Major system breakdown in MM land.
My VPN was “collapsed” by the Chinese government, and I had to switch to another one. (Nothing personal. Probably shut down because of some abuse one way or the other.)
Most of my data-collection websites are American and thus inaccessible in China without a VPN, as well as all of my business communication. So my links (for the most part) are simply inaccessible.
So I purchased a replacement VPN.
But it couldn’t load. My system is in Lunix, and to load the drivers and software, I had to do it manually. Which I attempted. I did so using three different methods.
Sadly. All were flat fails.
It turned out that my system had a lot of interconnect junk code, and orphaned code, and broken packages that were messing everything up.
So, what I did was backed up everything. Then sync my phone and computer for all my passwords and bookmarks. Then I downloaded the latest version of my Lunix OS.
Here’s a screenshot of my desktop.
I use my generated AI artwork to serve as background for my PC. Lots of “schmaltz” but I like it.
As of this writing, my VPN is still not functional. I need to set up servers (which is something that I have never done before.) And flush out the general parameter bases from which to proceed from, but I am confident that I’ll get it resolved eventually.
Anyways, because of this, and the time that I am taking to deal with this, this particular post and next series of posts will be a little bit lean.
Sorry in advance.
…
I once went on a job interview in Deland, Florida.
I was interviewing for a design engineer position designing sonarbueys.
These are devices that are injected into the ocean to detect the movement of vessels and other parameters.
I liked the work. Enjoyed the people. Loved the environment. Deland, Florida looked so much like Hattiesburg, Mississippi that I immediately felt at home there.
Deland, Florida was lush, comfortable and lovely.
My wife and I spent a week there, house hunting and getting to know the area.
However, as much as I loved it, we turned down the job. As they “low balled” me in salary by 40%. I probably would have accepted a 15% cut in pay. But not a 40% cut. That was just way too much.
Anyways…
I well remember one random rural walk alone early in the morning. I had taken a road that turned into a dirt side road near a fenced in property line.
And I heard mewing.
There must have been somewhere like 16 to 18 all-white kittens.
Not one litter, must have been a couple of litters, but there they were all white, and a ton load of them, and they all wanted my attention.
It was the darnedest thing.
What a coincidence!
I don’t know what it signified, or anything like that, but it did make an impression on me. Here were these 18 or so all-white kittens in the lush green foliage all wanting my attention. What could that mean?
I have some thoughts.
But…
*sheech*
Cool thing, though.
Today…
Trump REVOKING Security Clearances ! ! ! !
President Donald Trump has Revoked the Security Clearances of ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton and intelligence officials accused of misleading 2020 election activities.
The White House says Bolton’s memoir risked exposing classified material and damaged trust in national security discussions.
This order is part of broader measures addressing “abuses of public trust.”
Here is the complete list FLASHED over Intel Circuits:
(1) James R. Clapper Jr.
(2) Michael V. Hayden
(3) Leon E. Panetta
(4) John O. Brennan
(5) C. Thomas Fingar
(6) Richard H. Ledgett Jr.
(7) John E. McLaughlin
(8) Michael J. Morell
(9) Michael G. Vickers
(10) Douglas H. Wise
(11) Nicholas J. Rasmussen
(12) Russell E. Travers
(13) Andrew Liepman
(14) John H. Moseman
(15) Larry Pfeiffer
(16) Jeremy B. Bash
(17) Rodney Snyder
(18) Glenn S. Gerstell
(19) David B. Buckley
(20) Nada G. Bakos
(21) James B. Bruce
(22) David S. Cariens
(23) Janice Cariens
(24) Paul R. Kolbe
(25) Peter L. Corsell
(26) Roger Z. George
(27) Steven L. Hall
(28) Kent Harrington
(29) Don Hepburn
(30) Timothy D. Kilbourn
(31) Ronald A. Marks
(32) Jonna H. Mendez
(33) Emile Nakhleh
(34) Gerald A. O’Shea
(35) David Priess
(36) Pamela Purcilly
(37) Marc Polymeropoulos
(38) Chris Savos
(39) Nick Shapiro
(40) John Sipher
(41) Stephen B. Slick
(42) Cynthia Strand
(43) Greg Tarbell
(44) David Terry
(45) Gregory F. Treverton
(46) John D. Tullius
(47) David A. Vanell
(48) Winston P. Wiley
(49) Kristin Wood
(50) John R. Bolton
Two signatories, Patty Patricia A. Brandmaeir and Brett Davis, are deceased.
Comments
The US Empire is stubbornly persisting in its delusional belief that it can swim against the tide of History and just assert the reality it wants, rather than adapting to the reality that is. As the old adage goes, those the gods would destroy they first make mad.
Posted by: Sandgropper | Oct 25 2024 10:44 utc | 2
What was your most surprising interaction with a drill instructor?
When I was at the bus station in Charlotte, NC in 1972, on the way to basic training, my Dad, an active-duty Army Sergeant Major, hugged me and told me to just do my very best and not to be worried about anything, just do my best. I was 5’10” and weighed about 120 lbs., not exactly a perfect physical specimen. I took my Dad’s advice and did everything in my power to graduate as high as I could in my class.
While going through, our Senior Drill was a SFC Peter, a man I will never forget, as he challenged me in ways I didn’t know existed. As we were setting up our wall lockers early in basic he walked by and looked over my shoulder. We were allowed exactly two photos of family and I had both posted on the inside of my locker; a picture of my family and a picture of my Dad in uniform. SFC Peter’s only comment was a grunt before he moved on to the next trainee. Toward the end of basic he told me he was putting me in for Trainee of the Cycle, an award that came with an automatic promotion if I won. My answer, like so many there, was, “YES, DRILL SERGEANT!” at the top of my lungs.
Well, I won after going before a board consisting of the company commander, the executive officer and the First Sergeant and, upon graduation was promoted to PFC (E-3). At the graduation I was 5’11” and weighed 175 lbs! After graduation, I moved over to greet my family and noticed Dad had showed up in his dress uniform. Well, SFC Peter walked over and hugged my Dad. Turned out Dad was SFC Peter’s Sergeant Major in Vietnam. Dad had no clue he was my Drill Sergeant.
SFC Peter’s favorite thing to do was tell the troops that they could wear their hair as long as they wanted, so long as it wasn’t longer than his, and he was bald as an egg!
So that’s my encounter with my Drill Sergeant. Hope this answers your question.
Pepperoni Pizza Soup
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 can condensed tomato soup
- 1 soup can water
- 2/3 cup sliced pepperoni
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Croutons
Instructions
- In a 2 quart saucepan, combine soup, water, pepperoni, and seasoning. Heat just to boiling.
- Pour into serving bowls, and top with cheese and croutons.
BRICS Summit Results — The Vector Has Been Set, But There Will Be No Easy Path
Vladimir Putin’s press conference following the BRICS summit turned out to be the perfect finale to the event. Because it listed the main points of the past event — as well as the difficult points that need to be addressed.
First and foremost: in BRICS, as the president emphasized, it is possible to work and achieve results with mutual respect and mandatory consideration of each other’s interests. This is an absolute plus: 35 states and six international organizations took part in the summit. But such equality places increased demands on the quality of dialogue and mutual trust.
All the predictions about who would be accepted into BRICS this time were not confirmed — because no one was accepted. Instead, a category of “partner countries” emerged, which included Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda and Uzbekistan. There were difficulties with Venezuela (Brazil opposed) and Pakistan (India opposed).
Putin openly commented on this situation, recalling that the issue of admission to BRICS, like all others, will be decided by consensus. The non-expansion of BRICS in itself is not a problem. The risks of uncontrolled expansion, when each member has a de facto veto right, have been written about earlier. But the Kazan BRICS summit showed that the expansion of the bloc will not happen automatically.
