My mother ordered a case of matches with the logo of my sister’s wedding on it. She did this as a favor to help my sister pay for her wedding.
Unfortunately, she accidentally ordered 10,000 cases. Thinking, obviously, that they were 10,000 matches.
And, don’t you know it, she could not part with this massive ancient fire hazard. So it sat in her basement year after year, decades after decade.
About thirty years later… when matchbooks went out of style, and smoking became the unacceptable vice in the USA, she died and was buried. Rest in peace mom.
But then, about a month later, my brother and I carted all those cases out of the basement. We stacked them high in a field and set them ablaze.
Good bye to the relics of the past.
It was long overdue.
Sometimes we tend to cling to things because we paid a lot for them, forgetting that their value was zero and was not worth any benefit to keep them around for.
Burn the matches that serve no purpose.
Today…
Veterans to Biden: US Law Says No Weapons to Nations with A-Bombs if They’ve Not Signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. That Means Israel
In a letter 18 April to President Biden and top members of his administration, Veterans For Peace cited existing federal law that gives the President “…no discretion whatsoever to allow any military assistance of any form to be delivered to Israel,” based on that country’s “serial violations of the Symington-Glenn Amendments, codified at 22 U.S.C. § 2799aa.”
The letter cites a lengthy list of credible reports that Israel has possessed nuclear weapons for decades. Because Israel has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), the Symington-Glenn Amendments to the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976, which allow no presidential discretion, goes into effect, including:
- termination of assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act, except for humanitarian assistance or food or other agricultural commodities;
- termination of defense sales and licensing of Munitions List exports;
- termination of foreign military financing;
- denial of U.S. government credit, credit guarantees, or other financial assistance (except for medical and humanitarian assistance and agricultural exports from the United States);
- U.S. government opposition to any loan or financial or technical assistance from international financial institutions (IFIs);
- prohibition of any loan or credit from U.S. banks to the foreign government (except for the purchase of food or other agricultural commodities); and
- prohibition under the Export Administration Act of exports to that state of specific goods and technology licensed by the Commerce Department (except for food and other agricultural commodities).
The letter states, “The President may not waive the cutoff of the above aid and exports under the Glenn Amendment where there has been a nuclear weapons detonation, or the offending state has received a nuclear explosive device. Congress would have to enact new legislation authorizing the President to waive some or all of these sanctions.”
VFP National Director, Mike Ferner, said, “Israel’s possession of The Bomb and the U.S.’ refusal to take appropriate action is yet another example of how the Madmen Arsonists – the Raytheons, Boeings, General Dynamics – actually govern our country and determine policy. The law is quite simple – Does Israel have an unregulated nuclear weapons arsenal? Yes, it does. Is Israel a signatory to the NPT? No, it isn’t. So, the question to Biden is, ‘will you obey the law or the Madmen?’”
Ferner added, “This election year our members will ask their Congressional representatives, ‘Will you hold hearings to enforce existing law, or let the Madmen Arsonists continue to run our country?’”
Highlights of the letter:
- Senator John Glenn was prompted to seek a change in the law because of a reported theft of 100 kg of highly enriched uranium from an NRC vendor in 1968, later traced to the Dimona reactor complex in Israel. (pg. 3)
- Repeated CIA assessments and remarks of Colin Powell in 2016 that the U.S. knew Israel had at least 200 warheads at that time. (pgs. 4-9)
- Israel prosecuted and jailed Mordecai Vanunu for his courageous whistleblowing disclosure in the 1980’s that Israel has The Bomb. (pg. 7)
- Benjamin Netanyahu was identified by the FBI as being directly involved in an Israeli smuggling operation in the 1980’s that successfully stole 800 krytrons, a prized device used for triggers in nuclear weapons. (pg. 7)
- The Symington-Glenn amendment has been implemented by previous administrations. (pg. 4)
- What the President must do (pg. 10)
- Contrary to other instances where the Biden administration is allowed to ignore aid limitations, this one may be litigable in court. (pg. 10)
Veterans For Peace members across the U.S. are telling their members of Congress to vote NO on any more weapons for Israel and hold hearings to hold the Biden administration accountable They have participated in numerous protests and acts of civil disobedience to highlight Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine.
