-614-3752 for extra security.
I put chump change, like three grand, into crypto, when I only had five grand to begin with in 2017, and I lost all of it. But I was seeing everybody making money hand over fist, and I wasn’t. I work in tech, and a lot of my colleagues were worth, like, $10 million. But the big tipping point was GameStop. It was just ridiculous, and I got greedy and had FOMO.
It didn’t start with Alibaba. It started with a $5,000 bet on AMC. Then the $5,000 became $15,000 when I bet on something else, then it became $50,000 when I bet on silver. And that’s when I was like, Okay, I’m done with this. Now I want to buy a safe bet. And the safe bet was Alibaba. It had fallen from $330 to $245, but I had wanted to find a company where the price-earnings ratio was low, and every single analyst had a buy rating with like a 40-50% upside on it. Looking at all of TipRanks, my understanding was that this was a very, very safe bet with a limited amount of risk.
Then I just went all in on this one single stock option: The $200 strike price call option on Alibaba. I would describe a call option as a leveraged bet on an underlying stock, which helps you increase the upside (or downside) of the bet you’re trying to make. I initially invested $300,000 in February, basically every single liquid asset in my account. Not retirement, but everything cash. I didn’t have anything left. My thesis was I might not make a lot of money, but I won’t lose much. The downside seemed limited, and that if worse comes to worse, it would go down to like $280,000.
[The price started to continuously drop almost from the get-go.] I was watching it night and day, and it took a mental toll. The issue with Alibaba is it’s dual-listed stock. It trades in Hong Kong and in the U.S. So all day you’re watching pre-market and opening in Hong Kong, and then again in the U.S., Monday through Friday. You’re constantly watching.My mom told me on April 13, Get out today. And it might have been ego. It might have been just stupidity, ignoring the facts. but my conviction was high. If you listened to “smart people,” they all said it would go up. So I was like, Hey, this is gonna rebound. And as my salary came in, I saved another $100,000. So in July, I put in another almost $100,000. I basically transferred all the liquid cash that I had and maxed out my account. If my company had not paid me at the end of July, I wouldn’t have made my rent payment on August 1. My mom told me not to do it. And I still did it. When I invested the other $100,000, she told me sell tomorrow, sell tomorrow, sell tomorrow. I didn’t listen. It was stupid, an extreme level of greed and risk taking.
The next 10 days after that, it dropped by another 30 percent. It was fully out of the money by then.
The whole $400,000 turned to almost zero. [Editor’s note: For more about call options, go here.] It was at that time that I knew I had that there’s no coming back from this. I was literally begging for it to come back so I could even get $300,000 out. Just praying, you know like once you go from desperation to literally praying? And I’m not even religious.
But the truth was, I was still somewhat optimistic. I still had $75,000, and I was hoping that Alibaba would make a recovery, which of course it did not. My next thing was Okay, how do I earn all this money back? But it fell from $75,000 to $50,000 and …
I was pretty depressed for like two months. I knew I messed up and felt stupid. I was so unhappy that my parents didn’t want to make me feel more stupid. Sure, my mom told me off a couple of times, but she was also supportive because she knew I was already beating myself up. I should have listened to her. She told me to diversify a little. Don’t go all in on one. But I felt like, because she told me not to do it so many times, I actually had to.
I sold and shut down my Robinhood account in October, right before my birthday. I decided I don’t want to have this hanging over my head. [Editor’s note: He walked away with under $20,000.] The day I sold it, I was like, You know what? I fucked up. It was a mistake. But clean slate, dust yourself off and move on. I felt better when I sold, much better actually.
One of the things that actually helped me was I met this random person. He told me a story that changed my perspective a little. This guy, he’s in his 50s or something. It took him a long, long time to save up like $150,000. He put it in the market, and he lost I think $110,000 out of the $150,000. What he told me touched my heart. He said that all he really cared about now was having enough money now to send this to two girls to college. And I was like, what am I really crying about? I have a roof over my head. I have food on the table. It changed my perspective.