An alternative financial reality also did not appear at the click of a button – and this is again nothing unexpected. Because the Western “frog” of dollar hegemony needs to be simmered over low heat, without any sudden movements. The more imperceptibly the preparatory phase of global reforms, the most risky in this case, goes, the better. Strategic considerations for BRICS’ own reinsurance and the “BRICS Clear”cross-border settlement and depository infrastructure were voiced, and the rest of the practical work will be carried out between the finance ministries and central banks of the participating countries. And it will be quiet.
The course towards gently squeezing the West out of existing global mechanisms (IMF, WTO) was confirmed — instead of trying to cut the issue “off the cuff.” Naturally, because right now there are no resources for such an attempt, and the depth of consensus between the BRICS countries is insufficient.
The issue of Ukraine was of secondary importance at best. BRICS participants politely acknowledged the importance of striving for peace — and nothing more. The long-awaited attempts by China, India or Brazil to “force Russia to peace” were not announced.
In general, what BRICS is trying to do, no one in the history of mankind has probably done. Reassembling the world into a fairer format is an extremely difficult task in itself, especially in the context of cruel and even existential resistance from a decrepit but still strong hegemon.
At the same time, the summit in Kazan showed the most important thing: there is a huge demand for a new world order in the world. This idea is shared by a wide variety of countries: from the economic leader China to Cuba and Ethiopia. But the formalized, concretized contours of this world order are still absent.
This is exactly what should become Russia’s main task in the near future – to create and offer the world a clear, logical, consistent image of the future, in which everyone will be better off.
We cannot tempt the whole world with resources and money. Russia is a rich country, but it cannot provide for everyone. We cannot direct the world to a bright future with an iron hand – even if such a desire arose. But we are able to offer humanity an idea that it will be carried away by.
In the 20th century, we already had a very successful attempt of this kind. The BRICS summit is a material embodiment of a new attempt, taking into account the changed realities. We have started not a sprint, but a marathon. In order to succeed, patience and calculation of strength are needed.
This article written by: Elena Panina
Comment 1
Iran joining BRICS does not mean that Russia or China or anyone else will come to its defense should the U.S./Israel attack the country
That’s also incorrect. Russia and China already signed a treaty that is an alliance in all but name only. Same for Russia and Iran. Russian ships suddenly visit Caracas and park offshore whenever the US starts babbling about invading it. For some reason, “The House of Socialist Fishermen” in Venezuela seems to have a knack for catching all the paramilitaries, color revolutionists, CIA mercenaries and agents the US seems to send to Venezuela for regime change. * cough Russian intelligence cough *. On the other side of the world, the unified SCO – BRICS ‘global security’ paradigm is also an alliance in everything except in its name.
Also, Asia Times is not a non-biased source – it frequently publishes pieces that actually help the US policies, so it downplaying BRICS does not make BRICS any less important or impactful.
The simple reason for India openly doing what it was silently doing and publicly pivoting to BRICS is that the BRICS cemented itself as a new global paradigm that can protect itself. Including, by using weapons.
Posted by: Dodrey Dougherton | Oct 25 2024 11:33 utc | 11
Comment 2
The list of BRICS candidates is quite impressive with ALgeria, Indonesia, Nigeria, Malaysia, Cuba, etc.
The west against the rest of the world when the west will be a minority in term of populations and economies.
Contries of the world, unite!
To destroy the 5 century old western hegemony (a history of submitting, looting, massacring and genociding).
Posted by: Naive | Oct 25 2024 11:38 utc | 12
Comment 3
India just had too looks at the neighboring countries to know what the west is ready to do to keep the whole region as a punching ball for China. Pakistan ? Coup against Imran Kahn , Bangladesh ? Coup , Sri-Lanka ? Economic assassination by the IMF , Myanmar ? Perpetual civil war engineered by the West for decade kept them under, Thailand ? Chronic political instability fueled by NED’s “NGOs”…
But here came that Russian dude with cheap oil and efficient weapons against “the hegemon’s armies” to sell , and with the road from China to Eastern Africa, Indian merchants are becoming rich as before the English came to ruin their country …
Why did India choose the BRICS ? Because the Anglo-Saxons have sold them only war against China in a lousy “alliance” after having drive them into misery for two century. They have seen the fate of Zelensky and Western European countries, also plundered since the 90’s. Now they will have to brace themselves for a bit on the financial markets but still ; a better option than fighting with the Chinese.
Posted by: Savonarole | Oct 25 2024 12:05 utc | 21
Symbology
As noted by Simplicius, the BRICS 2024 meeting kicked off on a very symbolic date: October 24.
October 24, 1945 was the date of the signing of the UN Charter. It was also the date of execution of the Norwegian WWII collaborator Vidkun Quisling, whose name will forever mean ‘traitor’.
October 24, 1945 was beginning of a new era led by the UN. Maybe we will come to see that October 24, 2024 was when the relay baton was handed over from the UN to BRICS.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 25 2024 12:05 utc | 22
Linkage on BRICS
https://tvbrics.com/en/
This is the official media outlet dedicated to BRICS news. English language. Enjoy
Posted by: Hankster | Oct 25 2024 12:21 utc | 25
It’s all going to shit in the West
alas, much expectation about BRICS will continue for decades. During this time Brics will not be bothered by what is now failing and devoured by entropy. But one thing is clear, there is no going back to the threat of the dollar destroying all that touch it.
Midas learned a lesson that rings true today.
And please beware, people that get their knowledge and expertise from the western press are delusional now. They repeat tropes that haven’t been accurate for a few decades and are disintegrating before our lying eyes. Sadly, these pundits hold on for dear life regarding what they want to happen, and take the smallest of clues to heart and continue the willful blindness.
The forest for the trees issue of perception.
Even when they know the source of their contamination is a think tank that doesn’t think but hopes to influence or dreams to rule. The currency backed by nothing always fails and history delivers the truth of it.
And greed will continue after the BRICS have abandoned the prognostication to those that just can’t believe it could happen. Watch the purchasing power falter and fade. 50+ years now of ignoring the inevitable.
Grab one of those trees and hang on tight. Change is forever.
Posted by: Tard | Oct 25 2024 12:48 utc | 31
Western Media
In the western merdias there is always the same propaganda: we the democracies, them the dictatorships…
Let’s see:
– when the president is supported by less than a quarter of the citizens it is a democracy;
– when the president is supporter by more than 50% of the citizens it is a dictatorship;
– when everything is done to enrich the wealthiest it is a democracy;
– when everything is done to put out of poverty the majority of the people it is a dictatorship;
– when a government gives the ressources of the country to western companies it is a democracy;
– when a government uses the ressources of the country for its own people it is a dictatorship.
For dictatorships, hip hip hip hourrah!
Posted by: Naive | Oct 25 2024 11:29 utc | 10
When is the American empire going to collapse? Is it close to becoming a reality?
It is in the process of collapse.
The collapse of an empire is not like a “light switch”. It is a long, drawn-out process. It is like a boiling frog. The frog doesn’t realize it’s in danger until it is too late.
Now, any historian can tell you that collapses are slow at first and then sudden.
For the United States, in particular, the collapse came in major stages. And we are at LATE STAGE FULL COLLAPSE.
…
Do I need to elaborate?
The “leadership” is a dementia ridden puppet of drug-saturated oligarchs with delusions of grandeur. His replacement is either neocon “giggles” Kamila Harris; which BTW checks off all the “important” boxes of woman, minority, and pro-woke agenda. Against her is charismatic narcissist Donald Trump.
Harris thinks everything is just fine, and she will continue the United States warmongering until the cities glow in the dark. While Donald Trump sees the damage. He knows the danger, and he has a plan to do something. Oh, his plan is faulty. And if all he has been saying comes true about social security, and tariffs, we will probably see a civil war.