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Bailey’s Lasagna
Yield: 8 to 12 servings
Equipment
- Lasagna pan
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1 (67 ounce) jar Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 14 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese or other cheese of choice
- 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Brown ground beef and Italian sausage together until cooked through, then drain well. Combine with the spaghetti sauce. Set aside.
- Cook lasagna noodles until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.
- For the filling, combine ricotta cheese and eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spread a thin layer of the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a lasagna pan.
- Lay lasagna noodles lengthwise in the casserole dish.
- Spoon and spread spaghetti sauce over the noodles.
- Spoon and spread filling over the spaghetti sauce.
- Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 twice.
- Sprinkle shredded mozzarella or cheese of choice over the top.
- Bake, covered and sealed with foil (DO NOT LET THE FOIL TOUCH THE CHEESE), for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.
- Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer to brown the cheese.
- Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Top each serving with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Serve with garlic bread.
Refrigerate any leftovers.
Has your child ever done something that made you utterly ashamed of them?
When my daughter was twelve, we were called into the school for an emergency meeting with the principal. I was absolutely mortified as I watched the video of my daughter chasing down a younger and smaller boy on the playground, knocking him to the ground, sitting on him, and placing handcuffs on him. It had not been a game: the boy had been the target of systematic bullying by some of the kids the whole year, and my daughter had decided to join in. Small as my daughter was, she was still bigger and stronger than the boy, and the sheer determination in her and desperation in him was sickening: it was like watching a predator chase down a bunny rabbit.
The only thing that saved us from a lawsuit from the boy’s parents was that hubby and I sincerely apologized immediately and made absolutely no excuses for her actions. I believe they were expecting us to try to play the event down, or blame their son, or make some lame excuse to try to get her out of trouble, but there was simply no denying the video evidence of the assault. To this day my gut still knots up over it. That was not how we raised her to be, and thankfully that was the only time (that we know of) she acted so cruelly.
EDIT: Answers to a few common questions I’ve received.
I’ve had a lot of people asking me about the handcuffs. I’m into cosplay, and I’m constantly picking up odd things here and there. The weekend prior to this event I had found a pair of handcuffs at a thrift shop. They weren’t real peace officer type, but they were metal. She’d been playing around with them and I didn’t realize she’d taken them to school with her that day.
This happened over seven years ago. She’s almost twenty now.
The day she was suspended from school she had to go and apologize to the boy directly. While she was at home on suspension, she had to keep up with her schoolwork, she was restricted to the house (no going out with friends), was restricted from all electronics short of what she needed to do her homework (with monitored internet only for homework), and she had to help me install a hardwood floor in two rooms of our home. This was in addition to writing the apology letter.
Yes, the parents could have taken us to civil court for the emotional distress done to their son. As the parents of a minor, we would be held financially responsible for any damages. More importantly, they could have pressed charges and given my daughter a criminal record (albeit a juvenile record) for assault and possibly unlawful detention (I’m not certain of the exact terminology in the state we were living at the time). No, I do not believe that it would have been an overreaction on the other parents’ part and we were lucky that they chose to do none of those.
While there was certainly peer pressure involved, it does not relieve my daughter of responsibility. She has before and since proven resistant to peer pressure… for the most part. She’s not perfect and we don’t expect her to be, we just expect her to be accountable for her choices.
Well… look what we found here!
Interesting.
If the USA and China cut all trade between each other, who will suffer the most?
Without question, the USA will suffer more.
You see, China controls all the supply chains, all the manufacturing, all the logistics. The USA is heavily reliant on Chinese-manufacturing.