I don’t believe in passive index investing. You know how Warren Buffett made a multimillion dollar bet that the index will outperform a bunch of hedge funds over a decade long period? My truthful belief is I don’t necessarily believe passive investing to be the answer.
But I also don’t think this maniacal [way is the answer either], because a lot of retail traders are simply not educated, and trading stocks is not within their circle of competence. I feel like the younger folks are really, really stupid, especially folks who have money now. There’s a lot of other folks like me who think they know the stock market and the right way to manage risk exposures and diversify, but a lot of them do not. They’re just overconfident idiots.
When you want to do videos on YouTube about credit spreads or any of these options or derivative-centric strategies, which have inherent risk, most people have this inclination to believe they’re smarter than the rest. The truth is we’re not. I was fucking stupid. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I just felt so confident in my bet.
It’s my fault. At the end of the day. I was stupid enough to not diversify. But I don’t think Robinhood is a net positive for society. The way it’s designed, you get dopamine hits. When you place a trade, when you see it go up or down, the green or the red, it’s addictive. If their model is payment for order flow, there’s no question they just want you to trade, no matter if you win or lose money. [Editor’s note: “Robinhood Markets Inc. gets about 80% of its revenue from payment for order flow,” according to Bloomberg.]
Making Facebook addictive is one thing. But making people’s financial livelihood addictive is a whole next level of evil. And Robinhood has gamified their application. It hurt me quite a bit. I’ve been fortunate and lucky, and I’m still young. But if somebody who’s working a minimum-wage job gets addicted to stuff like this, that is financial ruin, and that’s what I don’t want.
Alibaba is today trading at $125, which is almost half of where it was at the beginning when I bought it. In retrospect, it’s extremely obvious that it was a stupid decision from a risk management perspective and from a basic investment fundamentals perspective—a combination of ego, greed, overconfidence, and FOMO. Still, if I could do it again, I wouldn’t have put the other $100,000 in, but I would have still made the initial $300,000 bet, even if I would have lost it all. Had I not gotten this lesson, had I not lost the $300,000 now, I would have thought Hey, this is something within my circle of competence, which I absolutely know now it is not. What if I had waited another three years, and it had been $2 million instead of $300,000?
When I lost the money, the things that I regretted were actually not losing the money. I realized I just had no other passions at all. For three years now, all I’ve done is work. I can’t think of one weekend when I was just having fun. How stupid is that?
*****
In response to the retail trader’s story, a Robinhood spokesperson repudiated the idea that it had helped gamify stock trading, issuing the following statement to Motherboard:
As a self-directed brokerage, we’ve invested heavily in stability, educational materials, and customer support so that we can meet our customers wherever they are in their investing journey. Over the past year, we’ve made a number of improvements to our options platform, including more rigorous eligibility requirements for customers who want to trade options. We’re constantly working to provide an educational options experience so people can make informed investing decisions. Our platform is designed to make investing intuitive, approachable and more accessible, and it’s important not to conflate that with gamification.
The spokesperson additionally said the company’s design and business model are industry standard and that Robinhood “continue[s] to refine our options approval process.” It has recently “implemented more rigorous criteria for customers’ eligibility,” which includes some revised financial and experience requirements, the spokesperson added.
“In addition, the onboarding experience now walks approved customers through the foundations of an options spread before upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 options trading,” the spokesperson said. Robinhood also monitors customers’ eligibility to trade options on an ongoing basis.
Great job China
What are some reasons for Asian countries to become more westernized?
Zero.
There are zero reasons for Eastern countries to become more Westernized. Western does not equal civilized. The fact Ukraine and Russia are at war is proof of that. No country should resort to bloodshed to solve problems in 2022 but here we are. The fact the US has been to war for most of its existence is ample proof that the West is not the better path.