So there you have it.
- Harris = Nuclear war, and the destruction of the world.
- Trump = American civil war with a global economic collapse.
Lovely.
…
The water line is now lapping on the deck of the ship.
The owners, and their minions have gotten into the rowboats early on, and are now safe.
The “leaders and their entourages are stealing everything in sight. Crime, and fraud is out in the open. The sailors are openly hacking down doors and safes with fire axes and stuffing handfuls of swag.
And the mice and rats and scrambling amongst themselves. Some leapt off the dying vessel and landed on the bits of flotsam and jetsam that are circling the dying behemoth. Passport Bros, Venture capitalists, and multiple passport holders. Unique terms for what is “the great escape”.
The stewards in charge of Public Relations are busily rearranging the deck chairs.
…
But the end is near.
Really, really close.
Military pensions haven’t been paid in half a decade. Debt is at an unsustainable level, and now the government cannot even make payments on the interest of the debt. The USA is NOT NOT NOT a healthy nation. It has been dying, and now is in ECU.
There’s no way out.
No way; none. None what so ever, can this debt be repaid. The USA is going to default, and that is the best solution. The only thing other than that is what the “leadership” has planned. And that is…
…death by cop.
And isn’t that what we are watching?
What real President would engage the United States in a four front war? With Russia, AND Iran, AND North Korea, AND China. (And don’t waste your time telling me that this is not the case. I didn’t waste nearly four decades in the ONI to listen to some woke pimply faced shit-poster giving me nonsense.) The United States has troops in various roles are designed to initiate a global world war. And they are very active in it.
It’s a death wish.
You can be the most red-blooded ‘Merican, out there, but surely you aren’t that insane.
But your leadership is.
The end is gonna be exciting, and spectacular. And You will have a front seat to it.
Shorpy
The Interior Life of Ruck
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story from the point of view of a non-human character.… view prompt
Ajay Sabs
—
Owner name Kafka, I hear him say. I learn Kafka a “uhcountant”. He work with numbers. He use heavy machine to help make sentences from numbers. At end of each sentence, he take short break, then start next sentence. He write lots of number sentences on machine. I think one day he write book (book is like many papers, put together with gloo), like ones I carry, or ones I see at his home.
We spend lot of time together. Every time we go out, it new “uhdventure” (fun work, but makes no money) for me. Kafka not tell me where we go, I find out right before we leave home. It fun game for me to guess where we go from the things he give me to carry. When he bring his uhcountant things, I know we go to office. When I carry snacks, water, spray for “bears” (animals that hike but not carry backpacks), I know we go hiking. When I empty, I know we go get food from store (different store than where I from) to keep at home. I not eat store food. I not hungry when I carry things.
Hiking my favorite.
—
While Kafka at work, I read the things left inside me. Sometimes these are small things I can read, like receipts and snack labels, but they interesting because they important enough for me to carry, so I read them to learn why so important to Kafka that I work hard to carry and keep for him. I not upset, I just wonder, because I have lots of time to think while we at his “office”.
Mostly I read his books that I carry. But because he an accountant, his books are more numbers than words. So I think I slow to learn words. I like words, because they give me way to understand Kafka and to think better. Numbers not help me very much yet.
Books heavy, but are my favorite thing to carry. I read them and read them again.
—
At work today I read a very different kind of book. This one didn’t have many numbers in it. And it was very different than the accounting books I normally read. It was more of a fun story, but I don’t know yet if the story is true or not. It was about a wizard boy named Harry, and if it is true, then I wonder if Kafka has any friends from the school of magic. How fun and curious it would be to meet someone who has a bag that can store as many things as it want. I’d like to meet that bag, what a fun trick! Sometimes when I’m so full that I can’t fit anymore, I feel a bit bad because I know Kafka needs me to carry more. He gently squashes all his other stuff down to make room for more stuff, and I feel guilty. I would like to learn how to make more room. Unlimited room! I have much to learn.
If not a true story, then I wonder why someone would write it?
—
When we don’t go to Kafka’s work, I carry stuff that feels different. Like today we went on a picnic and we brought along “homey” things (things that are softer, things that feel like they are from home, borrowed from home, and when you have them with you, you feel like home is with you).
I carried a soft blanket, a “journal” (a book that Kafka sometimes writes his stories in, but ones with no numbers), a pencil, sunglasses, a little bottle of lotion, a salad with separate dressing (it took a lot of effort to keep the “dressing” upright!), some napkins, and an empty bag. Not a bag like me, but a smaller one, a plastic one that seemed disinterested in whether it was carrying books or garbage, whether it was empty, or wrinkled to death with folds.
While we were lying on the blanket at the park — I feeling a blissful stillness in a sunbeam, feeling alive from the earthy tree air that travelled across us slowly — Kafka made a new friend who was also laying in the park, a blanket and a patch of grass away from us.
“I’m Kafka”, Kafka said, flashing a smile.
“I’m Jeannie”, she smiled back.
I wonder a little if Kafka knows my name. It was a nice day, lots of work and lots of play.
—
Sundays are crisp and best enjoyed when they begin in Kafka’s “Dodge” (a type of car that is used for going to and from the city), and are followed by a day-long hike.
Car rides are as fine as paper towel, but truth be told, I am still not used to facing forward while also moving forward. It’s a strange sensation, perhaps like a human walking backwards while facing forwards. But knowing that we’re about to spend the day hiking is enough to distract me from the strangeness.
This morning though, I was in a bad mood.
Usually seated in the first-mate seat of Kafka’s Dodge, keeping him company, I was demoted this morning to an afterthought in the backseat on account of new company. Not even in the middle backseat, where at least the three of us would form an equilateral triangle, reassuring by virtue of its equity and impartiality, but rather in the seat behind Jeannie, furthest from Kafka, where I’m forced to stare at the back of the chair that used to be mine.
Sitting there, behind the open window instead of next to it, the gush of air tumbling into the back seat, crushing me with the force of its weight, made me want to “vomit” (when you hurl the contents out of your body because you don’t feel well).
I tried to look mad by squishing my face the way I sometimes see Kafka do, but my attempt at shapeshifting was futile, because I’m too much on the outside who I am on the inside, which is rumpled stuff. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, because the sanguine rockmelons upfront were preoccupied laughing at unfunny jokes.
When we got there, wherever there was, Kafka heaved me out from the backseat. Determined to not willingly become part of a scalene love triangle, I made myself as heavy as possible and Kafka grunted.
But it’s an odd thing. Despite my resolve to weigh down the buoying levity of their romance, to bring it back to earth, something got the better of me when we began hiking. My work began, the work of keeping their possessions safe and present, and my bitterness dissolved into the solvent air of the forest. I am a sentimental creature, easily overcome by the poetry of sticks, twigs, trees, and earthy air.
I felt bashful of the jealousy I felt earlier, but I also felt reinvigorated, filled as much with purpose as I was with pasta salad, the two counting on me. I am the difference between well-prepared loving adventurers, and once-lovers torn apart by nothing other than the mundane rational problems of unpreparedness.
Later, all of us tired, we plopped down on a jagged rock whose redeeming quality was that it was large enough to seat us all in a forest that had no other chairs. We needed a break from the sun and the walking, and from the bugs too, but enamoured by our company, the bugs insisted on taking a break with us.
Like a magician with their trusty hat, Kafka pulled out whatever it was that they needed; snacks, hydration, and afterwards, we all laughed at things that are only funny when you feel an overwhelming lightness.
—
We hiked everywhere. For a whole year, here, there, everywhere, even across the ocean, where people spoke languages I’ve never read (though often the numbers looked the same there as they did back home).
I could tell you of forests and cities; of ships, planes, trains, and bikes; of heat, of wind, of sand; of bugs and of birds. But there was one moment in particular while we were hiking off the Ligurian coast that was revelatory for me, when a truth about my kind gobsmacked me over the hood.