The USA is also heavily reliant on natural resources from China such as rare earths and mineral processing.
China’s economy will continue to chug along as it exports to Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the rest of Asia.
Without cheap imports, inflation in the USA will go through the roof.
What was your most horrible wedding experience as a guest?
Many years ago my wife and I went to a wedding of a relative. The church wedding was simple and fine.
The reception was at a hall and I don’t remember if there was a band or DJ. Drinks were fine. They asked everyone to sit at their tables and the announcer would call table numbers.
The buffet was served by a row of staff, so you didn’t just dig in. The main course was pre sliced Turkey. As we sat and waited for our number to be called, we watched as smiling people walked past with plates piled high with food. We were getting hungry!
Finally they call our table and the serving trays were empty! The servers were trying to scrape mashed potatoes in a failed effort to give the remaining guests on line a scoop full. And a spoonful of vegetables. The Turkey was long gone.
To add to the disappointment the bus people are clearing tables of plates still laden with food! Lots of slices of Turkey, two big scoops of potatoes all floating in gravy!
It was pretty clear that the servers had bad judgment and loaded up plates with what was no doubt double servings and simply ran out of food before the final tables were served.
We did stay until the end and ate wedding cake. We stopped At McDonalds on our way back to the hotel.
I later learned that the parents who paid for the reception were mortified and got a big chunk of cash back from the venue.
What is the saddest thing you have ever had to terminate an employee for?
After speaking at a conference for Young Achievers a teen boy applied at my company. He sent his resume directly to me and followed up with numerous phone calls. I told him I wasn’t hiring at that time so he got his father to call and ask me to give him a chance. I was impressed with his refusal to take no for an answer, something I admire in people, so I brought him in for an interview. Normally there was a tiered interviewing process but I was going on maternity leave in two weeks so I interviewed him myself. I was impressed with everything about this boy. I explained to him that he’d have to learn fast because I would be leaving and he would have very little supervision. He was hired.
This is the part hurts-
We were in a busy season and no one was available to properly train him. At the end of the two weeks I had to fire him. Under different circumstances he would have been a model employee. I told him that I was letting him go because we didn’t have the time to train him but if he applied anywhere else, I would give him a glowing recommendation. A few weeks later I got a call from a company asking for a reference for this boy. I highly recommend him. They then asked me why I let him go if he was so great. I explained everything to them, assured them that this was in no way his fault and that I’d gladly hire him back should he ever want to return. They ended up hiring him. Years later I still find this difficult to write because of the disappointment in his face that day. I’m sure wherever he is he became successful.
This is life in Montenegro: The Country Where You Can Walk WITHOUT CLOTHES on the Beaches
Click Baity. Sure. But the content does not equate to the splash image.
The cool thing about this video is that this place looks really cool to visit.
It really does.
What will happen next if Russian and US troops come face to face in Niger?
A powder keg just blew up in Niger’s capital Niamey as Russian troops swarmed into Airbase 101, setting up a tense face-off with the United States. Niamey’s airport is now a freakin’ barracks for both American and Russian forces after Niger’s military junta booted out US troops. Nice move, right? Sure, Russians have their own hangars and aren’t bunking with US troops, but there’s a lot of angst about what access they might have to US military gear.
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin claims Russian boots don’t have a free pass to American equipment, but how long before something goes boom? The US thought they had Niger’s back fighting against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, but after the coup last July, they’re getting kicked to the curb, just like Chad, Mali, and Burkina Faso did with US and French troops. Guess they’re not feeling the love anymore.
So, who’s filling the void? You guessed it, China and Russia – the new BFFs for these military-ruled African nations. Without that colonial baggage, they’re smooth-talking their way in as anti-West sentiment ramps up. So, brace yourselves, folks – this scramble for Africa is on! As resource-rich Africa becomes the shiny prize, the rise of a new global order looms with the US, Russia, and China in a three-way tug-of-war. Things are about to get wild; everyone is on edge and on the lookout.
