In an earlier post, I wrote about how my sister came home with some friends and ate my dinner ( long awaited Pizza) after working all day in the coal mines. My father later told me that I had to accept the insults and abuse because “as an oldest son, I had to take the hits”.
Some background.
My parents were separated. I was living with my mother. She and I both worked late. My sister lived a life of ease and came and went as she desired, being a star cheerleader, and the most popular girl in school. As a result I spent all my time at school, then in the coal mines (or grocery store) I worked two jobs, and came home to a often cold home with my sister preparing the barest “plates of leftovers” to me.
Literally a plate with one spoon of mashed potatoes. One spoon of peas. And a cold half pork chop. I, as a young man in my late teenage years. Perhaps 17, was getting mightily skinny and started to develop various problems. Like an eye twitch, and being really low in weight.
One day, my father came home. First time he saw me in about 8 months. And he was horrified. I was low in weight. Pale. Yellow tone. Hollow cheeks, and a twitch in the eyes…
I did manage to show him the “plate of food” that my sister made for me.
(I don’t recall how. But he saw it.)
And he was furious. I mean, simply enraged.
He had a really bad bitch and yell out session with my mother, and then he came out of the house in an angry huff, and got me from work. We drove to a local hotel in the town, a place where I had never been to before, and he went in and ordered me a meal.
He ordered me a beer and steak, then ordered me a hearty stew that was on the meal, and then when he dropped me off gave me $100 and told me to make sure that I used it to eat meals … real (man sized) dinners all week. ($100 back then was perhaps 20 large dinners.)
Then after that, he yelled at me “Stand up for yourself. You’re a man.”
Sheech!
Yea he noticed the situation. Yeah. He applied a band-aid.
But you know what guys, the problem ran far deeper than that. I needed a friendly male figure to watch over me locally. A bud. A BRO. An uncle. Someone. Maybe a trusted teacher.
I couldn’t be the “lone wolf”… it turns men into “worker droids”.
You would think that my dad, who lived in the town for 15 year previously… would know a guy or two. But no. He was raised in the 1930’s, and my grandfather was raised before that. Real men’s education was lost in time around 1910 or so.
Nope. Sigh.
This is a story about the emasculation of men. And what actually happened. It is about the changes in society wrought about though excessive taxation, the requirement for both couples to work, a rise in feminism BUT with no change in the roles of the female gender.
Do not be like me.
Do not be like my dad.
Some problems are not so easily solved by a beer and a steak.
Today…
What was the best revenge you’ve ever gotten?
My daughter, of Middle School age, brought to school cash I gave her to buy several boxes of Girl Scout Cookies from a friend of hers. They would exchange the cookies for the cash at lunch, or at some other time during the day. Come time for Music class, my daughter picks up her French Horn in the band-room and leaves her purse (with the cash) and her backpack (with books and lunch) in the music anteroom where instruments were stored. The entire orchestra did, including one male student who was often a nasty person. He excused himself mid-rehearsal and went into the equipment room. Afterwards, my daughter discovered her money missing. So we went to the auto supply shop and purchased a quart of thick grease. We dumped its contents into a purse she was willing to sacrifice. Barely peeking out of the open top of the purse is a $20 bill. The bait is left where the purse she had used the day before had been. End of the school day I get a call from the assistant principal. Little Thief’s momma had called because he got all this nasty, stinky green grease all over his hands, jacket, etc. and had blamed my daughter for his plight. But he had come yelling out of the anteroom with his greased up hands wiping themselves all over his sweater, and as a result, the Band Director/Conductor confirmed that my daughter and her very visible french horn had been under his eye the entire time that Little Thief had been in the anteroom and therefore she could have had nothing to do with forcing his hands to get all greased up inside of her purse. BUSTED! and GREASED!
Australian therapy
What things have you accidentally overheard? Do you regret hearing them?
I finished a drunk driving jury trial once. Jury went out to deliberate. It was a weak case for the prosecution. No breath test, not even field sobriety tests. I felt my client would be ok. Maybe they’d hook her on the lessor charge of Negligent operation at worst. There were skid marks and her tires lost a fight with a curb etc. Anyway, I was exhausted. Jury trials can be draining, even simple ones. So I went and found a nice secluded bench in a quiet empty hallway of the courthouse to await the verdict.
The Courthouse was old Georgian Colonial building built back when Perry Mason still ran new episodes in prime time. It’d Seen better days. But I kicked back on my wooden bench best I could. Then I heard voices.
The hallway was empty in each direction, but There was this door in front of me. I quickly realized I was sitting right on the other side, literally just a few feet and only an old paper thin wooden closed door away from the jury deliberations room, and The voices I heard belonged to my client’s jury.
Now, I’ll admit the ethical thing for me to have done would’ve been to get up and leave immediately. But I’ll rationalize and say I was just too damn tired. So instead I just sat there and listened. It was a learning experience to say the least.
Not one piece of evidence presented by myself or the prosecution was discussed. Not one fact of the case. Not one element of the charges. . Instead they talked about my clients appearance. My client had big implants etc. she was on the north side of 40 trying to hold on to the south side of 30. So jokes were made.i sat there biting my tongue and thought to myself. “Ok ok. Ha ha. Silly jury. That’s funny, Now how about you get to the evidence, maybe take a vote or two. You know, do what you were sworn to do by the judge a few short minutes ago.”
instead, There was a paused silence. A male juror spoke out and said “I’m hungry can we get this over with.” This was followed by another pause. a woman juror blurted out “Well I don’t like her shoes. Who wears bang me pumps to court! So I vote guilty!” (Verbatim except for the word “bang”). This was met with roaring laughter.Another guy said “well, that’s good enough for me. I’ll get the court officer.”
An older outstanding lawyer once told me that the best we can do as lawyers is: 1. Do the best we can do and 2. have faith in the jury. Because They usually get it right.