As with most prophetic moments, it happened simply, without ceremony, and only in retrospect do you realize that it was something you’ve been waiting to know. And often that realization is an answer to why you are the way you are, and why you sometimes inexplicably feel alone in the company of others. (Or so I’ve gathered from the books Kafka and I have read, I don’t have many revelations of my own to draw from, but it seems to be a sort of universal phenomena that makes us all ironically alike.)
Anyways, during one of these hikes, in the silence of the morning, Kafka and I passed by another backpack and their human, who nodded at us as we crossed paths, the strangers going onward into our past while we went onwards into theirs, the other backpack and I continuing to face one another for longer than most humans would feel comfortable holding a gaze with one another. This stranger backpack was well worn, one of the eldest I ever encountered. It had aged gracefully without becoming fragile, a marbled patina having formed on its leather surfaces, adventure imbued into its fabric.
It was then that it dawned on me; that backpacks live looking backwards. You’d think it would be obvious, “back” is even in the name of my kind, but it took me living a dozen Fodor’s for this to really sink in.
When humans walk, they walk towards something. Objects ahead of them become bigger and bigger, at their largest before suddenly they disappear forever. Being able to march forwards towards the unseen, unencumbered by what they leave behind, makes them ideal explorers.
But when we as backpacks travel, it’s the opposite. Things start out at a scale hyper quixotic to a little backpack, become smaller and smaller, until eventually — they don’t disappear — they just become infinitesimally small. What’s more is that I always know how much longer I have to appreciate something before it fades away, the correlation between time and visibility made predictable, like a sunset.
What does that make a backpack, whose motion is forward but is always looking back? What do you call someone or something that savours the past, bidding everything it passes a long and reverent goodbye?
A poet, a journalist, a cartographer, perhaps? Whose role it is to chronicle their loved ones’ life and adventures? Not on maps or on paper, but within the memory of our materials. We remember whatever is worth remembering before it fades away – like the smell of pine, the salt of creek water, the sap and dew of the trees we rest on – and imbue it in our fabric. We absorb and reflect the experiences of our humans, forming a tapestry of their lives.
—
We’ve been back home for a while, and so there’s been less hiking and no travelling, and more time spent at Kafka’s office. Fewer stories about Harry Potter (which I’ve since learned are “fiction”), and more stories about numbers (which I’ve since learned, I’m not the only one who doesn’t enjoy reading such stories).
I’m not complaining. I know I speak often of how much I love my work while we hike and travel, but I can appreciate a break. I wouldn’t mind trying out one of these “spas” I keep reading about (a place where they spot clean your fabric with cucumbers), but for now it’s nice to have predictability in the possessions I carry, and to simply lay motionless in a climate-controlled environment for hours, or even days at a time.
—
I’ve noticed some peculiarities this past week, some of them as contradictory as salt and pepper.
I’ll start with the exciting news. I’ve been carrying around fewer accounting books this week, and have instead been entrusted with Yosemite Falls travel books checked out from the library, which Kafka has been devouring at lunch time. The anticipation of another trip, our first in a while, sends a chill of excitement up my padded spine. For all my talk about rest and relaxation, it turns out I’m just a fisherman who misses the sea.
And while the fibres of my fabric, once clean and crisp, have softened, gently sanded down by the tide of adventure, I feel as durable and capable as ever.
There is a contradiction that has left me confused, however. I’ve noticed a few anomalies at home, traits inconsistent with how Kafka has usually behaved before a big trip. Ordinarily, we would both sit in the living room, and see what all we were capable of carrying. And though I’ve tried to signal to Kafka and Jeannie that I was ready, if not eager for this ritual, I’ve been left to idle while they plan.
But I chalk it up to experience; we have more confidence in what to pack, how to fit and carry it all, and being able to improvise with the unknown since you can never pack everything. That’s what aging is really all about; you no longer carry around the weight of the permutations of everything that will go wrong.
—
I should have seen the signs.
At first they were subtle. For example, Kafka used to gently and carefully clean my fabric, dabbing at me gently with Dawn dish soap and warm water; always warm, never cold, never hot. Warm with a precision that he seldom demonstrated for anything except numbers. Then recently, he became ambivalent about the temperature of the water, then he stopped caring about the soap, before finally he stopped caring about cleaning me altogether.
And in the past couple weeks, the clues became so obvious that I now feel stupid for not recognizing them sooner. Kafka and Jeannie began talking of me “wearing out”, which at the time, I assumed to mean they were getting ready to wear me “out”, as in outside of work, outside of the normal routine, outside of the comfortable but now lethargic sanctum we had all cocooned ourselves in. Now I see that “wearing out” is a human idiom, as in I’m being “worn away”, fading into the distance, like the trees and sticks that I used to enjoy watching become infinitesimally small until they only existed in my memory.
So I am a “horcrux” now, a slice of Kafka’s soul, living outside of him. At a store, to be precise, filled with things. Not new things like where I grew up, but old things. Old things that would ordinarily be beautiful, like the backpack I saw on our hike off the Ligurian coast. But now, placed outside of their work environment, compacted in between other old things, sitting empty on a shelf, trying to catch a stray sun beam but having to pathetically settle for fluorescent lights, we all looked decrepit and humiliated.
I feel like vomiting, but can’t because I am empty. I am hungry, have nothing to read, and my arms are stiff from not moving.
The store keepers here are unsympathetic, as are the patrons, and we all move about as though we are discarded by our Kafkas.
—
Adam, a red-headed boy of six or seven, walks into the store. He picks me up, and – now that I know more of accounting than he – pays for me at a depreciated value.
We walk outside into a bright white world, and he slings me over his shoulder. Little Adam walks onwards, and I, on his back (and just as big), begin chronicling his life.
A Father’s Heart
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story from the point of view of a non-human character.… view prompt
Liz Grosul
A long, flat tone.
The engine is failing. The plane is going down. Passengers, I’m so sorry.
Won Ton Soup
Yield: 8 servings, about 1 1/4 cups each
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/4 cup finely chopped shiitake mushrooms
- 1/4 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Good Seasons Asian Sesame with Ginger Dressing
- 1 egg, separated
- 32 square won ton wrappers
- 8 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced water chestnuts
- 2 green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Mix meat, mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions, dressing and egg yolk until well blended. Spoon evenly onto won ton wrappers, adding about 1 teaspoon of the meat mixture to each wrapper.
- Beat egg white lightly. Brush onto edges of each wrapper; fold in half to form triangle. Press edges together to seal. Bring opposite corners of long edge of each triangle together, overlapping corners; brush with egg white to seal.
- Combine chicken broth, mushrooms, water chestnuts and onions in large saucepan. Bring just to boil on medium heat. Carefully add won tons; simmer 4 minutes or until filling is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
How to Prevent Won Ton Wrappers From Drying Out: Keep won ton wrappers covered with plastic wrap until ready to use. Wrap any remaining won ton wrappers tightly in plastic wrap and store in freezer.
Make Ahead: Fill won tons as directed. Place in single layer on baking sheet. Freeze 1 hour or until frozen. Transfer to resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Freeze up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator before adding to hot soup to cook as directed.
How would Russia react if South Korea bombed Vladivostok?
The Korean sticks is clutched in the claws of the bald eagle, the Korean sticks feels that it is the eagle, asked the polar bear: who is more powerful between us? 🤣 🤣
Have you forgotten the history of how the South Korean army was beaten by the North Korean army and fled in panic?
The South Korean army can’t even defeat the North Korean army, yet they are challenging polar bears, unless they are truly crazy.
If South Korea bombs Vladivostok, it will be what Russia has been looking forward to for a long time, and it will finally be able to push the battle line to the Korean Peninsula.