Women Are RAGING Because 63% Of Men Have Gone Their Own Way
Massive relationship collapse in the West as society crumbles.
How does it feel to be secretly rich?
There is a farm house outside of town that I have been driving by my entire life.
It is memorable because it is simple.
A simple home with a simple garage.
One day a friend of mine says he wants to show me something really cool at the simple old farm house.
I chuckle, but it’s the summer, school’s out and so have nothing better to do.
He takes me out to the simple farmhouse and we go in to its garage.
The amiable old farmer who owns the house is standing there.
He introduces himself but all I see is a vault door that stands as tall as the garage itself that is nearly half as wide.
And inside that bank-like vault door:
A gun collection with every gun imaginable, and sometimes two.
It looked like something out of Bass Pro Shops.
It was like the image above, but the room was even more grand if you can believe that.
This old farmer’s gun collection was worth more money than most people from our small town will amass in their entire life time.
He could see the shock on my face.
And he was just standing and smiling like he had seen this reaction a thousand times.
I knew in that moment what it feels like to be secretly rich:
You always get to have the last laugh.
Can you fly through military boot camp easily if you train for 6-7 hours every day before you go to boot camp?
If “every day” can mean “since the age of 5”…?
A good friend of mine was raised in a *Mennonite community.
He told the story about one of his younger brothers who at the age of 15 made the decision he wanted to join the Marines when he turned 18.
Every day for 3 years he started conditioning with an 80 lb. ruck sack he created.
He carried it on him at all times unless he had a chore where he couldn’t.
He ran everywhere he went in addition to a plethora of other homemade training routines he created to help prepare himself.
Mind you, all of this was done in addition to his daily manual labor performed from sun up to sun down and a life time of adhering to “orders” and a strict discipline he had to follow as a Mennonite.
When his brother turned 18 he went and signed up for the Marines just like he said.
And he completed Boot Camp just like he trained to do.
But here’s the real kicker:
When my friend talked to his brother about his experience in Boot Camp and what it was like…
His brother replied back to him with a straight face:
”I was disappointed.
I thought it was going to be harder.”
So, yes, there is a point where some can begin training and “easily” go through boot camp.
But unless you were raised in a modern day agricultural equivalent of the Spartan’s agōgē
?
Probably not.
*The order he was a part of was a no-modern technology Mennonite community e.g. My friend once attached wooden boards to the top of a rotating horse-drawn saw mill column to create a makeshift ceiling fan during the hot summer heat; he was told to take it down because it was too modern.
Our Daily Comix
To Die for Beef Roast
This is one of the best roasts you will ever taste. Carrots, potatoes and celery can also be added, if desired.
Ingredients
- 1 beef roast (any kind)
- 1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix
- 1 envelope brown gravy mix
- 1 envelope Italian dressing mix
- 1/2 cup warm water
Instructions
- Place roast in slow cooker.
- Mix contents of all 3 envelopes and sprinkle over roast.
- Pour water into the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours.
What was the most disturbing thing that your seatmate did during a flight?
One day I received a phone call from the FBI. It was legit the FBI who wanted to talk to ME!
Previously I had been on a flight from Tokyo to DC. I had my usual aisle seat and I had my kitty with me. A woman sat in the middle seat and a man at the window.
After the flight took off I fell asleep, per my usual. At some point I woke up. The woman noticed I was awake and asked to get up to use the bathroom. She never came back but another guy took her seat. My new seatmate seems to have moved to economy from business as he received business class meals. He disappeared for landing.
As we were landing my cat got out of his carrier. I was easily able to unbuckle grab him, and put him back in his carrier. Upon landing 2 or 3 airport police came on board to my row. I thought they were for me and my escaped cat. Totally illogical thought I now know, but reasonable at the moment. Nope they wanted window guy.
The FBI wanted to know what I saw on the flight between window guy and middle gal before she left. When she left for the bathroom, she spoke to the flight attendants and said he was touching her inappropriately.