I agree with my friend, but come on!
She made a mistake
Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?
Early in my career I built and repaired computers for a couple of different companies. This was back in the day of mostly desktop/tower systems during the transition from beige to all the colors of the rainbow.
At one place, we had a client that liked to upgrade his computer himself but really shouldn’t have. He brought in the system one time to find out why the computer didn’t work after he put in a new motherboard. In his eyes it was ALWAYS faulty components. That wasn’t unlikely given that he liked to purchase refurbished parts. This time it turns out the new board didn’t fit in the case quite right, so he took his handy Dremel tool and cut the case to allow the board to fit. Sadly, he did not remove the electronic components first and ended up with metal shavings all over the board. Final answer: don’t do that, and buy a new board.
The worst one that I encountered was at another shop. There was a client who really wanted us to repair his computer. It didn’t bode well that the outside of the case was yellow from excessive smoking, or that some of the plastic had melted and been pulled away by an incandescent light bulb pressed against the case. We opened the computer and then almost immediately closed it back up and refused to work on it. The dead roaches inside were not the reason we declined the work. The overwhelming odor of cat urine is what did the trick. Neither I nor the other technicians were willing to touch the thing without gloves. From what we saw without ever plugging it in, there was likely nothing to be saved anyway. It’s possible he could have saved the hard disk to retrieve his data, but I wasn’t going to do it.
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
We were adding a deck onto our house and went about the proper way, by applying for a building permit. The inspector came out and asked about dimensions, etc. We were planning on a pretty large deck that would run the length of the house (about 25 or 30 feet long). And we were planning on it being about 13 feet wide. The inspector notified us that in our community you couldn’t build a deck attached to the house or an addition onto the house that would come within 30 feet of our property line, which would have meant that our deck would have been all of about 3 feet wide! Before we decided to embark on this improvement I had done a bunch of research on decks and had read about ‘freestanding decks’ which are usually built in a yard separate from the house. So I asked him, “What if it is a freestanding deck. Not attached to the house in any way but built right up next to it?”
He said “You found the one loophole. Please keep it under your hat.” Our plans for the deck got approved and a couple of months after it was built we lag-bolted it to the house. Problem solved!
How can I avoid talking to negative people?
This won’t work for everybody, but I have a little story on this one.
Years ago I had a friend with an absolutely miserable mother-in-law. The first time I met her (at a large party), I made the mistake of listening to her for an hour, whilst drowning her sorrows in as much beer as I could drink.
At the same party the following year, I met my friend’s neighbor. As bad as the mother-in-law was, the neighbor was worse. Even the perfect weather was worthy of complaint.
Before subjecting myself to further torture, I remembered an old math lesson, namely that two negatives make a positive.
I introduced the two women and they spent the entire evening together complaining to each other.
At the end of the evening each of them thanked me for introducing them to such an understanding and like-minded person. They were both smiling.
Go figure…
What is a kind act your supervisor did for you?
Two days after my late fiance died, I did something very stupid.
I went to work.
I have no ideas why I did it, nothing made sense for a long time.
I went in and made my way to my desk, normally that would be littered with “OI! SCAZ! PISS OFF!” etc. And it was returned 3 fold.
This day I didn’t even hear it, I just took my things to where they belonged and left for a cigarette. A few friends followed me, but I didn’t even acknowledge them.
When I returned, questions were answered by “Piss off.” Or “much you care!”
My supervisor came over, she sat beside me and insisted we went for a smoke. She didn’t smoke! Whilst we were outside, she gently questioned me until she got the information she wanted. I’m told.I said “I’m alone, and I always will be.”
At first she thought we had split up, then she realised he was gone. I truly was alone.
She left me smoking, leaving a male co worker outside in case I tried something silly. She came back with a blanket and my manager. She wrapped me up and spoke gently, saying I needed to be at home, then booked a taxi and escorted me to his house.
She explained what was happening, then followed me up to his room and watched me put his football shirt on and get in to his bed.
She sat on the end of the bed until I had sobbed myself to sleep, then went back to work.
She called me every day for 3 weeks and just said “you’re not ready yet. Stay where you are. “
Now 25 out of 50 States Standing with Texas Against Federal Government; U.S. Primed for Actual CIVIL WAR
World Hal Turner 25 January 2024
Tonight, the “united” States of America stand on the precipice of actual CIVIL WAR. Twenty-Five of the fifty states now publicly stand with Texas against the rogue and illegitimate federal government handling of Illegal Immigration, run by election thief-in-chief, Joe Biden.
This afternoon, January 25, 2024, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and twenty-four additional state Governors, released a statement on the issue:
“President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.
“The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”
These are the 25 state Governors who signed this statement:
Governor Kim Reynolds (IOWA), Governor Kay Ivey (ALABAMA), Governor Mike Dunleavy (ALASKA), Governor Sarah Sanders (ARKANSAS), Governor Ron DeSantis (FLORIDA), Governor Brian Kemp (GEORGIA), Governor Brad Little (IDAHO), Governor Eric Holcomb (INDIANA), Governor Jeff Landry (LOUISIANA), Governor Tate Reeves (MISSISSIPPI), Governor Mike Parson (MISSOURI), Governor Greg Gianforte (MONTANA), Governor Jim Pillen (NEBRASKA), Governor Joe Lombardo (NEVADA), Governor Chris Sununu (NEW HAMPSHIRE), Governor Doug Burgum (NORTH DAKOTA), Governor Mike DeWine (OHIO), Governor Kevin Stitt (OKLAHOMA), Governor Henry McMaster (SOUTH CAROLINA), Governor Kristi Noem (SOUTH DAKOTA), Governor Bill Lee (TENNESSEE), Governor Spencer Cox (UTAH), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VIRGINIA), Governor Jim Justice (WEST VIRGINIA), and Governor Mark Gordon (WYOMING).