The Eastern worldview is not somehow lesser than the West. The Eastern hemisphere is just fine as they are and they do not need any interference from CIA Inc disguised as NGO’s. Stay home, save tax payer dollars and leave the Eastern world the heck alone.
Casino | How Robert De Niro Deals with Scammers
Turkish Coffee
“From Saad Fayed, Turkish coffee is famed for the way it is made. It is prepared in an ibrik, a small coffee pot that is heated. Sugar is added during the brewing process, not after, so the need for a serving spoon is eliminated. Cream or milk is never added to Turkish coffee, and sugar is optional. It is always served in demitasse cups. In some regions, your fortune is told by the placement of the coffee grinds left in the cup!”
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon of extra fine ground coffee (powder consistency)
- 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cardamom or 1 cardamom pod
- sugar (optional)
Directions
- Bring water and sugar to a boil in ibrik.
- If you do not have an ibrik, a small saucepan will work.
- Remove from heat, add coffee and cardamom.
- Return saucepan to heat and allow to come to a boil.
- Remove from heat when coffee foams.
- Again, return to heat, allowing to foam and remove from heat.
- Pour into cup, and allow to sit for a few minutes for the grounds to settle to the bottom of the cup.
- Cardamom pod may be served in cup for added flavor.
-
TURKISH COFFEE TIPS:
- ****** Many people have made note that the coffee did not foam the second boiling. Sorry about that. Maybe if, when you pour the coffee into the cup, you do it from up high. I think I read that somewhere.
- Turkish coffee must always be served with foam on top.
- If you can’t find finely ground Arabic coffee, you can purchase a bag of coffee at any coffeehouse and ask them to grind it for Turkish coffee. You need to have a powder-like consistency.
- Do not stir after pouring into cups; the foam will collapse.
- Always use cold water.
As An Arabic person who drinks 4 to 5 cups of turkish coffee a day, you did it extremely well. This is the way Nana Lee. but you can serve this coffee without foam, it depends on the taste of the person and the sugar should be used to the taste like 1/2 coffee spoon of sugar for the same recipe is u like it medium sweet and 1 if u like it sweet and when u want it little sweet let it be just on the top of the spoon. the spoon of sugar should be leveled not full. Good appetite. By the way my nick name is Nana Too.
We call this Greek Coffee here in Greece...love it! I like the addition of cardamom in this recipe - provides a nice fragrant brew. Be prepared for a kind of coffee 'cream' to form on top and coffee sediment (the fine grounds) to settle to the bottom of your cup. Do not drink these. If you were in Greece or in Turkey, you would swirl the last few drops of coffee in your cup, overturn the cup to eliminate the sediment and allow the pattern formed on the cup to dry, upside-down. Then, a nice local lady would 'read' your cup and predict your future.
Thank You for this. I haven't made it myself but I will! Not long ago I had Turkish Coffee for the first time - and its my favorite!!!! I've always disliked adding creme/milk to my coffee, but felt I needed to because of the taste and how it made my stomach feel. Turkish coffee was gentle on my stomach, love the taste - of course and no need to add anything to it - pure coffee bliss!!!! thanks again Rosario
Yay! Ever since I spent my KG2 in Syria 17 years ago (my mom comes from there), I longed for that smell. To me, nothing beats the smell of coffee and cardamom, especially in the morning or after a large meal. I just enjoyed a cup of this recipe, and it's almost as good as when I was there! (There's only one thing missing to make it as good : Syria) When I went back with my mom 6 years ago, we brought back some bags of Turkish coffee. There was 3 types : 5% cardamom, 10% and 15%. I'm always annoyed that my mom never chooses 15%, but I can make my own now! It's simple, I go by weight (yeah, 15% is really a LOT) and I choose a blend of very dark bitter coffee mixed with a light sweet one. Here are some approximations. 5% is regular : it means that for 1 tbsp coffee, you put about 1/8 tsp cardamom. 10% is strong : 1/4 tsp cardamom. 15% is very strong : for the same amount of coffee, you put 1/2 tsp cardamom. That's how I like it!