The most disturbing thing to happen on a flight was the true or false accusation of SA mid flight.
When have you cheaply or inexpensively fixed an item someone thought unrepairable?
Some years ago our washing machine stopped working, about 2 weeks after its 2-year warranty expired. It was a mid-range model, and with 2 toddlers in the house, we really needed a clothes washer. We managed to get an engineer (specialist in washing machines) out the next day. I already knew the timer clock was working OK, as were the inlet valves; yet when it tried to rotate the drum, absolutely nothing happened. After about 45 minutes, with the engineer running all sorts of diagnostics on the control circuit board and checking all the wiring, he sighed and told us that there was nothing to be done; the motor was burnt out and a replacement, plus the cost of fitting, made the fix uneconomical; instead, recommending buying a replacement machine.
He left, but with all the covers off the machine and with his assurance that the control board was fine, I decided to have a look myself. As a kid I’d played around a lot with model trains, and knew that their motors would sometimes fail if the brushes, or the springs holding the brushes, were out of adjustment. This machine’s motor had more armature windings than I was used to, but the familiar two brushes, in spring-loaded brass housings. The housings had a single wire plugged onto them, and they were held in place by spring clips. I popped one out and found that while the carbon brush itself still had plenty of use left in it, the spring pushing it against the commutator was short and the brush wasn’t making contact. I slid the brush out, put in a small packing piece, replaced the spring and brush and clipped it back in place.
Immediate success, worked like new. Cost? £0.00 The machine ran for another 5 years, when it failed with similar symptoms. This time there really was no life left in the brushes, but a spares shop about a 5 minute walk from home sold me a brand new pair for 14p. It ran for yet another 5 years before the controller circuit board finally blew up.
44 things of the best life live tips:
- Don’t be a people pleaser.
- Spend time with your parents and treat them well. They will not be around one day.
- Mind your own business.
- Don’t lie, cheat or be dishonest. It spoils your name in the long run.
- When the phone signal is down to the last bar, don’t answer the phone as the radiation will be 1000 times higher.
- Don’t cheat if you are in an unhappy relationship. Just leave.
- Use tea sachets to remove odour from gym bags.
- Never give up on your dreams no matter what. Try to accomplish your goals and dreams in the long run.
- Never take your medicine with cold water.
- Be empathic. An act of kindness wouldn’t ruin you.
- Graduate before 30.
- Don’t waste your time with meaningless relationships or temporary people.
- When people treat you like they don’t care, believe them.
- Participate in family gatherings, college reunions and get together with friends.
- Adopt a pet. I did. My six months old pup is my ultimate stress buster now.
- Never ‘ever’ abandon your old friends by replacing them with your new buddies.
- Have two servings of vegetables and fruits daily.
- Learn to love your flaws and imperfections along with your perks.
- Start your day with a glass of lukewarm water on an empty stomach.
- Be thankful for something daily, at least once.
- Stay away from toxic people. They only bring out the negativity in you and ruin your life further.
- Compartmentalize your ideas and thoughts. Write them down on a journal.
- Don’t be shy. Go out and be a social butterfly. Talk to random people.
- Add some slices of lemon in plain water to zest up your taste buds.
- Don’t let someone get comfortable with disrespecting you. Set boundaries.
- Crushed mint leaves or Indian basil are great herbs to remove bad mouth odour.
- If you don’t have enough time, spend lesser time on social networks.
- Never speak bad or low about yourself. Make it a point to not put yourself down even as a harmless joke.
- If you don’t like your job, quit it and do something else. Don’t just put up with it and force yourself to do it.
- Don’t waste your energy on bad feelings, negative thoughts or useless people.
- Travel often. Getting lost will help you to discover your identity.
- Be careful about personal things you share to people. The friend today could be your enemy tomorrow.
- Never stay in an unrequited love for a long time. Let it go and move forward.