Not since the year 1860, just prior to the Civil War, has the “united” States seen this type – and scope – of open challenge to the federal government. The challenge is already growing far, far, worse.
Members of the Armed Forces of the United States are already inquiring as to how they can join-up with the various State Guards in the event the Biden Regime tries to order the Army into the affair, or tries to “Nationalize” the Guard to serve the Biden regime. Troops are also researching the implications of going AWOL (Absent With Out Leave), Resigning from the military, or outright changing sides, to side with the States.
The General Public is beginning to notice, and take sides, and the lines of demarcation are becoming crystal clear. Supporting secure borders are Republicans, Conservatives, and normal Independents. Those supporting the Biden Regime and its open borders are Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, Marxists, Socialists, the mentally ill “trannies” and those who walk around with strange colored hair (blue, green, deep-dyed red, etc.)
Sales of Rifle Ammunition are absolutely skyrocketing throughout much of the country, as Americans stock up on body-armor-penetrating Large caliber rifle ammunition. Sales of Level Four body armor and it’s armor insert plates, is also skyrocketing.
The Biden Regime is running into additional problems of its own making, in terms of the number of troops it can muster. In addition to having to staff the eight hundred or so bases the US has created around the planet, Biden has now also deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to Europe, for NATO, over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and is now in the process of deploying thousands more for the upcoming Yemen activity.
With all branches of the US military suffering several years of missed Recruiting Goals, if push-comes-to-shove with this Texas situation, Biden may not be able to muster troops in numbers necessary to take any effective action. Put more bluntly, Biden can no longer muster enough troops to keep himself, and the federal government, in-power should things turn hot.
There are also very widespread discussions in liberal states about what may have to be done with THOSE state governments, if this turns into an actual Civil War. Should Conservatives in Liberal states up and leave, or should they stay and “take out” the liberal state governments?
It’s not a far fetched question because those liberal states have the unique vulnerability of having long ago DISARMED their populations through gun control laws. So the people of those liberal states can’t defend themselves – or their state government — if things turn hot.
By far, the strangest aspect of developments so far is a run on auto parts stores for an over-the-counter auto engine product called “Tuf-Oil.” It contains “the slipperiest substance on earth” which is reportedly even slipperier than Teflon. By dropping a few drops on the tips of full metal jacket bullets, some people say it allows the bullet to slip right through level three and level IIIA bullet-resistant vests, which is what most police utilize. Thus, any police choosing to side with the Illegal Immigration may not stand much of a chance if the nation goes into Civil War.
By the end of this week, the lines may actually be drawn.
On the horizon: States that choose to side with Biden, will likely be the ones to start getting (more) busloads of illegal immigrants from Texas. So unless those states want to end up like New York City and parts of Illinois, where the costs for supporting those migrants is wiping out budgets, those states may find they HAVE to support Texas, to avoid getting tens-of-thousands of migrants which break their budgets, spike crime, and make areas literal cesspools.
It’s getting ugly. Fast.
We need to be talking
What was the most unexpected thing that happened to you in a supermarket?
Some 10+ years back, I ran into an old school teacher, from 25 years prior. I recognised him, but he didn’t know who I was until I told him my name. He was one of the teachers I remembered fondly. He was my teacher for a whole year in primary school (elementary school). His classes were always fun, and he was a kind and gentle man. He never yelled at students, and despite this being the early 80s, he preferred to separate trouble-makers, and give them time out in the “quiet room” (a reading room off the main classroom) as punishment, instead of the cane or simply yell at them like other teachers. The fact his classes were the most functional, with the least trouble, showed he was on the right path there.
One thing happened that year that I’ve never forgotten. My grandfather passed away, and I had to go to school the next day. I was still quite upset, and didn’t want to go out into the playground at lunch. All I wanted was a quiet place to sit down and cry for a bit, in private. I asked him if I could sit in the “quiet room” rather than go outside to have lunch. This messed up his lunch plans – he couldn’t leave me unsupervised in the classroom/adjacent room, so he ate his lunch in the classroom instead of the staff room with the other teachers. He came into the quiet room after he’d finished, and I still remember how he put his hand on my back – just touching my shoulder blade firm enough to say “I’m here for you.” It was the most comforting thing any teacher had ever done. Sadly, in this day & age they’d be labelled as a predator, but he was far from that. He genuinely cared about his students, and his support helped me compose myself enough to spend the rest of lunch in the playground.
I have never forgotten that.
When I saw him in the supermarket, I went up to him and said “Hey, Mr G, how are you?” He had that “do I know you?” look that most people get, but with a bit of a twist – it’s like he assumed I was an old student from years before, but he had no clue as to my name. So I introduced myself, and a smile spread across his face.
He asked what I’d done with my life, and warmly shook my hand, telling me how happy he was that I’d turned out great – adding that he always knew I’d do well. I guess many good teachers have this happen to them over the years, so it would be a fairly common line.
We chatted for about 5 minutes, and I decided to tell him how I’d never forgotten what he did – that minute of care, that meant so much to me. He almost had tears in his eyes as I explained how I felt about it. We then spoke about how modern day rules wouldn’t allow a teacher to go near a student, let alone touch them, and how a few bad apples have spoiled it for the opportunities where the right touch can have so much benefit. He thanked me for sharing my memory with him, and how it made his day to learn that such a small action from 25 years ago had been so significant to me that I’d never forgotten it. We both parted with huge smiles.
This is why it is all happening
Yeah It’s so clean and clear.
Garides me Feta
(Shrimp with Feta Cheese)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 4 ripe medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon oregano
- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 pound raw large shrimp, shelled and de-veined
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a heavy skillet, sauté onion in butter and oil until soft. Add wine, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Bring to boil, lower heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in cheese and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings.