Putin has always hoped that North Korea will join the war, and recently signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with North Korea, with the aim of fanning the flames on the Korean Peninsula.
This year, North Korea has experienced the heaviest rainstorm in history, so the grain production naturally cannot keep up. Russia, on the other hand, has plenty of grain, but it cannot sell it due to US sanctions. Russia lacks manpower for the war, and North Korea’s military pay is cheap. The two complement each other, so they happily come together.
The situation between South Korea and North Korea is tense. China’s statement is:
China believes that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and promoting the political settlement of the peninsula issue is in the common interests of all parties and is also the general expectation of the international community. This requires all parties to make joint efforts to this end.
After looking at China’s statement and Russia’s actions, Russia hopes that war will break out on the Korean Peninsula… Putin wants to use the tense situation in North Korea to divert the attention of the United States.
That comprehensive strategic partnership agreement is of no use.
The Soviet Union was a global hegemon with super military strength. Even so, they did not send troops to participate in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Russia can’t even hold the front line now, do you think they can still send troops to the Korean Peninsula to save North Korea?
If Russia really intends to send troops to the Korean Peninsula to save North Korea, they won’t say it; if it is written into the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, they probably won’t send troops.
The Korean Peninsula concerns China’s geopolitics. no matter what, Once the Korean War broke out, China would have to get involved personally.
World War III has finally started in full swing.
What Has Israel Achieved In The Last Year? – by Arch Bungle
A recent comment by Arch Bungle has been lauded by several commentators. It deserves, slightly edited, its own thread.
Exile | Oct 25 2024 7:49 utc | 145
Arch – can you repost your recap summary list of the last year of failures ( strategic, etc) ?
Arch Bungle | Oct 25 2024 8:28 utc | 148
Posted by: Exile | Oct 25 2024 7:49 utc | 145
Gladly (with some recent additions):
What has Israel achieved in the last year?
Let’s take a stone cold sober recap, I’ve compiled a list of the top 29 accomplishments of Israel in 2024:1. Israel has essentially lost territory in the north of Occupied Palestine. Hezbollah’s rocket barrages over the last eleven months has driven the settler population out of the North. This is likely permanent. Israel’s settler population in the Gaza envelope has also been thinned out since the 7 October attacks.
Moreover, current ongoing attacks from Yemen, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon are depopulating Israel.
2. The Houthi have put an unbreakable chokehold on the Red Sea and all Red Sea shipping. There is no way to break this chokehold. The USN and all other Western navies have tried for almost 12 months and failed utterly.
Attempts to conduct strikes on the Houthi, including massive strikes on core infrastructure in Hodeida have yielded ZERO results over a period of almost a year. The Israelis are to thank for this achievement.
3. The cementing of Hezbollah as the primary military force in Lebanon: Hezbollah’s Radwan forces have proven capable of protecting Lebanon’s southern borders with Palestine. All attempts by the IDF and their supporting American Special Forces to take control of this area and drive the Radwan forces back have failed.
4. The ensured survival of Hamas: Hamas in the Gaza strip persists after almost a year. For months they’ve demonstrated ability to strike IDF forces daily, destroying IDF ground equipment and troops. This is true, even if incremental in nature. Hamas is still able to launch rockets on the Gaza envelope.
This means their rocket manufacturing facilities are still functional. Hamas has demonstrated staying power and resilience. Compared to Fatah in the West Bank, Hamas has demonstrated an ability and willingness to actualize the Palestinian desire for self determination.
Due to Israel’s excessive response to 7 October, Fatah has been permanently sidelined. Hamas will forever be known as the true face of Palestinian resistance.
5. The validation of Hezbollah’s resilience: Despite eliminating one (1) component of the Hezbollah leadership, Hezbollah has reconstituted its leadership structure. It’s most senior leadership council, the Shura is still intact.
Despite a technically brilliant infiltration of the communications infrastructure supply chain by Israel and after a massive air strike involving rarely used bunker buster missiles, Israel has failed to dent the combat capability or even morale of Hezbollah.
6. Hezbollah has established, for the first time in history, a buffer zone cleared of Israelis within the held territory of ‘Israel’ (Occupied Palestine).
7. Recent and previous strikes carried out by the IRGC on Tel Aviv showed the failure of the Iron Dome and the failure of ALL Israel’s air defense systems. David’s Sling. Arrow. Patriot. Moreover, the air defense systems of Israel’s satraps (Jordan) were also proven to fail. Further, the interception systems of the USN were proven to be inadequate.
This has massive implications for war-gaming a conflict between the US and Iran. It means that the US will have to consider the fact that regardless of what it may inflict on Iran, it will not be able to shield anyone and itself against a concurrent Iranian retaliation.
Moreover, the US must now acknowledge that Iran has the ability to destroy it’s carrier groups.
Marine power projection is therefore no longer of any use in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman … It must now recalculate all it’s previous attack plans.
8. The hardening of Hezbollah positions in the South of Lebanon: Despite the spectacular and tragic strikes Israel has carried out on Beirut the essential damage is limited to civilian blocks and civilian villages in the south. It appears that very little of Israel’s considerable air firepower has harmed Hezbollah itself. Hezbollah not only remains lodged there but the creation of rubble and destruction has provided them future cover and shelter.
The net effect of these strikes has been to galvanize Hezbollah’s fighters, drive Hezbollah recruitment, set world opinion firmly against Israel. The global environment for Israelis, Zionists and sadly, even non-Zionist Jews has been polluted on account of Netanyahu’s actions in Beirut.
On the other side of the equation, the IDF has wasted substantial amounts of materiel on killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure. Infrastructure which has nothing to do with the threat posed by Hezbollah.
While the US has put its entire arsenal at Israel’s disposal these materials are far from infinite and will run out soon – or become so expensive that it begins place further pressures on the U.S economy and logistics chains.
9. The US’ ongoing Iraq Occupation is coming apart at the seams: Despite the US presence in Iraq, it is demonstrably unable to exert any influence on the Iraqi resistance movements there, who launch increasingly sophisticated missile and drone attacks from Iraqi territory under the noses of US garrisons.
In addition, the behavior of Israel has stimulated anti-US activity in Iraq and will shortly result in a violent ejection of U.S forces from that country regardless of the current puppet government’s attempts to retain the U.S presence. It may take years to complete but the ejection of American forces from Iraq is all but assured now that the Hashds have demonstrated the ability to use substantial lethal force.
10. The Syrian occupation is coming apart at the seams: Strikes against U.S bases in Syria have become a weekly occurrence now. The resistance movements in Syria have shown that they have the capability to put American bases under constant pressure. The U.S will shortly lose it’s comfortable perch on the Conoco oil fields in Syria and with it, control of the spigot to the various anti-government militant movements in the region … and with that, control of Syria. Turkey and Russia have become confident to bomb ISIS and Kurdish proxies in Syria.
In short, Israel’s needless bloodlust has imperiled the US’ ongoing occupation of the entire Middle East.
11. Israel has destabilized Jordan. Iran has pushed Jordan (and others) into showing their cards at the middle eastern poker table. The government of Jordan has been exposed as a completely controlled satrap of Israel. Its national interests are completely subordinate to Israel and the USA above and beyond the interests of Jordanian people.
This begins the countdown to the end of the regime of King Abdullah of Jordan and his administration.
12. Israel has sown the seeds of destabilization in Egypt. Iran has pushed Jordan and Egypt into showing their cards at the middle eastern poker table. Egypt has been exposed as a complete satrap of the US and Israel, completely subordinate to the needs of the Zionist entity. Every Egyptian, with warm memories of Gamal Abdel Nasser would probably be weeping at this point.