- Say exactly what you feel/think. Be direct about it even if it might displease others.
- Forgive people and their actions. Never give it to him. Let karma finish up the job for you.
- Be mindful about your expenditures but not a miser. Budget spending is a start.
- Have a glass of buttermilk or warm milk before bedtime.
- If you don’t master you own time, there will be possibilities of you being unconscious slaves of those who have mastered theirs.
- Trust your instincts. Intuitions doesn’t lie.
- Be cautious about lending/borrowing a huge sum of money to your friends/relatives. It may break the tie. Just saying.
- Never enter the lift before others have got out of them. Don’t be a jerk. Wait and let them get out before you barge in.
- Have few cups of green tea in the evenings after lunch and throughout your day to aid digestion.
- You could forgive, let go and give them another chance…or you could chuck them aside and give yourself a better chance.
- Cut down on your caffeine intake. Replace your coffee cravings with something healthier.
What is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you at a bar?
Many years ago a friend and I stopped by a pub on our way home from a rock concert. It was Triumph. This was the early ’80s and wearing a bandana around your neck was kind of normal. Anyway we go in sit down, and didn’t even get a chance to order a beer. This group of guys just started in on me, for some reason. It was a country music bar, and I guess I was a long hair. It gets so bad that I finally stood up and said to the main culprit,what the fuck IS your problem? Remember we’re talking we’re in there 5 minutes. At that point him and his buddies grab me by the seat of my pants and the bandana around my neck and threw me out the front door head first with my head opening the door. Stunned outside I wanted to go back in and just clean house. Fortunately my friend who they threw out as well but not as roughly calm me down and made me realize that they would have probably just thrown me out again. This has been decades ago and I still have no idea what the real reason was. I know that a woman to fight over was not the issue.Overflowing 🍺 beer and testosterone I suppose. The whole incident reminded me of that Ron White story where he says he was thrown out of a bar and he doesn’t know how many there were, but he guesses it was all of them. That may have been true with me.
Putin and China Put Out Devastating Warning to the US | Col. Jacques Baud
May 2024. China has stopped “playin'”.
What is the most unprofessional interaction you’ve had with a recruiter?
This was during my placement time…
I was having an interview for TCS. The panel called my name, I went in. It was a panel of 3 ladies. I was carrying a file containing my resume, marksheets, certificates.
R1- what are your hobbies ?
Me – I like sketching, playing guitar, riding my bike and collecting pens( all looking at me). If you wish, I have some sketches attached at the end of the file.
All looking through my sketches.
R2 – so, if we recruit you would you still continue sketching in your busy schedule.
Me – yes Mam I will still continue sketching, if you’re passionate about something you will manage some time for it no matter how busy you are.
R2- good.
R3- so, you say you like to collect pens. What kind of pen do you collect ?
Me – I am a pen enthusiast. I like to collect premium pens, PARKER, SHEAFFER, CROSS, WATERMAN, LAMY etc. Ball , roller ball, fountain.
R1 – that’s interesting. So, how many pen do you have ?
Me – I have around 50–60 normal range pens(Parker , Pierre Cardin) and 15–20 premium range pens (above 1k INR). And I will continue to collect while I’m here.
R2 – what will you do with so many pens when you’re gone ?
Me – (don’t know what to say , still came up with the most stupid answer ) some of those are limited editions and some are discontinued which are not available in the market at present and I know they will have a great value someday, I’ll leave them as a legacy for my children/grandchildren.
R3 – you’ll need to have a great number of children. Good luck with that. ( don’t know with what logic she came up with that )
All burst into laughter. I join in with them and start to chuckle.
R2 – okay , I’m gonna write your feedback with my sheaffer pen
Me – sorry Mam, but that’s not a sheaffer, that’s a Parker.
(Edit 3: I guess she focused on this statement to check my presence of mind and whether or not I really knew about what I said i.e. to check if I was lying about my hobby or not).
R1- you may leave now.