- Just before serving, add shrimp to hot sauce and cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp are just tender. Do not overcook. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately in large bowls with crusty French bread. Pass the rice!
TikToker Facing 15 Years in Prison for Unthinkable “Prank”
What was the most legendary “I quit!” that you know about or witnessed?
Originally Answered: What was the most legendary “I quit!” that you know about or witnessed?
I was working in fast food. The supervisor, “Jane,” hated to promote managers no matter how much they deserved it. She had people with the trainee title doing the work of shift managers.
One day, she finally deigned to test “John” for grill manager. This was well below the work he was doing, but it was a step up from the title he held. The day of his test, there was a large lunch rush. It was well within his capabilities. However, as soon as it got busy, Jane took over. She sent John to do the lowliest job in the store… cleaning the lobby.
He was among her best managers, and she just ended his test to have him clean lobby? Wrong move.
Instead of going to the lobby, he quit. He just said, “I quit.” He clocked out and left.
The owner of the store was livid. This was the third manager to quit in a month, and now the owner knew why. He pulled out Jane’s contract and tore it in half.
That was the end of the line for Jane, but John didn’t fare so badly. He walked across town to another large fast food restaurant. He walked in and told his story. It just so happened that their supervisor was familiar with Jane’s tactics and believed John. They started him in management the next day.
The shape of Aztec territory at the time of its conquest is weird. Why are there three islands of unconquered territory in the middle of the empire, an unconquered panhandle in the north, and a random bit of conquered territory off to the east?
Good observation!
There’s an element of truth in these maps: there were unconquered, independent enclaves within Aztec-controlled land. Owing to the combination of geography and people, there were some places not even the Spanish could take by force (though the Aztecs needed to first be interested in these places, and many simply didn’t have anything they wanted).
But everything else is more the working of historians trying to deal with a place whose concepts of territory and sovereignty were a bit more foreign than what we’re used to in our Westphalian system. Which is why each map you see on the Internet looks slightly different based on which sources are being used. Some, of course, are just being “eyeballed”.
Let’s grab a map that most closely reflects what you’re asking:
This is a more minimalist interpretation of the empire. It assumes that only true “vassals” — conquered and annexed regions subject to regular tribute and overseen by officials along a spectrum of authority — as well as the core, and all the parts that assisted in the empire’s governance, are true parts of the empire. As we’ll see, this definition complicates things. Many parts of the periphery had what might call “client states” who willingly sent gifts to pledge allegiance and troops in turn for protection, but otherwise weren’t assigned any regular taxation. Many altepemeh (city-states) were nominally under the control of their respective region’s provincial capital, but lived largely the same as before the Aztecs since they had nothing that interested in them save for just recognition of who’s boss. Doesn’t even make sense if we were studying medieval Europe, given all the nearly autonomous regions there.
Then there’s the fact that the Aztecs only completely stripped their subjects of self-rule when they deemed it absolutely necessary for the stability of the province; otherwise they didn’t really care what the local rulers did as long as they kept up their allegiance and tax flow. This really isn’t out of the ordinary for Old World polities, though, but people tend to forget the complexity of historical Eurasian governance when they’re studying the Americas.
So let’s take a look:
The Three “Islands”:
- The first one is probably two, perhaps three, polities, and even then the “hole” is probably a little bit bigger than it should be. The majority of it is by far going to be the Republic of Tlaxcallan. The whole land was highly fortified — not even the Spanish thought they would be able to take it militarily — and its people well-trained and socially unified despite being less centralized politically. Owing to that, it was an unconquerable thorn in the Aztec’s side, with the latter being forced to surround them and cut off access to the coast and trade routes until they eventually lose through attrition.
- Part of the southern bit would be Cholollan, or Cholula. This was a city that had been around since 600 BC, and at one time in the Classic period was a sizable and important kingdom in its own right and was seen as an important religious center throughout much of Mesoamerica ever since. It was one of the major “Tollans” — a revered metropolis — of Mesoamerica. Receiving noble titles from Cholula was almost like getting them from the Pope, in a way. It was actually Tlaxcallan that conquered it early on; something that the Cholulans didn’t quite appreciate, so they rebelled the first chance they got and allied themselves with the Aztecs. The exact nature of the allegiance isn’t well known, though they certainly don’t seem to have been a dependent.
- That would leave the rest of the hole to be Huexotzinco, which doesn’t make sense because this once-major polity was conquered by Tlaxcallan, then by the Aztecs with the help of Huexotzinca rebels, and only left when they sided with the Spanish.
- The middle “island” is Teotitlan. It’s kind of difficult finding out just what it was. According to some documents, it was a tributary, but there are no sources mentioning any outright conquest and others say it was merely an ally that gave the Aztecs free passage. Ross Hassig in Aztec Warfare suggests a middle ground, where Teotitlan was never outright conquered on account of there not being anything of value except it being an important crossroads for trade routes. Therefore, it was probably left autonomous on the condition that it maintain its roads and support Aztec merchants and troops — which sounds an awful lot like a tribute requirement for some people, especially considering other places had similar arrangements. And that’s why this “island” is sometimes filled in.
- The area controlled by Teotitlan regardless was probably not as large as it’s seen on most maps.
- The bottom “island”, touching the coast, is the Me’phaa kingdom of Yopitzinco. The Yopes, according to the Aztecs, are both boring and harmless. The Yopes might disagree, but at least that translated to there not being any active attempt to subjugate the region. Even if the Aztecs wanted to, they’d have a difficult time with all that rough terrain. There were, however, some campaigns to the east where the Tlapanecs, another Me’phaa kingdom, were conquered, but the Yopes could visit the sacred city of Tlapan freely and the king of Yopitzinco would be among those invited to coronations, temple (re)dedications, kids’ birthday parties and neighborhood barbecues, etc.