The only thing that keeps the Egyptian population from toppling their government at this time is the Egyptian military. It will unfortunately remain so until the right catalyst arrives to light the spark of revolution …
However, the net result of all these increasing strains within Egypt is to increase sympathies for the Palestinian people, opening up smuggling lines into Gaza.
13. The perception of Western Moral and Civilizational Superiority has been utterly destroyed. The fact that Western Colonialism is alive and well and that Western Civilization is morally bankrupt has been been exposed to the Global South.
This moral bankruptcy has been manifested firstly at the level of it’s governments and secondly at the level of it’s apathetic populations who support the actions of their governments.
The result of this is that the Global South is now able to weaponize diplomacy in every forum with Western powers.
In the past, every diplomatic discourse between Western powers and non-Western countries used to begin with brow-beating and embarrassment of those countries around their human rights records.
Today, every diplomatic discourse between the West and a global south nation begins with a refutation of Western moral high ground. The recent BRICS conference in Kazan underscores this.
14. The neutralization of weaponize Western sanctions: Israel’s actions, triggering Iran’s, Yemen’s and Hezbollah’s actions have revealed that western sanctions against The Middle Eastern Resistance have been useless in stopping the technological and military advance of these powers.
Moreover, these sanctions have served to push the middle east into the BRICS trade sphere and away from the G7 trading sphere. It is a self-strangulation of the Western economies carried out by the USA on behalf of it’s garrison in Occupied Palestine.
Ultimately, these sanctions backfired spectacularly, resulting effectively in the global sanction and blockade of Western shipping through the Red Sea and “tit-for tat” oil tanker confiscations in the Persian Gulf.
15. The compromise of the integrity of Western Supply Chains. The compromise of Western mobile device supply chains, which could only have happened through the collaboration of multiple Western states, including the collusion of parties in Taiwan (outside of the control of Beijing) and Hong Kong (controlled loosely by Beijing) has resulted in complete loss of trust in Western telecommunications equipment and alerted Beijing and Moscow to potential compromise in their own supply chains.
While the implications of this are still unfolding the future success of western exports and Israel’s inclusion in the supply chains are now in question.
China is now, even more than before, not only the “supplier of volume” but also the “supplier of trust”.
16. Due to the actions of Israel, the US has been exposed to its people and the UN community (UNSC, UNGA) as completely under control of the Zionist Lobby. It is no longer a government of the people by the people (if ever it was!). In the past, it was suspected that Israel had some influence over American foreign and home policy, but now it is certain that Israel controls American foreign policy in totality. The question of which part of the dog is the tail and which the dog has become meaningless – it’s all “dog”. Moreover, this compromise of the State, the subversion of Western governments to the purposes of the Zionist lobby, has been repeated on other Western governments like Germany, France, Britain.
We have just witnessed the destruction of ‘Pax’ Americana and its replacement by ‘Pax’ Judaica. Thus, the prediction of Sheikh Imran Hossein has been fulfilled.
17. Well done on the genocide front! Israel has progressed quite far in it’s genocide of the Gazan Palestinian population within the last 12 months. The depopulation of the Gaza strip is well on it’s way by means of sickness, starvation more than missiles and bombs.
For this there will be a price to pay in the eyes of history, for the Zionists if Israel have provided the excuse (not justification) for some enterprising tyrant to commit future persecutions and genocides against the Jews – and others.
18. Israeli economy is destroyed along multiple vectors for the foreseeable future. MNCs with offices in Israel have been negatively impacted. Affected business range from individual companies that cannot operate in Israel anymore due to instability and loss of workforce, to larger corporations whose ethical compliance measures require them to decouple from Israel. The impact extends to companies that cannot tolerate the disruption to energy infrastructure and logistics lines.
19. New, persistent threats that cannot be remedied by the West have been created. The Houthi and the Iraqi Hashds being one case in point.
There’s just no end in sight here. These actors are going to be around for years, threatening the viability of Israel as a “peaceful place for the Jews” and turning it into merely another American garrison in the Levant.
20. Degraded Israeli gas and Oil infrastructure in the Mediterranean. Recent strikes have not only destroyed some of Israel’s gas platforms in the Med but demonstrated that Iran has the ability to wipe out Israel’s energy infrastructure. Israel will now have to recalculate the security of its energy supply. Any customers of Israel’s gas and oil production will have to recalculate their energy security equations.
21. Ensured continuity of the Resistance. The further radicalization of Hezbollah by removal of the conservative elder leadership has resulted in the younger, more aggressive, less restrained commanders to take the lead. Moreover, the remaining elder leadership in the Shura council have been painfully reminded that there is no negotiating with the Israelis and the Americans and that the only way out is to fight.
The murder of national heroes like Hassan Nasrallah has very likely galvanized the youth of Lebanon.
In a similar vein, the next generation of Hamas and Al Qassam fighters, now still children, have been created in the camps of Gaza, the West Bank, Ein Al Hilwe and other Lebanese Palestinian camps and the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan and Syria.
This is the primary reason for the American and Israeli murder campaign against Palestinian children and babies.
22. A distraction for the USA and the Western Imperium: Ultimately the debacle in Occupied Palestine, engineered and sustained by Benjamin Netanyahu has posed a major drain on American resources.
It is a distraction from confronting bigger, more threatening adversaries like China and Russia.
The more cognitive energy, financial resources and political capital the USA has tied up in the Middle East conflict, the less it has left to confront serious developments on the Russia and China fronts.
The BRI, for example continues apace. Chinese and Russian space and marine developments proceed by leaps and bounds. Chinese chip manufacture has reached the 7 nm scale and 4 nm is in testing. Hypersonic missile development in Russia and China has outpaced American developments by leaps and bounds. China has achieved a 6g Transmission network implementation. China operates the biggest space station human kind has ever deployed.
23. The UN has been exposed as an impotent and in fact detrimental organization: Israel, through it’s own behavior at the UN has exposed the entire organization, from the ICC, ICJ, UNSC, UNGA and even organizations like UNRWA as completely impotent for all tasks that do not support the interests of the Western Powers. While this has been obvious since the comprise of the OPCW some years ago, the rot has been exposed at all levels of the UN and repeatedly hammered home by the Israeli representatives at the UN.
Nobody can ignore it anymore, nobody other than those benefiting from the grift.
24. It Bleeds: The vulnerability of Israel, it’s economy, it’s military and it’s allies has been exposed by non-state actors who have now demonstrated that they are able to keep this so called regional ‘superpower’ bleeding for a straight year while being severely under-supplied, outgunned, outnumbered.
Should other Arab countries decide at any point that Israel no longer serves their purposes in the Middle East, they’ve seen the evidence that Israel is not invincible and on the contrary, remarkably vulnerable.
25. Weakening of the Lebanese, Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni State is a Strengthening of Hezbollah and the Houthi Movement: Israel, in taking the wrecking ball to Lebanese and Yemeni civilian government and sovereignty has created an environment in which the state will never be able to hold a monopoly on violence. The entire extent of Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen will therefore remain free and open for Hezbollah and Ansarallah to operate without government restraint. Even if this “freedom” is the freedom of chaos.
26. It can be terrified into paralysis: The delayed response of Israel to Iran’s latest hypersonic attack has been uncharacteristic. It demonstrates that the mere use of violence is sufficient to paralyze not only the Israeli Occupation State Apparatus but also that of the wider Anglo-American Empire, which itself seems scared of retaliating directly against Iran.