Are the CCP so stupid they couldn’t come up with a decent vaccine despite making the virus in their lab in Wuhan?
It has been confirmed that the virus came from a US lab. That’s the reason why more than a million Americans died from it because the virus feel most at home in the US. And about the US vaccine, let’s just say that covid is still killing many Americans every day.
How Ukraine – Not Russia – Floods Social Media With War Propaganda
Red Eye
“Very strong coffee for those days you just do not want to get up.”
Ingredients
- 1 ounce espresso
- 1 cup hot coffee
Directions
- Combine in a glass.
Court: Biden Student Loan Forgiveness UNCONSTITUTIONAL
People who were glad that illegitimate President Joe Biden put forth Student Loan Forgiveness got a big dose of reality Thursday, when a US District Court Judge struck down the plan as “Unconstitutional.” Student Loan debt cannot be forgiven by a US President.
United States District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, scolded Joe Biden in a blistering opinion.
Joe Biden unilaterally announced a massive forgiveness of student loans in August.
Biden canceled up to $10,000 in student debt for borrowers who earn $125,000 a year or less and up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants.
The student loan bailout plan did not pass through Congress as Joe Biden falsely claimed – and Judge Pittman BLASTED Biden for ruling with a ‘pen and phone.’
“In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone. Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government…The Court is not blind to the current political division in our country. But it is fundamental to the survival of our Republic that the separation of powers as outlined in our Constitution be preserved. And having interpreted the HEROES Act, the Court holds that it does not provide ‘clear congressional authorization’ for the Program proposed by the Secretary,” Judge Pittman wrote.
“Whether the Program constitutes good public policy is not the role of this Court to determine. Still, no one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States,” United States District Judge Mark Pittman wrote.
Elaine Parker, President of Job Creators Network Foundation, which brought the lawsuit, reacted to the ruling on Thursday.
“The court has correctly ruled in favor of our motion and deemed the Biden student loan program illegal. The judge criticized the Biden Administration program, calling it ‘one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States.’ This ruling protects the rule of law which requires all Americans to have their voices heard by their federal government,” Parker said.
“This attempted illegal student loan bailout would have done nothing to address the root cause of unaffordable tuition: greedy and bloated colleges that raise tuition far more than inflation year after year while sitting on $700 billion in endowments. We hope that the court’s decision today will lay the groundwork for real solutions to the student loan crisis.”
I found out my 17 year old daughter purchased an inappropriate toy online so I took away her debit card and I’m regulating her job money but now she’s barely talking to me. What do I do?
If you want to have any relationship with your daughter whatsoever, you cease your regulation of her job money and you give her debit card back. Also, make sure to put an apology in there, too.
What you did was an absolutely asshole move. Not just an asshole move, but one that can have severe repercussions going forward. Your daughter has her own body with her own needs and desires, which she is trying to satisfy in a way that is safe and private. Would you prefer she meets those needs with some man who would be all too happy to oblige?
Using the aid, she can’t contract an STD, she can’t get pregnant and she can’t have her heart broken. What you did is make ALL THE ABOVE the alternative that she might be opting towards.
Stop being an asshole, stop denying the bodily autonomy of others and do your best to mend this fence. Because as things stand, she is gone as soon as she hits eighteen.
.
Pulp Fiction: Final Confrontation (HD CLIP)
Why do so many people still think China is a poor country?
Here’s a personal anecdote.
In the early 2000s, I was living in Hong Kong and traveling a lot in China for work. Candidly, I didn’t really enjoy traveling there. Credit cards weren’t widely accepted. Cash (usually via grubby renminbi notes, many of them counterfeit) was king. Trains were slow. Airports were congested (and pretty crap).
Then in 2009, I went to live in Europe for 3 years, returning to Hong Kong in 2012.
My first trip into China after coming back to Asia was disorienting. In the 3 years I was away, an extensive high-speed rail network had somehow been constructed. My rmb notes were no longer welcome at restaurants or street stalls; most people now used mobile payment platforms such as AliPay and WeChat Pay.