The “Unconquered Panhandle”:
That would, of course, be this place:
Metztitlan was an Otomi kingdom, and one of the last independent Otomi polities. Which is a bit poignant, considering how much the Otomi and other Oto-Manguean speakers feature in Mesoamerican history. It’s thought, for example, that they made up a large portion (and may have been the founders) of Teotihuacan, and were otherwise important military players in the Aztec Empire, Tlaxcallan and the P’urepecha Empire.
Like Yopitzinco, there’s not much here the Aztecs were interested in and it’s nestled within mountains. The only time the Aztecs ever tried to take it was under Tizoc, regarded in their history as the dumbest emperor they’d ever had. On his coronation in 1481, Tizoc waged a campaign of conquest to prove his might, including invading Metztitlan. Failed miserably. And ended up with more provinces rebelling than conquered. It seems likely that he was clandestinely assassinated and replaced by his more adept brother Ahuizotl to “clean up the mess”.
The “Random Bit to the East”
This is where it gets interesting.
That apparent exclave is the Aztec province of Xoconochco (or Soconusco), “place of the sour cactus”.
Xoconochco was a 1486 conquest by Ahuizotl, establishing a foothold in “Cuauhtemallan” (where we get the word “Guatemala”). In doing so, they acquired some of the best centers of cacao (chocolate) production in Mesoamerica along with jaguar skins and exotic birds and/or their feathers. They also established a presence in a lucrative mercantile entrepot. Definitely valuable enough to establish a garrison, which they had to deploy on a couple of occasions.
Right up to the border with them was Q’umarkaj, a K’iche Maya kingdom which had been forming quite an empire for itself; eventually controlling a majority of what is now Guatemala. The Aztecs sent emissaries to foster strong diplomatic relations with Q’umarkaj, all the way up to political marriages. Moctezuma II thought the alliance so strong that during Cortes’ campaigns against him, he sent for aid from Q’umarkaj…who of course never responded. By 1520, the young K’iche empire was incredibly unstable from internal strife (that’s what you get when you’re ruled by four kings from four distinct houses). If the Spanish never invaded, there may have been a good chance of the K’iche failing to work themselves out and the Aztecs stepping in to fill the power vacuum.
But how did the Aztecs get all the way to Almost Guatemala? Why the apparent jump?
Well, the land inbetween Xoconochco and the rest of the Aztec empire is Zapotec land. In the highlands of Oaxaca was the kingdom of Za’achila. To the lowlands going east was Guisii Gui — the Forest of Fire — which the Aztecs called Tehuantepec (and where the Isthmus of Tehuantepec gets its namesake). It seems that Za’achila expanded into this region just before Ahuizotl stepped in.
What exactly happened here depends on who you ask. Most of the Aztec accounts say that their own were attacked in Tehuantepec, so Ahuizotl used that as a (very common) casus belli to conquer it and turn it into a tributary province — albeit one they had come to respect after thwarting a covert attempt to overthrow the less-than-obeisant Zapotec rulers. And the Zapotecs say their king Cosijoeza was besieged in the fortress of Guiengola for 7 months and won frequent nighttime raids until Ahuizotl acquiesced and signed a peace treaty. Both sides of the story involve Ahuizotl marrying Cosijoeza. Uh, to his daughter, mind…and Xoconochco being taken with Zapotec assistance.
In terms of actual documentation, Tehuantepec doesn’t show up in the tribute lists of the Codex Mendoza. However, it does show up in the Memorial de Tlacopan in the list of regions subordinate to all three capitals of the Triple Alliance. Pedro Carrasco in The Tenochca Empire of Ancient Mexico surmises that this is because Tehuantepec and perhaps regions in similar situations were only obligated to give military aid, being something of a client state under a dynastic union.
So, sometimes you get maps looking like this instead.
I just got fired. Now my former boss (the one who let me go) is asking me where some important documents are. How should I respond?
I quit a job after discovering that I was shorted around $800 on a paycheck, and the manager (the owners son, may have been the legal owner at that time, I don’t know for sure) told me there was nothing they could do about my pay, because it had been charged incorrectly to the customers. And the manager was the one who billed it out. So I quit, with no notice. I finished my shift to not put my direct supervisor or coworkers in a bad position. I had the entire dashboard out of a car, and I think it would have literally taken weeks for anyone else to look at my pile of parts and figure out where they went. I liked my coworkers, so I didn’t do that to them.
When I went back to collect my last paycheck, they had a question about the car. I had a pretty good idea what was going on. I said that I could probably figure it out, but it might take me some time, and I expected to be paid actual time until I diagnosed it. I think they knew I was going to drag it out to $800 worth of time. To this day, I don’t know for sure what the problem was. (I didn’t do anything to intentionally sabotage the job)
You are in control here. It sounds like they were not good to you. I sure wouldn’t do anything to help in that situation, unless I got a big payout.
NY Times & WSJ Promoting Open Marriage/Polyamory Success Stories
What would you do if you found US$500 in a parking lot?
When I was about 18 I found $100 in the street, and not another person was in sight. $100 was a heck of a lot of money then (about $800 by today’s standards), and I have to confess that the idea of keeping it did cross my mind. But then I thought that perhaps it might belong to somebody poor who was desperately in need of it, so I dutifully trotted off to the local police station with it and told them I where I had found it, expecting them to pat me on the back, tell me I was a wonderful human being, and wave goodbye.
To my enormous surprise, and extreme discomfort, they immediately started grilling me about the circumstances. Were there any other people in the street? Were any people in nearby houses or gardens watching? Were there any possible witnesses in parked cars? And a lot of other questions along those lines, until I was seriously starting to feel like a criminal myself, and thinking if it ever happened again, no way was I ever going near a police station. It came to an end, and it turned out it was so rare for anyone to do this, that they thought that perhaps I had only done it because somebody had seen me find the money, and so didn’t feel safe keeping it.