27. The World notes this. For perhaps the first time in history, war crimes accusations leading to actual arrest warrants have been issued against Israeli individuals (by the ICJ). Yes, with much reluctance, but it indicates that even the Zionist dominated West is beginning to crack under the stress of it’s own contradictions. These contradictions will merely expand further …
28. The utter failure of the Lebanon Ground invasion and discredit of the IDFs power: It is clear that the IDF’s ground invasion of Lebanon is a failure when compared with Israel’s previous invasion and occupation of Beirut. In an era where the IDF/IOF should have enhanced military technology and training, the full support of the West, it’s performance on the ground has only been a fraction of what it could once demonstrate. Even if the IDF/IOF ever manages to grind its way to Beirut, it will arrive there a bruised and battered remnant of itself. Then, the real war will begin …
29. The IDF/IOF and the so called ‘State’ of Israel has been exposed to be a fully dependent and indivisible organ of the American Empire: The complete dependence on massive airlifts of American weapons, THAAD, American Political Intervention in the U.N and other arenas has exposed Israel as nothing without life support infrastructure provided by the Americans. The image of Israel as a viable future state for the Jews has thus been utterly shattered. It cannot exist for now or ever without Uncle Sam behind it. When the Empire Falls. Israel goes with it. Israel’s enemies (and allies) will note this and plan accordingly.
How will all these “sensitive initial conditions” – these “achievements” – combine over the next 6 – 12 months to form greater unintended effects?
It’s anyone’s guess but the picture doesn’t look good for Israel regardless of how it looks for the rest of the Levant.
Winning!
Posted by b on October 25, 2024 at 12:49 UTC | Permalink
In what ways is the U.S. becoming a second-world country?
The United States is already a second-world country and is sliding to third-world status.
As a second-world country, the U.S. is:
- unable to provide proper healthcare for its 340 million people. (U.S healthcare is ranked 34th in the world; women’s healthcare is ranked 77th in the world.)
- the U.S. has the highest infant/maternal mortality rate of the developed countries. (The mortality rate in some states is equivalent to third world countries.)
- because of the high cost of healthcare, Americans are increasingly reluctant to seek medical assistance.
- the U.S. cannot protect its people. (In 2023 alone there were 656 mass casualty events leading to the death or wounding of over 3,900 people. Over 18,000 people were murdered by gunshot wounds. Gunshot wounds are the leading cause of childhood death.)
- the U.S. cannot educate its people. (U.S. education is ranked 22nd in the world.)
- Americans are not as free as they claim. (The U.S. is not in the top 50 countries for freedom.)
- American quality of life ranks 17th in the world, just ahead of China and Russia.
There are more such statistics but these are an indication that the U.S. is already a second-world country. What is worse is that Americans:
- deny the condition of their country, and
- are not prepared to do anything to overcome or reverse the continued deterioration of their country.
Do the Chinese really love peace? Who has been threatened by China?
Yes, the Chinese really love peace. That’s why they avoided war for the past 45 years.
By avoiding war, they built up the world’s greatest economy.
By avoiding war, they lifted 800 million people out of poverty.
By avoiding war, they built the world’s finest infrastructure.
By avoiding war, they became the world leader in technology.
The Chinese couldn’t have done any of this if they had pursued war.
China has threatened nobody. China has, however, taken action to protect its territorial rights. This is the imperative of all sovereign nations. Examples: Taiwan, South China Sea, Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh.
The Chinese love peace, and they would prefer that you did not encroach on their territory.
Justice for Everett Thomas
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story about a character who wakes up in space.… view prompt
Marek Sunda
First, I heard my own breath, grounding me in presence. The ever-present tranquility that dominated until a few heartbeats ago had now receded.
I slowly opened my eyes with difficulty as the eyelids felt heavy. I instinctively tried stretching all my limbs, but my legs didn’t move an inch despite tensing my muscles. My arms moved around so easily; in fact, they felt much lighter than they should.
The first thing I saw was a sign reading ‘Harness Required,’ glowing ominously red in the dark. I realized I was looking at it through a clear visor based on patches of condensation created by my breath. They were disappearing fast, suggesting there was a good climate control system in place, but still, I could notice a distinctive pungent smell that was not filtered away along with the moisture.
The sweet emptiness of my mind was now gone.
Looking side to side, I realized I was in a room roughly the size of a shipping container. The walls around me were covered in various screens and instruments I didn’t recognize. So many buttons, tools, little inscriptions, and, confusingly to my drowsy mind, handles everywhere.
I moved my hands in front of me and saw the unmistakable orange color I had grown accustomed to in the past few months in the prison jumpsuit. Wait. I had gloves on as well. I closed my eyes for a moment and observed my breath grow faster.
I opened them again. My arms were floating in the air without me moving them. I tensed my muscles, and they stopped moving. What was happening here?
“Welcome aboard Nomos.” Said a muffled voice from outside of what I now understood was a helmet. It certainly explained the humid air and hearing my breath loudly.
I tried to say something back, but my mouth was arid, and I coughed instead. It made sense now. My limbs were flailing around because I was in space. The rest of my body had to be secured in place, which makes a lot of sense to do when you want to sleep in a place with no gravity.
“You may find yourself temporarily disoriented. This is normal and will improve momentarily. I am your assistant aboard this vessel. You may address me as Myra.”
Disoriented was the right word. My head hurt, and I reached to rub my eyes but realized my futile attempt when my hand hit the visor. I fumbled about with gloved fingers, trying to feel for some mechanism that would allow me to escape this claustrophobic coffin around my face.
“You woke up one hundred and fifty-three minutes past the estimate, which may indicate the dosage was not calculated properly and/or there were unknown underlying conditions affecting the sedation.”
It certainly explained the headache and helped make sense of the tingling I felt in my legs. “Myra.” My voice sounded raspy, but it seemed to work to catch the AI’s attention. It had to be an AI. I didn’t see anybody, and the voice did sound monotone.
“How may I be of assistance?” It really was an unvarying, cold voice.
“How do I open the—”
“Your helmet is unlocked by unlatching the seals. You will find two, one on each side of your neck. Upon unlatching, you’ll need to perform a clockwise twist and lift the helmet carefully.”
So, apparently, this AI could understand context really well. It had to have cameras pointed at me.
“Allow me to continue with the initial instructions set.” Myra said as I was trying to find the latches, which is much easier said than done, especially when one is wearing gloves and cannot see the mechanism they are working with and has never seen it before in the first place.
“You will find that you are dressed in a spacesuit for safety reasons, as we left Earth’s atmosphere several hours ago. You are attached to the ship’s bulkhead with a harness used for aerial travel and sleeping arrangements. There are four straps that you may now wish to undo. The first one is located at your waist—”
I was too focused on my helmet to listen to the instructions being given. Finally, I unlatched the other side as well, and with a twist, I heard a hiss as the pressurized suit equalized with the outside environment. I didn’t know what I expected, but the air in the room was not much more pleasant than the one inside the suit. It didn’t smell though, which led me to realize that the other sensations I was feeling in the nether regions of my body I would not be comfortable explaining in full detail. The helmet started simply floating away. I looked down on my body now that I could move my neck freely, and noticed the straps.
“As part of your sentence in the—”
Now, the gravity of the situation started setting in. With, presumably, more oxygen, I started thinking more clearly.
“—case state versus Everett Thomas, you are to serve the full duration of the mission aboard Nomos.”
Oh yes. Now I remembered. I had no idea I was going to wake up like this, but it certainly was a possibility, and being a civil engineer made me a good candidate. I should’ve thought of that.
“The mission you will undertake is estimated to take nine hundred seventy-seven days. The objective is to capture an asteroid currently passing Jupiter, expected to be rich in osmium—”
“What?”
“— expected to be rich in osmium which —”
“I know what the fuck you said. How long? How long is this going to take?”
“Nine hundred seventy-seven days.”
I was trying to remember the sentencing, but I couldn’t. I don’t know if it was a temporary effect of the sedation or something else. “Can you tell me the verdict? What the fuck happened?”
“It is not unexpected to experience short-term memory loss and/or confusion waking up from the sedation you have been under. You had an unexpected reaction to some of the compounds used in the formula, resulting in a longer sedation than calculated. Due to raised medical concerns, I am initiating a medical check.”