Me – thank you.
Next week the result for day 1 sharing was out.
Verdict : got an offer letter from TCS.
P.s these are around 5-6 year old images, didn’t have for the latest collection.
Why So Many Countries Are Abandoning the Dollar
It’s damn obvious.
What is the weirdest thing your dog ever brought home?
Not my dog, but my next door neighbors’ dog. Duke was a large mixed breed about 65–70 pounds, a super friendly boy who spent every day making the rounds in our neighborhood collecting treats, love, attention and objects he found in the yards or garages of those he visited. I was used to getting calls from Sharon with a list of items Duke had brought home—sometimes things I hadn’t even missed yet! About 10 years ago, my son, dil and 2 grands were staying with me and it snowed Christmas night, a rare event where I live. There was about 3–4″ inches of lovely white covering my grass the next morning so the kids had to play in it before they left to go home. My grandson came in and said he had lost his phone in the snow. We all spent at least 30 minutes looking for it and even Duke came over to see what was going on. My family left and about 30 minutes later, I received a phone call from Sharon asking if anyone was missing an iPhone. I walked next door and collected my grandson’s pristine phone-no scratches, no dents and it turned on. My son and grandson were both really happy with that news! Duke is still remembered in the neighborhood as being such a “good boy.”
What is the most shameless thing you have ever seen a teacher do?
When I was in 6th grade, I had a math teacher that I hated so much I’d have panic attacks on the days I had her class. Here’s a short list of what she’d do to me, keeping in mind she was told multiple times I had debilitating social anxiety and ADHD:
- Humiliated me when I asked for help by telling me as loud as she could “you can’t do this problem? This is the easiest one in the set, how do you not understand it?!”
- Called my mom in the middle of class after I handed in a test that she said I didn’t work long enough on in front of the other students, telling her I was an embarrassment
- Had her TA search for me while I was waiting for my dad to pick me up since I had to stay after school on certain days of the week due to my parents working late. When she found me, she yelled at me, brought me back to the math room, where, in front of (mostly older, and way more popular) students, the math teacher called my dad and yelled about how he should be making go to the after school math tutoring so I could “at least pretend to care about the material”
Thank God, THANK GOD my parents were supportive of me and told her off each time. After the final call to my dad about forcing me to get the tutoring, my dad rushed to get me and ripped her a new one about how tired my parents were of her treatment of me. But ever since then, I’ve been afraid of almost every teacher and would just be silent during my classes
Best Macaroni and Cheese
This is the tastiest, easiest and fastest macaroni and cheese you will ever eat. DO not skimp on the Colby cheese. Use as much as you can afford.
Ingredients
- Macaroni (as much as needed)
- Colby cheese (lots)
Instructions
- While the macaroni is cooking in salted water, dice the Colby cheese up rather small.
- As soon as the macaroni is cooked; drain it well. Keep it, covered, in the same pot in which it was cooked.
- Add the diced Colby cheese and stir it in. Cover immediately and let it sit for about five minutes so that the cheese melts.
Attribution
Recipe is from the kitchen of Kathryn Irene Jolly.
Recipe is from the family recipe collection of Linda Ann Jolly, Arizona.
African Nations Repatriate Their Gold and Foreign Reserves From the USA.
Not being well reported. Not at all in the Western “news” media.
What is a time when you’ve seen a co-worker get fired who totally deserved it?