Then I did genuinely get the pat on the back and the praise, and was told to tell my parents they should be proud of having such an honest child. But that wasn’t the happy end of the story.
That night there was a knock on our door, and a boy from our street was there. He had just completed his first year of university and done tremendously well. His proud grandparents, who were in fact quite poor and couldn’t really afford it, had sent him the money as a reward for all his hard work. He was sure it was lost for good, and only out of desperation went to the police station to see if somebody had handed it in because he couldn’t bear to tell his grandparents it was lost without trying. He literally had tears in his eyes, and couldn’t stop thanking me.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
Why Men NEED Sex
What prevents an employer from simply firing an old worker and replacing him with a younger one in an at-will employment with no legal protections?
Please allow me to tell you of my experience. I worked for a very well known timeshare company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. I started out as the assistant to the Collections Manager. You know, those people who call you up to collect on your timeshare loan when you don’t pay on time.
After about 6 years or so, I was promoted to the Executive Revolution Dept. As you can imagine, things sometimes things went wrong, so the account came to the ERD. We had the authority to review the points accounts and make whatever changes might be necessary to either correct the points usage, add points etc, to make the customer happy. Sometimes all it took was educating the member, but that took time some people didn’t have the patience for.
There was between 12 to 15 employees of that department and we mostly loved what we did. Five of our employees had a combined total of 93 years service with the company. I was one of these with 15 years years with the company. One by one, the five began to be terminated for made up reasons and an inexperienced person making next to minimum wage was hired. Then when the department was all new hires, the ERD was discontinued and became a traditional customer service call center. I know these cuts were to make more money for the company. IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY, theirs, not ours!
What’s the dumbest way that someone you know has gotten in trouble with the law?
We had a guy at work (in a different department) who was a real bully. The whole department hated him, but he was sneaky enough to not get caught by HR for a number of years. We all knew about him as well – as many of us have friends across multiple departments.
He’d been done DUI a few times, and had just gotten his licence back after another long stint without it. Finally he did something that was witnessed, and was asked to front management & HR to explain himself. All of a sudden the avalanche of complaints that they’d filed as “can’t confirm 100%” had enough evidence, and he was sacked on the spot. He didn’t take it well.
As he was escorted up the driveway, his former supervisor had to open the security gate to let him out. He aimed his (loud, V8 performance) car at him & gunned it, to scare him. A few more words were exchanged before the supervisor let him out the gate, and told him never to return. The driver responded with a finger out the window and a barrage of verbal abuse as he roared off through the gate.
He got to the road, and let rip. It was a huge burnout out the driveway and sideways onto the road. Lots of white smoke, and 2 thick black lines that lasted for months. Whilst the engine was still roaring, we heard the sirens from a Police car. The cop was just up the road and saw it all. Aggravated burnout is a huge fine, 30-day impound on the car, and often times a loss of licence due to the number of points accrued. In this guy’s case, he was on a “good behaviour” licence, and just 1 indiscretion is enough to lose it again. He went home with no job, no car, no licence, and even more debt. It was a great day for Karma, and still remembered fondly by those who were victims of his abuse.
Is China’s economy experiencing a slowdown? Why, or why not?
Why don’t you decide. The latest official grow rates of U.S. and China is out! The U.S. grow 2.4% and has an inflation rate of 3.4% or in other words the U.S. real GDP shrink by -1%.
China on the other hand grew by 5.2% but has a 0.2% inflation. Therefore it grow by a positive 5.0% in real income!
Which economy is experiencing slower growth or negative real income? Unless one is dumb, deaf or blind it doesn’t need a 5 years old to see that this question is a nonsensical western narrative to talk down China!
Good try!
What are some battles in history that had ridiculous/comical outcomes?
Probably the most ridiculous outcome of a battle would be when a Dutch naval fleet was captured after being charged and surrounded by French cavalry.
Yup, you read that right.
During the War of the First Coalition, the French Revolutionary Army was camping out in Amsterdam for the winter. The generals became aware of a Dutch fleet anchored at Den Helder, a nearby bay that had been frozen over due to an extremely cold winter.
They sent out a regiment of “hussars” (light cavalry) with a regiment of line infantry that literally hitched a ride with them. Upon approaching Den Helder, they discovered the Dutch fleet stuck in the ice with the sailors fast asleep.
Not wishing to wake the napping sailors, the French covered the hooves of their horses with fabric and slowly maneuvered out onto the ice. When they were in position, they launched their assault.
Within minutes, they had surrounded the entire fleet. The cavalry men and infantry quickly boarded and captured every ship. They suffered zero losses.
This is the only time in human history where a naval battle between warships and cavalry took place, and as ridiculous as it sounds, the cavalry won.
Chinese history
What did you do when an aggressive driver got out of their car and wanted to fight?
When I was college, I had a friend on the gymnastics team which at the time was just a few women. The gymnastics coach also taught P.E. and was a sixth degree black belt.
The team was heading up the mountain to a meet in Boone NC and back then it was a winding two lane road. They were all packed into the coach’s station wagon and this truck driver started tailgating them. Soon, he was right on their bumper and there was nowhere to pull off. So, coach slowed down, way down.
Finally, they got to a turnout and coach pulled over. Instead of passing, the truck driver stopped, hopped out and, brandishing a tire iron, started approaching the car yelling and cursing.
The girls were pretty scared but coach just casually got out and waited for the driver, arm barred him, pulled the tire iron out of the drivers hand, tossed it over the cliff and forced him to the ground.
My friend said coach said something to the driver, likely that the driver would soon be following the tire iron over the cliff if he did not leave now. The driver got back in this rig and drove off. They never saw him again.
The lesson is, don’t pick a fight with someone you don’t know.
What is the angriest you’ve seen a customer get?