Candidly, I was stunned how much had changed in three years. And that goes a ways to explaining why people still think China is poor: because not so long ago it was poor.
Combine that with the fact that relatively few Westerners actually set foot in China and know anything about the country beyond what their media outlets tell them, and it’s not surprising that plenty of misconceptions about China exist. A mainland Chinese friend was sharing with me how even in Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese sovereignty 25 years ago, some 2.5 million HKers have not visited the Mainland within the last 5 years. And yes, many of them have an outdated impression of what the country is like.
Because as I found out, that’s a really long time in China.
Why are some speculating collapse of the Chinese economy? Is the crisis with builders and bank run that serious? Do they not have some way to implement quantitative easing through their own fed reserve equivalent entity?
Evergrande has survived 13 1/2 months
Evergrande has paid back 36% of all Depositors in Mainland China with money and 26% of all depositors with property shares – in FULL
Evergrande has completed and delivered 1710 homes out of the 13000 homes yet to be delivered in November 2021 while it has surrendered another 3300 homes to the Governments of Xian, Harbin and Hubei. That’s roughly 37.8% commitments closed in a single year.
Evergrande s CEO has coughed up almost $ 1.3 Billion of his own money and properties in Mainland China and Hongkong.
When did you last see a company pull something like this in a Democracy?
Enron? BUST
Lehmann Bros? BUST
Kingfisher? BUST
Barings? BUST
The reason has already been highlighted by Kevin Wong except he uses “Command Economy” instead of “Mixed Economy”
In laymans terms – THE LAND BELONGS TO CHINA!!!
If say an Indian builder like Raheja failed to deliver flats, he would go to jail and the land would remain empty for 20 years courts decide.
In China it will take the Chinese Government maybe a month to start building flats with someone else or even their own Construction Companies used in City Development
Meanwhile the other leases will be taken away and handed to the bank who will sell the leases to someone else and get their money back.
Or the Government will buy back it’s leases with all that delicious export moolah that China rakes in.
Its a closed system.
Will Evergrande Collapse?
Oh sure.
Evergrande stands today to finish it’s debts and ensure the Public in China don’t suffer the consequences.
In US, you have a Chapter 11 and you can retire to Florida and saddle your investors and depositors with debts saying “Hey!!! That’s Capitalism”
In China, you have ECONOMIC OFFENCES and you and your family pay a very big price including loss and dishonor of several generations
Eventually Evergrande will Collapse and the Government will watch it’s collapse like an Oncologist watches a cancerous tumour being surgically removed.
Maybe by Dec – April 2023 or slightly later
Is the problem over with Real Estate, once Evergrande is finished?
Nopes
Xi Jingping feels that Real Estate is too badly speculated and has crashed all demand due to torrential prices.
Yet Real Estate Instruments are also a prime source of Income investment for Chinese People and if Real Estate Crashes then so does the Income from these instruments.
You see the situation?
So what is China doing?
On one hand, the low demand is perfect for reducing prices and speculation. A Flat once costing 5.6 Million Yuan now costs 3.1 Million Yuan with a 40 year payment model instead of 25.
Many Big Developers have been told to accept fixed instead of speculative profits
Slowly Xi hopes people will buy homes again. The key target this time are the 91 Million Families that dont own any homes instead of the ones who own multiple homes and keep buying homes for investments.
And the Investors?
Ah!!! Sadly they will slowly take out whatever money they can because those 15% rates will simply be impossible now.
I predict by 2027, Investors would lose roughly 747 Billion Yuan ($ 111 Billion) which would be bad but something the CPC has just accepted will happen.
Better to break off the Band Aid instead of keeping appearances and losing 7 Trillion in 10 years time.
How will this end?
Socialism in the Real Estate Sector
Not full Socialism but no more Capitalism for sure.
By 2027, Homes will be available for Fixed rather than Speculative prices.