“I don’t need a medical check. I need to know what happened!” I balled my fist and barely controlled myself not to punch the wall.
“Please, state your full name.”
“Stop the procedure. Listen to me!”
“I apologize. The order of priority prohibits me from accepting any new instructions at the moment. Please, state your full name.”
“You said it to me a minute ago. Everett Thomas. Not much of a check is it?!”
In the next half an hour, I was forced to answer a myriad of questions ranging from how I felt to if I felt any discomfort and where, which also led me to acknowledge that I soiled the jumpsuit while unconscious, which was hardly my fault. At first, it made me angrier, but over time I calmed myself down and used the time answering questions to fully unstrap myself and, while floating around, to get acquainted with my new home.
“Medical check complete.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” I whispered while looking for something like extra clothes, baby wipes, or anything else to help me get rid of the mess.
“Now to your previous question. Your sentence was increased to encompass forced solitary labor upon discovery of new aggravating circumstances.”
I stopped squinting at the labels above the compartments in the wall and wanted to stand still, but was gently drifting away.
“The victim count was increased after thorough re-inspection of the site and now also included one Samantha Miller, who at the time of the incident found herself in the basement of the building, presumably seeking shelter and/or hiding from the authorities. She was found to be eight months pregnant. This led to a re-examination of the sentence.”
I knew about the construction worker who died, and I knew about the several injured ones. I didn’t know about her. I didn’t remember. Part of me felt for Samantha and her unborn child, and another part of me felt injustice for the increased sentence. It was an error. A mistake. I didn’t want to hurt anybody, yet I was treated like a murderer.
I drifted through space, staring nowhere. After a while, with the help of Myra’s instructions, I got cleaned up, and changed my clothes, but refused to eat for now. Partly because the room now smelt even worse, but also because I now remembered more. I remembered the trial, I remembered the sentence before it got increased, and I felt the weight of it all over again.
“Myra, how long is the mission?”
“The current estimate is nine hundred seventy-seven days.”
“Ok, then we come back to Earth, right?”
“Yes. Mission be proven successful or not, this vessel needs to return to the orbit for maintenance, refuelling, and provisioning.”
I exhaled loudly. “I can make it. That’s less than three years.”
“I will keep you company.”
“We’ll become best buddies for the next two and something years, Myra. I’m sure.”
“We’ll be in each other’s company longer. Are you implying you will grow to dislike me?”
“Wait. What did you say?”
“We’ll be in each other’s company—”
“I know what you said, but what do you mean by that?!”
“This is your first mission.”
“Out of?”
“There are to be seven missions of a total length of six thousand, one hundred and sixty-one days.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”
BRICS Sensation No. 1 – India’s Turn From U.S. To China
Some commentators wrote that this blog, and others, have neglected the current BRICS summit. They are right to a point.
BRICS is a long term project. It is the development of an economic and political conglomerate of supernational organizations designed to be an alternative to the ones created by the ‘West’ after the second word war.
There are several misunderstandings and a lot of wishful thinking about BRICS in alternative media.
BRICS will not replace the U.S. dollar. Any short term plan to replace of the currently most important global medium of financial transactions (not of real stuff trade) is unrealistic. Yves at Naked Capitalism has written several pieces to lay that out.
BRICS is not a military alliance. Iran joining BRICS does not mean that Russia or China or anyone else will come to its defense should the U.S./Israel attack the country. While they would probably provide some help in the background both will likely avoid any direct involvement.
Building BRICS will take several decades. Ad hoc reporting of and commentating one of its summits is not of much value without detailing the larger contexts. It will do that whenever the subject deserves it.
During the current BRICS session the most sensational issue with long term consequences actually happened shortly before the summit.
India has dropped the U.S. friendly anti-China policies it had implemented during the first two terms of the Modi government. It is (again) making nice with China and Russia while shunning U.S. attempts to make it a sidekick for U.S. policies in Asia.
This piece in Asia Times provides the background:
India and China have recently agreed to disengage from their prolonged border standoff in the western sector of the India-China Himalayan border on the sidelines of 16th BRICS summit. Tensions have simmered since June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed in a high-mountain clash.
…
On the geopolitical front, meanwhile, India lost significantly. It once viewed South Asia and the Indian Ocean as its traditional sphere of influence, but after becoming a US ally, none of its neighboring countries remain within its sphere. Instead, India has arguably become more of a subordinate ally to the US.
…
This was evident when the US conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOPS) in the Indian Ocean on April 7, 2021, which sparked a strong backlash in Indian media and academia, despite India being a US partner. Additionally, the US has been accused of fueling anti-India sentiment in neighboring countries and covertly helping to oust pro-Indian governments in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Maldives. [The author leaves out the recent U.S. coup in Bangladesh – b]
This made India realize that the US expects it to relinquish its “strategic autonomy” and that India’s claims to a regional sphere of influence in South Asia are unacceptable to Washington.
…
Ultimately, after four years of experimenting with foreign policy, the Modi government came to understand that China’s cooperation is essential for India’s economic development. The prime minister’s economic adviser argued that China would likely refrain from interfering in India’s border issues due to its dependence on India, coupled with the prospect of increased Chinese investment.
…
The first and second terms of Modi’s government have marked one of the worst decades in India’s history in regard to international relations. During this period, India has incurred unprecedented opportunity costs while experimenting with international and geopolitical strategies. In his third term, Modi is looking to reverse the course by shifting from the US to China.
The piece argues correctly that it was U.S. arrogance towards India which has caused this change.
India’s making nice with China, and its shunning of the U.S., is an immense geopolitical shift. The two biggest countries of this planet by populations plus Russia, the biggest country by landmass, are again friendly to each other. They will coordinate their moves wherever it is in their tri-lateral interest.
This shift in relations will have similar huge consequences as the recent reestablishment of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
This is a disaster for the U.S. ‘pivot to Asia’.
But U.S. and other ‘western’ media, have barely reported on it.
Posted by b on October 25, 2024 at 10:27 UTC | Permalink
Fiancée DEMANDED A Wild Bachelorette Party, So I Hired A PI To Follow Her And Now She’s Toast!
Trump Abolishes Democrats’ DEI And Trans-Craze Policies
Trump’s second presidency has a strong start. On his first day in office he has issued some 200 executive actions including some 42 executive orders (EO) undoing many of Biden’s attempts of socially engineering a new society.
(Unfortunately I have yet to find a complete list of those EOs. Why haven’t even the agencies, AP, AFP or Reuters, compiled one?)
I do dislike many of the EOs Trump issued. Leaving the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreements, and thereby de-legitimizing them, is not good for mankind. Further supporting the Zionst entity is a disgrace.
Others I do like. Trump pardoned participants of the Jan 6 (2021) ‘riots’ which had never amounted to much more than a hustle.
He rescinded many of EOs the Biden administration had issued around its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. Attempts of social engineering against merit deserve to fail.
I am also very happy that Trump has ended the official Trans craze. The wording herein is remarkable:
Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being.
…
This unhealthy road is paved by an ongoing and purposeful attack against the ordinary and longstanding use and understanding of biological and scientific terms, replacing the immutable biological reality of sex with an internal, fluid, and subjective sense of self unmoored from biological facts. Invalidating the true and biological category of “woman” improperly transforms laws and policies designed to protect sex-based opportunities into laws and policies that undermine them, replacing longstanding, cherished legal rights and values with an identity-based, inchoate social concept.
There are and will be many more Trump policies which (will) deserve to be condemned and criticized.
That should not hinder us to admit that he got some things right.
TikTok is Back But Americans are Staying on Chinese RedNote
Americans are getting FUCKING angry!
Good questions are getting asked.
Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the territory of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions
If Kiev and the West refuse the new peace proposal, further conditions will be different, Putin said.
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