Payee calls about his child support. We’re a payroll company and we’re required to deduct any garnishment we get from a court. We must withhold until we get an order from the court telling us to stop.
One day, a payee called and told our garnishments clerk to stop his garnishment immediately and issue him a refund for the week we already took out. The clerk verified the paperwork (we do make mistakes) and it was okay. She said something like “if the court has ended your garnish, have them send us an official notice and …”
At which point he launched into a tirade. The kid might not be his and even if it was so what, since she was a s**t and threw him out. Since she threw him out, he hardly had to pay for any spawn that B!tch had. He didn’t give a flying whatever about a court order from some <derogatory word for a gay person> 90 year old judge. His garnishment was going to be stopped NOW and he would be over to pick up his refund within an hour.
She quickly told him there would be no refund and got a string of profanity for it. That ended with, I’ll be at that desk like I said for my refund and either I’ll have it or I’ll be sending you straight to H3ll. All you B!tches stick together but this time you’re not getting away with it. And then he slammed down the phone.
She told her supervisor who calmed her down. “If he calls back, hand him to me and meanwhile, I’ll report this higher up. If he does call back, we’ll handle it for you next time.”
Here, I fault the company a bit. No one thought to call the front desk. We had no idea what he looked like, but maybe they could have warned the receptionist about what to do if he did show. However, the supervisor made the mistake of assuming he was just blowing off steam.
He did show up and he was clever. He asked the desk where Accounting was and the receptionist told him “2nd floor, at the back of the building.” He thanked her and sat down in one of the lobby chairs. Shortly after, the UPS guy and a runner came in. Receptionist distracted, he simply started walking down the hallway unchallenged.
We don’t know if he knew there was a back stairway or was just hoping there was one. He’d have seen that you needed a key to use the elevator at the front of the building. At any rate, he found the open back stairway, found Accounting and found that the clerk was in the room alone.
He jumped her and started strangling her and it would have been the end if our maintenance supervisor hadn’t been coming up the back stairs. He heard noises, decided to investigate and saw what was going on. He was twice the other guy’s size but it was all he could do to pull him off. The clerk was by then purple and nearly out.
Shortly after, the Controller, also a big guy came in and was helping the maintenance supervisor hold this guy down. Meanwhile, he was fighting like a rabid dog and tried to pull a knife. Finally, the clerk had recovered enough to go get help. Cops came and three of them had all they could do to cuff him and get him out of the building.
I saw the tail end of it — three pretty big cops having all they could do to handle on guy already in handcuffs. All over his child support.
We had a couple other incidents but none went that far. Still, if anyone ever comes into our building and shoots us all, it’s more likely going to be over some jerk who doesn’t think he should pay his child support than any other cause.
Kolokythia Krokettes (Zucchini Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 3 cups grated zucchini
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup grated feta cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves
- 3 tablespoons flour
- Pepper
- Butter
Instructions
- Mix zucchini with salt and let stand 1 hour. Squeeze out moisture.
- Beat eggs. Add zucchini, cheese, mint, flour and pepper to taste.
- Fry 1 tablespoon at a time in butter over medium heat. Brown on both sides.
Makes 18 pancakes or 6 servings.
Have you ever done anything that was actually innocent but came off to others as creepy or inappropriate?
Yes.
This happens sometimes when I’m with my students outside of my classroom. The problem stems from stereotyping and profiling. I’m an ugly, middle-aged white guy who also happens to be a teacher, but people in public don’t know I’m a teacher.
Part of one of my earlier teaching jobs was to monitor the students when they were at recess. Their recess area was a huge lot between the street and the school. The boys usually played football, and the girls usually just sat around and gossiped. I usually stood near the school to watch them, but one day I sat in my van that was parked on the street and watched them from there.
I’d hurt my lower back and was using my van’s heated seats to ease the pain.
Someone saw me and called the school to let them know that some pervert was sitting in his van by the school, watching the girls during recess.
Another time, while teaching at that same school, we had a field trip to the local aquarium. It was crowded, as always. Besides being a teacher, I was also that school’s official Facebook administrator. Basically, I took pictures of everything and posted them on Facebook for the parents. I decided to take some pictures of our field trip for Facebook.
So there I was, taking pictures of some young school girls (and boys) in the darkened corridors of a crowded aquarium. I saw a middle-aged woman giving me a dirty look, and I realized what she must have thought. I actually said, loud enough for everyone in front of the coral reef exhibit to hear:
“I’m not a creep. I’m their teacher. This is part of my job.”
I’ve actually stopped using my own phone to take pictures of my students when we’re on field trips now. I use an iPad, and I try to get other students to take the pictures as much as possible. It looks less creepy that way.
The part that WOMEN always LEAVE OUT: why this messes with men’s heads
What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?
A long time ago I worked for a large business
I didn’t have to travel and work away from the office often but if I did then it was likely to be important. I knew several other IT people in the same position.
Anyway – at one point the senior managers decided the company was spending far too much on hotel and travelling expenses and something HAD TO BE DONE!!!
SO we had new rules. Travel using public transport and only stay in Travel Lodge (for not UK people – a hotel chain – reasonable prices – not expensive – hotels in most towns) with whom they had negotiated a good deal.
OK – so a week or so later and colleague of mine was needed in Sunderland – for a couple of days. He contacted the travel department as required by the new rules.
They arranged train travel and booked him into the nearest hotel that was part of the chain – it was in Durham – a 30 minute drive away from the place he was working.
But, of course, he does not have a car so he needed to get a taxi. And taxis in Durham are expensive and it was long distance.
But he stuck to the rules and claimed his expenses when he got back
Hotel was much cheaper than the one we used to have a deal with in Sunderland
Train tickets were a lot more than the mileage allowance he normally claimed
taxis were VERY expensive
overall his travel expenses were twice the normal amount he would have claimed
The policy was modified pretty quickly
What’s the dumbest thing your boss has gotten mad at you for?