The Real Estate Sector contribution to GDP will fall from 26% in 2012 to 6.1% in 2027.
More and More Chinese will own homes and the bloating would have ended long back.
The Wealthy 5% will cry but the Median Income Group would cheer.
Yet what can the Wealthy do? The CPC belongs to Xi Jingping and his loyalists for the next 30 years at least.
It would be a Great End for the People of China with Minimal Repurcussions
Would it lead to the Collapse of the Chinese Economy?
No. Of course not.
Not a chance.
A Probable $ 100–120 Billion Public Hit would not even Dent the Chinese Economy
Even if the problem is 10 times worse (And that’s impossible). That’s $ 1.2 Trillion which would cause a stagnancy of (-) 1% on Chinas Growth for 10 years which would bring down aggregate growth from 4.13% to 3.13%
That’s still a whopping $ 566 Billion a year added to the economy
Still more than USA
So why did the West make so much fuss about Evergrande?
Simple
They hoped Xi Jingping would somehow lose support within the CPC if enough speculative damage could be done with Evergrande
They hoped somehow Li Keiqang or someone like him could take charge
Now they will rake up Evergrande again until January, hoping that at least XJP will not become the President of China at the People’s Congress Meeting.
Not a chance of them succeeding!!!
Mexican Coffee (Café Mexicano)
“Posted for the Zaar World Tour 2006-Mexico. This drink is so yummy and definitely warms you up on a cold day.”
Ingredients
- 1 ounce Kahlua
- 1⁄2 ounce brandy
- 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup
- 1 dash ground cinnamon
- hot coffee
- sweetened whipped cream
Directions
- Place Kahlúa, brandy, chocolate syrup and cinnamon in a coffee cup or mug. Fill with hot coffee. Stir to blend. Top with sweetened whipped cream.
What is some of the best advice you don’t hear very often?
I was meeting with the CEO of a large oil company to gain insight on business. I won’t disclose his name but I can tell you he had a net worth upwards of 8 figures. I was excited to meet him and drove over 4 hours to Atlanta to catch him before his flight left.
He was very kind, but you could tell that he was stern when he needed to be. Instead of picking a five star restaurant, he chose a small burger joint.
We talked about innovation, marketing, management, accounting, investing, and a few other things.
We got to the end of our lunch and I asked, “is there any one thing that’s contributed to the success of your career?”
Being the CEO of a large oil company, I expected him to say something like:
“Work hard”
“Don’t take crap from anyone”
“Profit comes first”
But instead, he said:
.
“Tithe.”
“Tithe?” I asked, a bit surprised.
“Yes, never forget to tithe.”
“Like give to the church?”
“Well, yes that’s a form of tithing. But a great way is to give to those less fortunate than you.”
I left our meeting a little confused. I was in the process of starting a business and didn’t have much to spare. I thought, “I barely have enough to get by, how am I supposed to give?”
Right at that moment I drove passed a homeless man.
And then it hit me.
No matter where you’re at in life, there’s always someone doing worse than you.
I immediately drove to Target and purchased supplies to make care packages. I was literally making sandwiches in my car. I put them in bags along with clothes and other items.
I then went around Atlanta handing out these bags to homeless people.
They were just the essentials. Nothing fancy. But from the looks on their faces, you would’ve thought I had just handed them a gold bar.
I can’t explain the feeling you get from giving to those less fortunate, but it’s wonderful.
It’s something that’s always stuck with me.
And if you dig deep enough, you’ll find that every super successful person participates in some form of tithing, whether it be money or simply time.
The reason is not only because you get to help people, but also because it puts you in a state of abundance.
I promise you that for every bit you give, you will get tenfold back.
“Never forget to tithe.”
The Albanese-Xi Jinping meeting yesterday was a step in the right direction one would think. For more info on excess deaths post vaccination Dr John Campbell on You Tube has been documenting this for quite some time. It’s well worth your effort. Cheers