One of the RNs in our dept had worked there for 5 plus years, was around 60 years old and very nurturing and maternal so she was well liked. Her employment predated mine and I became her immediate supervisor. After several years of working together , mostly amicably she started to undermine me, making snarky comments and decisions that didn’t include discussions with others in the dept or weren’t hers to make or sometimes even mine to make. She was resistant when I discussed this with her. I really liked and admired her and it was getting more and more challenging. My supervisor wasn’t any help. We RNs became concerned that a medication error may be made if this nurse did the med pass so we made sure that someone else did that. We double checked behind her with the order transcriptions. We found small errors and brought them to her attention. She stated that everyone makes mistakes and that she was no different. One day I found that she had written an order on the wrong chart and filed the med in that pt’s med drawer. I saw it right before the tech was going to give the med to the wrong pt. What was even worse was that the pt wasn’t on ANY meds for a condition that was in any way similar to what that med was for – that should have made her question it. So, a performance improvement plan was implemented, discussed and put in place with approval of HR and my supervisor. The nurse ignored it, did nothing and cheerfully stated there was no problem. We decided that termination was in order. She was aghast and said, “Well, I will talk to the CEO and he will not stand for this!” Termination took place, she demanded a ride to the unemployment office and HR agreed – WHAT? It was so hard, but necessary to protect pts. Anyway, I ran into her about a year later and she said she had a medical condition that was contributing to her “brain fog” and that she’d been treated. She apologized for the instances of petty behavior. We all hoped she was doing well.
OMG
Shorpy fun
A golden dome
450 Arab and foreign extremists from Idlib arrive in Ukraine
By Al Mayadeen Net
Almost 450 extremists from various nationalities arrive to Idlib to fight against Russian troops, after leaving Syria and passing through Turkey.
Close to 450 extremist Arab and foreign nationals have arrived in Ukraine from Idlib to fight against Russia’s forces, less than only three days after they left Syria, passing through Turkey.
Relatives of extremists that have arrived in Ukraine told Sputnik that senior fighters from terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (the rebranded version of Jabhat Al-Nusra, i.e Al-Qaeda) have held a number of meetings with senior leaders in the Turkistan Islamic Party group and Ansar Al-Tawhid and Hurras al-Din groups, and agreed on allowing a number of all their fighters to enter Ukraine through Turkish soil.
The sources added that most of these foreign fighters are veterans of the Syrian war, had been causing issues in Idlib, and were given this opportunity to fight against Russia as a compromise by which they would receive a new start and with an acceptable income.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham also gave these fighters assurances that their families would be allowed to join them later.
Around 300 of these fighters are Syrian nationals that are originally from the Idlib and Aleppo countrysides, while the 150 others are Belgian, French, Chinese, Moroccan, Tunisian, Chechen and British nationals.
As for the financial compensation, the sources said the fighters that hail from Syria will receive around $1200-$1500, but had no knowledge what the foreign nationals were going to be paid.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has previously stated that 16,000 foreign mercenaries will fight for the country.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had warned Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a meeting last Friday of the growing number of foreign mercenaries operating in Ukraine, including those coming from Albania and Croatia and namely militants and Jihadists coming from Kosovo in order to put their experience from military operations in Syria to use.
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
I don’t consider it a “loophole,” but rather a bit of a tech glitch.
When I was in college in the late 1980s (Dartmouth), it was towards the end of the life of pulse dialling technology. In the “old days,” telephones used to look like some variant of this:
When you made a call, the dial was turned for each number, and it sent out a series of electronic pulses that matched the number (for example, my grandfather had a telephone whose number was WI-1–8214 (941–8214).
In the 1970s, touch-tone dialling became the standard (I am not sure that a rotary phone would even work anymore).
Telephones swapped out the rotary for push buttons, but the switching equipment had to, for a time, accommodate both. So telephones for a while had buttons, but a switch on the base that permitted tone and pulse dialling.
At Dartmouth, where I was a student, all of the telephone lines in the dormitories were controlled by Dartmouth. In order to make long-distance telephone calls, you had to subscribe to a service called “DarTalk.” Again, not sure if this is still the case.
Anyways, what we discovered in the dorms was that, if one started the telephone on pulse, entered the 8 (for an external line), a one, the area code, and the three code prefix, then switched the phone from pulse to tone and entered the final four digits in tone mode, the switching equipment that the college used could not detect that the call was going out. Hence, the calls were free.
We could thus make long distance calls without paying.