I was upgraded to First Class on a flight for a business trip.
I was upgraded because I was a high-tier customer in the airline’s program and had accumulated enough airmiles to pretty much get an upgrade every flight. All I ever paid for was a coach ticket. Company rule was you could only buy coach. So I bought a coach ticket and got upgraded.
Boss calls me into his office and says “You are only supposed to fly economy!” I told him I DID buy an economy ticket. The AIRLINE upgraded me. The company therefore only paid for Economy, as per the rules.
He said “It doesn’t look good if you fly First. I don’t get to fly First!”. This made no sense. I was not with clients. I was not with co-workers, and I paid for coach, as per the rules. He just didn’t like that I rode upfront on principle…like I was rising above my station in life.
I told him I bought coach, as per the rules and did not buy First Class. It was GIVEN to me. There was no rule about what seat you actually sat in..only about what seat you bought.
This went back and forth until I told him to write me up for violating policy..if he could find the policy.
This is also the boss who got mad at me for something I did in a dream. He then tried to justify his anger with “If I dreamt it there is probably some truth to it”.
This guy was real power tripper. He was hypersensitive to deference..you had to show how important he was. Your work could be stellar, but if you didn’t seem appropriately intimidated by his rank, he would hate you. This was the guy who told another employee to get rid of his car, because it was nicer than his own.
I left that place in under 1 year.
What is the best moment you witnessed in which somebody proved they weren’t “all talk”?
When I was at university, I was at the Pizza King (pizza and beer) across from a nightclub. There was an Asian guy sitting on a bar stool near the end of the bar. He was probably about 5′6″, and 145 pounds or so. One of the scholarship football players came in, had a couple of beers, and started mouthing off to anyone close. He was probably about 6′4” and around 245.
The Asian guy (Korean, I think) said nothing and just sipped his beer. The football player approached the Asian guy and started giving him a hard time. The young man got up, took his beer, and walked to the other end of the bar. The football player followed him. He started abusing him verbally again.
After a bit, the young Asian gentleman had had enough. He stood up and told the football player to back off. The football player put his hand on the Asian guy’s chest, probably to give him a push.
I’m still not sure what happened next. The football player was on the floor screaming. The Asian guy was back sitting at the bar, drinking his beer. An ambulance was called, and they hauled the football player away. There was a lot of motion in between, but it was almost impossible to see what actually happened.
This was not an “All talk and no action” situation, it was a “No talk and all action” scenario. Fascinating.
Why did China warn the USA that in case of a military conflict between China & the US over Taiwan, the theatre of war will almost certainly expand to include the US homeland?
Of course.
If the U.S. kill a thousand in China, China has every right to kill a thousand in the U.S. if the U.S. hits China with a nuke and kill a million in China, China has every right to retaliate in the U.S. mainland and kill a million too. Taiwan is a province of China just like California is a state in the U.S. if you hit Taiwan we hit California. China is certainly not picking a fight. It certainly won’t shoot first. The U.S. is a war monger, I am not so sure.
China is certainly not involved in California’s election! But the U.S. is knee deep in Taiwan’s politic. China is certainly not arming California in case it wants to be independent from the U.S ! The US U.S. certainly arming Taiwan!
China’s senate head is certainly not flying uninvited to a part of the US. Nancy Pelosi did! Credit to China it did not shoot the plane down! But China reserves the right to!
The world knows who the war monger is. And it is the United States of America!
An employee I terminated has left me a sealed envelope titled “now I can tell you what I really think.” Should I just shred it without opening or is there something to be gained by actually reading it?
That reminds me of a favorite business story:
The CEO of a Fortune 500 firm was canned by the board. They brought in a successor who, in getting settled, discovered three envelopes from the previous CEO in his desk drawer. A note instructed him to open the envelopes in order at the end of the next three quarters. He found this amusing and promptly forgot it.
His first quarter was a disaster. Profits down, people problems, etc. He had to appear before the board. He remembered the envelopes and opened the first one. It said: “Blame me.”
He did. He told the board this was all the previous guy’s fault and it would soon be straightened out and the company put in good order. The board agreed and he went back to work.
The next quarter was worse. Profits were gone, strikes were threatened, the competition was eating their lunch. He opened the second envelope. It said: “Blame the economy.”
He did. He went to the board and told them about supply chain problems, inability to get parts, and Covid-19 issues. The board reluctantly bought it and he went back to work.
The third quarter was a total catastrophe. They showed a heavy loss, wildcat strikes broke out, and the employees were vandalizing the plants. He was ordered to meet with the board. His hands trembled as he opened the third envelope. It began…
“Prepare three envelopes…”
Have you ever worked with someone who deliberately tried to get you fired?
Several years ago I worked for a company that had new owners. They fired our general manager and our engineering manager so as the purchasing manager I figured my days were numbered. One day at a staff meeting the president turned to me and asked when I was going to start doing my job. I calmly asked what specifically I wasn’t doing. He seemed startled that anyone would challenge him and he continued with the meeting. The next week he asked the same question and my answer was the same. This time he came up with something and my response was it was done. He stopped the meeting and sent the manufacturing manager to check. He came back and acknowledged it was done. The president then reamed him out. I should add I had already started looking for a new job. Week 3 comes and he asks the same question. This time I asked him if instead of playing silly mind games we shouldn’t be focused on improving the company’s profitability. I then read a list of things I had done and then asked what he had done. He was so stunned to be challenged like that, he got up and left the meeting. Every person in the meeting thanked me for putting him in his place. To this day I don’t know why he didn’t fire me on the spot. Two weeks later with a job offer in hand I gave my notice. I think I got the last laugh as it took three people to replace me. And within four years they had gone bankrupt.